Channel C²

Was Peter in Rome/For Jim Penton

Posted by vinoverita on Tue - Oct 5 - 09:44am:

Dear Mr. Penton,

You had said:

>>Note the claims of the papacy. According thereto, the popes are the apostolic successors of Peter, although there is no absolute proof that Peter was in Rome and there is no proof of the doctrine of apostolic succession.>>

This is a curious position. I'm not sure what you mean by "absolute proof" as it relates to how one goes about establishing the veracity of an historical proposition. But I think the evidence tilts in favor of the postulate that Peter was in Rome.

What say the fathers?

“But, to leave the examples of antiquity, let us come to the athletes who are closest to our own time. Consider the noble examples of our own generation. Through jealousy and envy the greatest and most righteous pillars [of our Church in Rome] were persecuted, and they persevered even to death. Let us set before our eyes the good Apostles: Peter, who through unwarranted jealousy suffered not one or two but many toils, and having thus given testimony went to the place of glory that was his due [which has traditionally been understood to mean Rome]. Through jealousy and strife Paul showed the way to the prize for endurance.” (Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians 5:1-5, 96 A.D.)

”I do not, as Peter and Paul, issue commandments unto you. They were apostles; I am but a condemned man: they were free, while I am, even until now, a servant.” (Ignatius of Antioch, To the Romans 4:3, 110 A.D.) [Note: A source quoted in Ray’s book is especially relevant here: “Significant is also the fact that although Ignatius admonishes to unity and harmony in all his Epistles he does not do so in the one addressed to the Romans. He does not presume to issue commands to the Roman community, for it has its authority from the Prince of the Apostles...” (Quasten, Patrology, 1:70, as quoted in Ray, p. 72, footnote 17)]

”Now Phlegon, in the thirteenth or fourteenth book, I think, of his Chronicles, not only ascribed to Jesus a knowledge of future events (although falling into confusion about some things which refer to Peter, as if they referred to Jesus), but also testified that the result corresponded to His predictions.” (Phlegon, during the reign of Hadrian [117-138 A.D.], as quoted by Origen, Against Celsus 2:14) ‘Phlegon (supposed to be the Emperor Hadrian writing under the name of a favorite slave) is said by Origen to have confused Jesus and Peter in his Chronicles. This is very significant as implying that Peter must have been well known in Rome’ (NPNF2, 1:129, n. 7). The early date and the confusion of the Roman emperor between Jesus and Peter implies a very firm knowledge of the presence of Peter in the city of Rome, enough to make even the emperor confuse him with the Founder of the faith.” (Stephen K. Ray, Upon This Rock, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999, p. 73, footnote 19)

”You have also, by your very admonition, brought together the planting that was made by Peter and Paul at Rome and at Corinth; for both of them alike planted in our Corinth and taught us; and both alike, teaching similarly in Italy, suffered martyrdom at the same time.” (Dionysius of Corinth, in a letter to Pope Soter, inter 166-174 A.D., as recorded in Eusebius, Church History 2:25:8)

”’Marcus, my son, salutes you.’ Mark, the follower of Peter, while Peter publicly preached the Gospel at Rome before some of Caesar’s equites, and adduced many testimonies to Christ, in order that thereby they might be able to commit to memory what was spoken, of what was spoken by Peter wrote entirely what is called the Gospel according to Mark. As Luke also may be recognized by the style, both to have composed the Acts of the Apostles, and to have translated Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews.” (Clement of Alexandria, 150-ca. 215 A.D., Comments on the First Epistle of Peter)

”Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3:1:1, 189 A.D.)

”Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its pre-eminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolical tradition has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3:3:2, 189 A.D.)

”The blessed apostles [Peter and Paul], having founded and built up the church [of Rome], they handed over the office of the episcopate to Linus. Paul makes mention of this Linus in the letter to Timothy [2 Timothy 4:21]. To him succeeded Anacletus, and after him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement was chosen for the episcopate.” (Against Heresies 3:3:3, 189 A.D.)

”It is recorded that Paul was beheaded in Rome itself, and Peter, likewise, was crucified, during the reign [of the Emperor Nero]. The account is confirmed by the names of Peter and Paul over the cemeteries there, which remain to the present time. And it is confirmed also by a stalwart man of the Church, Gaius by name, who lived in the time of Zephyrinus, bishop of Rome. This Gaius, in a written disputation with Proclus, the leader of the sect of Cataphrygians, says this of the places in which the remains of the aforementioned apostles were deposited: ‘I can point out the trophies [burial monuments] of the apostles. For if you are willing to go to the Vatican or to the Ostian Way, you will find the trophies of those who founded this Church.’” (Gaius of Rome, Disputation with Proclus, 198 A.D., as recorded in Eusebius, Church History 2:25:5)

”The circumstances which occasioned...[the writing] of Mark were these: When Peter preached the Word publicly at Rome and declared the gospel by the Spirit, many who were present requested that Mark, who had been a long time his follower and who remembered his sayings; should write down what had been proclaimed.” (Clement of Alexandria, Sketches, 200 A.D., as recorded in Eusebius, Church History 6:14:1)

”For this is the way in which the apostolic Churches transmit their lists: like the Church of the Smyrnaeans, which records that Polycarp was placed there by John; like the Church of the Romans where Clement was ordained by Peter.” (Tertullian, Prescription Against Heretics 32:1, ca. 200 A.D.)

”Come now, you who would indulge a better curiosity, if you would apply it to the business of your salvation, run over the apostolic churches, in which the very thrones of the apostles are still pre-eminent in their places, in which their own authentic writings are read, uttering the voice and representing the face of each of them severally. Achaia is very near you, (in which) you find Corinth. Since you are not far from Macedonia, you have Philippi; (and there too) you have the Thessalonians. Since you are able to cross to Asia, you get Ephesus. Since, moreover, you are close upon Italy, you have Rome, from which there comes even into our own hands the very authority (of apostles themselves). How happy is its church, on which apostles poured forth all their doctrine along with their blood! where Peter endures a passion like his Lord’s! where Paul wins his crown in a death like John’s! where the Apostle John was first plunged, unhurt, into boiling oil, and thence remitted to his island-exile!” (Tertullian, Prescription Against Heretics 36, ca. 200 A.D.)

”On the whole, then, if that is evidently more true which is earlier, if that is earlier which is from the very beginning, if that is from the beginning which has the apostles for its authors, then it will certainly be quite as evident, that that comes down from the apostles, which has been kept as a sacred deposit in the churches of the apostles. Let us see what milk the Corinthians drank from Paul; to what rule of faith the Galatians were brought for correction; what the Philippians, the Thessalonians, the Ephesians read by it; what utterance also the Romans give, so very near (to the apostles), to whom Peter and Paul conjointly bequeathed the gospel even sealed with their own blood.” (Tertullian, Against Marcion 4:5:1, inter 207-212 A.D.)

”And if a heretic wishes his confidence to rest upon a public record, the archives of the empire will speak, as would the stones of Jerusalem. We read the lives of the Caesars: At Rome Nero was the first who stained with blood the rising faith. Then is Peter girt by another, when he is made fast to the cross. Then does Paul obtain a birth suited to Roman citizenship, when in Rome he springs to life again ennobled by martyrdom.” (Tertullian, Against the Scorpion’s Sting 15:3, 211 A.D.)

”Victor...was the thirteenth bishop of Rome from Peter.” (The Little Labyrinth, 211 A.D., as recorded in Eusebius, Church History 5:28:3)

”This Simon, deceiving many in Samaria by his sorceries, was reproved by the Apostles, and was laid under a curse, as it has been written in the Acts. But he afterwards abjured the faith, and attempted these (aforesaid practices). And journeying as far as Rome, he fell in with the Apostles; and to him, deceiving many by his sorceries, Peter offered repeated opposition.” (Hippolytus, The Refutation of All Heresies 6:15, 228 A.D.)

”Peter preached the Gospel in Pontus, and Galatia, and Cappadocia, and Betania, and Italy, and Asia, and was afterwards crucified by Nero in Rome with his head downward, as he had himself desired to suffer in that manner.” (Hippolytus, Appendix to the Works of Hippolytus, Hippolytus on the Twelve Apostles, Where Each of Them Preached, and Where He Met His End, 1)

”Peter...at last, having come to Rome, he was crucified head-downwards; for he had requested that he might suffer this way.” (Origen, Third Commentary on Genesis, 232 A.D., fragment in Eusebius’ Church History 3:1:1)

”In this chair in which he himself had sat, Peter in mighty Rome commanded Linus, the first elected, to sit down. After him, Cletus too accepted the flock of the fold. As his successor, Anacletus was elected by lot. Clement follows him, well-known to apostolic men. After him Evaristus ruled the flock without crime. Alexander, sixth in succession, commends the fold to Sixtus. After his illustrious times were completed, he passed it on to Telesphorus. He was excellent, a faithful martyr...” (Poem Against the Marcionites 276-284, 267 A.D.)

”Second year of the two hundred and fifth olympiad: the Apostle Peter, after he has established the Church in Antioch, is sent to Rome, where he remains as bishop of that city, preaching the gospel for twenty-five years.” (Eusebius, The Chronicle 42, ca. 303 A.D.)

”Fourth year of the two hundred and fifth olympiad: Nero is the first, in addition to all his other crimes, to make a persecution against the Christians, in which Peter and Paul died gloriously at Rome.” (Eusebius, The Chronicle 68, ca. 303 A.D.)

”Peter, the first chosen of the Apostles, having been apprehended often and thrown into prison and treated with ignominy, at last was crucified in Rome. And the reknowned Paul, oftentimes having been delivered up and put in peril of death, having endured many evils, and boasting of his numerous persecutions and afflictions, was even himself put to the sword and beheaded in the same city.” (Peter of Alexandria, The Canonical Letter, Canon 9, 306 A.D.)

”But the disciples, being dispersed through the provinces everywhere laid the foundations of the Church, themselves also in the name of their divine Master doing many and almost incredible miracles; for at His departure He had endowed them with power and strength, by which the system of their new announcement might be founded and confirmed. But He also opened to them all things which were about to happen, which Peter and Paul preached at Rome; and this preaching being written for the sake of remembrance.” (Lactantius, The Divine Institutes 4:21, 310 A.D.)

”When Nero was already reigning Peter came to Rome, where, in virtue of the performance of certain miracles which he worked by that power of God which had been given to him, he converted many to righteousness and established a firm and steadfast temple to God. When this fact was reported to Nero, he noticed that not only at Rome but everywhere great multitudes were daily abandoning the worship of idols, and, condeming their old ways, were going over to the new religion. Being that he was a detestable and pernicious tyrant, he sprang to the task of tearing down the heavenly temple and of destroying righteousness. It was he that first persecuted the servants of God. Peter he fixed to a cross, and Paul he slew.” (Lactantius, The Death of the Persecutors 2:5, inter 316-320 A.D.)

”Peter...coming to the city of Rome, by the mighty cooperation of that power which was lying in wait there...” (Eusebius, Church History 2:14:5, 325 A.D.)

”In the same reign of Claudius, the all-good and gracious providence which watches over all things guided Peter , the great and mighty one among the Apostles, who, because of his virtue, was the spokesman for all the others, to Rome.” (Eusebius, Church History 2:15:1, 325 A.D.)

”After the martyrdom of Paul and Peter, Linus was the first appointed to the episcopacy of the Church at Rome. Paul, writing from Rome to Timothy, mentions him in the salutation at the end of the Epistle [2 Tim. 4:21].” (Eusebius, Church History 3:2, 325 A.D.)

”But if any bishop loses the judgment in some case, and still believes that he has not a bad but a good case, in order that the case may be judged anew, if it please Your Charities, let us honor the memory of the Apostle Peter, by having those who gave the judgment write to Julius, Bishop of Rome...” (The Council of Sardica, Canon 3, 342 A.D.)

”[Simon Magus] so deceived the City of Rome that Claudius erected a statue of him, and wrote beneath it in the language of the Romans Simoni Deo Sancto, which is translated ‘To the Holy God Simon.’ While the error was extending itself Peter and Paul arrived, a noble pair and the rulers of the Church; and they set the error aright....It was marvellous enough, and yet, no marvel at all: for Peter was there, he that carries about the keys of heaven.” (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 6:14-15, 350 A.D.)

”And Peter, who had hid himself for fear of the Jews, and the Apostle Paul who was let down in a basket, and fled, when they were told, ‘You must bear witness at Rome,’ deferred not the journey; yes, rather, they departed rejoicing...” (Athanasius, Defense of His Flight 18, c. 357 A.D.)

”You cannot deny that you are aware that in the city of Rome the episcopal chair was given first to Peter; the chair in which Peter sat, the same who was head—that is why he is also called Cephas [”Rock”]—of all the apostles; the one chair in which unity is maintained by all.” (Optatus, The Schism of the Donatists 2:2, 367 A.D.)

”At Rome the first Apostles and bishops were Peter and Paul, then Linus, then Cletus, then Clement, the contemporary of Peter and Paul.” (Epiphanius of Salamis, Medicine Chest Against All Heresies 27:6, 375 A.D.)

”I think it my duty to consult the chair of Peter, and to turn to a church whose faith has been praised by Paul...My words are spoken to the successor of the fisherman, to the disciple of the cross.” (Jerome, To Pope Damasus, Epistle 15, 377 A.D.)

”The first see, therefore, is that of Peter the apostle, that of the Roman Church, which has neither stain nor blemish nor anything like it. In addition to this, there is also the companionship of the vessel of election, the most blessed apostle Paul, who contended and was crowned with a glorious death along with Peter in the city of Rome in the time of Caesar Nero....They equally consecrated the above-mentioned holy Roman Church to Christ the Lord; and by their own presence and by their venerable triumph they set it at the forefront over the others of all the cities of the whole world.” (Pope Damasus, Decree of Damasus 3, 382 A.D.)

”[Pope] Stephen...was the blessed Peter’s twenty-second successor in the See of Rome.” (Jerome, Against the Luciferians 23, 383 A.D.)

”Where the Cherubim sing the glory, where the Seraphim are flying, there shall we see Paul, with Peter, and as a chief and leader of the choir of the Saints, and shall enjoy his generous love. For if when here he loved men so, that when he had the choice of departing and being with Christ, he chose to be here, much more will he there display a warmer affection. I love Rome even for this, although indeed one has other grounds for praising it, both for its greatness, and its antiquity, and its beauty, and its populousness, and for its power, and its wealth, and for its successes in war. But I let all this pass, and esteem it blessed on this account, that both in his lifetime he wrote to them, and loved them so, and talked with them while he was with us, and brought his life to a close there. Wherefore the city is more notable upon this ground, than upon all others together. And as a body great and strong, it has as two glistening eyes the bodies of these Saints. Not so bright is the heaven, when the sun sends forth his rays, as is the city of Rome, sending out these two lights into all parts of the world. From thence will Paul be caught up, from thence Peter. Just think...what a sight Rome will see, when Paul arises suddenly from that deposit, together with Peter, and is lifted up to meet the Lord. What a rose will Rome send up to Christ!

What two crowns will the city have about it! What golden chains will she be girded with! What fountains possess! Therefore I admire the city, not for the much gold, not for the columns, not for the other display there, but for these pillars of the Church.” (Chrysostom, Epistle to the Romans, Homily 32, c. 391 A.D.)

”Which was mere to the interest of the Church at Rome, that it should at its commencement be presided over by some high-born and pompous senator, or by the fisherman Peter, who had none of this world’s advantages to attract men to him?” (Gregory of Nyssa, To the Church at Nicodemia, Epistle 13, ante 394 A.D.)

”Simon Peter, the son of John, from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, brother of Andrew the apostle, and himself chief of the apostles, after having been bishop of the church of Antioch and having preached to the Dispersion...pushed on to Rome in the second year of Claudius to overthrow Simon Magus, and held the sacerdotal chair there for twenty-five years until the last, that is the fourteenth, year of Nero. At his hands he received the crown of martyrdom being nailed to the cross with his head towards the ground and his feet raised on high, asserting that he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord.” (Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men 1, 396 A.D.)

”For if the lineal succession of bishops is to be taken into account, with how much more certainty and benefit to the Church do we reckon back till we reach Peter himself, to whom, as bearing in a figure the whole Church, the Lord said: ‘Upon this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!’ The successor of Peter was Linus, and his successors in unbroken continuity were these: Clement, Anacletus, Evaristus, Alexander, Sixtus, Telesphorus, Iginus, Anicetus, Pius, Soter, Eleutherius, Victor, Zephirinus, Calixtus, Urbanus, Pontianus, Antherus, Fabianus, Cornelius, Lucius, Stephanus, Xystus, Dionysius, Felix, Eutychianus, Gaius, Marcellinus, Marcellus, Eusebius, Miltiades, Sylvester, Marcus, Julius, Liberius, Damasus, and Siricius, whose successor is the present Bishop Anastasius. In this order of succession no Donatist bishop is found. But, reversing the natural course of things, the Donatists sent to Rome from Africa an ordained bishop, who, putting himself at the head of a few Africans in the great metropolis, gave some notoriety to the name of ‘mountain men,’ or Cutzupits, by which they were known.” (Augustine, To Fortunatus, Epistle 53, 400 A.D.)

”If all men throughout the world were such as you most vainly accuse them of having been, what has the chair of the Roman church done to you, in which Peter sat, and in which Anastasius sits today?” (Augustine, Against the Letters of Petilani 2:118, 402 A.D.)

”But some people in some countries of the West, and especially in the city [i.e. Rome], not knowing the reason of this indulgence, think that a dispensation from fasting ought certainly not to be allowed on the Sabbath, because they say that on this day the Apostle Peter fasted before his encounter with Simon [Magus].” (John Cassian, Institutes 10, ante 435 A.D.)

”We exhort you in every respect, honorable brother, to heed obediently what has been written by the most blessed pope of the city of Rome, for blessed Peter, who lives and presides in his own see, provides the truth of faith to those who seek it. For we, by reason of our pursuit of peace and faith, cannot try cases on the faith without the consent of the bishop of Rome.” (Peter Chrysologus, Letters 25:2, 449 A.D.)

”The whole world, dearly-beloved, does indeed take part in all holy anniversaries [of Peter and Paul], and loyalty to the one Faith demands that whatever is recorded as done for all men’s salvation should be everywhere celebrated with common rejoicings. But, besides that reverence which today’s festival has gained from all the world, it is to be honored with special and peculiar exultation in our city, that there may be a predominance of gladness on the day of their martyrdom in the place where the chief of the Apostles met their glorious end. For these are the men, through whom the light of Christ’s gospel shone on you, O Rome, and through whom you, who was the teacher of error, was made the disciple of Truth. These are your holy Fathers and true shepherds, who gave you claims to be numbered among the heavenly kingdoms, and built you under much better and happier auspices than they, by whose zeal the first foundations of your walls were laid: and of whom the one that gave you your name defiled you with his brother’s blood.”(Pope Leo the Great [reigned 440-461 A.D.], Sermon 82, ante 461 A.D.)

Hence, in Chronological order the support for Peter's being in Rome reads as follows:

Clement of Rome, 96 A.D.

Ignatius of Antioch, 110 A.D.

Phlegon, inter. 117-138 A.D.

Dionysius of Corinth, inter 166-174 A.D.

Irenaeus, 189 A.D.

Gaius of Rome, 198 A.D.

Clement of Alexandria, ca. 200 A.D.

Tertullian, four instances between 200-212 A.D.

The Little Labyrinth, 211 A.D.

Hippolytus, 228 A.D.

Origen, 232 A.D.

The Poem Against the Marcionites, 267 A.D.

Eusebius, three instances between 303-325 A.D.

Peter of Alexandria, 306 A.D.

Lactantius, 310-320 A.D.

The Council of Sardis, 342 A.D.

Cyril of Jerusalem, 350 A.D.

Athanasius, 357 A.D.

Optatus, 367 A.D.

Epiphanius of Salamis, 375 A.D.

Jerome, three instances between 377-396 A.D.

Pope Damasus, 382 A.D.

John Chrysostom, 391 A.D.

Gregory of Nyssa, ante 394 A.D.

Augustine, two instances between 400-402 A.D.

John Cassian, ante 435 A.D.

Peter Chrysologus, 449 A.D.

Pope Leo the Great, ante 461 A.D.

Twenty-eight people between the 1st through the 5th centuries.

What say the scholars?

Some Protestant controversialists have asserted that Peter was never in Rome...I think the historical probability is that he was; though, as I say, at a late period of the history, and not long before his death...[but some] Protestant champions had undertaken the impossible task of proving the negative, that Peter was never in Rome. They might as well have undertaken to prove out of the Bible that St. Bartholomew never preached in Pekin... For myself, I am willing, in absence of any opposing tradition, to accept the current account that Peter suffered martyrdom at Rome. We know with certainty from John xxi that Peter suffered martyrdom somewhere. If Rome, which early laid claim to have witnessed that martrydom, were not the scene of it, where then did it take place? Any city would be glad to claim such a connexion [sic] with the name of the Apostle, and none but Rome made the claim...If this evidence for Peter’s martydom be not be deemed sufficient, there are few things in the history of the early Church which it will be possible to demonstrate." (Dr. George Salmon [a non-Catholic historian and critic of the Catholic faith], Infallibilty of the Church: A Refutation by George Salmon, D.D., Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1959 [original 1888], pp. 348-349)

"...to deny the Roman stay of Peter is an error which today is clear to every scholar who is not blind. The Martyr death of Peter at Rome was once contested by reason of Protestant prejudice." (A. Harnack [a non-Catholic historian], cited in The Search for the Twelve Apostles by William Stuart McBirnie, Tyndale House, 1988, p. 63)

"It is sufficient to let us include the martyrdom of Peter in Rome in our final historical picture of the early Church, as a matter of fact which is relatively though not absolutely assured. We accept it, however facts of antiquity that are universally accepted as historical. Were we to demand for all facts of ancient history a greater degree of probability, we should have to strike from our history books a large portion of their contents." (Oscar Cullman [a Lutheran Bible scholar], Peter: Disciple, Apostle, Martyr, London: SCM, 1962, p. 114)

"That Peter as well as Paul was put to death at Rome under Nero is the unanimous testimony of Christian tradition so far as it touches this subject...That Peter and Paul were the most eminent of many Christians who suffered martyrdom in Rome under Nero is certain...that they were claimed as co-founders of the Roman church and that this, together with their martyrdom there, conferred great religious (as distinct from political) prestige on that church, is likewise certain..." (F.F. Bruce [a non-Catholic Bible scholar], New Testament History, New York: Doubleday, 1971, pp. 403, 410)

"It seems certain that Peter spent his closing years in Rome. Althought the NT appears silent about such a stay, it is supported by 1 Pet. 5:13, where 'Babylon' is a code-name for Rome, and by the strong case for linking the Gospel of Mark, who as Peter's companion (1 Pet. 5:13) is said to have derived its substance from him, with Rome. To early writers like Clement of Rome (c. 95), Ignatius of Antioch (d. c. 107), and Irenaeus (c. 180) it was common knowlege that he worked and died in Rome." (J.N.D. Kelly [a Protestant church historian], The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 6)

"The tradition connecting St. Peter with Rome is early and unrivalled. Against it can be placed only the silence of the New Testament." (Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone, New York: Oxford University Press, 1989, p. 1068, as quoted in Stephen K. Ray, Upon This Rock, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999, p. 69, footnote 9) "The martrydom of both Peter and Paul in Rome...belongs to [Christian] tradition. It has often been questioned by Protestant critics, some of whom have even contended that Peter was never in Rome. But the archeaological researches of the Protestant Historian Hans Lietzmann, supplemented by the library study of the Protestant exegete Oscar Cullman, have made it extremely difficult to deny the tradition of Peter's death in Rome under the emperor Nero...The account of Paul’s martydom in Rome, which is supported by much of the same evidence, has not called forth similar skepticism." (Jaroslav Pelikan [a non-Catholic historian], The Riddle of Catholicism, New York: Abingdon Press, 1959, pp. 36-37)

"All the early sources...clearly suggest to us, namely, that Peter sojourned in Rome and died a martyr there. Any other hypothesis regarding Peter's death piles difficulty upon difficulty, and cannot be supported by a single document." (Hans Lietzmann [a German historian and archaeologist], Peter and Paul in Rome, cited in F.F. Bruce's New Testament History, p. 404) "[It is] quite certain that he [Peter] died there [Rome] a martyr's death in the persecution under Nero (about A.D. 65)." (Charles Gore [an Anglican Bishop], Roman Catholic Claims, Longmans, Green and Co, 1920, 11th ed., pp. 93-94)

"The almost complete silence of the New Testament, and in particular the silence of Paul's Epistle to the Romans and the Book of Acts, is not decisive evidence for or against the theory of a Roman residence of Peter. On the other hand, 1 Peter 5:13 is plausibly interpreted as testifying to a Roman residence of the apostle...it does seem highly probable that Peter did visit Rome. As has been stated previously, the tradition is too old and too unchallenged in antiquity to be challenged with any force in the present...if the suggestions and implications which are drawn from certain of these early notices are studied with those of the later sources, there results a most persistent tradition which sets the martyrdom of Peter in Rome within the reign of Nero (most probably between A.D. 64 and 67)...In summary, it appears more plausible than not that: (1) Peter did reside in Rome at some time during his lifetime, most probably near the end of his life. (2) He was martyred there as a member of the Christian religion. (3) He was remembered in the traditions of the Church and in the erection of a simple monument near the place where he died. (4) His body was never recovered for burial by the Christian group which later...came to believe that what originally had marked the general area of his death also indicated the precise placement of his grave." (Daniel William O'Connor, Peter in Rome: The Literary, Liturgical, and Archaeological Evidence, Columbia University Press, 1969, pp. 207-209)

"The early tradition of the Church associates Peter with Rome throughout. Anyone going solely on the basis of the reports of the Fathers must conclude Peter was in Rome, at the very least at his death." (James White [a Reformed Baptist apologist and rabid anti-Catholic], The Roman Catholic Controversy, p. 246, endnote 5)

"While there is some historical evidence that Peter may have been in Rome and was martyred there, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that he was ever bishop of Rome. There are a number of writings from the first to the fifth centuries which speak of the fact that both Peter and Paul founded the Church at Rome and that both were martyred there....There has been a strong tradition that Peter was martyred at Rome, but whereas we do know that Paul was in Rome and had a direct influence on the church there, we do not know that for certain about Peter." (William Webster [an ex-Catholic turned Evangelical], The Church of Rome at the Bar of History, Banner of Truth, 1995, pp. 45, 46)

Cordially,

James Caputo

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Was Peter in Rome/For Jim Penton - Posted by vinoverita - Tue - Oct 5 - 09:44am

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Re: Was Peter in Rome/For Jim Penton - Posted by Bert - Fri - Oct 8 - 08:55am