Philip Schaff · 3 of 60

The Confession of Peter

Matt. xvi. 16.

Note.—This is the fundamental Christian Confession, and the rock on which the Church is built. See Schaff's Annotations to Lange on Matthew, pp. 293–295.

John vi. 68.

Note.—This is the true reading, instead of the received text: 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God', ( σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος ) which is conformed to Matt. xvi. 16. It is equivalent to Thou art the Messiah, and coincides with the testimony of the demoniacs (Mark i. 26), who with ghost-like intuition perceived the supernatural character of Jesus. This Confession of Peter belongs to an earlier period than the one recorded by Matthew. See Lange, Com. on John, pp. 234 sq. (Am. ed.).