Catholics please answer?

Question

I know that you use the scripture about when Jesus was speaking to Peter about being the rock and upon that rock He will build His church. I was raised catholic so I understand what this means to you. Now, I take it as the rock meaning His truths about salvation, dying on the cross, raising from the dead, etc. It is upon this Rock (His truths) that the gates of hell cannot prevail, not a certain church. When I was growing up I was taught that only catholics go to heaven, I know it is different now. I just don't believe that there is one particular church, but a body of believers. The JW and Mormons believe they are the true church also. Please give me your opinions. Thank you. God Bless

Answer 1

I am Catholic, and I don't think it matters what 'church' you belong to. God loves us all the same, and I think any church that claims to be the only 'true' church is wrong.

I think Heaven is going to be a lot more crowded then some folks believe.

Answer 2

Matthew 23:24
Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

I don't understand how you can stretch the plain meaning of the Words that Jesus spoke:
New International Version
Matthew 16:18
And I tell you that you are Peter, [ Peter means rock.] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades [ Or hell] will not overcome it. [ Or not prove stronger than it]


Simon's name was changed to "Rock." Then, the Church is built on the Rock. In the Bible, whenever God changes a name, it signifys a change in status of that person. Abram = Abraham; Sari=Sarah

Also, the immediately following passage is:

Matthew 16:19
"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."

By examining Is 22:22, we learn that the "prime minister" of the kingdom has the "keys."

Peter is mentioned by name in the New Testament many more times than any other apostle. He was clearly the leader after the Holy Spirit descended on Pentacost. He gave the first sermon; he cured in Jesus name, etc.

If you choose not to believe the plain meaning of the Gospel and to follow the teaching of men (Luthur, Calvin and Henry VIII) that is fine with me.

Please note that Catholics do not take one verse and use it to prove a point. If the Bible as a whole and Sacred Tradition do not support a point, we look to harmonize the whole of Sacred Revelation, both oral and written to learn God's intent.

Answer 3

Look please do not be fooled by false interpretations, the Rock Christ spoke of is Peter himself, when Peter proclaimed the great declaration that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God Christ instantly knew that God the Father chose Peter to recieve this light of truth and so Christ was speaking directly to Peter and bestowed the keys of the kingdom upon him.
This was a special gift for Peter alone and not for the other Apostles but united with Peter they would share in this Apostolic gift, Peter was instantly made the rock of the new church and those united with him in proclaiming the Good News would form the infant church.
Now there cannot be another church or churches as this would falsify the body of Christ and split it, not only this but Jesus proclaimed that the forces of Hell would not prevail against this church, of course that has to be taken to mean that the powers of Hell would try to destroy the church and do so untill the end of time.
Do not be fooled by clever manipulation of scripture regarding the one true church founded on St.Peter and continuing right down to the present day and right till the end of time, it is One Holy Catholic and Apostolic church and the lies of satan will not change this fact.

Answer 4

The verses in question are commonly viewed as a pun, since the Aramaic says Petros akin to petra which means rock. The juxtiposition of the two suggests that Petros is petra. Catholics don't believe in a "church" persay, but they believe in the universal church of believers. That is what Catholic means. This is the church that Catholics believe cannot be prevailed upon by the gates of hell - not the official, corporate church. Catholics assert that many people outside the official corporate church are saved. True Muslims and Jews are considered to be saved in the official doctrines of the Catholic Church.

Answer 5

I want to give you a few instances and let the Holy spirit guide you on the rest. Peter was the first person to whom the identity of Christ is revealed when Peter says that you are the messiah and Christ says that the Father in heaven has revealed this to you .

Then Christ says

"You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it

The Last verse which confirms that Peter is the leader is when Christ says to Peter to feed my sheep and tend my flock.

Then after the disciples were anointed with the fire of the Holy spirit Peter was the one who was initiated by the Holy spirit to speak to affirm that he is the leader.

You can be sure that he is the leader.

May the Lord bless you too.

Answer 6

Jesus established ONE church, He left the naming of that church to Peter. Those who endure til the end will be saved. The bible says nothing about a particular religion, (being religion is man made and not God made.) Only God can judge what is in a persons heart and soul. You were taught wrong. Catholics will not be the only ones in heaven. Jesus's church was established in 33 AD, The JW's were established in 1872 and the Mormon church was established in 1822, obviously not the church that Jesus founded in 33 AD.

Answer 7

Church when Christ said it in that particular verse didn't mean the Church. He meant his people. His people were his Church. Constantine later institutionalized it. I don't believe that if you don't go to a certain church you're going to hell. I don't even believe that if you're not Christian you're going to hell.

Even so I do believe there is only one true Church. So being Catholic means you would be closer to God than you would if you were in another church. But being so favored, it has its responsibilities. An example of this is how God punishes the Jews more than other people. He expects more from them and it would make sense that he would expect more from us.

That's right give me thumbs down. This is a Catholic question. I gave a Catholic answer.

Also concerning Heaven. (This is not a Catholic belief it's my personal opinion) You shouldn't expect anything in Heaven if you're lucky (and good) enough to get there. Because Heaven is going to be drastically different from anything we could imagine. So don't worry about it.
God Bless.

Answer 8

I am Jewish but I think this question should be asked to everyone. Every monotheistic religion prays to a different deity, the way I like to think of it is that although we all believe in a different G-d, we are all taught the same. He is an all-loving, all-powerful G-d and he wants you to do the right thing.
In Judaism, we are taught to do Mitzvot or good deeds, and Christianity teaches that we should not sin and do good things for other people. Islam tells us that we shouldn't sin either. So, aren't they the same thing?
I think that while we all may believe different things, one thing is universal, our religion teaches us to do the right thing, and that is what is important. If that happens, we will all go to heaven, regardless of our religion.

Answer 9

Peter is "The Rock" in the way that he was the first pope, and the foundation of our church, much as our houses are built on strong foundations, or "rocks". Peter is the "rock" because he is a strong leader to start building the history of the Church on.

Answer 10

It's wordplay. The name Peter literally means "rock" -- it's "Petros" in Greek. That's why Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter. He was basically saying, "Simon, I hereby call you Rock, and on this rock, I will build my church." Jesus wasn't referring to himself. If he were, why would he have changed Simon's name to "rock" and then alluded to the "rock" of his church? If Jesus were referring to himself, he would have called *himself* "rock," not Simon.

People, you can thumbs-down me all you want. It's a simple matter of etymology.