The Importance of Peter in Early Christianity

Book excerpt: This fascinating new book by Paul Barnett, an expert in the New Testament, traces Peter's life chronologically from his beginnings in Bethsaida to his martyrdom in Rome c. 64. It demonstrates the importance of the apostle Peter to earliest Christianity and to our own day through the biblical narratives and his letters. The record of his leadership between the resurrection of Jesus and Peter's own death secured the vocation Jesus commissioned him to have as the 'rock'. From failure to success, from denying Jesus to leading his Church in Jerusalem and beyond, Peter's is a remarkable and inspiring narrative; his contribution to early Christianity was unique and irreplaceable. Paul Barnett is not only a sure guide to the subject, but a pastorally sensitive writer and communicator.