Are the Keys Handed Over to Peter the Seven Sacraments of Roman Catholicism?
It may be time to talk about one Roman Catholic nonsense where some Roman Catholic apologists claim that when Jesus handed over the keys of Peter that it represented the seven sacraments.
This is the verse that Roman Catholics say gave Peter his position as the Pope:
Matthew 16:16-18
And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock (that's Peter, emphasis mine)), and on this rock foundation (definitely not Peter, emphasis mine) I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys (but not any specific number, emphasis mine) of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. (Good News Translation)
Roman Catholic apologists tend to disagree with each other when it comes to interpretation. Some of them may reply (politely or not) that Peter himself was still made the Pope regardless of interpretation. Some of them may give a defense that Peter would still be the Pope even if the church wasn't built on him because of how the verse goes. Should I mention even the doctrine of Peter the Rock was largely disputed even within Roman Catholicism? The Good News Translation may be a Roman Catholic translation but it certainly shows this truth: Peter can't be the Rock that Jesus built on. I'm just afraid that Catholic.com and Catholic Answers will still insist on their erroneous interpretation.
Now let's focus on the idea that the keys were the seven sacraments. The word sacrament is defined by Theopedia as:
A sacrament is a rite or ceremony instituted by Jesus, and observed by the church as a means of or visible sign of grace. The English word sacrament is from the Latin sacramentum, which means to make holy, or to consecrate.
Sacraments are ceremonial in nature, which separates them from other things that Jesus instructed believers to do (e.g. "go and make disciples of all nations," Matthew 28:18).
The problem with saying that Peter was given the keys and these keys are the seven sacraments isn't even found in the verse or anywhere in Scriptures. Jesus didn't specify how many keys otherwise He would have said, "I will give you the seven keys of the Kingdom of Heaven which are the seven sacraments." But He said no such thing. If Jesus didn't give Peter authority over kings and princess like the Pope is supposedly given or even freedom from committing doctrinal error or made John the Baptist the first Baptist minister then why should anybody assume that Jesus gave Peter seven keys when the Bible is silent about it?
Plus, another blow on the idea that Peter is the Rock is this verse taken from the Good News Translation:
1 Corinthians 10:4
They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ Himself.
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