It is a fundamental tenet of Roman Catholic Bible interpretation that you cannot interpret any passage of Scripture but by the "unanimous consent of the Church Fathers". That Roman Catholic principle of Bible interpretation immediately creates a dilemma for Romanism and leaves Romanism totally unable to substantiate her own interpretation of this passage of Scripture.
As someone once said: the only thing that the Church Fathers were unanimous about, was that they continually disagreed. The "unanimous consent of the Church Fathers" is a myth. It is impossible to find any difficult passage to explain where they were in complete agreement with one another. It is most certainly a myth in respect to Peter being the rock upon which the church is built.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kenrick, USA, who attended Vatican I, in 1869, openly acknowledged that this division existed among the Church Fathers. He stated that eight Church Fathers believed that the rock referred to the twelve apostles as a collective body; sixteen Church Fathers said that it referred to Jesus Christ Himself; a further seventeen believed it referred to Peter and a further forty-four stated that it meant the faith which Peter professed*.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kenrick, USA, who attended Vatican I, in 1869, openly acknowledged that this division existed among the Church Fathers. He stated that eight Church Fathers believed that the rock referred to the twelve apostles as a collective body; sixteen Church Fathers said that it referred to Jesus Christ Himself; a further seventeen believed it referred to Peter and a further forty-four stated that it meant the faith which Peter professed*.
By no stretch of the imagination could it be argued by Romanism's standards that this added up to the "unanimous consent of the Church Fathers"! Rome's own teaching on this passage falls down!
How incredible that the "Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible" should teach that Peter is the rock upon which the Church is built!
* These details about what the Church Fathers taught on Peter being the rock can be found in The Irish Presbyterian Handbook on Evangelical Christianity and Romanism.
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