Saint Peter

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Saint Peter
Image:Francesco del Cossa 017.jpg
Petrus, by Francesco del Cossa
Titles: Cephas, the Rock
Born	Bethsaida
Died	crucified upside down ~64 in Rome under Nero
Venerated in	All Christianity
Major shrine	St. Peter's Basilica
Feasts	February 22, June 29, November 18
Attributes	bald man, often with a fringe of hair on the sides and a tuft on top; book; rooster; keys; man crucified head downwards; man holding a key or keys; man robed as a pope and bearing keys and a double-barred cross; reversed cross
Patronage	Extensive list, see [1]
O God, who hast given unto Thy blessed Apostle Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and the power to bind and loose: grant that we may be delivered, through the help of this intercession, from the slavery of all our sins: Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.[2]

Saint Peter, also known as Peter, Simon ben Jonah/BarJonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and Kepha—original name Simon or Simeon (Acts 15:14)—was one of the twelve original disciples or apostles of Jesus. His life is prominently featured in the New Testament Gospels.

A Galilean fisherman, he (with his brother Andrew) was literally "called" by Jesus to be an apostle. Above all the other disciples, Peter was assigned a leadership role by Jesus (Matt 16:18; John 21:15–16); and indeed, his supremacy within the early Church is recognized by many.

Simon Peter is considered a saint by many Christians, and the first Pope by the Roman Catholic Church and its Eastern Rites. Other Christian denominations recognize his office as Bishop of Antioch and later Bishop of Rome, but do not hold the belief that his episcopacy had primacy over other episcopates elsewhere in the world. Still others do not view Peter as having held the office of bishop or overseer, holding the view that the office of bishop was a development of later Christianity. Furthermore, many Protestants do not use the title of "saint" in reference to Peter, believing instead that all Christians are 'saints'.

The Liturgy of the Hours records June 29, AD 69 as his date of death. However, the date is uncertain. Some scholars believe that he died on October 13, AD 64. He is traditionally believed to have been sentenced to death by crucifixion by the Roman authorities. According to tradition, Simon Peter was crucified upside down, and 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 kingdom of heaven (the sign of his primacy over the Church), as described in the Gospel of Matthew.

The Shiite Muslims believe Simon (Sham'oon in Arabic) was the chosen successor of Jesus (Isa) by God.

1 Name
2 Life
3 Roman Catholic Church
4 His writings
5 Further detail on the authenticity of Second Peter
6 Pseudepigrapha
7 Popular culture
8 See also
9 External links

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Name

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 New Testament gospels of Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus renames him "Petros" or Πέτρος, which comes from the Greek meaning "pebble" or "piece of rock" (but can also be understood to be Matthew changing the feminine "Petra" to the masculine "Petros"). The name is also occasionally given in the Aramaic form "Cephas" (כיפא). As Jews of that time spoke Aramaic it was the name Cephas (Aramaic: Rock) which was given to Simon by Jesus.

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Life

Most reconstructions of Peter's life depend primarily on the New Testament; there are no other contemporary accounts of his life or death. According to the New Testament, before becoming a disciple of Jesus, Simon (that is, Peter) Bar Jonah was a fisherman. He was originally a native of Bethsaida (John 1:44), the son of Jonah (Matt 16:17) or son of Jochanan (John 1:42). 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 allege that he had a daughter. In one of his epistles, the apostle Paul of Tarsus also mentioned that Peter had a wife.

According to the New Testament, while fishing in the Lake of Gennesaret, Simon was called by Jesus to be his follower, along with his brother Andrew. Seeing them cast a net for fish, Jesus is said to have told them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Peter is often depicted as spokesman of the twelve disciples, and he and James and John seem to have formed the core of an intimate group which was "closest" to Jesus, present in many moments of special revelations, such as the Transfiguration.

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 bitterly (Matt 26:31–35, 69–75; Mark 14:26–31, 66–72; Luke 22:31–34, 54–62; John 18:15–18, 25–27).

However, after Jesus' resurrection, Peter is presented as meeting the risen Jesus. As Peter reaffirms his love for his master, Jesus reaffirms Peter's calling (John 21:15–17).

Image:StMarysAylesburyDetail6.jpg The author of the Acts of the Apostles portrays Peter as an extremely important figure within the early Christian community. Peter delivers a speech immediately after the event of Pentecost. Furthermore, according to the Acts of the Apostles, Peter takes the lead in selecting a replacement for Judas (1:15). Peter is twice examined, with John, by the Sanhedrin and directly defies them (4:7–22; 5:18–42). Once, Peter was arrested, but an angel appeared and miraculously secured his release. He undertakes a missionary journey to Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea (9:32–10:2). He is instrumental in the decision to evangelize the Gentiles (Acts 10), and he is present at the Council of Jerusalem, where Paul further argues the case for admitting gentiles into the Christian community without circumcision.

From the early Christian writings, it is clear that Peter was considered chief leader of the early community. Most of the gospels suggest that he was favored by Jesus. Although, since Peter does not reappear in Matthew's gospel after his denial of Jesus, a few scholars have suggested that for Matthew, Peter was an apostate. Perhaps the mystery is solved by the fact that Jesus appeared to Peter and charged him to return.

After Acts turns its attention away from Peter and to the activities of Paul, Peter's movements are not recorded. It is clear that he lived in Antioch for a while, for not only did Paul confront him there (Gal 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 Cor 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 during the time of the burning of Rome, as Nero wanted to put the blame for the fire on Christians. 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, as 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, and that 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.

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Roman Catholic Church

Image:Pope-peter pprubens.jpg

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 Pet 5:13), but Babylon has sometimes been taken figuratively to mean Rome. The preterist view of the Book of Revelation concludes that Babylon is figurative for Jerusalem. It could also be a symbolic code name for Antioch or some other large city. More literally, it could refer to some city in Mesopotamia.

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. Numerous authors have noticed that the terminology of the commission is unmistakably parallel to the commissioning of Eliakim ben Hilkiah in Isa 22:15, 19–23. The popes are thus the successors of Peter and, as a result, retain his privileges given by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt 16:18–19). (Protestants argue against this, saying that Jesus is the "petra" upon which God will build his church, and the "chief cornerstone", not Peter.) 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 "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 is often depicted in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox pictures and artwork holding a key or set of keys. Image:Pietro Perugino 034.jpg Controversy between Roman Catholics and Protestants still remains to this day on the interpretation of Matt 16:18–19. Protestant theologians try to resolve this question by looking at two words in the original Greek text: The word "Peter" and the word "rock." In the original language of the New Testament, the text reads: "You are Petros, and on this petra I will build my church." According to Protestants Matthew distinguished between Petros ("little stone" or "pebble") and petra ("bedrock" or "boulder"). Evangelical Christians believe that the Saviour told Simon Peter that he would build his church on Peter's confession, not on him.

The Roman Catholic argument is that Peter was called Petros because he was male, and Petros is merely the masculinized form of the Greek word for "rock", Petra, which is a feminized form. Thus, the apparent dichotomy of Petros and Petra is merely a grammatical necessity. Furthermore, as renowned Catholic Apologist Karl Keating explains, 'Greek scholars—even non-Catholic ones—admit, the words petros and petra were synonyms in first century Greek. They meant "small stone" and "large rock" in some ancient Greek poetry, centuries before the time of Christ, but that distinction had disappeared from the language by the time Matthew’s Gospel was rendered in Greek. The difference in meaning can only be found in Attic Greek, but the New Testament was written in Koine Greek—an entirely different dialect. In Koine Greek, both petros and petra simply meant "rock."' Moreover, Catholics argue that although the gospel was written in Greek, the actual language Jesus spoke was likely Aramaic. In Aramaic the word for "rock" is Kepha, without masculinized/feminized forms. Therefore, Jesus would have stated, "You are Kepha, and on this Kepha I will build my church." This is attested to in the first chapter of the Gospel of John.

St Peter's Basilica is built at the site of Peter's 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. Pope Benedict XVI began his formal installation ceremony at the tomb of Saint Peter.

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His writings

Image:Petersinai.jpg 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 John Mark. According to Eusebius's 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 or chronological 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." If this tradition is authentic, and Mark was the faithful amanuensis of Simon Peter, then very strong doubt is cast on Peter stories found in the NT but not in the Gospel of Mark, including the paean to Peter in Matt 16:17–19. If this were authentic, then Mark would certainly have included it, but it is found only in Matthew and nowhere else. However, Matthew was also an eyewitness to Jesus' sayings, and a companion of Peter. Note that the attribution of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark to their traditional authors is disputed among scholars, as the gospels themselves are anonymous, and their titular attributions are not attested earlier than the second-century writings of Papias.

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Further detail on the authenticity of Second Peter

Until the early 4th century, there was controversy in the Western Church over the authorship of Second Peter. 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 similarities between pseudo-Second Epistle of Clement (2nd century) and Second 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.

Second Peter may be earlier than AD 250, but there is no reference to it dating back to the first century or even the early second century. The strongest evidence, according to some scholars, that it is a late forgery is the reference in 3:15 to "our beloved brother Paul," and to Paul's writings as "Scriptures." Many historians believe that relations between Paul and Peter were tense, even antagonistic (see Gal 2:11), and Peter would not have considered Paul's letters "scripture." Further, other scholars argue that the elevation of Pauline letters to scriptural status was a gradual process that was not completed early enough for Peter's reference.

Regardless of doubt on the legitimacy of Second Peter, some scholars believe that it was written in the first century (not the second or even third century AD).

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Pseudepigrapha

In Jewish folklore St Peter has a pristine reputation as a greatly learned and holy man who stopped the establishment of the Sunday Sabbath for Gentiles instead of Saturday, Noel (as a new year feast but not as Christmas) instead of Hanukkah, the Feast of the Cross instead of Rosh Hashana, Pascha instead of Pesach, remembering the feast of the Jews instead of Sukkot, and the Ascension for them instead of Shavuot. R. Judah Ha-Hassid, who led Germany's 12th-century Hasidei Ashkenaz, considered him to be a Tzaddik (a Jewish saint or spiritual Master among Hasidim). The Tosaphist R. Jacob Tam wrote that he was "a devout and learned Jew who dedicated his life to guiding gentiles along the proper path". He also passed on the traditions that St Peter was the author of the Sabbath and feast-day Nishmat prayer, which has no other traditional author, and also that he authored a prayer for Yom Kippur. There are also a number of other 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

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Popular culture

Over the years "St Peter" has evolved into a stock character that is now widely used in jokes, cartoons, comedies, dramas, and plays. Such caricatures almost all play upon Peter's mythical role as the guardian of the gates of heaven, which in turn often sees him depicted as an elderly, bearded man who sits at the pearly gates that serve as heaven's main entrance. Peter acts as a sort of hotel-style doorman / bouncer who personally interviews prospective entrants into Heaven, often from behind a desk.

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