Son of God is the rock

[Daniel Marsh]

I would like our catholic friends to comment on the quotes.   thanks, daniel

 

We need to give a more complete picture.

In short, people dug down to bedrock (Jesus who existed before anything else in creation ).

Then they placed corner stones, Jesus being one.    Likely the others were prophets or apostles.  I do not know.

Other rocks were part of the foundation.    Walls used whatever materials that were available, rocks, clay or whatever.

If a door was made of Rock at the top was a keystone.   Roof likely wood. again I do not know or do not remember.

All the Apostles and Prophets of Scripture were stones in the foundation.    Matthew 18 too. 

Mark 12:10Have you not read this Scripture: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;

Ephesians 2:20

And are built upon the Foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

 

"

House building begins by choosing the best stones – large, square and stable – and setting them at the corners. Cornerstones have a dual function: defining the dimensions of the building and tying its walls together. These will also serve as giant anchors to support walls to enclose the upper sections of the quarry.

Building on sloping bedrock requires great care in setting the first course, starting from the lowest part of the Foundation and working upwards step by step. The bedrock footing is flattened and slightly stepped, but does not need to be completely level. By fitting stones into the uneven footing, the force of gravity will secure the buildings onto the bedrock. Using the land as the ancients did makes a lot of sense – there is less to dig and less to build."

https://www.nazarethvillage.com/about/research-and-archaeology/the-houses/building-materials/

Luke 6:48he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the Foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

"

CHAPTER XII

"First of all, sir," I said, "explain this to me: What is the meaning of the Rock and the gate?" "This rock," he answered, "and this gate are the Son of God." "How, sir?" I said; "the Rock is old, and the gate is new." "Listen," he said, "and understand, O ignorant man. The Son of God is older than all His creatures, so that He was a fellow-councillor with the Father in His work of creation: for this reason is He old." "And why is the gate new, sir?" I said. "Because," he answered, "He became manifest in the last days of the dispensation: for this reason the gate was made new, that they who are to be saved by it might enter into the kingdom of God.  ...  He had pity on all that call upon His name; and sent the angel of repentance to us who sinned against Him, and renewed our spirit; and when we were already destroyed, and had no hope of life, He restored us to newness of life." "Now, sir," I continued, "show me why the tower was not built upon the ground, but upon the [Bed] Rock and upon the gate." "

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/shepherd.html

quotes:

And I was established upon the Rock of truth, where He had set me

...

and sat on the Rock of truth
where he placed me.

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/odes4.html

In his ninth parable Hermas takes up the theme of the tower in new detail. We now learn that the master builder, together with the Rock which serves him for a Foundation and the entrance door of the building, is the Head of the six angels, in other words he is the Son of God, the Christ himself, who thus comes first and not seventh in the group of higher beings; "the other six form his retinue, on his right hand and on his left." Hermas

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/loisy/chapter8.html

and according to Paul's saying Christ also is a Rock ⁵⁹⁶

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/fathers/severus_coll_3_letters.html

 

1. You have undertaken the office of a Bishop, and now, seated in the stern of the Church, you are steering it in the teeth of the waves. Hold fast the rudder of faith, that you may not be shaken by the heavy storms of this world. The sea indeed is vast and deep, but fear not, for He hath founded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the floods.⁶ Rightly then the Church of the Lord, amid all the seas of the world, stands immoveable, built as it were, upon the Apostolic rock; and her Foundation remains unshaken by all the force of the raging surge. The waves lash but do not shake it; and although this world's elements often break against it with a mighty sound, still it offers a secure harbour of safety to receive the distressed.

2. Yet although it is tossed on the sea, it rides upon the floods; and perhaps chiefly on those floods of which it is said, The floods have lift up their voice. For there are rivers, which shall flow out of his belly, who has received to drink from Christ , and partaken of the Spirit of God. 

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/fathers/antiochus_strategos_capture.html

 

2 Woe unto you, for ye shall all wax old as a garment and the moth shall eat you up." And again the Prophet says that he was placed as a strong stone for crushing, "Lo, I will place for the foundations of Sion a precious stone, chosen out, a chief corner stone, honourable."

3 Then what does he say? "And he that hopeth on it shall live for ever." Is then our hope on a stone? God forbid. But he means that the Lord placed His flesh in strength. For he says, "And he placed me as a solid rock."

4 And again the Prophet says, "The stone which the builders rejected, this is become the head of the corner," and again he says, "This is the great and wonderful day which the Lord made."

5 I write to you more simply that you may understand: I am devoted to your love.

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/barnabas-lake.html

9. This is the Spirit that at the beginning "moved upon the thee of the waters;" by whom the world moves; by whom creation consists, and all things have life; who also wrought mightily in the prophets, and descended in flight upon Christ . This is the Spirit that was given to the apostles in the form of fiery tongues. This is the Spirit that David sought when he said, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Of this Spirit Gabriel also spoke to the Virgin, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee." By this Spirit Peter spake that blessed word, "Thou art the Christ , the Son of the living God." By this Spirit the Rock of the Church was stablished. This is the Spirit, the Comforter, that is sent because of thee, that He may show thee to be the Son of God.

10. Come then, be begotten again, O man, into the adoption of God.

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/hippolytus-dogmatical.html

For, says (the prophet), we have announced concerning Him: "He is like a tender plant, like a root out of a thirsty ground; He hath no form nor comeliness; and we beheld Him, and He was without beauty: His form was disfigured;" "marred more than the sons of men; a man stricken with sorrows, and knowing how to bear our infirmity;" "placed by the Father as a stone of stumbling and a Rock of offence;" "made by Him a little lower than the angels;" declaring Himself to be "a worm and not a man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people." Now these signs of degradation quite suit His first coming, just as the tokens of His majesty do His second advent, when He shall no longer remain "a stone of stumbling and a Rock of offence," but after His rejection become "the chief corner-stone," accepted and elevated to the top place of the temple, even His church, being that very stone in Daniel, cut out of the mountain, which was to smite and crush the image of the secular kingdom. Of this advent the same prophet says: "Behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days; and they brought Him before Him, and there was given Him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away; and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Then indeed He shall have both a glorious form, and an unsullied beauty above the sons of men. "Thou art fairer," says (the Psalmist), "than the children of men; grace is poured into Thy lips; therefore God hath blessed Thee for ever. Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O most mighty, with Thy glory and Thy majesty." For the Father, after making Him a little lower than the angels, "will crown Him with glory and honour, and put all things under His feet." "Then 327

...

(by the circumcision) of Christ , for Christ is a Rock (or stone)

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/tertullian123.html

 

46. He it is who spake with Moses in the bush, and said: Seeing have I seen the affliction of thy people that is in Egypt; and I am come down to deliver them.¹³² He it is who came forth and came down for the deliverance of the oppressed, bringing us out from the power of the Egyptians, that is, from all idolatry and impiety; and delivering us from the Red Sea, that is, delivering us from the deadly confusion of the Gentiles and the grievous vexation of their blasphemy. For in them the Word of God prepared and rehearsed beforehand the things concerning us. Then He set forth in types beforehand that which was to be; now in very truth He has brought us out from the cruel service of the Gentiles, and a stream of water in the desert has He made to flow forth in abundance from a rock; and that Rock is Himself; and has given twelve fountains, that is, the teaching of the twelve apostles. And the obstinate unbelievers He brought to an end and consumed in the wilderness; but those who believed on Him, and in malice were children, He made to enter into the inheritance of the fathers; whom not Moses, but Jesus puts in possession of the heritage: who also delivers us from Amalek by the expansion of His hands,¹³³ and brings us to the kingdom of the Father.^134 |112 

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/fathers/irenaeus_02_proof.html

Having obtained good proof that thy mind is fixed in God as upon an immoveable rock, I loudly glorify [His name] that I have been thought worthy [to behold] thy blameless face, which may I ever enjoy in God! I entreat thee, by the grace with which thou art clothed, to press forward in thy course, and to exhort all that they may be saved. Maintain thy position with all care, both in the flesh and spirit. Have a regard to preserve unity, than which nothing is better. Bear with all, even as the Lord does with thee. Support all in love, as also thou doest. Give thyself to prayer without ceasing. Implore additional understanding to what thou already hast. Be watchful, possessing a sleepless spirit. Speak to every man separately, as God enables thee. Bear the infirmities of all, as being a perfect athlete [in the Christ ian life]: where the labour is great, the gain is all the more.

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/ignatius-polycarp-longer.html

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/fathers/origen_philocalia_02_text.html

 From his power Jesus Christ will deliver you, who has founded you upon the rock, as being chosen stones, well fitted for the divine edifice of the Father, and who are raised up on high by Christ , who was crucified for you, making use of the Holy Spirit as a rope, and being borne up by faith, while exalted by love from earth to heaven, walking in company with those that are undefiled. For, says [the Scripture], "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord." Now the way is unerring, namely, Jesus Christ . For, says He, "I am the way and the life." And this way leads to the Father. For "no man," says He, "cometh to the Father but by Me." Blessed, then, are ye who are God-bearers, spirit-bearers, temple-bearers, bearers of holiness, adorned in all respects with the commandments of Jesus Christ , being "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people," on whose account I rejoice exceedingly, and have had the privilege, by this Epistle, of conversing with "the saints which are at Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus." I rejoice, therefore, over you, that ye do not give heed to vanity, and love nothing according to the flesh, but according to God.

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/ignatius-ephesians-longer.html

The priests indeed, and the ministers of the word, are good; but the High Priest is better, to whom the holy of holies has been committed, and who alone has been entrusted with the secrets of God. The ministering powers of God are good. The Comforter is holy, and the Word is holy, the Son of the Father, by whom He made all things, and exercises a providence over them all. This is the Way which leads to the Father, the Rock, the Defence the Key, the Shepherd, the Sacrifice, the Door of knowledge, through which have entered Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, Moses and all the company of the prophets, and these pillars of the world, the apostles, and the spouse of Christ , on whose account He poured out His own blood, as her marriage portion, that He might redeem her. All these things tend towards the unity of the one and only true God. 

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/ignatius-philadelphians-longer.html

 

"One is tempted to argue that this distinction is observed in= Similitudes v., viii., and ix., and that the Son of the master of the vineyard, the great spreading tree, and the ancient Rock respectively represent the= pre-existent Son, while the elect servant, the angel Michael, and the lord of the tower represent the exalted Jesus. Thus all the angelic representations of the

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Son of God would refer only to the latter. Moreover, there are features in the angelology of Hermas which strengthen such an argument. From Vis. ii. 2, 7, Sim. ix, 24. 4, 25. 2, 27. 3, it seems clear that Christ ians are believed to become angels at their death. Their rank, however, in the angel world will not be uniform, but will vary according to the excellence of their life on earth. Jesus therefore, because of his unique purity of life, must necessarily be the most highly exalted of all such angels. And so, in point of fact, he is. Of all angels, only he has ever been admitted to a position of co-equality with the pre-existent Son.

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/lake/append.html

3. What then? Is our hope built upon a stone? God forbid. But because the Lord has strengthened his flesh against sufferings, he says, I have put me as a firm rock.

Isaiah 50:7 reads "I have set my face like a flint..."

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/info/barnabas-general.html

11. When asking His Disciples on a certain occasion, what men said of Him, and they answering according to the opinion of the many, He asked them the second time, "But³⁰ what say ye?" and, when Simon had said unto Him, "Thou art the Christ of the living God" He answered him, and said : "Blessed art thou Simon son of Jonas, since flesh and blood hath not revealed (this) to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say to thee, Thou art Cephas: and upon this Rock do I build my Church, and the gate-bars of Hell shall not prevail against it." The (term) "this" He took (as implying) the knowledge, that He was the Messiah, the Son of the living God ; and Cephas (the rock), because it should neither be rent nor moved. It is not unlikely, that He named (in) " THIS" ^|231 the whole sense comprised here. On this account too, He designated that same Disciple, who had formerly been called Simon, Cephas (Peter), with reference to this knowledge; (and) of which He afterwards prophesied, and said: "On this Rock do I build my Church, and the gate-bars of Hell shall not prevail against it." He foretold at once something to come to pass, and promised, that Himself would build it (the Church), and bring the work to completion, by the things of this knowledge which had now been ^|232 given concerning Himself; that it should be made firm as on a confirmed Foundation ; and that His Church should be built, solely by means of His own power which is everlasting, and that the gates of Hell should never overcome it. He himself afforded a proof (of this) in the fulfilment, better than any (that) words (can give). For innumerable persecutions, and many forms of death, have sprung up against His Church, but in nothing could they prevail against it. He has therefore, openly confirmed the enouncement of His prediction, by deeds; its truth He has shewn, by the fulfilment. The Church too, which He called the congregation, about to be set up in His name, evinced no small foreknowledge: for the congregations of the Jews had been termed Synagogues; and, during the time of His going about among men, He frequented the Synagogue of the Jews. Nor was there hitherto, so much as one Synagogue only, set apart to Him. And, Who is not astonished, that He so foreknew those congregations which should afterwards be set up, at a great distance of time, in His name, and, that He should not name them, after the Jewish custom, Synagogues, but Churches ? He added too, that the gate-bars of Hell should not prevail against them:-- things, which we perceive with our own eyes ! Nor should we wonder at the prediction only, but also at His promise, namely, "I build my Church upon the rock, and the gate-bars of Hell shall not prevail against it:" which is (all) so brought near in fact, that we can see it ! For it was not by the power of men, nor yet by the superiority of the Teachers (employed), that His Church was raised ; but, it was He who promised, and in deed fulfilled His promise ! --He (I say) who up to this time has, by the Divine Power, built up, and enlarged, His Church throughout the whole creation of man ! 

On the divisions which are in Houses and Families up to this time, on account of His doctrine. From the Gospel of Matthew. http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/fathers/eusebius_theophania_05book4.html

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/fathers/severus_coll_2_letters.html

The case is somewhat similar in the earlier charge to S. Peter, with which I am directly concerned, 'Thou art Cephas, and upon this Rock will I build My Church.' Here also the Apostle's name involves a prophecy, which should be unfolded in the future history of the Church. It is important therefore to enquire in what sense the Church of Christ shall be built upon the rock.

Patristic interpretations of the earliest and last ages are mainly twofold.

(1) The Rock is Christ Himself. This was the opinion to which S. Augustine, the great theologian of the Latin Church, inclined. Having frequently, as he confesses, explained the 'rock' of S. Peter himself, as his master S. Ambrose had done before him in a well-known hymn, he took occasion in his after-thoughts to express his misgivings as to this explanation. The passage is sufficiently important to deserve quotation in full (Retract. i. 21, Op. I. p. 32).

In quo dixi in quodam loco de Apostolo Petro quod in illo tamquam in petra fundata sit ecclesia; qui sensus etiam cantatur ore multorum in versibus beatissimi Ambrosii ubi de gallo galli-naceo ait

Hoc ipsa petra ecclesiae
Canente culpam diluet;

sed scio me postea saepissime sic exposuisse quod a Domino dictum est Tu es Petrus...meam, ut super hunc intelligeretur quern confessus est Petrus dicens, Tu es Christ us filius Dei vivi; ac sic Petrus ab hac petra appellatus personam ecclesiae figuraret, quae super hanc petram aedificatur, et accepit claves regni caelorum. Non enim dictum est illi Tu es petra, sed Tu es Petrus; petra autem erat Christ us quem confessus Simon, sicut eum tota ecclesia confitetur, dictus est Petrus. Harum autem duarum sententiarum, quae sit probabilior, eligat lector.

Here, though he gives the alternative, he himself evidently leans to the interpretation which explains the Rock of Christ Himself. This is likewise the view of Cyril of Alexandria, who commenting upon Isaiah xxxiii. 16, 'His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; bread

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shall be given him; his waters shall be sure,' writes, 'And it is probable that our Lord Jesus Christ is named a Rock for us in these words; in Whom like a cave or like some sheepfold the Church is meant, which has its permanence in prosperity sure and unshaken; for Thou art Peter, says the Saviour, and on this Rock I will found My Church' etc., the bread and the water being spiritual sustenance¹.

(2) The Rock is connected with S. Peter, being either his confession or his faith or some other moral or spiritual qualification, capable of being shared by others.

This alternative has already appeared in the exposition of S. Augustine. The most explicit declaration of it, however, is found in the typical passage of Origen Comm. in Matt. [xvi. 13] Tom. XII. § 10. 'But if we also, like Peter, say, Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God, flesh and blood not having revealed it to us, but the Spirit from heaven having illumined our heart, we become a Peter and it would be said to us by the Word, Thou art Peter and so forth. For every disciple of Christ is a rock, from whom all they that partake of the spiritual Rock which follows did drink; and upon every such Rock the whole doctrine of the Church and the polity in accordance therewith is built...But if thou supposest that the whole Church is built by God on that one Peter alone, what wouldest thou say concerning John the Son of Thunder, or any one of the Apostles? Otherwise shall we dare to say that against Peter especially the gates of hell shall not prevail, but that they shall prevail against the remaining Apostles?... Are then the keys of the kingdom of heaven given by the Lord to Peter alone and shall none other of the blessed Apostles receive them?...Many therefore shall say to the Saviour, Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God...and if any one saith this to Him, flesh and blood not revealing it, but the Father which is in heaven, he shall obtain the promises (των ειρημενων), as the letter of the Gospel says, to that particular Peter, but as the Spirit teaches, to every one who becomes like that Peter. For all become namesakes (παρωνυμοι) of the Rock who are imitators of Christ the spiritual rock, etc....and so forth as far as shall not prevail against it. What is 'it'? Is it the Rock on which Christ builds His

¹ Cyril. Alex. In Isai. Lib. iii. Tom. III., p. 460 εικος δε δη που και πετραν `ημιν ωνομασθαι δια τουτων τον Κυριον `ημων Ιησουν τον Χριστον, εν `ω καθαπερ τι σπηλαιον η και προβατων σηκος `η εκκλησια νοειται ασφαλη και ακραδαντον εχουσα την εις το ευ ειναι διαμονην. Ευ γαρ ει Πετρος κ.τ.λ. Yet only a little later in the same work he gives a somewhat different interpretation, 'the unshaken faith of the disciple', In Isai. Lib. iv. Tom. II., p. 593 επι ταυτη τη πετρα θεμελιωσω μου την εκκλησιαν: πετραν οιμαι λεγων το ακραδαντον εις πιστιν του μαθητου.

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Church; or the Church itself, for the expression is ambiguous; or the Rock and the Church, being one and the same thing?'

With more to the same effect; where nothing could be fuller or more explicit than the language.

This with some modification is the universal interpretation of the fathers for many centuries with those few exceptions represented by S. Augustine's after-thoughts, who explain it of Christ the rock. They understand it to mean S. Peter's confession or S. Peter's faith or S. Peter's firmness. In other words it is some quality or action in the Apostle at this crisis, which calls forth the Lord's promise, and to which the same promise attaches wherever it is found in others. Thus Chrysostom says (In Matth. Hom. liv. p. 548 A, II. p. 108, Field) επι ταυτη τη πετρα οικοδομησω μου την εκκλησιαν, τουτεστι, τη πιστει της `ομολογιας. Thus again Cyril of Alexandria, as we have seen, explains πετραν...λεγων το ακραδαντον εις πιστιν του μαθητου.

The lesson which the great Alexandrian father, Origen, draws from the Lord's promise to Peter is recognised also by his contemporary, the great African father, Cyprian. He too distinctly states that nothing is given to Peter here which is not given to all the Apostles; but he superadds another inference. From the fact that a single Apostle is the recipient of the general promise he derives the further lesson of the unity of the Church. Writing on this special subject (De Unit. Eccl. 4, p. 212 ed. Hartel), he explains

'The Lord speaketh to Peter: I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ...I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven. He builds His Church on one, and although He gives equal authority to all His Apostles after His resurrection (et quamvis apostolis omnibus post resurrectionem suam parem potestatem tribuat) and says, As My Father sent Me, so send I you. Receive the Holy Spirit; whosesoever sins ye remit they shall be remitted, and whosesoever sins ye retain they shall be retained; yet, that He might declare the unity, He arranged the origin of the same unity to begin from one by His authority (tamen ut unitatem manifestaret, unitatis ejusdem originem ab uno incipientem sua auctoritate disposuit). The rest of the Apostles verily were what Peter was, endowed with an equal partnership of honour and power (pari consortio praediti et honoris et potestatis), but the beginning proceeds from unity (exordium ab unitate proficiscitur) that the Church of Christ may be shown to be one, which one Church also the Holy Spirit in the Song of Songs defines and says My dove is one, etc.'

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This statement however was very unsatisfactory to a later age; and the sentence 'et quamvis apostolis etc.' is interpolated thus

et quamvis apostolis omnibus parem tribuat potestatem, unam tamen cathedram constituit et unitatis originem [atque] orationis suae auctoritate disposuit; hoc erant utique et ceteri quod Petrus, sed primatus Petro datur ut una ecclesia et cathedra una monstretur: et pastores sunt omnes, sed grex unus ostenditur, qui ab apostolis omnibus unanimi consensione pascatur etc.

Again after the words 'exordium ab unitate proficiscitur' comes another interpolation

et primatus Petro datur, ut una Christ i ecclesia et cathedra una monstretur, et pastores sunt omnes, sed grex unus ostenditur, qui ab apostolis omnibus consensione pascatur.

Cyprian also elsewhere (Epist. lxxv. 16, p. 820, ed. Hartel) has recourse to the same argument.

Qualis vero error sit et quanta caecitas ejus qui remissionem peccatorum dicit apud synagogas haereticorum dari posse nec permanet in fundamento unius ecclesiae, quae semel a Christ o super petram solidata est, hinc intellegi potest quod soli Petro Christ us dixerit: quaecumque ligaveris super terram erunt ligata et in caelis, et quaecumque solveris super terram erunt soluta et in caelis, et iterum in evangelio [quando] in solos apostolos insufflavit Christ us dicens: Accipite Spiritum sanctum; si cujus remiseritis peccata remittentur illi; et si cujus tenue-ritis, tenebuntur. Potestas ergo peccatorum remittendorum apostolis data est et ecclesiis quas illi a Christ o missi constituerunt et episcopis qui eis ordinatione vicaria successerunt.

But, though for controversial aims there is little to choose between the two interpretations which divided patristic opinion for many centuries, we cannot let the matter rest here. An essential difference lies at the root of the two explanations. We are fain to ask, Is Christ the rock, or is Peter the rock, on which the Church is built (however we may explain the latter alternative)? Exegetically they have nothing in common.

Now there are two arguments which mainly weigh with those who explain the Rock of Christ , (1) the one from the etymology; (2) the other from the imagery.

(1) The etymological argument is based on the different form of the words πετρα, πετρος, the rock, the stone. The one should signify the whole mass; the other the detached piece. Hence the one appropriately denotes Christ the body; the other Peter the member.

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The force of this argument however is altogether shattered on two considerations; (1) S. Peter's name was Aramaic Kephas, before it was Greek Πετρος, and in the Aramaic form the one word serves for 'a rock' and 'a stone'; (ii) When Grecized, the proper name became perforce Πετρος, a masculine form being necessary, just as it would have been Πετρα, if a woman's name had been wanted.

(2) The imagery supplies, or seems to supply, another potent argument. In the Old Testament the Lord Jehovah is the Rock on which His people Israel is built. In the New, Christ is in like manner the solid basis on which the Christ ian Church rests. More especially is this the case when the image takes the definite form of a building. Should we not expect, that the same application of the image would be carried out here?

As a question of fact, however, Scriptural analogy does not subject us to the tyranny of one application of the image. The relation of Christ to His Church, regarded as a building, is represented in two different ways.

(i) He is the Foundation (θεμελιος I Cor. iii. 12). The Evangelist is the architect who must erect his building on this, that it may stand. In this sense He is not only the foundation, but the only palpable foundation.

(ii) He is the chief-corner stone (ακρογωνιαιος Ephes. ii. 20) which binds the parts of the building together (εν `ω πασα οικοδομη συναρ μολογουμενη κ.τ.λ.). In the latter sense the Apostles and prophets of the Christ ian ministry are themselves regarded as the θεμελιος on which the edifice is built (εποικοδομηθεντες επι τω θεμελιω των αποστολων και προφητων).

 

Note: the author goes on to say Peter is the Rock.

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/lightfoot/pt1vol2/appendix1.html

Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.clxxv-clxxxvi. Aphraates ...

www.early Christ ianwritings.com/fathers/aphraates_on_faith.html

And thus also must it be with our whole building; its Foundation must be the true Rock, which is Jesus Christ  our Lord, and upon [this] Rock is faith founded, and ..

 

Origen: Contra Celsus, Book 4 (Roberts-Donaldson)

www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/origen164.html

He is not, however, aware that it is not at all the Jews who say that  Christ  will ... For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was  Christ .

 

Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899). Book 9.

www.early Christ ianwritings.com/fathers/zachariah09.html

"And, since  Christ  is truth and does not know how to lie and does not deceive, ... " O being beloved by me above all things, Rock of  Christ , and guardian of the 

 

Tertullian (Roberts-Donaldson)

www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/tertullian125.html

Let there be a  Christ , let there be an apostle, although of another god; but what ... For since "that Rock was  Christ ," it was, of course, the Creator's, to whom also ...

HAVING obtained good proof that thy mind is fixed in God as upon an immoveable rock, I loudly glorify [His name] that I have been thought worthy [to behold] thy blameless face, which may I ever enjoy in God! I entreat thee, by the grace with which thou art clothed, to press forward in thy course, and to exhort all that they may be saved.

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/ignatius-polycarp-roberts.html

 for if Christ is "the Rock," without doubt we see baptism blest by the water in Christ .

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/tertullian21.html

not direct on matthew 16

"And they drank of that spiritual Rock which followed them, and that Rock was Christ ." 

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/text/origen125.html

172. ¹ Macarius echoes the word which his opponent had used at the beginning of his objection.

173. ² In thus laying stress on the difference between pe/troj and pe/tra, Macarius supports the view that Peter is not here identified with the Rock of the Church. It appears yet more plainly at the end of this chapter that the "rock" was the truth of Christ 's divinity, on which the Church is founded.

174. ¹ Such is the sane and reasonable explanation which Macarius gives of this highly controversial question.

http://www.early Christ ianwritings.com/fathers/macarius_apocriticus_fn.html

I am guessing Macarius was a false teacher.

Some of the texts are uncritical, so take the time to check quotes.   I am tired as I research this.  I am on my third round with the virus.

Google search terms at www.early Christ ianwritings.com were:

rock "Son of God"

rock Christ

rock Messiah

Feel free to recommend other search terms that apply exclusively to Jesus.

 

https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-2665675471425577%3A4654561773&ie=UTF-8&q=immoveable+rock&sa=Search

 

https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-2665675471425577%3A4654561773&ie=UTF-8&q="Son+of+God"+rock&sa=Search

https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-2665675471425577%3A4654561773&ie=UTF-8&q=Messiah+Rock&sa=Search

 

 

 

 immoveable rock

Peter in Rome https://www.catholicfidelity.com/the-church-fathers-and-peters-presence-in-rome-by-joe-gallegos/

1 Peter 5:12-14 English Standard Version (ESV)
Final Greetings
12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Babylon in the Bible is  code name for Rome.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Daniel Marsh]

I am tired when doing this research, be sure to check quotes before using them.

I have the virus a third time now.