The Feast of Saint’s Peter and Paul, Founders of the Church

Not all Christians celebrate the lives of the Saints, but today is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, who, following Jesus, are the principle founders of the Church.

We celebrate their feast on the day of their death and ascension; June 29^th is the anniversary of their martyrdom, the day they were murdered as enemies of the Roman State.

The influence of Peter and Paul on Christian doctrine was more extensive and more enduring than Jesus’ own teaching. Though was literate, it is reported that he read and taught in synagogues and was purportedly well-versed in the law; we do not have a single written word from him.

Paul, through his letters, wrote the core articles of Christian doctrine, including the Apostle’s Creed; Peter was the first Bishop of Rome and Patriarch of the Latin Church.

Peter and Paul did not always see eye to eye.

Peter carried the rank as chief of the disciples, and Paul was the apostle to the gentiles, founding churches all over the ancient near east, Greece and Asia Minor, and though Paul never met Jesus, he was the greater teacher and was more responsible for opening Christianity to the world.

Note well:

Peter is given credit for founding the church of Rome. The lore of the Church tells us that he was its first bishop; this is pure mythology, the earliest record of a bishop in Rome refers to a man named Linus. Church tradition now holds that Linus was the bishop following Peter, but no-one called wither of the Pope (or papa), a title which was not even in use during Peter’s day. And while Rome was important, the center of the Christian movement was in Jerusalem, where Jesus’ brother James was bishop, and it was James who resolved the conflicts between Peter and Paul.

In order for Peter to bear the title of apostle, he needed to be given credit for founding a Church somewhere and so he was given credit for founding the churches at Rome and Antioch. Though other people are also given credit for founding the Church in Antioch, including Barnabas and Paul as recorded in the Book of Acts.

Peter travelled and was an ambassador of the faith, but Paul was a true missionary; he founded churches wherever he went.

It is accepted as true that both men were put to death in Rome, martyred there on account of their commitment to the Church and its mission, they were not put to death so much for the content of their beliefs, but for leading the kind of secretive society that was generally feared by the Rome’s emperors, who perceived such groups as a threat to Imperial authority that had to be curtailed.

Paul was a Roman citizen; his letters are the earliest known Christian writings, and though not all of the letters ascribed to him were written by him, Paul’s actual influence on the Christian narrative and its doctrine are immeasurable.

A casual observer of history may find the authority he held to be odd, because Paul never met Jesus, did not know him, never heard him speak. Prior to his conversion Paul was the type of man who would punish members of his community if they were not properly observing the traditions of the synagogue; he fulfilled a function similar to that of the Taliban in Afghanistan, or the morality police in Iran…and Christians were his primary target.

After Paul’s conversion to Christianity he led the mission to the gentiles, he opened the way to the masses by sharing the good news that Christ had risen, and he made it so that a person did not need to become Jewish first in order to join the church.