I was discussing the Papacy with a Protestant friend, and the conversation went through the predictable stages. First, I explained Mt 16:18-19. Then, he used the argument that Petros and petra have different meanings, so it contrasts Peter (little rock) from Christ (the big rock). I explained to him that the meaning of the two words was the same in Koine Greek, which was the dialect around in Christ’s time. I added in that it would make no sense for Jesus to 1) call Peter blessed, and then 2) belittle him, and then finally 3)give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven. It took him a few days to get back to me, and I thought I was finally getting through to him. He talked to a friend of his who was a professor of ancient Greek, and he said the following:
“Petra is the femine noun, and this is what the debate stands around. It is the huge rock, and the foundation that Christ wanted to build his church on. According to Dr. Hall, feminine nouns in Greek refer to either a feminine object or person, or an abstract idea. Now because we know that Peter is not a feminine noun, and we also know that Jesus is not referring to a literal rock, this noun is abstract. It is referring to an abstract idea or thought of some sort. Dr. Hall said that the foundation of Christ church,and the rock in which he was going to build it on, was Peter’s confession of faith. A believers foundation is his confession of faith, the point of salvation; and this is exactly how Christ was going to build his church, with this foundation.”
He also said that in Mt 16:19 the Greek word for “you” is “soy”, which is the plural form of “you”. I don’t know Greek, so who can help me out with where these explanations fall short?
So far, the points I’m considering making are:
- Why would Jesus rename Simon “Rock” if he was not really the rock, but just his profession of faith?
- Jesus would have spoken this in Aramaic, and the original text of Matthew was likely Aramaic, and it would do away with the supposed gender issue of the nouns.
Let me know what you all think, especially if you’re familiar with Greek.
God bless,
Chris