Keys of the Kingdom and Church Authority
Early Christian writers linked the keys of the kingdom to Peter and to church authority, especially binding and loosing. Cyprian and Tertullian spoke of Peter receiving the keys, while Origen asked whether the promise also applied to others. Matthew 16:19 is the main Bible passage, with Matthew 18:18 also used for church discipline and authority. The overall picture is strong, but the writers do not all explain the keys in the same way.
97 early-church witnesses · 182 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about the Keys of the Kingdom and Church Authority?
Early Christian writers tied the keys of the kingdom to Peter and also used that saying to explain church authority, especially in the hands of bishops. Cyprian and Tertullian read Matthew 16 as a real grant of keys and binding power, while Origen treated the saying more cautiously, asking whether the promise belonged to Peter alone or also to others. The Bible passage most directly behind the discussion is Matthew 16:19, with Matthew 18:18 also used for binding and loosing language.
The evidence is broad across the third century, but it is mixed on whether the keys belong only to Peter or also to the wider Church and its leaders. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Matthew 16:19 is the main passage for the keys of the kingdom.
- Cyprian and Tertullian say Peter received the keys and binding power.
- Origen asks whether the promise to Peter also belongs to others.
- Some early texts connect binding and loosing with bishops and church discipline.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians think Jesus gave Peter the keys of the kingdom?
Several early writers quote Matthew 16:19 and read it as Jesus giving Peter the keys of the kingdom and the authority to bind and loose. Some of these witnesses explicitly say the gift was given to Peter personally, while others discuss whether the promise reaches beyond him.
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Cyprian, Treatises Direct teaching
...ill build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall also be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." And again He says to the same one after His resurrection, "Feed my sheep." And although after His resurrection He gives an equal power to all the apostles, and says, "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. Receive the Holy Spirit. Whoever's sins you remit, they shall be remitted to him, and whoever's sins you retain, they shall be retained," John 20:21 yet, so that He might set forth unity, by His authority He arranged the origin of that unity as beginning from one. Certainly the rest of the apostles also were the same as Peter, endowed with an equal share of honor and power; but the beginning proceeds from unity. The Holy Spirit also pointed out this one Church in the Song of Songs, speaking in the person of our Lord, and says, "My dove, my spotless one, is but one. She is the only one of her mother, chosen of her who bore her." Song of Songs 6:9 Does the one who does not hold this unity of the Church think that he holds
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Tertullian, On Modesty Direct teaching
...r loosed on earth shall be bound or loosed in the heavens," you therefore presume that the power of binding and loosing has come down to you, that is, to every church akin to Peter, what sort of man are you, subverting and wholly changing the manifest intention of the Lord, conferring this gift, as that intention did, personally upon Peter? He says, "On you I will build My Church," and, "I will give to you the keys," not to the Church; and, "Whatever you shall have loosed or bound," not what they shall have loosed or bound. For the result also teaches this. In Peter himself the Church was reared, that is, through Peter himself. Peter himself first used the key. You see what key: "Men of Israel, let what I say sink into your ears: Jesus the Nazarene, a man destined by God for you," and so forth. Therefore Peter himself was the first to unbar, in Christ's baptism, the entrance to the heavenly kingdom. In that kingdom, the sins that were previously bound are loosed, and those that have not been loosed are bound, in accordance with true salvation. And he bound Ananias with the bond of death, and he absolved the man weak in his feet from his defect of health. Moreover, in that disput
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Tatian, The Diatessaron Direct teaching
... I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly commanded his disciples and warned them not to tell anyone about him, that he was the Messiah. From now on Jesus began to show his disciples that he was determined to go to Jerusalem and suffer much, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day rise. And he was speaking plainly. Then Simon Cephas, grieving for him, said, "May that be far from you, my Lord." But he turned and looked at his disciples, and rebuked Simon, and said, "Get behind me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not thinking of what pertains to God, but of what pertains to men."
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Tertullian, On Prescription Against Heretics Direct teaching
Was anything withheld from the knowledge of Peter, who is called the rock on which the church should be built, who also obtained the keys of the kingdom of heaven, with the power of loosing and binding in heaven and on earth?
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Tertullian, Scorpiace Direct teaching
For though you think heaven still shut, remember that the Lord left here to Peter and through him to the Church, the keys of it, which every one who has been here put to the question, and also made confession, will carry with him.
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
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Tatian, The Diatessaron Supporting witness
Matthew 16:19 To you will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
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Matthew 16:19 Direct teaching
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
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Matthew 16:18 Supporting witness
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
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Isaiah 22:22 Background
And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
Did early Christians apply binding and loosing to the Church or bishops?
Some early sources connect binding and loosing with bishops, church discipline, and ecclesial order rather than only with Peter as an individual. These texts show the language being used for church authority, though not always in the same way or with the same scope.
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Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching
...ill build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” From there, through the changes of times and successions, the ordering of bishops and the arrangement of the Church continues on. So the Church is founded upon the bishops, and every act of the Church is directed by these same rulers. Since this is founded on divine law, I am amazed that some, with reckless boldness, have chosen to write to me as if they were writing in the name of the Church, when the Church is established in the bishop and the clergy, and in all who stand firm in the faith. Far be it from the mercy of God and His unlimited power to allow the number of the lapsed to be called the Church, since it is written, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,” Matthew 22:32. For we do indeed desire that all may be made alive, and we pray that by our prayers and groans they may be restored to their former condition. But if certain lapsed people claim to be the Church, and if the Church is among them and in them, what i
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
...h, sit as one having authority to judge offenders. For to you, O bishops, it is said, "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Matthew 18:18
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
...t die." Therefore, bishop, understand the dignity of your office. As you have received the power of binding, so you have also received the power of loosing. Since you have the power of loosing, know yourself, and conduct yourself in this world in a way that fits your office, knowing that you must give a great account. For to those whom, as the Scripture says, men have entrusted much, they will require the more, in Luke 12:48. For no man is free from sin, except Him who was made man for us. For it is written, "No man is pure from filthiness, no, not even if his life is only one day long." For this reason, the lives and conduct of the ancient holy men and patriarchs are described, not so that we may reproach them when we read, but so that we ourselves may repent, and may have hope that we also will obtain forgiveness. For their faults are both a safeguard and a warning to us, because from them we learn that when we have sinned, if we repent, we shall have pardon. For it is written: "Who can boast that he has a clean heart? And who dares to say that he is pure from sin?" in Proverbs 20:9. Therefore, no man is without sin. So labor with all your strength to be blameless, and be watc
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
Wherefore you ought to love the bishop as your father, and fear him as your king, and honour him as your lord, bringing to him your fruits and the works of your hands, for a blessing upon you, giving to him your first-fruits, and your tithes, and your oblations, and your gifts, as to the priest of God;
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
Be sensible, therefore, O bishop, of the dignity of your place, that as you have received the power of binding, so have you also that of loosing.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
For it binds and looses those that are worthy of punishment or of remission.
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Matthew 18:18 Background
Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
How did Origen interpret the keys of the kingdom?
Origen treats the keys as linked to righteous judgment and faithful confession of Christ, not as a blank check for anyone who claims the office. He also asks whether the promise belongs to Peter alone, suggesting a broader or more conditional interpretation.
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Direct teaching
..., and not here or there (Luke 17:21). But consider how great the power of the rock is, on which the church is built by Christ, and how great the power of everyone is who says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," so that the judgments of this man remain sure, as if God were judging in him, so that in the very act of judging the gates of Hades shall not prevail against him. But when someone judges unrighteously, and does not bind on earth according to the Word of God, nor loose on earth according to His will, the gates of Hades prevail against him. But in the case of anyone against whom the gates of Hades do not prevail, this man judges righteously. Therefore he has the keys of the kingdom of heaven, opening to those who have been loosed on earth so that they may also be loosed in heaven, and free; and shutting to those who by his just judgment have been bound on earth so that they also may be bound in heaven, and condemned. But when those who hold the office of bishop use this saying as Peter, and, having received the keys of the kingdom of heaven from the Savior, teach that things bound by them, that is to say, condemned, are also bound in heaven, and that those whi
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Direct teaching
...h one of them? And also the saying, "Upon this rock I will build My church," Matthew 16:18? Are the keys of the kingdom of heaven given by the Lord to Peter only, and will no other of the blessed receive them? But if this promise, "I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven," Matthew 16:19, is common to the others, how will not all the things spoken before, and the things added afterward as addressed to Peter, be common to them? For in this place these words seem to be addressed to Peter only: "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven," Matthew 16:19, and so on. But in the Gospel of John, the Savior, after giving the Holy Spirit to the disciples by breathing on them, said, "Receive the Holy Spirit," John 20:22, and so on. Many, then, will say to the Savior, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." But not all who say this will say it to Him as those who have learned it, not at all by the revelation of flesh and blood, but by the Father in heaven Himself taking away the veil that lay on their heart. Then after this, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, 2 Corinthians 3:18, they may speak through the Spirit of God, saying con
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness
Matthew 16:18 Are the keys of the kingdom of heaven given by the Lord to Peter only, and will no other of the blessed receive them?
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Background
14. In What Sense the Keys Are Given to Peter, and Every Peter. Limitations of This Power.
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Background
...impler sense when he comes from Judaism and receives the teaching of Jesus Christ as defined by the Church. But he is a scribe in a deeper sense when, having received elementary knowledge through the letter of the Scriptures, he rises to spiritual things, which are called the kingdom of heaven. And according as each thought is reached, understood in itself, and proved by example and complete demonstration, so one can understand the kingdom of heaven. Thus the one who overflows with knowledge free from error is in the kingdom of the multitude of what are here presented as heavens. So too you will understand allegorically the words, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," Matthew 3:2 as meaning that the scribes, that is, those who are satisfied with the bare letter, may repent of this method of interpretation and be taught the spiritual teaching that is called the kingdom of heaven through Jesus Christ, the living Word. Therefore, as long as Jesus Christ, who was in the beginning with God, God the Word, John 1:1-2 does not dwell in a soul, the kingdom of heaven is not in it. But when anyone comes near to receiving the Word, the kingdom of heaven is near to him. But if the
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness
Matthew 16:19 And, in the first place, I think that the saying, I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, is spoken in consistency with the words, The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness
...n the heavens, as in Peter’s case, but in only one. For they do not rise to such a high level, with power like Peter’s, to bind and loose in all the heavens. Matthew 16:19 Therefore, the better the one who binds, the more blessed is the one who has been loosed, so that his release has been accomplished in every part of the heavens.
Common Questions
Did early Christians think Peter received the keys of the kingdom?
Yes. Cyprian and Tertullian clearly say Peter received the keys, and they connect that gift with binding and loosing.
Did early Christians think church leaders had binding and loosing authority?
Yes. Some early writings apply Matthew 18:18 to bishops and church discipline, not just to Peter.
Did all early Christian writers agree on what the keys meant?
No. Origen asks whether the promise was only for Peter or also for other believers, so the reading is not uniform.
Source Index for the Keys of the Kingdom and Church Authority
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 182 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 97
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 85
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
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