
                          Peter

     There has been much written on the subject of the words of
Jesus in Matt 16:18. These words either set up a system of direct
successors from Peter to today or completely repute it. As many
would like to have, there is no middle ground. It is either one
way or the other.
     To start off with I would like to use some material gained
from the reading of "Secrets of Romanism" by Joseph Zacchello. This
book may be claimed by some as anti-Roman Catholic. It is written
by an ex-priest in the Roman Catholic Church. J. Zacchello spent
many years in Italy in study of the doctrine of the Roman Catholic
Church. Also he spent many years as a priest in the same church.
One thing must be noted in the introduction.  He makes a very
profound statement:

 "The best book against Romanism was not written by a Protestant
or by a former priest, but by God. It is the Bible." 

Even though the word against is used, he puts all that is going to
be said in both respect to and judgment of the Holy Bible. I felt
this explanation was needed and as will be said again latter all
that is said should be forced to stand, not the test of doctrine
or tradition of any church but of Scripture.  God's Holy Word is
not only true but backed up with His own integrity for its accuracy
and the Holy Spirit for its interpretation. So with faith and
prayer one can discern what the truth is without any help from
anyone or any group of people.
    Those words of Jesus in Matt 16:18 cannot be understood with
out the rest of the context surrounding them. So lets post the
whole amount of them. They begin at Matt 16:13 and go on to v 20
or the end of the chapter.
   "Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He
    began asking His disciples, saying "Who do people say that the
    Son of Man is ?" And they said "Some say John the Baptist; and
    others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the    
    prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am ?" 
    And Simon Peter answered and said "Thou art the Christ, the  
    Son of the Living God." And Jesus answered and said to him   
    "Blessed are you Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did  
    not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And
    I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will
    build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower  
    it. I will give you the keys of the  kingdom of heaven; and  
  whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and  
  whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
    Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that
    He was the Christ."

     Out of this scripture the idea of five different
interpretations come. All of these were presented to the fathers
of the Vatican Council. I want to quote the word of Rev Zacchello
on this subject.

    "The rule of Bible interpretation imposed upon us is this: that
     the Scriptures are not to be interpreted contrary to the    
     unanimous consent of the fathers."

He then goes on to say that five different interpretations of this
issue of the word "rock" I would like to present all five for your
consideration. 

1.  "that the church was built upon Peter"
This view was accepted or followed by seventeen fathers-among them,
Origen, Cyprain, Jerome, Hilary, Cyril of Alexandria, Leo the Great
and Augustine.

2.  "that the church is built upon the apostles whom Peter      
represented by virtue the primary.  This view was accepted by eight
fathers among them Origen, Cyprian, Jerome, and Augustine.

3.   "The third interpretation asserts that the words, "On this
rock" etc., are to be understood of the FAITH which Peter had
professed-that this faith, this profession of faith, by which we
believe Christ to be the Son of the living God, is the everlasting
and immovable foundation of the church. This interpretation is the
weightiest of all, since it is followed by 44 fathers and doctors
among them from the East  are Gregory of Nyssa, Cyril of
Alexandrea, Chrysostom, Theophylact: from the West, Hilary,
Ambrose, Leo the Great,; from Africa Augustine.

4.  "are to be understood of that rock which Peter confessed, that
is Christ-that the church was built upon Christ." This
interpretation is followed by 16 fathers and doctors.

5.   "the fifth interpretation understands by the name of the    
rock, the faithful themselves, who believing Christ to be the Son
of God, are constituted living stones out of which the church is
built."
Two things of importance is that these were presented almost two
months ago. This date is not clear but may be possibly found form
the reference quoted by the Zacchello.
     "Speech of Archbishop Kenrick; cited in "An Inside View of  
     the Vatican Council," edited by Leonard Woolsey Bacon pp. 107-
     -109.
     
     We now need to sort out what we can by using one of the
remarks made earlier, The Bible. The first interpretation can be
place in an area of doubt by I Cor 3:11:

    "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one that is
laid which is Christ Jesus."

How can we have two foundations, a rock and Jesus ?
    In the second one the words or idea of Peter's primacy can be
questioned by a number of scriptures. The first of these Matt
23:10,11    

"And do not be called leaders; for One is your leader that is
Christ" 

Peter considered himself to be equal with the other apostles in I
Pet 5;1       

"Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, AS YOUR FELLOW ELDER  
     .........."
      
     Lastly in this area is that James presided over the Council
of Jerusalem as recorded in Acts 15:13,19.
     The scriptures also support some of these interpretations.
These I will leave to you to find as hopefully lead by the Holy
Spirit. I hope that you will read and pray for guidance from the
Holy Spirit. It really does not matter what I say, what Joseph
Zacchello says, or what the Church ideas, doctrines and traditions
are.  WHAT REALLY MATTERS IS THE TRUTH YOU RECEIVE THROUGH THE
COMMUNION OF THE WORD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. CAN YOU OR DO YOU DARE
TO HEAR THIS TRUTH FROM HIM WHO GIVES IT FREELY TO THOSE WHO ARE
WILLING TO LISTEN ?  THERE IS STILL ONE MORE QUESTION TO BE
ANSWERED THIS QUESTION WAS ASKED BY JESUS IN THE SCRIPTURE WE HAVE
BEEN TALKING ABOUT               

"But WHO do YOU say that I am"

Finding or having and living the correct answer to this question
is the most important question you will ever encounter!!!!!
