Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Dr. Robert Shaffern, via phone on August 21st, 2026. Some of the questions/answers have been rearranged, edited, and paraphrased to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.

What makes your account of Peter’s life different from those already written?

One of  the main things is that I portrayed Peter in his context and in his circumstance. He had a family, business partners, he was a man who had a lot of ordinary things to look after. After the calling of Jesus, Peter received more responsibilities and he handled those gracefully. I think Catholic dads would relate to him.

We have a few scenes where it shows the ordinariness of Peter (1st century Jewish fisherman in Galilee). Peter is a story of nature and grace. By nature he was a good man; by grace he became a saint. 

One of the things of the denial story that has struck me is that Peter nearly pulled it off. The other disciples fled when Jesus was arrested, but Peter and John followed from a distance. When he was confronted by the courtyard worker (in the “11th hour”) he denied Jesus.