Two Scriptures Interpreted Two Ways

1. “I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven: and what-soever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and what-soever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt. 16:19)

A. Non-Catholic interpretation:
“Keys of the Kingdom” was the Gospel.
That’s what Christ gave the apostles and Christians to tell the world.
Acceptance of the Gospel binds on earth and heaven.
Anyone without “keys” to enter heaven was lost.
No one had authority over anyone.
Every one was their own priest.

B. Catholic interpretation:
Authority given to leaders was James’ opinion:
“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” (James 5:14)
“The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results.” (James 5:16)

2. “Who do you think I am?” Peter answered, ‘Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ “God has blessed you, Simon, son of Jonah,” Jesus said, “for my Father in heaven has personally revealed this [1] to you--this [2] is not from any human source. You are Peter, a stone; and upon this [3] rock I will build my church.” (Matt. 15-18)

A. Non-Catholic interpretation:
Jesus, ‘being the Son of God,’ was the rock.
Living Bible preface: “Bible writers often jump ahead or back up to something said before without clearly stating the reference. Some times the result for us...is that we are left far behind.”
This Scripture is an example of ‘backing up’. When Jesus said the third “this”, He was referring to the first two and not Peter.
Peter was not more important than what God revealed.
Peter was so ignorant on another matter that six verses later, Jesus put him in a corner with a dunce cap by calling him Satan.
Peter denied knowing Jesus at Calvary, and even after receiving the Holy Spirit, Paul called him a hypocrite for being afraid of men that came from James.
Jesus, not Peter, fulfilled prophecy of being the “rock”: “The stone rejected by the builders has been made the honored cornerstone” (Isaiah 28:16) (Matt. 21:42)

B. Catholic interpretation:
Peter was the Rock.
Foxe: In 1413, John Kemp: “Jesus ordained St Peter to be His vicar here in earth...and He granted the same power...should succeed unto all Peter’s successors, whom we now call popes of Rome...to whomChristian men ought to obey after the laws of the Church of Rome.
I thank God I never knew what the Old and New Testament was.
I will know nothing but my portuese and my pontifical.”