Continuing my response to the claims made about about Peter and his position in the Church.
Let's now look at the keys of the kingdom. It was claimed:
"The 'Keys to the Kingdom' is the TRUTH of the Gospel. It is not a right or a position of leadership but the MESSAGE that Jesus is the Messiah. That is the whole of what that scripture was about."
If the above statement is correct,
it would prove the Catholic claim for Peter as the leader of the Church
beyond any shadow of a doubt.
Before anyone stops right there as if such a statement is just too rediculous, I respectfully request they read through this entire post to the end, for all is explained.
If the keys really are, as is contended above, the TRUTH of the Gospel, then we have Jesus promising to Peter and to Peter alone that he would be given that Truth. No one else is included in that promise.
All because of one word: "You"
Jesus is speaking to Peter and to Peter alone. He is saying these words to Peter and to Peter alone.
Jesus gives the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter and to Peter ALONE.
So, if the keys are indeed the truth of the Gospel,
this would have Jesus promising such truth to Peter and to Peter ALONE.
That in and of itself would make Peter the head of the Church as the only one who would receive that truth! - That is, IF that interpretation is correct.
How do we know Jesus was speaking to Peter and to Peter alone?
In English we do not differentiate between singular "you" and the "plural" you, allowing the context to tell us which is intended.
HOWEVER, in the Greek, that is not the case. There is, in Greek, a
SINGULAR "you" and a
PLURAL "you."
So, the question becomes, which "you" did Jesus use?
The singular or the plural?
EVERYTHING here hinges on understanding the answer to that question.
In the underlying Greek, Jesus used the
SINGULAR "YOU" when making these promises -Jesus is speaking to Peter and only to Peter -
the promises are made to Peter and only to Peter. The rest of the disciples were simply spectators at this point.
What is the evidence Jesus used the singular "you" in the Greek?
The personal pronoun used here when Jesus says
"I will give to you the Keys of the Kingdom"
is "
soi"
σοί
soi
soy
Dative case of G4771; to thee: - thee, thine own, thou, thy.
This is the
SINGULAR pronoun:
Lesson 10: Personal Pronouns and the verb "to be"
Now, to the personal pronouns. They are declined as follows
Second Person (you)Singularsu- you
sou- of you
soi- to you
se- you
http://www.theology.edu/greek/gk10.htm
So we see by the use of the
SINGULAR pronoun
soi- to you, that the Keys of the Kingdom of heaven were given to Peter and to Peter alone.
Since the Truth of the Gospel was not given to just one man, but to many, the Keys of the Kingdom CANNOT be refering to the truth of the Gospel as claimed above.
So what are the keys of the kingdom referring to?
That will take another post to explain.