Saint Peter: A Life from Beginning to End

by Hourly History

Saint Peter, also known as Peter the Apostle, was one of the main figures of the early Christian Church. He began his life as a simple fisherman who caught fish in the Sea of Galilea, but one day, this fisherman became a “fisher of men” instead. In good time, he would help to form one of the largest religious movements the world had ever known, eventually giving his life to the cause when he was sentenced to death by crucifixion.

Here in this book, we discover the life of Saint Peter from beginning to end.

Discover a plethora of topics such as
A Fisher of Men
The Rock of the Christian Church
The Denial of Peter
Peter, the Leader
Arrests and Persecution
Crucified by Nero
And much more!

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Religion, Historical, Christian, Ebooks

38 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 7, 2021

About the author

At Hourly History, we focus on publishing history books that are concise, straightforward and take no longer than one hour to read.

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Reviews

[Udit Nair · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone who didn't have much knowledge about Peter, this brief biography has been very helpful. It's interestingly presented. Lot can be termed as myth or legend but that disclaimer has been given in the start only.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

[3.75 rounded]
Man, the other week I listened to a sermon where the pastor immediately began by asking who our favourite disciple was; I immediately thought to myself, ”Simon Peter” before he went to say, ”Yeah, no one really has a favourite disciple…”, but I mean, come on— it’s Simon Peter.
Peter is such an interesting biblical figure because he is (imho) such a human figure throughout his appearance in the gospels and the New Testament…
1.
*sees Jesus walking on the water towards him in a boat* ”Oh my gosh you guys, it’s a ghost!!”
”No, Peter, it’s me, Jesus.”
”If it is, call me out to you on the water.”
”Okay, come out onto the water.”
*goes out onto the water*
*is fine until he looks away*
”Ah! Oh no, save me!!”

2.
”Truly I tell you, you’ll all scatter from me very shortly.”
“Not me Lord, I’ll DIE before I renounce you! Never!”
…
“You’re going to do it 3 times.”
“I would NEVER!” 😤
…. *renounces Him 3 times*

Honestly I could be here all night writing this. Peter’s love for Jesus is so blatantly human and I really do think it makes him such a fascinating historical figure to explore. The amount of times his innate well-intentioned-but-totally-missed-the-mark humanness comes through in the gospels is what makes him such an interesting and very real figure in the early church. A great reminder that none of us are perfect, even the disciples of Christ.

This short book was a nice quick-read introduction to Peter’s ministry and walk through faith in a concise way that focuses on the chronology of his mission in specific (which, was nice to explore chronologically seeing as the gospels don’t all line up in direct sequence and we only get bits and pieces of his direct role throughout them (& his ministry in Acts)).
I do wish there had been an exploration and usage of more texts in addition to the gospels and book of Acts in this, particularly seeing as there are bits of Roman writings that compile historical focus that could have bolstered the foundation of this text. That being said, this book made clear in the introduction it was not focused on the historicity of the gospel accounts but rather Peter’s life & ministry in the early church, so this is really just a minor grievance on my part. Overall it is a pretty good introductory and quick read for anyone looking to learn more about the life of Saint Peter.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2021 by Hourly History.

Hourly History has a series of short histories and biographies. As the name implies, they are designed to be read in about an hour.

Some of the best offerings in this series are the biographies and this biography of Saint Peter was no exception.

Saint Peter, of course, is one of the main figures in the New Testament, probably tied with Saint Paul for the second most important after Jesus himself. But, he's kind of a mystery in many ways because the references to Peter are scattered.

This biography gathers together all of those scattered references and puts them in a narrative format so that it reads like a traditional biography. It takes care to note when stories are from the Bible and when they come from tradition (the description of how Peter was executed comes to mind.)

The general outlines of Peter's life are laid out with only a token discussion of the implications of his theology, such as the decision to not require converts to Christianity to undertake the requirements that a convert to Judaism would have to make, such as circumcision.)

I rate this biography 4 stars out of 5.

[Katherine Weaver · Rating 2 out of 5]

A sort o history of St Peter.

This book revealed some thing I didn’t know, then tried to trick me in to questioning what the Bible says. One quote from this book that made me think maybe I should not have read it is, “if the book of Acts is to be believed”… my thought is Acts is part of the Holy Bible. Why wouldn’t it be believed? Several similar statements in this book were like this. So were they telling the truth of something they believed or trying to make the reader not believe? Not sure I’ll read anymore in this series!

[Antonio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part of the Hourly history collection (https://hourlyhistory.com).

These books are mostly about historical events or historical persons.

This one is about Saint Peter, one of the 12 Apostles and first Christian pope in a very concise way (you can read it within an hour).
"In many ways, Peter is similar to a lot of us. Perhaps it was that very human frailty—the will to do good but getting tripped up along the way—that caused Jesus to choose Peter."

This is my assessment of this book Saint Peter, by Hourly history according to my 8 criteria:
1. Related to practice - 3 stars
2. It prevails important - 5 stars
3. I agree with the read - 5 stars
4. not difficult to read (as for non-English native) - 5 stars
5. Too long (more than 500 pages) - short and concise (150-200 pages) - 5 stars
6. Boring - every sentence is interesting - 4 stars
7. Learning opportunity - 2 stars
8. Dry and uninspired style of writing - Smooth style with humouristic and fun parts - 3 stars


Total 4 stars


Jesus told Peter that he would now become a fisher of men rather than a fisherman. He would no longer just toil in the waters of simple sustenance but would cast his nets out into the wider world to catch lost souls. According to Christian tradition, from that moment forward, Peter left his old life behind to become the fisher of men that Jesus had ordained him to be.

It was then Peter who spoke up, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” It was to this spontaneous revelation that Jesus declared, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter (“rock”) and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

According to the Bible, Jesus laid everything out plain as day, yet Peter was unwilling to accept it.

Those with Jesus must have been astonished by this appearance to say the least, but Peter tried to be practical. In the midst of this tremendous sight, he suddenly turned to Jesus and offered to pitch three tents, one each for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.

In the middle of the struggle, Peter managed to draw a sword and strike one of the men that accosted Christ. The man’s ear was cut off from the blow. Upon seeing what had happened, Jesus made it clear that he did not need anyone to defend him. Again, Peter meant well when he attempted to defend Jesus, but in order for Jesus to fulfill his mission, such efforts were simply a hindrance.

Peter had flatly denied having any knowledge of knowing Jesus. It was just as Jesus had predicted, and before the night was over, Peter would end up denying knowing him a total of three times.

After they finished eating, Jesus looked at Peter and asked him if he loved him more than “these.” Jesus was apparently referencing the fish and fishing equipment that Peter had strewn out in front of them. He was essentially asking, “Do you love me and my mission for the world, more than your old vocation of being a fisherman?”

Peter declared that even those raised in Judaism found it difficult to follow the tenants of the Law, so why would they place such a burden on those to whom such things were completely unknown?

They say that some are called, and others are chosen; Peter seems to be one of the rare few in that latter category. He didn’t set out to make history when he began his life as a lowly fisherman, but he certainly ended up being a big part of it in the long run.

Despite all of his faults and weaknesses, Jesus saw something in Peter that he knew was very special. Regardless of his flaws and the frailness of human nature, Jesus saw in Peter a true friend that spoke from his heart. Peter may have been a little uncouth and impulsive at times, but he meant well. When he didn’t do the right thing, such as when he denied Christ, he was quick to repent. Although Peter made mistakes, he tried his best to rise above them, and when he was wrong, he quickly sought to make it right.

In many ways, Peter is similar to a lot of us. Perhaps it was that very human frailty—the will to do good but getting tripped up along the...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.

For all of the rest of us that have messed up from time to time, the life of Peter would serve as both a testament and an encouragement. He may have fumbled and stumbled, but Saint Peter was and always will be the rock on which the Christian Church was built.

[F · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read many of these Hourly History Volumes and found them to be quite good. Rarely do they question the accuracy of their sources even though historians, like others, often have a bias or an agenda. But here they dismiss the accuracy of the Scriptures, the testimony of first-hand witnesses in many cases, and decide tradition and sketchy second-hand reports are more reliable. It seems to show the particular "author" of this volume has their own agenda.
After dismissing the Bible they go on to use the Bible to tell the early history of Peter [very badly I might add, misusing Scripture, misunderstanding Scripture without ever giving the references. A sample of misquoting the Bible is Chapter 6 which gives this quote" "He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation" - Saint Peter. You say, "So?" So, the quote is from Col. 1:16, "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:" written under inspiration of the Holy Spirit by the Apostle PAUL, not Peter. This is the shoddy scholarship in this volume and I'm only scratching the surface.
More to come but I am very disappointed.
Let us recap:
1]They dismiss the Scriptures as unreliable because scholars have issues. They don't say "some" scholars even though that is what it is since there are plenty of scholars both believing and not that say the Bible's history is reliable, as reliable or more than other historical documents that don't have archeological backing as the Scriptures do.
2] They then paraphrase the Gospels and Acts but act like they are not using said sources while claiming it is "Christian tradition" that speaks it.
3] They rob Paul to praise Peter [quote Paul but say Peter said it}
4] Claim Peter headed the council of Acts 15 when it was clearly James [v. 13-19, esp. 19] and Peter, like Paul and Barnabas merely gave testimony.
5] The writer has a pro-Roman Catholic viewpoint and basically sets Catholic tradition above the Scriptures in authority.
Horrifyingly bad. Causes me to wonder how many other of their histories do something like this but unlike here, I am not knowledgeable enough to catch it.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The biggest thought I had reading this was how little we learned about the historical basis of Christianity when we were kids, even though the historical evidence for various things in the Bible was well known at that point so that even now I find it hard to think of the places, nations, events and people of the Old and New Testament as existing in the same historical timeline as "normal" history.

Part of the issue is that I stopped being a Christian when I was 14, maybe if I had continued as an adult I would have ended up learning more about the history of Christianity from secular sources.

But one suspects another issue is that studying the history of Christianity from a secular perspective might tend to demystify it and make it seem like just another crazy ancient cult.

Although this book doesn't have a lot of information that's not in the Bible, I did pick up a few bits of trivia:

(1) Peter's birth name in Hebrew was שמעון בן יונה (Shimon ben Yonah) meaning "Simon son of Jonah". Jesus gave him the Aramaic name "Cephas" which translates into "Rock" or "Petros" in Greek.

(2) Both Peter and Paul supposedly died around 64 CE in Rome, allegedly due to persecution from emperor Nero. According to legend his burial place is where Saint Peter's basilica currently stands.

(3) There was an official "Council of Jerusalem" around 50 CE to decide whether non-jews could convert to Christianity. This was the first official church council and started a tradition of church councils that continues to this day, with the most recent one being the Vatican II council from 1962 to 1965.

So while this was not super informative, it did make me think of Christianity in a way I hadn't thought about before.

[cajunqueen · Rating 3 out of 5]

missing key details and some incorrect ones

No where in the New Testament does it state that Peter was married with children only that he had a mother-in-law that was ill. There are quite a few inconsistencies of this book if you wanna call it that… I just do not believe that this is where to start if you want to learn about Saint Peter reading the New Testament would be a better option. Example being this book says when Jesus ascended into heaven while he was blessing his disciples a cloud over took him and he’s gone the New Testament clearly states that the heavens opened up and the disciples saw Jesus ascend to heaven and take his seat at the right hand of God the father.
Would not recommend

[gss · Rating 1 out of 5]

This write-up gives a lucid and detailed biographical sketch of St.Peter who holds a very important position among Christ's apostles. In spite of some shortcomings Peter's sincere nature made him win Christ's trust in him. The writer at the end gave a clear resemblance between simple human beings and St.Peter who in spite of a few drawbacks can impress God with earnest obedience and make amends to correct themselves. St.Peter gave a liberal interpretation of Christian faith by exempting non-jews from strict adherence to Jewish tenets. He is the bedrock of Christian Church and inspired many people to follow Christ's teachings. The author used simple and clear style.

[Daniela Sorgente]

"In many ways, Peter is similar to a lot of us. Perhaps it was that very human frailty—the will to do good but getting tripped up along the way—that caused Jesus to choose Peter. Saint Peter would serve as an example for us all. He may not have been perfect—at times, the “spirit was willing” even though the “flesh was weak”—but his heart was in the right place all the same. For all of the rest of us that have messed up from time to time, the life of Peter would serve as both a testament and an encouragement. He may have fumbled and stumbled, but Saint Peter was and always will be the rock on which the Christian Church was built."

[Jerry Jares · Rating 4 out of 5]

This retells St. Peter's life as told through the Bible. The advantage is that his whole story is told without having to hunt up each mention throughout the Bible. Until reading this, I'd forgotten that St. Peter went to jail and disappeared from those jails multiple times. However, he came to the tragic end of being crucified upside down. Nero blamed the Christians for the 2/3 burning of Rome, and he started persecuting the Christians.

[Ed Barton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Challenging Topic

With almost nothing known about Peter, it’s a real challenge to arrive at a good biography - however brief. Based mostly on information gleaned from the Gospels, Epistles and Acts, the bio is brief and little new learned. If you need a quick review of the life of Peter, it might be ok.

[Mike Briley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This booklet was not up to the excellent standard of most others in the series. It was essentially a paraphrase of excepts from the New Testament. Thus the booklet is simply a retelling of the biblical stories. I expected an effort of research for historical information and comments as to the probable veracity of the biblical stories.

[Bruce K. Beyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fisher of Men

This book nicely summarizes the life of a Jewish fisherman who would become one of Jesus' 12 Apostles. Despite his impulsivity and mistakes, Jesus identified Peter as the solid rock upon which the church of Christianity would be built. God uses those who are imperfect to guide the rest of us who are also imperfect.

[Gabriel Sham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about a great man

Saint Peter started as a fisherman and ended his worldly life a martyr, becoming a rock upon which Christanity was founded. This book gave a vivid account of that journey of Saint Peter. Don't miss it.

[Glenn Lygrisse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hollywood Style

Not a book for anyone seriously interested in real Biblical truth, but a “nice story”. Unfortunately many assumptions not based in known fact are made in the writing of this book.

[Bob Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rock

This short little book makes for an interesting read. The only question you can have did Peter exist or didn't he? after reading this it is a possible yes he did. We just don't know that much about him.

[Clare L. Hasler · Rating 5 out of 5]

st peter

This writing has helped me understand how Peter was able to cover so much territory.
I loved this book. So much good information. Felt I

Was there right along with the apostles. .

[alton gurney · Rating 4 out of 5]

.Would recommend it for just a short review.

It was ok.I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. But it was a good read as all the life books are.

[Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

it is an opinion that many will accept as fact but I personally find many conclusions hard too. It was an interesting read.

[Kevin Mcgrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Rock

The author did a very good job in consolidating Peter's life into an extremely short biography. The book emphasized Peter's strengths, courage and humanity.

[Mozelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truthful and accurate

A quick retelling of the life of Peter. No fanfare or ornamentation, just basic facts. No scriptures, no pictures and we'll written.

[Leon Olivier, Jr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good info but weakly written

St Peter is one of the most interesting early member of the church. Good biblical review but writing is weak.

[David Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fisherman

Peter and Paul have always been confusing to me. I knew his part before and the ten days after the crucifixion but nothing after that.

[Rubin Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Apostle Peter

This is a well told biography considering the there are few sources other than the Bible itself however it does cover the mostly familiar territory quite well

[George Polansky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief biography of Saint Peter.

[Don Voorhees · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saint Peter

Quite readable book. A quick read, but containing a lot of information. I recommend it to all who want a general background to Peter’s life and ministry

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick and concise review of the life of St. Peter derived mostly from the Gospels and the Book of Acts in the Bible.

[William O. Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy these hourly history outlines of great historical events and people. These are perfect reads to take to the gym or simply enjoying and relaxing with a hot cup of coffee. This book on Saint Peter was concise and thorough.

[Rey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saint Peter: A Life from Beginning to End, was outstanding, well written.

Outlined in historical story form, not boring or overzealous, not a religious lesson, it covers many of the bases in a minimal amount of pages.

The line below, left me for a loss of words, painful might be one of them

"Judas famously greeted Jesus by giving him a kiss"

Well done, thank you