The very first time it was used was when Jesus said, “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.” He was not naming the man but praising a quality displayed by the man. The quality was petros, which is a term similar to our word “faith”—it means rocklike steadfastness. Jesus is praising Simon (Peter) for being stable and perceptive. And He is saying that it is upon this kind of perception that the church must be built. We read into the word “church” all that it has come to mean through the centuries since that time. But at that time, there was no precedent. The word “church”
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