In the tenth chapter of the book of Acts, the apostle Peter tells a lie about his dining habits at least once– probably three times– according to the apostle Luke, who wrote the book of Acts.
Luke tells us (in the book of Acts) that, while Peter was on the rooftop praying one day, he (Peter) saw a vision and heard a voice speaking to him. Luke writes that, while entranced, Peter “saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: 12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat [Acts 10:11 - 13].” In response to this imperative, Peter tells a lie, according to Luke.
“But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean [Acts 10:14].” According to the text of Acts 10, this exchange occurred three times. Whether or not Peter told the same lie thrice is left to the reader to discern. Nonetheless, according to earlier passages in the book of Acts, it was a lie every time it came out of Peter’s mouth that day.
In the second book of Acts, we are informed that immediately after Pentecost (which was the beginning of the churches of Christ) “all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart [Acts 2:44 - 46].” Food played no small role in this commonality of all things, as verse 46 of Acts 2 clearly verifies.
In the fourth chapter of Acts, this commonality of all things is reiterated, and by virtue of reiteration, reinforced when Luke writes again: “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common [Acts 4:32].” It's worth noting that Peter was considered by all present to be the chief apostle at the time of this commonality, or communism.
Luke further describes the breaking of bread as key in the early communal church in his account of the martyrdom of Stephen. This martyrdom likewise occurred before Peter's rooftop menu conference with the cornucopia of creeping things and the voice of the Lord.
In Acts 6, one of the earliest schisms in church history is recorded. This schism occurred before the apostle Peter first proselytized Gentiles, so it would seem that when Luke speaks of “Grecians” in Acts 6, it is in regard of Jews who have resided in Greece. Be that as it may, the text of the first verse of chapter 6 informs that the commonality of all things wasn't as pervasive in the communal church as chapters 2 and 4 suggest it was. The Hebrew Christians were starving the Christian widows of Greece in what the apostle Luke refers to as “the daily ministration,” or the daily ministry.
When the complaints of the Grecians reach the new Dirty Dozen (the eleven disciples and Matthias), their response to the rift is to say: “It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business 4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word [Acts 6:2 - 4].”
Pursuant to this word from the apostles, seven men were anointed to wait tables in the Christian commune. Whether or not Stephen’s martyrdom was the product of a conspiracy of greedy Hebrew Christians, it is a short trip of only three verses from Stephen's induction into the church ministry to the conspiracy which killed him.
Given that the breaking of common bread was (and frankly is) of such prominent concern to the church over which the apostle Peter presided, it seems disingenuous of Peter to blithely declare (after the martyrdom of Stephen, no less) “I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean” as he did on the rooftop of the tanner Simon, according to the apostle Luke, in Acts chapter 10. However, regardless of whether Peter so lied on purpose or not, the ‘Holy Bible' bears the inconsistency of his purported word, and that's another lie from the Book of books.
