Which of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ was the first leader of the early Church?

Saint Peter, also known as Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, Sham'un al-Safa, Cephas, or Peter the Apostle, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, and the first leader of the early Church.

According to Christian tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome under Emperor Nero. He is traditionally counted as the first Bishop of Rome‍—‌or pope‍—‌and also by Eastern Christian tradition as the first Patriarch of Antioch. The ancient Christian churches all venerate Peter as a major saint and as the founder of the Church of Antioch and the Roman Church, but differ in their attitudes regarding the authority of his present-day successors (the primacy of the Bishop of Rome). According to Catholic teaching, in Matthew 16:18 Jesus promised Peter a special position in the Church.

Two general epistles in the New Testament are ascribed to Peter, but modern scholars generally reject the Petrine authorship of both. The Gospel of Mark was traditionally thought to show the influence of Peter's preaching and eyewitness memories. Several other books bearing his name‍—‌the Acts of Peter, Gospel of Peter, Preaching of Peter, Apocalypse of Peter, and Judgment of Peter‍—‌are considered by Christian denominations as apocryphal, and are thus not included in their Bible canons.

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25 Comments

Irene Townsend

Peter Robertson, You're right as far as I'm aware Peter never went to Rome, Paul did It is a Catholic belief not a biblical fact

Sheldon Burnston

PlayerANNA. KELLY , Jesus was ALSO a Jew and followed Jewish traditions.

Joe Mangan

Take your pick. Christian tradition or the Bible. The Bible is simply a collection of everything written thousands of years ago by the few people who were literate, containing everything from dietary advice to flood legends and other stuff passed down orally through the generations, gaining and losing in the telling with each successive generation. This was in an age without mass communications or the concept of cross-examination. Have you heard oral stories of your 18th century ancestors? How much is reliable? Why your book and not the Quran or the religious writings of India?

PlayerANNA. KELLY

this. cannot. be true. as. Peter. was. a. JEW. and. followed. Jeuish. tradition. ,.He. would. never. have. been. a. leader. of. any. Ch. , Revelation. by. the. Holy. Spirit. revealed. to. Peter. who. JESUS. was. ., You. are. the. Christ. and. upon. this. Rock. I. will. build. my. Church. ,. The. Rock. of. Revelation. .

namiphi

Richard Graham Good teaching.

Marianne Frederick Halterman

"On this rock, I will build my church."

Peter Robertson

If he came back and you called him "Peter" he would not know who you were talking about.Jesus called him Cephas (Stone) it was the Greeks who called him Peter(stone) well that's our English translation. Glad you said Christian Tradition. There's no record or even a hint,in the Bible or Historically,that he ever went to Rome,but of course,we don't want to spoil a good story,do we?

Char

Sean Kelly, I agree pretty much with you.

Char

Jarrah Iluka, exactly they ignore Mary Magdalene like good little Romans..

Char

Yet Mary M took it to France she was just never Catholic Pope. In France Mary carried out the Jesus movement.

David Stokes

James, the brother of Jesus, also known as James the Just was the first leader of the "church" in Jerusalem. The Roman church, which Peter was a leader (but not the first) was not the first Christian church - that was in Jerusalem.