Peter

Two letters in the New Testament bear Peter's name. 1 Peter, addressed to Christians in Asia Minor facing social hostility, is written in excellent Greek with sophisticated rhetorical structure. It encourages endurance through suffering, grounded in the example of Christ. Many scholars accept that it could come from Peter through a secretary — the letter itself mentions Silvanus (5:12) as an intermediary.

2 Peter is a different matter. It is almost certainly the latest text in the New Testament, probably written in the early second century. Its Greek style differs markedly from 1 Peter, it incorporates nearly all of the Epistle of Jude, and it refers to Paul's letters as a collected body of "scriptures" (3:15–16) — language that suggests a period well after both apostles' deaths. It is the New Testament text most widely regarded as pseudonymous, even by conservative scholars.

The historical Peter — Simon bar Jonah, a Galilean fisherman who became the leading figure among Jesus's disciples — is one of the most vividly drawn characters in the Gospels: impulsive, devoted, and painfully human. His denial of Jesus and subsequent restoration is one of the great dramatic arcs of the New Testament narrative.

According to tradition, Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero, crucified upside down at his own request. The basilica that bears his name marks what tradition claims as his burial site.