tuppence you seem upset by the Catholic Church for calling Peter rock.
Yup. It's blasphemy.
This is because Protestants mistakingly believe only God can be called rock.
God Himself said there was not other Rock but Himself. It has nothing to do with Protestantism. It has to do 1) with believing God's Word and 2) letting Bible explain Bible.
I already went through Isaiah 51 with you, in THREE different versions! It has NOTHING to do with Abraham being the Rock!
Nor is anyone's ideas of 'fitting' a good defense for faulty doctrine. Remember, His ways are higher than ours?
You said 1Kings 18:31 "He took twelve stones, for the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the LORD had said, "Your name shall be Israel." 32 He built an altar in honor of the LORD with the stones, and made a trench around the altar large enough for two seahs of grain."
We see from this verse that God saw each tribe of Israel as stones and He conveyed this through the Prophet Eli'jah.
Yeah, and the altars were often made of stones. Elijah was using a picture. Don't take it too literally! Which one of those tribes is missing in Revelation? A picture is only a picture, not a doctrine.
Jesus called Simon "Petros" which is 'little pebble.' This not only has nothing to do with Peter being the "Rock" which is and can only be God, by HIS OWN WORD, but this is also different from Peter's statement in his first letter regarding believers being 'living stones.'
Look again at what PETER, your "first Pope" says there:
As you come to him, the living Stone -- rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him -- you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trust in him
will never be put to shame."
Peter is referring to the Stone as someone other than himself, first of all. If you don't believe God in Isaiah, do you believe Peter?
Secondly, we are LIKE living stones -- the picture is being used of building up a spiritual church, not a physical one, which the Roman Catholics and others have tried to do.
Thirdly, is Peter the one you trust in, so you will never be put to shame? Or is it Christ Himself?
The something outside of Himself that Jesus said He would build His church on was Peter's statement of faith. As Peter said, "the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
Peter declared to the Pharisees and high priest, in Acts 4:11: "He [Jesus Christ] is 'the stone you builders rejected which has become the capstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
The fact that we, the spiritual church are built up and build one another up in faith through the talents God has given us is a major New Testament doctrine.
On the other hand, the Roman Catholic church might want to take the stern warnings in Habakkuk 2:
Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion!
...For you have shed mens' blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
...Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain
to set his nest on high,
to escape the clutches of ruin!
You have plotted the ruin of many peoples.
...Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and establishes a town by crime!
That perfectly describes what the Roman Catholic church as done through time!
Built on doctrines designed to elevate men, the Roman Catholic church as slaughtered thousands upon thousands of real believers through the ages. But you know something?
We're still here. The gates of hell have not prevailed against us.
How many times did Jesus heal someone and say "Your faith has saved you."? It is that faith IN JESUS which is the rock upon which the church is built. It is not a person. Those who live according to HIS teachings are building upon the rock as well -- not those who are living according to the teachings of men and tradition. You want to know what Jesus thought of men's adding to the law with traditions and new laws and such? Reach Matthew 23. He's pretty clear about how His judgment lies there!
The Roman Catholic church is NOT the church of the Jesus of the Bible. It is the result of an unholy union of Roman government, paganism, and Christian terminology. There are some saved Catholics. They have read the Bible and put their full faith in Jesus rather than the church. Interestingly, most of them also leave the Catholic church.
But that takes a lot of courage, for that church, as all cult churches do, claims that if you leave them, you are condemned forever. Since most people don't read the Bible, most people don't know any better, and so fear keeps them in the clutches of others.