Did Jesus Give Peter the Keys to Heaven and Tell Him to Create a Church? (Part 2)

Pre-Nicene Christian Television

The establishment of the largest church in the world hinges on the words of a single verse written by an anonymous author. Today on Part Two of Presbyter Chat we tackle a tough question from a viewer and discover what Peter's true role in the church was. Hosted by Presbyter Darren Kelama.  Relevant Links:  Galatians Chapter 2: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/galatia... Gospel backstories:    • You Didn't Know Paul the Apostle Wrot...   Vatican scriptures: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG083... Pre-Nicene Playlist:    • Marcionite Church (Langres, France) S...   Original epistle prologues:    • Behold: The Pre-Nicene Prologues to A...   Episodes in podcast format:  https://open.spotify.com/show/2rUehJY... The Very First Bible: https://www.theveryfirstbible.org Marcionite Christian Church: https://www.marcionitechurch.org/

Transcript

00:00Time for another edition of Presbyter Chat, where your questions are answered through the

00:06prism of pre-Nicene Christianity. In part one of this episode, we use the scripture found in

00:12Galatians chapter 2 to get a better idea of Peter's activities during the formative years

00:18of Christianity. So far, the results haven't been pretty as we find Peter has failed to establish

00:24a Christian church, and has gone out of his way to insist on circumcising Christians while

00:30championing the laws of an alien religion. Will we find a redemption arc for Peter in

00:36part two? We now rejoin Presbyter Kalama in Antioch, shortly after Peter has caused chaos

00:42at the church there. In any event, Paul finally put his foot down with Peter and his gang and

00:48ended their hijacking attempt by publicly rebuking Peter and sending them back whence they came.

00:54back to their lair in Jerusalem 300 miles away. And by the way, don't take my word for what

01:01happened. Let's read the verse together, just as we find it in Galatians chapter 2, 8 through 11.

01:08But when Cephas came unto Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.

01:15For before that came James, with the nations he was eating. But when he came, he withdrew and

01:20separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled

01:26likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

01:32But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel,

01:37I said unto Cephas before them all, If thou being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles,

01:43why compelest thou the Gentiles to live, as do the Jews? Unquote. Now that's a great question. Yes,

01:50Peter, tell us the answer. Unfortunately, we'll never know what his response was, because according

01:56to the first Bible, those are the last words that Paul ever said to Peter. It is the last meeting

02:02between the two, and Paul documents no further involvement with Peter or James for the rest of

02:08his life. In fact, years later, when Paul was in prison in Rome, he makes no mention of Peter ever

02:15being there. There was no kiss and make up, let's be buddies, and sing kumbaya session, as the anonymous

02:22author of Acts would have you believe. It's very likely that Peter and his gang of hijackers simply

02:28slink back to Jerusalem and the synagogues, perhaps preaching some version of Messianic Judaism before

02:36being killed by the Pharisees who decided he had outlasted his usefulness. In fact, many say he

02:42was buried in Jerusalem with his remains being transported to Rome hundreds of years later in

02:48an effort to establish provenance for the Catholic Church and frame a Judeo-Christian narrative, and

02:55all of it riding on a single sentence written by an anonymous author. Truth really is stranger than

03:02fiction. So that ends Galatians chapter 2, and with it, the last relevant verses where the first

03:09Christian Bible and King James Latin Vulgate agree with each other on events involving Peter. And now

03:16that we have some context, let's get back to the heart of the question. Did Jesus give Peter the keys

03:23to heaven and tell him to create the church? Well, that depends on a couple things, namely which Bible

03:30you read, and your ability to suspend disbelief. Now, for someone reading the King James Version,

03:36which is a successor to the Latin Vulgate of 382 AD and the product of three different language

03:43translations, we're reminded that the easiest way to alter meaning, remove context, and obfuscate truth

03:50is to translate texts into a different language. So now at this point, we need to pick one of the four

03:58anonymous gospel authors, because only one has a relevant verse. And our regular viewers will have

04:05probably guessed that it's from Matthew, which is, of course, the most Judaized of all the gospels,

04:11and likely referenced directly by Paul in Galatians 1, 4-5, when he talks about a perverted gospel

04:19undermining Christianity. In any event, let's read it. Matthew 16, 18-19.

04:25And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates

04:34of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,

04:40and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt

04:48loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Unquote. Now, when I read this, my first thought is,

04:56was Peter the anonymous author of Matthew? I mean, there's nothing like signing over the title to an

05:01entire religion to yourself. Anonymously, of course. I mean, hey, I didn't say it. Some guy I can't remember

05:09the name of said it. Try using that line when you get pulled over in a stolen car.

05:15Now, my second thought is, was Paul aware of this verse when he rebuked Peter? Was Paul aware of this

05:22verse when it was decided that Peter would keep preaching to Jews, and that Paul would use the

05:28gospel of the Lord to preach to the rest of us? Is this verse the source of the tension between the

05:34two? Now, let's think about this. You're Paul, and you receive your revelation directly from Jesus

05:41Christ, and you write it down, every jot and tittle, in the form of the gospel of the Lord.

05:47You go on to use it to preach to the world and establish churches throughout the Roman Empire.

05:53But then, out of nowhere, out pops this edited, Judaized version of your own gospel, and it's being

05:59used to undermine the faith. And it says Peter has been given the keys to heaven and is running the

06:05whole show. Well, yeah, I can see how that would cause a little friction between these two and result

06:11in them preaching two completely different gospels to two completely different audiences, just as we

06:19read it in Galatians 2.7. Peter preaches to Jews, and Paul preaches to us. Okay, now let's read the

06:26relevant verse in the gospel of the Lord as we find it in the first Bible of 144 AD. It's chapter 18,

06:34verse 3, quote, And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded you that he might sift you

06:40as wheat. But I entreated for you that your faith may not fail. And once you have turned again,

06:46establish your brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both into prison

06:53and to death. And he said, I tell you, Peter, the cock shall not crow at all today, before that you

07:01shall thrice deny that you know me. Unquote. Well, now, that's a little different, isn't it? I don't

07:07see anything in there about keys to heaven or Peter being the rock that the church will be built on,

07:14and certainly nothing about Peter having the power to bind and loosen on earth and in heaven.

07:19But what I do see is an apostle that had a pretty close call with Satan and that will deny he even

07:28knew Jesus. But wait a minute, what's this? Yes, I think I see it. Let's read that part again.

07:38Quote, And once you have turned again, establish your brethren. Unquote. Hmm. Establish your brethren.

07:46Yes. And it is from these three words that Matthew 16, 18 through 19 was conjured up and Peter was

07:55given some imaginary keys. Now, put up your seat tray because we're going to go the rest of the way.

08:01Let's go with the first Bible on this and take it literally. When Jesus tells Peter to establish his

08:07brethren, to whom is he referring? Which brethren? Who are Peter's brethren? And the answer is,

08:15Peter's brethren are the Jews. And Peter did exactly what Jesus told him to do.

08:23You see, whenever you staple two different religions together, you're going to have problems.

08:29And one of those problems is, you end up with a God that you never asked for nor wanted.

08:35You signed up for Jesus, but they slipped in a Yahweh on the back end.

08:40The result is that you end up internalizing the commands of your oppressors and losing at the

08:46spiritual version of three-card Monty. Now, before we wrap up, let me remind you that

08:52pre-Nicene perspective isn't here to divide Christians. The purpose is to bring all the

08:58disparate denominations back together as they were in the pre-Nicene era, when Christians had their own

09:05Bible, their own religion, and their own God, before it was hijacked by Judaizers, before an alien

09:13religion and Yahweh deity was stapled to the front of your Bible. And that starts with all of us reading

09:19from the same gospel, the gospel of the Lord. May our Father's Holy Spirit find and guide you in these

09:26confusing times and lift the veil from your hearts and minds. I'm Darren Kalam, and we'll see you next

09:32time on Presbyter Chat.

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