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PETER, ST
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See also:PETER, ST , the See also:chief of the Twelve Apostles. He is known also by other names : (a) " See also:Simon " (Iipwv) in See also:Mark four times and See also:Luke seven times. This use is only found in narrativebefore the See also:story of the See also:mission of the apostles: it is also found in speeches; See also:Matthew once, Mark once and Luke twice. (b) " Simon who is called Peter " is found in Matthew twice and Acts four times. (c) " Simon Peter " is found in Matthew once, Luke once, See also: The Gospels agree in regarding Cephas or Peter as an additional name, which was given by See also:Christ. But they differ as to the occasion. According to Mark iii. 13 sqq. it was given on the occasion of the mission of the Twelve. According to John i. 42 it was given at his first See also:call. According to Matt. xvi. 13 sqq. it was given after the recognition of Jesus as See also:Messiah at Caesarea See also:Philippi. This last See also:account is the only one which describes any circumstances (for a further discussion see § 3 (2) below). According to the Gospels Peter was the son of John ('Iwavys, John i. 42, xxi. 15 seq.) or See also:Jonas ('Iwvas, Matt. See also:xxvi. 17). According to Mark i. 29 he was a fisherman of See also:Capernaum, but John i. 44 describes him and his See also:brother See also:Andrew as of Bethsaida. From Mark i. 30 he is seen to have been married, and 1 See also:Cor. ix. 5 suggests (but another See also:interpretation is possible) that his wife went with him on his missionary journeys. - In 1 Pet. v. 13 Mark is referred to as his son, but this is usually interpreted of spiritual kinship. According to See also:legend (Acta Nerei et Achillei, and Acta Philippi) he had a daughter Petronilla, but there is no See also:reason for thinking that this is See also:historical. The Gospel narratives are unanimous in describing Peter as one of the first disciples of Christ, and from the See also:time of his call he seems to have been See also:present at most of the chief See also:History in incidents in the narrative. He formed together the Gospels with the sons of Zebedee to some extent an inner up to the circle within the Twelve, and this favoured See also:group Ron. is specially mentioned as present on three occasions —the raising of the daughter of Jairus (Mark v. 22-43; Matt. ix. 18-36; Luke viii. 41-56), the transfiguration (Mark ix. 2 sqq.; Matt. xvii. 1 sqq.; Luke ix. 28 sqq.) and the See also:scene in the See also:Garden at See also:Gethsemane (Mark xiv. 32 sqq.; Matt. xxvi. 36 sqq.). He is also specially mentioned in connexion with his call (Mark i. 16-20; Matt. iv. 18 sqq.; Luke v. 1 sqq.; John i. 40 sqq.); the healing of his wife's See also:mother (Mark i. 21 sqq.; Matt. viii. 14 sqq.; Luke iv. 38 sqq.); the mission of the Twelve Apostles (Mark iii. 13 sqq.; Matt. x. 1 sqq.; Luke vi. 12 sqq.); the See also:storm on the See also:Lake of See also:Galilee (Mark vi. 45 sqq.; Matt. xiv. 22 sqq.; John vi. 16 sqq.); the Messianic recognition at Caesarea Philippi (Mark vii. 27 sqq.; Matt. xvi. 16 sqq.; Luke ix. 18 sqq.); the incident of the See also:payment of See also:tribute by the See also:coin found in the See also:fish caught by Peter (Matt. xvii. 25 sqq.) and with various questions leading to parables or their explanations (Mark xiii. 36 sqq.; Luke xii. 41; Matt. xviii. 21 sqq.; Mark x. 28; Matt. xix. 27; Luke xviii. 28). In the See also:week of the See also:Passion he appears in connexion with the incident of the withered fig-See also:tree (Mark xi. 21; Matt. xxi. 20); as introducing the eschatological discourse (Mark xiii. 3 sqq.); and as prominent during the Last Supper (Luke xxii. 8 sqq.; John xiii. 4 sqq.; Mark xiv. 27 sqq.; Matt. xxvi. 31 sqq.). He was present in Gethsemane, and tried to offer some resistance to the See also:arrest of Jesus (Mark xiv. 47; Matt. xxvi. 51; Luke xxii. 50; John xviii. ro). After the arrest he followed the See also:Lord to the scene of the trial, but denied him and fled. The See also:message of the See also:young See also:man at the See also:tomb (Mark xvi. 4) was especially addressed to Peter and it is clear that the genuine conclusion of Mark must have contained an account of an See also:appearance of the risen Lord to him. Out of this See also:mass of incidents the following are central and call for closer See also:critical See also:consideration. r. The Call of St Peter.—(Mark i. 16-2o; Matt. iv. 18-22; Luke v. r-n; John i. 40-42). The account in Matthew is practically identical with that in Mark and is no doubt taken from the Marcan source, but Luke and John have different traditions. The See also:main points are as follows: according to Mark, at the beginning of the Galilean See also:ministry Jesus saw Peter and Andrew fishing. He called them, and they joined him. After this he went with them to Capernaum, preached in the See also:synagogue, and healed Peter's wife's mother. Luke, who certainly used Mark, has partly rearranged this narrative and partly rejected it in favour of a different version. According to him the visit to Capernaum and the healing of the wife's mother preceded the call of Peter, and this was associated with a tradition of a miraculous See also:draught of fishes. The See also:advantage of the See also:Lucan reconstruction, so far as the first See also:part is concerned, is that it supplies a reason for Peter's ready obedience, which is somewhat difficult to understand if he had never seen Jesus before. But it seems probable that this is the See also:motive which led to the redactorial See also:change in Luke, and that the Marcan account, which is traditionally connected with Peter, ought to be followed. With regard to the narrative of the miraculous draught of fishes, the See also:matter is more complicated. Luke obviously preferred this narrative to the Marcan account, but the fact that the same story comes in John xxi. suggests that there was an See also:early tradition of some such incident of which the actual occasion and circumstances were undetermined. Luke preferred to connect it with the call of Peter, the writer of John xxi. with his restitution: probably both are of the nature of redactorial guesses, and the Marcan account must be regarded as preferable to either. The Johannine account of the call of Peter is quite different. According to this it took See also:place immediately after the See also:baptism of Jesus, in See also:Judaea not in Galilee. It is connected with the giving of the name Peter, which in Mark was not given until much later. 2. The See also:Confession of Peter at Caesarea Philippi.—(Mark viii. 27-33; Matt. xvi. 13-23; Luke ix. 18-22). According to Mark, Peter, in See also:answer to the question of Jesus, recognized that He was the Messiah, but protested against the prophecy of suffering which Jesus then added. This narrative is followed, with the exception of the last part, by Luke, who as usual is inclined to omit anything which could be regarded as derogatory to the Apostles. Matthew also uses the Marcan narrative, but adds to it a new See also:section from some other source which suggests that the name of Peter was conferred on this occasion—not, as Mark says, at the first mission of the Twelve—and confers on him the keys of the See also:kingdom of See also:heaven and the right of binding and loosing. This must be probably' interpreted as a reference to the prophecy concerning Eliakim in Isa. xxii. 22, and to technical use of the words " binding " and " loosing " by the See also:scribes in authoritative decisions as to the obligations of the See also:law. It thus confers on Peter a position of quite unique authority. It must, however, be noted that the See also:power of binding and loosing is given in Matt. xviii. 18 to the whole See also:body of disciples. This seems to be an alternative version, also found only in Matthew. The question of the historical See also:character of the Matthaean addition to the Marcan narrative is exceedingly difficult; but it ' See, however, A. Sulzbach's See also:article in the Zeitschr. f. N.T. Wiss. (1903), p. 190. He thinks there is an allusion to a See also:room in the See also:Temple where the See also:great See also: 40, &c.), but is a See also:definition and an exaltation of the nature of the Messiah. 3. The Conduct of Peter after the Betrayal.—The consideration of this point brings one into See also:touch with the two See also:rival traditions as to the conduct of the disciples after the betrayal and crucifixion of the Lord—the Galilean and the See also:Jerusalem narratives. There is one incident which must in any See also:case be accepted as it is found in both narratives. This is the denial of Peter. It appears that Peter did not stay with the disciples and neither returned See also:home immediately to Galilee (according to the Galilean tradition) nor sought hiding in Jerusalem (according to the Jerusalem tradition), but followed the Lord at a distance and was a See also:witness of at least part of the trial before the Sanhedrim. He was detected and accused of being a See also:disciple, which he denied, and so fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus that he would deny Him before the See also:cock crowed. But putting this incident aside, the Galilean and Jerusalem traditions do not admit of reconciliation with one another. The former is represented by Mark. According to it the disciples all fled after the betrayal (though Peter waited until after the denial), and afterwards saw the risen Lord in Galilee. The details of this narrative are unfortunately lost, as the genuine conclusion of Mark is not extant. But Mark xiv. 28 and xvi. 7 clearly imply a narrative which described how the disciples returned to Galilee, there saw the risen Lord, and perhaps even how they then returned to Jerusalem in the strength of their newly recovered faith, and so brought into existence the church of Jerusalem as we find it in the Acts. It is also clear from Mark xvi. 7 that Peter was in some See also:special way connected with this appearance of the risen Lord, and this tradition is confirmed by r Cor. xv. 5, and perhaps by Luke See also:xxiv. 34. The Jerusalem narrative is represented especially by Luke and John (excluding John xxi. as an appendix). According to this the disciples, though they fled at the betrayal, did not return to their homes, but remained in Jerusalem, saw the risen Lord in that See also:city, and stayed there until after the See also:day of See also:Pentecost. Attempts to reconcile these two narratives seem to be found in Matthew and in John xxi. Obviously the choice which has to be made between these traditions cannot be adequately discussed here: it must suffice to say that See also:intrinsic and traditional See also:probability seem to favour the Galilean narrative. If so, one must say that after the denial Peter returned to Galilee—probably to resume his See also:trade of fishing—and he there saw the risen Lord. This appearance is referred to in r Cor. xv. 5, and was certainly described in the lost conclusion of Mark. An account of it is preserved in John xxi., but it is here connected—probably wrongly—with a miraculous draught of fishes, just as the account of his call is in Luke. Immediately after the resurrection there is a missing See also:link in the history of Peter. We know that he saw the risen Lord, and, according to the most probable view, that this History was in Galilee; but the circumstances are unknown, after the and we have no account of his return to Jerusalem, Resurrection as at the beginning of the Acts the disciples are all according to in Jerusalem, and the writer, in See also:contradiction to the thepistles. acts and Marcan or Galilean narrative, assumes that they had E never See also:left it. The first part of the Acts is largely concerned with the See also:work of Peter. He appears as the recognized See also:leader of the Apostles in their choice of a new member of the Twelve to take the place of Judas Iscariot (Acts i. 15 sqq.); on the day of Pentecost he seems to have played a prominent part in explaining the meaning of the scene to the See also:people (Acts ii. 14 sqq.); and soon afterwards was arrested by the See also:Jews on the See also:charge of being a See also:ring-leader in the disorders caused by the healing of the lame man at the " Beautiful " See also:gate of the temple, but was released. After this he appears as the leader of the apostles in the story of See also:Ananias and Sapphira, who perished at his rebuke for their duplicity (Acts v. I–n). The last See also:episode of this See also:period is another arrest by the priests, which ended in his being scourged and released (Acts v. 17 sqq.).
After this Peter's See also:attention was directed to the growth of See also:Christianity in See also:Samaria, and he and John made a See also:journey of inspection through that See also:district, laying hands on those who had been baptized in See also:order that they might receive the See also:Holy Spirit. Here Simon Magus (q.v.) was encountered. He was a magician who had been converted by See also: His stay at Lydda was marked by the healing of See also:Aeneas (Acts ix. 32–4) and at Joppa by the resuscitation of Tabitha or Dorcas. While at Joppa he stayed with Simon the See also:tanner, and thence was summoned to Caesarea to See also:Cornelius the See also:centurion. He hesitated whether to go, but was persuaded by a See also:vision and the See also:injunction to call nothing unclean which God had cleansed. Cornelius was accordingly baptized. This is an important incident, as being the first ad-mission of a See also:Gentile into the church: but he was already " God-fearing," 0o0obuevos See also:TOP Oeov (Acts x. I), which probably denotes some sort of connexion with the Jewish synagogue, though it is difficult to say exactly what it was. After this incident Peter returned to Jerusalem. The members of the Church were somewhat shocked at the reception of a Gentile: their view apparently was that the only road to Christianity was through Judaism. They were, however, persuaded by Peter's speech (Acts xi. 4–17); but it is uncertain how far their concession went, and in the See also:light of subsequent events it is probable that they still regarded See also:circumcision as a necessary rite for all Christians. After the return of Peter to Jerusalem the most important events were the See also:famine at Jerusalem, and the persecution of the Church by See also:Herod. During the latter Peter was put in See also:prison (Acts xii. 3 sqq.), but was released by an See also:angel; he first went to the See also:house of See also:Mary, the mother of John Mark, and afterwards went to " another place." This expression has been interpreted to mean another See also:town, and even to be an implied reference to See also:Rome. This last See also:suggestion, improbable though it be, is historically important. The persecution of Herod seems to have been in his last year, which was probably A.D. 43–44. There was a marked tendency to make the duration of Peter's episcopate at Rome twenty-five years: and a See also:combination of this tendency with the explanation that the &epos Toaror was Rome probably is the origin of the traditional dating of the martyrdom of Peter in A.D. 67-68. There is, however, no See also:justification for this view, and gT€pOS THOS need not mean more than another house in Jerusalem. The famine referred to in Acts xi. 27 sqq. probably began before the See also:death of Herod, but it continued after his death, and the See also:relief sent by the church at See also:Antioch to Jerusalem through Paul and See also:Barnabas probably arrived about the year 45. It is not stated in the Acts that Peter was present, and it is thereforeusually assumed that h@ was absent, but See also:Sir W. M. See also:Ramsay has argued in his St Paul the Traveller that the visit of Paul to Jerusalem with the famine relief is the meeting between Paul and Peter referred to in Gal. ii. as the occasion of an agreement between them as to the See also:preaching of the gospel to Jews and Gentiles. This view is not generally accepted, but it has the great advantage of avoiding the difficulty that otherwise Paul in Gal. ii. i sqq. must describe as his second visit to Jerusalem what was really his third. According to Ramsay, then, Peter was present during the famine, and made a private agreement with Paul that the latter should preach to the Gentiles, and so far Gentile Christianity was recognized, but the conditions of the intercourse between Gentile and Jewish Christians were not defined, and the question of circumcision was perhaps not finally settled. According to the more popular view the description in Gal. ii. applies to Acts xv. the so-called See also:council of Jerusalem. This council met after the first missionary journey (c. A.D. 49) of Paul to discuss the question of the Gentiles. Peter, who was present, adopted the view that Gentile Christians were See also:free from the See also:obligation of the law, and this view was put into the form of the so-called Apostolic decrees by James (Acts xv. 23 sqq.). The next See also:information which we have about Peter is given in Gal. ii. II sqq. According to this he went to Antioch and at .first accepted the Gentile Christians, but afterwards See also:drew back and was rebuked by Paul. On the See also:ordinary interpretation this must have taken place after the council, and it is exceedingly difficult to reconcile it with the attitude of Peter described in Acts xv., so that Mr C. H. Turner thinks that in this respect the account in Gal. ii. is not chronological, and places the visit of Peter to Antioch before the council. If, however, we take the theory of Sir W. M. Ramsay the matter is simpler. We thus get the compact between Paul and Peter during the famine, then a visit of Peter to Antioch, during which Peter first adopted and afterwards drew back from the position which he had agreed to privately. This vacillation may then have been one of the causes which led up to the council, which may have been held before, not, as is usually thought, after the sending of the See also:Epistle History to the Galatians. For this we have no knowledge after the of details for which the same certainty can be claimed. council of There are, however, various traditions of importance. Jerusalem. The following points are noteworthy. i Cor. i. 12 suggests the possibility that Peter went to See also:Corinth, as there was a party there which used his name. It is, however, possible that this party had merely'adopted the principles which, as they had been told, perhaps falsely, were supported by the leader of the Twelve. See also:Dionysius of Corinth (c. 17o) states that Peter was in Corinth. This may represent See also:local tradition or may be an inference from i Cor. i. 12. I Peter suggests a ministry in the provinces of See also:Asia See also:Minor. There is, of course, nothing improbable in this, and even if i Peter be not authentic, it is early See also:evidence for such a tradition, but it is also possible that Peter wrote to converts whom he had not personally made. This tradition is found in See also:Origen (Eus. H.E. iii. I), See also:Epiphanius (Haer. See also:xxvii., vi.), See also:Jerome (De Vir. See also:ill. I) and other later writers; but it is possible that it is merely an inference from the epistle. Early tradition connects Peter with Antioch, of which he is said to have been the first See also:bishop. The first writer to mention it is Origen (Hem. vi. in Lucam) , but it is also found in the Clementine Homilies and Recognitions (Holm. 20, 23; Recog. lo, 68) and probably goes back to the lists of bishops which were See also:drawn up in the 2nd See also:century. Other important references to this tradition are found in Eus. H.E. iii. 26, 2; Apost. Const. vii. 46; Jerome, De Vir. ill. I; Chronicon paschale; and See also:Liber pontificalis. The tradition of work in Antioch may well be historical. Otherwise it is a rather See also:wild elaboration of Gal. ii. Ir. The most important and widespread tradition is that Peter came to Rome; and though this tradition has often been bitterly attacked, it seems ,,to be probable that it is at least in outline quite historical. The evidence for it is earlier and better than that for any other tradition, though it is not quite convincing. The earliest witness to a See also:residence of Peter in Rome is probably I Peter, for (see PETER, EPISTLES OF) it is probable that the reference to See also:Babylon ought to be interpreted as meaning Rome. 1 If so, and if the epistle be genuine, this is conclusive evidence that Peter was in Rome. Even if the epistle be not genuine it is evidence of the same tradition. Nor is corroboration lacking: See also:Clement (c. A.D. 97) refers to Peter and Paul as martyrs (I Clem. 5–6) and says that " To these men ... there was gathered a great See also:company of the elect who . . . became an example to us." This points in two ways to a martyrdom of Peter in Rome, (I) because Peter and Paul are co-ordinated, and it is generally admitted that the latter suffered in Rome, (2) because they seem to be joined to the great company of martyrs who are to be an example to the Church in Rome. Similarly See also:Ignatius (c. A.D. 115) says to the See also:Romans (Rom. iv.), " I do not command you as Peter and Paul." The suggestion obviously is that the Romans had been instructed by these Apostles. By the end of the 2nd century the tradition is generally known: See also:Irenaeus (3, 1, 1), Clement of See also:Alexandria (comment. on I Peter), Origen (See also:Horn. vi. in Lucam), See also:Tertullian (See also:Score. 15, and several passages) are explicit on the point, and from this time onwards the tradition is met with everywhere. There is also a tradition, found in Irenaeus (3, 1, 1) and in many later writers, and supported by r Pet. v. 13, and by the statements of See also:Papias (Eus. H.E. 3, 39, 15) that Mark acted as Peter's assistant in Rome and that his. gospel is based on recollections of Peter's teaching. This evidence is probably sufficient to establish the fact that Peter, like Paul, had a wide missionary career ending in a violent death at Rome, though the details are not recoverable. The chronological question is more difficult both as regards the beginning and the end of this period of activity. The Acts, in describing the visits of Peter to Samaria, Joppa, Lydda and Caesarea, justify the view that his missionary activity began quite early. Gal. ii. iI and I Cor. ix. 5 show The See also:chronology that Acts minimizes rather than exaggerates this of Peter's activity; the Antiochian tradition probably repre-Wider sents a period of missionary activity with a centre See also:miss/''Y at Antioch; similarly the tradition of work in Asia Work. is possibly correct as almost certainly is that of the visit to Rome. But we have absolutely no evidence justifying a chronological arrangement of these periods. Even the silence of Paul in the epistles of the captivity proves nothing except that Peter was not then present; the same is true of 2 Tim. even if its authenticity be undoubted. The evidence as to the date of his death is a little See also:fuller, but not quite satisfactory. The earliest See also:direct witness is Tertullian, who definitely states that Peter suffered under See also:Nero by crucifixion. Origen also relates the latter detail and adds that at his own See also:request Peter was crucified See also:head downwards. Probably John xxi. 18 seq. is a still earlier reference to his crucifixion. Fuller evidence is not found until See also:Eusebius, who See also:dates the arrival of Peter at Rome in 43 and his martyrdom twenty-five years later. But the whole question of the Eusebian chronology is very confused and difficult, and the text of the Chronicon is not certain. The main objection to this date is based partly on See also:general probability, partly on the See also:language of Clement of Rome. It is more probable on general grounds that the martyrdom of Peter took place during the persecution of Christians in 64, and it is urged that Clement's language refers to this period. It is quite possible that an See also:error of a few years has crept into the Eusebian chronology, which is probably largely based on early episcopal lists, and therefore many scholars are inclined to think that 64 is a more probable date than 67. As a See also:rule the discussion has mainly been between these two dates, but Sir W. M. Ramsay, in his Church in the See also:Roman See also:Empire, has adopted a different See also:line of See also:argument. He thinks that I Peter was written G. A.D. 8o, but that it may nevertheless be Petrine; therefore he See also:lays stress on the fact that whereas the tradition that Peter was in Rome is early and probably correct, the tradition that he was martyred under Nero is not found until much later. Thus he thinks it possible that Peter survived until c. 8o, and was martyred under the See also:Flavian emperors. The weak point of this theory is that Clement and Ignatius bring Peter and Paultogether in a way which seems to suggest that they perished, if not together, at least at about the same time. If this view be rejected and it is necessary to fall back on the choice between 64 and 67, the problem is perhaps insoluble, but 64 has somewhat more intrinsic probability, and 67 can be explained as due to an artificial See also:system of chronology which postulated for Peter an episcopate of Rome of twenty-five years—a number which comes so often in the early episcopal lists that it seems to mean little more than " a See also:long time," just as " See also:forty years " does in the Old Testament. On the whole 64 is the most probable date, but it is very far from certain: the evidence is insufficient to justify any assurance. For further information and discussion see especially Harnack's Chronologie, and Bishop See also:Chase's article in See also:Hastings's See also:Dictionary of the See also:Bible. The latter is in many ways the most See also:complete statement of the facts at present published. See also:Caius, who lived in the beginning of the 3rd century (see Eus. H. E. 2, 25), stated that the Tpoaaua (i.e. probably the See also:burial place, not that of See also:execution) of Peter and Paul were on the Vatican. This is also found in the Acta Petri, TheofPeter.gave 84 (in the See also:Lib. See also:Pont., ed. See also:Duchesne, p. 52 seq., 118 sqq.). From this place it appears that the See also:relics (whether genuine or not) were moved to the catacombs in A.D. 258 (cf. the Depositis martyrum, and see See also:Lightfoot's Clement, i. 249); hence arose .the tradition of an original burial in the catacombs, found in the Hieronymian See also:Martyrology. For further information and investigations see Duchesne, Liber pontificalis; See also:Lipsius, See also:Die Apokr. Apostelgesch.; and Erbes " Die Todestage der Apostel See also:Paulus u. Petrus," in Texte and Untersuchungen, N.F., iv. I. (K. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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