Tackling Tradition 42: Cephas In Paul’s Corpus (Part 2)

Most people read 1 Corinthians 15 & think that Paul’s reference to Cephas is a reference to Peter, “Cephas” is Aramaic for “Peter,” which means “Rock,” & in John’s Gospel, John calls Peter “Cephas” in Chapter 21.    The problem here is that mapping John onto Paul is an exegetically fallacious procedure.  

That interpretation of the text suffers from semantic anachronism as well as both semantic incest & semantic inflation.  Those who read the text this way are mapping their theology of Peter/Peter’s identity back onto the text, defining Peter via the lens of John & Ecclesiastical Tradition, & then, while, using the text in a viciously circular manner (since Ecclesiastical Tradition does not supply the necessary & globally sufficient truth conditions to interpret reality correctly), conflating the mere occurrence of the word “Cephas” with an entire doctrine associated with the word (in addition to mapping John’s usage of the term onto Galatians & 1 Corinthians.  

Galatians supplies the identity of Cephas in Paul’s writing, not John.  In addition, I Corinthians is referring to the appearances of Christ - first to Cephas, then to the 12.    

First, 12 is a figurative number referring to Yeshua’s closest disciples, which in Acts 1 is closer to 150.   The 12 in Acts is more of a symbolic number than it is a literal number, & given Luke’s close association with Paul we ought to look to him to help us understand that detail.    

Second, the Gospels record the literal first post- Resurrection appearance of Christ as Mary Magdalene.  Luke says that same day, Christ appeared to two men who knew Him as they walked to Emmaus.  If “Cephas” in Galatians refers to someone like Joseph of Arimathea (which is more likely than Peter), then here, we have a composite (ie group) “Cephas,” namely Mary Magdalene & the two men on the Road to Emmaus. 

May God bless us all, each & every one, & “Go & sin no more.”