PETER. 777 
which was conferred upon Peter, took place molt pro¬ 
bably in the year 41. 
Upon Peter’s return to Jerufalem, whither general in¬ 
telligence of the tranlaCtions at Csefarea had preceded 
him, fome of the brethren warmly expoftulated with him, 
for having been a gueft, and freely joined in their meals, 
with men who were uncircumcifed ; but, after he had 
given them an account of the vifions which were feen by 
himfelf and Cornelius, and of the extraordinary occur¬ 
rences which took place while he was preaching, they 
were fatisfied with what they heard, and glorified God 
for extending the boundaries of his kingdom, and 
granting alfo to the Gentiles repentance unto life. From 
this time, Peter appears to have continued his apoftolic 
labours in Judea with great fuccefs, till the perfecution of 
the church arofe towards the end of the reign of Herod 
Agrippa. By that prince, James the brother of John, who 
with him and Peter had been honoured by Jefus with 
his peculiar intimacy, was ordered to be apprehended, 
and afterwards to be beheaded; and, as Herod faw that 
by caufing that apoftle to be put to death, he had grati¬ 
fied the Jews, whom he was particularly defirous of 
obliging, he proceeded to feize Peter alfo, during the 
feaft of the paflover, in the year 44. Having been taken 
into cuftody, the apoftle was committed to prifon, where 
fixteen foldiers were appointed to be guards over him, 
four of whom were by turns to watch him conftantly by 
day and night, till the feftival was ended, when the icing 
intended that he fhould be publicly executed, as his 
Mafter had been before him, on the firftday of unleavened 
bread. In the mean time, the church at Jerufalem en¬ 
gaged in earneft prayer to God, that he would fpare for 
a longer period fuch a valuable life ; and the event 
Ihowed that their fupplication was not in vain: for, 
during the night preceding the day fixed for his execution, 
while Peter was calmly fleeping between two foldiers, to 
each of whom he was faftened by a chain, an angel of 
God entered the prifon, which was filled with a glorious 
light, and having awakened the apoftle, his chains im¬ 
mediately fell oft’from his hands, while the foldiers were 
miraculoufiy kept in profound deep. The angel then di¬ 
rected Peter to follow him'; and, having conduced the 
apoftle undifcovered through the guards and gates, and 
a llreet of the city, he fuddenly departed. As foon as 
Peter had fatisfied himfelf that what had palled was a 
real and not vifionary fcene, he repaired to the houfe of 
Mary, the mother of Mark the evangelift, where many 
Chriftians were aflembled, fpending the night in prayer 
for his deliverance; and, after informing them of the 
wonderful interpofition by which he had obtained his 
liberty, withdrew to fome place of greater fecrecy, where 
it is probable that he lived in retirement till the death 
of Herod, which happened before the end of the year. 
Some learned men are of opinion, that he now went to 
Antioch, or Rome ; but, if that had been the cafe, St. 
Luke would probably have made fome mention of it. 
In the year 49 or 50, when the council aflembled at 
Jerufalem, for the purpofe of determining on the queftion, 
Whether it was neceffary that the Chriftian converts 
from among the Gentiles (hould be circumcifed, and 
commanded to obferve the law of Mofes ? Peter was 
prefent, and declared on the fide of liberty, giving it as 
His opinion, that the yoke of the law Ihould not be laid 
upon the neck of the Gentile believers; and, to add 
weight to what he advanced on the fubjeft, he reminded 
the affembly that he had been divinely appointed to 
preach the Gofpel to Gentiles at Csefarea; and that God, 
to whom all hearts are known, had declared his accept¬ 
ance of them, by communicating to them fupernatural 
gifts, though they were uncircumcifed. Whence he 
drew the conclufion, that God had made it clearly mani- 
feft that they might be faved by faith in Jefus Chrift, 
without fubmitting to the rituals of the law. In this 
conclufion, which was ably fupported by James the fon 
of Alpheus, the council acquiefced, only enjoining fome 
eafy reftriChons, to avoid giving unneceffary offence to 
their circumcifed brethren. While Paul was on this 
occafion at Jerufalem, James, Peter, and John, gave to 
Paul and Barnabas the right hands of felloxcjhip, that they 
might proceed in preaching to the Gentiles; while they 
and the other apoftles continued in Judea, to preach to 
thofe of the circumcifion. Soon after the meeting of this 
councilTand moft probably in the year 50, Peter paid a 
fhort vifit to Antioch, being defirous of witnefling the 
fuccefs of the Gofpel by means of the apoftolical labours 
of Paul and Barnabas in that city. This appears to have 
been his firft excurfion out of Judea into Gentile countries. 
Upon his firft coming to Antioch, Peter had eaten and 
converfed freely with the Gentile converts who had not 
fubmitted to circumcifion; but, on the arrival there from 
Judea of fome Jewifh believers, who were zealous for the 
obfervance of the Mofaic law, he withdrew from that 
freedom of converfe, fearing left his perfeverance in it 
Ihould give difpleafure to the latter. In this proceeding, 
however, he aCted contrary to his own judgment, and 
declared opinion. Paul, therefore, with a noble indigna¬ 
tion, and becoming zeal for Chriftian liberty, withjlood 
him to the face, hecaufe he was to be blamed; and fo power¬ 
fully reprefented his conduCt to be chargeable with dif- 
fimulation, as well as productive of the moft injurious 
confequences, that Peter acquiefced in the juftice of his 
reproof; nor is there any reafon to think, that he ever 
afterwards betrayed any want of fteadinefs and confiftency 
in his Chriftian profeflion. 
After this journey to Antioch, we are no-where fur- 
nilhed with any very diftinCt account of St. Peter’s travels. 
Eufebius informs us, that Origen, in the third tome of 
his Expofition on Genefis, wrote to this purpofe; “ Peter 
is fuppofed to have preached to the Jews of the difperlion 
in Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Afia; 
and, at length coming to Rome, was crucified with his 
head downwards, himfelf having defired it might be in 
that manner.” Some learned men think, that in the 
latter part of his life he went into Chaldea, and there 
wrote his Firft Epiltle, becaufe the falutation of the 
church at Babylon isfentin it; and their opinion, though 
unfupported by the teftimony of ancient writers, is not 
devoid of probability. The books of the New Teftament, 
indeed, afford no light for determining where he was for 
feveral years after receiving the reproof of St. Paul already 
mentioned. The learned, therefore, have been obliged 
to content themfelves with conjectures on this fubjeCt. 
Among their various hypothefes, not one appears to us 
to be upon the whole more reafonable, or lefs open to 
objections, than that of the able and difpaflionate Lardner. 
“ It appears to me not unlikely,” fays he, “that Peter 
returned in a fliort time to Judea from Antioch; and 
that he ftaid in Judea a good while before he went thence 
any more. And it feems to me, that, when he left Judea, 
he went again to Antioch, the chief city in Syria. 
Thence he might go into other parts of the continent, 
particularly Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Afia, and 
Bithynia, which are exprefsly mentioned in the beginning 
of his Firft Epiftle. In thofe countries he might flay a 
good while. It is very likely that he did fo; and that 
he w’as well acquainted with the Chriftians there, to 
whom he afterwards wrote two Epiltles. When he left 
thofe parts, I think he went to Rome : but not till after 
Paul had been in that city, and was gone from it. Seve¬ 
ral of St. Paul’s Epiltles furnilh out a cogent argument of 
Peter’s abfence from Rome for a conliderable fpace of 
time. St. Paul, in the laft chapter of his Epiftle to the 
Romans, written, as we fuppofe, in the beginning of the 
year 58, falutes many by name, without mentioning 
Peter; and the whole tenor of the Epiftle makes it rea¬ 
fonable to think, that the Chriftians there had not yet 
had the benefit of that apoftle’s prefence and inftruCtions. 
During his two year’s confinement at Rome, which ended, 
as we fuppofe, in the fpring of the year 63, St. Paul 
wrote four or five Epiftles; thofe to the Ephefians, the 
Second 
