Syriac Writers
Some Syriac writers draw a parallel between Moses
and Peter. Moses was the undisputed leader of God’s people in the Old Covenant,
a role that falls to Simon Peter in the New. The Liturgy and the fathers sometimes
use references to the Transfiguration to introduce this comparison. St. Ephraem,
for example, in a sermon on the Transfiguration, expressed a thought which is
echoed in the Syrian offices:
The princes of the Old and New Testament saw each other
there. The saintly Moses beheld the sanctified Simon; the Stewart of the Father
saw the Procurator of the Son. The former rent the sea to let the people walk
in the midst of the waves; the latter raised the (new) Tabernacle so as to build
the Church. (Opera Omnia, ed. G. Vossius, 687)
James of Sergus comments, in his homily on the
Transfiguration:
He brought together Moses, who is the beginning of
prophecy, and John, who is the beauty of apostleship. He summoned Elijah and
associated him with Simon, the head of the disciples, so that the keys (of
power) over (all) creatures might be confirmed to him. He sought to make
manifest before the herald Apostles that he had given the Spirit likewise to
the prophets, and that they were His servants. He sent forth His Gospel so that
ti might prevail over the world through Simon, and He brought in Moses so that
he might be a witness that he was true. (P. Bedjan, ed., Homiliae selectae
Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis, Paris 1906, 2:362-3, tr. Prof. William Macomber)
In a poetic homily on the Resurrection, James of Serug
presents St. John as deferring to St. Peter, out of consideration for the keys:
John came to the door of the bridegroom king’s
tomb, but he did not enter until Simon the perfect arrived. He waited for the
one who bore the keys of the treasury to arrive, so that he as steward might
open and enter. John stood like a wise man and did not enter, so as not to
confuse the settled order of heraldship. He waited for the head of the
disciples to arrive, who had fallen behind him, so that he might first see and
bear witness to His resurrection. Simon Cephas, the head (or: wall) of
the structures came and entered before him, so that he might be placed first on
the apostolic building. The spiritual youth observed (good) order with regard
to the noble old man, so that he might serve as the first foundation of the
heraldship. (P. Bedjan, ed., Homiliae selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis,
Paris 1906, 2:618-619, tr. Prof. William Macomber) (Scott Butler and John
Collorafi, Keys Over the Christian World: The Evidence for Papal Authority
(33 AD – 800 AD) from Ancient Latin, Greek, Chaldean, Syriac, Armenian, Coptic
and Ethiopian Documents [State Line, Pa.: Catholic Apologetics
International Publishing, Inc., 2021], 566-67)
Other
Christian Authors
Because both Peter and Moses appeared at the
Transfiguration of Jesus, the Fathers sometimes used their homiletical remarks
on this feat to draw this parallel.
St. John Damascene did precisely that. Preaching
on the Transfiguration, he characterizes Moses as the ‘divine lawgiver,’ and
Peter as the ‘chiefest (disciple) of the New Testament’. (PG 99:548)
The Damascene added other remarks about Peter’s
high dignity, for example:
. . . secretly He (Jesus) instructs him whom he
had predestined to be the worthy president (proedron) of the Church. (PG
99:553)
. . . (Christ) ordained thee the keybearer of the
kingdom of heaven and gave thee the power of binding and loosing sins. (PG
99:555)
. . . He took Peter (on the mountain) as him who
was the president (proedron), who was also going to take up the helm of
the entire Church. (PG 99:560)
In one sarcophagus in the catacombs, Peter is
depicted as receiving the New Law from Christ, Mediator of the New Testament,
much as Moses received the Old Law on the mountain. At other times, a figure is
represented striking a rock, a parallel with a biblically recorded event in the
life of Moses. A six letter inscription removes all doubt about the figure’s
identity: PETRUS. (Kraus, F.X. Roma Sotteranea, Freiburg 1879,
339-40
Another type of ancient image, the traditio legis,
depicts Christ handing the scroll of the Law to Peter, while St. Paul watches
reverently. In the traditio clavium, Christ delivers the keys to St. Peter.
(Cf. C. Pietri, Roma Christana, Rome 1976, 1413 sq.)
St. Macarius of Egypt taught that “Moses was succeeded
by Peter, who had committed to his hands the new Church of Christ and the true priesthood.”
(Hom. 26, PG 34:690)
In the Latin Church, Augustine boldly makes the
same comparison:
Why is it illogical, if Peter, after (wishing to
use the sword) became Pastor of the Church, as Moses, after killing the Egyptian,
became Ruler of that (Old Testament) Synagogue? (Contra Faustum, XXII,
70, PLL 42:445) (Ibid., 621-23)
