The name of Peter. The real name of apostle Peter and the problem of authenticity of the texts of New Testament
Abstract
The article analyzes the reasons for the rare (only six times in the entire New Testament) use of the name "Cephas" (translated from the Aramaic "rock"), given, according to the mention in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, Simon, the brother of Andrew the First-Called, by Jesus himself at the first meeting with him. Since the word "kifa" is just a Greek transcription of the Aramaic word כּף, meaning rock, the use of this name in relation to Peter becomes a sign of the source of primacy, and a criterion for assessing the reliability of ancient texts. Using this criterion, the author puts forward a hypothesis of unreliability of texts in which this name is not used. Such, according to the author, are all, without exception, the apostolic epistles, except for Paul's, all three synoptic gospels, as well as the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles. The analysis of Paul's epistles, in which the name “Cephas” is used, allows the author to conclude that the two visits to Jerusalem mentioned by Paul in the Epistle to the Galatians and his personal acquaintance with Peter are unreliable. The mention of the name Cephas in the Gospel of John: 1. indicates that it is the most ancient of the canonical gospels; 2. Confirms the reliability of the personal testimony of John the Theologian and his personal author's participation in the compilation of the Gospel; 3. puts this gospel in the first place in terms of reliability, giving it the role and significance of a truly historical monument.