Simon Peter

Simon Peter, a fisherman of Galilee, was the foremost of the twelve apostles and, in the Gospels, the spokesman and leader of Jesus' inner circle. Born Simon, son of Jonah, he was renamed *Cephas* (Aramaic for "rock"), in Greek *Petros* — Peter.

The rock and the keys At Caesarea Philippi Peter confessed, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," and Jesus answered, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church," giving him "the keys of the kingdom" (Matthew 16). The meaning of that saying is one of the great dividing questions of Christendom: the Catholic tradition reads it as founding the office of Peter and his successors, the bishops of Rome (the papacy); Orthodox and Protestant traditions read the "rock" variously as Peter's confession, or Christ himself, and reject the papal claim built on it. The positions are presented here, not adjudicated.

Denial and restoration The Gospels do not hide Peter's failures: impetuous, he walked on water then sank in doubt, was rebuked as "Satan" for resisting the cross, and on the night of Jesus' arrest denied him three times before the cock crew, then "wept bitterly." The risen Christ restored him by the lakeside with a threefold "Do you love me? … Feed my sheep" — a portrait of failure and grace that has consoled Christians ever since.

Pentecost and the early Church In the Acts of the Apostles Peter becomes the bold leader of the young Church: at Pentecost (Acts 2) his sermon adds three thousand; he works the first healings, confronts the authorities, and — after a vision at Joppa — opens the gospel to the Gentile Cornelius, a decisive turn. The letters [1 and 2 Peter](/christianity/bible/1-peter/1) are attributed to him.

Rome and martyrdom Early tradition (Clement of Rome, Irenaeus, Eusebius) holds that Peter went to Rome and was martyred there under Nero, around AD 64 — crucified, by a later tradition, head downward, counting himself unworthy to die as his Lord did. The New Testament does not record his death; it rests on early and widespread tradition, so stated. Catholics venerate him as the first pope; all traditions honour him as chief of the apostles and a martyr.

Legacy No apostle is more vivid in the Gospels than Peter — bold and fearful, faithful and failing. St Peter's Basilica in Rome stands over what is traditionally his tomb, and the question of his authority remains at the heart of what still divides the churches.