THE ROCK
SAINT PETER, by John Lowe; Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, English price 10/6. : HE most controversial figure in the New Testament, and in some ways the most lovable because of his big, blustering, impetuous loyalty, Saint Peter has been the subject of innumerable studies. Was he the leader of the early Church, and if so why is
James named as _ the head of the Church in Jerusalem? Was he the first Pope, and if so why is there no mention of him in St. Paul’s epistle to the Romans or in the parts of the Book of Acts where St. Paul’s visit to Rome is described? What did Jesus mean when he called St. Peter "the rock’? With scholarly patience and impartiality, Dean Lowe, of Christ Church, examines these and other relevant questions about the apostle. His exposition claims. that St. Peter was certainly the leader of the Church at the start, but that his activities as leader of the mission to the Jews led to the "primacy" in Jerusalem falling on James, the brother of Jesus. Saint Peter’s connection with Rome is closely examined, and if it is in places inconclusive, that is surely understandable because of the meagre evidence
available, a situation not made easier by unhistorical claims dating from as far back as the fourth century about. the apostle’s tenure of the papacy. Indeed, Dean Lowe goes so far as to say that "agreement about his stature and status has been so bedevilled by ecclesiastical controversy that there is still the wildest discord as to the part he really played in the history of the primitive Church," He concludes that the dominical authorisation,"Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church," must certainly be taken td refer to Simon Peter personally. There would be some who, for reasons of Biblical exegesis: or of psychology, would query that conclusion. May it not.be that it was the rock-like quality, in Peter or in any other follower, which made possible the building of the Church? But having made that assertion, Dean Lowe then deals with the power of the keys. -There is no justification whatever, he claims, for the assumption that the commission given to St. Peter himself includes successors, "and a very limited
line of successors at that."
G.
D.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 952, 8 November 1957, Page 12
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386THE ROCK New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 952, 8 November 1957, Page 12
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