BEN: You’ve also chosen to not really deal with the references to Peter in Paul’s letters, particularly Galatians and 1 Corinthians. How come? GENE: I wanted to focus on those parts of the New Testament where Peter is the one who is speaking, the one who bears witness. Paul talks about Peter in Galatians and 1 Corinthians, and we may add his words about Peter as an additional witness to what Peter thought. My concern in Vox Petri was to... Read more

BEN: It appears one of your main goals in this book is not to settle for just recovering ‘the Peter of early Christian memory’, but to actually close the gap between that and the actual historical Simon? You are not arguing for ‘Simon unfiltered’ but, I take it, simply for an authentic presentation of the actual voice and views of Simon, not just how later Christians remembered him. Right? GENE: Spot on, Ben. There are rather substantive sections in the... Read more

BEN: You spend a good deal of time setting up the discussion based on a distinction between the ‘actual words of Peter’ and the ‘voice of Peter’ heard through some secondary, as well as perhaps one primary source. This is coupled with the stress on the difference between testimony and an unvarnished report of bare facts. Explain why these distinctions are important as one tries to hear the voice of the real or historical Peter? GENE: Most, though by no... Read more

BEN: This is clearly a large study after a large amount of research. What prompted you to take on such a formidable task of ‘resurrecting’ Peter in a Protestant context, and how long did the work on this book take? GENE: As you know, Ben, some projects take a while to cook. I started work on 1 Peter back in the mid-70s during my doctoral studies at Aberdeen where I explored the relationship between the epistle’s theology and ethics. My... Read more

Two recent films, both well worth watching, and both star-studded with impressive acting raise the issue forcefully of a woman’s place in society, in the business world, and elsewhere. The first of these which came out earlier is Bombshell, the retelling of the Roger Ailes scandal at Fox News when he was rightly accused of sexual harassment by several of his own employees, including Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly. With Charlize Theron as amazingly similar in looks to Megyn and... Read more

In most ways, the most helpful portion of Gene Green’s detailed study is the long chapter on 1 Peter.Lot’s of good exegesis and theological reflection can be found on pp. 301-400. In this chapter Green rightly demonstrates that 1 Pet. 5. 12 refers to writing briefly with the help of Silas about the various topics included in the letter. Peter is the author of this letter, and Silas is the facilitator, turning Peter’s ideas into some of the best Greek... Read more

Green’s treatment of the Petrine material in Acts is insightful in various ways. As Green points out, we do not find material about Jesus as the Son of Man or directly about the Kingdom of God, and even in regard to the ‘restoration of the kingdom to Israel’ there is no definite timeline given. Rather the focus in the Petrine speeches focuses on the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the responsibility of Jews for the death of Jesus, though... Read more

In his helpful discussion of the Son of Man material in Mark, Green is quite right to stress the background being found in Dan. 7, and that Jesus is making some remarkable claims about himself as a transcendent figure who’s reign will be everlasting, and who will judge the earth, including judging those who end up judging him in the Jewish trial before Caiaphas (see Mark 14). “The Son of Man sayings hold together the central realities of Mark’s Christology.”... Read more

Gene Green has produced perhaps the most important book on Petrine theology in almost a hundred years. It is entitled Vox Petri. A Theology of Peter (Cascade 2019, 512 pages) and it is full of good and challenging insights. We will be doing a dialogue with Gene presently on this blog, but here we begin to consider a review the book itself. One negative fact to report. This book was not properly proof-read, even though I am told two people... Read more

Our last post on this book on Peter will deal with the lengthy and helpful essay of Peter Lampe on the indications in Rome of veneration of Peter and his burial place. Lampe is of course the one who wrote the best book on the development of the Church in Rome from the first century and beyond the apostolic era, focusing on archaeology and the social historical materials. From Paul to Valentinus: Christians in Rome in the First Two Centuries,... Read more