Peter (Apostle)
Simon son of Jonah, also known as kefir (in Aramaic ) or Simon Peter, is a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth. Born in the early Christian era in Galilee and died about 65 to Rome according to tradition, he is a member of the Apostles , among whom he seems to have held a privileged position. It is considered holy by Catholics and Orthodox Churches, under the name of St. Peter.
In the tradition of Roman Catholicism , he became the first bishop of Rome and thus founds the papal primacy which the current Pope is the 266th successor His name Peter is the nickname of a traditional character called Simon and probably has received Jesus of Nazareth Kepha symbolic designation which means "stone", "rock" or "rock" in Aramaic. This term is translated by Petros in Greek and Petrus in Latin , and finally Peter French . This nickname seems to underline a trait marking this disciple who holds a prominent place in the group of twelve apostles of Jesus . His real name Simon or Simeon, son of Jonah (Simon Barjona), it is, according to the Gospels , a native of Bethsaida , a married fisherman on Lake Tiberias in Galilee. With his brother Andrew , he decided to follow Jesus ( Mt 4. 18 ) that it will host at his home in Capernaum. He will receive him the name "Cephas" ( John 1. 42 ; Mk 3. 16 ), Aramaic word that means "rock" translates , "stone" in Greek, which gave Petrus in Latin, then Peter French, Italian Pietro, Pedro, Spanish, Peter in the Germanic countries, Piotr Russian, etc.. Peter is always listed first among the apostles ( Mk 3. 16 , Acts 1. 13 ). On several occasions in the stories, John and Paul recognize its importance. Thus, he expresses his faith on behalf of all the disciples: "And you asked them there, who do you say I am? Peter answered him: Thou art the Christ. "(( Mk 8. 29 ). According to the Roman Catholic Church, Jesus appointed Peter as the foundation of his Church in the Gospel of Matthew: "And I tell you that you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church "( Mt 16. 18 ). For the Orthodox, the Eastern Churches and Protestants is the declaration of Peter itself which is the foundation stone of a spiritual building composed of living stones (all Christians ) laid on the great stone (rock) which is Christ himself ( 1P 2. 4-5 ). Thus, the origin of the function of the Roman pope for these churches is a historical development of the West and not a is happening in the New Testament itself. Peter has attended and participated in several major events or miracles of Christ's life, like walking on water ( Mt 14. 28-31 ), the Transfiguration , Jesus' arrest, trial, and his Passion. Described in the Gospels as enthusiastic, passionate, but sometimes hesitant and fallible, he abandoned Jesus during the Passion , despite assurances that he had expressed earlier: "If all fall, I will not fall" (( Mk 14. 29 ). He bitterly regretted this denial: "And Peter remembered what Jesus said to him: Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times. And on reflection, he wept." ( Mk 14. 72 ). At the announcement by Mary Magdalene that the tomb of Jesus was found empty, it was the first to enter, Jean left him with the precedence ( Jn 20. 5s ; Jn 21. 7 ). Subsequently, he enjoyed before the twelve of an apparition of Christ resurrected ( 1 Cor 15. 5 ). During the last appearance of Christ to his disciples, he was rehabilitated by Jesus after his denial and re-instated in the mission to be one of the pastors of the Church : "He said for the third time, Simon, son Jonas, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he had told him the third time: Do you love me? And he answered him: Lord, thou knowest all things, you know I love you. Jesus said to him: Feed my sheep. "( Jn 21. 15-17 ). The Acts of the Apostles show him as a senior leader of the Christian community. After Pentecost , he takes the floor and began preaching the Christian message. At the Council of Jerusalem , he took a position in favor of the admission of Gentiles into the Church without imposing requirements such as mosaics circumcision , yet Paul reproached him to arrange the terms of Judaizing Christians led by some Jews Community Jacques the minor , "Lord's brother", the community leader of Jerusalem is the first bishop of the early Christian community ( Acts 21. 18 ): "But when Cephas came to Antioch, I withstood him to face, because he had been wrong. Indeed, before the arrival of certain people in the entourage of Jacques, he took his meals with the Gentiles, but when these people arrived, they saw him escape and stay away for fear of the circumcision. " ( Ga 2. 11-12 ). At the first council of Jerusalem Peter reconsider his mistake and opened the debate by defending the thesis of Paul clearly not to impose the Mosaic prescriptions pagans to Christians. Jacques the minor administrative head of the community (the first Christian bishop) to close the board and ruled in favor of Peter and Paul. Christians of pagan origin are released from follow Jewish traditions. After the Jerusalem Council, the Acts do not say anything about his life. The tradition of the Catholic Church attributed to Peter the direction of the Church of Antioch. First bishop of this city, a feast of the Chair of St. Peter in Antioch "is celebrated on February 22 since the fourth century . He remained seven years at Antioch. The residence of Peter in Rome is attested by the First Epistle of Peter : "The Church of the elect who is in Babylon salutes you, and Marc, my son. ( 1P 5. 13 ) subject to admit that the word Babylon means Rome in a pejorative sense as a city corrupt and idolatrous image familiar to readers of the Bible. Babylon still existed at the time and, although it had lost its past splendor , it was an important center of Judaism . Marc , who is quoted in verse, is the author of the second Gospel and was the faithful interpreter of Peter, according to John the Presbyter quoted by Eusebius of Caesarea . But it is not certain that the Bible means by "Babylon" the city of Rome in the passage in question. In 1 Peter 5:13, Peter says he is "Babylon": it was assumed that it was Rome. But it could be the real Babylon, the city of Chaldea, where Peter was building the large Jewish community, descendants of the exile of the sixth century BC. AD. When Paul wrote to Rome, he said "Rome" and not "Babylon". In the Apocalypse, John also gives the real name of the city where he wrote "Patmos". As was the custom of writers clearly acknowledge the city from which they wrote. When John speaks of Babylon in the Apocalypse is in order to associate it with the Babylon of the Old Testament prophets. Babylon Chaldea, Peter addressed his epistles to the Christians of Asia, "scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia" (1 Peter 1:1). Several ancient texts refer to the martyrdom of Peter, as well as that of Paul , which allegedly occurred during the persecutions ordered by Nero , including inside the Circus Vaticanus built by the emperor Caligula , situated on the Vatican Hill, the approximate location of the current St. Peter's Basilica. Thus, a timeless tradition that place even martyrdom inter duas metas - between the two terminals - the spina (for explanation of " meta "and" spina ", see the article: Roman Circus ). The oldest of these texts, the Letter to the Corinthians of Clement of Rome , dated 96 , does not explicitly place, although there are various reasons for thinking that this is Rome . Twenty years later, a letter of Ignatius of Antioch to the Christians of Rome has these words: "I do not give orders like Peter and Paul" . A passage from the late second century , quoted by Eusebius of Caesarea says that at a certain Proclus, who boasted that his country possessed the tomb of the apostle Philip , the Roman Gaius replied: "But I I can show you the trophies of the apostles. Indeed, if you want to visit the Vatican or on the road to Ostia, you will find the trophies of those who founded this Church. " , the word "trophy" from the Greek , Victory Monument, in context here designate the graves of Peter and Paul. In any case, these sites will be built in the fourth century basilicas St. Peter and St. Paul Outside the Walls dedicated to them. Eusebius also relates the testimony of Dionysius of Corinth and Zphyrin Rome . Clement of Rome says that his suffering would be caused by an "unjust jealousy and dissension among members of the Christian community : there was probably information. According to an apocryphal , the Acts of Peter , he was crucified head downwards . Tradition locates the tomb of Peter the location of a cemetery north of the Circus Vaticanus, which it was separated by a secondary highway, the Via Cornelia. The emperor Constantine had erected there a first basilica (occupying the site of the existing building ) and whose apse was built around the site of the tomb, despite the considerable difficulties of the terrain, a hillside, forcing to huge earthworks, and although he had to change a cemetery. The excavations were made in the twentieth century in the Vatican Grottoes , revealed, below the altar and the exact vertical from the top of the dome, a cultural monument over a grave, found empty, the first century (tomb theta). The memorial, which would be the "Trophy of Gaius," is included in a monument of time of Constantine. On one of the supporting walls (red wall) was a graffito incised with Greek characters remaining four R, that is to say the first four letters of the name of Peter, and below TO (I) which would, according Margherita Guarducci, shape abbreviation, word for word "is in". Carcopino Jerome , who defended the hypothesis of a temporary transfer of relics during the persecution of Valerian , instead read IN ( ) "missing". A cache built on a perpendicular wall (wall G) contained the bones of a male person aged sixty or seventy years, but that does not allow any conclusion. In the Gospels , no exegete does not deny the primacy of Peter over the other disciples of Jesus, his residence and his martyrdom in Rome are "almost certain" to quote the Protestant biblical scholar Oscar Cullmann . Thus, the rule of Peter is recognized by all Christians. The differences between Christian denominations, and especially between Catholics and Orthodox, are due to the exact definition of this rule: for Catholics, it is a rule of court, while for the Orthodox - but also for Anglicans , it is only a primacy of honor. Protestants, for their part, do not consider that there was transmission of this rule a few successors whatsoever. One element in favor of the "Roman tradition" of the presence of the tomb of Peter is the absence of any other claim of his tomb by another ancient city. Archaeological discoveries made during the twentieth century can not provide certainty. Following an excavation, the tomb was discovered in 1942, is a tomb that Christians of the fourth century saw as that of Peter. It was officially recognized as such by Pope Paul VI in 1964. However, the presence of Peter in Rome is not evident in the Acts of the Apostles. Some say that Peter was in Rome from 41 to 66 year for a period of 25 years. But in the book of Acts (written by St. Luke) that Peter preached in Caesarea to Cornelius' house at a distance of 2900 km from Rome. A little later, about the year 44 (Acts 12) Peter was imprisoned by Herod in Jerusalem but it was issued by an angel. Year 46-52 we read in chap. 13 that was in Jerusalem. Other details, Saul was converted in AD 34 and became Paul in Acts chap. 9. Paul tells us (Galatians) that three years later he came down to Jerusalem to see Peter. Galatians 1:18 and in the year 51 which is 14 years later, he was still at Jerusalem Galatians 2: 1-8. After that Paul met Peter in Antioch (Galatians 2:11). The evidence is abundant, the truth from Scripture clearly shows that Peter has always remained in the vicinity of Jerusalem, at least until 52. In that time, travel a distance of 3 000 km took weeks. By cons, in the text of the following acts, it seems that in the eyes of the Jewish authorities, it is not Peter but Paul makes figure leader of the "sect" of Christians: "We found this man , which is a plague that soweth discord among Jews scattered all over the world, and who is the head of the sect of the Nazarenes, "Acts 24:5. The scene takes place in Caesarea, Samaria. Where is Peter at that time? Perhaps in Rome? If there was a Peter in Rome, at least it was Simon Magus. This is confirmed by the Catholic Encyclopedia. The writings attributed to Peter In the New Testament , both texts are attributed to Peter the First and Second Epistle of Peter. The author clearly identifies the first apostle : the incipit of the first epistle is "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ" ( 1P 1. 1 ), reinforced in the body of the letter with the words "witness of the sufferings of Christ ( 1P 5. 1 ) and that of the second "Simon Peter, servant and apostle of Jesus Christ" ( 2P 1. 1 ). But there are reasons to believe that the second epistle was not composed as it is by Pierre. This fact does not affect its canonicity. Many texts are attributed to Peter or speak to him, but are not recognized as canonical by the Church Christian: The Acts of Peter , whose purpose, in a revised version, is the passion of Peter (known Pseudo-Linus) , the Gospel of Peter , the Apocalypse of Peter , a Letter of Peter to Philip , the Acts of Peter and Andrew . St. Peter is celebrated by the Church, both Catholic and Orthodox, June 29 , when the tradition is the martyrdom of Peter, crucified upside down in the Circus Vaticanus. It is also the St. Paul. Paul died the same day (the same year, two to three years later, according to sources), beheaded on the road to Ostia. The Apostle of the Jews and the Apostle of the Gentiles are united in their death and celebration: the church sees it as a symbol of the union church. February 22 , Tradition celebrates the first episcopal seat of Peter. In this city of the Middle East at that time the third metropolis of the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria , as Peter opened his apostolate to the Gentiles. Tradition also sees the intrinsic link that exists between the Latin and Oriental Churches. The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter is very ancient, is attested with certainty in Rome in the fourth century . However, it was not until the sixteenth century that the "tenure" of the seat is made with the appearance of the second party in honor of the Petrine seat. January 18 , the tradition of celebrating the Roman pontiff seat: This festival, which seems Gallican origin, is adopted in the late Roman calendar: it is set by Pope Paul V in 1557. It was then that the feast of February is attributed to the siege of Antioch. After the calendar reform that followed the Council Vatican II , the two holidays were combined to 22 February. August 1 in the Catholic Church and 16 January in the Orthodox Church under the heading "Chains of Saint Peter" . This feast recalls the episode recounted in the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 12 ( Acts 12. * ): While Peter is in prison in Jerusalem, an angel comes down to the issue and its links. It may then, thinking he dreamed, his friends back home, to their surprise. November 18 The two great Roman basilicas, dedicated to Peter and Paul are celebrated together: It is once again an opportunity for the Church to unite his two apostles. Many churches have been dedicated to St Peter. The most important and certainly the first in seniority is the Basilica of St. Peter's in Rome , built over the tomb of the apostle. Other churches built at all times and in all places, often mark a special attachment to the apostle and the Papacy: for example the case where Prosper Guranger restores Abbey Solesmes. An image representing the faces of the apostles Peter and Paul is engraved on the tomb with the child Asellus "in the fourth century . In painting, a leading figure of Peter is an icon of the sixth century. Over the centuries the character remains a classic theme of inspiration. The Gospel episodes are represented but there are also common scenes from texts apocryphal , like the crucifixion upside down. Throughout Christendom, statues and paintings of St. Peter are innumerable: it is traditionally shown as a large man, with abundant hair, a beard. It can be illustrated upright, sitting on a throne, pulling fishing nets or even crying, and often holding hands in the keys of paradise, sometimes with a rooster at his feet. The statues of St. Peter are still present in the cathedral churches of the dioceses. The frescoes of The Life of St. Peter by Masolino da Panicale , Masaccio and Filippino Lippi in the Brancacci Chapel in the cloister of the church Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence is an example of Renaissance frescoes on the life of the saint. The lives of St. Peter are many and varied: the Golden Legend of Jacques de Voragine in the Middle Ages ( hagiographies of saints included in the texts with the canonical Gospels), was a great source of Christian iconography and an effective way to St. Peter to know the preachers of the time. The historical novel Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz , whose action takes place under Nero , takes a legend recorded in the Acts of Peter ( 35): "At the request of the Christians of Rome , Peter leaves town to escape persecution and meets Christ. Peter asks: "Domine, quo vadis / I>? "(" Lord, where are you? ") And Jesus replied that he enters Rome to be crucified again. Then Peter turns back and faces the martyrdom. " The novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz , Quo Vadis has been filmed several times. Adapting the best known is that, under the same title, by Mervyn Le Roy (1951). Peter in the New Testament
The tradition of martyrdom in Rome
The tomb of St. Peter in the Vatican: Archaeological
Rome, "the See of Peter"
Canonical Texts
Apocryphal Writings
Feasts of St. Peter in the Orthodox and Catholic
The Saint-Pierre
Chair of St. Peter at Antioch
Chair of St. Peter in Rome
Feast of St. Peter in Chains
Feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of St Peter and St Paul
Peter in the arts and literature
Architecture
Figurative Art
Literature
Cinema
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