Lipsius on the Roman Peter-Legend [pp. 265-290]

~274 LIPSIUS ON THE [April,
-or about fifty years after the martyrdom of Peter. Time
enough had therefore elapsed for wild stories to have arisen.
But there are weighty objections to receiving the epistles as
-genuine, in any form. Dr. Lipsius, himself, who formerly held
to them in their Syriac form, now says:* "The genuineness of
the Syriac recension is as little credible as that of the shorter
`Greek; on the contrary, this whole literature is hardly older
than A. D. 170 or i8o. But by that time, the Petro-pauline
Jegend was undoubtedly well known." If this epistle to the
Romans is a forgery, then it loses its historic character and
argumentative force. Hence, this pretended witness to the
theory turns out, upon examination, to have no independent
testimony to offer us-at best, merely a repetition of th~ old
story, which places Peter in Rome.
~Ve have already said that Peter was the hero of an extended
legend. The remainder of this article will be devoted to
the study of this legend, showing where it originated, how it
was gradually extended, what was its final form, and lastly, its
`influence upon the testimony of the fathers, subsequent to
I gnatius.
It has been said that a lie, to be successful, must have a
-coloring of fact. And so this long and improbable legend has
~ historical foundation. It rests upon the account given in
the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. In a city of
Sam aria, perhaps Sychar, Philip preached the Gospel and
wrought miracles. But there was living in the place a notorious sorcerer, Simon by name, who had pretended to work by
supernatural power, and whose success caused him to be pronounced "the power of God, which is called great." This man,
seeing that the miracles of Philip were more wonderful than
his own jugglery, and finding that he was losing control over
the people who were listening to Philip's preaching and ac— cepting the message he brought, went to Philip, professed his
belief in the Messiah, was baptised, and gave up his magical arts.
But the hollowness of his fancied conversion and the real design
~f his profession soon became painfully evident, when Peter
and john arrived in the city. For when Simon perceived the
*For Dr. Lipsius' former and opposite opinion, see M~~C1in1ock and Sfron6&s
Cj'cIofi~~7ia, vol. iv: Article 4~atius.