... In the same dishonest breath - you demand that I show a verse where Peter claimed to be the "Rock" as Scripture calls him.
He doesn't HAVE to ...
Thank you for the admission, that scripture nowhere has Peter saying that he, himself, was the "rock" (petra; G4073).
because Scripture already does.
Actually you assume it does, for when we consider Paul's uses of words, it is
not that he ever calls Peter ('petra'; G4073).
The only times that Paul (and Peter) uses the word
'petra' (G4073) is in refernce to Jesus Christ Himself, the cornerstone, as per:
Rom 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and
rock ('petra'; G4073) of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
1Co 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual
Rock ('petra'; G4073) that followed them: and that Rock (G4073) was Christ.
1Pe 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a
rock ('petra'; G4073) of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
In the Gospel of Matthew and Luke, we read that Jesus refers to
"these sayings of mine" being like a man buliding upon the
'petra' (G4073):
Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a
rock ('petra'; G4073):
Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a
rock ('petra'; G4073).
Luk 6:48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a
rock ('petra'; G4073): and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a
rock ('petra'; G4073).
In Matthew 27:60 and Mark 15:46, we see that the wore
'petra' refers to a massive rock, a mountainside, a great foundation, etc, and not a movable stone, as a
'lithos' (G3037):
Mat 27:60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the
rock ('petra'; G4073): and he rolled a great
stone ('lithos' G3037) to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.
Mar 15:46 And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a
rock ('petra'; G4073), and rolled a
stone ('lithos' G3037) unto the door of the sepulchre.
In the time of Christ's sacrifice, we see that it takes an massive earthquake to rend the
"rocks" ('petra'; G4073):
Mat 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the
rocks ('petra'; G4073) rent;
In the book of Revelation, we see John use the word, in regards to massive mountains and huge stones of the earth:
Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and
rocks ('petra'; G4073), Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Paul even refers to Him as the "Rock" (Cephas) in his letters (Gal. 2:7-14, I Cor. 1:11-13, I Cor. 3:21, I Cor. 9:5 and I Cor. 15:5) . . .
Paul refers to Peter, as
'Cephas' (G2786) or a 'petros' (G4074),
never 'Petra' (G4073), which is nothing more than what Jesus called him from the beginning:
Joh 1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas
('cephas'; G4074), which is by interpretation, A stone
('petros'; G4074).
The bible, inspired of the Holy Ghost, who is infallible, just gave the
"interpretation" of
"Cephas" (G4074) =
"a stone" ('petros'; G4074), going from one language to another, and anything else, according to Peter's own words, is 'private interpretation', and therefore you are rebuked by Cephas/Peter himself, whom you claim to acknowledge:
2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
See also Genesis 40:8, from which Peter is drawing from, among several other texts, such as Isaiah 28:10,13, etc.
Simon bar Jonah is called
"Peter" ('petros'; G4074), by Luke under inspiration, in Acts 12:14. Luke does not use the word,
'Petra' (G4073), ever for Peter, anywhere, in his own record of the Gospel, or in the book of Acts, or in any travels (and thus Epistles) with Paul. See also:
Act 15:7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter ('petros'; G4074) rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
Simon is called Peter is called
"Peter" ('petros'; G4074), by the Apostle John, in John 6:8, whose Gospel was known to be written well after the Isle of Patmos experience (and thus Revelation), well into the late AD 90's.
The other Gospel writers, all writing, a few years later after the events,
never use
'Petra' (G4073) in regards to Simon, but always use
"Simon" (G4613) (and its variant Simeon, G4826), or
"Cephas" (G4074) or "Peter"
('petros'; G4074).
Simon, himself,
never takes up the word
'Petra' (G4073) for himself as a designation, but even uses the same designation that Jesus gave to him from the beginning (John 1:42), in both of his own Epistles, and the last to be written by him, before he died in Rome:
1Pe 1:1 Peter
('petros'; G4074), an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2Pe 1:1 Simon Peter
('petros'; G4074), a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
James in the council, held in Acts 15, written several years after Jesus ascended, calls Simon, by his plain name, even "Simeon":
Act 15:14
Simeon (G4826) hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
Finally, Jesus Himself,
never uses the word
'Petra' (G4073), in regards to
Peter (Πέτρος (G4074)),
even after the resurrection (John 21:15-17), neither the disciples at Pentecost, or after, etc, (even if you think it this one instance (Matt. 16:18), which it
isn't by it's context, but more than this, you would need
this testimony in the written words of two or three witnesses of scripture, not merely one (which you do not have, and are not granted, as you assumed) by the rules of scriptural witnesses):
Πέτρος (G4074)
Petros
Total KJV Occurrences: 162
peter, 157
Mat_4:18, Mat_10:2, Mat_14:28-29 (2), Mat_16:15-16 (2), Mat_16:18, Mat_16:22-23 (2), Mat_17:1, Mat_17:4, Mat_17:24, Mat_17:26, Mat_18:21, Mat_19:27, Mat_26:33, Mat_26:35, Mat_26:37, Mat_26:40, Mat_26:58, Mat_26:69, Mat_26:73, Mat_26:75, Mar_3:16, Mar_5:37, Mar_8:29, Mar_8:32-33 (2), Mar_9:2, Mar_9:5, Mar_10:28, Mar_11:21, Mar_13:3, Mar_14:29, Mar_14:33, Mar_14:37, Mar_14:54, Mar_14:66-67 (2), Mar_14:70, Mar_14:72, Luk_5:7-8 (2), Luk_6:14, Luk_8:45, Luk_8:51, Luk_9:20, Luk_9:28, Luk_9:32-33 (2), Luk_12:41, Luk_18:28, Luk_22:8, Luk_22:34, Luk_22:54-55 (2), Luk_22:58, Luk_22:60-62 (4), Luk_24:12, Joh_1:44, Joh_6:68, Joh_13:6, Joh_13:8-9 (2), Joh_13:24, Joh_13:36-37 (2), Joh_18:10-11 (2), Joh_18:15-18 (5), Joh_18:25-27 (3), Joh_20:2-4 (3), Joh_20:6, Joh_21:2-3 (2), Joh_21:7 (2), Joh_21:11, Joh_21:15, Joh_21:17, Joh_21:20-21 (2), Act_1:13, Act_1:15, Act_2:14, Act_2:37-38 (2), Act_3:1, Act_3:3-4 (2), Act_3:6, Act_3:11-12 (2), Act_4:8, Act_4:13, Act_4:19, Act_5:3, Act_5:8-9 (2), Act_5:15, Act_5:29, Act_8:14, Act_8:20, Act_9:32, Act_9:34, Act_9:38-40 (4)Act_11:2, Act_11:4, Act_11:7, Act_11:13, Act_12:3, Act_12:5-7 (3), Act_12:11, Act_12:13-14 (2), Act_12:16, Act_12:18, Act_15:7, Gal_1:18, Gal_2:7-8 (2), Gal_2:11, Gal_2:14, 1Pe_1:1, 2Pe_1:1
peter’s, 4
Mat_8:14, Joh_1:40, Joh_6:8, Act_12:14
stone, 1
Joh_1:42