If one can defend St. Paul as a man redeemed, then one can do the same for St. Peter.
“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” —and Saul went on to become a great apostle.
St. Peter had not yet eperienced the redemption of the Cross when those words were spoken to him.
And so it is with all of us who have once been “no people, but now are God’s people, ..once had not received mercy but now have received mercy” (!Peter 2:10)
!Peter 2:10 should be 1Peter 2:10
Of course.