07 — Paul and Peter
Paul and Peter are the two “chief” or coryphaei apostles whom the Church venerates together on June 29, and their relationship is one of the most discussed in the New Testament — above all the incident at Antioch (Gal. 2:11–14), where Paul “withstood [Peter] to the face.” This section treats that confrontation without anti-Petrine polemic, as a real disagreement over the practical implications of the gospel for table-fellowship, and then sets out the complementary witness of the two chief apostles and their joint feast.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Apostle)
The Church holds Paul and Peter together: the apostle to the circumcision and the apostle to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:7–8), co-founders in the memory of the Roman church, co-martyrs under Nero, and co-celebrated on the same feast. Their relationship was not without tension — Paul records a sharp public disagreement at Antioch — but the tradition has never read this as enmity or as a quarrel over the faith itself. This section handles the Antioch incident with the care METHODOLOGY §4 requires: a genuine disagreement over the practical consequences of the gospel for Jewish-Gentile table-fellowship, narrated by Paul to make his point about the truth of the gospel, and emphatically not a weapon against the person or apostolic dignity of Peter. The companion file sets out the positive theme: the two chief apostles, their complementary missions, and the joint veneration that frames the whole.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Antioch Incident | The confrontation of Galatians 2:11–14: what happened, what was at stake (table-fellowship, the truth of the gospel, the freedom of Gentile believers), the patristic readings (including the Jerome–Augustine debate), and why it is not anti-Petrine polemic. |
| The Two Chief Apostles | Paul and Peter as the coryphaei: the division of mission to Gentiles and Jews (Gal. 2:7–9), their complementary witness, the New Testament references to Peter in Paul, the tradition of their joint labor and martyrdom at Rome, and the feast of June 29. |
See Also
- The Roman Martyrdom — the joint martyrdom tradition at Rome
- Veneration and the Feast — the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29
- St. Apostle Peter — the fellow chief apostle
- The Church Fathers — the patristic readings of the incident
References
- The Holy Bible, King James Version. The Epistle to the Galatians 2; the Acts of the Apostles 15.
- John Chrysostom. Commentary on Galatians. Trans. in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series I, Vol. 13.
- Augustine and Jerome. Letters (the Jerome–Augustine correspondence on Galatians 2). Trans. in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series I, Vol. 1.