CIRCULAR REASONING: the Roman Catholic church is the one true church and infallible interpreter to declare that Matthew 16:18 means that

CATHOHOLICS
ANONYMOUS

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)

The peg that doesn't hold up
the Roman Catholic religion

Matthew 16:18

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

How can a roman catholic be sure that Matthew 16:18 proves that the roman catholic church is the one true and only Christian church and is infallible in its interpretations of this verse and all Scripture?

The Catholic answer: Because the roman catholic church, which is infallible in interpretation says so!

AFTER ALL ELSE is discussed, this is what the case for the roman church boils down to...

CIRCULAR REASONING

The roman catholic church does this to defend what is only an empty claim for this church to exalt itself above the word of God, the Holy Scriptures.

LETS FACE IT! It is a far stretch to go from the words of Matthew 16:18 to conclude the great boasts the roman catholic church makes about herself.

THE FACT IS that the words spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ in this verse never meant anything at all by our Lord that the roman catholic church has twisted them into and has taught others about them.

THERE IS NO PROOF here that the roman catholic church is Christ's true and only church and the infallible interpreter of the Holy Scriptures of God.

THERE MUST BE, therefore, a way to understand and interpret the Scriptures correctly and there is!... By learning the meaning of the words of the Holy Bible from its divine Author, the Holy Spirit of God.

James 1:5

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Who do you say Jesus is?

You say that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

But do you say that He is the Rock that His church is built on?

Matthew 16:13-20... The true context of Matthew 16:18!

13	When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14	And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15	He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16	And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17	And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18	And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19	And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
20	Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

The name Peter in greek means "small stone" and he is a stone TOO SMALL for Christ's church to be built on. The text of Christ's words is in the ancient greek language. Jesus was able to speak this language as shown by His quotes of the ancient Greek Septuagint version of the Holy Scriptures. There is no proof showing that Jesus must have spoken in another language when He spoke to the disciples here. To build a doctrine only supported upon the insistance of such is a faith based on presumption.

Also, the topic of conversation here is NOT who Peter is but who JESUS is! The ROCK that Christ's church is built on is what Peter had just said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." The Bible always refers to God and Jesus as the Rock. If people will not yield to double talk, it becomes quite obvious that Matthew 16:18 never says that Peter is the rock on which Christ's church is built.

Over this "rocky" play on words Jesus used it has presumed by many that Peter must be that rock on which Christ's church, even though He didn't say this verbatim. This presumptive conclusion remains yet for many to be tested. It does stand all the more to be questioned as such great boasts have been made by the roman catholic church about itself over their own interpretation of this one Bible verse.

The entire false claim for the roman catholic church as Christ's true church pivots on the one Bible verse of Matthew 16:18. This verse has been taken out-of-context from the text of what Jesus was saying, out-of-context from the rest of Scripture and out-of-context of the original greek language. This one Bible verse is too weak a peg to hold up and justify the entire system of roman catholicism. The boast that popes are the sucessors to Peter's apostleship are empty. Sucessorship to Peter's office as Apostle is never mentioned in God's Word, the Holy Scriptures, muchless ever mentioned as being roman popes.

Christ's church, in fact, is everyone who has placed their trusting faith in Him alone for salvation despite what denomination church they belong to. Do not build your faith on a foundation of a small stone that cannot support you. Trust in Jesus, the real Rock, for your salvation. Don't be deceived by the lie of salvation by denomination. Be free from the addiction of trusting the roman catholic church for your salvation. Trust Jesus Himself alone, He did ALL the work to save you!