Well given that bishop was just another name for elder, presbyter, pastor,shepherd, Yes there was an elder in Rome before Peter got there as there was a local assembly in Rome. Paul wrote to the church in Rome in 56-57,
And Peter wrote his epistle from the jewish group in Babylon c. 64-65 AD so that puts Peter in Babylon 7-9 years after Paul wrote his epistle to the Roman church.
Hmmmm.....here are some points to think about on the theory you have been taught that Peter wrote his epistle from Babylon:
First, the book of Revelation symbolically refers to Babylon as Rome (Rev. 16:19; 17:5; 18:2).
[1]
Second, Peter says that “Mark” is with him (1 Pet. 5:13). Since we know that Mark was with Paul at the end of his career in the mid-60s (2 Tim. 4:11), it seems likely that Peter is writing from Rome—not Babylon.
Third, Babylon had been long destroyed, and it wasn’t a popular empire anymore. At this period of history, Babylon was a “desolate and ruined city in Mesopotamia.”
[2] Diodorus of Sicily (who wrote from 56-36 BC) states, “As for the palaces and the other buildings, time has either entirely effaced them or left them in ruins; and in fact of Babylon itself but a small part is inhabited at this time, and most of the area within its walls is given over to agriculture.”
[3] Likewise Strabo (who died in 19 BC) writes, “The greater part of Babylon is so deserted that one would not hesitate to say … The Great City is a great desert.”
[4] Therefore, it seems unlikely that Peter would be there.
Fourth, Christians hadn’t reached Babylon at this period in history, and it’s unlikely that Peter would be there with an entire Christian community. Craig Blomberg writes, “No other ancient documents ever suggest that Christianity had reached this area this early (or that it would reach there for several centuries), and Babylon was a long way from the addressees who lived in what we would call western and central Turkey (1:1).”
[5]
Fifth, the early Christian leaders claimed that Peter and Paul both died in Rome—not Babylon.
It is your Protestant men, 1500 years later, that teach that Peter wasn't in Rome. Dionysius (the bishop of Corinth, AD 170) wrote, “[Peter and Paul] also taught in Italy in the same place and were martyred at the same time” (Cited in Eusebius,
Church History, 2.25.8). In the context of writing about Rome, Tertullian (AD 200) wrote, “How happy is its church, on which apostles poured forth all their doctrine along with their blood! where Peter endures a passion like his Lord’s!” (
Against Heretics, 36). Eusebius also wrote that Origen (AD 250) claimed that Peter was crucified upside down and Paul was beheaded in Rome under the reign of Nero (
Church History, 3.1.2-3). Eusebius adds that Peter “composed this [1 Peter] in Rome itself” (
Church History, 2.15.2), getting his information from Papias (AD 110).
Since 2 Peter is written at the very end of Peter’s life (2 Pet. 1:14),
it is more likely that Peter was writing from Rome—not Babylon.
