Simon Peter in Scripture and Memory - Paperback

by Markus Bockmuehl (Preface by)

After Jesus, Peter is the most frequently mentioned individual both in the Gospels and in the New Testament as a whole. He was the leading disciple, the "rock" on which Jesus would build his church. How can we know so little about this formative figure of the early church?

World-renowned New Testament scholar Markus Bockmuehl introduces the New Testament Peter by asking how first- and second-century sources may be understood through the prism of "living memory" among the disciples of the apostolic generation and the students of those disciples. He argues that early Christian memory of Peter underscores his central role as a bridge-building figure holding together the diversity of first-century Christianity. Drawing on more than a decade of research, Bockmuehl applies cutting-edge scholarship to the question of the history and traditions of this important but strangely elusive figure. Bockmuehl provides fresh insight into the biblical witness and early Christian tradition that New Testament students and professors will value.

Back Jacket

Probing intelligence, originality without eccentricity, flawless scholarship, felicitous style--all of Bockmuehl's much admired gifts are generously displayed in this volume. Those wishing to trace the footsteps of the 'underestimated apostle' in early Christianity will find no better guide than Bockmuehl and no better exposition of why that journey of remembrance matters.
--C. Clifton Black, Princeton Theological Seminary

"Bockmuehl has long distinguished himself as a careful historian, sensitive to both Jewish and Greco-Roman dimensions of the early Christian movement and an astute reader of literary texts. This well-written and ecumenically sensitive volume draws on all his impressive skills. New insights abound regarding the portrayal of Peter in the New Testament and in nonbiblical sources from the second century."
--Gary Anderson, University of Notre Dame

"A valuable study that combines amazing breadth of coverage of evidence (textual, artistic, and archaeological), sensitive and cogent analysis, and thoughtful concluding reflections for Protestant and Catholic Christians today. Bockmuehl takes readers on an intriguing tour of early Christian traditions about Peter with full knowledge of scholarly studies and also an appropriate exercise of his own judgment. The results are fascinating and 'must' reading for anyone seriously interested in early Christianity and its aftermath."
--Larry Hurtado, University of Edinburgh

"Not since Cullmann in 1952 has there been such a thorough examination of the biblical information on Peter. The whole work is inspired by a heart that beats for truth, for ecumenical understanding, and for reconciliation."
--Benedict T. Viviano, OP, Vienna; University of Fribourg, Switzerland

"Readers will have to engage carefully the issues of memory, identity, effective history, and ecclesial politics in order to think with Bockmuehl about the way he construes the evidence. Protestants are not always quick to remember that no disciple of Jesus has been more important to Christianity than Peter. Bockmuehl's book displays with elegance and erudition some central features of this fact's historical shape."
--C. Kavin Rowe, Duke Divinity School

"This erudite and accessible book will be welcomed by all who seek to understand not only what historians can surmise about the Galilean peasant Peter but also what such research can contribute to reflection about an ongoing 'Petrine ministry' among Christians today."
--Matthew Levering, University of Dayton

Author Biography

Markus Bockmuehl (PhD, University of Cambridge) is the Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford and is a Fellow of Keble College. He previously taught at the University of Cambridge and the University of St. Andrews. Bockmuehl is the author or editor of numerous books, including Seeing the Word, Scripture's Doctrine and Theology's Bible, Paradise in Antiquity: Jewish and Christian Views, and Redemption and Resistance: The Messianic Hopes of Jews and Christians in Antiquity.