Eowyn

Neither Mark nor Luke contain this passage which is used by Catholics to support the idea that their religion was founded by Jesus. Could this be evidence of a later interpolation?

Chris Weimer

Not necessarily. Matthew contains much material that neither Mark nor Luke contains. Damaging evidence would include: stylistic differences, narrative difficulties, absence or alteration in some manuscripts, absence or alteration in early quotations, etc...

Eowyn

What if Matthew, Mark, and Luke look this way:

Matthew 16:13-25: When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah. From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Mark 8:27-35: Now Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" They said in reply, "John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets." And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said to him in reply, "You are the Messiah." Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.

Luke 9:18-24: Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" They said in reply, "John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'" Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "The Messiah of God." He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone. He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised." Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

Gamera

Since the passage is included in the Syriac Peshitta translation, and since that translation is thought to date from the 4th century (though possibly earlier), that puts a limit on when such an interpolation could have occured.

I have no idea whether the issue of Papal/apostolic authority had arisen by that time. If it didn't, then it would be unlikely that this is an interpolation.

http://www.skypoint.com/~waltzmn/Versions.html#Peshitta

Chris Weimer

Eowyn - Good point. That would be a problem with narrative difficulty, i.e. the narrative flows so much better without the passage. It's hard, though, to see if this was an insertion by Matthew into Mark's text or if it was an interpolation.

Eowyn

Is there evidence that there were competing factions in early Christianity, that one of them was pro-Peter?

Peter Kirby

There is 1 Corinthians 1:12, Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ."

There is the rivalry of Peter and the beloved disciple in the Gospel of John.

There is the battle of Peter and Simon Magus, especially in apocryphal literature.

Most significant is the dispute of Peter against Mary found in the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary.

Might there also be traditions of rivalry between Peter and James?

regards,
Peter Kirby

Eowyn

Do you happen to remember where in the Gospel of John?

Are there passages which seem to place other apostles before Peter?

Peter Kirby

The most relevant scene for the 'rivalry' is in John 20, where the beloved disciple and Peter race to the tomb. Especially the part where Peter looks in, but the beloved disciple 'sees and believes'.

There is Thomas 12, The disciples said to Jesus, "We are aware that you will depart from us. Who will be our leader?" Jesus said to him, "No matter where you come it is to James the Just that you shall go, for whose sake heaven and earth have come to exist."

Paul names James before Cephas and John in Galatians, if that means anything. In Acts 15, James seems to be the senior figure and authority at the council.

regards,
Peter Kirby

mikem

This quote is from "The New Jerome Bible Commentary", on Matthew 16:13-20

"The authority to bind and loose is given to the disciples in 18:18 but to Peter alone are accorded the revelation, the role of the rock of foundation (Eph 2:20) and especially the keys. In Gospel of Thomas 12 the key role is accorded to James the leader of the Jewish Christians. For Gentile Christians Paul would have been the preferred candidate, for leadership. Peter thus represents a compromise that can hold both tendencies in the early church in an uneasy synthesis. Matthew here shows his ecumenical good sense."

The New Jerome Bible Commentary is widely recognised as one of the best commentaries in the Roman Catholic church, and has been officially approved. So even Roman Catholic scholars do not take the Petrine claim seriously. He is only a compromise candidate created by "Matthew".