How could Peter be in Rome?
Question:
I read from many early Church fathers that Peter was in Rome and preached in Rome. Still, in Galatians 2:7-9 at the Jerusalem Council, the agreement is made that Peter would only go to the Jews, not the Gentiles, so Peter would be breaking that agreement if he went to Rome and preached there. But all those early church fathers couldn't have been wrong about Peter being in Rome.
Answer:
"But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)-well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles), and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They only asked us to remember the poor--the very thing I also was eager to do" (Galatians 2::6-10).
There was no contract or terms of agreement regarding who Peter and Paul would talk to. There was an acknowledgment that the Lord sent Paul to the Gentiles and Peter to the Jews.
Paul was appointed a preacher, apostle, and teacher of the Gentiles (I Timothy 2:7). His purpose was to bring obedience of faith to all Gentiles (Romans 1:5). However, this does not mean that Paul worked exclusively with the Gentiles. When he entered a new city, he generally first approached the Jews (Acts 17:1-4). While Paul focused mostly on the Gentiles, it was his hope that the Gentiles' acceptance of the gospel would spur the Jews to convert as well (Romans 11:13-14). We see that Paul did teach and convert Jews. Paul mentioned personally baptizing Crispus in Corinth (I Corinthians 1:14). Crispus was the synagogue leader in Corinth (Acts 18:8). Sosthenes took Crispus' place (Acts 18:17), and in I Corinthians 1:1 we find that Sosthenes was working with Paul. Paul was a preacher to the Gentiles, but nowhere does the Bible indicate that he worked exclusively with the Gentiles.
In the same way, Peter focused on the Jews, but this does not mean Peter worked exclusively with them. After all, it was Peter who converted the first Gentiles (Acts 10). The letter of I Peter indicates that Peter also worked in the region we now call northern Turkey (I Peter 1:1), where there was a heavy Jewish population. He also worked in Babylon, where we know there was a significant Jewish settlement (I Peter 5:13). Rome also had a large Jewish population, so it would not be surprising to learn that Peter visited this group at some point. Historical evidence indicates that Peter died in Rome.
However, there is no evidence that Peter started the church in Rome. In fact, Paul hints that the spiritual gifts were lacking in the church at Rome, which was one of the reasons he wanted to visit that city (Romans 1:11). The spiritual gifts were only distributed by the apostles (Acts 8:18), which would indicate that no apostle had visited the church in Rome up to that point in time.
