For a while all was well until another hitch developed. To omit Peter as being Pope and in Rome (and the Papacy) would be like omitting the Law of Moses or the Prophets or the Acts of the Apostles from the Bible. There was just one exception which is interesting and which only proves the point. The Archaeology of Earliest Christianity: The First Hundred Years, The Best Survey I Know of the Jewish Roman World of Jesus, My University Web Site Available to All: The Jewish Roman World of Jesus, Bible & Interpretation: A Richly Informative Resource, Sorting out the Jesus Family: Mother, Fathers, Brothers and Sisters. The pictures show the story. The Sword of the Spirit: On the Apostles Peter and Paul. The Roman Catholic Church declared him a saint, and refers to him as the first Bishop of Rome. In all the cemetery, nothing was found (as also in the Catacombs in Rome) which resembles Arab, Jewish, Catholic or pagan practices…. If Peter were Pope it would have been no different. The story of the discovery was there, but it seemed to be purposely hidden for much was lacking. Excavation was started and there, a large underground Christian burial ground was uncovered. In fact, I have a letter from a noted scientist stating that he can tell by the writing that it was written just before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D. Again they turned their thoughts to the filed-away bones, the only hope they had of success. The tomb dates between 130 and 300. The tomb in which the ossuary was found was part of in a fascinating necropolis of over a five hundred burial tombs that some scholars have identified, in whole or in part, with the early pre-70 CE Jewish-Christian community–that is, Jewish followers of Jesus who lived, died, and were buried as good Jews. Origen says that Peter felt himself to be unworthy to be put to death in the same manner as his Master . But when the first set of Peter's bones turned out so tragically, there was a vacuum left, and something had to be done. You can also see this for yourself on the Mount of Olives on the Franciscan Convent site called, “Dominus Flevit”. We're now offering the book with four accompanying CDs, "God’s Plan for Mankind Revealed—by His Sabbath and Holy Days" at no charge and with no obligation. His public ministry and had converts; and therefore, could not belong to a relative before Peter’s time, since only those who were converted through Christ’s ministry were buried there. And yet, even that is unmistakenly recorded in the three words in Aramaic of the ossuary, Simon Bar Jona. He cannot go against what he had written in 1953, at the time of the discovery of this Christian-Jewish burial ground, nor what he had said to the Franciscan monk about his visit to the Pope. In fact, I have the statement from a Spanish priest on the Mount of Olives on a tape recorder, to that effect. 16:7). More recently, various scholars, including Emile Puech and most lately Stephan Pfann have questioned the suggestion by Bagatti and Milik (who was a bit more cautious) that the reading of this ossuary fragment is indeed: Shimon bar Jonah–presenting the possibility that Simon Peter, who is known by this rather unusual name in Matthew 16:17, may have been buried in Jerusalem rather than Rome. Christian Biblical Church of God ©2020 P.O. To make matters more clear, the Bible tells us that Peter was the Apostle to the Jews. I had hoped to see you and to compliment you on such a great discovery, but time would not permit. So, even if Peter died in Rome, which is out of the question, surely the pagan cemetery under St. Peter's Basilica would be the last place in which he would have been buried…. The dilemma was terrible.…It was a choice of claiming these bones championed by Prof. Margherita as fake, or claiming as fake the skull accepted by hundreds of Popes as that of St. Peter. Queen Elizabeth’s bathroom is a private space, while a church is a public one. of Olives by the late great Franciscan priest and archaeologist Bellarmino Bagatti. WHERE ARE THE TWELVE DISCIPLES BURIED Saint Peter – The Papal Basilica of St. Peter – Vatican City Saint Paul – Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls – Rome, Italy There is no solid evidence—textual or even archaeological—that Peter died in Rome. The Vatican and others have calculated through all existing evidence that Peter lived to be around 80 and 82 years and that he died around the years 62 to 64 A.D. Was Peter buried in Rome? According to Catholic legend, seven of the Apostles are buried at Rome. In the first place, Peter was a Jew, and they had to be buried in their own cemeteries. Saint Peter (r. AD 30; died between AD 64 and 68) also known as Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon (/ ˈ s aɪ m ə n / ()), Cephas, or Peter the Apostle, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, and one of the first leaders of the early Church. Email addresses are confidential. Saint Peter's tomb is a site under St. Peter's Basilica that includes several graves and a structure said by Vatican authorities to have been built to memorialize the location of Saint Peter's grave. The tomb dates between 130 and 300. But he told us nothing of the discovery. To make matters more clear, the Bible tells us that Peter was the Apostle to the Jews. It is this very tropaion of Peter which excavators believe they have found buried under St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome during an archaeological dig that lasted from 1939 to 1949. People who lived in Jerusalem all their lives and official guides who are supposed to know every inch of the city, however, knew nothing of this discovery, so well was it withheld from the public. This ancient Christian burial ground shows that Peter died and was buried in Jerusalem, which is easily understandable since neither history nor the Bible tells of Peter’s having been in Rome. He told me that it would be very improbable that a name with three words, and one so complete, could refer to any other than St. Peter. Pfann’s latest thoughts are found on his University of Holy Land Studies Web site here. I quote, “I regard Father J. T. Milik as a first class scholar in the Semitic field.” He added, “I do not consider that names on ossuaries are conclusive evidence that they are those of the Apostles.” Nelson Glueck. T he Apostle Peter is one of the great stories of a changed life in the Bible. "The great historian, Schaff, states that the idea of Peter being in Rome is irreconcilable with the silence of the Scriptures, and even with the mere fact of Paul's epistle to the Romans. In fact, all those who were hated by the Jewish leaders, as Jesus was, could never have been allowed to be buried within the gates of the Holy City. For instance, the priests say that the tomb of Jesus is within the walls of the old Jerusalem, in a hole in the ground; whereas, the Bible says that the tomb where Jesus was laid was hewn out of rock and a stone was rolled in front and not on top of it. Then there is a discrepancy in the date, for Peter was martyred around the year 62 A.D. and not 160 A.D.  Thirdly, why is it that they mention nothing about finding bones under or around the sign? Joseph Ruysschaert, vice prefect of the Vatican Library, are not convinced by Miss Guarducci's evidence. But there is a growing, healthy attitude among many Catholics, to “prove all things, hold fast to that which is good” as the Master admonished us all. God or No God? Apparently, Peter left Jerusalem and went to Babylon. Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and left it desolate. He said to do so would cast a reflection on the competency of the priest J. T. Milik, who he knew to be a very able scientist. In the year 57, Paul wrote his epistle to the Roman church but does not mention Peter, although he does name 28 leaders in the church at Rome (Rom. John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Dead Sea Scrolls: A “Cosmic Messiah” Who Raises the ... 99.99% of Humanity Will Burn in Hell Forever, and Ever, and Ever…, Happy New Year!–at least on the Biblical Hebrew Calendar. The Baptism Series Booklet is available on request or via download. The Biblical Truth About His Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection. The direct anecdotal references to a host of figures of that period, including Milik, Baggatti, Albright, Gleuck, and even Pope Pius XII are fascinating in their own right. It contains 704 inscriptions, on ossuaries and other surfaces, that date to the area of Jerusalem in the 1st century BCE/CE. The bones would be placed in a small ossuary with the name of the person carefully written on the outside front. Other names of early Christians were found on other boxes. We lack historical proof. They rejected the past rather than expose themselves to the ridicule of the present.' They could be anyone's bones." St. Peter the Apostle, original name Simeon or Simon, (died 64 ce, Rome [Italy]), disciple of Jesus Christ, recognized in the early Christian church as the leader of the 12 disciples and by the Roman Catholic Church as the first of its unbroken succession of popes. But what makes the possibility of error more remote is that the remains were found in a Christian burial ground, and more yet, of the first century, the very time in which Peter lived. Peter’s Life Before Christ. Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Then when I visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, I encountered a Franciscan monk. It was written by P. B. Bagatti and J. T. Milik, both Roman Catholic priests. With permission I reproduce this edited version of an article on this ossuary written in 1960 by F. Paul Peterson just when the discovery of the cemetery complex with its interesting clusters of names had caused a stir in certain quarters of the Protestant Christian world. The names of Mary and Martha were found on one box and right next to it was one with the name of Lazarus, their brother. After talking to many priests and investigating various sources of information, I finally was greatly rewarded by learning where I could buy the only known book on the subject, which was also written in Italian. VATICAN CITY Pope Francis on Monday took an emotional, close-up look at the tomb of Peter, the church's first pontiff, buried beneath St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican said. "The Catholic Church says that Peter was Pope in Rome from 41 to 66 A.D., a period of twenty-five years, but the Bible shows a different story. By the structure of the writings, it was established by scientists that they were of the days just before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D….You can see then, how the Christians would be inclined to have their burial ground on the Mount, for here also had been a favorite meeting place of Jesus and His disciples. Since the circulation of this article, they do not allow anyone to see this burial place. But he said that he would write a note. The book of the Acts of the Apostles (in either the Catholic or Protestant Bible) records the following: Peter was preaching the Gospel to the circumcision (the Jews) in Caesarea and Joppa in Palestine, ministering unto the household of Cornelius, which is a distance of 1,800 miles from Rome (Acts 10:23, 24). (The Pope's statement that the remains of St. Peter were found under St. Peter's in Rome.) The source of this rumor, written in Italian, was not clear; it left considerable room for doubt or rather wonder. It was the end of 1950, and a complex series of excavations under St. Peter’s Basilica had recently been completed. When the bones were found there was little importance placed upon them and they were filed away as such. Paul lived and wrote in Rome, but he declared, 'only Luke is with me.'". I, too, walked around in a dreamy amazement for about a week for I could hardly believe what I had seen and heard. You can see then, how the Christians would be inclined to have their burial ground on the Mount, for here also, had been a favorite meeting place of Jesus and His disciples. I asked him if he would write a statement to that effect. I therefore went to Rome. Finally after the pictures of the evidence were taken, which was nothing short of a miracle that he allowed us to do so, I complimented him on the marvelous discovery of the tomb of St. Peter in Jerusalem that the Franciscans had made. He said that Peter never was in Rome…. For a fuller treatment, accessible to the non-specialist, see Jack Fingegan’s The Archaeology of the New Testament (Princeton: Princeton University Press, reprt 1979), pp. The fragment is now on display in the  Franciscan museum at the second station of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. Their careful independent conclusions fell short of the Pope's flat statement.' He wrote, “Supposing that it is ‘Jona’ (on the ossuary) as I believe, it may be some other relative of St. Peter, because names were passed on from family to family. One of the most important books we've yet published. "While visiting a friend in Switzerland, I heard of what seemed to me one of the greatest discoveries since the time of Christ—that Peter was buried in Jerusalem and not in Rome. The salute in God most devoted P. B. Bagatti C. F. M.”, As I have shown, after the admonition of the Pope to “keep this thing quiet,” priest Bagatti leaves the interpretation of the whole matter to priest Milik who offers several suggestions but in the end declares that the original statement of priest Bagatti may be true—that the inscription and the remains were of St. Peter. A part of the shin bone or a rib would be sufficient. I told him that a priest had told me. Ex-priest Lavallo told me personally that there is another tomb of St. Mary in Ephesus. However, he quickly recognized the Aramaic words to be “Simon Bar Jona”. In addition to Pfann’s alternative reading we now have the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae (edited by Hannah M. Cotton, et al.) He was, no doubt, placed there to hide the facts, but his actions and words, spoke more convincingly about the discovery than those priests who finally admitted the truth. However, not everybody agreed. I was very much surprised that he would admit that, so to confirm his admittance, I said, to which he also agreed, “There is a hundred times more evidence that Peter was buried in Jerusalem than in Rome.” This was something of an understatement, for he knew as I know that there is absolutely no evidence at all that Peter was buried in Rome. Rome was the place where I could investigate the matter, and if such proved encouraging, a trip to Jerusalem might be necessary in order to gather valuable firsthand information on the subject. I quote this letter of Dr. Glueck because it shows that priest Milik is a competent archaeologist. These ossuaries would then be placed in a cave as in the case of this Christian burial ground and thus making room for others. The initial of Christ in Greek was written there which would never have been found in a Jewish, Arab or pagan cemetery. ANDREW lies buried at Amalfi (Naples). It fell upon them in this manner, as I was told by a Franciscan monk of the monastery of “Dominus Flevit”. "This ancient Christian burial ground shows that Peter died and was buried in Jerusalem, which is easily understandable since neither history nor the Bible tells of Peter's having been in Rome. “Well,” he confidentially answered in a hushed voice, “Father Bagatti told me personally that three years ago he went to the Pope (Pius XII) in Rome and showed him the evidence and the Pope said to him, ‘Well, we will have to make some changes, but for the time being, keep this thing quiet’.” In awe I asked also in a subdued voice, “So the Pope really believes that those are the bones of St. Peter?” “Yes,” was his answer. Then I asked, “But what does the Pope think of all this?” That was a thousand dollar question and he gave me a million dollar answer. This is actually not all that far-fetched a claim. Before Jesus died, he entrusted his mother Mary to the beloved disciple (John 19:26–27), who is most widely believed to be John.. The Christian community in Rome would not have so venerated a grave, from such an early date, if they had not known for certain that it was the grave of their Apostle and Bishop — if they had not obtained the body following Peter’s crucifixion and buried it themselves. St. Peter's tomb is near the west end of a complex of mausoleums that date between about AD 130 and AD 300. I think the legendary martyrdom of Peter in Rome under Nero has scant historical support, despite the more recent claims of the Vatican to have verified his tomb, and the relics therein, under St. Peter’s Basilica, see “Pope Puts ‘St Peter’s Bones’ on Display at Vatican.” I agree with the work done by Nicola Denzy Lewis, a summary of which you can read here: “The Apostle Peter in Rome?”. Francescani, in Jerusalem. 2:1, 8), Peter being mentioned. Christians recovered his body and buried it in a nearby cemetery. I visited various renowned archaeologists on the subject. For Catholics, St. Peter’s Church in the Vatican has a special significance. Even though he was a Christian, it was possible to bury the Apostle Paul in a Roman necropolis, due to his Roman citizenship. The first show an excavation where the names of Christian Biblical characters were found on the ossuaries (bone boxes). Tradition has that Peter’s body is contained in a crypt below St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The Franciscan priest, Augusto Spykerman, who was in charge of the semi-private museum inside the walls of old Jerusalem, by the site of the Franciscan Church of the Flagellation, was that exception. Volume I: Jerusalem: Part 1. The authors were not members of the excavating team, but scholars Toynbee (a Roman Catholic) and Perkins (an Anglican) pored over the official Vatican reports painstakingly and examined the diggings. However, he does raise a question which helps him to get out of the situation without altogether contradicting himself and at the same time putting a smoke screen around the truth. The manner of his death is the only discrepancy. When Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of Mary to be an article of faith in 1950, the Catholic Church in Jerusalem then quickly sold the tomb of Mary to the Armenian Church. A person who has seen this Christian burial ground and knows the circumstances surrounding the case could never doubt that this truly is the burial place of St. Peter and of other Christians. The story of the cave and the ossuaries and the regular cemetery just outside of the Convent site is this: It was a Roman custom that when a person had died and…when the body had decomposed, the grave would be opened. After telling him what I thought of the wonderful discovery the Franciscans had made, I asked him plainly, “Do you folks really believe that those are the remains of St. Peter?” He responded, “Yes we do, we have no choice in the matter. Churches were built over the graves of famous people; and the Apostle Peter is buried in this church’s basement, with a supposedly legible and unambiguous inscription, and no one knows about it for nearly 2,000 years until a dude from Indiana gets upset about it? Usually a Catholic, either because he is brainwashed or stubbornly doesn’t want to see anything only that which he has been taught, will not allow himself to believe anything against his religion, much less to admit it to others. …, "To make an announcement of such importance when there is absolutely 'no evidence' is rather ridiculous as was also brought out in Time Magazine of October 28, 1957 …. No other book has all of the correct dates concerning Jesus’ life and ministry. The most prominent of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. Some scholars find support for a tradition that the apostle was buried ad catacumbas (“at the catacombs ” of San Sebastiano) on the Via Appia in an inscription of St. Damasus I (pope, 366–384), composed in such ambiguous terms that it was certain to foster such misinterpretations as are found in the letter of St. Gregory the Great to the empress Constantina and in the notice of Pope St. Cornelius in the Liber … Strange it was, for since beginning to build the church in 1450 (finished in 1626) they erected St. Peter's Tomb (?) Nonetheless, given the rather narrow chronological window represented by limestone ossuary use in Jerusalem in the one hundred year period before its destruction in 70 CE such identifications with personages mentioned in our New Testament records are possible if not probably. Is human life the end result of blind evolution, devoid of any purpose? (Aramaic is very similar to Hebrew). One of their members was spading the ground on this site in 1953, when his shovel fell through. To make matters more clear, the Bible tells us that Peter was the Apostle to the Jews. It was then declared by Pope Paul as the Gospel truth that these now were the genuine bones of St. Peter, and most of the faithful accepted them as such. One of the editors, Haggai Misgav, prefers the reading: Shimon son of Lollia, a Latin name, noting that a second Latin name, Secunda or Verecunda, is found in the same burial complex. Finally one priest dropped some information. This private Newsletter is sent weekly to subscribers with special news and updates from Dr. Tabor. However, I continued questioning priests wherever I would find them. This ancient Christian burial ground shows that Peter died and was buried in Jerusalem, which is easily understandable since neither history nor the Bible tells of Peter’s having been in Rome. These trophies marked the apostles’ graves or places of martyrdom and their victory over death. The remains of Peter and Paul, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, were removed secretly by night and hidden in the Catacombs of Saint Sebastiano in 258 AD (There are a lot of references to Paul and Peter in the walls of this catacombs), and later they were returned to their original tombs after Valerian’s reign ended. It is called Gli Scavi del Dominus Flevit printed in 1958 at the Tipografia del PP. Peter’s Tomb Recently Discovered In Jerusalem, by F. Paul Peterson According to later reports, in A.D. 65 Paul of Tarsus was imprisoned in Rome, beheaded, and then buried in the family tomb of a devout Roman … Further, the Simon, son of Jonah, ossuary was found just meters away from a tomb just outside of Bethany containing a single ossuary with two indviduals: Mary and Martha, and nearby another, inscribed Lazarus. Paul tells us that three years after his conversion in 36 A.D., he 'went up to Jerusalem to see Peter' (Galatians 1:18), and in 49 A.D., fourteen years later, he again went up to Jerusalem (Gal. In my 2006 book, The Jesus Dynasty, (pp. The charcoal inscription reads: “Shimon Bar Yonah” which means “Simon [Peter] son of Jonah”. Then I asked, “Does Father Bagatti (co-writer of the book in Italian on the subject, and archaeologist) really believe that those are the bones of St. Peter?” “Yes, he does,” was the reply. The story was fantastic but lacked common sense and even bordered on the infantile … the Palo Alto Times (California), May 9, 1967, came out with an article on the subject, and I quote, 'Other experts, among them Msgr.