Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/366

 352 SAINT PETER net again and enclosed a miraculous draught of fishes, so that the net broke with the weight. He now received his call to leave everything and become a " fisher of men," be- ing with his brother Andrew the first chosen of the apostles. His name is always men- tioned first in the list of the apostles. He was one of the three selected to witness the trans- figuration, and to watch with the Saviour du- ring the agony in the garden of Gethsemane. He frequently appears in the gospels as the spokesman for his companions; he is often specially addressed by our Lord, and it is prob- able that Christ dwelt at his house in Caperna- um. It is the opinion in fact of most, though not of all critics, that he enjoyed a certain preeminence among the apostles, upon which, coupled with the injunction given to him by the Saviour to feed his flock, and the declara- tion, " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church," the Roman Catholics found the doctrine of the supremacy of the popes as Peter's successors. Protestant theo- logians regard this preeminence as personal and not official, and as .conferring honor with- out any superior authority. The character of Peter, as displayed in the gospel narratives, is one that commends itself particularly to our interest and affection. Ardent, zealous, quick in his faith, and strong in attachment to his divine Master, he yet exhibits, in a more marked degree than is told of his fellow apos- tles, the common failings of humanity. When Christ walked upon the sea of Galilee to meet his disciples, whose ship was tossed with the waves, Peter with his leave walked toward him upon the water ; but becoming afraid he began to sink, and cried, " Lord, save me." Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and rebuked his fears, saying, " O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ? " (Matt. xiv. 29-31.) Again, when Christ pre- dicted his passion and death, Peter remonstra- ted with him, exclaiming, "Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee," and was severely rebuked for it. (Matt. xvi. 22, 23.) At the last supper during the feast of the passover, when our Lord washed his disci- ples' feet, Peter at first refused with great ve- hemence to permit him so to humiliate him- self before him. The same night, in reply to a boast of the apostle that he would lay down his life for his Master, Jesus said to him, " The cock shall not crow until thou hast denied me thrice." (John xiii.) Peter was one of the first to whom the Lord showed him- self after his resurrection. On a subsequent occasion he had been fishing all night with Thomas, John, James, Nathanael, and two others, and had caught nothing, when Jesus appearing on the shore bade them cast their nets on the right side of the ship, and when they did so it enclosed such a multitude of fishes that they could not draw it up. As soon as Peter knew it was the Lord, he threw himself into the sea in his impatience to come to him. Thrice assuring Christ, in answer to his questions, that he loved him, he was com- manded to feed his Master's sheep and lambs ; and he was then foretold the sufferings and death whereby he should glorify God, when he should stretch forth his hands, and another should gird him and carry him whither he would not. (John xxi.) After the ascension of Christ, Peter took the lead in the Christian body ; and from the descent of the Holy Spirit his character seems to have been changed by an infusion of that strength and dignity which it previously lacked. He is frequently men- tioned in the Acts, and always appears as a bold and unflinching preacher of the new faith. He preached to the multitude in Je- rusalem on the day of Pentecost with such effect that 3,000 persons were converted and baptized. With John he cured a lame man at the gate of the temple, and was brought before the sanhedrim and commanded to speak no more in the name of Jesus, which injunc- tion he courageously refused to obey. At his rebuke Ananias and his wife Sapphira, who had sold their goods and laid part of the price at the apostles' feet, pretending that it was the whole, were struck dead. After Philip had converted a great number in Samaria, Pe- ter and John went down to them, and laid their hands on them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. (Acts viii. 14, IT.) Peter then returned to Jerusalem, preaching on the way in many Samaritan villages, and afterward went to Lydda, where he cured ^Eneas of the palsy. At Joppa he raised to life a Chris- tian woman named Tabitha or Dorcas. While lodging here with one Simon, a tanner, he was taught by a vision that the gospel should be preached not only to the chosen people, but also to the gentiles, and was instructed to ac- company the three men sent to him by Cor- nelius, a centurion who dwelt at Ca3sarea. Having baptized this man and his household, he returned to Jerusalem, where one of the brethren rebuked him for holding intercourse with the uncircumcised ; but on hearing of his vision they held their peace and glorified God. Imprisoned by Herod (A. D. 44), he was re- leased by an angel and went to Ceesarea. He next appears at a council of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem (A. D. 51), when he advo- cated the exemption of gentile converts from the ceremonial obligations of the Mosaic law. Indeed, it appears that he was chiefly instru- mental in establishing at Antioch a church in great part of gentiles. With these he ate promiscuously, not observing the legal distinc- tion of unclean meats. But on the arrival of some Jewish converts from the church over which the apostle James presided, Peter gave up the practice, thereby causing scandal to the gentile converts, and drawing on himself the censure of St. Paul. (Gal. ii. 11-14.) The re- mainder of his history is derived from allu- sions in the epistles, and from the traditions of the early fathers. He was employed for