In the Old Testament we find God Himself more than once changing the
names of certain men. This He does when He gives to one of His faithful
followers a change of mission. So with Abraham we read the following:
“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a
multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name
shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations”
(Gen. 17:5).
Likewise, with Jacob:
“And he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then he
said, ‘Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have
striven with God and with men, and have prevailed’” (Gen. 32:27-28).
On first beholding Simon, Our Lord changed his name to Cephas: “So you
are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (St. John 1:42).
Cephas and Peter both mean rock. The significance of this name change
cannot be ignored. It was to contrast what Simon Peter was before he met
Our Lord to what he would become afterwards, that is, the firm rock on
which Our Lord would build His Church (St. Matt. 16:18ff.).
In six other verses of the New Testament we find Simon being specifically
called Cephas, or rock: 1 Cor. 1:12; 1 Cor. 3:22; 1 Cor. 9:12; 1 Cor. 15:5;
Gal. 2:7, 11, 14.
Third objection: “But in St. Matthew 16:18 St. Peter was called
‘Petros,’ meaning ‘little stone’ while Christ said He would build His
Church on ‘Petra,’ or a ‘massive rock.’ Therefore, Christ did not
intend to build His Church on Peter!”
Undoubtedly, the different Greek words “Petros” and “Petra” appear in St.
Matthew’s Gospel. However, we must understand that when Christ spoke
to St. Peter in c.16, v.18 He spoke in Aramaic and not Greek. In Aramaic,
Our Lord would have said “Anath-her kipha, v’all hode Kipha.” Numerous
Protestant scholars today acknowledge this point, including the Baptist
Biblical Professor D. A. Carson:
“…the underlying Aramaic is in this case unquestionable; and most
probably Kepha was used in both clauses (‘you are kepha’ and ‘on
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