The Catholic Church and Peter

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

(Verse 5): Notice that Luke names Herod and gives his jurisdiction. He names Zacharias, gives his wife’s name, her ancestry, and his division in the priesthood. This is so that the skeptic need not take this on face value. If he desires, he can search the historical record and see when the person named, lived and died.

Herod, also known as Herod I or Herod the Great (born 74 BC, died 4 BC in Jericho), was a Roman client king of Israel. He is often confused with his son Herod Antipas, also of the Herodian dynasty, who was ruler of Galilee (4 BC - 39 AD) during the time of John the Baptist and Jesus. The location of Herod's tomb is documented by Roman historian Flavius Josephus, who writes, "And the body was carried two hundred furlongs, to Herodium, where he had given order to be buried." So there is no question of whether or not he existed.

The Bible is consistent with its details from beginning to end. Read the Book of Numbers or Ezekiel if you want the fine points (I am very skeptical when any atheist says to me, "I have read the whole Bible, and so I know what it’s about." That means he spent hours wading through the mass of genealogies, and chapter after chapter reading the measurements of the temple).

Zacharius was married. Aren’t priests supposed to be celibate? According to the Roman Catholic church, New Testament priests shouldn’t be married, but this is contrary to the Bible. Peter was married. During His earthly ministry, Jesus came to Peter's house and healed "his wife's mother" (Matthew 8:14- 5; Mark 1:30-31). Now there’s a clue he was married.

In Corinthians 9:5, Paul asked, "Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" Cephas was another name for Peter. In this verse it speaks of him as having a wife who traveled with him. There’s another clue that he was married. So don’t take what anyone tells you as being gospel. Check it out and see if it is according to the Scriptures (see Acts 17:11).

Pic. 1. Bronze coin of Herod the Great. Minted in Samaria.
Pic. 2. The Herodium: the burial-place of Herod.