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50 free Saint Peter trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Saint Peter trivia quiz covers the fisherman from Bethsaida whom Christian tradition regards as the first bishop of Rome. The early questions deal with his names, from Simon bar Jonah to the Aramaic Cephas and Greek Petros, his brother Andrew, his mother-in-law at Capernaum, the miraculous catch, walking on water, the ear of Malchus, the confession at Caesarea Philippi and the 'rock' dialogue that Catholics read as the foundation of the papacy. The middle of the quiz turns to Peter's fall and restoration: the three denials before cockcrow, the threefold affirmation of love by the Sea of Galilee, his place in Paul's list of resurrection appearances, the vision at Joppa, the rescue from Herod Agrippa's prison, the confrontation with Paul at Antioch and the tradition that he was Antioch's first bishop. The last questions follow him to Rome: Simon Magus, 'Babylon' in his first epistle, the Great Fire and Nero, the crucifixion head downward, the Quo vadis legend on the Appian Way, the bones under the Vatican altar identified in 1968, the feast days, the Fisherman's Ring, the Chair of Saint Peter and the basilica of Bramante, Michelangelo and Bernini. Every answer has been checked against the Wikipedia articles on Saint Peter, his tomb and his basilica.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What was Saint Peter's birth name?
Simon bar Jonah
In two New Testament passages the name is spelled 'Simeon', reflecting the Jewish custom of pairing a patriarch's name with a similar-sounding Greek one.
Q 02In which town on the Sea of Galilee was Peter born?
Bethsaida
His mother-in-law was healed by Jesus at the family home in Capernaum, which is why he is thought to have been married or widowed.
Q 03What was Peter's trade before he followed Jesus?
Fishing
He worked with his brother Andrew and with James and John, the sons of Zebedee; the popes still wear the Fisherman's Ring in his memory.
Q 04The name Cephas, which Jesus gave to Simon, comes from an Aramaic word meaning what?
Rock or stone
Petros is the Greek masculinised form; Cephas appears nine times in the New Testament and Petros 156 times.
Q 05How many times does the combined name 'Simon Peter' appear in the New Testament?
19
Some Syriac documents call him Simon Cephas.
Q 06Which brother of Peter, a disciple of John the Baptist, brought him to Jesus in John's gospel?
Andrew
Andrew told him 'We have found the Messiah', and Jesus immediately named Simon 'Cephas'.
Q 07Only one gospel describes Peter walking on water toward Jesus before he begins to sink. Which?
Matthew
Jesus's rebuke, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?', made Peter the exemplar of the forgiven sinner as much as of the rock.
Q 08Where, per the synoptic gospels, did Peter confess Jesus was the Christ and receive his name?
Caesarea Philippi
Jesus replied 'on this rock I will build my church' and promised him 'the keys of the kingdom of heaven'.
Q 09What did Jesus promise to give Peter in the 'rock' dialogue?
The keys of the kingdom of heaven
The keys became the symbol of papal authority; the passage is read differently by Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox.
Q 10According to John's gospel, whose ear did Peter cut off at Jesus's arrest?
Malchus, servant of the high priest
Luke adds that Jesus healed the ear, the last of the 37 miracles attributed to him in the Bible.
Q 11What did Peter say when Jesus told him, 'If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me'?
'Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head'
He had at first refused to let Jesus wash his feet; the rite is repeated on Maundy Thursday in many churches.
Q 12With which two apostles did Peter form the inner three at the Transfiguration?
James and John
The three alone were also present at the raising of Jairus's daughter.
Q 13Jesus foretold that Peter would deny him how many times before the cock crowed?
Three
Q 21Who eclipsed Peter as leader of the Jerusalem church?
James the Just, 'the brother of the Lord'
Peter, James and John were known as the three Pillars of the Church; one historian calls Peter the 'bridge-man' between James's and Paul's factions.
Q 22Which adversary did Peter debate en route to Antioch, who Eusebius says was worshipped as a god in Rome?
Simon Magus
Jerome wrote that Peter went to Rome 'in the second year of Claudius to overthrow Simon Magus'.
Q 23Peter's first epistle sends greetings from 'the church at Babylon'. Which city do most scholars think is meant?
Rome
Mark's version has the cock crowing twice; Peter's Galilean accent gave him away in the courtyard.
Q 14According to one gospel, what betrayed Peter as a follower of Jesus at the third denial?
His Galilean accent
Luke says a third individual made the accusation rather than a crowd; John does not mention the accent at all.
Q 15In the final chapter of John's gospel, how is the threefold denial balanced by the lakeside?
He affirms his love for Jesus three times
The Church of the Primacy of St. Peter on the Sea of Galilee marks the traditional site of the appearance.
Q 16How many fish were caught in the post-resurrection catch described in John's gospel?
153
John shows Peter fishing again even after the resurrection.
Q 17In Paul's list of resurrection appearances in 1 Corinthians, to whom did the risen Jesus appear first?
Peter
Paul seems to follow an early tradition that did not survive into the gospel accounts, where the women see the empty tomb first.
Q 18Where did Peter have the vision that unclean animals could be eaten, opening the way to Gentiles?
Joppa
He then met the centurion Cornelius and declared that 'God shows no partiality'.
Q 19According to Acts 12, which ruler imprisoned Peter in Jerusalem before an angel freed him?
Herod Agrippa
After his liberation Peter left Jerusalem for 'another place', and the sources give no connected account of what followed.
Q 20Which apostle wrote that he opposed Peter 'to his face' at Antioch?
Paul
Later tradition nonetheless made Peter the first Patriarch of Antioch, serving there for seven years according to the Liber Pontificalis.
Babylon was a common Jewish and Christian nickname for Rome; a minority think of the fortress of Babylon in Egypt.
Q 24Under which emperor is Peter traditionally said to have been martyred in Rome?
Nero
Early tradition places his death around the time of the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64, for which Nero blamed the Christians.
Q 25How, according to Origen and Jerome, was Peter crucified?
Head downwards
He is said to have asked for it, feeling unworthy to die as his Lord had; the inverted Petrine Cross derives from the tradition.
Q 26According to Jerome, how many years did Peter hold the 'sacerdotal chair' in Rome?
Twenty-five
He is said to have arrived in the second year of Claudius and died in the fourteenth year of Nero, AD 67–68.
Q 27In the Quo vadis legend, what did the risen Jesus answer when Peter, fleeing the city, asked 'Quo vadis?'
'I am going to Rome to be crucified again'
The story comes from the apocryphal Acts of Peter; shamed, Peter turned back to face his own crucifixion.
Q 28On which road outside Rome does the Quo vadis encounter traditionally take place?
The Appian Way
Henryk Sienkiewicz's novel Quo Vadis, set in Nero's time, took its title from the story.
Q 29Whom did Peter and Paul, according to Irenaeus, appoint as the next bishop of Rome?
Linus
Irenaeus's list continues through Anacletus and Clement to Eleutherius; Tertullian says Peter ordained Clement.
Q 30Which emperor began the first basilica over Peter's grave in the early 4th century?
Constantine the Great
The slope of Vatican Hill had to be dug away because Christians were so certain of the burial site.