PETER AND THE ROCK

Mat 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.

Peter => Greek : "Petros"  = a piece of stone, pebble

rock => Greek : "petra" = a solid immovable slab of rock; cliff , bedrock etc.

So, the Church is NOT built on Peter as per the Roman Catholic portrayal of Peter as the first pope!

What then did Christ mean? Let's look at the previous few verses:

Mat 16:15  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 Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

What is the "rock"  then. If you look at the above verses, I would say it is the testimony of Peter and thus by implication, the testimony of faith in Christ of all believers. In any case Jesus Christ is THE Rock, the Chief corner stone:

Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;