Acts of Peter

Definition and Meaning

The Acts of Peter is an early Christian text that recounts the deeds and martyrdom of the apostle Peter. Although its title resembles that of the Acts of the Apostles, it is not part of the Bible. It belongs to the noncanonical literature known as the New Testament Apocrypha. Together with the Acts of John, the Acts of Paul, the Acts of Andrew, and the Acts of Thomas, it is commonly grouped among the "five major apocryphal acts." It is generally believed to have been written in Greek in the late second century.

Background and Content

The complete original text has not survived. Most of its contents are preserved in a Latin manuscript kept in Vercelli, Italy, and for this reason the work is also called the "Vercelli Acts." The concluding account of the martyrdom also survives in Greek manuscripts.

The central narrative concerns Peter's contest with Simon Magus in Rome. Simon is the Samaritan sorcerer who appears in Acts 8:9-24. In this work, Simon performs wonders in Rome and leads believers astray, while Peter counters him with greater miracles. Finally, as Simon is flying through the air, he falls in answer to Peter's prayer.

Near the end of the book, Peter is leaving Rome to escape persecution when he meets Jesus. When Peter asks, "Lord, where are you going?" (in Latin, Domine, quo vadis?), Jesus replies that he is going to Rome to be crucified again. Peter returns to Rome and, at his own request, is crucified upside down.

The fourth-century church historian Eusebius recorded that this book was not among those the church had received and handed down. Some scholars also judge that certain passages, such as those emphasizing extreme asceticism and expressions bordering on Docetism, diverge from orthodox faith. Nevertheless, the work is recognized as having historical value as an early source attesting to the tradition that Peter was martyred in Rome.

Reception in the Korean Church

Many denominations of Korean Protestantism recognize only sixty-six books as canon: thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New. Accordingly, they do not read the Acts of Peter as Scripture or read it aloud in worship. The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church likewise do not include it in the Bible. The terminology differs, however: Protestants commonly call it "New Testament Apocrypha" or "pseudepigrapha," while Catholics call it "apocrypha."

Among church members, the stories within the book are better known than the book itself. The Quo vadis episode and the account of the upside-down crucifixion became widely known through the novel Quo Vadis by the Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz and the films based on it. These stories are also sometimes cited in sermons as church tradition. What can be confirmed from Scripture extends only to the prediction of Peter's death in John 21:18-19; the place and manner of his martyrdom rest on later traditions such as the Acts of Peter.