Peter, an apostle of Jesus

   In this brief examination of the apostles, I am going in the order the apostles are listed by Matthew.

   Peter was the apostle who had the courage to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah, who had the faith to walk on water, who had the enthusiasm to jump out of the boat to greet Jesus after His resurrection, and who had the guts to cut off the ear of a high priest’s servant the night Jesus was betrayed.

   Peter was also the apostle who had the selfishness to lie in saying he did not know Jesus, three times.

   This was the apostle who has been highlighted in many sermons I have heard over the past twenty-four years.  I think this is because so many of us can relate to him.  Yet ironically most of those same sermons neglected to inform the congregation that Peter, after being baptized by the Holy Spirit, preached to people on the day of Pentecost which resulted in over 3,000 people turning to Christ.

   I add, as a Christian who is on fire for Christ who fits the categorization of a non-denominational Protestant, that in my church experience past I have heard little on the teaching from the two books of Scripture which Peter wrote, the epistles of I Peter and II Peter.  Yet they are rich epistles, which should be relished by any Christian!

   An article in National Geographic in December of 1971 discussed how a professor from the University of Rome, Dr. Margherita Guarducci, was convinced she located the bones of Peter.[1]  Found in a niche in a wall in the crypt under St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the evidence is strong this was Peter’s burial place.  This is an appropriate topic to start off this brief examination of the apostles, since the graves of the apostles, which contain bones, are of interest to Christian historians.  Their interest is for a different reason than the interest developed by Emperor Constantine and others even into the Middle Ages.  Through many years, some people, including some church leaders, treated “relics” (bones) of the apostles as if they were holy.

   On the flip side, historians want to track down where the bones supposedly ended up so they can verify a location where the apostle did ministry work!  Dr. McBirnie devoted himself to evidence regarding the graves of apostles in his book The Search for the Twelve Apostles for this very reason.[2]  Peter’s grave in Rome is affirmed by many, but scholars today dispute whether his bones were identified by Margherita Guarducci.

   Compared to some apostles who are rarely mentioned, because he was a natural leader Peter is mentioned much in Scripture.  This one verse I give here shows the apostles were given by Jesus unique apostolic gifts.

   Acts 9:40   “Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up” (NIV).

   Near the close of the epistle of I Peter, Peter states Babylon is his location at the time.  Yet many think Babylon was a code word for Rome.  I am not sure.  From a questioned writing of Hippolytus, we have the statement that Peter did ministry work in various locations: “Peter preached the Gospel in Pontus, and Galatia, and Cappadocia, and Betania, and Italy, and Asia…”[3]  Note that Eusebius apparently quoted this writing, which I think gives it more weight, though it might have some corruption.[4]

   Peter's death in Rome during the reign of the Emperor Nero is not disputed.  And the reason an upside down cross is associated with Peter are statements he was crucified upside down, since he wanted to be in a different position than Christ had been in when crucified.  Sounds like Peter to me.

   Picking up where I left off in the quote above from the Hippolytus writing, which I think is legit: "...and was afterwards crucified by Nero in Rome with his head downward, as he had himself desired to suffer in that manner."[5]

Hunter Irvine

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[1] Aubrey Menen, “St. Peter’s,” National Geographic, Vol. 140, no.6 (1971).

[2] William McBirnie, The Search for the Twelve Apostles

(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1973).

[3] Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene
Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325 (1867; digital repr.,
Albany, Oregon: SAGE Software, 1996), 5:535.

[4] Eusebius, Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, trans. C.F. Cruse

(Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1998), 67.
[5] Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene
Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325 (1867; digital repr.,
Albany, Oregon: SAGE Software, 1996), 5:535.