Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: EFL0@ns.cc.lehigh.edu (Ed Lamb) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Keith Drake Sez Peter could not be a pop Message-ID: Date: 30 Jan 91 09:05:06 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 47 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Just a little comment about Peter... I have been informed by at least two people who understood Greek that the meaning of "the rock" statement is a little inaccurate. It seems that the word that Christ used to refer to Peter means "little rock" and the second reference means "big rock." They do not refer to the same source. The way this was explained to me is this: When Christ said, "..You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church..." it seems a little unclear to the meaning of this verse. Two other thoughts: when He said "you are Peter," peter comes from petros, which I have been told means "little rock," while "on this rock" comes from petra, which means a BIG rock. So if you imagine hand motions along with this, you have: "You are Peter (little rock -- pointing to Peter) and on this rock (BIG rock -- Jesus points to himself) I will build my church." With this interpretation, it seems to be a humbling statement for Peter. Another interpretation I have heard is that the second "rock" (BIG rock) refers to the truth that Peter had just spoken, namely "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." This seems the most likely scenario to me, consequently I am unsure about affirming any one head of the church. But, I am not willing to argue with a brother or sister about this when there are so many valid interpretations made by men and women of God. I'm not really sure what purpose this memo had, except that at the time I felt I should write something. I am always happy to discuss the Word of God, but I don't like to argue with siblings in Christ. Ed ________________________________________________________________________ Ed Lamb .387 average Catcher 53 home runs Philadelphia Phillies 157 runs batted in National League MVP 67 stolen bases World Series MVP ________________________________________________________________________ --Hey, I can dream, can't I ?????? [This interpretation seems not to be as common as it used to be. It seems that this distinction is peculiar to Greek. Although I haven't seen it said directly, my suspicion is that Petros is used as the name instead of Petra because it is the masculine form. However in Aramaic, which is presumably the language Jesus used, both words would have been the same. --clh]