Abstract
Abstract Christianity is the largest religion in the world today. And among the Christian denominations, the largest is the Roman Catholic Church, with around one billion members. The official Catholic view is that Peter was the first pope, the bishop of Rome, the leader on whom all else was built. Apart from whether that’s a historically tenable position or not, I think everyone would agree that the Christian church allegedly founded on Peter—embracing not just Catholics but also Protestants and Orthodox—has been the most important religious, cultural, political, economic, and social institution in the history of Western civilization. Given the almost unimaginable reach of the church in both the public and private spheres over the centuries, one might expect that its beginning was equally spectacular.
Published Version
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