1 Peter 3:15

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

King James Version (KJV)

Randy Sheets

Blood bought born again Christian. Lifetime studying Bible.

Why did the book of Acts mention that the leader of the church of Jerusalem was James and not Peter?

My Response:

In the King James Bible Acts 15:13, 21:18 James, the natural child of Joseph and Mary, the younger half-brother of Jesus, is recognized as the leader of the Jerusalem Church. If your question is pondering why Peter was not, you’re probably basing your question on Jesus’ words to Peter in Matthew 16:18 King James Bible:

“And I say also 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.”

Sadly the Vatican has hijacked the meaning of this scripture to mean “this rock” is referring to Peter. This is not true. Jesus Christ is referring to himself as The Rock = Petra and not the small stone cephas *Peter.

We must examine the word “THIS” in reference to ROCK.

“This” is a demonstrative pronoun. When working with pronouns in Grammar we must find the antecedent of this pronoun using the grammar tool called the

Anaphoric Reference

Anaphoric reference occurs when a word or phrase refers back to something mentioned earlier in the discourse. This type of reference helps to avoid repetition and maintain cohesion in the text. For example: Example: “Michael went to the bank. He was annoyed because it was closed.”Explanation: “He” refers back to “Michael,” and “it” refers back to “the bank.”

Anaphoric references often use pronouns, definite articles, or other determiners to link back to previously mentioned entities or concepts.

Speaking of Definite articles, in Matthew 16:18 KJB the word “this” referring to rock is the Greek definite article G5026 referring to G3588 Greek “ho” definite article THE = The ROCK. We then go back using the cataphoric reference to see verse 15 in context when Jesus is asking Peter who He (Jesus is). Peter knows and proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. This is what “this rock” is referring to and it is NOT Peter. When we carefully examine ROCK we find it is PETRA large rock and NOT cephas a stone or small rock.