Is Peter (the guy on whom the church is built) really Satan?

Question

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."

. . .

23: "But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."

KJV bible

http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=KjvMatt.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=16&division=div1


Is there some other explanation? Is the bible lying?

Or, are Christians really following Satan?

In other words, it doesn't mean what it says? I thought the bible was to be taken literally.

Okay, I think I'm getting it.

Jesus called him Satan, but he didn't really call him Satan.

Three dots . . . indicate that there is information missing. I included a link to the cited passages so everyone could read the entire chapter for himself.

How other verses alter the fact Jesus plainly called Peter Satan is not exactly clear, but I'm still reading the answers.

Answer 1

Well since most fundi-neo-christians believe that every word of the Bible is the word for word exactly what their god wants, I would suppose you have a point.

On that same note, watch your back around those christians! If they notice that you are wearing a cotton-poly blend they are commanded by their god to stone you to death, as per Leviticus.

Answer 2

There is another explanation. The verse that you are quoting from the King James Version involves Peter saying that he did not want Jesus to die on the cross since Jesus and Peter were friends (who would want their friend to suffer and die?). Peter is saying this because he doesn't yet understand the purpose of Jesus' death on the cross. Therefore, Jesus rebukes Peter because Peter is trying to deter Jesus from His purpose. It should also be noted that "Satan" in the original Hebrew means "opponent or adversary". So, as Peter was naively standing in the way, or trying to deter Jesus from His goal, Peter is acting as an adversary or "satan".

Also, Peter could be seen as being used by Satan (the figure) in moment of weakness. Thus, Jesus is rebuking Satan working within Peter, not Peter himself.

Finally, if Peter was actually Satan, wouldn't one think that such a fact would be seen more in Bible, rather than in just this particular story? Or, if there is some conspiracy to hide the fact that Peter is Satan, why would the conspirators fail to remove this verse?

Hopefully this helps shine some light on the subject.

Answer 3

Satan was influencing Peter at this time, being able to whisper things into his mind so Peter would try to persuade Jesus not to go to the cross to shed his Blood (which Blood, I am pleading as I write this to you, by the way.) Jesus was addressing Satan, not Peter.

Ya see, JT, it's like this. Sometimes people can be used as TOOLS OF SATAN, without actually being posessed by Satan.

Case in point: I just read a question from a Christian asking for prayer (name of Keith, I believe) because his father had just abandoned the family. Christians ask each other for prayer all the time on the net, and that's cool, as long as they aren't begging for money. Now another person left a comment THROWIN' DOWN on the poor guy, accusing him of begging for money. He just lost his dad, for cryin' out loud!

Get thee behind me Satan. Yep. Pleadin' the Blood. Sure am.

Answer 4

Jesus said what he did to Peter (whos is positively NOT Satan) becasue he was trying to give Jesus an "out" from what it was he was facing in Gethsemene. The entire idea of what Peter was suggesting was a satanic one. Had Jesus not endured what he did there would be no salvation.

It wasn't peter that Jesus meant he was going to build his church upon, but the manner in which Peter received the revelation of whom Jesus really was, the Messiah and son of the living God.

Answer 5

Read the verse before and it says that God revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Christ. It was revelation from God that the church was to be built on, not a single man.

And havn't you called someone a name that wasn't their own? Peter was tempting Jesus by suggesting that he shouldn't go through with his sacrifice. He was playing the part of tempter, which is what Satan does.

Answer 6

Oddly enough, he then goes on to say that his kingdom will come during the lifetimes of some of the people present. 2000 years have passed and it doesn't seem to be here yet. But maybe this is another Satan statement, like Peter commiting the devilish crime of not wanting Jesus to die.

I think Satan was just a pet-name Jesus had for his buddies. Playful guy, that Jesus.

Answer 7

You really need to read what's in between.

Matthew 16:
"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ. From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You." But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

When the a larger portion of the text is shown you can see that Jesus is telling Peter that God's will must be done and to not do God's will would be the same as doing Satan's will.

Answer 8

JT, Open your Heart, Not your mind!

You try to find falsehoods in the text, because you have never read deep enough to understand it all. You scim across it on the outside, not really knowing what it all means.
But you could know what it means like anyone else here could. Just open yourself up to Jesus, and his words will live within you.
The Bible says the seed is the word of God.
You don't read the Bible to try to find God, you read it to find your own explanation. Before you even opened your Bible, you made the choice not to obey or to listen to the word. You read it just to try to turn people away from it.

In all honesty do me a favor, JT. I want you to read the Bible with an open mind, and just give it all to Jesus.

Answer 9

Christ wasn't saying that Peter was Satan; He was saying that Peter was acting in a devilish manner for rebuking Him. Peter was out of line for back-talking the Savior. Stick the rest of the verses in there and it makes a lot more sense than just pulling out the parts you like.

Answer 10

first , you are missing some scripture in between those verses if you read it in its context you would find that peter was interfering with Gods will . you cant pick certain scripture and twist it to your liking. the only way to understand the Bible is to have the mind of Christ, to have that you need to be a christian, if you are not a christian then stop trying to interpret the Bible. second, the answer to your question is obviously NO!

Answer 11

First off, if you read the rest of the story, you will see that Jesus was well aware that satan wanted peter.

Jesus told peter to warn him , but peter was not satan.
Jesus also did not allow satan to have peter.

the bible is not lying, you just failed to read the rest of the story.