In the Greek there is not just a distinction between the masculine and feminine, but in the meanings themselves. Rock and stone or pebble. Read it from Matthew 15 on, it is obviously saying that the truth that Jesus is Christ will be the rock that the church is built on. It is a manipulation, trying to redefine the meaning of the excerpt by saying there is no distinction in the language it was written in, to redirect the conversation away from what the passage actually says.
If Peter was Bishop of Rome from 42 AD to 67 AD according to RCC, why did Paul write the letter to the Romans? Read Romans 1:7.
If Peter was Bishop of Rome for 25 years, how could he meet Paul in Jerusalem in 42 AD, and then back in Jerusalem again in 43 AD, and in 56 AD have a dispute with Paul in Antioch about 800 miles from Rome, it appears Peter was not in Rome when RCC declare he was, Can you say that RCC is in error over the time Peter supposedly was in Rome, or has the Bible got it all mixed up?
If Peter was in Rome during those years, why when Paul was greeting 27 eminent people in Rome and greet them by name, did he not once mention Peter ~ Romans 16.
Peter is not the rock, because the 12 disciples, knowing well the OT, recognised the Rock as a description or name for God. Duet32:4,Psalms18:2,Psalm18:31
If Peter has the Power to forgive sins as the RCC declares, why did Peter not use this power to forgive Simon the Sorcerer, but told him to Repent and pray to God for forgiveness Acts 8: 18-24.
No mention is made of Peter ever being in Rome at ANY time in the 27 documents of the oldest existing record of the Christian Faith. The Apostle Paul wrote an Epistle to the church at Rome, named approximately SIXTEEN (16) people, by name, and never mentioned Peter. That was NO oversight on his part. Peter was never there! Peter's tomb was also discovered outside *Jerusalem*; there is historical documentation to verify this fact. Even if that were not the case, Paul's neglect at mentioning Peter, in Romans 16, is INEXCUSABLE, if Peter were Head of the Church. There is no evidence for the Papacy from Peter himself.
To err is human, to be infallible is divine (Romans 3:23). Peter deserted Christ in His passion, and did not assist Him in Golgotha. Peter described himself as an elder, witness and partaker, servant, and apostle (1 and 2 Peter) but never the first Pope, Prince of the apostles, or Head of the Church. Jesus Christ, not mortal and sinful man, is the only head of His Church (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians.1:18).
"you are petros ( a small pebble) and upon this petra ( a massive rock) I shall build My church....." Christ built His church upon Himself, upon the faith Peter had and upon our faith in Christ. Not Peter the person.
Christ asks Simon who He was and he replies "you are the missiah the Christ" and Christ responds by saying well done Simon for this truth did not to you from men but from God. You will be called (in Greek) petros (a pebble) and on this Petra (rock) I will build my church. what Christ was saying is that He is the foundation, He is the corner stone to the Church.
He is also the stone that the builders reject as useless that turned out to be the most important of all and nobody can lay any other.
"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid,which is Jesus Christ."1 Corinthians 3:11
"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;" Ephesians 2:19-20
"Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner," 1 Peter 2:6-7,
"This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner." Acts 4:11
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock [Jesus referring to Himself and NOT to Peter] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18
"And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." 1 Corinthians 10:4
Jesus himself said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6). In Matt. 16:13-20, Jesus asked his disciples a very important question, “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus is asking the key question of the Bible: he is asking us to correctly identify him. This is the question that inspects the very foundation of the Christian faith. If we do not now who the real Jesus is, then we can not be saved. We can not get to the true Heaven with a false Jesus. The real Jesus of the Bible is the true foundation (rock) of the Christian faith. He is the rock of salvation. Even Peter claimed that Jesus is the rock, the cornerstone that the builders rejected (Acts 4:10 & 1 Peter 2:1-6). Paul says, “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ... ‘the rock was Christ.’”(1 Cor. 3:11 &10:4).