A certain man called Rico Morales (from Leyte, Philippines) was telling me that I was on the wrong church because the true church built by Christ is the Roman Catholic Church. When I asked him of his bases on his claim that the Roman Catholic Church is the true church built by Christ, he gave me the verse of the Bible, Matthew 16:18.

In Matthew 16:18, he said that Christ gave Apostle Peter the authority to be the foundation of the true Church. He emphasized the term “Peter” and the term “Rock”. According to him, it’s clear that Christ was planning to build His church on Peter. Peter means rock, and the church would be built on that rock as stated (according to him) by the verse Matthew 16:18.

During our exchange of emails, I once told him that there are two ideas that can be considered from that verse alone, regarding on the said “Rock” where the church of Christ would be built: First, the Church would be built on Peter; Second, the Church would be built on Christ Himself.

Peter as Church Foundation

Normally, by considering this passage alone without considering the original text of this verse: “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, … (Matt 16:18, NIV)”… The reader will immediately think that the rock that the church would be built is Peter, since Peter means rock, stone, or any similar terms.

Well, it’s fine for me to consider Peter as the “rock foundation” of the church if other verses of the Bible are in parallel to this idea. But we need to consider what other verses of the Bible are telling us about the “rock foundation” of the church because having an idea which contradicts the real truth recorded on the Bible could mean harm to us spiritually.

Christ as Church Foundation

Most of the Bible readers failed to consider the idea that Christ when mentioning the “rock foundation” of the church as he said “…And on this rock, I will build my church”… He was referring to Himself.

Is it possible?

Yes, it is. It might be true that Christ called Simon as Peter (rock or stone), but when mentioning “rock” as to where Christ would build His Church, Christ was referring to Himself not to Simon Peter.

The Real Foundation of the Church

Even without tackling in the original Greek or Aramaic terms for the term Peter, we can tell already that the right interpretation to this is the latter (Christ is the foundation of the Church) because this was backed up by the truth written on the other verses of the Bible.

For example, Peter himself taught us that the true Christians are living stones built into a spiritual house as stated on I Peter 2:5:

“you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NIV)”

In other words, the church is made up of stones. And Peter is one of these stones. The foundation of it is Christ, as clearly stated on the next verses:

“6For in Scripture it says:
1See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.’ 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,’” (I Peter 2:6-7, ibid)

The mentioned teaching of Apostle Peter is in harmony to the teaching of Apostle Paul as it was written in I Corinthians 3:11:

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. (ibid)”

Now, why should I believe the Roman Church (my former church) on its teaching that Peter is the rock foundation of the church when it is not in harmony to the teachings of the real Peter? It’s simply a clear proof that the Roman Church is not the real church where the real Apostle Peter became an Apostle.

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