Dr. Albright, of the John Hopkins University in Baltimore, told me that he personally knew priest Bagatti and that he was a very competent archaeologist. Therefore, it is impossible that the inscription could refer to a relative after Peter’s time…. The Baptism Series Booklet is available on request or via download. Also any scientist or chemist knows that you do not have to submit the whole skeleton for testing to determine the age. Volume I: Jerusalem: Part 1. The story of the cave and the ossuaries and the regular cemetery just outside of the Convent site is this: It was a Roman custom that when a person had died and…when the body had decomposed, the grave would be opened. The bones would be placed in a small ossuary with the name of the person carefully written on the outside front. His public ministry and had converts; and therefore, could not belong to a relative before Peter’s time, since only those who were converted through Christ’s ministry were buried there. This ancient Christian burial ground shows that Peter died and was buried in Jerusalem, which is easily understandable since neither history nor the Bible tells of Peter’s having been in Rome. How could any scientific study of bones be carried out without first scientifically determining the age of the person, or bones? But,….while this is the case with Peter the Christian, it can be shown to be by no means doubtful that before the Christian era, and downwards, there was a “Peter” at Rome, who occupied the highest place in the Pagan priesthood. And yet, even that is unmistakably recorded in the three words in Aramaic of the ossuary, Simon Bar Jona…. He also admitted that the tomb of St. Peter is in Jerusalem. I also spoke with Dr. Nelson Glueck, archaeologist and president of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. But there is a growing, healthy attitude among many Catholics, to “prove all things, hold fast to that which is good” as the Master admonished us all. Christians recovered his body and buried it in a nearby cemetery. Paul tells us that three years after his conversion in 36 A.D., he 'went up to Jerusalem to see Peter' (Galatians 1:18), and in 49 A.D., fourteen years later, he again went up to Jerusalem (Gal. Email addresses are confidential. "This ancient Christian burial ground shows that Peter died and was buried in Jerusalem, which is easily understandable since neither history nor the Bible tells of Peter's having been in Rome. However, he does raise a question which helps him to get out of the situation without altogether contradicting himself and at the same time putting a smoke screen around the truth. With permission I reproduce this edited version of an article on this ossuary written in 1960 by F. Paul Peterson just when the discovery of the cemetery complex with its interesting clusters of names had caused a stir in certain quarters of the Protestant Christian world. No wonder that the Roman Catholic Bishop, Strossniayer, in his great speech against papal infallibility before the Pope and the Council of 1870 said, 'Scaliger, one of the most learned men, has not hesitated to say that St. Peter's episcopate and residence in Rome ought to be classed with ridiculous legends.' The initial of Christ in Greek was written there which would never have been found in a Jewish, Arab or pagan cemetery. The initial of Christ in Greek was written there which would never have been found in a Jewish, Arab or pagan cemetery. The story of the discovery was there, but it seemed to be purposely hidden for much was lacking. The Vatican and others have calculated through all existing evidence that Peter lived to be around 80 and 82 years and that he died around the years 62 to 64 A.D. Peter is not mentioned again until the Jerusalem conference in 49 AD (Acts 15:7). You can also see this for yourself on the Mount of Olives on the Franciscan Convent site called, “Dominus Flevit”. Further, the Simon, son of Jonah, ossuary was found just meters away from a tomb just outside of Bethany containing a single ossuary with two indviduals: Mary and Martha, and nearby another, inscribed Lazarus. We're now offering the book with four accompanying CDs, "God’s Plan for Mankind Revealed—by His Sabbath and Holy Days" at no charge and with no obligation. They were found in an ossuary, on the outside of which was clearly and beautifully written in Aramaic, “Simon Bar Jona”. 'A thorough account in English of the discoveries beneath St. Peter's was now available … by British archaeologists Jocelyn Toynbee and John Ward Perkins. The Roman Catholic Church declared him a saint, and refers to him as the first Bishop of Rome. There is no solid evidence—textual or even archaeological—that Peter died in Rome. To make matters more clear, the Bible tells us that Peter was the Apostle to the Jews. He cannot go against what he had written in 1953, at the time of the discovery of this Christian-Jewish burial ground, nor what he had said to the Franciscan monk about his visit to the Pope. They could be anyone's bones." Did John the Baptist Eat Bugs, Beans, or Pancakes? It was written by P. B. Bagatti and J. T. Milik, both Roman Catholic priests. The most common account, though, is that he was martyred. I, too, walked around in a dreamy amazement for about a week for I could hardly believe what I had seen and heard. The following was published in Newsweek of July 1, 1957: 'It was in 1950 that Pope Pius XII in his Christmas message announced that the tomb of St. Peter had indeed been found, as tradition held, beneath the immense dome of the Cathedral (there was, however, no evidence that the bones uncovered there belonged to the body of the martyr).' Christian Biblical Church of God ©2020 P.O. John is traditionally regarded as the only apostle to die of old age. …, "To make an announcement of such importance when there is absolutely 'no evidence' is rather ridiculous as was also brought out in Time Magazine of October 28, 1957 …. The evidence is abundant; the truth is clear from the Scriptures … Very few, if any, have withstood a Pope and lived (except in these days when everybody seems to withstand him). Francescani, in Jerusalem. “St. In his letter one can see that he is careful because of the Pope’s admonition to keep this discovery quiet. If Peter were Pope it would have been no different. Peter’s sepulchral chamber is located at the bottom of the exedra, in a niche decorated by a mosaic from the ninth century with “Christ in the middle of the Princes of the Apostles,” and closed by a gilded bronze gate flanked on the sides by two metal statues of St. Peter and St. Paul. With a generous mixture of ideas, suppositions, theories and wishful thinking, a fairly logical story emerged. But here we were talking to this Franciscan priest in charge of the museum, asking him questions which he tried to evade but could not because of the information I had already gathered from the many priests with whom I had spoken. This is actually not all that far-fetched a claim. Since then multiplied millions were thereby deceived into believing that the remains of St. Peter were there, which the hierarchy had all along known was not true, as is proven by the late Pope's declaration. His body was buried two miles away from the place of his martyrdom, in the sepulchral area along the Ostiense Way, owned by a devout Christian woman named Lucina, which was part of a pre-existent burial place . But a tropaion is not a tomb. The editors of CIIP were apparently unaware of Pfann’s alternative suggestion. The manner of his death is the only discrepancy. There was just one exception which is interesting and which only proves the point. After talking to many priests and investigating various sources of information, I finally was greatly rewarded by learning where I could buy the only known book on the subject, which was also written in Italian. Francescani, in Jerusalem. "When Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of Mary to be an article of faith in 1950, the Catholic Church in Jerusalem then quickly sold the tomb of Mary to the Armenian Church. In the year 57, Paul wrote his epistle to the Roman church but does not mention Peter, although he does name 28 leaders in the church at Rome (Rom. It was Paul who was the Apostle to the Gentiles, and both history and the Bible tells of his being in Rome. He certainly became one of the boldest witnesses for the faith. "This ancient Christian burial ground shows that Peter died and was buried in Jerusalem, which is easily understandable since neither history nor the Bible tells of Peter's having been in Rome. Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Their careful independent conclusions fell short of the Pope's flat statement.' God or No God? People who lived in Jerusalem all their lives and official guides who are supposed to know every inch of the city, however, knew nothing of this discovery, so well was it withheld from the public. Again they turned their thoughts to the filed-away bones, the only hope they had of success. 2:1, 8), Peter being mentioned. Prof. Margherita claims in this article, which appeared in the Manchester Guardian in London, as well as the S. F. Chronicle of June 27, 1968, concerning the long-accepted skull of St. Peter, as 'it is a fake.' As I have mentioned, I was only able to be with him for a few minutes and was not able to show him but a very small part of the evidence. I had hoped to see you and to compliment you on such a great discovery, but time would not permit. It is this very tropaion of Peter which excavators believe they have found buried under St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome during an archaeological dig that lasted from 1939 to 1949. "Saul was converted in 33 A.D. and became Paul the Apostle (Acts 9). Even though he was a Christian, it was possible to bury the Apostle Paul in a Roman necropolis, due to his Roman citizenship. One of their members was spading the ground on this site in 1953, when his shovel fell through. ANDREW lies buried at Amalfi (Naples). For a while all was well until another hitch developed. Finally after the pictures of the evidence were taken, which was nothing short of a miracle that he allowed us to do so, I complimented him on the marvelous discovery of the tomb of St. Peter in Jerusalem that the Franciscans had made. In my 2006 book, The Jesus Dynasty, (pp. In addition to Pfann’s alternative reading we now have the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae (edited by Hannah M. Cotton, et al.) Other names of early Christians were found on other boxes. WHERE ARE THE TWELVE DISCIPLES BURIED Saint Peter – The Papal Basilica of St. Peter – Vatican City Saint Paul – Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls – Rome, Italy His family were all stout and short of stature. No other book has all of the correct dates concerning Jesus’ life and ministry. "While visiting a friend in Switzerland, I heard of what seemed to me one of the greatest discoveries since the time of Christ—that Peter was buried in Jerusalem and not in Rome. Copyright @ 2017 James Tabor | Design by NoLimitProductions.ca |SmartBlog by ThemeForest. Other names of early Christians were found on other boxes. I told him that a priest had told me. In them there was a ray of hope for the bones were minus a skull, which could go along with the story of the supposed skull of St. Peter which had for centuries been guarded in the church of St. John Lateran in Rome. The Archaeology of the Earliest Jesus Movement, Pope Puts ‘St Peter’s Bones’ on Display at Vatican. The Christian community in Rome would not have so venerated a grave, from such an early date, if they had not known for certain that it was the grave of their Apostle and Bishop — if they had not obtained the body following Peter’s crucifixion and buried it themselves. I had asked an elderly official guide where the tomb of St. Peter was. JAMES THE GREATER was buried at … The fragment is now on display in the  Franciscan museum at the second station of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. A person who has seen this Christian burial ground and knows the circumstances surrounding the case could never doubt that this truly is the burial place of St. Peter and of other Christians. (The Pope's statement that the remains of St. Peter were found under St. Peter's in Rome.) When I asked to see the museum, he showed it to the three of us, Mr. Mattar, who in addition to being warden of the Tomb of Christ, had been the manager of an English bank in Jerusalem, a. professional photographer and myself. Check out this timeline and biography of the life of Peter. The primacy of Rome and the Roman Catholic Church, based on the apostle Peter founding the church in the city and later being martyred and buried there, has certainly been challenged since medieval times. 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