PETER IN ROME. THE LITERARY, LITURGICAL, AND ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE.

By Daniel Wm. O'Connor'46. New York and London: ColumbiaUniversity Press, 1969. 44 plates. 242 pp.$2O.

The Apostle Peter was a source of controversy in his life, and now, nineteen centuries after his death, people are still asking questions about him. Professor O'Connor has focused his attention on "Peter's presence in Rome, his martyrdom, and his burial." The debate began with "the absence of any direct statement or any allusion to Peter's residence in Rome in the letters of Paul" or in the Book of Acts.

The silence of these primary documents is first interpreted and then all other evidence - literary, liturgical, and archaeological - is thoroughly tested to establish date, authenticity, and bearing on the problems. Faced with late, vague, scanty, and often tangential evidence, Professor O'Connor maintains a remarkably judicious and balanced attitude. He speaks of probabilities rather than certitudes. It is "highly probable that Peter did visit Rome." Persistent tradition makes it seem "most probable" that Peter was crucified in Rome during the persecutions of Nero, 64 to 67. And "it appears more plausible than not" that Peter "was remembered in the traditions of the Church and in the erection of a simple monument near the place where he died," but that his "body was never recovered for burial by the Christian group which later, when relics became of great importance for apologetic reasons, came to believe that what originally had marked the general area of his death also indicated the precise placement of his grave" (p. 209).

A scholar has written for the serious student a book both difficult and easy to read. The difficulty springs from the nature of the evidence and the scholar's meticulous attention to detail; the ease results from the clear directions, frequent signposts, precise divisions into categories, illustrations, and a chronological chart. The footnotes and bibliography open the field for further exploration and application to issues outside the limits defined by the author.

Professor O'Connor's good sense and thoughtful detachment have turned an old controversy into a new quest for all who seek the truth about the Apostle Peter. As the author says, the Roman Catholic Church is not the issue. Her foundations will not be rocked even if anyone does prove that Peter was never in Rome. Sectarian polemics need to give way to the critical and scientific examination of a tradition so that everyone - regardless of creed - can travel the difficult road to life and death in first-century Rome.

A classical scholar with an interest in churchhistory and the daughter of a clergyman,Miss Lever is Professor of English, Wellesley College.