Catholic Mouse

Here are TWENTY pieces of evidence that Peter was in Rome—just for starters: • In 1 Peter 5:13, Peter writes, “The Church here in Babylon sends you her greeting, and so does my son, Mark”. ‘Babylon’, at that time, was a code word for Rome (proof: the Sibylline Oracles, 5:159f, 4 Esdras, 3:1, & the Apocalypse of Baruch, 2:1) • Eusebius Pamphilius: “It is said that 1 Peter, 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.” • NONE of the references to “Babylon” as a “great city” in Revelation (Rev. 14:8, Rev. 16:19, Rev. 17:5, Rev. 18:2, Rev. 18:10, or Rev. 18:21) refer to the capital of the Babylonian empire. That “great city” had ceased to be a great city at that point. Rome and Jerusalem were great cities, but we already know that James was the Bishop of Jerusalem. • SO: “Babylon” CANNOT mean the CITY of Babylon—period—and Peter was NOT using it the WAY John used it in Revelation, so Peter CANNOT have meant Jerusalem. • No early Christians thought Peter had gone to Babylon because they knew the city was essentially a ghost town at this point. The Greek geographer Strabo, who lived during the time of Christ, described the city of Babylon as so deserted that you could literally consider it a desert. • No Early Church writer claimed Peter ended his life anywhere OTHER than Rome. No one claimed Peter died somewhere else or offered a different narrative. No one in Mesopotamia claimed that Peter went to the ancient city of Babylon. • During that time of persecution, with Peter as head of the Church, and with no mail confidentiality in Rome, keeping his whereabouts hidden was of paramount importance; hence, ‘Babylon’ • Ignatius of Antioch (disciple of St John’s, who would’ve know Peter’s whereabouts), in his ‘Letter to the Romans’: “I do not, as Peter and Paul, issue commandments unto you. They were Apostles.” • Peter served first as a bishop in Antioch, then Eusebius states Peter went to Rome in 42 AD—16 years before Paul got there in 58 AD. Which would’ve made Peter THE Bishop of Rome. • Jerome, in “On Illustrious Men”, 1.1, also states that Peter arrived in Rome in the second year of Claudius, which is 42 AD. • Clement OF ROME, in his ‘Letter to the Corinthians’ (1st century), writes that Peter ended his life where Paul ended his (Rome). • Tertullian, referring to 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…” • Tertullian: “…the church of the Romans, where Clement [4th Pope] was ordained by Peter.” • There are fragments of a letter that the Bishop of Corinth wrote to Pope Soter ~ 170 AD. In that letter he talks about how Peter and Paul planted and taught the church in Rome and were martyred there. • Irenaeus (disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of St. John’s) wrote that Matthew was written “while Peter and Paul were evangelizing in Rome and laying the foundation of the Church” and that Mark was the disciple and interpreter of Peter. • Peter of Alexandria (bishop of Alexandria, died 311 AD): “Peter, the first chosen of the Apostles, having been apprehended often and thrown into prison and treated with ignominy, at last was crucified in Rome.” (“Penance”) • Clement of Alexandria: “When Peter preached the word publicly at Rome…” • Lactantius: “When Nero was already reigning, Peter came to Rome…” • The “Catalogus Liberianus”, 354 AD, names Peter as the founder of the church in Rome. • Excavations under the high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica discovered a tomb on Vatican Hill covered with early inscriptions attesting to the fact that Peter’s remains were inside.