Mesl4, you are certainly not alone. Although I was born and raised Catholic, my faith was challenged by friends and acquaintances from 2 sides - Protestant and Orthodox. And the only honest answer I could give, was to either be intellectually convinced of the truth of Catholic teachings, or to abandon the Catholic church and possibly join some of these other churches.
But let’s consider the theory that anyone who confesses Christ, not just Simon the Son of Jonah, automatically becomes “The Rock”, possesses the Keys to Heaven, and has the authority to bind and loosen. Now go to John 1, 35-51, where the apostle describes the story how Jesus initially met and invited the apostles John, Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael. When Jesus first meets Simon (Peter), he tells him: “You are Simon, the son of Jonah. Your name will be Rock (Kephas in Aramaic, Peter in Latin language)” (John 1, 42). On their very first encounter, Jesus greets Peter with this prophecy, he gives this prophecy to one individual person called Simon the Son of Jonah, and he doesn’t tell to all the disciples, that “all of you guys who confess me, will be called Rock”. This in spite the fact that in the same passage (John 1, 35-51), several apostles other than Peter as well as John the Baptist already confess him as being the Messiah: “He is the Son of God” and “Behold the Lamb of God” - St John the Baptist verses 34, 37; “We found the Messiah” - Andrew, verse 41; “We found the one foretold by Moses and the prophets” - Philip, verse 45; “Rabbi, you are the Son of God!” - Natanael, verse 49. In summary, in this passage Jesus is confessed by St John the Baptist, as well as apostles Andrew, Philip, and Natanael; he is not confessed vocally here by John and Simon (Peter) (although their actions are certainly consistent with believing that Jesus is the Messiah). Yet, nobody except for Simon is being told that he will be called Rock.
This is a strong argument against the Protestant interpretation that The Rock means anybody who confesses Jesus, and they failed to deal with it.
Interestingly, a little after the famous Matthew 16, 15-18, where Simon is being called Rock, made the foundation of the Church, given the Keys, and the authority to bind and loosen, PART OF these authorities are extended to the “Church” and to the “Community” as well. Namely in Matthew 18, 16-18, Jesus gives the authority to bind and loosen to the community of the Church. However the rest of the Church is not being called Rock, not being made foundation, and not given the Keys.
This is what the Orthodox Churches fail to accept - that Peter and the Popes have a special authority which was not given to other Apostles and Bishops. As Vatican I expressed it, the Pope (Peter’s successor) can teach ALONE ex cathedra, no “approval” or “ratification” from the rest of the Bishops required. The Orthodox are simply trying to strip the Popes (Peter) of their authority, insisting that the Pope’s (Peter’s) teaching must be ratified by the “Ecumenical Council” (representing all Bishops, successors of the apostles). In truth it’s the other way around, because whenever a division arises among the Apostles/Bishops, half of them trying to bind, the other half trying to loose the same issue, there is an impasse and only Peter/the Pope can solve it, since he has an INDIVIDUAL authority independently from the COLLECTIVE authority of the rest of Apostles/Bishops. Thus, any Council’s teaching must be approved/ratified by the Pope, otherwise it’s not valid.
Catholics do not interpret the Bible to prove things. We see it as a whole–and that whole as part of a larger picture called Sacred Tradition. This Tradition is not the traditions of men Jesus railed against, but rather the oral and written teachings of the Apostles to whom Jesus gave the authority to preach and teach in his name.
I thought it was kinda odd that there were so many of you out there!