Chapter III.—Of the Question Whether Mark’s Reports of the Repeated Occasions on Which the Name of Peter Was Brought into Prominence are Not at Variance with the Statement Which John Has Given Us of the Particular Time at Which the Apostle Received that Name.

4. The same Mark continues as follows: “And there came a leper to Him, beseeching Him, and kneeling down to Him, and saying unto Him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean;” and so on, down to where it is said, “And they cried out, saying, Thou art the Son of God: and He straightway charged them that they should not make Him known.”1096    Mark i. 40-iii. 12. Luke1097    Luke iv. 41. also records something similar to the last passage which we have here adduced. But nothing emerges involving any discrepancy. Mark proceeds thus: “And He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto Him whom He would: and they came unto Him. And He ordained twelve that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach; and He gave them power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils. And Simon He surnamed Peter;” and so on, down to where it is said, “And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done: and all men did marvel.”1098    Mark iii. 13-v. 20. I am aware that I have spoken already of the names of the disciples when following the order of Matthew’s narrative.1099    See above, Book ii. chaps. 17 and 53. Here, therefore, I repeat the caution, that no one should suppose Simon to have received the name Peter on this occasion for the first time, or fancy that Mark is here in any antagonism with John, who reports that disciple to have been addressed long before in these terms: “Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is, by interpretation, A stone.”1100    John i. 42. For John has there recorded the very words in which the Lord gave him that name. Mark, on the other hand, has introduced the matter in the form of a recapitulation in this passage, when he says, “And Simon He surnamed Peter.” For, as it was his intention to enumerate the names of the twelve apostles here, and it was necessary for him thus to mention Peter, he decided briefly to intimate the fact that the said name was not borne by that disciple all along, but was given him by the Lord, not, however, at the time with which Mark was immediately dealing, but on the occasion in connection with which John has introduced the very words employed by the Lord. The other matters embraced within this paragraph, present nothing inconsistent with any of the other Gospels, and they have also been discussed previously.

CAPUT III.

De nomine Petri, quomodo etiam atque etiam commendetur, non repugnare Joanni, qui dixit quando hoc nomen accepit.

4. Sequitur idem Marcus: Et venit ad eum leprosus deprecans eum, et genu flexo dixit: Si vis, potes me mundare, etc., usque ad illud ubi ait, Et clamabant dicentes: Tu es filius Dei. Et vehementer comminabatur eis ne manifestarent illum (Marc. I, 40; III, 12). Huic quod ultimum posuimus simile aliquid et Lucas dicit, sed sine aliqua repugnantiae quaestione (Luc. IV, 41). Sequitur Marcus: Et ascendens in montem vocavit ad se quos voluit ipse, et venerunt ad eum: et fecit ut essent duodecim cum illo, et ut mitteret eos praedicare; et dedit illis potestatem curandi infirmitates, et ejiciendi daemonia. Et imposuit Simoni nomen Petrus, etc., usque 1218 ad illud ubi ait, Et abiit, et coepit praedicare in Decapoli quanta sibi fecisset Jesus, et omnes mirabantur (Marc. III; V, 20). De nominibus discipulorum jam et antea me locutum scio, cum Matthaei sequerer ordinem (Supra, lib. 2, c. 17 et 53); et hic rursus admoneo, ne quisquam putet nunc accepisse nomen Simonem, ut Petrus vocaretur, et sit contrarium Joanni qui longe ante illi dictum esse commemorat, Tu vocaberis Cephas, quod interpretatur Petrus (Joan. I, 42): ipsa enim verba Domini commemoravit, quibus ei nomen imposuit; Marcus autem hoc loco id recapitulando commemoravit, cum ait, Et imposuit Simoni nomen Petrus. Cum enim vellet nomina duodecim Apostolorum enumerare, et necesse haberet Petrum dicere, breviter insinuare voluit quod non hoc antea vocaretur, sed hoc ei Dominus nomen imposuerit, non tunc, sed quando Joannes ipsa verba Domini posuit. Caetera nihil cuiquam repugnant, et antea jam pertractata sunt.