# Saint Peter at Heaven's gate...not a joke.



## SBG (Feb 8, 2008)

I have a friend at work that has a priest that is always cracking jokes at mass. My friend always relays them to me, and the majority of them always seem to be about St. Peter at Heaven's gate. I'm sure we have all heard some rendition of the jokes... 

Now for the question:

Is this a true Catholic belief? You know, St. Peter, guarding the gate, if you will. I asked him out of curiosity, and he said he didn't have a clue. I told him I knew some folks that would have the answer, and if they didn't they'd dang sure make one up.


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## dawg2 (Feb 8, 2008)

Before I answer, here is a little funny:

_At heaven's gate


  A priest dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly Gates. Ahead of him is a guy who's dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket and jeans.

Saint Peter addresses him, "Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you into the Kingdom of Heaven?"

The guy replies, "I'm Joe Cohen, taxi driver, from New York ."

Saint Peter consults his list. He smiles and says to the taxi driver, "Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

Now it's the priest's turn. He stands erect and booms out, "I am the Right Reverend Joseph Snow, pastor of Saint Mary's for the last forty-three years."

Saint Peter consults his list. He says to the priest, "Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

"Just a minute," says the priest. "That man was a taxi driver. Why does he get a silken robe and golden staff?"

"Results," shrugged Saint Peter. "While you preached, people slept. When he drove, people prayed."

Moral of the story : It's performance, not position, that counts._


I would say the idea would have started due partly to this:

"Peter, who is called ‘the rock on which the Church should be built,’ who also obtained ‘the keys of the kingdom of heaven. . .’"
—Tertullian, On the Prescription against the Heretics, 22 (c. A.D. 200)

OR in the Bible:
 Matthew 16:18-19…

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of ************ shall not prevail against it.

19 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. 


The Papal coat of arms has contained two keys depicting the "Keys to Heaven" since inception of an ecclesiastical coat of arms.

But is he really there guarding the gates: I do not know for sure.  But I seriously doubt it.  I was never taught that, but it is just a little "joke" so to speak, since he was given the keys according to the Bible.


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## SBG (Feb 8, 2008)

Copy that!


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## dawg2 (Feb 8, 2008)

SBG said:


> Copy that!



Can you change your avatar please?  It is really.......there is no comprehensible english word for it.  

I can NOT get used to it.  It actually keeps me up at night.


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## jason4445 (Feb 9, 2008)

In the mid 60's a local mill owner and friend of my father's had a massive heart attack at work, and not heart beat by the time they got him to the hospital.  They worked on him and just as they were going to call it quits he came too and lived on to his early 80's.  This guy was about as Southern Baptist as they come and he told Dad he was at the Pearly Gates and described them. There was an angel he called St. Peter motioning with his hand and arm for this guy to come across the gates and enter into heaven and the guy refused.  The next thing he knew he was in the ER.  He later told Dad that he knew in his soul that if he crossed the gates he would have died.


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## dawg2 (Feb 9, 2008)

jason4445 said:


> In the mid 60's a local mill owner and friend of my father's had a massive heart attack at work, and not heart beat by the time they got him to the hospital.  They worked on him and just as they were going to call it quits he came too and lived on to his early 80's.  This guy was about as Southern Baptist as they come and he told Dad he was at the Pearly Gates and described them. There was an angel he called St. Peter motioning with his hand and arm for this guy to come across the gates and enter into heaven and the guy refused.  The next thing he knew he was in the ER.  He later told Dad that he knew in his soul that if he crossed the gates he would have died.


Well maybe he really does guard the gate.


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## Big7 (May 7, 2008)

*ain't no pearly gates!  -  it's todays vernacular*

Jesus gave authority (keys to the kingdom of heaven, by which some erroneously interpret as the Pearly Gates, but which really describes God’s people on earth) in Matthew 16:18. King James version here:  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=16&version=9 – needs to be read in context of the rest of the chapter.

ver·nac·u·lar 
1 a: using a language or dialect native to a region or country rather than a literary, cultured, or foreign language b: of, relating to, or being a nonstandard language or dialect of a place, region, or country c: of, relating to, or being the normal spoken form of a language.

In this case mainly the United States.


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## SBG (May 7, 2008)

Big7 said:


> ain't no pearly gates! - it's todays vernacular.



Re 21:21
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.


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## Big7 (May 8, 2008)

SBG said:


> Re 21:21
> And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.




9 One of the seven angels who held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 
10He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 
11 It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal. 
12 It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed and on which names were inscribed, (the names) of the twelve tribes of the Israelites. 
13 There were three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west. 
14 The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 
15 The one who spoke to me held a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 
16 The city was square, its length the same as (also) its width. He measured the city with the rod and found it fifteen hundred miles 13 in length and width and height. 
17 He also measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits according to the standard unit of measurement the angel used. 
18 The wall was constructed of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. 
19 The foundations of the city wall were decorated with every precious stone; the first course of stones was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 
20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh hyacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 
21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made from a single pearl; and the street of the city was of pure gold, transparent as glass. 
22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb. 

Read all of it -you will see that this is not the pearly gates St. Peter is falsely attributed as guarding.

These verses explore the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 21 does describe gates but not the
"St. Peter Gates" everyone associates  with getting into Heaven.

St. Peter guards the Keys to the Kindom of Heaven, not the Pearly Gates!


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## Big7 (May 8, 2008)

SBG said:


> I have a friend at work that has a priest that is always cracking jokes at mass. My friend always relays them to me, and the majority of them always seem to be about St. Peter at Heaven's gate. I'm sure we have all heard some rendition of the jokes...
> 
> Now for the question:
> 
> Is this a true Catholic belief? You know, St. Peter, guarding the gate, if you will. I asked him out of curiosity, and he said he didn't have a clue. I told him I knew some folks that would have the answer, and if they didn't they'd dang sure make one up.



The feed back from me here on my other 2 posts is based
on the context of the question you pose here, in this quote.


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## Big7 (May 8, 2008)

*gates*



dawg2 said:


> Before I answer, here is a little funny:
> 
> _At heaven's gate
> 
> ...


_

dawg2 explained it pretty well here too.. throughout, but especially the last paragraph._


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## jneil (May 8, 2008)

The ancient Eygptians had a similar beliefs about getting into Heaven regarding having a gatekeeper, except he weighed soul to determine your worthiness.


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## Dunamis (May 13, 2008)

I'm almost positive that the gates you guys are referring to in Revelation are not the gates of Heaven. Those are the gates of the New Jerusalem that will come down to earth


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## SBG (May 13, 2008)

Dunamis said:


> I'm almost positive that the gates you guys are referring to in Revelation are not the gates of Heaven. Those are the gates of the New Jerusalem that will come down to earth



You are correct. However, most people, incorrectly, refer to the NJ as Heaven.


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## Big7 (May 14, 2008)

*Thanks!*

That's what I pointed out earlier:



Dunamis said:


> I'm almost positive that the gates you guys are referring to in Revelation are not the gates of Heaven. Those are the gates of the New Jerusalem that will come down to earth




Here:


Big7 said:


> 9 One of the seven angels who held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
> 10He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
> 11 It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal.
> 12 It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed and on which names were inscribed, (the names) of the twelve tribes of the Israelites.
> ...



Helps to get clarification on the same point, from a different
observation.
Thanks!


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## Dunamis (May 14, 2008)

I think I may have been too lazy to read the whole thing. I wasn't trying to steal your thrunder...

Dueces!


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## Big7 (May 14, 2008)

*agree*



Dunamis said:


> I think I may have been too lazy to read the whole thing. I wasn't trying to steal your thrunder...
> 
> Dueces!



Hope I did not imply that. 
I was just agreeing with you!


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## Dunamis (May 14, 2008)

Not at all! Thanks for the response though...


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