The First Epistle of Peter is believed to have been written by Peter. The number of believers grows enormously and it is Peter who leads them with authority and wisdom as chief of the apostles. Midway through Luke's account in the Acts of the Apostles it is clear that the man known as James the brother of Jesus, and not Peter, is leader in Jerusalem; a fact that is often overlooked by readers of the Bible. How or why Peter is superseded we are not told but scholars suggest James had a greater religious pedigree that gave him a better standing with the Temple authorities.
Or perhaps, if James really was a relation of Jesus, it was only natural for him to succeed his brother.
Whatever the reason, it is clear that Peter defers to James' authority. It is clear that on one occasion Paul and Peter had a major disagreement and Paul calls Peter a hypocrite for siding with James.
Peter seems to be caught between two extremes with sympathy for both; James believed that anyone who became a Christian must subscribe to the Jewish customs; Paul believed that no obstacles should be placed in the way of non-Jewish converts. It was an issue that could have split the fledgling church, perhaps it was Peter's stance that held the movement together. So what happened to Peter, where did he go and where did he die? There are a few clues from Paul's letters that he did travel and, interestingly, he did so with his wife.
This has led some scholars to suggest that Peter ministered as part of a husband and wife team and that the role of women has been deliberately diminished over history. However, the details of Peter's later life cannot be found in the Bible: one must look elsewhere. Most of these writings were condemned by the church as heretical and dangerous but used in the right way they can give scholars a great insight into biblical characters and their environment.
The Acts of Peter is a document that is first mentioned by the early church historians and from these clues scholars can establish that it was in circulation by the end of the 2nd century. It depicts Peter entering Rome after Paul had left and rescuing the church from the influence of one Simon the Magician.
Simon is mentioned briefly in the New Testament and is almost certainly a historical character. In this account he is portrayed as Peter's arch-enemy. The two embark on an amazing miracle contest that culminates with Simon flying unaided through the air - but at the prayer of Peter, Simon is dropped and crashes to the ground, breaking his leg.
Simon is defeated and the people turn back to Christianity. It is certainly plausible that Peter went to Rome; after all, it was the capital of the greatest empire the world had ever seen, so if the message took root there it would reach every corner of the known world. The written accounts of this event are detailed but relatively late. The strongest evidence lay unchecked for centuries, right under the noses of the Vatican. According to the traditional story, in 67 A.
Peter was hung upside down and beheaded at the Circus Maximus during a wave of brutal anti-Christian persecution under Emperor Nero, after the burning of Rome. After Peter died, it is said, his body was taken to a burial ground, situated where St. Peter's cathedral now stands.
His body was entombed and later secretly worshiped. The Teimpietti at S. Pietro in Rome marks the spot were St. Peter was supposedly crucified. The Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul and the chopped off finger doubting Thomas stuck in Jesus' wound. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the world's largest and arguably most famous church, sits on the place where St.
Peter purportedly was buried. The roof of the dome and the main alter are all said to line up exactly with his grave site. There is even archaeological evidence to support this. During the construction of a tomb in for Pope Pius the XI an ancient burial chamber was discovered. Later archaeological work uncovered the words "Petro eni" among some ancient graffiti, which could be interpreted as "Peter is within.
In some bones were discovered that belonged to a robust man between 60 and 70, a description which matches up with the traditional profile of St. Peter at the time of his death. The Vatican conducted an investigation. In Pope Paul VI announced publicly that bones confirmed what the Vatican knew all along that Peter was in fact buried under the cathedral.
The evidence is certainly not beyond reproach but it is plausible the bones belonged to Peter. When the bones were re-interned the bones of a mouse that had wandered into the repository and perished there sometime in the last 1, years were also reburied. Constantine's basilica was a remarkable engineering feat: his men moved a million tonnes of earth in order to create a platform for the structure and yet there was a flat plot just yards away.
Constantine went to such lengths because he believed that this was the very spot where Peter was buried, on the side of the Vatican Hill. This tradition remained strong throughout the ages but without concrete proof. Then in routine alterations under the floor of St Peter's unearthed an incredible find. They asked for papal permission to dig towards the high altar and there they found a simple, shallow grave and some bones. It took years for these bones to be analysed and the anticipation grew but the results were bizarre and disappointing.
The bones were a random collection consisting of remains from three different people and several animals! But this was not the end of the saga. Amazingly no one gave them a second thought until one of the experts asked whether there had ever been anything found in the niche. These bones were then analysed and the tests showed they were the remains of a man in his 60s or 70s and of stocky build.
This scene complements the one in Matthew. There, Jesus called Peter to be the rock of the Church. Peter was one of the Twelve Apostles, all chosen by Jesus to be the foundation of his Church. At the head of the Twelve, Jesus placed Peter. From Jesus, the Twelve received the mandate to preach the Gospel to all nations. Peter ultimately made his way to Rome, where he died as a martyr.
In establishing the Twelve Apostles with Peter at their head, Jesus gave the Church the basic structure of its leadership. Peter scoffed. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. Humility should be a natural response to the power and presence of God. As Jesus prophesied during the last supper, Peter ends up betraying the Lord three times.
The fact that Jesus conquered death as He promised was a great victory. But how could Peter ever communicate the depth of his sorrow? He must have felt like Jesus would never trust him again. When Peter responds that he does love the Lord, Jesus encourages him to care for His sheep.
The same is true for us. Jesus is continually at work in our lives redeeming and restoring us. Peter and John were locked up by the temple guard for preaching about Jesus.
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