Peter & Paul, Apostles

Peter and Paul are commemorated together on June 29, the date traditionally assigned to their martyrdom in Rome under Nero. Peter, the fisherman from Galilee whom Jesus named 'the Rock,' was the leader of the Twelve and the chief witness to the resurrection. Paul, the Pharisee from Tarsus who persecuted the Church before his conversion on the Damascus road, became the apostle to the Gentiles whose letters constitute the theological foundation of the New Testament. Together they represent the fullness of apostolic witness — to the circumcised and to the uncircumcised.

Traditionally, both Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome under the Emperor Nero (reigned 54–68), Peter by crucifixion (inverted, at his own request) and Paul by beheading (as a Roman citizen, exempt from crucifixion). The tradition of their Roman martyrdom is early, multiply attested, and widely accepted by modern scholarship. Clement of Rome, writing from Rome to Corinth around 96, refers to Peter and Paul as exemplary martyrs of 'our own generation.' Ignatius of Antioch, writing to the Romans around 107–115, refers to Peter and Paul as having given instructions 'as apostles' to the Roman church. By the mid-2nd century, a shrine to Peter existed on the Vatican Hill.

Peter (Simon bar Jonah) was a fisherman from Bethsaida, called with his brother Andrew to follow Jesus (Mark 1:16–18). He was the first to confess Jesus as the Christ (Mark 8:29), was present at the Transfiguration and Gethsemane, denied Jesus three times during the Passion, and was the first male disciple to see the risen Lord (1 Corinthians 15:5; Luke 24:34). After Pentecost, Peter led the Jerusalem church, preached the first public sermon (Acts 2), opened the Gospel to the Gentiles through the conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10), and spoke decisively at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:7–11). Paul's letter to the Galatians records Peter in Antioch (Galatians 2:11–14). The New Testament does not narrate his death.

Paul (Saul of Tarsus) was a Pharisee educated under Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) who zealously persecuted the early Church until his encounter with the risen Christ on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1–19; Galatians 1:13–17). After years of preparation, he undertook three major missionary journeys across Asia Minor and Greece, establishing churches and writing the letters that make up the largest single authorial corpus in the New Testament: Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon (the undisputed letters), plus Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, and the Pastoral Epistles (debated authorship). Acts ends with Paul under house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:30–31).

• Apostle
• Martyr