Bible Question: can you explain Matthew 16 verses 13-19 |
Bible Answer: IJELUB, I, being Catholic, would say that this is where Jesus bestows on Peter the Keys of the Kingdom and gives him the primacy of authority in the Church on earth which Church Jesus promises will not be overcome by the gates of hell. It is a rather scandalous amount of authority being delegated, but Jesus was in the habit of scandalizing people. He still scandalizes people. Trying to say that the rock in this passage is anything or anyone other than Peter does violence to the language of the passage. Even Protestant scholars who do not acknowledge papal authority admit that Peter is the rock in both phrases. This subject has been dealt with at length not that long ago. To see it click on Emmaus for my profile and then click on "view all post by this author" and go to post #33 where the discussion starts under a heading of "am I wrong to think that you pray to" You can also search the verses and see what many others have had to say on the subject. Emmaus |