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A number of Christian denominations hold that Simon Peter was the most prominent of the apostles, favoured by Jesus of Nazareth with the first place of honour and authority. This doctrine is known as the Primacy of Simon Peter or the Petrine Primacy (from the Latin Petrus=Peter). A number of traditions, most notably Roman Catholic, hold that Simon Peter, also known as Saint Peter or Cephas, was the first Bishop of Rome and was a martyr during the persecution of the emperor Nero. Other Christian denominations, and a number of ecclesiastical historians, dispute this. ^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... Christianity percentage by country, purple is highest, orange is lowest Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch... According to tradition, Peter was crucified upside-down, as shown in this painting by Caravaggio. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      For other uses, see... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic... “St Peter” redirects here. ... It is generally accepted that Aramaic was the mother tongue of Jesus. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Pope. ... Look up Martyr in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up Persecution in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Nero (disambiguation). ...

This Primacy of Peter is closely related to, and indeed essential to, the Papal Primacy, that is, the idea that the papacy, by divine institution, enjoys delegated authority from Jesus over the entire Church. However, this doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church makes a distinction between the personal prestige of Peter and the supremacy of the office of pope which Catholics believe Jesus instituted in the person of Peter. Other denominations hold that the primacy of Peter was only relevant during the lifetime of Peter. ^{[citation needed]} There are various views on the nature of the primacy and how it was exercised. The primacy of the Roman pontiff is the apostolic authority of the Pope (Bishop of Rome), from the Holy See, over the several churches that comprise the Catholic Church in the Latin and Eastern Rites. ... The Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Pope (from Latin...

Whilst the reasons for disagreement on the nature of the primacy are complex, hinging upon matters of doctrine, history, and politics, the debate is often reduced to a discussion of the meaning and translation of verse 18 of chapter 16 of the Gospel of Matthew, the "on this rock" passage. That passage is: The Gospel of Matthew (literally, according to Matthew; Greek, Κατά Μαθθαίον or Κατά Ματθαίον, Kata Maththaion or Kata Matthaion) is a synoptic gospel in the New Testament, one of four canonical gospels. ...

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter [Greek, Petros], and upon this rock [Greek, petra] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (King James Version) This page is about the version of the Bible; for the Harvey Danger album, see King James Version (album). ...

Roman Catholic view

Roman Catholics assert the following: Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic...

In the Old Law, the High Priest had the highest jurisdiction in religious matters; as can be seen from the seventeenth chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy, verses 8-12. St. Paul tells us that Judaism was the type or figure of Christianity in 1 Corinthians 10:11: "Now all these things happened to [the Jews] in figure...". Logic dictates that a supreme head would be necessary in the Christian Church. Note: Judaism commonly uses the term Tanakh to refer to its canon, which corresponds to the Protestant Old Testament. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Christianity percentage by country, purple is highest, orange is lowest Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch...

In the New Testament Jesus changes Simon's name to Peter. Elsewhere in Scripture such a name change always denotes a change in status (e.g. Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, and Saul to Paul). In the Greek text, Simon's name is changed to πέτρος (Petros), and in the second half of the verse the "rock" in the phrase "on this rock" is the word πέτρα (petra). This article is about the Christian scriptures. ...

However, while the genders are different, this is purely a grammatical requirement of the Greek language, an artifact of the translation into Greek of the Aramaic that Jesus spoke, and an attempt to preserve a pun. It is not an attempt to make a distinction (that is mainly confined to Greek poetry) between "rock" and "small stone" or "pebble", as some Protestants interpret it to be. In the classics, including works by Plato and Sophocles, there are also many occasions of πέτρος used to designate "rock". Gender in common usage refers to the sexual distinction between male and female. ... Most scholars believe that Jesus primarily spoke Aramaic, with some Hebrew and Greek, although there is some debate in academia as to what degree. ...

A male given name should be masculine (-ος), whilst πέτρα, the word for "rock", is feminine (-α). In Aramaic, the word for rock is (variously transliterated into the Latin alphabet as "Kefa", "Kepha", "Cephas", and also transliterated into the Greek alphabet as Κήφας;, in the Gospel of John chapter 1 verse 42). In Aramaic, the same word would have been used in both places, and Jesus is directly referring to Peter when stating "on this rock will I build my church". (This is supported by the fact that the Peshitta, written in Syriac, a language cognate with Aramaic, makes no distinction between the two words.) Jesus thus declares the primacy of Peter amongst the Apostles, and a proper English translation in the style of the King James Version, if translated from the original context, would be "Thou art Rock, and upon this rock will I build my church". Look up Appendix:Most popular given names by country in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Transliteration is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another writing system. ... For other uses, see Gospel of John (disambiguation). ... The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible in the Syriac language. ...

The Gospel of Matthew was written in the Koine dialect of Greek, where there was no distinction between the words petros and petra; both simply meant "rock". Some Protestants point to a distinction present in a different form of Greek, but not in the one actually used by the author of the Gospel. Koine redirects here. ...

Translating the Gospel of Matthew into French incurs no problem as ordinary translation into English does, as Tu es Pierre, et sur cette pierre je bâtirai mon Eglise, et les portes de l'enfer ne prévaudront point contre elle equally preserves the asserted original Aramaic sense. A better English translation, ignoring the tradition of naming the saint Peter in English, would be you are Craig, and on this crag I shall build my church..., relying on English use of the Gaelic name Craig (meaning rock) instead of using the name Peter. The Goidelic languages (also sometimes called, particularly in colloquial situations, the Gaelic languages or collectively Gaelic) have historically been part of a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland, the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland. ...

A precise English translation would be "Thou art Rock, and upon this very (or same) rock will I build my church", since Matthew uses the demonstrative pronoun taute, which means "this very" or this same, when he refers to the rock on which Jesus' church will be built. When a demonstrative pronoun is used with the Greek word for "and", kai, the pronoun refers back to the preceding noun. The second rock Jesus refers to must be the same rock as the first one; and Peter is the rock in both cases.^[1][2][3]

Jesus also said to Peter in verse 19, "I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." Especially for the Hebrew people, keys were a symbol of authority. Indeed, Jesus declares in the Book of Revelation, that He has the "keys of death and hell," which means that He has power over death and hell; Isaiah 22:21-22 also supports this. Cardinal Gibbons, in his book The Faith of Our Fathers, points out that keys are still a symbol of authority in today's culture; he uses the example of someone giving the keys of his house to another person, and that the latter represented the owner of the house in his absence. Visions of John of Patmos, as depicted in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. ... The Book of Isaiah (Hebrew: Sefer Yshayah ספר ישעיה) is one of the books of Judaisms Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, traditionally attributed to Isaiah. ... James Cardinal Gibbons (23 July 1834 - 24 March 1921) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 until his death, and in 1886 became the second man from the United States to be made a cardinal. ...

Another source of Peter's supremacy can be found in John 21:15-17, where Christ tells Peter three times to "feed His sheep" and "feed His lambs." The "sheep" are understood to be the stronger portion of Jesus' flock (the clergy), and the "lambs" are understood as the weaker portion (the laity). From this, Catholics believe that Peter was given charge over Christ's whole flock, that is, the Church. Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... In religious organizations, the laity comprises all lay persons collectively. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic...

Moreover, Peter is always named first in all listings of the Apostles; Judas is invariably mentioned last. In Matthew 10:2, Peter is described as the "first Apostle". It is important to note that Peter was neither the first Apostle in age nor election; therefore, Peter must be the first Apostle in the sense of authority. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      For other uses, see...

Regarding the Roman Catholic interpretation of Matthew 16:18-19, Jaroslav Pelikan writes,^[4] "As Roman Catholic scholars now concede, the ancient Christian father Cyprian used it to prove the authority of the bishop—not merely of the Roman bishop, but of every bishop," referring to Maurice Bevenot's work on St. Cyprian.^[5] Jaroslav Jan Pelikan (17 December 1923 – 13 May 2006) was one of the worlds leading scholars in the history of Christianity and medieval intellectual history. ...

Eastern Catholics agree with the above, but also consider Peter to be representative of all bishops, and that the rock on which the faith was built is also a reference to the faith of Peter. In this, they represent a middle-ground between the Roman Catholic position and that of the Eastern Orthodox in the next section. The Eastern Catholic Churches are autonomous particular Churches in full communion with the Pope of Rome. ... Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ...

Though among the Twelve Peter is predominant in the first chapters of Acts, James "the brother of the Lord" is shown to be a leader in his own right in later chapters. Some assume James outranks Peter because he speaks last in the Council of Jerusalem and suggests the final ruling (concerning Gentile converts and Jewish practices such as circumcision) agreed upon by all, and because Paul mentions him before Peter and John when he calls them "pillars of the church" in Jerusalem. James was indeed the first bishop or patriarch of Jerusalem according to tradition. However, Roman Catholics believe the bishop of Jerusalem was not by that fact the head of the Christian church, since the leadership rested in Peter as the "Rock" and "Chief Shepherd".^[6] It is believed Peter entrusted the Jerusalem community to James when he was forced to leave Jerusalem due to Herod Agrippa's persecution.^[7] Saint James the Just (יעקב Holder of the heel; supplanter; Standard Hebrew Yaʿaqov, Tiberian Hebrew Yaʿăqōḇ, Greek Iάκωβος), also called James Adelphotheos, James, 1st Bishop of Jerusalem, or James, the Brother of the Lord[1] and sometimes identified with James the Less, (died AD 62) was an important figure... This entry incorporates text from Eastons Bible Dictionary, 1897, with some modernisation. ...

Eastern Orthodox view

Eastern Orthodox agree that the "rock" in this verse refers to Peter personally.^[8] However, Eastern Orthodox believe that "rock" simultaneously refers to Peter's confession of faith in the preceding verse. Both Latin and Greek writers in the early church referred to "rock" as applying to both Peter personally and his faith symbolically, as well as seeing Christ's promise to apply more generally to his twelve apostles and the Church at large.^[9] Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Coptic Orthodox Pope · Roman Catholic Pope Archbishop of Canterbury · Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Faith...

Peter is not seen as above the other apostles, because he did not have power and authority over them during Christ's public ministry. There were no positions of power between the twelve, only "degrees of intimacy" or "degrees of honor". Peter's primacy is believed to decline after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, since Peter's leadership over the Jerusalem church is replaced by that of its first bishop, James, the brother of the Lord. Though James appears more "papal" during this time, and the Jerusalem church was the center of Christianity in the primitive church, Jerusalem did not exert its place of honor as primacy over other smaller, local churches. Regarding Christ's promise to Peter specifically: "'I will build my church,' was a promise that was fulfilled at the first eucharistic gathering at Jerusalem, with Peter at its head."^[10]

Rome's authority in the early Byzantine empire was recognized only partially because of Rome's Petrine character, and was not a decisive issue. Nor was Rome's authority understood as an absolute power. In the East, there were numerous "apostolic sees", Jerusalem being considered the "mother of all churches," and the bishop of Antioch could also claim the title of successor to Peter, the first Antiochian bishop having been appointed by Peter. "Canon 28 of Chalcedon was for [the Byzantines] one of the essential texts for the organization of the Church: 'It is for right reasons that the accorded privileges to old Rome, for this city was the seat of the Emperor and the Senate.' ... The reason why the Roman Church had been accorded an incontestable precedence over all other apostolic churches was that its Petrine and Pauline 'apostolicity' was in fact added to the city's position as the capital city, and only the conjunction of both of these elements gave the Bishop of Rome the right to occupy the place of a primate in the Christian world with the consensus of all the churches."^[11]

Protestant views

The modern widespread majority Protestant view on the Matthew verse agrees with the Roman Catholic view^{[citation needed]}, and again the disagreements about primacy stem from doctrinal sources, and disagreements such as disagreements over the identification of Simon Peter with the Pope. However, a minority of Protestants assert the following, based specifically on the verse in Matthew: Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Protestantism encompasses the forms of Christian...

Jesus gives Simon the new name πητρος (Jesus never gave Simon the name Peter, he gave him the name Cephas, Greek meaning stone). However he refers to the "rock" as πητρα. The inspired New Testament Scriptures were written in Greek, not Aramaic. What Jesus might have said in Aramaic is conjecture. In Greek, there is a distinction between the two words, πητρα being a "rock" but πητρος being a "small stone" or "pebble". (James G. McCarthy translates the two as "mass of rock" and "boulder or detached stone", respectively.) Jesus is not referring to Peter when talking about "this rock", but is in fact referring to Peter's confession of faith in the preceding verses. Jesus thus does not declare the primacy of Peter, but rather declares that his church will be built upon the foundation of the revelation of and confession of faith of Jesus as the Christ.

An alternate Protestant argument is that when Jesus said "upon this rock" in the aforementioned Matthew verse, he referred to himself, in reference to Deuteronomy 32:3-4, which states that "God...is the Rock, his work is perfect". This idea also appears in 1 Corinthians 10:4, which says "...that Rock is Christ", as well as Ephesians 2:20, where Jesus is called "the chief corner stone". This article does not cite any references or sources. ... (Redirected from 1 Corinthians) See also: Second Epistle to the Corinthians and Third Epistle to the Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians is a book of the Bible in the New Testament. ... The Epistle to Ephesians is one of the books of the Bible in the New Testament, written by Paul at Rome about the same time as that to the Colossians, which in many points it resembles. ...

The New Apostolic Church, who believes in the re-established Apostle ministry, sees Peter as the first Chief Apostle in the early church. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Chief Apostle, also known as the Stammapostel, is the highest minister in the New Apostolic Church, and has existed since 1896. ...

References

• William E. Addis & Thomas Arnold (revised by T.B. Scannell) (1925). Catholic Dictionary (9th edition). Virtue & Company Ltd., London.  .  which provides citations for the use of πέτρος to mean "rock" in classical works.
• Who is the Rock of Matthew 16:18?. Retrieved on June 21, 2005.
• Commentary on Matthew 16:17–19. The Catholic Evangel. Retrieved on June 21, 2005.
• Do Protestants believe Peter was the vicar of Christ?. Retrieved on June 21, 2005.
• Section IV: Authority. Refutation of James G. McCarthy's The Gospel According to Rome. Retrieved on June 21, 2005.
• Il Papa: Resign? Never!. You Big Mouth, You!. Retrieved on June 21, 2005.
• 50 New Testament Proofs for Petrine Primacy & The Papacy. The Papacy and Infallibility. Retrieved on December 18, 2005. Catholic

Footnotes

Jaroslav Jan Pelikan (17 December 1923 – 13 May 2006) was one of the worlds leading scholars in the history of Christianity and medieval intellectual history. ...

See also

• Papal supremacy
• Papal infallibility
• Petrine theory
• Apostolic Succession
• Historical episcopate

Referring to the doctrine of Papal Supremacy the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes in paragraph 882, “the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he... In Catholic theology, papal infallibility is the dogma that, by action of the Holy Spirit, the Pope is preserved from even the possibility of error[1] when he solemnly declares or promulgates to the Church a dogmatic teaching on faith or morals as being contained in divine revelation, or at... Petrine theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... In Christianity, the doctrine of Apostolic Succession (or the belief that the Church is apostolic) maintains that the Christian Church today is the spiritual successor to the original body of believers in Christ, composed of the Apostles. ... The episcopate is either the status of a bishop or the collective body of all bishops of a church. ...

Further reading

Books

• Ray, Stephen K. Upon This Rock: St. Peter and the Primacy of Rome in Scripture and the Early Church. (ISBN 0-89870-723-4)
• Meyendorff, John, ed. The Primacy of Peter: Essays in Ecclesiology and the Early Church. (ISBN 0-88141-125-6)