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[ABOVE: Raphael, Christ’s Charge to Peter c. 1515 to 1516. Cartoon for Tapestry commissioned by Pope Leo X—Victoria and Albert Museum, London / Public doman, Wikimedia]

The earliest reference to the death of Peter is found on the lips of Jesus in the last chapter of the Gospel of John (21:18–19, ESV): 

“Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

The context of this verse matters for proper interpretation. In verses 15–17, Jesus had just restored Peter from his threefold denial (18:15–18, 25–27). Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved him, and after each response Jesus replied by commanding Peter to either “Feed my lambs,” “Tend my sheep,” or “Feed my sheep.” The implication is clear—Peter, an under-shepherd of Jesus, was called to care for the flock and sacrifice his life for them, just as Jesus did (John 10:11–18).

While scholars disagree significantly over the particular details surrounding the fate of Peter, commentators have agreed that this passage predicts his martyrdom. As skeptical New Testament critic Bart Ehrman writes in Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene, “It is clear that Peter is being told that he will be executed (he won’t die of natural causes) and that this will be the death of a martyr.” Even though the passage itself provides no details of when or where, Peter’s coming death in this passage is undoubtedly the earliest reference to Peter’s martyrdom. 

And given that John’s Gospel was probably written in the last decade of the first century, it seems unlikely that this section would have been included had there not already been a strong tradition that Peter died in the way that Jesus predicted before John finished his Gospel. The question is: what can we know today about the life and death of the apostle Peter? 

ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME

Early evidence consistently and unanimously points to Peter’s martyrdom in Rome. After an extensive ministry in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, Syrian Antioch, and beyond, he traveled to Rome, where he was killed at some point between AD 64 and 67, during the reign of Nero (54–68). 1 Peter 5:13 provides the earliest indirect evidence for Peter’s stay there: “She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.” Modern scholars recognize that “she who is at Babylon” likely refers to the church in Rome, from which 1 Peter was written.

Other supporting evidence includes the possibility that Mark wrote his Gospel based on the testimony of Peter while in Rome. Church father and bishop Papias (d. 163) reports that Mark was Peter’s interpreter and wrote down accurately all that Peter remembered from his experience with Jesus. 

Since the middle of the second century, early Christian writers unanimously concurred that Peter visited Rome. Bishop Ignatius of Antioch in his letter to the Romans, Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons in Against Heresies, Bishop Dionysius of Corinth, as well as the Apocalypse of Peter and the Acts of Peter collectively put Peter there toward the end of his life. Nonetheless the location of his martyrdom is less critical than the fact of his martyrdom. Even if Peter didn’t make it to Rome, as traditionally conceived, the evidence for his martyrdom is strong.

First Clement is the first noncanonical document that refers to the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul. Church father Clement of Rome (d. 100) wrote this letter to the Corinthian church around 95. This document has special significance because it is the only noncanonical, first-century document directly attesting the deaths of Peter and Paul, and it was written within one generation of the deaths of the apostles.

This early section of First Clement particularly focuses on Peter and Paul:

But to stop giving ancient examples, let us come to those who became athletic contenders in quite recent times. We should consider the noble examples of our own generation. Because of jealousy and envy the greatest and most upright pillars were persecuted, and they struggled in the contest even to death. We should set before our eyes the good apostles. There is Peter, who because of unjust jealousy bore up under hardships not just once or twice, but many times; and having thus borne his witness he went to the place of glory that he deserved.

Clement tells us that both Peter and Paul were persecuted and struggled in the contest “unto death,” likely referring to their martyrdom. Clement also says that Peter, after experiencing much hardship and persecution, had borne his “witness” and then went to the place of glory. As historian Richard Bauckham writes, “Clement probably knew that Peter was martyred, not from any written source but simply as a matter of common knowledge in the church at Rome when he wrote.” First Clement, then, provides strong evidence that the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul were part of the living memory of Christians in Rome, and likely in Corinth, toward the end of the first century.

PETER'S PROMISED CUP

Other works, though less reliable, also attest to Peter’s martyrdom in Rome. The Apocalypse of Peter, a pseudepigraphic work (falsely attributed to the named author) that begins with Jesus sitting upon the Mount of Olives as he teaches Peter and the disciples about the end of the world, clearly presents Peter as the lead disciple, just as in the Gospels and Acts. The Apocalypse of Peter probably dates from the first half of the second century (c. 135).

Historian Dennis Buchholz has provided a translation with corrections from the Greek text:

Behold, I have shown you, Peter, and I have explained everything. And go into a city ruling over the west and drink the cup which I have promised you at the hands of the son of the One who is in Hades in order that his destruction might acquire a beginning.

The “city ruling over the west” is likely a reference to Rome. The phrase “drink the cup which I have promised” indicates that Peter would die as a martyr. As Christ followed the Father’s will and drank the cup prepared for him, so too Christ called Peter to follow him even unto death. The author of the Apocalypse of Peter fully understood this phrase’s martyrological association.

Though somewhat odd, the expression “the son of the One who is in Hades” likely refers to Nero. In this statement, “in order that his destruction might acquire a beginning,” Peter’s preaching and martyrdom in Rome act as the channel through which God overcomes the power of Satan. Buchholz emphasizes the significance of this passage: “This is possibly the oldest known unambiguous allusion to Peter’s death in Rome.”

Tertullian, who comes just after the close of the living memory of the apostles, wrote The Prescription against Heretics and Scorpiace near the turn of the third century (c. 208). In the former work, Tertullian explicitly mentions that Peter was crucified like Jesus: “How happy is its church, on which apostles poured forth all their doctrine along with their blood! Where Peter endures a passion like his Lord’s!”

It is true that this statement must be received with caution, especially since it occurs in the company of an incredible story about John surviving execution by boiling oil before his exile (see pp. 24–26). Nevertheless Tertullian is even more specific in Scorpiace, where he states that the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul took place under Nero:

And if a heretic wishes his confidence to rest upon a public record, the archives of the empire will speak, as would the stones of Jerusalem. We read the lives of the Caesars: At Rome Nero was the first who stained with blood the rising faith. Then is Peter girt by another, when he is made fast to the cross.

Tertullian was so confident of his claims that he told his doubters to examine “the archives of the empire.” If no such public records existed, Tertullian would have automatically undermined his credibility by saying this. His appeal to them indicates his confidence that they existed and, if examined, would corroborate his testimony. Therefore Tertullian was likely relying upon even earlier public records about the Neronian persecution and the fates of Peter and Paul (see pp. 50–53).

Agreeing with Tertullian’s assessment is the apocryphal work, the Acts of Peter. Most but not all scholars date it between 180 and 190, which falls within living memory of the life of Peter and thus may have some historical value for this investigation. The Acts of Peter clearly contains substantial legendary material from earlier oral tradition, and yet, despite these legendary accretions, the document still has value as a historical witness. 

The writer(s) of the Acts of Peter did not simply invent material but retold received tradition. We have reason to believe that earlier traditions, and in particular martyrdom traditions, had been incorporated into the text. The traditions behind this writing trace back to the first century, though the narrative also reflects the situation of the churches in the second and third centuries when they were written.

A DEATH LIKE HIS LORD?

Given both the early reference in John 21:18 and the fact that crucifixion was a common form of punishment for slaves and non-Roman citizens, the crucifixion of Peter is historically plausible. However, the claim that Peter was crucified upside down is less likely. In the Acts of Peter, when Peter approaches the place of execution, he addresses the people and the cross. He concludes by saying: “But it is time for you, Peter, to surrender your body to those who are taking it. Take it, then, you whose duty it is. I request you therefore, executioners, to crucify me head-downwards in this way and no other.” Peter speaks his last while upside-down on the cross and then dies.

Many assume that Peter’s request shows humility, in that he did not consider himself worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. But the text does not say this outright. According to Bryan Litfin in his book, After Acts, 

the victims of Roman crucifixion were not given the chance to make requests about the method of their impalement. The intent was to shame them in a grotesque way, not to accommodate their wishes.

Perhaps a better understanding of Peter’s request in the apocryphal account is theological: such a fate symbolizes that fallen humanity has now been restored through the cross. The narrative indicates a turning point in cosmic history, in the cross of Christ as well as the cross of Peter. The world has been turned upside down by sin, and so Peter can see the upside-down nature of the world clearly while hanging with his head downward on the cross. His speech makes clear that Adam, the “first man,” fell head-downward and turned the cosmos upside down, but only through Christ can the world be seen “upright.” 

A FIERY FATE? 

Is the upside-down crucifixion of Peter a reliable tradition? The earliest church father to mention it, Origen, in volume 3 of his Commentary on Genesis in the mid-third century (c. 230), makes no mention of Peter’s prolonged speech. It is uncertain whether Origen derived his story from an independent tradition or from the Acts of Peter. However, we do have evidence Roman executioners varied their crucifixion practices for their own sadistic pleasure. Either way Peter’s upside-down crucifixion is not intrinsically implausible—but evidence is inconclusive.

A definitive conclusion regarding the nature of the martyrdom of Peter becomes more difficult due to a notable dissenting view from historian Timothy David Barnes, who contended that Peter was likely burned alive, not crucified. Barnes rationalized that execution by burning harmonized better with Jesus’s prediction of Peter’s death that “when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you” (John 21:18 NIV). Victims of crucifixion were stripped naked, not dressed. On the other hand, victims of burning often were clothed in a special tunic treated with inflammable materials. Furthermore Barnes determined that “later Christians suffered martyrdom by being burned alive tied to a stake or upright post, sometimes with their arms splayed wide as if they were being crucified.” 

Of the dissenting voices, this is the most convincing. The fact that victims of an execution by burning would often have their arms splayed wide is consistent with the statement in John 21:18 that Peter would stretch out his hands; and the statement that he would do so having been dressed by another is more consistent with a death by burning than with crucifixion. Barnes’s interpretation, therefore, is favorable. 

Even so, when considering the evidence, the traditional view that Peter died as a martyr during the reign of Nero stands on solid historical ground. A fitting end this was for the disciple who walked closely with Jesus, living and dying in the same promise the apostle also gave the persecuted church (1 Pet. 5:10): 

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself confirm, strengthen, and establish you. CH 

By Sean McDowell

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