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Saint Peter, also known as Peter, Simon ben
Jonah/BarJonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and
Kepha—original name Simon or Simeon (Acts of the
Apostles|Acts 15:14)—was one of the twelve
original disciples or apostles of Jesus whose life
was prominently featured in the New Testament
Gospels.  A Galilee|Galilean fisherman, he was
called into service by Jesus with his brother
Saint Andrew|Andrew.  Peter was one of the few
disciples marked exclusively for a special
leadership role by Jesus (Gospel of Matthew|Matt.
16:18; Gospel of John|John 21:15-16), a post that
he indeed held for much of the early Church.

He is considered a saint and the first Pope in the
Roman Catholic Church and its Eastern Rite|Eastern
Rites.  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
unicode|Šhimʿon and in Tiberian Hebrew
it is pronounced as unicode|Šhimʿôn. 
According to the Greek Holy Scriptures (Mark,
Luke, and John), 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").  Most scholars understand
that Jesus spoke Aramaic, though, and certainly
not Greek.  The Aramaic word for rock is "kepha"
or "kefa", referring to a small transparent green
stone used for divination.  Thus, Paul's letters
refer to Peter as Cephas, preserving the Aramaic
original and avoiding the problem presented by the
Greek feminine noun "petra".

Jesus refers to 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,
Paul of Tarsus|Saint Paul refers to Saint Peter as
Cephas or Kephas.  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. He was originally a native of Bethsaida
(John 1:44), the son of a certain Jonah (Matt.
16:17). 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 (Matthew
4:18|Matt. 4:18-Matthew 4:22|22; Mark 1:16-20;
Luke 5:1-10; Gospel of John|John 1:40-42), along
with his brother Saint Andrew|Andrew. Seeing them
cast a net for fish, He 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 formed the
core of an intimate group which is 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 Passover|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).

However, after Jesus' resurrection, Peter meets
him on a fishing trip where Jesus enables him to
compensate for his previously lack of faith. This
occurs when Jesus asks Peter three times if he
loved him with increasing forcefullness and Peter
answers yes with equal firmness.(John 12:15-17)

The author of Acts of the Apostles|Acts portrays
Peter as an extremely important figure of the
early Christian community. Peter takes the lead in
selecting a replacement for Judas Iscariot|Judas
(1:15); he is twice examined, with John, by the
Sanhedrin and directly defies them (4:7-22;
5:18-42); he undertakes a missionary journey of
Lydda, Jaffa, Israel|Joppa and Caesarea
Palaestina|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. Paul's
account of his confrontation with Cephas suggests
that the latter was lower in the hierarchy than
James (Jacob), brother of Jesus, since envoys from
James turned Peter away from eating with Gentiles.
Some scholars interpret Paul's mention of Peter in
1 Corinthians 1:12 as evidence that Peter had
visited Corinth, Greece|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 Quo Vadis (church)|Church
of Quo Vadis, near the Catacombs of Pope Callistus
I|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==

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. 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
Papacy|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 of Peter|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."
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 Matthew 16:17-19. If this were
authentic, then Mark would certainly include it,
but it is found only in Matthew and nowhere else.

== 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 Syrian Orthodox Church|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|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-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.

2 Peter may be earlier than 250 AD, but there is
no reference to it dating back to the first
century or even the early second century. The
strongest evidence 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
Galatians 2:11), and it would thus be impossible
that Simon considered his opponent's letters as
"Scripture." In fact, even for followers of Paul,
the elevation of the Pauline epistles to
scriptural status would have been far more gradual
and slow.

== 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 docetism|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==
commonscat|Saint Peter
*St. Peter's Basilica
*St. Peter's Square
*The Big Fisherman
*San Pietro in Vincoli
*Saint Peter's tomb
*Saint Peter Parish

==External links==
*Biblegateway|1|Peter
*Biblegateway|2|Peter
*http://www.stpetersbasilica.org/tours.htm
stpetersbasilica.org Books on Peter in Rome
*http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalward/Cephas.htm
Etymology of Peter

start box
succession box|title=List of Patriarchs of
Antioch|Bishop of
Antioch|before=—|after=Euodias of
Antioch|Saint Euodias|years=37–53
succession box|title=List of
popes|Pope|before=—|after=Pope Linus|Saint
Linus|years=30–64 or 67
end box

	Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

Saint Peter, also known as Peter, Simon ben
Jonah/BarJonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and
Kepha—original name Simon or Simeon (Acts of the
Apostles|Acts 15:14)—was one of the twelve
original disciples or apostles of Jesus whose life
was prominently featured in the New Testament
Gospels.  A Galilee|Galilean fisherman, he was
called into service by Jesus with his brother
Saint Andrew|Andrew.  Peter was one of the few
disciples marked exclusively for a special
leadership role by Jesus (Gospel of Matthew|Matt.
16:18; Gospel of John|John 21:15-16), a post that
he indeed held for much of the early Church.

He is considered a saint and the first Pope in the
Roman Catholic Church and its Eastern Rite|Eastern
Rites.  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
unicode|Šhimʿon and in Tiberian Hebrew
it is pronounced as unicode|Šhimʿôn. 
According to the Greek Holy Scriptures (Mark,
Luke, and John), 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").  Most scholars understand
that Jesus spoke Aramaic, though, and certainly
not Greek.  The Aramaic word for rock is "kepha"
or "kefa", referring to a small transparent green
stone used for divination.  Thus, Paul's letters
refer to Peter as Cephas, preserving the Aramaic
original and avoiding the problem presented by the
Greek feminine noun "petra".

Jesus refers to 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,
Paul of Tarsus|Saint Paul refers to Saint Peter as
Cephas or Kephas.  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. He was originally a native of Bethsaida
(John 1:44), the son of a certain Jonah (Matt.
16:17). 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 (Matthew
4:18|Matt. 4:18-Matthew 4:22|22; Mark 1:16-20;
Luke 5:1-10; Gospel of John|John 1:40-42), along
with his brother Saint Andrew|Andrew. Seeing them
cast a net for fish, He 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 formed the
core of an intimate group which is 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 Passover|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).

However, after Jesus' resurrection, Peter meets
him on a fishing trip where Jesus enables him to
compensate for his previously lack of faith. This
occurs when Jesus asks Peter three times if he
loved him with increasing forcefullness and Peter
answers yes with equal firmness.(John 12:15-17)

The author of Acts of the Apostles|Acts portrays
Peter as an extremely important figure of the
early Christian community. Peter takes the lead in
selecting a replacement for Judas Iscariot|Judas
(1:15); he is twice examined, with John, by the
Sanhedrin and directly defies them (4:7-22;
5:18-42); he undertakes a missionary journey of
Lydda, Jaffa, Israel|Joppa and Caesarea
Palaestina|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. Paul's
account of his confrontation with Cephas suggests
that the latter was lower in the hierarchy than
James (Jacob), brother of Jesus, since envoys from
James turned Peter away from eating with Gentiles.
Some scholars interpret Paul's mention of Peter in
1 Corinthians 1:12 as evidence that Peter had
visited Corinth, Greece|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 Quo Vadis (church)|Church
of Quo Vadis, near the Catacombs of Pope Callistus
I|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. 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
Papacy|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 of Peter|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."
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 Matthew 16:17-19. If this were
authentic, then Mark would certainly include it,
but it is found only in Matthew and nowhere else.

== 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 Syrian Orthodox Church|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|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-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.

2 Peter may be earlier than 250 AD, but there is
no reference to it dating back to the first
century or even the early second century. The
strongest evidence 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
Galatians 2:11), and it would thus be impossible
that Simon considered his opponent's letters as
"Scripture." In fact, even for followers of Paul,
the elevation of the Pauline epistles to
scriptural status would have been far more gradual
and slow.

== 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 docetism|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==
commonscat|Saint Peter
*St. Peter's Basilica
*St. Peter's Square
*The Big Fisherman
*San Pietro in Vincoli
*Saint Peter's tomb
*Saint Peter Parish

==External links==
*Biblegateway|1|Peter
*Biblegateway|2|Peter
*http://www.stpetersbasilica.org/tours.htm
stpetersbasilica.org Books on Peter in Rome
*http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalward/Cephas.htm
Etymology of Peter

start box
succession box|title=List of Patriarchs of
Antioch|Bishop of
Antioch|before=—|after=Euodias of
Antioch|Saint Euodias|years=37–53
succession box|title=List of
popes|Pope|before=—|after=Pope Linus|Saint
Linus|years=30–64 or 67
end box

	Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

Saint Peter, also known as Peter, Simon ben
Jonah/BarJonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and
Kepha—original name Simon or Simeon (Acts of the
Apostles|Acts 15:14)—was one of the twelve
original disciples or apostles of Jesus whose life
was prominently featured in the New Testament
Gospels.  A Galilee|Galilean fisherman, he was
called into service by Jesus with his brother
Saint Andrew|Andrew.  Peter was one of the few
disciples marked exclusively for a special
leadership role by Jesus (Gospel of Matthew|Matt.
16:18; Gospel of John|John 21:15-16), a post that
he indeed held for much of the early Church.

He is considered a saint and the first Pope in the
Roman Catholic Church and its Eastern Rite|Eastern
Rites.  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
unicode|Šhimʿon and in Tiberian Hebrew
it is pronounced as unicode|Šhimʿôn. 
According to the Greek Holy Scriptures (Mark,
Luke, and John), 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").  Most scholars understand
that Jesus spoke Aramaic, though, and certainly
not Greek.  The Aramaic word for rock is "kepha"
or "kefa", referring to a small transparent green
stone used for divination.  Thus, Paul's letters
refer to Peter as Cephas, preserving the Aramaic
original and avoiding the problem presented by the
Greek feminine noun "petra".

Jesus refers to 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,
Paul of Tarsus|Saint Paul refers to Saint Peter as
Cephas or Kephas.  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. He was originally a native of Bethsaida
(John 1:44), the son of a certain Jonah (Matt.
16:17). 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 (Matthew
4:18|Matt. 4:18-Matthew 4:22|22; Mark 1:16-20;
Luke 5:1-10; Gospel of John|John 1:40-42), along
with his brother Saint Andrew|Andrew. Seeing them
cast a net for fish, He 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 formed the
core of an intimate group which is 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 Passover|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).

However, after Jesus' resurrection, Peter meets
him on a fishing trip where Jesus enables him to
compensate for his previously lack of faith. This
occurs when Jesus asks Peter three times if he
loved him with increasing forcefullness and Peter
answers yes with equal firmness.(John 12:15-17)

The author of Acts of the Apostles|Acts portrays
Peter as an extremely important figure of the
early Christian community. Peter takes the lead in
selecting a replacement for Judas Iscariot|Judas
(1:15); he is twice examined, with John, by the
Sanhedrin and directly defies them (4:7-22;
5:18-42); he undertakes a missionary journey of
Lydda, Jaffa, Israel|Joppa and Caesarea
Palaestina|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. Paul's
account of his confrontation with Cephas suggests
that the latter was lower in the hierarchy than
James (Jacob), brother of Jesus, since envoys from
James turned Peter away from eating with Gentiles.
Some scholars interpret Paul's mention of Peter in
1 Corinthians 1:12 as evidence that Peter had
visited Corinth, Greece|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 Quo Vadis (church)|Church
of Quo Vadis, near the Catacombs of Pope Callistus
I|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==

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. 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
Papacy|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 of Peter|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."
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 Matthew 16:17-19. If this were
authentic, then Mark would certainly include it,
but it is found only in Matthew and nowhere else.

== 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 Syrian Orthodox Church|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|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-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.

2 Peter may be earlier than 250 AD, but there is
no reference to it dating back to the first
century or even the early second century. The
strongest evidence 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
Galatians 2:11), and it would thus be impossible
that Simon considered his opponent's letters as
"Scripture." In fact, even for followers of Paul,
the elevation of the Pauline epistles to
scriptural status would have been far more gradual
and slow.

== 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 docetism|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==
commonscat|Saint Peter
*St. Peter's Basilica
*St. Peter's Square
*The Big Fisherman
*San Pietro in Vincoli
*Saint Peter's tomb
*Saint Peter Parish

==External links==
*Biblegateway|1|Peter
*Biblegateway|2|Peter
*http://www.stpetersbasilica.org/tours.htm
stpetersbasilica.org Books on Peter in Rome
*http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalward/Cephas.htm
Etymology of Peter

start box
succession box|title=List of Patriarchs of
Antioch|Bishop of
Antioch|before=—|after=Euodias of
Antioch|Saint Euodias|years=37–53
succession box|title=List of
popes|Pope|before=—|after=Pope Linus|Saint
Linus|years=30–64 or 67
end box