Hi,
Firstly I am not a Roman Catholic. I am a practicing Christian who is slightly peeved that so many of my contemporaries seem to think that the Christian church somehow began in the mid 1500’s
Isn’t it strange that this ‘Peter never went to Rome’ story never surfaced until the reformation? Up until then, it was generally accepted that Peter had met his end in the Neronian Circus, crucified upside down and then buried across the road in the Vatican cemetery.
Any historian will point out that if Peter had never even visited Rome then reliable and credible sources would exist, way before the reformation yet they don’t... Now why might that be so?
Well, I think that by attacking the itinerary of St Peter, any would be propaganda artists strike to the heart of Catholicism so Peter is an easy target in that regard. after all, if he wasn’t even in Rome, how could he be the first pope etc...
There are many reasons why I personally do not belong to the Church of Rome but this lame attempt at protestant propaganda is not one. Peter ends one of his letters with greetings from the church in Babylon, Aside from actually spelling out ROME, this is just about the best evidence anyone could ask for as to his whereabouts. The persecuted church frequently referred to Rome as ‘Babylon’ and we see a better example in John’s book of Revelation and the ‘Harlot of Babylon’ who sits on seven hills etc... In fact this is what we call ‘Textural Critisism’. Its the ability to draw on different biblical references to fill in ‘gaps’. Biblical scholars have identified that the early persecuted church met in secret and developed a series of secret signs and phrases to communicate with each other and not ‘outsiders’ after all if Peter was in Rome he wouldn’t necessarily want to publicise it at the time would he?
In fact, it’s rather foolish to interpret Peter’s closing comments literaly, are we really to think that Peter went to Iraq around AD50-70? There’s no evidence of such an early Christian community in that area however in Rome, there’s plenty of evidence, most of which can still be seen by any avid tourist within an hour of stepping off the plane.
As far as I can tell. Peter probably did go to Rome, He was probably executed in the Neronian Persecution (along with St Paul) and his original Tomb was probably remembered by the Christian community before being enshrined and then built over by Constantine so get over it!
Stupid arguments like this just serve to make some protestants look foolish rather than faithful. something which can be very dangerous indeed, especially if we choose the let our emotions fly in the face of reason.