Reply to the First Passage

Matthew 16, verse 18, the Lord says: "Upon this rock I will build my church."

The error of the Romanists consists in this, that they misinterpret the word petra, as though the apostle Peter were meant by it; but this is a great and obvious error. For there the Lord plainly distinguishes between the name Petros (Peter) and the word petra (rock), saying just before this: "You are Peter," but afterward: "and upon this rock;" after which follows: "I will build my church;" so that the Lord does not promise there to build His church upon Peter, but upon the rock, which He plainly names.

Now it depends upon the true meaning: who and what is to be understood by this rock. Some hold to the first meaning mentioned, which we have just now refuted, namely, that Peter himself is meant by it; and for this they misapply the passage John 1, verse 42, where this apostle is called Cephas,* which in their opinion means a foundation stone; but this is also an error.

It is true that, according to the explanation of orientalists, those versed in oriental languages, a stone is to be understood by this word; but what kind of a stone? Not a foundation stone, but a piece, corner, or chip of a stone, upon which no building could ever be founded. The word Cephas, they say, comes from the Hebrew word Keph, which with them means a corner or edge of a stone; while the rocks or foundation stones, on the other hand, are called by the name Sela or Zur,** according to Deuteronomy 32, verse 13. So Peter is indeed called a stone in holy Scripture, yet not a foundation stone, but only such a stone as is generally built upon a foundation. Christ is properly the foundation stone, as Peter himself declares when he calls Christ the living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, and precious (First Peter 2, verse 4); after which he brings forward the words of the prophet Isaiah, saying: "Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he who believes on him" (that is, built upon him through faith) "shall not be confounded." First Peter 2, verse 6, from Isaiah 28, verse 16. Therefore he urges the believers to build themselves up, as living stones, into a spiritual house, upon the foundation which is laid, Christ. Verse 5.

Paul confirms this when he says: "No other foundation can any man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (First Corinthians 3, verse 11). In another place he calls Him the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and so on (namely, upon whom the apostles and prophets themselves were built up, and upon whom they, through their doctrine, built up others also); for he adds: "In whom all the building, fitly framed together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord: in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit" (Ephesians 2, verses 20 to 22).

It is not inconsistent with this that the twelve apostles, of whom Peter was one, are called twelve foundation stones,*** upon which, as John says, the city of God that came down from heaven was built. Revelation 21, verse 14. [n67-1] For, even if it were admitted that by the words, city of God, in this place, we are to understand the church of God here on earth, this would only prove that Peter, as well as the other apostles, was one of the twelve foundation stones of the church of Christ; which in no way confirms the objection raised, that Peter alone is the foundation stone, or foundation, of the church. In the first place it is questionable (even if it is admitted that by this description of the city of God we are to understand the church of God) whether the church of God here on earth is meant, or the glorified church of God as it will be afterward in heaven; for only the former, and not the latter, is to be considered here. In the second place, it is certain that the name " foundation stone" is given here not to Peter alone, but to all the twelve apostles; so he is called a foundation here no more than any of the others.

Again, the word "foundation stones" here does not mean the foundation itself, since, properly speaking, in nature the foundation, as the ground or bottom of a building, is something different from the stones built upon it, which are called foundation stones; for the foundation stones are laid upon the ground or bottom, and the building upon the foundation stones; so that the ground or foundation must support both the foundation stones and the building. So Christ is the ground, bottom, or foundation of His church; the apostles, through their doctrine, are the foundation stones; and the church is the building raised upon these foundation stones and the foundation. It stands fast, therefore, that those who make Peter the only foundation of the church of Christ are in error, and that consequently the building which they raise upon it is erroneous and false.*