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The Acts of Peter, the cover of this edition

Summary

Summary of The Acts of Peter

by Anonymous
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Key ideas

The Acts of Peter · Anonymous1 of 8

  1. Key idea 1

    An apostle faces a rival

    The Acts of Peter places the apostle Peter in a Rome full of rumor, wonders and competing claims to divine power. Its unknown author tells an early Christian story, not a record written during Peter's lifetime. It belongs to the apocryphal Acts, tales of apostles who preach, heal and face rivals.

    Here the rival is Simon Magus, a magician whose appeal threatens the believers. Their contest gives the story its central question: how can people recognize power that deserves their trust?

  2. Key idea 2

    Paul leaves a community exposed

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  3. Key idea 3

    Marcellus puts his trust in Simon

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  4. Key idea 4

    Peter brings service into the contest

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  5. Key idea 5

    Strange signs carry claims about faith

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  6. Key idea 6

    A teacher's life reveals his purpose

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  7. Key idea 7

    A surviving legend outside scripture

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  8. Key idea 8

    Service matters more than display

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Who it’s for

For readers who love early Christian history, ancient adventure and miracle tales, and anyone curious about how the first generations remembered Peter.

What this book is

The Acts of Peter is an early Christian story about the apostle Peter in the city of Rome. Its author is unknown. Most scholars place it in the later second century, perhaps around the 180s, and many look to Asia Minor or Rome as its home. It was written in Greek. Much of the Greek is lost, and the fullest text we have is a Latin version found in a manuscript kept at Vercelli in Italy, along with a Greek account of Peter's death and a Coptic fragment.

The book belongs to a family of tales called the apocryphal Acts, which also includes the Acts of Paul, John, Andrew and Thomas. These tales follow an apostle from town to town, with healings, sermons, converts and clashes with rivals. Here the rival is Simon Magus, a magician who also appears briefly in the New Testament book of Acts. You will meet a Rome full of rumor and wonder, a wealthy senator led astray, and a contest between two men who each claim divine power. The story is shaped by what its first audience feared and hoped. Let us start where the Latin text starts, with a departure that leaves a church exposed.

In this summary

  1. 1Paul leaves Rome and Simon moves inFree
  2. 2A senator is drawn to the sorcerer
  3. 3Peter is sent to Rome
  4. 4Signs, a dog and a fish
  5. 5Faith, self-control and what power is for
  6. 6How the book survives and why it stands outside the Bible

Key point 1 of 6

Paul leaves Rome and Simon moves in

The Latin text opens with Paul about to leave Rome. He is bound for Spain, and the Roman Christians are anxious. They fast and pray, and the story tells of a gathering in which Paul is sent off with their blessing. Paul is portrayed as the founder who must go, and he leaves behind a young community with no strong leader.

That gap matters, because the community is soon tested. In the story, Simon Magus arrives in Rome and starts to draw people to himself. He is called a magician, and he claims to be a great power. He wins his following by wonders, and the believers who have lost Paul have no one to answer him.

The tale was written long after the real Peter and Paul had died. It does not work as a news report. It works as a memory of the apostolic age told for Christians of a later time, who wanted to know that their city had been guarded in its early days. The story reflects a belief that Rome was linked to both Peter and Paul, and it places the two men in turn on its stage.

It is also a story about absence. The believers are left alone and they are shaken. When a leader is gone, who will tell false teaching from true? That question drives the opening of the book. It gives the whole contest with Simon its sense of urgency, because the stakes are the faith of ordinary people in a large and unfamiliar city.

That’s 1 of 6 key points.

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Check yourself

Check yourself · The Acts of Peter1 of 3

Why does Paul's departure leave the Roman Christians vulnerable?

Today’s free summaryAs You Like ItWilliam Shakespeare