Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alpheus and Simon Zelotes, and Jude the brother of James."

The fathers remark that in all these lists, Peter is named first, just as Judas is uniformly named last; and that this position does not arise from Peter having been called first, since it seems clear that his brother Andrew was called before him.

IV. But, besides the position given to Peter in these catalogues, or lists of the apostles, it will not be without its use to see how Peter, as contrasted with the other apostles, is named, as a rule, in the Gospels; and this especially because it will be found that this has not escaped the notice, comments, and deductions of the Fathers. In fact, to understand many of their phrases and remarks, requires and presupposes an intimate acquaintance with the whole of these minuter details of Gospel history.

The first place in St. Matthew, where, after the call and election of the apostles, any special mention is made of any of them, occurs when Christ is seen walking upon the sea.'

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St. Matthew xiv. 26.-" And they, seeing Him walking upon the sea, were troubled, saying: It is an apparition. And they cried out for fear.

27. And immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying: Be of good heart; it is I, fear ye not.

28. And Peter making answer, said: Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come to Thee upon the waters.

29. And He said: Come. And Peter, going down out of the boat, walked upon the waters to come to Jesus. 30. But seeing the wind strong, he was afraid: And when he began to sink, he cried out, saying: Lord, save me. 31. And immediately Jesus stretching forth His hand took

* ὅ τε Πέτρος.

hold of him, and said to him: O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt ?"

xv. 15.-" And Peter answering said to Him: Explain to us this parable.

16. But He said: Are you also without understanding ?" xvi. 13.—" And Jesus came into the quarters of Cæsarea Philippi, and He asked His disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of Man is ?

14. But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15. Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? 16. Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God.

17. And Jesus answering said to him: Blessed art thou Simon Barjona; because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father who is in heaven. 18. And I say to thee: that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church,* and the gates of hell

"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church."

(a) We have seen that to be built upon a rock is a symbol of firmness and stability; and further that the name Cephas (rock or stone) is one of Christ's titles both in the Old and New Testament.

(b) In a quotation given from St. Jerome, Comm. in Ep. ad Gal. the following remark will be met with. "We know not the name of any other so-called Cephas, except his who is also in the Gospel, and in the other Epistles of St. Paul, and in this very Epistle too, it is at one time written Cephas and at another Peter. Not that Peter signifies one thing and Cephas another; but what we in the Latin and Greek languages call Petra (a rock or stone), this the Hebrews and Syrians, because of the affinity of their two languages, call Cephas."

So that, according to this, Christ's words to Simon would be, "Thou art Cephas, and upon this Cephas I will build My Church." In the French language a similar phraseology can be preserved Thou art Pierre, and upon this Pierre I will build My Church.

The pointedness of our Lord's words was diminished by their transfusion from His own Syriac into the Greek idiom. "The name of a man could not, according to the Greek

*

Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and
Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alpheus
and Simon Zelotes, and Jude the brother of James."

The fathers remark that in all these lists, Peter is named first, just as Judas is uniformly named last; and that this position does not arise from Peter having been called first, since it seems clear that his brother Andrew was called before him.

IV. But, besides the position given to Peter in these catalogues, or lists of the apostles, it will not be without its use to see how Peter, as contrasted with the other apostles, is named, as a rule, in the Gospels; and this especially because it will be found that this has not escaped the notice, comments, and deductions of the Fathers. In fact, to understand many of their phrases and remarks, requires and presupposes an intimate acquaintance with the whole of these minuter details of Gospel history.

The first place in St. Matthew, where, after the call and election of the apostles, any special mention is made of any of them, occurs when Christ is seen walking upon the sea.

St. Matthew xiv. 26.-" And they, seeing Him walking upon the sea, were troubled, saying: It is an apparition. And they cried out for fear.

27. And immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying: Be of good heart; it is I, fear ye not.

28. And Peter making answer, said: Lord, if it be Thou,
bid me come to Thee upon the waters.

29. And He said: Come. And Peter, going down out of
the boat, walked upon the waters to come to Jesus.
30. But seeing the wind strong, he was afraid: And when
he began to sink, he cried out, saying: Lord, save me.
31. And immediately Jesus stretching forth His hand took

• ὅ τε Πέτρος.

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shall not prevail against it.*

19. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of

usage, be expressed by the feminine πérpa, while the masculine érpos did not commonly signify that which Christ wished to express, i.e., such a stone as is commonly laid for a foundation." (Grotius on St. Matt. xvi. 18.) Whereas in Syriac, as appears at present from the Peschito version, the term in each member of the sentence is identical."-Wilberforce, Principles of Church Authority, p. 113.

Liebermann, ii. 147, quotes as follows from Beza. "Dominus, Syriacé loquens nullâ usus est agnominatione, sed utrobique dixit Cepha quemadmodum et vernaculum nomen Pierre tam de proprio, quam de appellativo dicitur."

So also Dr. Whitby, Commentary in loco, p. 143. "These words contain a manifest allusion to the name of Peter, and to that Syriack name of Cephas, which our Lord had given him, both which do signify a rock or stone; as if our Lord had said, Thou art by name a rock, and suitable to that name shall be thy work and office."

(c) "Upon this rock." The use of the demonstrative pronoun this seems naturally to require that it be referred to the Cephas or Peter of whom He had before spoken, and that our Lord promised to build His Church upon the rock just mentioned, namely, Peter: Thou art Peter (a rock) and upon this Rock I will build My Church.

(d) "I will build My Church." Not a part only, but the whole of this Church; and so the Church Catholic would be promised to be built on Peter.

"And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The meaning of the phrase the gates is very definite in Holy Writ, as also is that of the gates of hell.

Genes. xxii. 17.-"I will bless thee, and I will multiply

thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore; thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies."

Ib. xxiv. 60.—"Mayest thou increase to thousands of thousands; and may thy seed possess the gates of their enemies."

Isaias xxxviii. 10.-"I said in the midst of my days, I shall go to the gates of hell, I sought for the residue of my years."-(See Rosenmuller or Kuinoel, in loco.)