The Washington herald., 1921-10-02
Church Was Founded on
Christ.

/ SAAAAots
To the Editor. The Washington Herald:
| Please allow space for reply to an
article in your paper of last month,
(that has come to my attention), by
Mr.. George b. Cowles, explaining,
from his viewpoint. certain pass
ages of the New Testament; and, as
he asserts he writes in the cause of
truth. / likewise do the same.
1t must be remembered, that the
law OF sound exegesis demands that
all data relating to any question
under discussion must be considered
before a correct and valuable con-
clusion can be reached.
Now. let us apply this rule to
verses eighteen and nineteen. st.
Mat. NVl-which are as follows:
And L also say unto thee, that thou
| art Peter, and upon this rock / will
| build my church: and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it,"
And i will give unto thee the key
Of the kingdom of heaven, and what
soever thou shalt bind on earth
snail be bound in heaven; and what
soever thou shalt loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven
Now. applying the rule, we must
go back to verse thirteen (same
chapter), and read. in order, down
to verse twenty to get at Jesus
meaning in verses eighteen and
I nineteen. already quoted. So. we
begin with part of thirteen (verse):
whom do men say that | the son
OF man am? Cthis question was ad-
| dressed to all of his disciplesD And
they said, some say that thou art
John the Baptist: some Elias; and
| Others, Jeremias, or one of the pro-
phets." But whom say ye that l
am And Simon Peter answered
| and said: Thou art the Christ the
son of the living God" And Jesus
answered and said unto him: Bless
ed art thou Simon Barjona. for flesh
and blood hath not revealed unto
! thee, but my Father which Is in
heaven" Now, we quote verse
| twenty. viz: Then charged he his
disciples. that they should tell no
man, that he was Jesus. the Christ"
This then was the great tremendous
truth that Jesus disclosed in his
conversation with his disciples. viz:
That he was Jesus, the Christ"
Therefore. II was not Peter he re-
ferred to when he said ION the rock,
will build my church." but on
Jesus, the Christ
To confirm this further. as an in
disputable fact. j will quote verses
eighteen and nineteen, St. Mat.
XVIII-wherein Jesus said to all of
his disciples: Verify I say unto you,
! whatsoever ye shall bind on earth,
shall be bound in heaven; and what
soever ye shall loose on earth shall
be loosed in heaven" Again. l say
unto you that IL two of you shall
agree on earth as touching anything
that they shall ask. it shall be done
for them of my Father which is in
heaven"
Now, is il not evident that, IL
Peter had been selected to be head
of his church. after his resurrection,
Jesus never would have given the
keys of the kingdom of heaven" to
all of his disciples. whereby all were
on an equality, without the slight
est intimation of supremacy being
given to any one OF them?
Let us now follow the history of
Peter. after the conversation re-
ferred to above, to be still further
convinced that Peter was not the
rock.
In the first place. Peter meets
with severe rebuke from Jesus.
when he said unto him-verse twen-
ty-three. st. Mat. XVI, viz: Get
lHte IHe, Sdldn, lnOu an
offence unto me; for thou savorest
not the things that be of God, but
those that be of men"
Again; On the day before the cru
cifixion, Peter basely denied Jesus
! thrice, and with an oath, saying,
est. Mat. XXVI, verse seventy-two):
Il know not the man: and yet with
in a few hours before, he had de-
clared: Though / should die with
thee. yet will 1 not deny thee" /
(verse thirty-five)
There is no mention of Peter on
the day of crucifXion; but many of
| the holy women were at the cross,
and the beloved disciple. to whose
care Jesus committed his mother
(St. John XIX, verse twenty-seven)
Again; On the morning of the Re-
surrection. Jesus appeared. first. to
the two Marys; and, second. to two
of them as they walked and went
into the country'-Mark XVI. verse
twelve.)
So, in the record. the Risen Lord
shows no preference for Peter; and
St John XXI contains the only spe-
cial notice of Peter, after the re-
| surrection, when Jesus said amongst
other things; Feed my sheep"
This command, repeated thrice
was, doubtless, intended to let Peter
understand. he was still held in high
esteem, Notwithstanding his recent
denial.
Again: The most opportune time
Tor showing a preference for Peter.
or any other disciple, was on the
eve Of his ascension referred to In
Acts l. verse eight (when Jesus said
to all of his disciples): But we shall
receive power after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you; and ye
shall be witnesses unto me both IN
Jerusalem. and in all Judea. and in
Samaria. and unto the uttermost
parish of the earth"
Again: There is no evidence in
the New Testament. that Peter ever
presided at any council of the
church. If so. will some one. please
name book, chapter. and verse in
proof OF course, he spoke on num-
erous occasions; but in no instance
where there was any preference
shown him as presiding officer He |
was forceful speaker, and an able |
apostle
At the general council of the |
church as Jerusalem. referred to in |
Acts XIV, verses six. seven, thirteen |
and nineteen, Peter spoke. amongst
many others, on the subject of cir |
cumcision, the chief matter under
discussion: but Saint James presid- |
co. ana gave his sentence, set forth
In verses nineteen ct seq.
Again: st Paul rebukes Peter to |
the face" tGal. 2. verse eleven): |