https://carm.org/is-peter-the-rock An analysis of the underlying Greek language, looking at whether the 'rock' can refer to Peter. (in brief: no) https://carm.org/early-church-fathers-peter-the-rock Analysis of the Church Fathers understanding of Matthew 16. In summary, they believed it was the faith of Peter, not the person of Peter (a medieval invention), that was the rock on which the Church was built. And it makes sense, that you just don't have people asking the Bishop of Rome to be the final arbiter of all answers in the Early Church. It wasn't the Bishop of Rome, but the Emperor of the Roman Empire, that presided over the Councils of Nicea, of Constantinople, etc. There were multiple "Popes" in the early church -- all the great Patriarchs of the 5 apostolic cities (Alexandria, etc). By the 6th century, the time of Gregory the Great, the Patriarchs of Constantinople were still called Popes. Etc.