Timothy Wiarda examines the way Peter is portrayed in the narratives of the canonical gospels and reflects on the implications of that portrayal. He gives attention to aspects of Peter's individual characterization and his relationship with Jesus as well as to a recurring motif in which Peter makes a well intentioned move only to meet with rebuke, correction or failure. Timothy Wiarda draws several conclusions: a consistent and distinctive cluster of traits is associated with Peter in the gospel narratives; each of the evangelists displays specific interest in Peter as a character; and a model of conservative redaction rooted in the memory of the earliest Christians best explains the gospel presentation.
In addition the author pays attention to methodology in his study. He offers fresh exegetical analysis of fifteen gospel episodes, seeking to demonstrate the importance of sensitivity to the immediate narrative scene and to details of characterization. He argues that such sensitivity can serve as corrective to approaches which move too quickly toward symbolic/theological interpretation while bypassing an episode's realistic portrayal of human responses and interactions. He further explores the interplay between story, rhetoric, and history. The author concludes that all three of these interests come together in the narrative material of the gospels and that there is no inherent obstacle to an integrating approach to interpretation.