Does Acts 10:9-16 preserve an authentic Petrine belief?
Acts 10:9-16 describes a scene in which a voice, identified by Peter as "Lord," offers Peter a number of animals to eat. Peter initially rejects these animals as "profane [and] unclean," to which the voice replies that these animals are "made clean" by God and therefore should not be "call[ed] profane."
It's my understanding that some NT scholars understand Acts as a harmonizing account of the theological differences between Paul and Peter. In that light, Acts 10:9-16 could be understood as an example of a reconciliation between their beliefs. I'm interested, however, in whether the pericope reflects an authentic belief of the historical Peter. What, if anything, can the historical evidence tell us about the extent to which Peter actually regarded Jewish dietary purity laws as no longer binding? Or should this episode instead be understood as a theological construction by the author of Acts?