"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19
Over "the years" a lot of discussions have occurred about these verses.
The word hades is a topic because Hades is a Greco-Roman god that reigned over the realm of the dead, of the same name. It is a good example of the Apostles having to improvise the Greek...a Pagan language that did not convey Christian morals or concepts or imaginary. Christ spoke these words but what language did He speak them in? If it was Hebrew the word would have been Sheol. Then the Apostles used the closest Greek word to that. They could not use the word hell because it had not been coined yet. The word 'Hell' is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word hellia (derived from the Old English, Old Norse, Old High German, hel, helle, circa. 725 AD. Most of our imagery of hell comes from writings called poems...The Divine Comedy an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, circa 1320 and Paradise Lost an
epic poem in
blank verse by the 17th-century English poet
John Milton (1608–1674).
Secondly Yeshua said all this to Peter....but how did it actually manifest? Christians take these verses to heart and understand them at face value. Peter was an important figure in early Christianity, but there is no indication that he was "the leader" of the Christian group - movement. And there is no evidence of a succession from him to what people call pope. The word Pope first came into use in the mid 10th century. The Catholics have a tendency to bestow the term on earlier Christian figures but the term or title was not used in those earlier time periods. The term that was used was "overseers" But the English term
bishop a much more modern term, derives from the
Greek word ἐπίσκοπος
epískopos, meaning "overseer" in the Greek and it was used pretty early on in Christianity.
But back to Peter....two of the Gospels were written by Apostles that were among the twelve chosen. Mark and Luke were disciples of Peter and Paul respectively. Mark does not show up in the Bible or history as a Christian leader. Christians do not like change and they certainly do not like it when things do not turn out as stated in the scriptures. But as it was Peter went on to couple up with Paul to start a ministry to the Gentiles. He never did become the primary leader of Christianity. James the brother of Christ became the leader of the twelve....the Jewish-Christians. Paul and Peter became leaders of the Gentile-Christians. Paul was a citizen of Rome but neither Paul or Peter was connected to Rome in any special way....except it was Rome that killed them.
Like I said Christians do not like change but it is nearly a rule in the storyline of the Bible. The Jews were looking for a human Messiah that would be a warrior king that would be married and have kids....This is one of the reason they rejected Yeshua....the last thing they were expecting the Messiah to be was a God. In there beliefs Elijah was a senior figure to the Messiah and he would introduce the Messiah...it did not workout that way. The concept of a God impregnating a woman and she giving birth to a god was a Pagan motif. So that did not workout well. God impregnating a woman that was betrothed to a man was considered adultery. There is no prophecy that foretold that. The Apostles believed they were living in the last days and Christ would return soon. That did not workout that way. The concept of change is something a person that studies has to understand....and why the change occurred. Not to deny it or to be offended by it because it happened so often. It is a separate study of why.
The Catholics try to paint a clear picture but it is not clear and they try to adjust Christianity to what they think it should be.... Virgin Mary...virgin birth....perpetual virginity...Original Son, Peter's authority inherited by the Catholic Church...things like that. Overall they can only trace their history to the Emperor Constantine and the Ecumenical Councils that standardized Christian beliefs to form the universal church....the Roman Catholic Church. Which I cannot express how important that was.... because if it did not happen... Christianity may not have survived. For one, before Constantine, Rome was out to extinguish Christianity. And for two Gnosticism was gaining popularity.
