Insights from the Gospel of Peter
At the Palais des Nations in Geneva on September 2, 1983, Yasir Arafat espoused a seemingly unique interpretation of the Christian Bible.
We were under Roman imperialism. We sent a Palestinian fisherman, called St. Peter, to Rome. He not only occupied Rome, but also won the hearts of the people. We know how to resist imperialism and occupation. Jesus Christ was the first Palestinian fedayin who carried his sword along the path on which the Palestinians today carry their Cross.
The Muslim traditions are very comfortable with a militant Jesus and Peter. They preserve Eastern Christians traditions about Jesus and his less than peaceful apostles.
Insights from the Gospel of Peter
On the Upper Nile River valley’s eastern bank is the
ancient Egyptian site of Akhmimin. The lost Gospel
of Peter was found in a Monk’s tomb in 1884 and contains
an account of disciples suspected of some strange
crimes:
And I and my companions were grieved; and being
wounded in mind we hid ourselves: for we were being
sought for by them as malefactors, and as wishing to
set fire to the temple.
As portrayed by the Gospel writer, Peter and his
companion were in the eyes of the Roman occupiers in
the same class as the men who were crucified with the
Messiah. This takes on new meaning when
examined against the canonical Gospels and similar
statements that they make about Jesus and his
followers.
What is amazing is the reference to a plan to burn the
Temple. It would seem difficult, even impossible to
believe that any rational person would ever
contemplate this. Unfortunately, fanaticism can drive
people to do savage things, even to their sacred
places.
The Implications of the Gospel of Peter and the First
Jewish Revolt
The Gospel of Peter places the blame for the
crucifixion upon the Priests and Rabbis and excuses
Pontius Pilate of any culpability. Again, what is so
amazing about the passage we looked at earlier is the
feature about disciples being charged with plotting to
burn the Temple. Even more amazing is how well it
matches up with the accounts of the Roman historians
who classify the early Christians as lestai (bandits,
assassins).
Tacitus in his Histories portrays the early Christians
as a terrorist movement. In this work, he states that
the Christians were killed for allegedly committing
acts of arson, starting the famous fire during the
reign of Nero in 64 CE. The historian Suetonius in his
history of the emperor Claudius mentions a group he
calls impulsore chresto (messianic insurgents) who had
caused rioting in Rome. Claudius redeployed thousands
of Roman troops in several legions to guard facilities
like the port at Ostia outside of Rome from arson and
sabotage.
Roman fears were on target. The Christian individuals
in the canonical gospels are closely associated with
zealots, and the individuals in the Gospel of Peter
are suspected of zealot-like activities. Josephus
described this “philosophy” well, and by using our
“Josephus Test,” these individuals should be
considered zealots because of the many reputable
reports of their close association with and activities
like those of Zealots and the Sicarii.
In a very interesting passage, the Roman Christian
historian Severus quotes from volume five of Tacitus’
Histories. This volume was lost, so only quotations
from other extant authors who preserve sections of it
exist. In his description of the siege of the Temple
in 70 CE, the Roman general Titus calls a staff
meeting. He throws open the question of whether or not
to destroy the Temple. He favored doing it and
advocated this because the Temple was the ultimate
source of inspiration for both the Jews and the
christiani, the term that early Hebrew Christians
called themselves.
Whether Titus set the fire first or the Zealots did is
not completely clear. Like the Branch Davidian siege
2000 years later, the results clear. The Gospel of
Peter indicates that such an idea existed in Zealot
theology. The destruction of the Temple severed the
link between Christianity and Judaism forever,
completely transforming what had been a sect of
Judaism into a completely new religion.