Chapter 7 -
Peter and Paul

 

 

 

 

PETER OR CEPHAS

 

As we continue our study of people in the New Testament, we must mention Peter or Cephas, who was one of the original twelve Apostles. Evidently, Peter was the most talkative of the disciples. Some estimate that he spoke more than the other disciples put together. Either that, or more of his statements were recorded in the Gospels than those of other disciples. Of the Twelve, Peter was the one who delivered his first public sermon on the Day of Pentecost, which resulted in about 3,000 people turning to God.

   Evidence of Peter’s existence is found, in addition to the Bible, in other sources. One of the church fathers, Clemens, writes about him in his letter to the Corinthians in 96 A.D. Clemens mentions how Peter lived not so long ago, how he had to suffer because of the brethren's anger not only once or twice but several times, and finally refers to Peter going after his death to the place of honor, which had been prepared for him: 

 

But there are already enough examples from ancient times. Let us concern ourselves with those people who have lived not so long ago, and let us speak about the noble examples of our own generation. 2. Because of brotherly anger and envy, those greatest and most righteous people were persecuted and had to struggle until death. 3. Let us study the heroic Apostles. 4. Because of wrong brotherly anger, Peter had to suffer, not only once or twice but several times, and after giving his testimony, he went to the place of honor, which had been prepared for him. (5:1-4) 

 

Ignatius, who suffered a martyr’s death around 110 A.D., mentioned Peter in his letter to the Romans. In this letter, he also mentions Paul, and writes that they were both apostles:

 

I do not command you as Peter and Paul did. They were apostles, I am under judgement. They were free, I am still a slave. But if I can suffer, I will become freed by Jesus Christ, and I will rise from the dead free in Him. And now I, in chains, learn to give up all of my desires. (4:3)

 

 - (Luke 6:13-14) And when it was day, he called to him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;

14  Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,

 

 - (John 1:42) And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, You are Simon the son of Jona: you shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

 

- (Acts 1:15) And in those days Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)

 

- (1 Cor 3:21-22) Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your’s;

22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your’s;

 

- (Gal 1:18-19) Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and stayed with him fifteen days.

19  But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.

 

- (1 Peter 1:1) Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

 

THE DEATH OF PETER  

 

Peter's death was mentioned by Jesus, who said that Peter would experience the same kind of death as his Master: death at the hands of other people.

   An interesting statement was reportedly made by Bishop Ambrosius (350 A.D.), but we cannot verify it truthfulness. 

   According to the bishop’s account, Peter escaped from prison in Rome so he could avoid a martyr’s death, because other devoted Christians asked him to do so.

   When he was walking away from Rome, he met Jesus on the Via Appia, and Peter asked Him, "Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered that, "he was going back to Rome to be crucified because Peter escaped it".

   It is said that Peter was so ashamed of being a coward that he returned to Rome. The result was that Peter was crucified there with his head downwards – at his own request. This was because he saw himself as too unworthy to be crucified in the same way as his Lord.  

 

- (John 21:18-19) Truly, truly, I say to you, When you were young, you gird yourself, and walked where you would: but when you shall be old, you shall stretch forth your hands, and another shall gird you, and carry you where you would not.

19  This spoke he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, Follow me.

 

 - (2 Peter 1:13-15) Yes, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

14  Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me.

15  Moreover I will endeavor that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.

 

PAUL – A PREACHER TO THE GENTILES  

 

Paul was certainly the most goal-oriented and active of the Apostles described in the New Testament, based on his own words: "but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Cor. 15:10). He devoted himself to his task and was the specially "chosen instrument" of God. His calling was to be the Apostle to the Gentiles, even though he also worked with his own people: 

 

- (Acts 9:15) But the Lord said to him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

 

- (Acts 22:21) And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles. 

 

- (Gal 2:7-9) But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed to me, as the gospel of the circumcision was to Peter;

8  (For he that worked effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)

9  And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go to the heathen, and they to the circumcision.

 

- (Eph 3:8) To me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

 

- (1 Tim 2:7)  Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.

 

Accounts of Paul’s life outside the New Testament are found among writings by the Apostolic Fathers. Clemens, the bishop of Rome, wrote about Paul in his letter to the Corinthians in 96 A.D. Clemens mentioned that Paul was a prisoner seven times, he was stoned, preached both in the east and west, and that he had also given his testimony before the rulers. Clemens wrote that Paul was the greatest example of endurance. This last statement is consistent with the life of Paul: he had to suffer a lot because of his faith (2 Cor 11:21-30 I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. However, when ever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.  Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.  Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.  Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brothers; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which comes on me daily, the care of all the churches.  Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?  If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern my infirmities.): 

 

For the sake of brotherly anger and quarrel, Paul gained the prize by standing firm. 6. Seven times he was in prison, he was driven away from the country, and was stoned, but this is how he became a preacher both in the east and the west and earned the noble reputation that is connected to his faith. 7. And when he, after having taught righteousness all over the world, had come to the borders of the west and given his testimony before the rulers, he left this world and was taken to his holy place as the greatest example of perseverance. (5:5-7) 

 

Ignatius, a contemporary of Bishop Clemens of Rome, suffered a martyr’s death around 110 A.D. Ignatius wrote about Paul in a letter addressed to the Ephesians. He referred to Paul's letters, which the Ephesians would have known about because they received them: 

 

I know who I am and to whom I write. I am under judgment, while you have received mercy. I am in danger; you in none. 2. The road of those people who are taken to God goes past you. You have a share in the consecration with Paul, that holy man of whom there has been a good testimony, and who is called the blessed. If only I could be seen to follow in his footsteps as I get my share of God! He remembers you in Christ Jesus in all of his letters. (12:1,2) 

 

Polycarpos, who was a student of the Apostle John, mentioned Paul in his letter to the Philippians. He also raised an interesting point about how Paul had been among them earlier and written letters to them. This really happened, because Paul had contact with the Philippians and also the Ephesians and Corinthians (see the previous letters): 

 

Not I or anyone else like me can equal the blessed and honorable Paul in wisdom, Paul who personally lived among you and diligently and surely taught the word of truth to you. And when he was not with you, he wrote letters to you; if you study them well, you can grow in the faith that has been given to you. (3:2) 

 

The so-called “Acts of Paul and Tecla” is one of the Apocryphal texts from the second century that describes Paul's appearance. The source for this document cannot be verified, but it may be that its description of Paul is generally accurate. It was certainly true that Paul was full of mercy because he lived his life filled with the spirit of God: 

 

This man was small, bald at the top of his head, had twisted legs, but his body seemed to be in good condition; his eyebrows had grown together and he had a hooked nose. And he was full of mercy; sometimes he looked like a man, sometimes his face was like the face of an angel.”

 

THE LETTERS OF PAUL  

 

Paul was diligent in everything he did, including in writing letters. He used to send them to congregations that were born out of his preaching so that he could guide them in the right direction. He asked that his letters be read and circulated among the believers in different congregations. In those times, his letters were regarded as “powerful and energetic," though in other ways Paul may have been underrated.

   Paul’s letters were obviously well-known at that time because Peter, even though he lived in Jerusalem, knew about them. He wrote that some of Paul’s letters “contain some things that are hard to understand, which unlearned and unstable people wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction:

 

- (2 Peter 3:15-16) And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given to him has written to you;

16  As also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction. 

 

- (1 Cor 5:9) I wrote to you in an letter not to company with fornicators:

 

- (2 Cor 10:9-10That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.

10  For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. 

 

- (Col 4:16) And when this letter is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that you likewise read the letter from Laodicea.

 

- (2 Thess 3:17) The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is the token in every letter: so I write.

 

In their writings the Apostolic Fathers also mentioned the letters of Paul. In 96 A.D., Bishop Clemens of Rome was one of those Apostolic Fathers. He mentioned Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (in the NT there are two letters that Paul wrote to the Corinthians). He warned the Corinthians about the same spirit of division that Paul had warned them about earlier (1 Cor 1:10-13: Now I beseech you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me of you, my brothers, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you said, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptized in the name of Paul?): 

   Bishop Clemens wrote:

 

Take a look at the letter of the blessed apostle Paul. 2. What did he first write to you in the early days of the Gospel? 3. Led by the Spirit he wrote to you about himself, Cephas, and Apollos because you had already then been divided. 4. But the spirit of division led you to a smaller sin: you joined the Apostles about whom there was a good testimony, and a man whom they accepted. 5. But look at you now! Who is it that has tempted you into confusion and brought discredit to that noble mutual love of which you were famous? It is shameful, dearest brothers, very shameful, and it does not have any value in your lives as Christians when we hear that the firm and old congregation of Corinth is rebelling against the elders because of one or two people. (47:1-6) 

 

Ignatius was a contemporary of Bishop Clemens of Rome and suffered a martyr’s death around 110 A.D. Ignatius is one of the people who mentions Paul's letters. He writes about them in his letter to the Ephesians, with whom Paul was also in contact: 

 

The road of those people who are taken to God goes past you. You have a share in the consecration with Paul, that holy man of whom there has been a good testimony, and who is called the blessed. If only I could be seen to follow in his footsteps as I get my share of God! He remembers you in Christ Jesus in all of his letters. (12:2)

 

The letters of Paul were well-known and appreciated in those days, as we can see from the following comments of Polycarpos. He was the Apostle John's student and his letter was directed to the Philippians who knew Paul personally: 

 

Not I or anyone else like me can equal the blessed and honorable Paul in wisdom, Paul who personally lived among you and diligently and surely taught the word of truth to you. And when he was not with you, he wrote letters to you; if you study them well, you can grow in the faith, which has been given to you. (3:2) 

 

Or do we not know that the saints will judge the world as Paul teaches? 3. As for me, I have not noticed any such thing nor have I heard of you, among whom the blessed Paul has worked and whose name is in the beginning of one of his letters. He boasts about you in every congregation who then knew God; we had not yet known him. (11:2, 3)