Matt 16.13-18: Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he was asking his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? … Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said to him, … I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. - NASB Caesarea Philippi[1] (known today as Banyas) was a cultic centre in the time of Christ with the worship of Pan (a half-goat, half-man god of fear and panic), Zeus, Echo, Hermes, dancing goats and Caesar Augustus going on (amongst others!). Some claim that the cave at the back of the Temple of Augustus was thought to be a gate to the netherworld (ie: Hades[2]); and that it was to this cave that Christ made an oblique reference to when he told Peter …the gates of Hades will not overpower it, but no one seems to be sure. Either way, a place with such a concentration of pagan worship provided quite the background against which Peter exclaimed You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. ——— Photos of Caesarea Philippi [1] Location of Caesarea Philippi: https://google.co.uk/maps/@33.2482304,35.6942444,562m/data=!3m1!1e3 [2] Arndt, W., Danker, F.W. & Bauer, W., 2000. A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature, p.19.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 06:30:00 +0000
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