Being Catholic, I am not at all familiar with the bible, so I can’t offhand cite the scripture where Jesus called himself ‘the rock’. I do know that He did call Peter the rock on which he would build his church.
How do you explain without personally interpreting Christ’s words exactly what he meant by ‘rock’ and why it would be different for his description of himself and Peter? And why would your interpretation that these were different meanings of the word ‘rock’ be any more valid than someone else taking them to mean the same thing?
If Christ’s meaning for Peter to be the foundation and leader of the Church was to be limited to Peter and not his successors, what was to happen to the church after Peter died? Is it supposed to go on with no chosen leaders? Or to die with Peter? If the Christ-named ‘foundation’ wasn’t the best person to guide the church to find the leaders God wanted, who was?
O2
Here is the Greek, that the Bible was written in.
Peter – rock Matthew 16:18 - http://bible.cc/matthew/16-18.htm
Jesus said that Peter was *petros*(masculine) and that on this *petra*(feminine) He would build His church.
Greek: 4074 Pétros (a masculine noun) – properly, a stone (pebble), such as a small rock found along a pathway. 4074 /Pétros (”small stone”) then stands in contrast to 4073 /pétra (”cliff, boulder,” Abbott-Smith).
“4074 (Pétros) is an isolated rock and 4073 (pétra) is a cliff” (TDNT, 3, 100). “4074 (Pétros) always means a stone . . . such as a man may throw, . . . versus 4073 (pétra), a projecting rock, cliff” (S. Zodhiates, Dict).
4073 pétra (a feminine noun) – “a mass of connected rock,” which is distinct from 4074 (Pétros) which is “a detached stone or boulder” (A-S). 4073 (pétra) is a “solid or native rock, rising up through the earth” (Souter) – a huge mass of rock (a boulder), such as a projecting cliff.
4073 (petra) is “a projecting rock, cliff (feminine noun) . . . 4074 (petros, the masculine form) however is a stone . . . such as a man might throw” (S. Zodhiates, Dict).
It’s also a strange way to word the sentence that He would call Peter a rock and say that on this I will build my church instead of *on you* as would be grammatically correct in talking to a person.
There is no support from the original Greek that Peter was to be the rock on which Jesus said he would build His church. The nouns are not the same, one being masculine and the other being feminine. They denote different objects.
Being Catholic, I am not at all familiar with the bible,
I would encourage you to correct the situation and become familiar with the Bible.
Regarding “How do you explain without personally interpreting Christ’s words exactly what he meant .........”
If you did more reading you would find that Jesus said very often, “Let those who have ears hear” Now what does that mean? You would find that very often the disciples didn’t hear and had to ask Jesus later what He meant.
IT IS OK TO ASK IF WE DON’T KNOW. WE DON’T RELY ON OUR OWN UNDESTANDING, (nor do we rely completely on the understanding of others or tradition)
So now what do we do? Jesus isn’t here to answer our questions. IT turns out the quote continued on in the Bible after Jesus left, BUT IT CHANGED A LITTLE.
Rev_2:7 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying
Jesus left the Holy Spirit behind to answer our questions. but it appears we still have to ask for explanations. AND WE WILL GET THEM, that is promised.
As to building the church on this rock. The answer I get is that the rock was not PETER, but the faith that Peter had. The church would be built on people who had that kind of faith...........................
By the way, Pro_20:12 Ears to hear and eyes to see—both are gifts from the LORD. (sometimes we have to open the gift)
It's not a man because CHRIST is the foundation stone on which He built His church.
Even Peter says so.
1 Peter 2:2-8 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
and
“A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do
1Pe_2:8 and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
If Christ’s meaning for Peter to be the foundation and leader of the Church was to be limited to Peter and not his successors, what was to happen to the church after Peter died? Is it supposed to go on with no chosen leaders?
Those are good questions. You are assuming that man must control the destiny of the church or the church will die out. However, the destiny of the church was always and will always be guided by God.
Being Catholic, I am not at all familiar with the bible, so I can’t offhand cite the scripture where Jesus called himself ‘the rock’.
I would encourage you to personally read the scriptures and ask God to open His word to you. This is a promise of God. If you truly seek to know Him, He can be found in His word and He will reveal Himself to you.
Please see post 7 and 8
The only command to the churches to ordain leadership after Judas was replaced to maintain the original number of foundational apostles (none were mentioned for James of Acts 12:1,2) was that of ordaining elders, this being the same as overseers/bishops, (Titus 1:7-7) and who are never titled "priests."
For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: (Titus 1:5)
Moreover, Nor is Peter confirmed to be the rock upon which Christ built His church, but the Christ of Peter's confession is. For in contrast to Peter, that the LORD Jesus is the Rock (“petra”) or "stone" (“lithos,” and which denotes a large rock in Mk. 16:4) upon which the church is built is one of the most abundantly confirmed doctrines in the Bible (petra: Rm. 9:33; 1Cor. 10:4; 1Pet. 2:8; cf. Lk. 6:48; 1Cor. 3:11; lithos: Mat. 21:42; Mk.12:10-11; Lk. 20:17-18; Act. 4:11; Rm. 9:33; Eph. 2:20; cf. Dt. 32:4, Is. 28:16) including by Peter himself. (1Pt. 2:4-8) And even Catholic scholarship provides testimony against the Roman papacy being the reality in the early church.
I'm afraid what you KNOW is what you've been TAUGHT.
I know that you at least HAVE a bible; so I am giving you the permission to actually READ it.
Many men have DIED to bring this valuable collection of writings to you; the very least you could do is to possibly find out what made it so precious to them.