I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but I'm now seeing Lk. 24:34 as good evidence that Cephas is Peter.
I don't know why I had been thinking that it was Cleophas and the unnamed disciple who said, "The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon," but now that I understand that it was "the Eleven and those with them" who say this, and since I assume the author of Luke knew the letters of Paul (if not Paul himself as well), I figure they were aware that Paul says Jesus first appeared to Cephas in 1 Cor. 15:5 and thus that the Simon mentioned here is Peter.
So for me, as someone who thinks the author of Luke could have been a follower of Paul (but even if they weren't) or was at least someone writing fairly early (in my view c. 100 CE) who knew Paul's letters and earlier gospels, I think the author thought that Cephas in 1 Cor. 15:5 was Peter. And that's good enough for me to think that Cephas and Peter were the same person.
33And they [Cleophas and an unnamed disciple] got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem.
There they found the Eleven and those with them, gathered together 34and saying, “The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon!”
35Then the two told what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
I don't know why I had been thinking that it was Cleophas and the unnamed disciple who said, "The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon," but now that I understand that it was "the Eleven and those with them" who say this, and since I assume the author of Luke knew the letters of Paul (if not Paul himself as well), I figure they were aware that Paul says Jesus first appeared to Cephas in 1 Cor. 15:5 and thus that the Simon mentioned here is Peter.
So for me, as someone who thinks the author of Luke could have been a follower of Paul (but even if they weren't) or was at least someone writing fairly early (in my view c. 100 CE) who knew Paul's letters and earlier gospels, I think the author thought that Cephas in 1 Cor. 15:5 was Peter. And that's good enough for me to think that Cephas and Peter were the same person.
Statistics: Posted by John2 — Thu Jul 18, 2024 2:19 pm