When Christ said to Peter “On this rock I will build my Church” ,the Orthodox Church doesn’t believe it was talking about Peter himself but on his confession of faith that Christ is the Son of God.
How do I know if the Catholic interpretation is correct that Peter himself is the rock that the Church will be built on being the Catholic Church.
I don’t know which Church to believe.
Hi Paul theApostle,
I will include you in my prayers and Mass intentions.
Let’s read John 1:40-42, followed by Matthew 16:16-18:
**40
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.
41
He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed).
42
Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). **
…
**16
Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
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Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
18
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. **
This is really very simple and straigthforward. Jesus renamed Simon the son of Jonah as Rock (Cephas in Aramaic, Peter in Greek), and established his Church on this person who was formerly named Simon and newly named Peter.
I find the Orthodox argument unconvincing. Why didn’t Jesus tell Simon, “Your confession is Peter and on this rock I will build my Church”? He didn’t tell him “your confession is Peter” but rather that “you are Peter”.
Moreover, if Jesus built his Church on a confession, did he also include the confession of demons and unclean spirits as the basis of his Church? After all, the demons and uclean spirits also knew who he was and confessed it. Jesus constantly had to tell these demons and unclean spirits to stay quiet, because he (Jesus) didn’t want his identity to be revealed prematurely. It is absurd to imagine Christ’s Church built on the confession of demons, yet this is where the Orthodox logic takes us.
There can be no doubt that Jesus changed the name of Simon to Rock-Cephas-Peter. See John 1: 42, quoted above. Interestingly, the first time Jesus met Simon, he prophesied that Simon’s name would be changed to Cephas. Moreover, in the extended quote below from St. John’s Gospel, Chapter 1, you can see that several people confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, starting with John the Baptist, and continuing with Andrew, Philip, and Nathanael. Yet, Jesus did not tell these people that they were Rock and that he was going to found His Church on them, or on their confession. Jesus singled out Simon, even though others also confessed that he was the Messiah. Moreover, not only John the Baptist, Andrew, Philip, and Nathanael confessed that Jesus was the Messiah. Elsewhere in the Gospels, the demons and unclean spirits also confessed the same thing - that Jesus was the Messiah. Yet, Jesus didn’t tell any of the demons or unclean spirits that “you are Peter and on this rock I will establish my Church”. The Orthodox are denying the obvious and fail to give account of the fact that Jesus changed the name of Simon to Rock-Cephas-Peter, as foretold in John 1:42. Previously in the OT, Abram was renamed Abraham, Sarai was renamed Sarah, and Jacob was renamed Israel. In the NT, Simon was renamed Rock-Cephas-Peter. You should really examine the passage of Matthew 16:18 in light of John 1:42.
32
John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him.
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I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’
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Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
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The next day John was there again with two of his disciples,
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and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”
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The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.
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Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
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He said to them,“Come, and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon.
40
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.
41
He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed).
42
Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
43
The next day he decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow me.”
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Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.
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Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
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But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
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Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him.”
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Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
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Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
