The history of early Christianity by Leighton Pullan

Author:Leighton Pullan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: J. Nisbet, 1907
Published: 2013-06-01T16:00:00+00:00

The present Roman Catholic tradition, which received ratification from Pope Pius IX., is, that Peter acted as bishop of Rome for twenty-five years. This is an old tradition , it first appears in Eusebius about A.D. 325, although it there appears in a somewhat floating form. In his Chronicle Eusebius makes the Roman episcopate of Peter last from the third year of Caligula to the twelfth of Nero, A.D. 40 to A.D. 65. In his Ecclesiastical History, he makes Peter come to Rome in the time of Claudius to oppose Simon Magus. The conclusion is that Eusebius knew the tradition that Peter was a bishop for twenty-five years, but was rather uncertain about the dates. The author of the Philocalian or Liberian Catalogue of the Popes represents Peter as a bishop for the same number of years, but includes his episcopate between A.D. 29, the date of Christ's Death and Ascension, and A.D. 55.

Such are two confused accounts of the 4th century contained in documents of great historical value. But as the Catalogue depends upon a chronicle made by Hippolytus before 235, and since this chronicle depends upon still older lists of Roman bishops, such as that made by Hegesippus about 175, we may reasonably believe that at the end of the second century it was thought that Peter exercised the episcopal office for twenty-five years. But where Peter was apparently living in Jerusalem in 51, at the time of the council mentioned in Acts 15. And the fact that Paul makes no allusion to any visit of Peter to Rome, either in his letter to the Romans or in any later epistle, makes it unlikely that such a visit had been made, even when the Epistle to the Colossians was despatched from Rome in 60-61. Now, it is possible that Peter's martyrdom was as late as 68, and if we give credence to the tradition—probably as old as the 2nd century—that the apostles remained together in Jerusalem until twelve years after the Ascension, that is until 41 or 42, it is possible that Peter visited Rome twenty-five years before his death. But it does not appear to be possible that Peter either stayed any notable time in Rome or that he acted for any notable time as a local diocesan bishop, any more than Paul acted as local bishop of Ephesus, although he stayed there for a period which was longer than we can confidently allow to any work of Peter in Rome. Therefore, if Peter died in Nero's persecution, the silence of Paul's Epistles makes it impossible to think that Peter resided twenty-five years in Rome as its diocesan bishop.

Our conclusion is supported by the statement of Lactantius in the 4th century. He says: "The apostles for twenty-five years, until the beginning of the reign of Nero, laid the foundations of the Church through all provinces and states. And when Nero was on the throne, Peter came to Rome." Here we have the tradition of a twenty-five years ministry, but in a totally different form to that which has become popular in the Roman Church.

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