What is the Gospel of Peter?

Answer

The Gospel of Peter is a pseudepigraphal work that claims to be authored by Peter but actually presents a distorted view of Jesus Christ. It consists of 60 verses and focuses on the events leading to the end of Jesus’ life. It is believed that the original text was written around AD 150, although the earliest surviving manuscript dates back to the 8th or 9th century.

The first reference to the Gospel of Peter was made by Bishop Serapion of Antioch (around AD 200) in a letter titled “Concerning what is known as the Gospel of Peter.” In this letter, Serapion advised church leaders against reading the Gospel to their congregations due to its Docetic teachings. He also denounced the Gospel of Peter as a fraudulent work.

What is Docetism? One form of Docetism (Marcionism) argued that Christ was so divine that He could not have been human. It suggested that He only appeared to have a physical body, with His form being an illusion. Other factions believed that although Jesus was a flesh-and-blood man, Christ was a distinct entity that entered Jesus’ body in the form of a dove during His baptism, enabling Him to perform miracles. According to this view, the “Christ entity” left Jesus at the time of the crucifixion. Docetism was definitively rejected at the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 and is considered heretical by both Catholics and Protestants. Docetism largely faded away during the first millennium.

The Gospel of Peter records Jesus’ words on the cross as, “My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me,” instead of “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” «And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? », (Mark 15:34). In its depiction of the crucifixion, the Gospel of Peter carefully avoids stating that Jesus died, but rather asserts that He “was taken up.” This concept oIf escaping actual death is mirrored in the Qur’an, Sura 4:157–158: “But Allah took him up unto Himself.” The Gospel of Peter suggests that Christ was “taken up” to the Divine Presence at the moment His divine power left His bodily shell, which had only been a temporary residence. This teaching, together with the claim that Jesus “remained silent, as though he felt no pain” on the cross, highlights the error of Docetism.

Another way in which the Gospel of Peter differs from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is the description of events after Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb. The Gospel of Peter says that the guards “saw the heavens opened, and two men descend with a great light and approach the tomb. . . . Again they saw three men come forth from the tomb, and two of them supporting one, and a cross following them. And the heads of the two reached to heaven, but the head of him who was led by them overpassed the heavens. And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, ‘You have preached to them that sleep.’ And a response was heard from the cross, ‘Yes.’” This passage has some Gnostic leanings.

Here are some of the main problems with the Gospel of Peter:

Joseph of Arimathea is said to be a personal friend of Pontius Pilate.

Pontius Pilate is exonerated from all responsibility. Herod Antipas takes over for him, assuming the responsibility which, in Luke’s Gospel, Herod declines to accept.

Jesus is “taken up” from the cross, and His death is not mentioned.

Two supernatural beings enter the tomb, and three emerge.

The cross is described as floating out of the tomb and saying “Yes” to a voice from heaven.

There is no mention of witnesses seeing Jesus alive after He was dragged out of the tomb.

And if that is not enough to shed doubt on the veracity of the Gospel of Peter, we also have the testimony of Eusebius. The historian made reference to the Gospel of Peter in his writings, claiming that Apollo was the god originally mentioned in the

Gospel of Peter, not Jesus Christ. Eusebius mentioned that the name of Jesus Christ was inscribed above the name of Apollo.

The Gospel of Peter presents differences from the four canonical Gospels in crucial aspects, such as the actual death and bodily resurrection of our Lord and Savior.