5) Matthew 18: 18-20 - [18] Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. [19] Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven. [20] For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Protestant Christian Understanding This verse goes on to prove that Christ gave ALL apostles the keys to the kingdom of heaven and not just Peter.
Catholic Christian Understanding: Christ was talking to all the Apostles in Matthew 18, BUT was talking directly to Peter in Matthew 16. There is no mention of "keys" whatsoever in Matthew 18, as Christ specifically mentioned "keys" in Matthew 16, when He gave them solely to Peter.
We have to keep in mind the symbolism of "keys" and the significant importance it held during that time. Getting the "keys" to something meant you were the gatekeeper or the chief steward of that property. Now, Catholics and Protestants both agree that ALL apostles did have the power to bind and loose, given to them by Christ, and were also given the power to define dogma.
Secondly, there is another crucial language detail to understand when it comes to the difference between the words "you" and "thee" in Greek. Christ uses the word "you" in Matthew 18. "You" was used when speaking to the masses or used as plural so when He says "you", Christ was saying "all" and referring to all the apostles. But in Matthew 16, Christ uses the singular "thee" when He addresses Peter saying, "I give THEE the keys to the Kingdom of heaven".
There is absolutely no mistake that He gave the power to bind and loose to all the Apostles. But Christ only gave the keys of the kingdom of Heaven to Peter, as the Chief Steward, or Pope, which the language used proves as fact.
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