Date of composition

• 400s.
• This is beyond our time limit but is included since it tells a story well-known to many Christians: Peter and Paul were martyred on the same day. Earlier books mentioned the martyrdom of each of these Apostles, but they always were the only ones to die. This is the first book discovered that places their martyrdoms on the same day.

Type of Apocrypha (heretical or in error (made up))

• Error but no heretical ideas.

Noteworthy from the book

1. Much happens before the last martyrdom scene in this book, but we will only focus on the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul.
2. In the Acts of Peter, Peter and Simon the Sorcerer engage in a spiritual competition, which Peter wins after Simon falls and breaks his leg in three places. Later, Peter is martyred by two prominent citizens whose wife and concubines will no longer sleep with them.
3. On the other hand (in an example of how stories change over time), in the Acts of the Apostles Peter and Paul, Peter and Paul stand before Nero when the spiritual competition occurs. Instead of Simon the Sorcerer flying, as in the Acts of Peter, an unknown magician began to fly. Peter prayed for the demons holding him up to drop him, and the magician fell and died. Instead of being impressed, Nero demanded the deaths of Peter and Paul. Peter was taken to be crucified but requested and was granted the death of being crucified upside down, like in the Acts of Peter. Peter also stated that he was not worthy of being crucified head upward like Jesus, which is not found in the Acts of Peter. Paul joined him in death and was beheaded, which is found in the Acts of Paul.
4. Please note: The Acts of Peter only describes the death of Peter, and the Acts of Paul only describes the death of Paul. In the Acts of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the two martyrdoms are described as taking place simultaneously. This is the story that many Christians know.