Peter is the fisherman Jesus renamed. The Gospels place Simon of Bethsaida at the very center of Jesus’ circle and then at the head of the early church — and the name he is remembered by is one Jesus gave him. It means “rock”: Petros in Greek, Cephas in Aramaic.
Called from his nets by the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 4:18), he became the most prominent of the twelve apostles and settled in Capernaum. At Caesarea Philippi he confessed Jesus as the Messiah; on the night of the arrest he denied knowing him three times, then was restored after the resurrection. The book of Acts shows him leading the first community of believers in Jerusalem and opening its message to non-Jews.
Two New Testament letters bear his name. The first is traditionally received as Peter’s; the authorship of both is debated, and 2 Peter in particular is widely regarded by scholars as written later in his name. Early Christian tradition places his death in Rome under Nero.
Across the tradition Peter is remembered less for getting everything right than for being the one who failed badly and was entrusted anyway — the rock who, having denied, was told to feed the flock.
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