Covenant Reformed News – August 2008 • Volume XII, Issue 4
This article examines Matthew 16:16-18, focusing on Peter's confession of Christ and Christ's promise to build His church. The author refutes Roman Catholic claims about papal primacy and infallibility by providing careful exegetical analysis of this foundational biblical passage, demonstrating that Christ Himself, not Peter or the Pope, is the foundation of the church.
Christ Will Build His Church (1) Matthew 16 is one of the most famous passages in all the Bible. Here we have Peter’s great confession: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16), and Christ’s great promise: “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (18). We also have here a controversy with Rome which identifies the person of Peter as the rock on which the church is built. Then, after claiming that the pope is the true successor of Peter, they...