Saint Peter a Biography [Hardcover]

Michael Grant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 1998

Combining recent advances in archaeology and anthropology with extensive knowledge of literature, philosophy, and religion, a classical historian reveals a human dimension to the life of Peter, interpreting him as a historical figure as well as a religious icon.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is a concise, sober, readable assessment of as much of the historical Peter as can be sifted from the New Testament sources. While Grant amply illustrates how deeply problematic the sources are as history, he nevertheless argues convincingly that they show that Peter's passionate faith in Jesus and his ability to hold together the disconsolate band of followers after the Crucifixion make him a truly significant historical personality. In addition to summarizing the problems for the historian in locating facts, Grant offers useful thumbnail sketches of what is known of the historical Paul and James and their testy relationships with Peter. The book, which is mercifully free of overelaborate theses, is further buttressed by 17 illustrations, two maps and extensive bibliographies at the end of each chapter and at the back. There are also a table of dates, an index, a list of sources and notes. History Book Club main selection; BOMC, QPBC alternate selections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Grant (humanity, Edinburgh Univ.) has collected what little is known about the biblical figure of Peter and shapes it into a lively, informative book. Some may object to his refusal to treat the miraculous as historical, but his insistence on historical objectivity is one of the book's many strengths. Pulling Peter out from the shadow of the apostle Paul, Grant provides a good, clear review of the available sources and a detailed historical background, making it all easy to follow. He highlights Peter's pivotal role in resuscitating Jesus' small band of followers after the crucifixion and suggests that his biblical subordination to Paul was born of the latter's jealousy. Against this, the author also reasons that James was more prominent than Peter among Jewish Christians and that Peter was more likely a missionary to Rome than the leader of that city's church. Grant wisely avoids assessing tradition's claim on Peter as the first pope, and while he admits that his book reports little not written elsewhere, his skill is in bringing so much previous scholarship together in one relatively brief volume. For subject collections.
W. Alan Froggatt, Bridgewater, Ct.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Barnes Noble Books; First Edition edition (October 18, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760708398
• ISBN-13: 978-0760708392
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,335,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History vs. Mythology, July 12, 2003

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: SAINT PETER: A BIOGRAPHY (Hardcover)

Michael Grant devotes nearly a third of this slim volume (less than 200 pages) to discussing the problems of research and the difficulty with sources before getting into anything that looks like a biography should. And perhaps that underscores the difficulty with a subject such as Saint Peter, the first among equals of the disciples of Christ. So much mythology has arisen, and there is precious little by way of actual biographical data in the New Testament. Saint Peter is 'a shadowy and elusive' character, even in the Bible.

Grant works his way through Peter's life, first during the period in which Jesus was alive, then during the Acts/early church years, including dealings with the increasing number of Gentiles and his rocky relationship with Paul. Finally Grant closes with a section on Peter in Rome, and has an interesting analysis, including why Peter rather than Paul in many ways remains the dominant apostle, if not the dominant apostolic voice. Much of the church as we know it today is derived from Pauline teachings, but the hierarchy of apostolic succession still embraces Peter as primus inter paries. Curious, as the gospels seem to have a poor opinion of him; but perhaps to be the first apostle is to have the most human failings?

Grant's book does not take on the question of papal supremacy or modern (or even earlier) political struggles -- he outlines a brief history of the influence of Peter's life, but does not do an analysis here (and says so openly).

In all, this is a good book, well written, with many notes, references and sources to seek out that will make the diligent happy, and enough detail to make the casual reader glad to have read this work.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Disappointment, April 3, 2008

By 

JMack (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: SAINT PETER: A BIOGRAPHY (Hardcover)

I had high hopes when I found this book and was excited to read it. But the moment that I began the first chapter, the book became a failure in writing an inspirational and accurate account of the life of St. Peter.

It would seem paradoxical to debunk the vary sources that one sites in a book. Yet that is what the author seems to be doing. In the quest to tell the story of St. Peter, the author dismisses many of Peter's works as heresay and exaggerations. The author seemed to take the view that Peter's role in early Christianity is misleading and largely omitted after the death of Jesus. At the same time, the author gives little credibility to existing accounts of Peter in the bible. Whether one accepts the bible as accurate or occassionally metaphorical, studying the book from a historical perspective causes one to miss the point of St. Peter's life.

Even though the author was written other books in Christianity, the tone and reverence one might use in a descriptive portion of a plumbing manual. Using this as a standard, I can not imagine Michael Grant's other books are worth reading.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Great expectations - little results, March 19, 2001

By 

Paul Pasholk [e-mail] (Glendale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SAINT PETER: A BIOGRAPHY (Hardcover)

When I purchased Saint Peter, I was expecting a fascinating read which would shine light on the better known facets of Peters life, while at the same time revealing little known tidbits of information. To my dismay, I found neither. There was not one item in this book which was new, or a revelation to anyone who is even remotely knowledgeable as to the Saint Peter of the bible. There is no authoritative voice writing this book. There is far too much of a this may have happened, or possibly, or most likely. No This Happened statements. Mr Grant spends far too much of this book putting down religion and miracles. Thus, if you only believe 5% of what is in the bible, do not write a book about someone whom 95% of the source material comes from the biible. Leaving out the lengthy intro, and the footnotes, what you have here is basically a 100 page boring book which shows that Mr Grant is very book smart, but foolish when it comes to interpretive writing concerning religious personages. This book would have been much better had it actually been about Saint Peter, instead of stating on nearly every page how Mr Grant could put no weight or belief behind things religious or spiritial or miraculous in nature.