Was the apostle peter ever in Rome?

Question

I thought there was no debate about this but some guy just said he was never in Rome... so do writings of the early church fathers lie when they say Peter was in Rome?

Answer 1

His body is there now.
This is true. Read history, and, yes Peter was in Rome. He died there.

Answer 2

RE: Did Apostle Peter ever reach Rome according to Scriptures? If not, Peter was never the Bishop of Rome. That means Peter was not the first Bishop in Rome. If then, what do you think of Papacy?

Answer 3

Of course he was. Here is some of the testimony from the first christians:
•Irenaeus - (Against Heresies 3:3:1 [AD 189])"... since it would be too long to enumerate in such a volume as this the successions of all the churches, we shall confound all those who, in whatever manner, whether through self-satisfaction or vainglory, or through blindness and wicked opinion, assemble other than where it is proper, by pointing out here the successions of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul—that church which has the tradition and the faith with which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the apostles. For with this Church, because of its superior origin, all churches must agree"
•Tertullian - (Demurrer Against the Heretics 32 [AD 200]) "...For this is the manner in which the apostolic churches transmit their registers: as the church of Smyrna, which records that Polycarp was placed therein by John; as also the church of Rome, which makes Clement to have been ordained in like manner by Peter"
•Eusebius of Cesarea ((Ecclesiastical History - Book 2, 14.6) (c. AD 300)) - ...during the reign of Claudius, the all-good and gracious Providence, which watches over all things, led Peter, that strongest and greatest of the apostles, and the one who on account of his virtue was the speaker for all the others, to Rome against this great corrupter of life.

All scholars (including protestant) admit these writings as true and admit that Peter was in Rome, but some people like House Speaker will deny that. The only thing they achieve in that way is to show their ignorance and their fanatic hatred of Christ´s true Church, the Catholic Church. In so doing , they go against the same Jesus who said " And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build MY church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it" (Mt. 16:18 )

Answer 4

The Church of Rome claims many garbage like Peter is the First Pope and that Peter is the Bishop of Rome.

Roman Catholic "TRADITION" states that the apostle Peter was the first pope and the first bishop of Rome.

Peter was never the First Pope and never the Bishop Of Rome. It's all Vatican made lies.

Examine the doctrine of the Holy Bible for yourself. Discover the evidence for it from the Bible that Peter was never in ROME.

Answer 5

This is a question that has been highly debated for a long time - here is the traditional protestant belief of Peter and Rome.

After being imprisoned several times in Jerusalem because of his faith, Peter left with his wife and possibly others. It is believed that he ministered in Babylon to the Jewish colonists there and it is, also, believed to be his location when he wrote his first epistle (1 Peter).

Peter eventually went to Rome and while there, it is believed that Mark (the writer of the Gospel of Mark) served as his translator as he preached. It is, also, believed that as Peter told and retold his experiences with Jesus, Mark interpreted time and time again to Christian groups and by so doing, gave Mark an almost verbatim memory of Peter's recollections. After Peter's death, Mark, realizing the value of Peter's first hand account, recorded what he remembered so clearly in what we know as the Gospel of Mark. In this manner, Peter became the source of our earliest Gospel.

According to church tradition, the Roman Emperor Nero, publicly announcing himself the chief enemy of God, was led in his fury to slaughter the Apostles. Because of the persecution, Peter was crucified upside down while in Rome. Concerning the last hours of his life, it is said that when Peter saw his own wife led out to die, he rejoiced because of her summons and her return home, and called to her very encouragingly and comfortingly addressing her by name, and saying, "O thou, remember the Lord."

Of the final days of the apostle Peter in Rome, Jowett wrote that Peter was cast into a horrible prison called the Mamertine and for nine months, in absolute darkness, he endured monstrous torture manacled to a post. In spite of all the suffering Peter was subjected to, he converted his jailers, Processus, Martinianus, and forty-seven others. Peter met his death at the hand of the Romans in Nero's circus, 67AD.

Answer 6

Yes he was.

: “The Church here in Babylon, united with you by God’s election, sends you her greeting, and so does my son, Mark” (1 Pet. 5:13, Knox). Babylon is a code-word for Rome. It is used that way multiple times in works like the Sibylline Oracles (5:159f), the Apocalypse of Baruch (2:1), and 4 Esdras (3:1). Eusebius Pamphilius, in The Chronicle, composed about A.D. 303, noted that “It is said that Peter’s first epistle, in which he makes mention of Mark, was composed at Rome itself; and that he himself indicates this, referring to the city figuratively as Babylon.”

Tertullian, in The Demurrer Against the Heretics (A.D. 200), noted of Rome, “How happy is that church . . . where Peter endured a passion like that of the Lord, where Paul was crowned in a death like John’s [referring to John the Baptist, both he and Paul being beheaded].”


In the same book, Tertullian wrote that “this is the way in which the apostolic churches transmit their lists: like the church of the Smyrnaeans, which records that Polycarp was placed there by John; like the church of the Romans, where Clement was ordained by Peter.” This Clement, known as Clement of Rome, later would be the fourth pope. (Note that Tertullian didn’t say Peter consecrated Clement as pope, which would have been impossible since a pope doesn’t consecrate his own successor; he merely ordained Clement as priest.) Clement wrote his Letter to the Corinthians perhaps before the year 70, just a few years after Peter and Paul were killed; in it he made reference to Peter ending his life where Paul ended his.

In his Letter to the Romans (A.D. 110), Ignatius of Antioch remarked that he could not command the Roman Christians the way Peter and Paul once did, such a comment making sense only if Peter had been a leader, if not the leader, of the church in Rome.

Irenaeus, in Against Heresies (A.D. 190), said that Matthew wrote his Gospel “while Peter and Paul were evangelizing in Rome and laying the foundation of the Church.” A few lines later he notes that Linus was named as Peter’s successor, that is, the second pope, and that next in line were Anacletus (also known as Cletus), and then Clement of Rome.

Clement of Alexandria wrote at the turn of the third century. A fragment of his work Sketches is preserved in Eusebius of Caesarea’s Ecclesiastical History, the first history of the Church. Clement wrote, “When Peter preached the word publicly at Rome, and declared the gospel by the Spirit, many who were present requested that Mark, who had been for a long time his follower and who remembered his sayings, should write down what had been proclaimed.”

Lactantius, in a treatise called The Death of the Persecutors, written around 318, noted that “When Nero was already reigning (Nero reigned from 54–68), Peter came to Rome, where, in virtue of the performance of certain miracles which he worked by that power of God which had been given to him, he converted many to righteousness and established a firm and steadfast temple to God.”

Answer 7

No. Peter was NEVER in Rome. Paul was the apostle to the gentiles, and it was Paul who was in Roman prisons in Rome-not Peter. Several years back they found Peter's gravesite outside of Jerusalem, and the vatican has had egg on its face ever since. Oh, and NO- Peter WAS NOT the first pope- another lie told long and hard by the vatican to gain adherents.

Answer 8

Peter was taken to Rome for his trial and execution.

Answer 9

Not every Pope ruled from Rome, you know.

Answer 10

A very important question. He is known to have managed a franchise smoothie stand next to the Forum w/ his business partners Paul & Mary.