RANDY - I am participating on a fundementalist RLDS discussion board...and the topic of "who was President of the Church after Christ died" has come up. We in the LDS church have always been taught that Peter was the Chief/Senior Apostle and President of the Church. However, according to these good folks...they say that in the last 20-35 yrs...that the Scholars are beginning to believe that James, the Lord's brother was in fact the President of the Church after Christ. Any further light and knowledge you can share with me would be greatly appreciated.

JOEL - They are going to have to have some pretty convincing arguments to place James over Peter in seniority. Of course there are no scriptures that directly state that Peter was the head Apostle and President of the Church, but here is a list of reasons for supporting this claim:

1. The New Testament contains more information about Peter than about any of the other apostles. Peter is almost always mentioned first among the other Apostles, signifying his position of seniority ahead of the others. (Matt 17:1, Mark 5:37, 9:2, 13:3, 14:33, Luke 6:14, 8:51, 9:28, Acts 1:13, D&C 128:20, JSH 1:72)

2. Peter normally acted as spokesman for the other Apostles in posing questions to Jesus (e.g., Luke 12:41, Luke 8:45).

3. Miracles, teaching incidents, and special events (e.g., Matt. 14:25-31; Matt. 26:40, Mark 14:26-42; Luke 5:1-10, D&C 49:11) center around Peter alone or on him as the key apostle involved.

4. Peter(aka Simon or Cephas) was the first apostle to whom the resurrected Christ appeared (Luke 24:33-35; 1 Cor. 15:5).

5. He presided over the selection of a new apostle to replace Judas (Acts 1:15-26) and over the ministry on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

6. The Bible describes occasions when Jesus dealt with Peter alone (Matt. 18:19; Luke 22:32, Luke 24:34).

7. The Savior gave Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, saying that "whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Matt. 16:19).

8. In the present dispensation, as a resurrected being, he restored apostolic authority to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.(D&C 27:12)

9. Joseph Smith said: "The apostle, Peter, was the president of the Council in ancient days and held the keys of the Kingdom of God on the earth" (Kirtland Council Minutes, 17 Feb. 1834, 30, LDS archives)

Some references:
Brown, Raymond E.; Karl Donfried; and John Reumann, eds. Peter in the New Testament. Minneapolis, Minn., 1973.
Brown, S. Kent. "James the Just and the Question of Peter's Leadership in the Light of New Sources." In Sperry Lecture Series, pp. 9-16. Provo, Utah, 1973.
Muren, Joseph C. "Peter." In A Symposium on the New Testament. Salt Lake City, 1980