Well, we have agreement that Tertullian calls Peter "the Rock" Jesus referred to when Jesus said " on this rock I will build my Church .. "
You asked for
ONE Early Church Father that said "
that the rock is Peter"
I gave you not just one, but many . . . so, are we agreed that there is at least one who says "
that the rock is Peter" ??, in fact, many?
I am going to to more indepth into these as I can . .so I am taking the first for now to examine if it really supports your contention . .if Tertullian has really said here what you say he has . . .
Who was he speaking to here? And in what context? And what about the parts that are missing from your quote above?
It is an argument of semmantics and taking things out of context to try to make Tertullian say something different simply because in one spot he says "on" and in another place says "through", and even ignore that he said "IN".
Let's look again:
If, because the Lord has said to Peter, "Upon this rock will I build My Church", "to thee have I given the keys of the heavenly kingdom; " or, "Whatsoever thou shall have bound or loosed in earth, shall be bound or loosed in the heavens," you therefore presume that the power of binding and loosing has derived to you, that is, to every Church akin to Peter, what sort of man are you, subverting and wholly changing the manifest intention of the Lord, conferring (as that intention did) this (gift) personally upon Peter? "On thee," He says, "will I build My Church;" and, "I will give to thee the keys," not to the Church; and, "Whatsoever thou shall have loosed or bound," not what they shall have loosed or bound. For so withal the result teaches.
The parts your quote left out above
are in red . . . he is clearly making the distinction that not only on Peter is the Church built, but what was given was given to Peter was given ONLY to Peter, ie the Keys, and NOT to the Church as a whole, and the power and authority to bind and loose to him alone there, not to a plural "they" . .
Then we get into what you contend is an explanation of what Tertullian meant . . but when we look at it in the full context of what he wrote, nothin omitted, we see that is not what he is doing.
Above, Tertullian clearly speaks of Peter being the
Rock Christ builds His Church
ON . .
But now, he is moving from speaking of Peter as the rock on which the Church is to be built, and of Peter to whom the Keys of the Kingdom were given, to continue in regards to Peter's authority and power
to bind and loose
Look again at what was
left out of your quote . . I believe it greatly affects the understanding of what Tertullian was sayin here . . again, I will highlight what was left out in red - the last part that starts with "and Ananias he "bound" was entirely left out of your quote to the end of mine, so I highlithed the beginning of that section in red :
For so withal the result teaches. In (Peter) himself the Church was reared; that is, through (Peter) himself; (Peter) himself essayed the key; you see what (key): "Men of Israel, let what I say sink into your ears: Jesus the Nazarene, a man destined by God for you," and so forth.
sc10 (Peter) himself, therefore, was the first to unbar, in Christ's baptism, the entrance to the heavenly kingdom, in which (kingdom) are "loosed" the sins that were beforetime "bound;" and those which have not been "loosed" are "bound," in accordance with true salvation;
and Ananias he "bound" with the bond of death, and the weak in his feet he "absolved" from his defect of health. Moreover, in that dispute about the observance or non-observance of the Law, Peter was the first of all to be endued with the Spirit, and, after making preface touching the calling of the nations, to say, "And now why are ye tempting the Lord, concerning the imposition upon the brethren of a yoke which neither we nor our fathers were able to support? But however, through the grace of Jesus we believe that we shall be saved in the same way as they."
sc11 This sentence both "loosed" those parts of the law which were abandoned, and "bound" those which were reserved.
Hence the power of loosing and of binding committed to Peter had nothing to do with the capital sins of believers
We can say that the Church is built
ON Christ,
IN Christ, and
THROUGH Christ, yet one phrase does not limit the other . . Tertullian also says all three about Peter . .. and one phrase does not limit the others.
When he speaks of the Church being reared
IN Peter,
THROUGH Peter, he is
no longer spekaing of Peter being the Rock the Church is built
ON.
Instead he is now speaking specifically in the context of binding and loosing, and explains himself above. He makes this clear when he connects it all with the word
"Hence" when he goes on to say that the binding and loosing spoken here of by Jesus does not have to do with the capital sins of believers . . (we see that given later).
By leaving out some key words in the quote, you can change the meaning to make it appear to prove your claim . . you probably got that quote just like you put it in your post from someone else who had done that . . but it is important to read it in its full context.
It's full context
does not support your claim that he did not mean Peter was the Rock in the same sense that the Church was built on Peter.
It fully supports the Catholic understanding that Peter is the Rock that Jesus would build His Church on.
Peace to all!
