Protestant Scholarship and Matthew 16:18-19
Jesus speaks to St. Peter in Matthew 16:18-19:
This passage is used by Catholic apologists as a proof-text for the papacy - in fact, two of the phrases in this passage ("you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church," and "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven") are found etched into the high walls at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, as if to say that the Bishop of Rome who rules from this place, as well as all his predecessors and future successors, are heirs to the Petrine promise.
Further, at papal installation ceremonies, when a new pope ascends to the throne of St. Peter, the choir always chants the traditional anthem, Tu es Petrus ("Thou art Peter") - words taken directly from this text.
A rather common objection to this Catholic interpretation, put forward by Protestants, is that the "rock" upon which Christ promised to build His Church was not St. Peter, but rather, the confession made by St. Peter. Alternatively, they will argue that the "rock" is Jesus Himself, so that Jesus was saying, "You are Peter, and upon myself I will build my church."
Here are just a couple of examples:
Imagine my delight, then, at discovering that there seems to be something of a consensus among Protestant academic scholars that is actually at variance with the opinions of the Protestant apologists. I present here below just three samples of some interesting evidence I found recently while surveying various commentaries on St. Matthew's Gospel ... this kind of intellectual honesty is refreshing, to say the least.
I emphasize again that none of the three scholars quoted below are Catholic. They are decidedly Protestant. They simply know when the evidence stands against them, and how to admit it somewhat gracefully.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matt. 16:18-19)
This passage is used by Catholic apologists as a proof-text for the papacy - in fact, two of the phrases in this passage ("you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church," and "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven") are found etched into the high walls at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, as if to say that the Bishop of Rome who rules from this place, as well as all his predecessors and future successors, are heirs to the Petrine promise.
Further, at papal installation ceremonies, when a new pope ascends to the throne of St. Peter, the choir always chants the traditional anthem, Tu es Petrus ("Thou art Peter") - words taken directly from this text.
A rather common objection to this Catholic interpretation, put forward by Protestants, is that the "rock" upon which Christ promised to build His Church was not St. Peter, but rather, the confession made by St. Peter. Alternatively, they will argue that the "rock" is Jesus Himself, so that Jesus was saying, "You are Peter, and upon myself I will build my church."
Here are just a couple of examples:
The rock of which the Lord speaks is that common confession made by all who are part of the Church: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is seen, I believe, in the fact that while the Lord is addressing Peter directly, He changes from direct address to the third person, "this rock," when speaking of Peter's confession. He does not say, "Upon you, Peter, I will build my church." Instead, you have a clear distinction between Peter, the Petros, and the demonstrative pronoun preceeding petra, the confession of faith, on which the Church is built. (James R. White, The Roman Catholic Controversy [Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 1996], p. 118)
Though Peter's name means rock (petros), Jesus did not say, "You are Peter (Petros), and upon this rock (petros) I will build my church." What He said was, "You are Peter (Petros), and upon this rock (petra) I will build My church."
The word Jesus chose to use for rock ... is a feminine noun that refers to a mass of rock.
...
What Jesus said to Peter could be translated, "You are Stone, and upon this bedrock I will build my Church."
...
The context argues for interpreting "this rock" as referring back to the revelation and its content. In other words, the Lord Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God" ... would be the solid rock upon which the Christian faith would rest.
...
The cultural context of the passage also supports interpreting "this rock" as referring to Jesus and His identity as the Son of God. (James G. McCarthy, The Gospel According to Rome [Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1995], pp. 239-240)
Imagine my delight, then, at discovering that there seems to be something of a consensus among Protestant academic scholars that is actually at variance with the opinions of the Protestant apologists. I present here below just three samples of some interesting evidence I found recently while surveying various commentaries on St. Matthew's Gospel ... this kind of intellectual honesty is refreshing, to say the least.
I emphasize again that none of the three scholars quoted below are Catholic. They are decidedly Protestant. They simply know when the evidence stands against them, and how to admit it somewhat gracefully.
P. Lampe's argument ... that both kepa and petros originally referred to a small "stone," but not a "rock" (on which something could be built), until Christians extended the term to explain the riddle of Simon's name is baseless. True, the Greek petros commonly means "stone" in pre-Christian literature; but the Aramaic kepa, which underlies the Greek, means "(massive) rock" ...
... "Rock" now becomes petra (feminine); and on the basis of the distinction between petros ... and petra (here), many attempted to avoid identifying Peter as the rock on which Jesus builds his church. Peter is a mere "stone," it is alleged; but Jesus himself is the "rock," as Peter himself attests (1 Peter 2:5-8) ... Others adopt some other distinction: e.g., "upon this rock of revealed truth - the truth you have just confessed - I will build my church" ... Yet if it were not for Protestant reactions against extremes of Roman Catholic interpretation, it is doubtful whether many would have taken "rock" to be anything or anyone other than Peter.
... Moreover, the underlying Aramaic is in this case unquestionable; and most probably kepa was used in both clauses ("you are kepa and on this kepa"), since the word was used both for a name and for a "rock."
...
The Greek makes the distinction between petros and petra simply because it is trying to preserve the pun, and in Greek the feminine petra could not very well serve as a masculine name.
...
Had Matthew wanted to say no more than that Peter was a stone in contrast with Jesus the Rock, the more common word would have been lithos ("stone" of almost any size).
...
The objection that Peter considers Jesus the rock is insubstantial because metaphors are commonly used variously, till they become stereotyped ... Here Jesus builds his church; in 1 Corinthians 3:10, Paul is "an expert builder." In 1 Corinthians 3:11, Jesus is the church's foundation; in Ephesians 2:19-20, the apostles and prophets are the foundation ... and Jesus is the "cornerstone." Here Peter has the keys; in Revelation 1:18; 3:7, Jesus has the keys. In John 9:5, Jesus is "the light of the world"; in Matthew 5:14, his disciples are. None of these pairs threatens Jesus' uniqueness.
(D.A. Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995], pp. 367-70)
Rock (Aram. Kepha). This is not a name, but an appellation and a play on words. There is no evidence of Peter or Kephas as a name before Christian times ... Peter as Rock will be the foundation of the future community ... Jesus, not quoting the OT, here uses Aramaic, not Hebrew, and so uses the only Aramaic word which would serve his purpose.
In view of the background of vs. 19 ... one must dismiss as confessional interpretation any attempt to see this rock as meaning the faith, or the Messianic confession, of Peter. To deny the pre-eminent position of Peter among the disciples or in the early Christian community is a denial of the evidence ... The interest in Peter's failures and vacillations does not detract from this pre-eminence; rather, it emphasizes it. Had Peter been a lesser figure his behavior would have been of far less consequence.
...
Isa xxii 15 ff. undoubtedly lies behind this saying. The keys are the symbol of authority, and Roland de Vaux ... rightly sees here the same authority as that vested in the vizier, the master of the house, the chamberlain, of the royal household in ancient Israel ... It is of considerable importance that in other contexts, when the disciplinary affairs of the community are being discussed (cf. xviii 18; John xx 23) the symbol of the keys is absent, since the sayings apply in those instances to a wider circle.
(W.F. Albright, Matthew: Introduction, Translation, and Notes, Anchor Bible, vol. 26 [Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, 1971], pp. 194-197)
The word "you" in this second clause has strong emphasis, just like the "you" in verse 16 that it echoes. Jesus' meaning is "because you have confessed me as the Christ, you are Peter," that is, a rock.
...
It is well known that the Greek word (petra) translated "rock" here is different from the proper name Peter. The slight difference between them has no special importance, however. The most likely explanation for the change from petros ("Peter") to petra is that petra was the normal word for "rock." Because the feminine ending of this noun made it unsuitable as a man's name, however, Simon was not called petra but petros. The word petros was not an exact synonym of petra: it literally meant "stone." Jesus therefore had to switch to the word petra when He turned from Peter's name to what it meant for the church. There is no good reason to think that Jesus switched from petros to petra to show that He was not speaking of the man Peter but of his confession as the foundation of the church. The words "on this rock [petra]" indeed refer to Peter.
...
Before this time Jesus alone had had the authority to admit people into the kingdom ... But looking toward the future, He delegated this authority to His disciples. Naturally they had to exercise it in constant subjection to Him and were always accountable to His mandate. Jesus therefore was granting His disciples an office.
...
The rabbis used the words "bind" and "loose" as technical terms for "forbid" and "permit," and, in connection with this, for "pronounce judgment (anathema)" and "absolve from judgment."
...
If the apostles did all this in obedience to Jesus' mandate, then whatever they bound or loosed "on earth," that is, by their word, would truly be bound or loosed in heaven, that is, by God's judgment. Exercising the keys of the kingdom therefore consists not only in making general pronouncements, but also in applying them to individual cases, even to the point of imposing the anathema to preserve the church's holiness.
(H.N. Ridderboss, Matthew [Grand Rapids, MI: Regency Reference Library, 1987], pp. 302-306)
<< Home