Roman Catholic apologist wrote the following:
Every list of the
twelve apostles in the New Testament has Peter prominently placed at the top of
the list, and Judas is listed last (Mt 10:2; Lk 6:13-16; Acts 1:13). (Steve
Ray, Upon This Rock: St. Peter and the Primacy of Rome in Scripture and the
Early Church [Modern Apologetics Library; San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
1999], 23)
This is false. While Peter is mentioned
first in a number of texts listing the apostles, this is not always the case.
Consider the following:
Now Philip was of
Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. (John 1:44)
And when James,
Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given
unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we
should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. (Gal 2:9)
