It is in the early chapters of Acts that Peter's portrait is drawn most distinctly. He heads the list of the Eleven, and takes the initiative in the election of a .successor to Judas (1'^- '^). He is also the chief speaker on the Day of Pentecost (2'^'''-), the immediate agent in healing the lame beggar at the Temple gate (3'"'°), and the principal defender of the new faith during the subsequent period of persecution (e.g. 3'-''- 4'*- S'-™-). His miraculous activity is especially noticeable. Ananias and Sapphira fall dead at his word (u-'"), .and he stands out so prominently among the apostolic wonder-workers that apparently his very shadow possesses therapeutic power (5'-"'"). He is next seen in Samaria, where he represents the Jerusalem Church in supervising and bringing to completion the evangelistic work of Philip (8""-'>). Then we are told of missionary enterprises con- ducted by Peter himself 'throughout all parts' (9*-), and particularly of his wonderful miracles performed at .Toi)pa (9^^"*'). Here he experienced his remarkable vision, in which God showed him VOL. II. — 1 5
that he ' should not call any man common or un- clean,' witli the result that he went freely to the lumse of the Gentile Cornelius, preaching that God is no respecter of persons. Accordingly, Peter baptized Cornelius and his friends, thus establish- ing the first company of Gentile Christians (10). On returning to .lerusaleni, I\'ter is criticized for having eaten with the uncircunicised, but he pre- sents so adoiiuate a defence of his conduct that the Jerusalem Church ultimately glorifies God for the establishment of Gentile missions through liis work (11'""). L.ater we learn of his arrest and im- prisonment by Herod Agrippa I., and his miracu- lous release, after which ' he departed and went to another place' (12'"'"). He is in Jerusalem again at the time of the Council, where he athrms, and James reiterates, that 'a good while ago God ma<le choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel, and believe' (IT)'-'''). At this point Peter disappears completely from the history of the Apostolic Age as reconled in Acts.
In the Fourth Gospel, likewise, Peter is a con- spicuous figure, though he does not always occupy .so unquestionably pre-ennnent a position as in tlie Synoptists and early ch.apters of Acts. In the assembling of the first group of believers his brother Andrew takes precedence over him (jju-44)^ and is also spokesman for the disciples on the occasion of the miraculous feeding (6"). But Andrew is each time identified as tlie ' brother of Simon Peter,' thus implj'ing that the latter was really the better known. He is also foremost in John's account of the disciples' confession of belief in Jesus (6*'*) ; and, as in the Synoptists, it is Peter who objects on a certain occasion to Jesus' procedure — this time the act of foot-washing (13'"'). Peter's denial is also recorded by John (J336I. 1817-27)^ ajid his impetuosity is displayed in cutting oil' the ear of the high priest's servant (18'"'-). But Peter's prominence is rivalled by that of the unnamed disciple 'whom Jesus loved.' He, together with Andrew, was the first to follow Jesus (l"^'-); he had the position of honour at the L.ast Supper (13^); he was acquainted with the high priest, an<l so procured Peter's admission to the court (18") ; and be seems to have anticipated Peter in believing that Jesus had risen from the dead (20-"'). In the so-called appendix to John (21) Simon Peter is the chief actor, but the beloved disciple standing in the background is certainly a formidable rival for the honour of first place.
Except in the salutations of the two Epistles commonly ascribed to Peter, there is no further mention of his name in the NT. For one who evidently occupied so prominent a place in the life and thinking of the Apostolic Age, tlie amount of information about him preserved in the literature of the period is relatively meagre. St. Paul's state- ments are exceedingly fragmentary ; the Gospels do not, of course, pretend to give information ubou* apostolic history, yet indirectly they furnish some indications of how Peter was regarded at the time the documents were being produced ; and Acts, while tolerably full in its description of Peter's earlier activities, consigns him to ah.solute olilivion after the Jerusalem Council. It is not at all ])rob- able that so important an individual would thus suddenly drop completely out of sight in the actual history of the Christian movement, nor can we assume that the iufonnation supplied by our extant NT sources is at all exhaustive — to say nothing of the ditiiculty of harmonizing what sometimes ap- pear to be striking discrepancies.
3. Peter's earlier activities. — A r6snm6 of such facts as are app.arently beyond dispute yields a very definite picture of Peter's earlier activities, not- withstanding some uncertainty in details. He was
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PETER
a Galilivan lisliernian living in Capernaum when Jesus began Ilia public ministry. Soon after com- ing into contact with Jesus he abandoned his busi- ness as a fisherman in order to accompany the new Teacher on His preaching tours. How Jesus, who had left His carpenter's bench, and Peter and otlicrs, who had similarly forsaken their ordinary daily pursuits to engajje in this new enterprise, now supported themselves and their families is not clear from our present sources of information ; but this uncertainty can hardly reflect any serious doubt upon the fact of their procedure. Peter was one of the most prominent members in the company of disciples, and so strongly did Jesus and His work ap])eal to him that he saw in the new movement foreshadowings of the long-looked-for Messianic Kingdom, and ultimately he identified Jesus with the Messiah. But Peter's conception of the Mes- siah's programme underwent some radical re- adjustments in tlie course of time. At first his view seems to have been largely of the political national- istic type — the earthly Jesus would some day don Messianic robes and set up the new Kingdom. In this schema there was no place for Jesus' death, hence that event proved a stunning blow to Peter's faith. According to one tradition, regarded by many scholars as the more reliable, he returned disappointed to Galilee, where he probably intended to resume his work of fishing. Doubtless he had still kept his home in Capernaum, and thither he would naturally go after his great disillusionment. Then came the experience which constituted the real turning-point in his life : he saw his Master alive again — no longer an earthly but now a heavenly Being. This vision gave him a solution of his difficulties, since it enabled him to resume his belief in Jesus' Messiahship and look forward to the establishment of the new Kingdom. It necessi- tated, however, considerable readjustment in his thinking, for the Messiah in whom he now believed was not an earthly figure who would demonstrate the validity of His claims by leading a revolt against the Romans ; He was a heavenly apoca- lyptic Being who would come on the clouds in glory when the day arrived for the final establish- ment of God's rule upon earth.