Hendrik Leendert Heijkoop on Peter the first pope

http://www.bibelkommentare.de/index.php?page=qa&answer_id=350




Great biblical comment on the weakness of the catholic church on its argument as Peter the first pope by Hendrik Leendert Heijkoop




Matthew 16:18:
"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."


From the greek (from bible.cc)

4074 Pétros (a masculine noun) – properly, a stone (pebble), such as a small rock found along a pathway. 4074 /Pétros ("small stone") then stands in contrast to 4073 /pétra ("cliff, boulder," Abbott-Smith).


"4074 (Pétros) is an isolated rock and 4073 (pétra) is a cliff" (TDNT, 3, 100). "4074 (Pétros) always means a stone . . . such as a man may throw, . . . versus 4073 (pétra), a projecting rock, cliff" (S. Zodhiates, Dict).


So Peter is meant to be a small stone.


4073 pétra (a feminine noun) – "a mass of connected rock," which is distinct from 4074 (Pétros) which is "a detached stone or boulder" (A-S). 4073 (pétra) is a "solid or native rock, rising up through the earth" (Souter) – a huge mass of rock (a boulder), such as a projecting cliff.

4073 (petra) is "a projecting rock, cliff (feminine noun) . . . 4074 (petros, the masculine form) however is a stone . . . such as a man might throw" (S. Zodhiates, Dict).


So Peter is a stone that is part of the rock as PETRA means ROCK.

which makes absolutely sense in light of Matthew18:18

"Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.


So this power is not only given to Peter !





Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.



The following is a view that both are meant to be Peter:
http://thirdmill.org/newfiles/kno_chamblin/NT.Chamblin.Matt.16.13-20.pdf

But the conclusion is the same. Binding (prohibiting) and loosing (allowing) is granted to the apostles, to the church

Jesus casts out demons... but why ?

By casting out demons he showed us who he is - the author of life, the Son of God, almighty, nothing has been created without him, the triune God.

Ultimately, the good news is, through him, we can already take part in the Kingdom of God. It already has begun.

Matthew 12:28
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

do people who commit suicide go to hell

the bible teaches that suicide is a sin. God gave you life , therefore you have no right to take it away.

But what happens with a Christian who committed suicide ? Paul clearly states that NOTHING can separates us from the love of Christ.



Romans 8:38-39
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.


Personally i think that the blood of Christ is so precious that it even covers the most terrible sin any living creature could commit. God will forgive us, because of Christs atonement.

Biblical perspective on work

just some unstructured thoughts on this.

In the first chapter of Genesis it says: Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth ....
As i understand this text it really means that we as creatures of God should:
1. create something new and be creative
2. and multiply it, grow it

need to continue on these thoughts

Ist Gott Mann oder Frau ?

Jesus selbst gebietet uns Gott in männlicher Form als Vater anzusprechen.
Matthäus 6:8-9 "Darum sollt ihr ihnen nicht gleichen! Denn euer Vater weiß, was ihr bedürft, ehe ihr ihn bittet.  So sollt ihr nun also beten: Unser Vater, der du bist in dem Himmel! Geheiligt werde dein Name"


Das Gleichnis vom verlorenen Sohn zeigt Gott eindeutig als Mann (Vater) Und dennoch ist der Charakter Gottes nicht auf das männliche Geschlecht zu reduzieren:

Gott selbst spricht zu uns über die Heilige Schrift. Im 1.Buch Mose steht hierzu: "Und Gott der HERR sprach: Es ist nicht gut, daß der Mensch allein sei; ich will ihm eine Gehilfin machen, die ihm entspricht!" (1.Mose 2:18)

Hieraus können wir entnehmen, dass die Geschlechtertrennung, wie wir sie als Menschen kennen, erst mit der Schöpfung selbst initiiert wurde. Da Gott der Ursprung aller Lebewesen ist, offenbart sich sein Wesen auch in den Geschlechtern: "Und Gott schuf den Menschen ihm zum Bilde, zum Bilde Gottes schuf er ihn; männlich und weiblich schuf er sie. (1.Mose 1:27). Hier steht eindeutig, dass das Männliche und Weibliche zum Ebenbilde Gottes gehören, also Teil Gottes Wesens selber sind.

 Wir sollen laut Jesus den allmächtigen Gott als Vater anbeten und verherrlichen. Somit wird die Gnade Gottes seinen eingeborenen Sohn geopfert zu haben deutlich und wir sind durch das Opfer des Vaters als seine Kinder wieder in die Familie aufgenommen. Dennoch vereint Gottes Wesen beide Geschlechter in sich.

why do we all perish?

We perish because we are sinners.
..... unless we repent!!

 As Jesus says: "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. " Luke 13:3

what is repentance ?
As the prodigal son  said: I have sinned against Heaven and you.
Thus repentance  first and foremost has to deal with the  wrongdoing and rebellion against God.
Otherwise we end up like Judas who felt bitterness and remorse for having betrayed Jesus.
But what does Judas do at the end of his life ? In his self-absorption, self-bitterness, self-centered repentance
without God, he hangs himself. Repentance must be based on the fundamental belief that God is good and I am not. God gives me the forgiveness I can never give to myself. Repentance out of fear of punishment is still selfish  , is still tainted by sin. With Judas it ends in suicide.

perspective on eternity

lets just assume there is a person you have not seen for a decade. and there is barely a chance you will see each other in a life time because of current circumstances. what hope do you have at all in case you are really longing to see that person and vice versa? none if you have no perspective on eternity at all. what do i mean by that ? you only can have a true belief or even knowledge of eternity if you are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. If you both believe that you will take BOTH part in an eternal life and all the unrealized longings for each other will be redeemed under the blessings of the almighty God. This all will sound strange, crazy, nonsense to the unbeliever. i call this knowing, conscious hope for eternal communion.

Some thoughts on repentance

In the journey with God, or unity with Christ ever since I have been born again, I realize that repentance is really one of the most if not the most important spiritual activity.

Not only do I have to pray but automatically meditate on the word of God, his law and the necessity of being sanctified. Once again, it seems to me that the Holy Spirit draws me to do that and evil tries to tell me:  because everything has been achieved on the cross, you don't have to.

Purity is nothing that I gained for myself but it is something that God grants which is expressed by the act of repentance. As I realize that repentance is eventually the hardest thing on earth, divine grace remains a mystery to me, and I think even in eternity we will never be able to grasp God's grace and love in its entirety.

What Jesus has done on the cross is the utmost form and perfection of forgiveness.

Relationship Luke and Paul and what it means for the cannon

I listened to a podcast from Wayne Grudem about the cannon of scripture.
In 1. Timothy 5:18 Paul quotes Deutoronony but also Luke! "the laborer deserves his wages" is from Luke 10:7. In Acts, it is stated that Luke traveled with Paul. Now, liberal scholars could of course express that "Luke" is quite an ordinary. I find it highly unlikely that they are disjunct. What this means is, Paul read Luke's gospel and quoted it and thus giving it the same authority like scripture.

Same with Mark and Peter. Peter says in 1. Peter 5:13: "She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark." Which Mark is he talking about? It is the same Mark that wrote the Gospel of Mark.


So the Gospel of Mark and Luke are both endorsed by the apostles Peter and Paul.
John and Matthew were both apostles.


Another interesting point: Peter in 2Peter 3:16 says "His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."

other scriptures ....

"scripture" is used 51 times describing the "old testament" (greek: graphe) so it is clear that it is a technical term.
It can only follow from that that Peter actually thought of Pauls letters as scripture too!

Theology and the chairman of the fed

As an illustration, in a certain way, what the chairman of the fed does could be compared to the complexity of being God and his providence. When the fed raises the interest rates, only a minimal change will effect the entire economy. 

For bankers, low interest rates are great because they can borrow cheaper and have higher interest income. For some macro-economists, lowering interest rates curbs the national deficit, inflation and loss of jobs in the long term. 

For each and everyone a macro decision of this order of magnitude means something different and its the job of the Fed's chairman is to kind of balance the economy according to his price stability and unemployment rate goals. 

God makes a decision on the weather, for instance. This simple difference makes a world of difference for agriculture, for the fashion retail business, for so many personal decisions of millions if not billions of people. 

The omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence of God is something which can never be understood in its entirety, but from this very simple analogy we can get a grasp of how complex it must be to "be God". 

Reformed Theologians

I have recently read an article by a reformed theologian who published an article on a critique about a viral video. I think it was something like "Jesus hates religion". Before i read the article i watched the video. there were some things i could not directly follow, and this theologian wrote a comprehensive report on it.

He was sort of half half on it but got some negative feedback.
Basically, the problem is this: Being a reformed christian myself, i think it is fair to say that the reformed theology is the more "pure" and leaning most to scripture - closer than others. However, it is really important that we do not behave like phariseans, fingerpointing others, nailing their theological weaknesses and being patronizing to the max. I think there is a right time and time to present / and even argue with others about details. But i think this is not every moment and every time. We need to be careful, caring and smart, opening gates to what we believe is the truth. Of course, not forgetting that UN-truth/lies have to be fought vigorously and uncompromisingly. Sometimes i think it is better to start with what C.S. Lewis calls Mere Christianity when we evangelize.

Christ sein ohne Bibel - ist das möglich ?

Diese Frage wurde mir einem meiner Schüler in der Gemeinde gestellt: hier meine Antwort, die ich ihm als Facebook Nachricht geschickt habe: 



"Die Frage ob man Christ sein kann ohne Bibel ist hoffentlich nicht von dir. Schliesslich hätten wir ohne das neue Testament keine glaubhafte Überlieferung und Berichterstattung über Jesus Christus. Zwei römische Geschichtsschreiber haben seine Kreuzigung erwähnt, und es gab auch andere "Evangelien", die nicht in der Bibel enthalten sind und nicht gott-inspiriert waren. D.h. nur durch das neue Testament wissen wir erst überhaupt was das Evangelium (=frohe Botschaft) für uns ist. Wir wären sonst noch immer unter dem "Fluch" des Gesetzes. Fluch nicht deswegen, weil das Gesetz Mose schlecht ist, sondern weil wir es nicht einhalten können. (Römer 8:3-4) als Sünder, die dem Willen des Fleisches unterworfen sind. Im Matthäus 4:1-11 spricht Jesus: "Der Mensch lebt nicht vom Brot allein, sondern von einem jeglichen Wort, das durch den Mund Gottes geht". Wie könnten wir das Wort Gottes denn hören, wenn nicht durch die Autorität der Schrift. Die Heilige Schrift ist eine Offenbarung Gottes, die es uns Sündern erst ermöglicht, Gott zu erkennen und über seine Heilsgeschichte etwas zu erfahren. Was das Alte Testament betriffft, so spricht Timotheus im zweiten Timotheusbrief 3:16-17: "Jede Schrift ist von Gottes Geist eingegeben und nützlich zur Belehrung, zur Überführung, zur Zurechtweisung, zur Erziehung in der Gerechtigkeit,damit der Mensch Gottes vollkommen sei, zu jedem guten Werke ausgerüstet". Hier steht eindeutig zu JEDEM guten Werke ausgerüstet.


Christ sein, ohne Bibel ist wie als würde ich sagen: Ich bin Chemiker ohne das Periodensystem. oder: Ich bin Kernphysiker, habe aber von Albert Einsteins Theorie der Relativität nie etwas gehört. 

Are we all children of God ?

John 8:42 -44
Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here.
I have not come on my own; but he sent me.
 Why is my language not clear to you?
Because you are unable to hear what I say.
 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire.
 He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
 btw: "unable" stresses the doctrine of inability and total depravity

What is faith according to Jesus?

Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
 John 11:40 Thus faith, can also be seen as a condition to see the glory of God.

Matthew 7 is radical

Summary: - only few will enter the narrow gate - Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. -->

Lets not confuse this as salvation = faith + works, but rather faith produces works, as said: a good tree produces good fruit!
 - There are even prophets prophesying and casting out demons, but whom Jesus wont know! (knowing is in fact - electing , foreknowledge, calling)

Pope kisses the imam

this is too funny. Whoever endorsed this campaign at Benneton has big balls

papacy disproved by scripture

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Acts 20:28 

Is sola scriptura biblical ?

1 Thessalonians 2:13 

"Not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God."

Matthew 4:4 

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

2 Timothy 3:16-17 John 5:39 Acts 17:11 Deut 4:2 Proverb 30:5-6 Rev 22:18-19

Salvation according to the romanist

In the catholic view salvation is partially granted by God. In addition, every sinner has to earn his salvation by good works. This is definitely different to the reformed and biblical view of salvation.
But when it comes to salvation by Christ alone (sola christus), the romanist view is 100% diametrical to the Bible

I found this interesting article
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1991/9111chap.asp

some thoughts on Sin

The natural man asks: 

why did God create evil if he is omnipotent and if he is a good God at the same time 

Is he then not omnipotent? 

why cant he just forgive ? 

There is evil - true. But just because we dont see reason in evil 

does not mean that God is evil or that he is not omnipotent 

He cannot forgive because he is a good God. And he is a just God. 

So he punishes the wicked. 

Why did he then make men in the first place knowing given the 

fact that he is omniscient. 

Because creation is eschatological and by creating us he has already 

redeemed us by his own blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

This is to show us his eternal love and sovereign grace. 

How can we be culpable if he is sovereign ? 

We are sinners therefore we sin. 

However, we freely sin and we choose to be Gods on our own every day. 

Therefore we are culpable and fully responsible. And yet it is he chooses. 

For modern man this antinomy will never be grasped 

and it is only the regenerate mind which understands and accept it