NONE OF THE FOLLOWING SOURCES ON MATTHEW 16:18 ARE CATHOLIC:
Matthew 16:18 “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
New Bible Dictionary
“. . . That the rock is Peter himself . . . is found almost as early as the other [interpretation], for Tertullian and the bishop, whether Roman or Carthaginian, against whom he thundered in De Pudicitia, assume this, though with different inferences.
Its strength lies in the fact that Mt 16:19 is in the singular, and must be addressed directly to Peter . . . Many Protestant interpreters, including notably Cullmann, take the latter view.” (4: 972)
B. Word Studies in the New Testament (Vincent)
“The word refers neither to Christ as a rock, distinguished from Simon, a stone, nor to Peter’s confession, but to Peter himself, . . . The reference of `petra’ to Christ is forced and unnatural.
The obvious reference of the word is to Peter. The emphatic this naturally refers to the nearest antecedent; and besides, the metaphor is thus weakened, since Christ appears here, not as the foundation, but as the architect: `On this rock will I build.’ Again, Christ is the great foundation, the `chief cornerstone,’ but the New Testament writers recognize no impropriety in applying to the members of Christ’s church certain terms which are applied to him. For instance, Peter himself (1 Pet 2:4), calls Christ a living stone, and in ver. 5, addresses the church as living stones . . .
“Equally untenable is the explanation which refers `petra’ to Simon’s confession. Both the play upon the words and the natural reading of the passage are against it, and besides, it does not conform to the fact,
since the church is built, not on confessions, but on confessors – living men . . .
“The reference to Simon himself is confirmed by the actual relation of Peter to the early church . . . See Acts 1:15; 2:14,37; 3:2; 4:8; 5:15,29; 9:34,40; 10:25-6; Gal 1:18.” (11; v.1: 91-92)C.
C. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1985)
“Though in the past some authorities have considered that the term rock refers to Jesus himself or to Peter’s faith, the consensus of the great majority of scholars today is that the most obvious and traditional understanding should be construed, namely, that rock refers to the person of Peter.” (1)
D. Wycliffe Bible Commentary
“Another view common among some Protestants (Alford, Broadus, Vincent) is that Peter . . . is the rock.” (7: 959)
E. New Bible Commentary
“Some interpreters have . . . referred to Jesus as the rock here, but the context is against this. Nor is it likely that Peter’s faith or Peter’s confession is meant. It is undoubtedly Peter himself who is to be the rock, but Peter confessing, faithful and obedient . . .
The leading role which Peter played is shown throughout the early chapters of Acts.” (6: 837)
F. Anchor Bible (William F. Albright and C. S. Mann)
“In view of the background of verse 19 . . . one must dismiss as confessional interpretation
[i.e., biased by denominational views] any attempt to see this rock as meaning the faith, or the Messianic confession of Peter . . . The general sense of the passage is indisputable . . . Peter is the rock on which the new community will be built, and in that community, Peter’s authority to `bind’ or `release’ will be a carrying out of decisions made in heaven. His teaching and disciplinary activities will be similarly guided by the Spirit to carry out Heaven’s will.” (2)
G. Robert McAfee Brown
“Protestants are learning that the crucial passage in Matthew 16 about the `rock’ on which the church will be built almost certainly refers to Peter himself rather than to his faith.” (3)
H. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (R. T. France)
“Jesus now sums up Peter’s significance in a name, Peter . . .It describes not so much Peter’s character (he did not prove to be `rock-like’ in terms of stability or reliability),
but his function, as the foundation-stone of Jesus’ church. The feminine word for `rock’, `petra’, is necessarily changed to the masculine `petros’ (stone) to give a man’s name, but the word-play is unmistakable (and in Aramaic would be even more so, as the same form `kepha’ would occur in both places).
It is only Protestant overreaction to the Roman Catholic claim . . . that what is here said of Peter applies also to the later bishops of Rome, that has led some to claim that the `rock’ here is not Peter at all but the faith which he has just confessed. The word-play, and the whole structure of the passage, demands that this verse is every bit as much Jesus’ declaration about Peter as v.16 was Peter’s declaration about Jesus . . . It is to Peter, not to his confession, that the rock metaphor is applied . . .
“Peter is to be the foundation-stone of Jesus’ new community . . . which will last forever.” (4)
I. Expositor’s Bible Commentary (D. A. Carson)
“On the basis of the distinction between `petros’ . . . and `petra’ . . . , many have 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’ . . . Others adopt some other distinction . . .
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 . . .
“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). Then there would have been no pun – and that is just the point! . . .
“In this passage Jesus is the builder of the church and it would be a strange mixture of metaphors that also sees him within the same clauses as its foundation . . .” (5)
J. Peter in the New Testament - Stendahl in Peake’s Commentary on the Bible (2nd rev. ed.; London: Nelson, 1962), p.787.” (6)
“Precisely because of the Aramaic identity of `Kepha’/`kepha’, there can be no doubt that the rock on which the church was to be built was Peter. Is this true also for Matthew in whose Greek there is the slight difference `Petros’/`petra’? Probably the most common view would be that it is . . . It would be pointless to list all the commentaries holding this view, but it is found in [a] popular one-volume commentary .
K. Richard Baumann
“Luther . . . took his rejection of the Petrine office from his erroneous interpretation of Christ’s saying in Matthew 16 . . .
But today we recognize Luther’s error and give it up. `Anti-Catholic polemic has done violence to the Lord’s saying because it defines the Rock upon which Jesus builds His community not as Peter but as his faith and confession . . . What is spoken of, however, in Matthew 16 is the man to whom Jesus entrusts His work, (7)’ writes the Protestant theologian Adolf Schlatter.” (8)
Shall I go on to fill another page?
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