And on this Rock: The Witness of One Land and Two Covenants

Stanley L. Jaki

The words, "You are 'Rock,' and on this rock I will build my church," which Christ spoke to Peter, made history. Father Jaki puts those words into their geographical context and biblical perspective. In so doing, he offers the reader a novel insight into Peter's primacy. He moves from a detailed account of the place, Caesarea Philippi, to an analysis of the work "rock" as used in the Old Testament, and from there to an examination of Jesus' choice of that very word in rewarding Peter's confession of faith in Him as the Son of the living God.

In the new Chapter added to this third edition, Father Jaki explores a hitherto unnoticed facet of biographies of Jesus: In accounts of Jesus' life written in the spirit of "higher criticism," Caesarea Philippi occupies no significant place, if any at all. Father Jaki also shows that the superhuman solidity, which Christ promised to the papacy, entails the popes' unfailing assertion of His divinity.