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!!!!!