The Rock

Christ says, "I will build my church." But before that promise, He says something to one man that the whole Church has spent two thousand years trying to understand: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church."

This paper follows that question honestly rather than assuming its answer, through Scripture's own use of "rock," through the keys and their Old Testament background, through Peter's place among the Twelve, through Acts and the Council of Jerusalem, and into what the earliest Church Fathers, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Cyprian, actually said, and didn't say, about Rome and apostolic succession.

The second paper in the Cathedral's trilogy on the Church, following "Why the Church?" and preceding "The Voice of the Word."

Primary Scripture: Matthew 16:13 to 20, Douay-Rheims.

Published by The Cathedral of The Fourth.

Format: Digital PDF, 11 pages, approx 3200 words

Language: English

Author: Martin Andrew

Series: Scripture Opened

Published by cathedralofthefourth.com

A Cathedral of The Fourth production.