Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Date:         Sun, 23 Aug 1992 03:14:52 EDT
From:         Marty Helgesen <MNHCC@CUNYVM.BITNET>
Subject:      Why St. Peter (Was Re Jesus OR Popee

Kerry,

You say, "In 1 Cor 3:4, Paul says, 'For when one says, "I am of
Paul," and another "I am of Apollos," are you not mere men?'  (He
doesn't mention Peter.)"  However, that is part of a discussion of
factions in the Church that begins in 1 Cor 1:10.  And in 1 Cor 1:12
he writes, "Now, this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of
Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ"  As I am
sure you know, "Cephas" or "Kepha" is the Aramaic word for "Rock"
which Jesus used in Matt 16:18.

You say, "I just don't understand why Peter should be considered all
that important."  There are lots of reasons.  He is given prominence
in the Gospels.  His name appears around 60 times in the Gospels.  No
other Apostle is named more than about 25 times.  Every list of The
Twelve begins with Peter and ends with Judas.  He frequently acts as
a spokesman for the Apostles.  And, as Ronald Knox once observed, the
first 12 chapters of Acts are a kind of epic of St. Peter.

However, most important reason is the Jesus made him important.
There are three texts which bring this out:

"And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of
the living God.  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art
thou Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee but my Father which is in heaven.  And I say also unto thee,
That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  And I shall give
unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou
shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Matt 16:16-19

In English we lose some of the impact of that because the name
"Peter" and the word "rock" are not related.  However, in Aramaic,
which Jesus was speaking, the word is "Kepha" in both cases ("thou
are Kepha and on this Kepha I will build my church.")  In the Greek
New Testament it is "thou art Petros and on this Petra I will build
my church."  The variation is because "Petra" is a feminine noun.
"Petros" is the masculine form.  If Simon had been called "Petra" in
Greek he'd have been like the boy named Sue.  The connection is also
clear in various modern languages such as French ("tu es Pierre et
sur cette pierre ...")

The kingdom of heaven in this context is the Church, not Heaven the
abode of the departed saints, and keys are a symbol of authority in
the Bible.  Cf. Isaiah 22:22; Rev. 1:18; 3:7.

The Hebrew words "asar" (=bind) and "hittir" (=lose) were used to
mean prohibiting and permitting and referred to the legislative
authority of the rabbis.  So Jesus is saying that God will ratify
Peter's authority.

"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have
you <plural>, that he may sift you <plural> like wheat:  But I have
prayed for thee <singular>, that thy faith fail not: and when thou
<singular> art converted strengthen thy brethren" Luke 22:31-32   I
have inserted the words "plural" and "singular" to draw attention to
the fact that Satan sought power over the Apostles as a group, but
Jesus selected and prayed for St. Peter as an individual so he could
strengthen the others.

"So when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me more than these:  He saith unto him, Yea, Lord;
thou knowest that I love thee.  He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.  He
saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me?  He said unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.  He
saith unto him, Feed my sheep.  He saith unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?  Peter was grieved because he
said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? and he said unto him,
Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.  Jesus
saith unto him, Feed my sheep."  John 21:15-17  Jesus, the Good
Shepherd (John 10:11), made Simon the shepherd in His place just as
in Matt 16:18 Jesus the Rock, the foundation stone (Ephesians 2:20)
made Simon the Rock, the foundation stone in His place.

The Church Fathers also bear witness to the special position of St.
Peter and of his successors as Bishop of Rome.

You write, "But if the Pope is the successor to Peter, why can't he
get married?  Peter was married."  Of course St. Peter was married.
We know that because Jesus healed his mother-in-law.  A number of
other early popes were married, too.  That's irrelevant.  The re-
quirement that priests be celibate is Church law, not divine law, and
therefore can be changed or modified by the Church.  It was made in
keeping with the spirit of Matt 19:12 and 1 Cor 7:7-8, but it is
still only Church law.

Marty Helgesen