Saint Peter

Saint Peter, also known as Peter, Simon ben Jonah/BarJonah, Simon, Simon Peter, Cephas, and Kepha, was a Galilean fisherman and one of the twelve disciples or apostles of Jesus whose life was prominently featured in the New Testament gospels. He is considered a saint and the first pope in the Roman Catholic Church and its Eastern Rite. Other religious denominations of Christendom recognize his office as Bishop of Antioch and later Bishop of Rome but do not affirm the belief that his episcopacy had primacy over other episcopates elsewhere in the world. Yet, there are others who refuse to consider Saint Peter as having held the office of bishop, declaring that the office of bishop was a development of later Christianity. Furthermore, most Protestants do not use the title of saint in reference to Peter as a matter of doctrine against canonization, in favor of a more generalized concept and doctrine of sainthood where all Christians are saints and non-Christians are not.

The Liturgy of the Hours records June 29, 69 as his date of death; other scholars believe that he died on October 13, 64. He is believed to have been sentenced to death by crucifixion by the Roman Empire. According to tradition, Saint Peter is buried in the grottoes underneath the Basilica of Saint Peter in Vatican City. He is often depicted in art as holding the keys to the gates of heaven, as prescribed in the Gospel of Matthew.

Name

Saint Peter's original name of Simon or שמעון comes from the Hebrew language meaning hearkening and listening. In standard Hebrew it is pronounced as Šhimʿon and in Tiberian Hebrew it is pronounced as Šhimʿôn. According to Holy Scriptures, Jesus renames him Petros or Πετρος which comes from the Greek language meaning pebble or piece of rock (but can just as easily be understood to be Matthew changing the feminine "Petra" to the masculine "Petros"). Jesus calls the church foundation as Petra or πετρα meaning rock. The Gospel of Matthew proclaims that Saint Peter professes Jesus to be the promised messiah of the Old Testament. Jesus answered, "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:17-19). In the same Holy Scriptures, Saint Paul refers to Saint Peter as Cephas or Kephas, an Aramaic equivalent of the name Peter. When the Bible lists the Apostles, Peter is always listed first, and Judas Iscariot is always listed last.

Life

Most details of Peter's life depend primarily on the New Testament; there are no other contemporary accounts of his life or death. Before becoming a disciple of Jesus, Simon (i.e., Peter) was a fisherman. The synoptic gospels all recount how his mother-in-law was healed by Jesus at their home in Capernaum (Matt. 8:14-17; Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38f), so we know he was married, but the name of his wife is not known. A number of later legends mention that he had a daughter.

While fishing in the Lake of Gennesaret, Simon was called by Jesus to be his follower (Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-10; John 1:40-42), along with his brother Andrew. Seeing them cast a net for fish, He told them "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

The gospels also state that Jesus foretold that Peter would deny him three times after Jesus' arrest. Again according to the Gospel of Matthew, on the evening before the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which is called the Passover), Jesus predicted to his disciples that they would "fall away" from him that night. Peter replied, "Even if all desert you, I will never desert you." Jesus answered, "In truth I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times." Confronted after Jesus had been arrested, Peter did deny knowing Jesus to avoid being arrested himself. When he heard a cock crow, he remembered what Jesus had said, and wept. (Matt. 26:31-35, 69-75; Mark 14: 26-31, 66-72; Luke 22:31-34,54-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27).

The author of Acts portrays Peter as an extremely important figure of the early Christian community, second only to Paul. Peter takes the lead in selecting a replacement for Judas (1:15); he is twice examined, with John, by the Sanhedrin (4:7-22; 5:18-42); he undertakes a missionary journey of Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea (9:32-10:2); and is present at the Council of Jerusalem, where Paul argued his case for converting the non-Jews, or gentiles, to the Gospel.

From the early Christian writings, it is clear that Peter was considered one of the principal members, if not leaders of the early community. Most of the gospels suggest that he was favored by Jesus. Since Peter does not reappear in Matthew’s gospel after his denial of Jesus, some scholars have suggested that for Matthew, Peter was an apostate.

After the author of Acts turns his attention away from Peter and to the activities of Paul, we lose sight of Peter's movements. It is clear that he lived in Antioch for a while, for not only did Paul confront him there (Galatians 2:11f), but tradition makes him the first bishop of that city, and thus the first Patriarch of Antioch. Some scholars interpret Paul's mention of Peter in 1 Corinthians 1:12 as evidence that Peter had visited Corinth. A far more insistent tradition, at least as early as the first century, is that he came to Rome, where he was martyred. The Gospel of John may be interpreted as suggesting that Peter was martyred by crucifixion ("when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and take you where you do not want to go" John 21:18), and Clement of Rome in his Letter to the Corinthians placed his death in the time of Nero. Later traditions hold that the Romans crucified him upside-down by his request; he did not want to equate himself with Jesus. On the way to his execution, it is said, he encountered Jesus and asked: "Domine, Quo Vadis]" ("Lord, where are you going?"). Other versions of this story claim that this occurred as Peter was fleeing Rome to avoid his execution; Jesus' response, "I am going to Rome, to be crucified again," caused him to turn back. This story is commemorated in an Annibale Carracci painting. The Church of Quo Vadis, near the Catacombs of Saint Callistus, contains a stone in which Jesus' footprints from this event are supposedly preserved, though this was actually apparently an ex-voto from a pilgrim, and indeed a copy of the original, housed in the Basilica of St. Sebastian.

This story is recorded in a number of places, notably the apocryphal Acts of Peter (35):

And as they considered these things, Xanthippe took knowledge of the counsel of her husband with Agrippa, and sent and showed Peter, that he might depart from Rome. And the rest of the brethren, together with Marcellus, besought him to depart. But Peter said unto them: Shall we be runaways, brethren? and they said to him: Nay, but that thou mayest yet be able to serve the Lord. And he obeyed the brethren's voice and went forth alone, saying: Let none of you come forth with me, but I will go forth alone, having changed the fashion of mine apparel. And as he went forth of the city, he saw the Lord entering into Rome. And when he saw him, he said: Lord, whither goest thou thus (or here)? And the Lord said unto him: I go into Rome to be crucified. And Peter said unto him: Lord, art thou (being) crucified again? He said unto him: Yea, Peter, I am (being) crucified again. And Peter came to himself: and having beheld the Lord ascending up into heaven, he returned to Rome, rejoicing, and glorifying the Lord, for that he said: I am being crucified: the which was about to befall Peter.

-- M.R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament, Clarendon Press, 1924.

The ancient historian Josephus describes how Roman soldiers would amuse themselves by crucifying criminals in different positions. This is consistent with the ancient traditions about Peter’s crucifixion.

Roman Catholic Church

Main articles: Primacy of Simon Peter, Primacy of the Roman Pontiff

In Roman Catholic tradition, Peter is considered the first bishop of Antioch, and later bishop of Rome and therefore the first pope. The first epistle ends with "The church that is in Babylon, chosen together with you, salutes you, and so does my son, Mark." (1 Peter 5:13), but Babylon has sometimes been taken figuratively to mean Rome.

The Roman Catholic Church makes use of his position as first bishop of Rome and Jesus' statement that Peter was the rock upon which he would build his community as the case for papal primacy. The popes are thus the successors of Peter and as a result, retain his privileges, given by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 16:18-19). (Protestants argue against this.) In honor of Peter's occupation before becoming an Apostle, the popes wear the Fisherman's Ring, which bears an image of the Saint casting his nets from a fishing boat. The so-called "Keys of Heaven" or Papal Keys were, according to tradition, received by Peter from Jesus, marking Peter's role as head of the Christian faith on earth. Thus, the Keys are a symbol of the Pope's authority still to this day.

St. Peter's Basilica is built at the site of Peter's alleged crucifixion, and beneath the main altar there is an altar dedicated to St. Peter. Recent excavations have discovered a burial chamber even deeper beneath this altar where one skeleton, which was missing its feet, was interred with special honor. Some archeologists propose that these are the actual remains of Saint Peter, supposing that after dying by crucifixion (upside-down according to tradition), his feet were cut off to remove him from the cross. They also cite, among other things, the age of the deceased (60-70, which would be consistent with Peter's age), and the fact that a piece of plaster which had come off the marble-lined repository in which the bones were supposedly buried bore the Greek inscription PETROS ENI - "Peter is within".

Pope John Paul II would always visit the altar of Saint Peter before leaving Rome on an apostolic journey.

His writings

The New Testament includes two letters (or epistles) ascribed to Peter. While neither demonstrates the quality of Greek expected from an Aramaic fisherman who learned it as a second or third language, a number of scholars argued that if his first epistle was not at least written by him with the help of a secretary or amanuensis, then its author was a close associate of Peter who not only knew his opinions well, but felt comfortable speaking in Peter's name.

The Second Epistle of Peter is another possible case. This letter demonstrates a dependence on the Epistle of Jude, and some modern scholars date its composition as late as AD 250. However, this epistle is included in numerous early Bibles of around that time and before, such as Papyrus 72 (3rd century) and the Bible of Clement of Alexandria (ca. 200). See the following section for more detail.

The Gospel of Mark is generally attributed as being the teachings of Peter, recorded by Mark. According to Eusebius' "Ecclesiastical History" 3.39.14-16, Papias recorded this from John the Presbyter: "Mark having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatsoever he remembered. It was not, however, in exact order that he related the sayings or deeds of Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor accompanied Him. But afterwards, as I said, he accompanied Peter, who accommodated his instructions to the necessities [of his hearers], but with no intention of giving a regular narrative of the Lord's sayings. Wherefore Mark made no mistake in thus writing some things as he remembered them. For of one thing he took especial care, not to omit anything he had heard, and not to put anything fictitious into the statements."

Further Detail on the Authenticity of 2 Peter

There was controversy over the book in the Western Church until the early 4th century over the authenticity of 2 Peter (that is, that Peter was the author). In the East as well, the work was not accepted universally for an even longer period; the Syriac Church only admitted it into the canon in the 6th century.

It is to be noted, however, that the church historian Eusebius remarks on Origen's reference to the epistle before 250. In the collection of Cyprian's letters, the Bishop Firmilian speaks in favor of authenticity. Many scholars have noted the similiarities between pseudo-2 Clement (1st century - related to Clement of Rome) and 2 Peter. Several early church writers, the author of the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas among others, make allusions to the letter, which may give it an earlier priority.

Pseudepigrapha

There are also a number of apocryphal writings that have been either attributed or written about Peter. They were from antiquity regarded as pseudepigrapha. These include:

• Gospel of Peter, a Docetic narrative that has survived in part
• Acts of Peter
• A Letter of Peter to Philip, which was preserved in the Nag Hammadi Library
• Apocalypse of Peter, which was considered as genuine by many Christians as late as the fourth century
• The Epistula Petri, the introductory letter ascribed to Peter that appears at the beginning of at least one version of the Clementine literature

See also

• St. Peter's Basilica
• St. Peter's Square
• The Big Fisherman
• San Pietro in Vincoli
• Saint Peter's tomb
• Saint Peter Parish

External links

• 1 Peter at Bible Gateway of Gospel Communications (various versions)
• 2 Peter at Bible Gateway of Gospel Communications (various versions)
• stpetersbasilica.org Books on Peter in Rome
• Etymology of Peter

See also: Saint Peter