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How do the church fathers reconcile the accounts of Jesus calling Peter and Andrew to be apostles?

With scriptures listed below it appears that though John, Andrew, and Peter were the first to encounter Jesus, Philip was actually called first and the fisherman were actually called after the sermon in the boats. Is it possible that though they met Jesus, they were not 'called' until they were back in Galilee? How did the church fathers reconcile this timeline?

In John 1, John, Andrew and Peter meet Jesus, but none of them are specifically called by him:

John 1:28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

John 1:35-42 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Philip is explicitly called to follow Jesus:

John 1:43-45 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

The synoptic accounts of the first disciples being called don't mention Philip:

Luke 5:1-11 [Jesus Calls the First Disciples] On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Mark 1:16-20 [Jesus Calls the First Disciples] Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Matthew 4:18-22 [Jesus Calls the First Disciples] While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.

Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

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One of my favorite go-to books on this kind of topic is St. Augustine's De Consensu Evangelistarum, which includes a chapter on the calling of the apostles. The full chapter is worth a read, but here is my breakdown of it as it applies to this specific question.

Statement of the Difficulty

37 The question may indeed be raised as to how John gives us this account of the calling of the disciples, which is to the effect that, certainly not in Galilee, but in the vicinity of the Jordan, Andrew first of all became a follower of the Lord, together with another disciple whose name is not declared; that, in the second place, Peter got that name from Him; and thirdly, that Philip was called to follow Him; whereas the other three evangelists, in a satisfactory concord with each other, Matthew and Mark in particular being remarkably at one here, tell us that the men were called when they were engaged in fishing.

. . .

It may indeed be supposed to bring before us a contradiction of no slight importance. For if it be the case that in the vicinity of the Jordan, and before Jesus went into Galilee, two men, on hearing the testimony of John the Baptist, followed Jesus [John]; that of these two disciples the one was Andrew, who at once went and brought his own brother Simon to Jesus; and that on this occasion that brother received the name Peter, by which he was thereafter to be called—how can it be said by the other evangelists that He found them engaged in fishing in Galilee, and called them there to be His disciples [Synoptics]?

Augustine's proposed solution

How can these diverse accounts be reconciled, unless it be that we are to understand that those men did not gain such a view of Jesus on the occasion connected with the vicinity of the Jordan as would lead them to attach themselves to Him for ever, but that they simply came to know who He was, and, after their first wonder at His Person, returned to their former engagements?

He goes on to mention that the "disciples" mentioned in John's account (those who were at the wedding of Cana and went down with him to Capharnaum do not necessarily refer to the apostles. He also mentions that the account of Matthew of the calling does not include a strict "after" chronology.

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    Wow, this is what I really love about this site. The shared knowledge that benefits and edifies all. This was exactly what I was looking for.
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    Apr 14, 2016 at 20:57

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