Saint Peter

==First leader of the early Church==
{{Main|Jewish Christian|Early Christianity}}

The Gospels and Acts portray Peter as the most prominent apostle, though he denied Jesus three times during the events of the crucifixion. According to the Christian tradition, Peter was the first disciple to whom Jesus appeared, balancing Peter's denial and restoring his position. Peter is regarded as the first leader of the early Church,{{sfn|Pagels|2005|p=45}}{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|p=116}} though he was soon eclipsed in this leadership by [[James the Just|James the Just, "the brother of the Lord"]].{{sfn|Pagels|2005|pp=45–46}}{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|pp=116–117}} Because Peter was the first to whom Jesus appeared, the leadership of Peter forms the basis of the Apostolic succession and the institutional power of orthodoxy, as the heirs of Peter,{{sfn|Pagels|2005|p=43}} and he is described as "the rock" on which the church will be built.{{sfn|Pagels|2005|p=45}}

===Position among the apostles===
[[File:JanStyka-SaintPeter.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|''St. Peter Preaching the Gospel in the Catacombs'' by [[Jan Styka]]]]

Peter is always listed first among the [[Twelve Apostles]] in the [[Gospel]]s<ref>{{Bibleref2|Matt.|10:2–4}}, {{Bibleref2|Mk.|3:16–19}}, {{Bibleref2|Lk.|6:14–16}}</ref> and in the [[Book of Acts]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|1:13|KJV}}</ref> Along with [[James, son of Zebedee|James the Elder]] and [[John the Apostle|John]] he formed an informal [[triumvirate]] within the Twelve Apostles. Jesus allowed them to be the only apostles present at three particular occasions during his public ministry, the [[Raising of Jairus' daughter]],<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|5:37}}</ref> [[Transfiguration of Jesus]]<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|17:1}}</ref> and [[Agony in the Garden|Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|26:37}}</ref> Peter often confesses his faith in Jesus as the Messiah.

Peter is often depicted in the gospels as spokesman of all the Apostles.<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|15:15|KJV}}; {{bibleverse-nb|Matthew|19:27|KJV}}; {{bibleverse|Luke|12:41|KJV}}; {{bibleverse|John|6:67–68|KJV}}</ref> [[John Vidmar]], a Catholic scholar, writes: "Catholic scholars agree that Peter had an authority that superseded that of the other apostles. Peter is their spokesman at several events, he conducts the election of Matthias, his opinion in the debate over converting Gentiles was crucial, etc."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zENJHwQqSy0C |title=John Vidmar, The Catholic Church through the ages: a history. pp. 39–40 |year=2005|access-date=12 September 2010|isbn=978-0-8091-4234-7|last1=Vidmar |first1=John |publisher=Paulist Press }}</ref>

The author of the [[Acts of the Apostles]] portrays Peter as the central figure within the early Christian community.{{refn|group=note|Peter delivering a significant [[Open-air preaching|open-air sermon]] during [[Pentecost]]. According to the same book, Peter took the lead in selecting a replacement for [[Judas Iscariot]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|1:15}}</ref> Following this appointment, we see Peter establish the conditions for being an apostle as those who have spent time with Jesus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+1&version=NRSV|title=Bible Gateway passage: Acts 1 – New Revised Standard Version|website=Bible Gateway|access-date=30 November 2017}}</ref>

Peter's authority lent to his role as an adjudicator in conflicts and moral matters. He takes on this role in the case of Ananias and Sapphira and holds them accountable for lying about their alms-giving. Peter passes judgement upon them and they are individually struck dead over the infraction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+5&version=NRSV|title=Bible Gateway passage: Acts 5 – New Revised Standard Version|website=Bible Gateway|access-date=30 November 2017}}</ref>

Peter's role wasn't always leadership, since he also employed his gifts for taking care of those in need. We see Peter establish these trends by reaching out to the sick and lame. Peter heals two individuals who cannot walk or are paralyzed<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+3&version=NRSV|title=Bible Gateway passage: Acts 3 – New Revised Standard Version|website=Bible Gateway|access-date=30 November 2017}}</ref><ref name="Acts9">{{Cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+9&version=NRSV|title=Bible Gateway passage: Acts 9 – New Revised Standard Version|website=Bible Gateway|access-date=30 November 2017}}</ref> as well as raising Tabitha from the dead.<ref name="Acts9" /> While these acts were miracles of compassion, they also contributed to the number of believers in the early Church.}}

===Denial of Jesus by Peter===
[[File:El Greco - Las lágrimas de San Pedro.jpg|thumb|''The tears of Saint Peter'', by [[El Greco]], late 16th century]]
{{Main|Denial of Peter}}
[[File:The Denial of Saint Peter-Caravaggio (1610).jpg|thumb|''The Denial of Saint Peter'', by [[Caravaggio]], c. 1610]]

All four canonical gospels recount that, during the [[Last Supper]], Jesus foretold that Peter would deny him three times before the following cockcrow ("before the cock crows twice" in Mark's account). The three Synoptics and John describe the three denials as follows:
# A denial when a female servant of the high priest spots Simon Peter, saying that he had been with Jesus. According to Mark (but not in all manuscripts), "the rooster crowed". Only Luke and John mention a fire by which Peter was warming himself among other people: according to Luke, Peter was "sitting"; according to John, he was "standing".
# A denial when Simon Peter had gone out to the gateway, away from the firelight, but the same servant girl (per ''Mark'') or another servant girl (per ''Matthew'') or a man (per ''Luke'' and also ''John'', for whom, though, this is the third denial) told the bystanders he was a follower of Jesus. According to John, "the rooster crowed". The Gospel of John places the second denial while Peter was still warming himself at the fire and gives as the occasion of the third denial a claim by someone to have seen him in the garden of [[Gethsemane]] when [[arrest of Jesus|Jesus was arrested]].
# A denial came when Peter's Galilean accent was taken as proof that he was indeed a disciple of Jesus. According to Matthew, Mark and Luke, "the rooster crowed". Matthew adds that it was his [[Accent (sociolinguistics)|accent]] that gave him away as coming from Galilee. Luke deviates slightly from this by stating that, rather than a crowd accusing Simon Peter, it was a third individual. John does not mention the Galilean accent.

In the Gospel of Luke is a record of Christ telling Peter: "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." In a reminiscent<ref name="May Metzger">May, Herbert G. and Bruce M. Metzger. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. 1977.</ref> scene in John's epilogue, Peter affirms three times that he loves Jesus.

===Resurrection appearances===
[[File:Church peters primacy.jpg|thumb|left|Church of the Primacy of St. Peter on the [[Sea of Galilee]]]]

Paul's [[First Epistle to the Corinthians]]<ref>{{Bibleref2|1Cor|15}}</ref> contains a list of [[resurrection appearances of Jesus]], the first of which is an appearance to Peter.<ref>{{Bibleref2|1Cor|15:3–7}}</ref> Here, Paul apparently follows an early tradition that Peter was the first to see the risen Christ,<ref name="ODCC Peter" /> which, however, did not seem to have survived to the time when the gospels were written.<ref>See {{Bibleref2|Matthew|28:8–10}}, {{Bibleref2|John|20:16}} and {{Bibleref2|Luke|24:13–16}}.</ref>

In John's gospel, Peter is the first person to enter the [[empty tomb]], although the women and the [[beloved disciple]] see it before him.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jn.|20:1–9}}</ref> In Luke's account, the women's report of the empty tomb is dismissed by the apostles, and Peter is the only one who goes to check for himself, running to the tomb. After seeing the graveclothes, he goes home, apparently without informing the other disciples.<ref>{{bibleverse|Lk.|24:1–12}}</ref>

In the [[John 21|final chapter]] of the Gospel of John, Peter, in one of the resurrection appearances of Jesus, [[Restoration of Peter|three times affirmed his love for Jesus]], balancing his threefold denial, and Jesus reconfirmed Peter's position. The Church of the Primacy of St. Peter on the [[Sea of Galilee]] is seen as the traditional site where Jesus Christ appeared to his disciples after his resurrection and, according to Catholic tradition, established Peter's supreme jurisdiction over the Christian church.

===Leader of the early Church===
[[File:Liberation of Saint Peter by Giovanni Lanfranco-BMA.jpg|thumb|left|''The Liberation of St. Peter'' from prison by an angel, by [[Giovanni Lanfranco]], 1620–21]]

Peter was considered along with [[James the Just]] and [[John the Apostle]] as the three  ''[[Early Christianity#Jerusalem church|Pillars of the Church]]''.<ref>Galatians 2:9</ref> Legitimised by Jesus' appearance, Peter assumed leadership of the group of early followers, forming the Jerusalem ''ekklēsia'' mentioned by Paul.{{sfn|Pagels|2005|p=45}}{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|p=116}} He was soon eclipsed in this leadership by James the Just, "the Brother of the Lord."{{sfn|Pagels|2005|pp=45–46}}{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|pp=116–117}} According to Lüdemann, this was due to the discussions about the [[Paul and Judaism|strictness of adherence]] to the Jewish Law, when the more conservative faction of James the Just<ref>{{cite journal |title=James the Just in History and Tradition: Perspectives of Past and Present Scholarship (Part I) |journal=Currents in Research |volume=5 |pages=73–122 |last=Myllykoski |first=Matti |publisher=Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, Finland |quote=James the Just, the brother of Jesus, is known from the New Testament as the chief apostle of the Torah-obedient Christians.|doi=10.1177/1476993X06068700 |year=2006 |s2cid=162513014 }}</ref> took the overhand over the more liberal position of Peter, who soon lost influence.{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|pp=116–117}}{{refn|group=note|At the [[Council of Jerusalem]] (c. 50), the early Church, Paul and the leaders of the Jerusalem church met and decided to embrace Gentile converts. Acts portrays Peter and other leaders as successfully opposing the Christian Pharisees who insisted on [[circumcision]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Harris |first=Stephen L. |author-link=Stephen L Harris |title=Understanding the Bible |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U-yAQQAACAAJ |edition=8th |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill |year=2010 |page=420 |isbn=978-0-07-340744-9|quote=Christian Pharisees demand that the entire Torah be kept, but Peter reportedly opposes this ([Acts] 15:10) and&nbsp;... silences the Judaizers.}}</ref>}} According to Methodist historian [[James D. G. Dunn]], this was not a "usurpation of power", but a consequence of Peter's involvement in missionary activities.{{sfn|Bockmuehl|2010|p=52}} The early Church historian Eusebius (c. AD 325) records [[Clement of Alexandria]] (c. AD 190) as saying: 
{{blockquote|For they say that Peter and [[James, son of Zebedee|James]] (the Greater) and [[John the Apostle|John]] after the ascension of our Saviour, as if also preferred by our Lord, strove not after honor, but chose [[James the Just]] bishop of Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250102.htm |title=Church History Book II, Chapter I, quoting Clement of Alexandria's Sixth book of Hypotyposes |publisher=Newadvent.org |access-date=2010-09-12}}</ref>}}

Dunn proposes that Peter was a "bridge-man" between the opposing views of Paul and [[James the Just]] [italics original]:
{{blockquote|For ''Peter was probably in fact and effect the bridge-man'' (pontifex maximus!) ''who did more than any other to hold together the diversity of [[Apostolic Age|first-century Christianity]].'' James the brother of Jesus and Paul, the two other most prominent leading figures in first-century Christianity, were too much identified with their respective "brands" of Christianity, at least in the eyes of Christians at the opposite ends of this particular spectrum.|source={{harvnb|Dunn|2001|p=577|loc=Ch. 32}}}}

Paul affirms that Peter had the special charge of being apostle to the Jews, just as he, Paul, was apostle to the Gentiles. Some argue [[James the Just]] was [[Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem|bishop of Jerusalem]] whilst Peter was [[bishop of Rome]] and that this position at times gave James privilege in some (but not all) situations.

==={{anchor|Rock}}"Rock" dialogue===<!-- [[Rock of the faith]] redirects here -->
In a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples ({{bibleverse||Matthew|16:13–19|NIV}}), Jesus asks, "Who do people say that the [[Son of Man]] is?" The disciples give various answers. When he asks, "Who do ''you'' say that I am?", Simon Peter answers, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus then declares:

{{blockquote|Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Cephas (Peter) (''Petros''), and on this rock (''petra'') I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.}}

A common view of Peter is provided by Jesuit Father [[Daniel J. Harrington]], who suggests that Peter was an unlikely symbol of stability. While he was one of the first disciples called and was the spokesman for the group, Peter is also the exemplar of "little faith". In {{Bibleref2|Matthew|14}}, Peter will soon have Jesus say to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?", and he will eventually deny Jesus three times. Thus, in light of the Easter event, Peter became an exemplar of the forgiven sinner.<ref>[[Daniel J. Harrington|Harrington, Daniel J.]] "Peter the Rock." ''America,'' 18–25 August 2008. Accessed 9 October 2009: p. 30.</ref> Outside the Catholic Church, opinions vary as to the interpretation of this passage with respect to what authority and responsibility, if any, Jesus was giving to Peter.<ref>{{cite web|title=What did Jesus mean when he said, "Upon this rock I will build my church"?|url=https://bible.org/question/what-did-jesus-mean-when-he-said-%E2%80%9Cupon-rock-i-will-build-my-church%E2%80%9D|website=Bible.org|access-date=10 February 2015}}</ref>

In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] this passage is interpreted as not implying a special prominence to the person of Peter, but to Peter's position as representative of the Apostles. The word used for "rock" (''petra'') grammatically refers to "a small detachment of the massive ledge",<ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Rienecker | first1 = Fritz | last2 = Rogers | first2 = Cleon | title = Linguistic key to the Greek New Testament | place = Grand Rapids MI | publisher = Regency Reference Library ([[Zondervan Publishing House]]) | year = 1976 | page = 49 | isbn = 978-0-310-32050-0 }}</ref> not to a massive boulder. Thus, Orthodox [[Sacred Tradition]] understands Jesus' words as referring to the apostolic faith.

[[File:San Pedro en lágrimas - Murillo.jpg|thumb|''Saint Peter in Tears'' by [[Bartolomé Esteban Murillo]] (1617–1682)]]

''Petros'' had not previously been used as a name, but in the Greek-speaking world it became a popular Christian name, after the tradition of Peter's prominence in the early Christian church had been established.

===Apostolic succession===
{{Main|Apostolic succession}}

The leadership of Peter forms the basis of the Apostolic succession and the institutional power of orthodoxy, as the heirs of Peter,{{sfn|Pagels|2005|p=43}} and is described as "the rock" on which the church will be built.{{sfn|Pagels|2005|p=45}}
Catholics refer to him as chief of the Apostles,<ref name=CE>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf212.ii.v.xlii.html |title=Sermon by Leo the Great (440–461) |publisher=Ccel.org |date=13 July 2005 |access-date=12 September 2010}}</ref> as do the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greekorthodox.org.au/downloads/files/english/voo/2005/11VOO05E |title=Archbishop Stylianos of Australia |access-date=12 September 2010 |archive-date=7 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101107000949/http://www.greekorthodox.org.au/downloads/files/english/voo/2005/11VOO05E }}</ref> and the [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.syrianchurch.org/PZakka/Jubilee.htm |title=Patriarch H.H. Ignatius Zakka I Iwas |publisher=Syrianchurch.org |access-date=12 September 2010 |archive-date=11 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011205211/http://www.syrianchurch.org/pzakka/Jubilee.htm }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://syrianorthodoxchurch.com/pa_identity.htm|title=Syriac Orthodox Church in Canada - Identity of the Church|website=syrianorthodoxchurch.com}}</ref> In Coptic Orthodox Church liturgy, he is once referred to as "prominent" or "head" among the Apostles, a title shared with Paul in the text (''The Fraction of Fast and Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria''). Some, including the Orthodox Churches, believe this is not the same as saying that the other Apostles were under Peter's orders.