I recently invested a few blog articles in demonstrating that Mark Bonocore of The Catholic Legate is an unrealiable source of apologetic argumentation. Immediately following the section on Isaiah 22, Bonocore, in his own inimitable style, responded to a statement I had made. My words come first:
You wrote: “Now, while it is true that, in Matt 18:18, Jesus bestows a similar authority to “bind and loosen” upon all of the Apostles collectively, it is to Peter alone that Christ entrusts “the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.” So, what are these Keys? What are they suppose to signify?” When, specifically, did Christ bestow the keys ALONE to Peter? The Greek verb in Matthew 16 is future in tense. Hence, if this does not take place in Matthew 18:18, when does it? And, can you cite patristic foundation for saying the keys differ in authority and meaning from the power of binding and loosing?
🙂 First of all, the way you pose the question is shamefully deceptive, and based on an incorrect understanding of the Greek. In comparing Matt 16:19 and 18:18, the “bind/loose” statements are each arranged in two couplets. The first verb in the couplet is an active aorist and the second is a perfect passive participle which is best translated into English as a passive future perfect. Thus, the verses literally say “Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in Heaven.” The obvious meaning of the Matt 16:19 &18:18 statements is that whatever the Apostles (and their successors) bind upon the faithful (i.e., faith or morals) will not be their own teaching but what has already been bound upon the Church by God in eternity. So, I am overwhelmed by your misuse of the Greek.
Now, this kind of rhetoric should bother any truth loving person to no end. Here you have a person who has never, to my knowledge, studied Greek, taught Greek, worked professionally in the field, been published relevant to the subject—nothing—seeking solely to pat himself on the back at the expense of the truth while deceiving his readers. There can be no other explanation for the simple fact that his response is utterly, completely irrelevant to anything I said. Only the most gullible reader could possibly miss that his reply is not even slightly relevant to the claim I made. Let’s look closely: I said the Greek verb found in Matthew 16:19, dw,sw , translated “I will give,” is future in tense. This is true. It is not even a disputable assertion. And this is the only usage of Greek I made, hence, to conclude your irrelevant reply with “I am overwhelmed at your misuse of Greek” is simple dishonesty, nothing more. Further, what he says in pretending he knows Greek is simply humorous. What does the translation of these phrases (an issue I’ve addressed in published works to which Bonocore does not even make reference) have to do with the future tense verb dw,sw? Nothing, of course. It is this kind of self-serving, “lets throw some mud while we are at it and pretend we know what we are talking about” kind of tactics that makes dealing with RC apologists like Bonocore, Pacheco, and Sippo, next to impossible. It takes three paragraphs to explain the utter lack of coherence and logic in just one line of their groundless, scattered, disconnected, rapid-fire writing. Thankfully, the serious minded person is not impressed by such writing anyway, but sadly, those lacking critical thinking skills are often duped, and surely those looking for a reason—any reason—to not believe what I am saying will grab hold of such a completely fallacious, absurd line as Bonocore offers here and go, “Ha, White has been refuted! I can dismiss everything else he says now.” And that, folks, is exactly why the line is there. The “shameful deception” is not mine, it is Bonocore’s.