Why are Saint Peter and Saint Paul always mentioned together?

Answer 1

In his own epistles, Paul only referred to Peter incidentally, seeming at times to regard him as the assistant to James, who seemed to be the leader of the Jerusalem church, and at other times as a minor nuisance who opposed his plans to allow gentiles equal membership of his church without the need to be circumcised. Acts of the Apostles was written half a century later by an unknown author whom the second-century Church Fathers thought likely to be Paul's companion, Luke, because of his apparent knowledge of the mission of Paul. An important, well disguised theme of Acts is the primacy of St Peter over St Paul, so it does draw them together in a number of subtle comparisons, even when those comparisons are in widely separated chapters. If a previously unknown miracle was attributed to Paul, then quite comparable miracles were also associated with Peter, and the miracles associated with Paul were always less impressive those associated with Peter.

According to Acts, Paul's first miraculous cure was improbably similar to Peter's first cure. In both cases, a man who had been lame since birth was immediately cured by being commanded to stand and walk. Peter's first miracle cure was performed in the name of Jesus, at the Temple, where the faithful saw the healed beggar praising God, and was the opportunity for some outstanding proselytising. Paul's first cure was clumsy and without apparent purpose, given that Paul did not tell the man about Jesus and he was even mistaken for a pagan god.

In an even more difficult challenge, Peter resurrected Tabitha, a good woman and a disciple, who was certainly dead and her body had already been washed. This miracle became known throughout Joppa and, as a result, many were converted. Paul also resuscitated a young man who foolishly fell asleep in an upper storey window and fell to the ground. There is some uncertainty as to whether the young man was really dead when Paul intervened to revive him, and the miracle did not present an opportunity to convert unbelievers.
Peter and Paul were also capable of malevolent miracles. In an apparent miracle, Paul blinded Elymas (Bar-Jesus) the sorcerer, for trying to frustrate his attempts to convert Sergius Paulus. But Peter was to be feared more than Paul. A certain man named Ananias sold a possession and gave only some of the proceeds to Peter, who believed that the church was entitled to all the money. Peter realised the deceit immediately and Ananias fell dead. Later, Peter told Ananias' wife she would also die, because she repeated the deceit. The two slayings were carried out with almost no effort on Peter's part, whereas Paul could only blind Elymas for a season, and to do this had to wave his hand across his victim's face.

According to Acts, Peter was released from prison twice by angels, who in one case accompanied Peter from the prison. There was no doubt about the extent of divine assistance Peter received in his escapes. Paul was released from prison by a timely earthquake that arguably need not have been of divine origin, and furthermore he did not make good his escape.

According to Paul's own account, he took it upon himself to preach to the Gentiles and even rebuked Peter in Antioch for refusing to eat with the Gentiles. Compare this to Acts chapters 10 and 11, where Peter experienced a miraculous vision and was visited by the Holy Ghost, giving him a sign to bring Gentiles into the Church. In that account, Peter defended his actions in choosing to eat with the Gentiles and asserted that the Church must preach to the Gentiles. In the Acts account, Paul was carefully excluded from the company when these important decisions were made.

So, St Peter and St Paul are referred together and in opposition in Acts of the Apostles in order to show second-century Christians who was really, in its author's opinion, the most important apostle.

Answer 2

Saint Peter and Saint Paul are often mentioned together because they were two of the most influential figures in early Christianity. They both played significant roles in spreading the teachings of Jesus and establishing the early church. Additionally, they are both considered pillars of the faith and were martyred in Rome.