The first conciliar epistle of St. ap Peter. The Epistles of the Apostle Peter. Place and time of writing
Apostolic husband and disciple of St. The Apostle John the Theologian, in his epistle to the Philippians, as Eusebius testifies (Church History IV, 14), “gives some evidence from the first epistle of Petrov,” and this is fully confirmed by comparing the Polycarp epistle to the Philippians with the first Epistle of Ap. Peter (from the latter, St. Polycarp gives: I 8, 13, 21, II 11, 12, 22, 24, III 9, 4, 7). Equally clear evidence in favor of the authenticity of the first epistle of St. Peter are located at St. Irenaeus of Lyon, who also cites places from the message indicating that they belong to Ap. Peter (Adv. halres. IV, 9, 2, 16, 5), in Euseb. (Church. Ist. V, 8), in Tertullian ("Against the Jews"), in Clement of Alexandria (Strom. IV, 20). In general, Origen and Eusebius call 1 Peter the indisputable genuine επιστολή όμολογουμένη (Church. ist. VI, 25). Evidence of the common faith of the ancient Church of the first two centuries in the authenticity of 1 Peter is, finally, the finding of this epistle in the Syrian translation of the 2nd century by Pescito. And in all subsequent centuries, the ecumenical in the East and West agreed that this message was recognized by Petrov.
About the same affiliation of the message of Ap. Peter is also told by internal signs, represented by the very content of the epistle.
The general tone or emphasis of the views of the sacred writer of the epistle, the nature of his theology, moralizing and exhortation, fully corresponds to the properties and characteristics of the personality of the great supreme Apostle Peter, as it is known from the gospel and apostolic history. Two main characteristic features appear in the spiritual appearance of St. Apostle Peter: 1) a living, concrete way of thinking, inclined, in view of the distinguishing Ap. Peter's ardor, easily turns into an impulse to activity, and 2) the constant connection of the worldview of the Apostle with the teachings and aspirations of the Old Testament. The first feature of the Apostle Peter appears with all obviousness in the gospel references to him; (see ; ; ; ; ; etc.); the second is certified by his calling as an Apostle of circumcision (); both of these features were equally reflected in the speeches of St. Peter, set forth in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Theology and writings Peter are distinguished in general by the predominance of images and ideas over abstract reasoning. In the Apostle Peter we do not find such sublime metaphysical contemplations as in the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, nor such a subtle elucidation of the logical correlation of Christian ideas and dogmas as in the Apostle Paul. Attention St. Peter dwells mainly on events, history, mainly Christian, partly also Old Testament: covering Christianity, mainly as a fact of history, Ap. Peter is, one might say, a theologian-historian, or, in his own words, a witness of Christ: he considers his apostolic calling to be a witness of everything that the Lord has created, and especially of His resurrection. This is repeatedly mentioned in the speeches of the Apostle (), and the same is affirmed in his epistles (;). Equally characteristic of the Apostle Peter is the connection of his teaching with the Old Testament. This feature is very prominent in the writings of St. Apostle Peter. He illuminates Christianity everywhere mainly from the side of its connection with the Old Testament, since the Old Testament predictions and aspirations were realized in it: it is enough, for example, to compare the place from the speech of the Apostle Peter regarding the healing of the lame and the word, to see that all the judgments and proofs of the apostle proceed from the fact of Old Testament revelation and everywhere presuppose Old Testament prophecy, forewarning, and New Testament fulfillment. In this regard, in the teaching of Ap. Peter occupies a very prominent place the idea of Divine foreknowledge and predestination (the very word πρόγνωσις, enlightenment, foresight, except for the speeches and epistle of St. Petra -; is not found anywhere else in the New Testament). Both in his speeches and in the epistles of St. Peter very often speaks of the predestination of this or that event of the New Testament (Acts 16, 2:23–25, 3:18–20, 21, 4:28, 10:41, 42; ). But unlike Ap. Paul, who fully developed the doctrine of predestination (), Ap. Peter, without giving a theoretical explanation of the idea of Divine foreknowledge and predestination, offers the most detailed disclosure about the actual discovery of Divine foreknowledge and predestination in history - about prophecy. The doctrine of prophecy, of the inspiration of the prophets by the Holy Spirit, of the revelation to them of the mysteries of God, of their independent penetration into these mysteries, etc., is revealed in Ap. Peter with such fullness and clarity as none of the sacred writers - and this teaching equally found its expression both in epistles and in speeches (;, see).
Finally, a characteristic feature of the epistles, as well as the speeches of the Apostle Peter, is the abundance of direct quotations from the Old Testament. According to the scholar A. Klemen (Der Gebrauch des Alt. Testam. in d. neutest. Schriften. Guitersloh 1895, s 144), “none of the New Testament writings is so rich in references to, as 1 epistle of Ap. Peter: for every 105 verses of the epistle, there are 23 verses of Old Testament quotations.
This is a close coincidence in spirit, direction and main points of teaching between the speeches and epistles of St. Peter, as well as between the features of the content and the characteristic personality traits known from the Gospel in the activities of Ap. Peter, provides convincing evidence that the two Epistles belong to the same great, supreme Apostle Peter, whose speeches are also recorded in the book of Acts of St. apostles, namely in the first part of this book (). After the speech at the Apostolic Council (), the further activities of St. Peter becomes the property of church traditions, which are not always sufficiently defined (see Chet.-Min. June 29). As regards now the original appointment and the first readers of the First Epistle of the Epistle of Ap. Peter, the Apostle writes his epistle to the chosen aliens of the diaspora ( έκλεκτοις παρεπιδήμοις διασποράς ) Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (). In view of the fact that “scattering”, διασπορα , often means in Scripture (; ; ) the totality of Jews living in dispersion, outside Palestine, in pagan countries, many ancient and new interpreters of the epistle of St. Apostle Peter believed that it was written to Christians (έκλεκτοις, chosen ones) from the Jews.This view was held in antiquity by Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea (Church. ist. III 4), Epiphanius of Cyprus (Prot. heresies, XXVII 6), blessed Jerome (On famous men, ch. I) , Icumenius, Blessed Theophylact, in modern times - Berthold, Gooch, Weiss, Kühl, etc. But in all its exclusiveness, this opinion cannot be accepted: there are passages in the epistle that can be attributed to linguistic Christians, but by no means to These are, for example, the words of the Apostle in, where the reason for the former carnal and sinful life of the readers έν τή αγνοία, in ignorance of God and His holy law, and this very past life of them is called "a vain (ματαία) life, betrayed by fathers“: both are applicable only to the religious and moral of the pagans, and not of the Jews. The same should be said about places like. Therefore, one should 1) accept a mixed composition of readers - Judeo-Christians and linguistic Christians; 2) under the name "scatterers" one must understand Christians in general, without distinction of nationality; 3) “chosen strangers” are not individual Christians, but entire Christian church communities, as can be seen from the final greeting from the whole Church. If in the list of geographical names of 1 Peter 1 they saw an indication of the existence in Asia Minor of Judeo-Christian communities founded here earlier and independently of the gospel of St. Paul, and the foundation of these communities was learned by Ap. Peter, then all this is not confirmed by the New Testament data, which, on the contrary, attribute the first planting of Christianity in the Asia Minor provinces of An. Paul (; ; cf. Acts 14, etc.). In the same way, church tradition does not report anything definite about the preaching of St. Peter in the areas named by him.
What prompted A.P. Peter to send a message to the Christians of these provinces? The general purpose of the epistle, as can be seen from its content, is the intention of the Apostle - to confirm the readers of various social positions in the faith and rules of Christian life, to eliminate some internal discords, to calm in external sorrows, to warn against temptations from false teachers - in a word, planting in the life of Asia Minor Christians of those true spiritual blessings, the lack of which in the life and behavior of which was palpable and became known to the Apostle Peter, perhaps through the zealous collaborator Pavlov Siluan, who was with him at that time (; ; ). One can only note that the instructions, and especially the warnings of St. Peter are more general in nature than the instructions and warnings in the Pauline epistles, which is natural in view of the fact that Ap. Paul was the founder of the churches of Asia Minor and knew more closely the conditions of their life from personal direct experience.
The place of writing the first Epistle of the Epistle of Ap. Petra is Babylon, from where, on behalf of the local Christian community, the Apostle sends greetings to the churches of Asia Minor, to which he sends a message (). But what is to be understood here by Babylon, the opinions of the interpreters differ. Some (Keil, Neander, Veisog, etc.) see Babylon on the Euphrates, famous in antiquity, here. But this is already spoken against by the fact that by the gospel time this Babylon lay in ruins, representing one vast desert (έρημος πολλή - Strabo, Geograph. 16, 736), and then even more - the complete absence of evidence of church tradition about the stay of Ap. Peter in Mesopotamia and preaching it there. Others (here, Reverend Michael) mean in this case Babylon of Egypt - a small city on the right bank of the Nile, almost opposite Memphis: there was a Christian church (Chet.-Min. 4 June). But about the stay of Ap. Peter and in Egyptian Babylon, tradition says nothing, it only considers the evangelist Mark, a disciple of Ap. Peter, the founder of the Alexandrian Church (Evsev. Ts. I. II 16). It remains to accept the third opinion, expressed in antiquity by Eusebius (Ts. I. II 15) and now dominant in science, according to which Babylon () must be understood in an allegorical sense, namely: to see Rome here (Corneli, Hoffmann, Tsan, Farrar, Harnack, Prof. Bogdashevsky). In addition to Eusebius, from the ancient interpreters under Babylon they meant Rome blessed. Jerome, blessed Theophylact, Icumenius. Textual tradition also speaks in favor of this understanding: many minuscule codices have a gloss: έγράφη από Ρώριης . If it was pointed out against this that before the writing of the Apocalypse (see), the allegorical name of Rome by Babylon could not have formed, then in reality such a rapprochement of the former with the latter occurred, according to Shettgen (Horae hebr. p. 1050), much earlier, being caused by analogy between the ancient oppression of the Jews by the Chaldeans and the later oppression by the Romans. And the fact that in the final greetings of the Pauline epistles written from Rome (to the Philippians, Colossians, Timothy, Philemon) the latter is not called Babylon does not exclude the possibility of such word usage in Ap. Peter, who is generally characterized by allegory (for example, the word διασπορα in has a spiritual, figurative meaning). Thus, the place of writing 1 of the Epistle of Ap. Petra was Rome.
It is difficult to accurately determine the time of writing the message. Many ancient church writers (St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius the God-bearer, Dionysius of Corinth, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian, Origen, the canon of Muratorius) testify to the stay of Ap. Peter in Rome, but all of them do not date his arrival in Rome, even with even approximate accuracy, but mostly speak of the martyrdom of the chief apostles, again without an exact date of this event. Therefore, the question of the time of origin of the epistle under consideration must be decided on the basis of New Testament data. The epistle suggests the dispensation of St. Ap. Paul of the churches of Asia Minor, which took place, as is known, on the third great evangelistic journey of the Apostle of Tongues, about 56-57 years. according to R. X.; therefore, before this date, the first Epistle of Ap. Peter could not be written. Then, in this epistle, not without reason, signs of similarity with the Pauline epistles to the Romans and Ephesians were pointed out (cf., for example, 1 Peter 1 and etc.), but the first appeared not earlier than the year 53, and the second - not earlier than the 61st. In favor of the relatively late appearance of the message in question, the already mentioned, known from the message (), being at Ap. Petre Silvanus, companion of Ap. Paul. On the basis of all this, it can be considered probable that the epistle was written after the missionary activity of St. Paul in relation to the churches of Asia Minor ceased - when he was sent from Caesarea as a prisoner to Rome to be judged by Caesar (). It was then that it was natural to Ap. Peter to send a message to the churches of Asia Minor, who have lost their great evangelist, and to give them instruction in faith and piety and encouragement in the sorrows of life. Thus, the probable time of writing the epistle is the period between 62-64 years. (shortly after the first epistle, shortly before his martyrdom, the Apostle wrote the second epistle).
According to the peculiarities of his personal spiritual life, as well as the special purpose of the epistle, the Apostle Peter most of all and repeatedly teaches his readers the Christian hope in God and the Lord Jesus Christ and in salvation in Him. Just as the Apostle James is a preacher of truth, and the Evangelist John is the love of Christ, so St. Peter is par excellence the Apostle of Christian hope.
Isagogical and interpretive literature on the epistles of Ap. Peter in the West is very significant, such, for example, are the works of Hofmann "a, Wesinger" a Kuhl "I, Usten, Sieffert" and others. In Russian bibliological literature there is no special scholarly monograph on the epistles of St. Ap. Peter. But very valuable isagogeo-exegetical information about the subject is contained in the works of 1) prof. arch. D. I. Bogdashevsky. The message of St. Ap. Paul to the Ephesians. Kiev 1904 and 2) prof. O. I. Mishenko. St. Ap. Peter in the Acts of the Apostles. Kiev 1907. Bishop George's pamphlet also deserves full attention. Explanation of the most difficult passages in the first epistle of St. Apostle Peter. 1902. Closest of all to the explanation of the epistles of St. Peter, as well as other Epistles of the Council, is the classic work of Rev. ep. Michael "Explanatory Apostle", book. 2nd Ed. Kyiv. 1906. The “Public Explanations” of the Cathedral Epistles of Archimandro are also of some importance. († Archbishop) Nicanor. Kazan. 1889.
Both the evidence of ancient Christian tradition, and the internal signs contained in the epistle itself, undeniably prove that it belongs to St. chief apostle Peter. This message is used in his writings by the apostolic husband and disciple of St. John the Theologian St. Polycarp; knew it and used it and St. Papias of Hierapolis. We find references to this epistle in St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen. It is also found in the Syrian translation of Peshito.
The tone of speech in many places of the epistle fully corresponds to the ardor of temperament of the Apostle Peter known to us from the Gospel; the clarity and accuracy of speech, its similarity with the speeches of the Apostle Peter in the book of Acts also eloquently testify to the undoubted authorship of St. Peter.
The Holy Apostle Peter, formerly called Simon, was the son of the fisherman Jonah from Bethsaida of Galilee (John 1:42, 45) and the brother of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called, who led him to Christ. St. Peter was married and had a home in Capernaum (Matt. 8:14). Called by Christ the Savior to fish on the Lake of Gennesaret (Luke 5:8), on every occasion he expressed his special devotion and jealousy to Him, for which he was awarded a special approach to the Lord along with the sons of Zebedee (Luke 9:28) . Strong, fiery in spirit and resolute, he naturally took first place in the face of Christ's apostles. He was the first to resolutely confess the Lord Jesus Christ as the Christ, that is, the Messiah (Matt. 16:16), and for this he was awarded the name Stone (Peter); on this rock of Peter's faith, the Lord promised to build His Church, which even the gates of hell will not prevail against (Matt. 16:18). Three times his renunciation of the Lord by St. Peter washed with bitter tears of repentance, as a result of which, after His Resurrection, the Lord again restored him to apostolic dignity, three times, according to the number of renunciations, entrusting him to feed His lambs and sheep (John 21:15-17). He was the first to contribute to the spread and establishment of the Church of Christ after the descent of the Holy Spirit, delivering a powerful speech to the people on the day of Pentecost and converting 3,000 souls to Christ, and some time later, with another powerful speech, on the occasion of the healing of the lame from birth in the temple, he converted another 5,000 ( Acts ch. 2-4). The first part of the book of Acts (chaps. 1-12) tells mainly about his apostolic work. But since the time when he, miraculously freed by an angel from prison, went to another place (Acts 12:17), he is mentioned in the book of Acts only once more, when talking about the apostolic council (ch. 15). All other information about him was preserved only in church traditions, not very complete and not quite definite and consistent with each other. In any case, it is known that he traveled with the preaching of the Gospel along the Palestinian, Phoenician and Syrian shores of the Mediterranean Sea, was in Antioch, where he ordained the first bishop Euodius. Then he preached in the regions of Asia Minor to Jews and proselytes, then in Egypt, where he ordained Mark as the first bishop for the Alexandrian church. From here he moved to Greece (Achaia) and preached in Corinth, as can be seen from 1 Cor. 1:12 According to tradition, St. Peter from Greece went to Italy and was in Rome, then visited Spain, Carthage and Britain. Towards the end of his life, St. Peter again arrived in Rome, where he was martyred along with St. Apostle Paul in 67, being crucified upside down.
The original purpose of the epistle, the reason for writing and the purpose
The original purpose of the epistle is clear from the very inscription: it is addressed to "newcomers scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia" (1:1) - the provinces of Asia Minor. By these "newcomers" one must understand mainly the believing Jews, for St. Peter was predominantly "an apostle of the circumcised" (Gal. 2:7), but, as can be seen from some places in the epistle (2:10; 4:3, 4), here also the Gentiles are meant, who, of course, were also part of the Christian communities in Asia Minor, as can be seen from the book of Acts and some of the letters of St. apostle Paul.
What motives could St. Apostle Peter to write to the Christians of Asia Minor, whose communities were founded, as we know from the book of Acts, St. apostle Paul?
The inner reason, of course, was for the Apostle Peter the Lord's command to "strengthen your brothers" (Lk. 22:32). The external reason was the discord that appeared in these communities, and in particular the persecution that befell them from the enemies of the Cross of Christ (as can be seen from 1 Pet. 1:6-7 and 4:12, 13, 19; 5:9). In addition to external enemies, even more subtle enemies appeared - internal, in the person of false teachers. Taking advantage of the absence of St. Apostle Paul, they began to distort his teaching about Christian freedom and patronize all moral licentiousness (1 Pet. 2:16; 2 Pet. 1:9; 2:1). There is reason to believe that information about the trials that befell the Asia Minor communities was delivered by St. to the Apostle Peter Silouan, who was the constant companion of the Apostle Paul, but after the conclusion of the Apostle Paul, he passed into bonds to St. Peter.
The purpose of the epistle, therefore, is to encourage, console the Christians of Asia Minor in sorrows and confirm them in the faith. The last goal of St. Peter himself means: "I wrote this briefly to you through Silouan, your faithful brother, as I think, to assure you, comforting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand" (5:12).
Place and time of writing
The place where St. Peter wrote his first epistle, Babylon is indicated (5:13). Roman Catholics who claim that St. the apostle Peter was bishop of the city of Rome for 25 years, they want to see in this "Babylon" an allegorical name for Rome. Such an allegory is hardly appropriate in a farewell greeting. It is more natural to see in this the real name of the city. There is no need to assume that this was the Babylon of Euphrates, about the visit of St. Peter, we have no news. In Egypt there was a small town on the banks of the Nile, founded by settlers from Babylon, who also called it Babylon. In the history of the Christian Church, the Babylonian Church in Egypt is known (Thurs.-Min. for June 4. Life of St. Zosima). St. Peter was in Egypt, he placed there, in Alexandria, St. Mark as a bishop, and therefore it is quite natural that he could write from there and at the same time convey greetings from St. Brand.
When this message was written, it is impossible to determine with certainty. Assumptions about the time of its writing are based on the fact that under St. Peter was then Silouan and Mark, on whose behalf the apostle sends greetings to Asia Minor (1 Pet. 5:12, 13). Both of these persons accompanied St. the Apostle Paul and were well known to the Christians of Asia Minor. They could probably leave him only after St. the Apostle Paul was taken into chains and sent to Rome for judgment by Caesars (Acts ch. 26-27). It was also natural for Peter to take care of his flock after Paul was taken into bondage. And since the first epistle was written shortly before the second, which, undoubtedly, was written before the martyrdom of St. Peter, which followed in the year 67, then the date of writing the first epistle is determined between 62 and 64 AD.
The first epistle of St. Apostle Peter consists of only five chapters. Their content is as follows:
First chapter: Inscription and greeting (1-2). Glory to God for the grace of rebirth (3-5), for the sake of which one should rejoice in sorrows (6-9) and to which the searches of the prophets belonged (10-12). Exhortation to the sanctity of life (13-21) and mutual love (22-25).
The second chapter: Instructions on spiritual growth (1-3) and dispensation (4-10), on a virtuous life (11-12), on obedience to authorities (13-17), on the obedience of servants to masters (18-20). An example of the sufferings of the Lord (21-25).
Third chapter: Moral instructions for wives (1-6), husbands (7) and all Christians (8-17). Christ suffered, descended into hell, resurrected and ascended (18-22).
Fourth chapter: Instructions to Christians regarding various moral qualities and virtues (1-11), especially about innocent malice (12-19).
Fifth chapter: Instructions for shepherds and flocks (1-9). Apostolic blessing (10-11). News and greetings (12-14).
Exegetical, analysis of the first epistle of St. Apostle Peter
Begins his first conciliar epistle of St. Apostle Peter with the words: "Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ" - it is impossible not to see that St. the apostle deliberately exposes his apostolic dignity, for the churches to which he wrote were not founded by him and did not have a personal acquaintance with him. After listing to whom his message is addressed, St. Throughout his epistle, Peter tries to strengthen and uplift the moral life of the oppressed Christians of Asia Minor with various inspired edifications. In the first two chapters, he reveals ""the greatness and glory of the salvation given to us in Jesus Christ," which gives the whole section a dogmatic tone.In the remaining chapters, exclusively moral instructions predominate.
Christians of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, St. the apostle calls "strangers" in a double sense: they live outside their fatherland - Palestine; for Christians, life on earth is wandering and wandering, for a Christian's own fatherland is another world, a spiritual world. The apostle calls them "chosen ones" in the sense that in the New Testament all Christians constitute the new chosen people of God, as the Jews were in the Old Testament (1:1). They were chosen “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, with sanctification from the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ” - all three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity took part in the salvation of people: God the Father, knowing by His foreknowledge which of the people how to use the free gift given to him will, predestinates people to salvation; The Son of God, by His death on the cross, completed the very work of salvation, and the Holy Spirit, through His grace, sanctifies the elect, assimilating to them the work of salvation accomplished by Christ (v. 2). From the depths of his heart, filled with gratitude to God for the redemption of the world, the apostle then lifts up a glorification of God, who gave people an "incorruptible inheritance", in contrast to the sensual earthly one that the Jews expected from the Messiah (vv. 3-4). Having said further that the power of God "through faith" keeps them "unto salvation", he apostolizes that this salvation will be revealed in all its power only in "the last time"; but now it is necessary to mourn "a little", so that the faith tested by the fire of temptations will turn out to be more precious than the most refined gold "at the appearing of Jesus Christ", that is, at His second coming (vv. 5-7). Ends his doxology of St. the apostle, pointing out the great importance of the economy of our salvation, to which all the searches and investigations of the prophets belonged; and which is so deep that "the angels desire to penetrate into it" (vv. 8-12). Based on all that has been said, the apostle offers a series of moral instructions, reinforcing them with high dogmatic contemplations. The first general instruction is about sin. strong hope in the grace of Christ with childlike obedience to God as Father and striving to become like Him in the holiness of life: "be holy, for I am holy" (vv. 13-16). This should be prompted by a high consciousness of the price at which Christians are redeemed: "not with silver or gold," "but with the precious blood of Christ" (vv. 17-20). This is a lofty motive - to keep the faith of Christ and hold fast to it, in spite of any temptations (vv. 21-25).
In the second chapter, St. Peter inspires Christians that, living among hostile pagans, they must show with their holy, virtuous life that they are "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy people, a people taken as an inheritance, in order to proclaim the perfections of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. ". Then the pagans, seeing the virtuous life of a Christian, will themselves turn to Christ and glorify God for that for which the believers were previously reviled.
Here, in refutation of the false teaching of the Roman Catholics that the person of the Apostle Peter is the stone on which the Church is founded, it is important to note that St. the apostle Peter does not call himself a "rock" at all, but the Lord Jesus Christ, as can be seen from verse 4. The foundation of the Church, its cornerstone is Christ Himself, and all believers, members of the Church - "living stones" - must build themselves on this stone "a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God" (v. 5) - just as God in the Old Testament had His own temple and His priests, who served Him with sacrifices, so in the New Testament the whole society of Christians in the spiritual sense should be both a temple and priests. This, of course, is figurative speech, and this does not abolish the priesthood as a special class of persons appointed in the Church to teach, perform the sacraments, and govern. All believers are called "holy priesthood" because they must "offer spiritual sacrifices" to God, that is, sacrifices of virtue. Virtues are called "sacrifices" because their performance is associated with the feat of suppressing one's passions and lusts. In verses 6-8, St. the apostle again calls the Lord Jesus Christ "the cornerstone," referring to the prophecy of Isaiah 28:16, which certainly refers to the Messiah. This prophecy was applied by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to Himself (Matt. 21:42). In verse 9, St. the apostle calls Christians again "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people taken as an inheritance" - all these features are borrowed from the Old Testament names of the Jewish people and applied to Christians, since in Christians what these names originally meant in application to the Jewish people (cf. Ex. 19:5-6). And St. John the Theologian in his Apocalypse says that in the spiritual sense the Lord Jesus Christ has made all of us, Christians, kings and priests to God and His Father (1:6). These figurative expressions, pointing only to the high dignity of the Christian rank, of course, cannot be taken literally, as they do, these are sectarians who, on the basis of these words of the apostle, reject the priesthood and royal power legally established in the Church. "Once not a people, but now the people of God" (v. 10) - these words are borrowed from the prophet
Hosea (2:23), where God, calling the then Jewish people not His people, since they were unworthy of it due to their sinful way of life, promises that in the time of the Messiah the people will become worthy for God to say to them: "You are My people ". This promise was fulfilled when the best part of the Jewish people accepted the teachings of Christ. This saying is all the more applicable to Christians from former pagans. From verse 11, the apostle begins purely moral instructions concerning the inner and personal life of Christians. Here he, as it were, reveals in detail exactly how this royal priesthood of Christians should be expressed, what spiritual sacrifices they should make and how they should behave so that the pagans, seeing their virtuous life, glorify them for what they now slander for. The persecutors of Christians were led by pagan authorities and the upper classes of pagan society, and Christianity initially spread mainly among slaves. The disenfranchised position of these slaves worsened even more with their acceptance of the persecuted faith of Christ. The consciousness of the injustice of persecution could induce Christians who were not yet strong in faith to murmur and resistance. To prevent this, the apostle in verses 13-19 teaches obedience to every human authority "for the Lord." This obedience and Christian freedom are by no means mutually exclusive, but, on the contrary, freedom, understood in the true sense, imposes the duty of obedience and the duties connected with it. Christian freedom is spiritual freedom, not external: it consists in freedom from slavery to sin, the sinful world and the devil, but at the same time it is slavery to God and therefore imposes obligations required by the Word of God. Christian freedom can be abused by reinterpreting the concept of it and covering with it any unbridledness, which is what Christians should be afraid of. In warning against such an abuse of the concept of Christian freedom, the apostle may be referring to the false Gnostic teachers who appeared at that time. Calling for the patient enduring of unjust suffering, the apostle points to the example of the Lord Jesus Himself "Christ" (vv. 20-25) and convinces Christians "that we follow in His footsteps," that is, to imitate Him in the patient enduring of suffering.
In the third chapter, St. the apostle gives moral instruction to wives, husbands, and all Christians. The apostle commands wives to obey their husbands. This refers especially to Christian wives who were married to Jewish or pagan husbands who did not accept the Christian faith. The position of such wives was, of course, very difficult. Naturally, they could be tempted to be under the special guidance of persons already enlightened by the Christian faith, that is, other people's husbands, to become in a special relationship of obedience to other people's husbands, through which misunderstandings and discord in family life could be generated. The apostle warns such women with particular care against such a temptation and inspires them to obey their own husbands, even if they were unbelievers, indicating the lofty goal of this: "that those of them who do not obey the word, by the life of their wives without a word, be won." The apostle inspires that the true adornment of a Christian woman is not in the outward dress, but in the inner beauty of "a meek and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God" (v. 4). As an example, the apostle gives Sarah, who obeyed her husband Abraham.
The plight of a woman, both in the ancient pagan world and among the Jews, prompts the apostle to give instructions to the husband regarding his wife, so that the instruction on the obedience of his wife would not give the husband a reason to abuse this obedience. A husband is to treat his wife with care, as a "weaker vessel" (vv. 5-7).
Further, the apostle gives moral instructions to all Christians in general, inspiring them to rejoice if they suffer for the sake of righteousness, for "Christ also ... suffered for our sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, being put to death according to the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, by which He and those in prison He went down to the spirits and preached" (vv. 18-19). Under this "dungeon", as the Greek word used here shows, one must understand Hell, or "Sheol" - the place where, according to the Jews, all the souls of people who died before the coming of the Messiah descended; it is a place in the underworld, that is, under the earth or within the earth. This is not hell in our sense of the word, as a place of eternal torment for sinners, but still a place, as its name shows, that is embarrassing for the human spirit, unpleasant, undesirable. This was the place before the coming of Christ for all the people who died in the Old Testament, although, apparently, there were still different degrees, depending on the wickedness or righteousness of the dead. The Lord descended into this "dungeon" to preach about the salvation of mankind accomplished by Him. This was the call of all the souls who died before Christ and were in Sheol to enter the Kingdom of Christ, and those who repented and believed without a doubt were released from their place of imprisonment and introduced into the paradise opened by the Resurrection of Christ - the place of blessedness of the righteous. According to church tradition, this sermon of Christ Himself in hell was preceded there by a sermon about Christ by St. John the Baptist (see his troparion). "Rebellious" means that the preaching of Christ the Savior was also addressed to the most stubborn sinners, an example of which the apostle sets up Noah's contemporaries who perished from the flood. From verse 6 of chapter 4, we can conclude that those who were saved by the preaching of Christ in hell were also of these: "For for this reason the good news was also given to the dead, that they, being judged according to man in the flesh, should live according to God in the spirit." By this, the apostle also emphasizes that the preaching of Christ was addressed to all people without exception, not excluding the pagans, and, moreover, the most sinful of them (vv. 19-20). From the thought of the flood and those who were saved in the ark in verse 20, the apostle passes to the sacrament of baptism, represented by the flood water. In verse 21 the apostle defines the essence of baptism. It is not a “cleansing of fleshly impurity,” similar, for example, to the numerous and varied Jewish ablutions, which, while cleansing only the body, did not in the least touch spiritual impurity: it is “a promise to God of a good conscience.” These words do not mean, of course, that a good conscience, or cleansing from spiritual defilements, is not given in baptism, for it is further said that "baptism saves through the resurrection of Christ" (v. 21). The apostle points here only to the need for the baptized to decide to start a new life in good conscience.
The fourth chapter is all devoted to moral instructions. These moral instructions are based on the thought of the sufferings of Christ: “since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourself with the same thought: for he who suffers in the flesh ceases to sin” (v. 1). This entire chapter is permeated with the thought of patiently enduring persecution for the faith and of the need to overcome the evil attitude of the enemies of the faith by a virtuous life. "He who suffers in the flesh ceases to sin" - bodily suffering, whether from a voluntary feat of self-mortification or from violent oppression from without, weakens the strength and effect of human sinfulness. At the same time, the same idea is expressed here as in chapter 6 of the epistle of St. Apostle Paul to the Romans: that he who is crucified with Christ and who dies with Him dies to sin, must consider himself dead to sin, but alive to God. The apostle urges Christians not to be embarrassed by the fact that the pagans slander them for the radical change that has taken place in them in their lives, reminding them that they will also be judged by God for their debauchery (vv. 2-6). "The end of everything is near" - in the sense that Christians must always be ready for the coming of Christ. From this, the apostle deduces the necessity of a moral life for Christians and gives a number of instructions, placing love at the head of everything, because "love covers a multitude of sins" (v. 8), as St. Apostle James. Chapter 4 ends with an admonition to the martyrs: "Do not shun the fiery temptation..." (v. 12). Christians must fearlessly confess their faith, not fearing slander and suffering, but glorifying God for such a fate (vv. 13-19).
The fifth chapter contains instructions to pastors and flocks, an apostolic blessing and concluding greetings. The apostle admonishes shepherds to shepherd the flock of God, overseeing it not under compulsion, but willingly, not for vile self-interest, but out of zeal, and not ruling over the heritage of God, but setting an example for the flock. He edifies the flock so that, obeying their shepherds and surrendering themselves humbly to the guidance of the strong hand of God, they themselves, however, are sober and vigilant, for the adversary the devil walks like a lion, looking for someone to devour. The three main features of true shepherding are here pointed out by St. Peter: 1) "Shepherd God's flock, overseeing it not under compulsion, but willingly and pleasing to God" - here it is said that the shepherd himself must be filled with love for his great work, must feel an inner calling for him, so as not to be a hireling instead of the true shepherd (5:2); 2) "not for vile self-interest, but from zeal" - this is the second feature of the good shepherd, which can be called unselfishness. This does not mean that the shepherd should not use anything from his flock (see 1 Cor. 9:7, 13, 14), but only that the shepherd does not dare to put his personal benefits and material profit at the forefront of his pastoral activity. ; 3) "not dominating... but setting an example" - a shepherd cannot but have power over his flock, but this power should not be in the nature of worldly domination with violence, oppression and oppression, in which elements of self-love would be expressed; the true shepherd must himself be a good example to his flock - then he will easily, without coercion, acquire the necessary authority and spiritual power over them (5:3). For such good shepherding, St. the apostle promises "an unfading crown" from the Chief Shepherd - Christ (5:4). “Also also the younger ones,” that is, all not elders, not presbyters, but those who are younger in position in church society, that is, those who are flocked, “obey the shepherds,” “yet, submitting to one another, clothe yourself with humility, because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" - "submit to each other" means that each in his position must obey the elders, those who are in authority over him, and thereby show humility, which alone attracts the grace of God to a person (5: 5-7). The apostle calls for sobriety and spiritual vigilance, pointing out that the enemy of human salvation, the devil, "walks like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" - like a hungry lion, the devil, eternally spiritually hungry and eternally irritated against those whom he cannot devour, frightens them, like a lion with his roar, his anger, and seeks to do them any harm. It must first of all be resisted with "strong faith," for faith unites with Christ, the Conqueror of the devil (5:8-9). Finishes his first epistle to St. Peter with good wishes from God - to be firm, unshakable in faith, conveys greetings from the church in Babylon and from "his son Mark", and the teaching of "peace in Christ Jesus" (5:10-14).
The persecution of the Church ceased only at the beginning of the fourth century, when the Christian emperor Constantine the Great ascended the throne.
In the year 313, the emperor issued the famous Edict of Milan on complete religious tolerance. According to the edict, Christianity became the state religion.
Attacks on the Church by external enemies ceased, but they were replaced by an internal enemy, even more dangerous for the Church. This worst enemy was the heretical teaching of the Alexandrian presbyter Arius.
The Arian heresy concerned the fundamental principle of the Christian faith - the doctrine of the Divinity of the Son of God.
Arius rejected the divine dignity of Jesus Christ and His equality with God the Father. The heretic argued that "the Son of God was nothing more than the highest perfect creation of the Deity, through which the world was created." “If the second Person is called in the Holy Scriptures the Son of God,” Arius argued, “it is not at all by nature, but by adoption.”
Hearing about the new heresy, Bishop Alexander of Alexandria tried to reason with Arius, but the exhortations of the archpastor were in vain. The heretic was firm and adamant.
When heresy, like a plague, swept Alexandria and its environs, Bishop Alexander in the year 320 convened a Local Council, at which he condemned the false teaching of Arius.
But this did not stop the apostate: having written letters to many bishops complaining about the decision of the Local Council and having received their support, Arius began to spread his teaching throughout the East. Rumors of heretical unrest soon reached the Emperor Constantine himself. He entrusted the investigation of the turmoil to Bishop Hosea of Kordub. Convinced that the false teaching of Arius was directed against the foundations of the Church of Christ, Constantine decided to convene an Ecumenical Council. In the year 325, at his invitation, three hundred and eighteen fathers arrived in Nicaea: bishops, presbyters, deacons and monks - representatives of all the Local Churches.
The great fathers of the Church also took part in the Council: St. Nicholas, Archbishop Mir of Lycia, St. Spyridon, Bishop of Trimifunts, and others. Bishop Alexander of Alexandria arrived with his deacon Athanasius, later the famous Saint Athanasius the Great, Patriarch of Alexandria. The emperor himself attended the meetings of the Council. He delivered a fiery speech. "God helped me overthrow the wicked power of the persecutors," said Constantine. "But it is incomparably more regrettable for me than any war, any bloody battle, and incomparably more pernicious is internal internecine strife in the Church of God."
During the conciliar debate, Arius and his supporters, among the seventeen bishops, held themselves proudly and adamantly.
For two months and twelve days, those gathered participated in the debate, clarifying theological formulations. Finally, decisions were adopted and announced, which have since become binding on the entire Christian world.
The council became the spokesman for the apostolic teaching about the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity: The Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God is the true God, born of God the Father before all ages, He is just as eternal as God the Father; He was born, not created, and consubstantial, that is, one in His nature with God the Father. So that all Orthodox Christians could clearly know the dogmas of their faith, they were briefly and accurately stated in the first seven parts of the Creed, which has since been called the Nicene.
The false teaching of Arius, as a delusion of a proud mind, was denounced and rejected, and the Council excommunicated the heretic himself from the Church.
After resolving the main dogmatic issue, the Council established twenty canons, that is, rules on issues of church administration and discipline. The issue of the day of celebration of Holy Pascha was resolved. By the decision of the Council, Holy Pascha should be celebrated by Christians not on the same day as the Jewish one, and without fail on the first Sunday after the day of the vernal equinox.
Both the evidence of ancient Christian tradition, and the internal signs contained in the epistle itself, undeniably prove that it belongs to St. chief apostle Peter. This message is used in his writings by the apostolic husband and disciple of St. John the Theologian St. Polycarp; knew it and used it and St. Papias of Hierapolis. We find references to this epistle in St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen. It is also found in the Syrian translation of Peshito.
The tone of speech in many places of the epistle fully corresponds to the ardor of temperament of the Apostle Peter known to us from the Gospel; the clarity and accuracy of speech, its similarity with the speeches of the Apostle Peter in the book of Acts also eloquently testify to the undoubted authorship of St. Peter.
The Holy Apostle Peter, formerly called Simon, was the son of the fisherman Jonah from Bethsaida of Galilee (John 1:42, 45) and the brother of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called, who led him to Christ. St. Peter was married and had a home in Capernaum (Matt. 8:14). Called by Christ the Savior to fish on the Lake of Gennesaret (Luke 5:8), at every opportunity he expressed to Him his special devotion and zeal, for which he was awarded a special approach to the Lord along with the sons of Zebedee (Luke 9:28).
Strong, fiery in spirit and resolute, he naturally took first place in the face of Christ's apostles. He was the first to resolutely confess the Lord Jesus Christ as Christ, i.e. Messiah (Mt. 16:16), and for this he was awarded the name Stone (Peter); on this rock of Peter's faith, the Lord promised to build His Church, which even the gates of hell will not prevail against (Matt. 16:18). Three times his renunciation of the Lord by St. Peter washed with bitter tears of repentance, as a result of which, after His Resurrection, the Lord again restored him to apostolic dignity, three times, according to the number of renunciations, entrusting him to feed His lambs and sheep (John 21:15-17). He was the first to contribute to the spread and establishment of the Church of Christ after the descent of the Holy Spirit, delivering a powerful speech to the people on the day of Pentecost and converting 3,000 souls to Christ, and some time later, with another powerful speech, on the occasion of the healing of the lame from birth in the temple, he converted another 5,000 ( Acts ch. 2-4).
The first part of the book of Acts (chaps. 1-12) tells mainly about his apostolic work. But since the time when he, miraculously freed by an angel from prison, went to another place (Acts 12:17), he is mentioned in the book of Acts only once more, when talking about the apostolic council (ch. 15). All other information about him was preserved only in church traditions, not very complete and not quite definite and consistent with each other.
In any case, it is known that he traveled with the preaching of the Gospel along the Palestinian, Phoenician and Syrian shores of the Mediterranean Sea, was in Antioch, where he ordained the first bishop Euodius. Then he preached in the regions of Asia Minor to Jews and proselytes, then in Egypt, where he ordained Mark as the first bishop for the Alexandrian church. From here he moved to Greece (Achaia) and preached in Corinth, as can be seen from 1 Cor. 1:12.
According to legend, St. Peter from Greece went to Italy and was in Rome, then visited Spain, Carthage and Britain. Towards the end of his life, St. Peter again arrived in Rome, where he was martyred along with St. Apostle Paul in 67, being crucified upside down.
The original purpose of the epistle, the reason for writing and the purpose
The original purpose of the epistle is clear from the very inscription of it: it is addressed to " aliens scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia"(1:1) - the provinces of Asia Minor. Under these " aliens"it is necessary to understand mainly the believing Jews, for St. Peter was predominantly" the apostle of the circumcised"(Gal. 2:7), but, as can be seen from some places of the message (2:10; 4:3, 4), here they also mean the pagans, who, of course, were also part of the Christian communities of Asia Minor, as this is evident from the book of Acts and some of the epistles of St. Paul the Apostle.
What motives could St. Apostle Peter to write to the Christians of Asia Minor, whose communities were founded, as we know from the book of Acts, St. apostle Paul?
The internal reason, of course, was for the Apostle Peter the command of the Lord " confirm your brothers"(Luke 22:32). The outward reason was the discord that appeared in these communities, and in particular the persecution that befell them from the enemies of the Cross of Christ (as can be seen from 1 Pet. 1:6-7 and 4:12, 13, 19; 5:9).In addition to external enemies, even more subtle enemies appeared - internal ones, in the person of false teachers. Taking advantage of the absence of the holy Apostle Paul, they began to distort his teaching on Christian freedom and patronize all moral licentiousness (1 Pet. 2:16 ; 2 Pet. 1:9; 2:1).
There is reason to believe that information about the trials that befell the Asia Minor communities was delivered by St. to the Apostle Peter Silouan, who was the constant companion of the Apostle Paul, but after the conclusion of the Apostle Paul, he passed into bonds to St. Peter.
The purpose of the epistle, therefore, is to encourage, console the Christians of Asia Minor in sorrows and confirm them in the faith. The last goal of St. Peter himself means: this I wrote briefly to you through Silouan, your faithful brother, as I think, to assure you, comforting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand" (5:12).
Place and time of writing
The place where St. Peter wrote his first epistle, Babylon is indicated (5:13). Roman Catholics who claim that St. the apostle Peter was the bishop of the city of Rome for 25 years, they want to see in this " Babylon"The allegorical name of Rome. Such an allegory is hardly appropriate in a farewell greeting.
It is more natural to see in this the real name of the city. There is no need to assume that this was the Babylon of Euphrates, about the visit of St. Peter, we have no news. In Egypt there was a small town on the banks of the Nile, founded by settlers from Babylon, who also called it Babylon. In the history of the Christian Church, the Babylonian Church in Egypt is known (Thurs.-Min. for June 4. Life of St. Zosima). St. Peter was in Egypt, he placed there, in Alexandria, St. Mark as a bishop, and therefore it is quite natural that he could write from there and at the same time convey greetings from St. Brand.
When this message was written, it is impossible to determine with certainty. Assumptions about the time of its writing are based on the fact that under St. Peter was then Silouan and Mark, on whose behalf the apostle sends greetings to Asia Minor (1 Pet. 5:12, 13). Both of these persons accompanied St. the Apostle Paul and were well known to the Christians of Asia Minor. They could probably leave him only after St. the Apostle Paul was taken into chains and sent to Rome for judgment by Caesars (Acts ch. 26-27).
It was also natural for Peter to take care of his flock after Paul was taken into bondage. And since The first epistle was written shortly before the second, which was undoubtedly written before the martyrdom of St. Peter, which followed in the year 67, then the date of writing the first epistle is determined between 62 and 64 AD.
The first epistle of St. Apostle Peter consists of only 5 chapters. Their content is as follows:
1st chapter: Inscription and greeting (1-2). Glory to God for the grace of rebirth (3-5), for the sake of which one should rejoice in sorrows (6-9) and to which the searches of the prophets belonged (10-12). Exhortation to the sanctity of life (13-21) and mutual love (22-25).
2nd chapter: Instructions on spiritual growth (1-3) and dispensation (4-10), on a virtuous life (11-12), on obedience to authorities (13-17), on the obedience of servants to masters (18-20). An example of the sufferings of the Lord (21-25).
3rd chapter: Moral instructions for wives (1-6), husbands (7) and all Christians (8-17). Christ suffered, descended into hell, resurrected and ascended (18-22).
4th chapter: Instructions to Christians regarding various moral qualities and virtues (1-11), especially about innocent malice (12-19).
5th chapter: Instructions for shepherds and flocks (1-9). Apostolic blessing (10-11). News and greetings (12-14).
Exegetical, analysis of the first epistle of St. Apostle Peter
Begins his first conciliar epistle of St. Apostle Peter in the words: Peter, Apostle of Jesus Christ"- it is impossible not to see that the holy apostle deliberately exposes his apostolic dignity, for the churches to which he wrote were not founded by him and did not have a personal acquaintance with him.
After listing to whom his message is addressed, St. Throughout his epistle, Peter tries to strengthen and uplift the moral life of the oppressed Christians of Asia Minor with various inspired edifications.
In the first 2 chapters, he reveals " the majesty and glory of the salvation given to us in Jesus Christ", which gives the whole section a dogmatic connotation. In the remaining chapters, exclusively moral instructions predominate.
Christians of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, St. the apostle calls aliens"in a twofold sense: they live outside their fatherland - Palestine; for Christians, life on earth is wandering and wandering, for a Christian's own fatherland is another world, a spiritual world.
The apostle calls them " elected"in the sense that in the New Testament all Christians constitute the new chosen people of God, as the Jews were in the Old Testament (1:1). They are chosen" according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, with sanctification from the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ"- all three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity took part in the work of saving people: God the Father, knowing by His foreknowledge which of the people how to use the free will granted to him, predestinates people to salvation; the Son of God, by His death on the Cross, completed the very work of salvation, and the Holy Spirit through his grace he sanctifies the elect, appropriating to them the work of salvation accomplished by Christ (v. 2).
From the depths of his heart, filled with gratitude to God for the redemption of the world, the apostle then lifts up praise to God, who has given to people " incorruptible inheritance", as opposed to the sensual earthly things that the Jews expected from the Messiah (vv. 3-4).
Having said further that the power of God " through faith"obeys them" to salvation", the apostle suggests that this salvation will be revealed in all its power only in " Lately"; now it is necessary to grieve" Little"so that faith tested by the fire of temptations may be more precious than the most refined gold" at the appearance of Jesus Christ", i.e., at his second coming (vv. 5-7).
Ends his doxology of St. the apostle, pointing out the great importance of the economy of our salvation, to which all the searches and investigations of the prophets belonged; and which is so deep that it the angels wish to enter"(vv. 8-12).
Based on all that has been said, the apostle offers a series of moral instructions, reinforcing them with high dogmatic contemplations. The first general instruction is about perfect hope in the grace of Christ with childlike obedience to God as Father and striving to become like Him in the holiness of life: " be holy because I am holy"(v. 13-16). This should be prompted by a high consciousness of the price at which Christians are redeemed: " not silver or gold", "but the precious blood of Christ"(vv. 17-20). This is a high motive - to keep the faith of Christ and hold fast to it, in spite of any temptations (v. 21-25).
In 2nd chapter St. Peter inspires Christians that they, living among hostile pagans, must show by their holy, virtuous lives that they " a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy people, a people taken as an inheritance, in order to proclaim the perfections of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light". Then the pagans, seeing the virtuous life of a Christian, will themselves turn to Christ and glorify God for what the believers were previously reviled for.
Here, in refutation of the false teaching of the Roman Catholics that the person of the Apostle Peter is the stone on which the Church is founded, it is important to note that St. the apostle Peter calls stone"not at all himself, but the Lord Jesus Christ, as can be seen from verse 4. The foundation of the Church, its cornerstone is Christ Himself, and all believers, members of the Church - " living stones"- must arrange themselves on this stone" a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God"(v. 5) - just as God in the Old Testament had His temple and His priests, who served Him with sacrifices, so in the New Testament the whole society of Christians in the spiritual sense should be both a temple and priests.
This, of course, is figurative speech, and this does not abolish the priesthood as a special class of persons appointed in the Church to teach, perform the sacraments, and govern. All believers are called " holy priesthood"because they have to" make spiritual sacrifices"God, i.e. sacrifices of virtue. Virtues are called" victims"because the fulfillment of them is associated with the feat of suppressing one's passions and lusts.
In verses 6-8, St. the apostle again calls the Lord Jesus Christ " cornerstone", referring to the prophecy of Isaiah 28:16, the words of which undoubtedly refer to the Messiah. This prophecy and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself referred to Himself (Matt. 21:42).
In verse 9, St. the apostle calls Christians again" chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy people, people taken as inheritance"- all these features are borrowed from the Old Testament names of the Jewish people and are applied to Christians, because in Christians what these names originally meant when applied to the Jewish people has finally come true (cf. Ex. 19: 5-6). And St. John the Theologian in his Apocalypse says that in the spiritual sense the Lord Jesus Christ has made all of us, Christians, kings and priests to God and His Father (1:6).
These figurative expressions, pointing only to the high dignity of the Christian rank, of course, cannot be taken literally, as they do, these are sectarians who, on the basis of these words of the apostle, reject the priesthood and royal power legally established in the Church.
"Once not a people, but now the people of God"(v. 10) - these words are borrowed from the prophet Hosea (2:23), where God, calling the Jewish people of that time not His people, because they were unworthy in their sinful way of life, promises that in the time of the Messiah the people will be made worthy that God should say to them: you are my people". This promise was fulfilled when the best part of the Jewish people accepted the teachings of Christ. This saying can be applied even more to Christians from former pagans.
From verse 11, the apostle begins purely moral instructions concerning the inner and personal life of Christians. Here he, as it were, reveals in detail exactly how this royal priesthood of Christians should be expressed, what spiritual sacrifices they should make and how they should behave so that the pagans, seeing their virtuous life, glorify them for what they now slander for. The persecutors of Christians were led by pagan authorities and the upper classes of pagan society, and Christianity initially spread mainly among slaves. The disenfranchised position of these slaves worsened even more with their acceptance of the persecuted faith of Christ. The consciousness of the injustice of persecution could induce Christians who were not yet strong in faith to murmur and resistance.
To prevent this, the apostle in verses 13-19 teaches obedience to every human authority " for the Lord". This obedience and Christian freedom are by no means mutually exclusive, but, on the contrary, freedom, understood in the true sense, imposes the duty of obedience and the obligations associated with it. Christian freedom is spiritual freedom, and not external: it consists in freedom from slavery to sin , the sinful world and the devil, but at the same time it is slavery to God and therefore imposes obligations required by the Word of God, Christian freedom can be abused, reinterpreting the concept of it and covering up with it any unbridledness, which Christians should be afraid of. Christian freedom, the apostle, perhaps, has in mind the false Gnostic teachers who appeared then. example of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself"(vv. 20-25) and convinces Christians" that we may follow in His footsteps", i.e. imitate Him in patiently enduring suffering.
V 3rd chapter St. the apostle gives moral instruction to wives, husbands, and all Christians. The apostle commands wives to obey their husbands. This refers especially to Christian wives who were married to Jewish or pagan husbands who did not accept the Christian faith.
The position of such wives was, of course, very difficult. Naturally, they could be tempted to be under the special guidance of persons already enlightened by the Christian faith, i.e. other people's husbands, to become in a special relationship of obedience to other people's husbands, through which misunderstandings and discord in family life could be generated. The apostle with particular care warns such women against such a temptation and inspires them to obey their own husbands, even if they were unbelievers, indicating the lofty purpose of this: " so that those of them who do not obey the word may be gained by the life of their wives without a word". The apostle inspires that the true adornment of a Christian woman is not in external attire, but in inner beauty" a meek and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God(v. 4). As an example, the apostle gives Sarah, who obeyed her husband Abraham.
The plight of a woman, both in the ancient pagan world and among the Jews, prompts the apostle to give instructions to the husband regarding his wife, so that the instruction on the obedience of his wife would not give the husband a reason to abuse this obedience. A husband should treat his wife with care, as if the weakest vessel"(vv. 5-7).
Further, the apostle gives moral instructions to all Christians in general, inspiring them to rejoice if they suffer for the truth, for " and Christ... suffered for our sins, the righteous for the unrighteous;"(v. 18-19). Under this " dungeon", as the Greek word used here shows, one must understand Hell, or "Sheol" - the place where, according to the beliefs of the Jews, all the souls of people who died before the coming of the Messiah descended; this is a place in the underworld, i.e. under the earth or inside the earth "This is not hell in our sense of the word, as a place of eternal torment for sinners, but still a place, as its name shows, embarrassing for the human spirit, unpleasant, undesirable. This was the place before the coming of Christ for all people who died in the Old Testament, although , apparently, and there were still different degrees, depending on the wickedness or righteousness of the dead.
The Lord descended into this "dungeon" to preach about the salvation of mankind accomplished by Him. This was the call of all the souls who died before Christ and were in Sheol to enter the Kingdom of Christ, and those who repented and believed without a doubt were released from their place of imprisonment and introduced into the paradise opened by the Resurrection of Christ - the place of blessedness of the righteous.
According to church tradition, this sermon of Christ Himself in hell was preceded there by a sermon about Christ by St. John the Baptist (see his troparion).
"recalcitrant"- means that the preaching of Christ the Savior was addressed to the most stubborn sinners, as an example of which the apostle sets Noah's contemporaries who died from the flood.
From verse 6 of the 4th chapter, we can conclude that those who were saved by the preaching of Christ in hell were also of these: " for for this reason it was also proclaimed to the dead that they, having been judged according to man in the flesh, should live according to God in the spirit. By this the apostle also emphasizes that the preaching of Christ was addressed to all people without exception, not excluding the pagans, and, moreover, the most sinful of them (vv. 19-20).
From the thought of the flood and those who were saved in the ark in verse 20, the apostle passes to the sacrament of baptism, represented by the flood water. In verse 21 the apostle defines the essence of baptism. It is not " carnal uncleanness washing"similar, for example, to the numerous and varied Jewish ablutions, which, while cleansing only the body, did not in the least touch the impurities of the soul: it is" a promise to God of good conscience". These words do not mean, of course, that a good conscience, or cleansing from spiritual defilements, is not given in baptism, for it is further said that " baptism saves by the resurrection of Christ"(v. 21). The apostle here only indicates the need for the baptized to decide to start a new life in conscience.
4th chapter all devoted to moral instruction. These moral instructions are based on the thought of the sufferings of Christ: " since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourself with the same thought: for he who suffers in the flesh ceases to sin"(v. 1).
This entire chapter is permeated with the thought of patiently enduring persecution for the faith and of the need to overcome the evil attitude of the enemies of the faith by a virtuous life. " He who suffers in the flesh ceases to sin"- bodily suffering, whether from a voluntary feat of self-mortification or from violent oppression from without, weakens the strength and effect of human sinfulness. At the same time, the same idea is expressed here as in chapter 6 of the letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans: He who dies with Him dies to sin, must consider himself dead to sin, but alive to God.The apostle urges Christians not to be embarrassed that the pagans slander them for the radical change that has taken place in their lives, reminding them that they too will be judged by God for their wantonness (v. 2-6).
"The end is near"- in the sense that Christians must always be ready for the coming of Christ. From this, the apostle deduces the need for a moral life for Christians and gives a number of instructions, putting love at the head of everything, because " love covers many sins"(v. 8), as St. Apostle James also teaches about this.
Chapter 4 ends with an admonition to the martyrs: " fiery temptation... don't be shy"(v. 12). Christians must fearlessly confess their faith, not fearing slander and suffering, but glorifying God for such a fate (v. 13-19).
5th chapter contains instructions to pastors and flocks, an apostolic blessing and concluding greetings. The apostle admonishes shepherds to shepherd the flock of God, overseeing it not under compulsion, but willingly, not for vile self-interest, but out of zeal, and not ruling over the heritage of God, but setting an example for the flock. He edifies the flock so that, obeying their shepherds and humbly surrendering to the guidance of the strong hand of God, they themselves, however, be sober and vigilant, for the adversary the devil walks like a lion, looking for someone to devour. The three main features of true shepherding are here pointed out by St. Peter:
1) "Shepherd God's flock, overseeing it not under compulsion, but willingly and pleasing to God"- here it is said that the shepherd himself must be filled with love for his great work, must feel an inner calling for him, so as not to be a hireling instead of a true shepherd (5: 2);
2) "not for vile self-interest, but out of zeal"- this is the second feature of good shepherding, which can be called unselfishness. This does not mean that the shepherd should not use anything from his flock (see 1 Cor. 9: 7, 13, 14), but only that the shepherd does not dare put their personal benefits and material profit at the forefront of their pastoral activities;
3) "not dominating... but setting an example"- the shepherd cannot but have power over his flock, but this power should not be in the nature of worldly dominance with violence, oppression and oppression, in which elements of self-love would affect; a true shepherd must himself be a good example to his flock - then he is easy, without coercion, will acquire the necessary authority and spiritual power over them (5:3).
For such good shepherding, St. the apostle promises unfading crown"from the Chief Shepherd - Christ (5:4).
"Also the younger", i.e. all are not elders, not presbyters, but younger in position in church society, i.e. flock," obey the shepherds", "Nevertheless, being subject to one another, clothe yourself with humility of mind, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." - "obey each other"means that everyone in his position must obey the elders, those who are in authority over him, and thereby show humility, which alone attracts the grace of God to a person (5: 5-7).
The apostle calls for sobriety and spiritual vigilance, pointing out that the enemy of human salvation is the devil " walks around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour"- like a hungry lion, the devil, eternally spiritually hungry and eternally irritated against those whom he cannot devour, frightens them, like a lion with his roar, his anger and seeks to cause them any harm. First of all, he must be resisted" firm faith"for faith unites with Christ, the Conqueror of the devil (5:8-9).
Finishes his first epistle to St. Peter with good wishes from God - to be firm, unshakable in faith, sends greetings from the church in Babylon and from " his son Mark"and teaching" peace in Christ Jesus" (5:10-14).
The Apostle Peter, as he himself says, writes to Jews who are scattered and have become Christians. His message is educational. Since some of the Jews believed, the apostle confirms them in the faith. First of all, he explains and proves that faith in Christ was foretold by the prophets, just as the redemption through His blood was foretold through them, and that everything that the angels wish to penetrate was proclaimed to Jews and Gentiles. Then he convinces those to whom he writes to behave worthy of the One who called them, exhorts them to honor the rulers, and commands wives and husbands to be of one mind. Offering further several moral exhortations, he declares that the Lord in hell preached about salvation and resurrection, so that the formerly dead would be resurrected, and judged in the body, and abide in the grace of the resurrection; adds that the end of everything is near, and all should be ready to give an account to the Judge, and then ends the epistle.
About rebirth in Christ; about patience in trials and about saving faith, foretold by the prophets; of hope and sanctification, and of the firm conduct required by adoption; about a life worthy of adoption in Christ for the benefit of outsiders (pagans) for the glory of God; about submission to superiors, brotherly love and godliness, where: a) about the submission of slaves to masters and gentle patience for the sake of Christ, b) about the obedience of wives, their unanimity with their husbands, and salvation given from the Spirit, in the image of Sarah, c) about the duty of husbands to wives, d) meek kindness to all, the example of which is God's love of mankind, manifested under Noah, and Christ's compassion for us, manifested in baptism; about putting aside bad deeds, and about bearing the fruits of the Spirit according to the difference in gifts; about how, after communion with Christ, one must overcome sensual passions and, relying on Him, endure harm from others; exhortations to shepherds to take care of the flock; about the humility of wisdom common to all in relation to everyone for victory over the devil. Prayer for the perfection of believers.
CHAPTER FIRST
Peter, Apostle of Jesus Christ, to strangers scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, chosen, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, with sanctification from the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ.
He said to strangers either because they are scattered, or because all who live according to God are called strangers on earth, as, for example, David says: for I am a stranger with you and a stranger, like all my fathers (Ps. 38, 13). The alien's name is not the same as the alien's name. The latter means one who has come from a foreign country, and even something more imperfect. For just as an extraneous deed (πάρεργον) is lower than the present one (τοΰ εργου), so is a foreign one (παρεπίδημος) lower than a migrant (έπιδήμου). This inscription must be read with a rearrangement of words, just like that; Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, upon sanctification from the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. The remaining words should be placed after this; for they designate those to whom the epistle is written. By the foreknowledge of God. With these words, the apostle wants to show that he, with the exception of time, is in no way inferior to the prophets, who themselves were sent, and that the prophets were sent, Isaiah says about this: He sent me to preach the gospel to the poor (Is. 61, 1). But if it is lower in time, then it is not lower in the foreknowledge of God. In this respect he declares himself equal to Jeremiah, who, before being formed in the womb, was known and sanctified and appointed as a prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5). And as the prophets, along with the rest, foreshadowed the coming of Christ (for for this they were sent), he explains the ministry of the apostolate, and says: I, with sanctification from the Spirit, was sent to obedience and be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. Explains that the work of his apostleship is to separate. For this signifies the word sanctification, for example, in the words: For you are a holy nation with the Lord your God (Deut. 14:2), that is, set apart from other nations. So, the work of his apostolate is to separate by means of spiritual gifts peoples who are obedient to the cross and sufferings of Jesus Christ, sprinkled not with the ashes of the calf, when it is necessary to cleanse the defilement from communion with the pagans, but with the Blood from the sufferings of Jesus Christ. The Word of Blood at the same time predicts the torment for Christ of those who believe in Him. For whoever humbly follows in the footsteps of the Teacher, he, without a doubt, will not refuse to shed his own blood for the One who shed His for the whole world.
Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
Grace, because we are saved freely, without bringing anything of ourselves. Peace, because, having offended the Lord, we were among His enemies.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy has resurrected us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to a living hope, to an incorruptible, pure, unfading inheritance.
Blesses God, thanks Him for all the blessings that He gives. What does He give? Hope, but not the one that was through Moses, about settling in the land of Canaan, and which was mortal, but a living hope. Where does it get life from? From the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. For just as He Himself has risen, He also gives those who come to Him through faith in Him the strength to rise again. So, the gift is the hope of a living, incorruptible inheritance, not deposited on earth, as, for example, with the fathers, but in heaven, from which it has the property of eternity, which is what prevails over the earthly inheritance. Along with this hope, another gift is the preservation and observance of the faithful. Because the Lord prayed about this when he said: Holy Father! keep them (John 17:11). By force. What is the power? until the coming of the Lord. For if obedience were not strong, it would not extend to such a limit. And when there are so many such gifts, it is natural for those who receive them to rejoice.
Stored in heaven for you, kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.
If the inheritance is in heaven, then the opening of the millennial kingdom on earth is a lie.
Rejoice in this, now grieving a little, if necessary, from various temptations, so that your faith tested will be more precious than gold that perishes, although it is tested by fire.
Just as the Teacher in his promise declares not only joy, but also sorrow, saying: in the world you will have sorrow (John 16:33), so the apostle added to the word about joy: having grieved. But as it is regrettable, he now adds, and this is in accordance with his Leader. For He also says: You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy (John 16:20). Or the word must now be attributed to joy, since it will be replaced by a future joy, not short-lived, but lasting and endless. And since the speech about temptations produces confusion, the apostle indicates the purpose of temptations: because through them your experience becomes more obvious and more precious than gold, just as gold tested by fire is more highly valued by people. He adds: if necessary, teaching that not every believer, nor every sinner, is tested by sorrows, and neither one nor the other is left in them forever. The grieving righteous suffer to receive crowns, and sinners in punishment for sins. Not all the righteous experience sorrows, so that you do not consider malice laudable and hate virtue. And not all sinners experience sorrows so that the truth of the resurrection would not be questioned, if everyone here still received their due.
To praise and honor and glory at the appearance of Jesus Christ, whom, having not seen, you love, and whom you have not yet seen, but believing in Him, rejoice with unspeakable and glorious joy, finally reaching the salvation of souls through your faith.
With these words, the apostle indicates the reason why the righteous here endure evil, and partly consoles them with the fact that they become more glorious through tribulations, partly encourages them by adding in the appearance of Jesus Christ, that it is then that He, through the revelation of labors, will bring great glory to the ascetics. He also adds something else that captivates to endure sorrows. What is it? the following: Whom, not having seen, you love. If, he says, without seeing Him with bodily eyes, love Him by hearing alone, then what kind of love will you feel when you see Him, and, moreover, appearing in glory? If His sufferings have bound you to Him in this way, then what attachment must the appearance of Him in unbearable splendor produce on you, when the salvation of souls will be given to you as a reward? But if you intend to appear before Him and be worthy of such glory, then now show the patience corresponding to it, and you will fully achieve the intended goal.
To this, salvation included the research and research of the prophets, who predicted the grace appointed for you.
Since the apostle mentioned the salvation of the soul, which is unknown and strange to hear, it is testified by the prophets, who searched and investigated about it. They looked for the future, as, for example, Daniel, whom the angel who appeared to him called for this the man of desires (Dan. 10, 11). They investigated what and at what time the Spirit existing in them indicated. For which, that is, the time of fulfillment, for what, that is, when the Jews, through various captivity, reach perfect reverence for God and become capable of receiving the sacrament of Christ. Note that, calling the Spirit of Christ, the apostle confesses Christ as God. This Spirit pointed to the sufferings of Christ, speaking through Isaiah: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7), and through Jeremiah: Let us put a poisonous tree for his food (11:19), and for the resurrection through Hosea, who said, He will make us alive in two days, on the third day He will raise us up, and we will live before Him (Hos. 6:3). To them, says the apostle, it was not revealed to themselves, but to us. With these words, the apostle accomplishes a double deed: he proves both the foreknowledge of the prophets, and the fact that those who are now called to the faith of Christ were known to God before the creation of the world. With a word about the foreknowledge of the prophets, he inspires them to accept with faith what was foretold to them by the prophets, because even prudent children do not neglect the labors of their fathers. If the prophets, who had no use for anything, sought out and investigated, and, having found, put it in books and handed it over to us as an inheritance, then we would be unjust if we began to treat their labors contemptuously. Therefore, when we proclaim this to you, do not neglect it, and do not leave our gospel in vain. Such a lesson from the foreknowledge of the prophets! And by the fact that believers are foreknown by God, the apostle terrifies them, so that they would not show themselves unworthy of the foreknowledge of God and the calling from Him, but would encourage one another to become worthy of the gift of God.
Investigating to what and to what time the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing, when He foretold the sufferings of Christ and the glory that would follow them, it was revealed to them that it was not serving them, but us.
If both the apostles and the prophets acted by the Holy Spirit, proclaiming some prophecies and others the Gospel, then obviously there is no difference between them. Therefore, says the apostle, you must have the same attention to us as their contemporaries had to the prophets, so that you do not suffer the punishment that befell the disobedient prophets. It should also be noted that in these words the Apostle Peter reveals the mystery of the Trinity. When he said: The Spirit of Christ, he pointed to the Son and the Spirit, and he pointed to the Father when he said: from heaven. For the word from heaven should be understood not about a place, but mainly about God, sending the Son and the Spirit into the world.
What is now preached to you by those who proclaimed the gospel of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, into which the angels desire to penetrate.
Here is an exhortation which is deduced from the high dignity of the subject. The inquiries of the prophets about our salvation served us, and the work of our salvation is so wonderful that it has become desirable even for the angels. And that our salvation is pleasing to the angels is evident from the joy they expressed at the Nativity of Christ. They sang then: glory to God in the highest (Luke 2:14). Having said this, the apostle gives the reason for this and says: since this salvation of ours is kind to everyone, not only to people, but also to angels, then you do not treat it with negligence, but concentrate and take heart. This is indicated by the words: girded his loins (v. 13), which God commanded Job to do (Job 38:3; 40:2). What loins? your mind, says the apostle. Prepare thus, be on the watch, and have complete hope for the joy that is coming to you, the joy at the second coming of the Lord, of which he spoke a little earlier (v. 7).
Therefore, (beloved), having girded the loins of your mind, being vigilant, fully trust in the grace that is given to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not conform to the former lusts that were in your ignorance, but, following the example of the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your actions. For it is written: be holy, for I am holy.
Conformed, the apostle calls the infatuation with present circumstances. For even now some madmen say that one must adapt oneself to circumstances. But since it is frivolous to give oneself to the will of circumstances, the apostle commands that they, whether in knowledge or in ignorance, adhere to this hitherto, but from now on be conformed to Him who called them, Who is truly Holy, and themselves become holy.
And if you call Him the Father, Who judges everyone according to their deeds, then spend the time of your wandering with fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible silver or gold from the vain giani given to you from the fathers, but with the precious Blood of Christ, as immaculate and pure. Lamb.
Scripture distinguishes between two kinds of fear, one is initial, the other is perfect. The initial fear, which is also the main one, consists in when someone turns to an honest life out of fear of responsibility for their deeds, and the perfect fear is when someone, for the perfection of love for a friend, for the jealousy of a loved one, is afraid not to stay indebted to him for nothing that is required by strong love. An example of the first, that is, the original fear, is found in the words of the psalm: let all the earth fear the Lord (Ps. 32:8), that is, those who do not care about heavenly things, but only fuss about earthly things. For what will they have to endure when the Lord arises to crush the earth (Isaiah 2:19; 21)? An example of the second, that is, perfect, fear can also be found in David, for example, in the following words: fear the Lord, all His saints, for there is no poverty for those who fear Him (Ps. 33, 10), and also in the words: the fear of the Lord is pure, endures forever (Ps. 18:10). The apostle Peter convinces those who listen to him to live in such perfect fear, and says: by the inexpressible mercy of the Creator God, you are accepted among His children; therefore, always let this fear be with you, since you became like this because of the love of your Creator, and not because of your works. The apostle uses many arguments in his persuasion. He convinces, firstly, by the fact that angels take a sincere and active part in our salvation; secondly, the sayings of the Holy Scriptures; thirdly, by necessity: for whoever calls God the Father, in order to retain the right of adoption, must necessarily do what is worthy of this Father; and fourthly, by the fact that they received innumerable benefits through the price paid for them, that is, the Blood of Christ shed as a ransom for the sins of people. Therefore, he commands them to have this perfect fear as a companion throughout their lives. For people striving for perfection are always afraid lest they be left without some kind of perfection. Note. Christ said that the Father does not judge anyone, but has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22). But the apostle Peter now says that the Father judges. How is it? We also answer this with the words of Christ: The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless He sees the Father doing (John 5:19). From this one can see the consubstantiality of the Holy Trinity, the perfect identity in Her, and the peaceful and unperturbed harmony. The Father judges - it is said indifferently, because everything that someone says about One of the three Persons must apply in general to all of Them. On the other hand, since the Lord also calls the apostles children (John 13:33), And he says to the paralytic: child! your sins are forgiven you (Mark 2:5); then there is no inconsistency that He is also called the Father of those whom He has regenerated, imparting to them holiness.
Foreordained even before the foundation of the world, but appearing in the last times for you, who believed in Him in God, Who raised Him from the dead, and gave Him glory.
Having spoken about the death of Christ, the apostle added to this a word about the resurrection. For he fears that the new converts will not again bow down to unbelief because the sufferings of Christ are humiliating. He also adds that the Mystery of Christ is not new (because even this disturbs the foolish), but from the beginning, before the creation of the world, it was hidden until its proper time. However, it was also revealed to the prophets who sought it, as I said a little higher. And now he says that what was intended before the creation of the world is now manifest or accomplished. And for whom did it happen? For you. For for you, he says, God raised him from the dead. Why for you? so that, having cleansed yourselves by obedience to the truth through the Spirit, you may have faith and hope in God. Why clean? Because believing in Him Who, by the resurrection from the dead, laid the foundation for your incorruptible life, you yourself must walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4), following the example of Him who called you to incorruption. Do not be embarrassed by the fact that here the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul repeatedly say that the Father raised the Lord (Acts 13:37; 17:31). So he says, using the usual manner of teaching. But listen to Christ say that He raised Himself up. He said: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19). And in another place: I have the grace to lay down my life, and I have the power to receive it again (John 10:18). It is not without purpose that the resurrection of the Son is appropriated to the Father; for this shows the united action of the Father and the Son.
So that you have faith and hope in God. By obedience to the truth through the Spirit, having cleansed your souls to unfeigned brotherly love, constantly love one another from a pure heart, as being reborn not from corruptible seed, but from incorruptible, from the word of God, which lives and abides forever, for all flesh is like grass, and all glory human - like a flower on the grass: the grass withered, and its color fell off; but the word of the Lord endures forever; and this is the word which is preached to you.
Having said that Christians are not reborn from a corruptible seed, but from an incorruptible one, by the living word of God and abiding forever, the apostle exposes the insignificance and extreme fragility of human glory, thereby prompting the listener to hold on more strongly to the teaching previously given, since it is constant and extends forever, and the earthly soon decays in its very essence. To confirm this, grass and a flower on the grass are given here, which is weaker in being than grass; and David likens our life to them (Ps. 102:15). Having shown the low value of our glory, the apostle again returns to the explanation of what it was that revived them by the word of God, living and abiding forever, and says: this is the word that was preached to you. He confirms about this word that it abides forever, because the Lord Himself said: heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away (Matt. 24, 35). You should know that the words to unhypocritical brotherly love should be read in this order: from a pure heart, love one another constantly, to unhypocritical brotherly love. For the end of the work usually follows what was done for him. And how unfeigned brotherly love follows a constant love for each other from a pure heart; then it is right that words from a pure heart and others stand in front, and words of unfeigned brotherly love after them. It should also be noted that the preposition to (είς) should be taken instead of the preposition for the reason, for (διά).
The apostle showed the advantage of spiritual rebirth over carnal birth, and exposed the low value of the glory of death, namely, that birth is associated with corruption and impurity, and glory does not differ in any way from spring plants, while the word of the Lord does not experience anything like that. For all human opinion soon ceases, but the word of God is not so, it has an eternal abode. For this purpose, he added: the word that was preached to you.
CHAPTER TWO
So, laying aside all malice and all deceit, and hypocrisy, and envy, and all slander, like newborn babies, love pure verbal milk, so that from it you grow up for salvation; for you have tasted that the Lord is good. Coming to Him, a living stone, rejected by men, but chosen by God, precious, and yourself, like living stones, build a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, in order to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it is said in Scripture, Behold, I am laying in Zion a cornerstone, chosen, precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.
So he says, putting aside all malice, and all deceit, and hypocrisy, and envy, and all slander. With these few words he embraces the whole multitude and variety of evil. For those who have been reborn to incorruptible life must not fall into the snares of malice and prefer the non-existent to the real. For evil is not an essence, but lies in the error of the born essence. And there is a great difference between self-personal life and that which only comes along with it. They, he says, must appear free from deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. For deceit and slander are far from the truth and the doctrine preached to you. Deceit seeks the destruction of those he deceives, hypocrisy succeeds in difference from reality, while the salvific teaching, by which you are announced, succeeds in the opposite. And what place is there in you for envy and slander, in you, who, being bound by the inseparable bond of brotherly love, can suffer no harm from any of those who separate you? That envy and slander are the cause of quarrels and mutual hatred, does not anyone know this who does not know the sad story of Cain, who through envy broke the fraternal union, then fell into deceit, hypocrisy and murder (Gen. ch. 4). And that an envious person is unclean from slander, this can be seen from the example of Joseph's brothers, who slandered their father a lot about him (Gen. ch. 37). Therefore, he says, having cleansed yourself of all these evils, come as newborn babies (for such, the Lord said, is the Kingdom (Lk. 18:16)), and, feeding on simple teaching, grow up to the measure of the full stature of Christ (Eph. 4:13 ). For you have tasted, that is, through exercise in the sacred precepts of the gospels, you have palpably known how good this teaching is. And the feeling in the matter of knowledge is stronger than any word, just as what is experienced in practice is more pleasant than any word. So, having experienced the goodness of the Lord on yourself, show kindness and mercy to each other, and lay yourself on the living cornerstone, rejected by people, but honored and chosen by God, and foretold by the prophets. Become closer friends among yourselves through the unity of love, and unite in the fullness of the spiritual home, not caring in the least about contempt on the part of people, because they also rejected the cornerstone - Christ. Having reached unanimity among yourselves, and having built a spiritual house out of yourself, and having acquired the holy priesthood, offer spiritual sacrifices. And do not think that you can offer unblemished sacrifices to God when you do not keep the union of love among yourselves. Lift up, it says, clean hands without anger or doubt (1 Tim. 2, 8). How can he who wants to unite with God through prayer achieve this when he himself separates himself from his brother through anger and evil doubts?
Therefore, He is a jewel to you believers, but to unbelievers, a stone that the builders rejected, but which has become the head of the corner, a piercing stone and a stone of offense, on which they stumble, not obeying the word, to which they are left.
To unbelievers God even now says the following: I lay for you in Zion a stone of piercing and a stone of stumbling. He is a stumbling block for unbelievers, who stumble, not obeying the word, on which they are put. The whole thought is this: behold, I lay in Zion a cornerstone, precious, chosen; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame; precious to you believers, but a stumbling block to unbelievers. They stumble over the word of the gospel, to which they are put. Which is what they are left with. This does not mean that they are ordained to this from God. For from Him Who wants all people to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4), there can be no reason for destruction. But since they themselves have made vessels of wrath out of themselves, adding disobedience to this, then what position they have prepared for themselves, they are left in that. For if man, as a rational being, was created free, and freedom cannot be coerced, then it would be unfair to accuse Him who bestows on man the very honor that he has prepared for himself by his deeds. Christ is called the cornerstone because He unites both walls that make up the spiritual house, that is, the Gentiles and the Jews, with His embrace and binds into one agreement, destroying the useless sacrifices of some, and exchanging the demonic superstition of others for piety.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy people, a people taken as an inheritance in order to proclaim the perfections of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light; once not a people, but now the people of God; once unpardoned, but now pardoned.
Having disapproved of the bad behavior of the unbelievers, saying that they themselves became guilty of their unbelief, the apostle now passes on to the approval of those who did the right thing and says: you who have done the right thing are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. He seems to be saying this: in their cruelty and stubbornness, they stumbled on the cornerstone, and did not enter the building with it; but through your obedience you have become a part of the royal priesthood, as a chosen race, as a holy nation. However, in order not to weaken them with unnecessary praise and so that they would not think that they had become a holy nation by inheritance, that they were awarded such an honor because they are descended from Abraham and never stumbled, the apostle, in order to keep them from such (thought, adds and says: do not think much about the generation; you were not elected to the royal priesthood for the sake of Abraham, for those descended from him had a priesthood separate from the kingdom; you are a holy people and a chosen race and were appointed to the royal priesthood not for the sake of Abraham, but for the sake of Christ, who is also called a priest according to order of Melchizedek (Ps. 109:4), and a meek, righteous, and saving King (Zech. 9:9). "You are called the chosen generation and the royal priesthood. You have it by His mercy, Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; therefore, by the works of the light, proclaim His perfections also to other people. This," he says, "you have because of His love of mankind. to apply personally what was said: once not a people, but now the people of God; once unpardoned, but now pardoned (cf. Hos. 2:23). So that this speech does not seem heavy, he quotes reproachful words from the prophet Hosea. Therefore, proclaim His perfections with your virtue. How are they to announce them? The Lord himself teaches this when he says: so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:6). People taken as inheritance (είς περιποίησιν), that is, people taken into possession, or as an inheritance. For the creation of God is everything, and the inheritance of God is only those who have merited it for their virtue.
Beloved! I ask you, as strangers and strangers, to move away from carnal lusts that rise up in your soul, and lead a virtuous life among the pagans.
It is the custom among teachers of faith to add moral lessons to dogmatic teaching. This is what the holy Apostle Peter does now. He calls them beloved, and not just amiable, because they are pleasing to him in every way; for those who are agreeable in some respect alone are called amiable, and not beloved. He says that carnal lusts rise up on the soul, because, according to the words of the blessed apostle Paul, the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit (Gal. 5:17). For the desires of the flesh revolve around sensual pleasures and thus darken the memory and enslave the soul.
So that they, for what they revile you as villains, seeing your good deeds, glorify God on the day of visitation.
The apostle calls the Gentiles slandering us, and the day of visitation is inheritance according to the laws of this world. For when they examine our life and find that their concept of us contradicts reality, they themselves correct themselves in their shameful deeds and thus glorify God.
Therefore, be submissive to every human authority, for the Lord: whether the king, as the supreme authority, or the rulers, as sent from him to punish criminals and to encourage those who do good - for such is the will of God, that we, doing good, stop the mouths of the ignorance of fools people.
He calls the rulers appointed by the kings, and even the kings themselves, as a human creation, since they are also chosen or appointed by people, and Scripture sometimes calls the creation and establishment, as, for example, in the following place: in order to create one new man from two (Eph. 2, 15 ). So, he says, be submissive to worldly rulers, but be submissive to the Lord, as the Lord commanded. What did the Lord command? Give what is Caesar's to Caesar, and what is God's to God (Matthew 22:21). Therefore, if they command anything contrary to the ordinance of God, they must not be obeyed. Thus commanded Christ; the same is commanded now by his disciple. This is so that the pagans cannot say that Christianity introduces the overthrow of civil life, that it is the cause of confusion and indignation. For the Lord. Makes this addition also for the faithful. Some of them could say: the apostle himself promises us the kingdom of heaven (1, 4), and through this ascribes to us great dignity. Why does he humiliate us again, subordinating us to worldly rulers? So, if anyone says this, let him know, he says that this commandment is not from me proper, but from the Lord Himself. The apostle Peter himself pointed out to whom and what kind of rulers one should obey, precisely those who pay tribute. He also adds a reason: firstly, this is the will of God; secondly, our obedience to the rulers proves our good behavior and, moreover, puts the infidels to shame. For when they slander us as proud, and see that we are humble and, in what follows, submissive, then through this they are more ashamed.
As free, not as using freedom to cover up evil.
This is the connection of speech. Be submissive, as free, as servants of God. Honor not only the chiefs, but also everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. How free. John Chrysostom explains these words as follows: “Let them not say: we have been freed from the world, we have become citizens of heaven; why are you again subjecting us to rulers and ordering us to obey them? For by this you will show that you do not use the freedom by which you refuse obedience to cover up intentional malice, that is, disobedience and disobedience. It is possible to say something about this expression (as free ones) in another sense. Free in the Lord is he who does not submit to anything immoral. To live hypocritically is characteristic not of a free man, but of one who is in bondage to passions, for example, is devoted to human pleasing or some other shameful passion. And the servants of God must be far away and alien to passions. Therefore, now he commands to submit to the authorities good-natured and sincere, without hostility towards them and not under compulsion, without harboring malice in the heart, without pretending to be sincere and simple, to show obedience not only outwardly, but with the disposition of the heart. Not as using freedom to cover up evil. This can be briefly expressed as follows: outwardly appearing simple and sincere, as if under the guise of freedom, but when tested, they turn out to be terrible and completely different from what they look like.
But as servants of God. Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Servants, obey your masters with all fear, not only the good and the meek, but also the stern ones. For it is pleasing to God if someone, thinking about God, endures sorrows, suffering unjustly. For what is it to be praised if you endure being beaten for your transgressions? But if, while doing good and suffering, endure, this is pleasing to God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, so that we would follow in His footsteps. He did not commit any sin, and there was no deceit in His mouth.
Look how accurate. He says to God, give fear, and honor to the king. If, however, we must have fear of God, who is able to destroy both soul and body (Matthew 10:28), then we must not obey kings when they order us something immoral. For the fear of God knows how to conquer and reverence for kings, and when they force him to do evil, he even deprives them of their honor, according to the saint: "the evil one is humbled before him" (Ps. 14, 4). The word fear is used in various meanings. Fear is called, firstly, conscious fear; which the apostle now calls conscience; it is also called reverence. Fear is called, secondly, fear, full of passion, experienced at the forthcoming punishment; this fear is also seen in animals. Fear, thirdly, is called the initial fear, which happens to those who approach the Lord as a result of the consciousness that for many of their misdeeds they are worthy of punishment; Incited by such fear, the harlot mentioned in the Gospel came to the Lord (Luke ch. 7). Fear is also called perfect fear, which is always inherent in all saints. For they fear lest they lack something of the kind that those who are imbued with perfect love should have. The apostle, who exhorts servants to obey their masters with all fear, does not eliminate the idea that servants should treat their masters with fear in all the meanings mentioned. For the original and perfect fear, if they have it, disposes them to good behavior: the first prompts them to beware of offenses, so as not to suffer something unpleasant for them; the other suggests that they should not even think of doing something unpleasant to their masters. So, here the apostle speaks of fear in conscience, that is, in the consciousness of duty. It is directed by dishonest masters at their servants even when these are not to blame for anything. Approving this fear, the apostle commands to endure everything with patience. Since those who are afraid to suffer for sins committed in deeds or from the commission of which they were saved, if they suffer something for them, they discover in themselves slaves who are prudent and inclined to correction. But incomparably higher is the wisdom of one who, not realizing anything bad about himself, endures everything with gratitude. This is a great feat, accomplished by a few and bringing down the special favor of God, since this man competes with the sufferings of Christ, since Christ did not suffer for His own sins, for He did not commit a sin (Is. 53, 9), but suffered for us and for our sins. For the transgressions of my people he suffered execution, says the prophet (Isa. 53, 8). This laudable fear the apostle proposes, but no less desires that the servants be led by other fears. And this is evident from his words: with all fear. However, above other fears he put fear for conscience, and in the most clear way expressed that only this fear is worthy of praise; for other fears have cause for the wrath of masters against servants, but this one has none.
Being reviled, He did not reciprocate; suffering, he did not threaten, but betrayed it to the Judge of the Righteous. He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, so that we, having got rid of sins, would live for righteousness.
Perhaps someone will say: "As the Apostle Peter says here, that the Lord, when He was reviled, did not reciprocate, and when He suffered, did not threaten, when we see that He calls the Jews dogs, deaf, Pharisees - blind (Matt. 15, 14), Judas says: it would be better for this man not to be born (Matt. 26, 24), and at other times: it will be more pleasant for Sodom than for that city (Matt. 10, 15)? We answer. The apostle does not say that the Lord never reproached or threatened, but that when He was reviled, He did not reproach one another, and when He suffered, He did not threaten. For if He sometimes rebuked, it was not in vengeance on those who reviled Him, but reproached and rebuked those who were stubborn in unbelief. Those who slandered him said: the demon is in you (John 7:20); He casts out demons by the power of the prince of demons (Matt. 12:24), and: behold, a man. Who loves to eat and drink wine (Matt. 11:19). When He heard this, did He slander one another? Far from it. But to some he said: If I cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, then by whose power do your sons cast them out? (Matthew 12:27). Those who called Him loving to eat and drink wine, He likened to children playing in the market and saying to comrades: we played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We sang songs of sorrow to you, and you did not weep (Matt. 11:16-17). And when He hung on the cross and suffered, He not only did not threaten, but also prayed for the villains (Luke 23:34). He threatened Judas in order to distract him from betrayal. He also announced to those who would not receive His disciples that it would be worse for them than the Sodomites, in order to incline the listeners, at least through fear, to hospitality and to what is saving for them. Therefore, the word of the Apostle Peter, who convinces to malice by the example of the Lord, is very true. He handed over all the Judges to the Righteous, that is, God, Who at the future judgment will reward everyone according to his deeds, without any partiality, according to the essence of justice (1 Pet. 1, 17).
By His stripes you are healed. For you were like sheep that wandered (having no shepherd), but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
When, by order of Pilate, He was scourged, He bore the wounds from the blows on His body.
CHAPTER THREE
Likewise, you wives, obey your wrong husbands, so that those of them who do not obey the word may be acquired by the life of their wives without a word when they see your pure, God-fearing life. May your adornment be not external weaving of hair, not golden headdresses or elegance in clothes.
The apostle set out a moral teaching for everyone: for kings, rulers, masters and slaves. He appointed for the subordinates by law that they should obey the kings and rulers, to whom they should and in what they should, and by that he showed that the rulers themselves have a certain destiny and motivation for the truth in the laws, and for everything that they do according to the laws, they will not be condemned, but for everything that is done contrary to them, lawlessly, unjustly and arbitrarily, they will perish. For the law was given to them for the benefit of the nations, as the apostle Paul says (Rom. 13:4). Like laws, the rulers are given for some benefit, and not in the way that some argue badly, that the power existing on earth is from the devil, agreeing in this matter with the devil, who said to the Lord: all this is delivered to me, and I, to whom I want, I give this (Luke 4:6). It is not by the will of the devil that kings are supplied; for they are given to correct evils, and the devil does not bother to introduce anything of this kind among people. Authorities and rulers are given from God, on the one hand, in order to protect the right and arrange the benefit of subordinates, on the other hand, in order to restrain those who sin by fear of punishment and denunciation, and finally, in order to inflict due punishment on those who have done wrong. Having shown this, namely, that obedience to authorities is good, and disobedience is evil, and having enjoined similar relations to slaves and masters, the apostle now turns his speech to women. Wives, he says, should be occupied with two things: to obey their husbands, and to remove all adornment and decoration, imitating holy women. For they, he says, knew only one adornment, that they obeyed their husbands. What is the use of this? The fact that the pagans receive a good understanding of faith and zeal for it, which also produces our obedience to the authorities, and for our sake they thank Christ, and for Christians it is great praise when for the sake of us and for the sake of our good behavior the pagans bless the name of God. Words without a word are acquired, either that they are acquired without any reasoning and contradiction, or that the proof from works is stronger than the word and skill, just as the holy man said: "A deed not accompanied by a word is better than a word not accompanied by a deed."
But the man hidden in the heart is in the imperishable beauty of a meek and silent spirit, which is precious before God.
For all the glory of the daughter of the King is within, her garments are adorned with gold, speckled (Ps. 44:14). That is, our innermost location and external position must exactly correspond to one another. Decorating with gold signifies external activity. He calls the garments trimmed with gold and speckled, because even what is revealed from the inside is not as it happens, but honestly and importantly.
So once the holy women, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, obeying their husbands. So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him master. You are her children if you do good and are not troubled by any fear. Likewise, you husbands, deal prudently with your wives, as with the weakest vessel, showing them honor, as joint heirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
Here he calls obedience an adornment, saying, They adorn themselves in obedience to their husbands. Having said vaguely holy women, he calls them daughters of Sarah either by faith or by origin. For daughters must necessarily imitate their mothers. With an adornment appropriate for Christian women, he convinces them to be merciful, without fear of punishment from their husbands. He wants to express this in words: you are not embarrassed by any fear. For it is natural that husbands will sometimes demand from them an account of their expenses. With such an exalted speech, persuading thrifty and faint-hearted women to distribute household things more generously, the apostle restrains husbands from being strict with them, and says: husbands, treat your wives wisely, that is, take into account the weakness and tendency of the female sex to cowardice and be generous to your wives, not demanding with irritability an account of what is entrusted to them in the household. Persuades husbands not to exact severely from their wives, because, as we said, they were more generous in alms to the poor. And it seems to me that with these words the apostle more intimately and more importantly than Paul hints at the use of the rights of matrimony. For Paul directly says: do not deviate from one another, except by agreement, etc. (1 Corinthians 7:5). And Peter, having said more importantly: prudently and through hinting at the matter, convinces husbands, since the female sex is more inclined to this, not to leave their wives with prohibition and severity, but at first condescendingly, as to the weakest, use them, then with some caution exhort them to become accustomed to abstaining from it. For this, that is, condescension, he wants to point out with the words: honoring them. For to whom no attention is paid, there is neither honor nor mercy. Then, in this way, they should be used in relation to communication, as the weakest, or as co-heirs of living grace. And that we have attached such a meaning to the presupposed saying not without reason, this is indicated by the further addition: so that your prayers may not be hindered. For what obstacle to prayer can be from the severity of a husband towards his wife? Meanwhile, leaving a message delivers great attentiveness and zeal during prayer. That is my thought on it.
Finally, be all of one mind, compassionate, brotherly-loving, merciful, friendly, humble; do not return evil for evil, or swearing for swearing; on the contrary, bless, knowing that you are called to this, that you may inherit the blessing.
The connection with the previous instruction is this: finally, or to put it briefly, be all of one mind, etc., knowing that you are called to this in order to bless everyone. For Paul also says, bless those who persecute you (Rom. 12:14). By doing this, you will hear from everyone the name of those who bless you (Ps. 36, 20). For He who longs for eternal life should not curse anyone with his tongue. Therefore, David also exhorts those who strongly desire to achieve true life to keep their tongues from evil (Ps. 33, 14). When you arrange yourself in this way, the Almighty will be merciful to you. And in that case, who can harm you? But if an insult is done to you while doing good and jealousy, then do not grieve, but rejoice, firstly, because this is not evil, and secondly, because you are blessed through this. Therefore, sanctify God in your hearts, and do not be afraid of human fear, and do not be embarrassed. Otherwise. Having finished the private instructions concerning husbands and wives, he generalizes the conviction to all, husbands and wives, and says: finally. Why private instruction? I speak to everyone. For this is the end, everyone has one goal - salvation, everyone has one law - love. From this is born every virtue, humility, compassion, mercy, and so on. Of these, unanimity is perfect agreement in something. Compassion - pity for the suffering is the same as for ourselves. Brotherly love is the disposition towards neighbors that should be towards brothers. Mercy is the spiritual desire for doing good to the homogeneous. Friendliness - meekness with everyone, as with acquaintances and friends. Humility or humility is the transfer of blasphemy from another, the consciousness of one's sinfulness, the transfer of accusations, which could be called good thinking. Adorn yourself with these virtues; Moreover, do not succumb to malice (swearing is a tendency to slander that comes from a bad habit), but be zealous for good, leading a holy and perfect life. For he who is blessed by all is also a zealot.
For whoever loves life and wants to see good days, keep your tongue from evil and your mouth from deceitful speech; turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and strive for it.
That the instruction he derives is not false, he confirms this by pointing to the words of David, and says: who loves life, that is, who transforms himself for true life and wants to show it to be lovable (for this is indicated by the expression loves, wants to show it desirable for people) let him unswervingly hold on to what the prophetic word also offers with me.
For the eyes of the Lord are towards the righteous, and His ears towards their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil (to destroy them from the earth). And who will harm you if you are zealots for what is good? But if you suffer for the truth; then you are blessed; but do not be afraid of their fear and do not be embarrassed. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.
He draws a conclusion from the words of the prophet he has quoted. It says: The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. The apostle adds to this: if you live like this, then God will be favorable and merciful to you. And in this situation, who will harm you? For everything is in His hand, life and death (Wisdom 16:13). But just as some considered suffering for faith an evil, the apostle Peter, to correct this opinion, says: do not consider this an evil, on the contrary, consider it a guarantee of blessedness. For fear from people is not worth any attention, but is one day. For if the eyes of the Lord are turned to the righteous, and His ears to their prayer, but against those who do evil, the face of the Lord, threatening the evil with death, then, if it were evil, the Giver of good, no doubt, would not repay our love for Him with evil. For He brings evil upon the evil: sorrow and distress to every soul of a man who does evil. (Rom. 2:9). Therefore, sorrow for piety is not evil. Together with Isaiah (8, 13), he commands to sanctify the Lord in the hearts, that is, not to be exalted by visible deeds, but in the secret cell of the heart to sanctify the Lord, which consists in removing from filth, that is, from evil pagan customs. So sanctify him. And He is sanctified through your good behavior, when other people glorify Him, just as the God-Man Himself commands: so let your light shine before people, that they may see your good deeds (Matthew 5:16).
Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who requires you to give an account of your hope with meekness and reverence. Have a good conscience, so that those who reproach your good life in Christ may be ashamed for what they reproach you for as villains.
The words are ready to give an answer and so on. should be combined with the words: show good activity (have a good conscience). For when you do this with meekness and propriety, then you yourself will be convinced that you have a good conscience, and shame those who have a bad idea of you. The apostle commands the faithful person to always be ready to give an account of faith, so that whenever they ask us about faith, we can always easily answer, and do it with meekness, like everyone else, as if in the presence of God Himself. For in the presence of his master no prudent slave is insolent. The benefit of this is that the unbelievers will know what we are and will be just to us. It should be noted that these words of the apostle do not contradict the saying of the Lord. When the Lord says that when they lead us to rulers and authorities, we should not worry about what we should answer (Lk. 21:14), and Peter commands us now to prepare for the answer, then the Lord speaks about the testimony, and the apostle Peter - about teaching. For whoever thinks that he knows something without understanding and research, he calls upon himself blasphemy. For the knowledge of the foolish is unsearchable words. Otherwise. Since we were accused of many iniquities and our hopes were shown to be in vain, the apostle commands us to prepare thoughtful answers and to have a life worthy of praise, which he calls conscience.
For, if it pleases the will of God, it is better to suffer for good deeds than for evil ones; because Christ, in order to bring us to God, once suffered for our sins, the righteous for the unrighteous.
A reason is presented, not for what was said before, but for what was said a little higher, namely in words: if you suffer for the sake of the truth, then you are blessed (v. 14), because it is better to endure evil for good deeds, than for evil ones. If anyone wants to attribute this reason to the nearest previous speech, then the words good deeds must be understood not about charity to another, but about virtue in general; the word evil must also be understood. He adds: if it pleases the will of God, showing by this that nothing happens to us without God's permission, but it happens either to relieve us of sins, or to reveal and glory to us, or even to save others. And this is in two ways. Or does some righteous person endure evil for the chastity of other sinners, according to what has been said: if the righteous man is scarcely saved, where will the sinner appear? (1 Peter 4:18). And hence the double benefit: for the suffering righteous - the increase of righteousness through patience, and for the sinner - conversion, as it is said. Or the righteous suffer both for his own glory and for the conversion and salvation of others, just as Christ did. Wherefore Peter here takes Christ as an example, because Christ also once suffered, not for His own sins, but for ours; wherefore he adds: the righteous for the unrighteous, for Christ Himself committed no sin (1 Pet. 2:22). To show the power of the Suffering, he added once. And as He suffered in order to bring us to God and His Father, He also showed that not all who suffer suffer for sins. And as Christ and God and Man, by His sufferings He has brought us double grace. By dying like a man, He freed us from death, laying the foundation for our resurrection, and in Himself gave the example that those who die do not die without the hope of resurrection. Having revived, that is, having risen from the dead by the power of Divinity (for He rose from the dead not as a man, but as God), He brought all those in hell to life, having resurrected with Himself. For, according to the words of the Evangelist (Matthew 27:52-53), many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were resurrected and appeared to many.
He was put to death according to the raft, but revived by the Spirit, by which He came down and preached to the spirits in prison.
Being put to death according to the flesh, that is, as a man; but quickened in spirit, like God. By the word Spirit they mean God, and by the flesh, man. The evangelist testifies to the first when he tells that Christ, the true Wisdom, talking with the Samaritan woman, said: God is a spirit (John 4:24), and all Holy Scripture testifies to the second. From this it is clear that Christ is purely (dual) not by Person, but by nature. Which is put instead of why. For having said that He died for us, the unrighteous, the apostle then says that He preached to those who were kept in hell. Having reached this point, the apostle had to explain how the death of Christ was beneficial for those who had previously fallen asleep, and to resolve the question: if the incarnation of the Lord was for the salvation of all, then what kind of salvation did the formerly dead receive? ”He immediately resolves both and says that death Christ's brought both together, the hope of the resurrection through His resurrection and the salvation of those who had fallen asleep before. who are in hell, saves not all without exception, but only believers. "For it depended on the will of each (as rationality demanded) not to remain insensible to the rich gift of the Creator, but to present oneself worthy of the goodness of the Giver.
Once disobedient to the longsuffering of God that awaited them, in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved from the water.
This put in the resolution of the objection. Another could say: "Who else preached before Christ, and to whom those who disobeyed are condemned"? Like the Apostle Paul (Rom. 2:15), he could point to the rational forces innate in us: for those who were created able to distinguish between good and evil and, despite this, did not do good, are worthy of condemnation. But he doesn't point it out. Why? Because this is understandable to a higher mind and reasoning more philosophic than the mind of the Jews, tied to the earth. The apostle confirms rebellion from Scripture, and not from the time of the prophets, but almost from the very creation of the world. From here he imagined that salvation was preached to people from the beginning, but they, due to their inclination to vanity, neglected it, and while there were countless people, only eight souls obeyed the sermon and were saved in the arranged ark. Since salvation was in water, by the way, he relates this to holy baptism and says that this water pointed to our baptism, for it also destroys rebellious demons, and saves those who come into the ark, that is, into the Church, with faith, and as water washes away impurity, so is baptism, only it produces the laying off of uncleanness not of the flesh, but through the mediation of an external sign, it produces a washing of the filth of the soul. It is, as it were, a pledge and delivery of a good conscience before God.
So now we are similar to this image of baptism, not the washing of fleshly uncleanness, but the promise to God of a good conscience, saves us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Who ascended into heaven.
The connection is this: in the same way we are now saved by a baptism similar to this image, not by the washing of carnal uncleanness, but by questioning or begging for a good conscience before God. For those who are aware of the good behind them, that is, those who are attached to a blameless life, it is they who resort to holy baptism. What makes baptism saving? Resurrection of Christ. For before His suffering and resurrection, Christ declared: unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5), and after the resurrection he commanded to baptize all the coming nations in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28, 19).
He dwells at the right hand of God and to Whom the Angels and Powers and Forces have submitted.
Who is it for him? The person accepted by Him into unity with Himself.
CHAPTER FOUR
Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh for us, arm yourself with the same thought.
With the same thought instead: according to the same aspiration, according to the same goal. For the preposition κατά is missing, because it is said with an omission. Having told about the economy of salvation, about the Lord's descent into hell, and about why He went there, namely, to save those kept in hell, the apostle finds in the death of the Lord another reason for exhortation to virtue. If Christ died for us in the flesh (for, without a doubt, not immortal and His Divine nature), then we, in return for Him, must die for Him in sin, no longer go into human lusts, but the rest of the time in the flesh, live only according to the will. God's.
For he who suffers in the flesh ceases to sin, so that the rest of the time in the flesh can live no longer according to human lusts, but according to the will of God.
Suffering instead of: deceased. Peter says like Paul: if we are dead with Him, then with Him we shall also live (2 Tim. 2:11), and: reckon yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God (Rom. 6:11).
For it is enough that in the past time of your life you acted according to the will of the pagans, indulging in uncleanness, lusts (sodomy, bestiality, thoughts), drunkenness, excess in food and drink, and ridiculous idolatry.
The apostle, as it were, says this: Have you not been satisfied, having spent so much time in worldly pleasures? Have you not lived in such uncleanness as the Gentiles? And then he names some kinds of impurity.
Why do they marvel that you do not participate with them in the same debauchery, and slander you.
The pagans will marvel (ξενίζονται) at you that you do not participate with them in the same wickedness. Therefore, after being surprised at your change and bewildered, they will not only be put to shame, but will also slander; for godliness is disgusting to the sinner. But they will not go unpunished for such slander, but will give an answer to the Judge of all, who sits immutably and firmly for this. And how the Judge is the judge of the living and the dead, the apostle writes about this later.
They will give an answer to Him who soon judges the living and the dead.
The connection is this: those who slander you will give an answer to the Judge of all the living and the dead. The dead are judged. This is evident from the descent of the Lord into hell. For, appearing there after death on the cross, He preached, and there, as on earth, He preached not in word, but in deed. And just as His presence in the world served as justification for those who readily acknowledged Him, and for condemnation for those who did not recognize Him: so also from those who were kept in hell to those who lived according to the flesh, He appeared for condemnation, and those who lived in the spirit, i.e. led a spiritual and virtuous life for glory and salvation. Therefore, it is justly called the Judge of the living and the dead. Otherwise explains St. Kirill. Here he calls dead those among the Gentiles who mortified themselves with the sins named (in v. 3), for which the apostle prays that they turn and give an irreproachable answer to Him who judges the living and the dead. He also calls the living and the dead the righteous and sinners, to whom God the Word, having appeared in the flesh, proclaimed the Kingdom of Heaven. Those sinners who accepted His commandments themselves, as people, judge themselves by the flesh, that is, in real human life they condemn their flesh to fasting, falling to the ground, tears and other sufferings in order to live according to God in the spirit, animated in this case by the apostle’s saying: if our outer man smolders, then the inner man is renewed from day to day (2 Cor. 4:16).
For for this reason the gospel was also preached to the dead.
Some of the ancient Fathers explained the words of the dead as a special department, not paying any attention to their connection with the previous speech, to the fact that what is presented as a cause must be attributed to what precedes. For these words must be understood as reason. But they, as it is said, explained them separately, precisely in this way: dead, they said, Holy Scripture calls people of two kinds: either those who died in sins, who never knew life, or those who were conformed to the death of Christ and died for this world, that is, for worldly lusts, but live for Christ alone, just as Paul says: but as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God (Gal. 2:20). So, they say, those who died in this way for Christ, condemn themselves in the flesh in their former careless and scattered life, but they live in the spirit, that is, a life following the example of Christ. For the condemnation of former behavior makes them more complacent and caring about the present. That's how they explain. Some may approve of such an explanation, but the saying has not yet been fully elucidated. Since it was said above about those in hell that He preached to the spirits in prison (3, 19), then the real saying, expressed as a reason, must be referred there, and not looked at as a new saying. Therefore, we say: since before this the apostle said: He who has to judge the living and the dead, and it could be objected: where are the living and where the dead are judged, then he confirms this with what was said above, by the fact that He and the spirits in prison preached, and that this sermon was in judgment, that is, in condemnation. Some, those who recognized their life as good, when Goodness appeared there, immediately united with Her; but those who are evil were filled with shame and received condemnation. This is what it means: Judge of the dead. Judge of the Living: When the Lord came into this mortal life, people found in His coming condemnation of themselves. Some, the good ones, zealously accepted His teaching, while others, the evil ones, renounced the truth and closed their own eyes from it. This is why it is said: for judgment, that is, for condemnation, I came into this world (John 9:39). So Christ is the Judge of the living and the dead!
So that they, being judged according to man in the flesh, live according to God in the spirit.
Being judged by the flesh. The full thought is this: when the Lord visited those in hell, then some who in this world lived according to the flesh were condemned, while others who lived spiritually, or resurrected with the Lord, for many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised (Matt. 27, 52) , or revived with good hope. However, the end is near for everything, that is, for those who are justified in life, and for those who are justified in hell. For at the second coming of the Lord, everyone will be given their full due. If anyone rejects the preaching of the Lord in hell, saying that those who are in hell, the dead, have no benefit from it, according to what has been said: in the tomb who will praise you? (Ps. 6, 6); then such a person roughly understands the sermon that was in hell, and by confession he does not mean praise to God, but confession, not understanding the saying: not the dead will praise you, Lord (Ps. 113, 25). Since the performance of all deeds ends in real life (for everything will die without activity), it is rightly said: in the tomb who will praise You?, because no one will do anything for which to be freed and give thanks.
However, the end is near. So be prudent and watchful in your prayers. Most of all, have fervent love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
The end is the same as fulfillment, fulfillment. For everything, he says, the end is near, and this end in the true sense is Christ. For He is the perfection of everything, and not what the pagans vainly consider as the end of everything, when some say, for example, Epicurus, that the end of everything is pleasure, others knowledge or contemplation, others virtue. And since the perfection of everything, Christ, has come, and you are being conformed to this perfection, then let it not be lacking in yourselves in anything, neither in chastity, nor in sobriety, nor in watchfulness in prayer (for prayer is characteristic of those who are awake), nor in love for each other. The Apostle Paul called love the fulfillment of the law (Rom. 13:10), and Peter calls it that which is able to cover sins: this is because mercy towards our neighbor makes God merciful to us. Having said about love, he also adds that, in close connection with love, hospitableness, which he commands to do without grumbling, and to those who abound in every gift, he commands to share with a brother who does not have, for example, one who has a teacher’s word (for this is indicated as the words of God : v. 11) let him teach it to those who need it; He who has an abundance of food, let him give to the one who does not have it, give without stinginess, but as much as the power of the gift of God allows. To this, he says, I convince you that God may be glorified in all, whether they be pagans or your loved ones.
Serve one another, each with the gift that you have received, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, speak as the words of God; if anyone serves, serve according to the power that God gives, so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Not to make proper use of what belongs to us and to which we are masters is an extremely unjust thing. For not only should he share with the one who does not have money, but also the one who has other natural gifts, for he himself, who did not have them, received them from God in order to share with the one who did not have.
Beloved! do not shy away from the fiery temptation sent to test you, as strange adventures for you, but as you participate in Christ's sufferings, rejoice, and even at the manifestation of His glory you will rejoice and exult.
This the apostle added to what was said before. He noted that some are tempted by the tribulations that befall them, since peace is promised in the law to those who work for the Lord (Rom. 2:10); and although above, when he gave the rules to the servants, he briefly comforted in this way, but now he gives scope for speech, and says: Beloved! By the very name of this, it immediately shows that sorrows happen to them, not because God hates them, but because He loves them very much. Do not be alienated - the same as - do not be surprised (ξενίζεσθε). Then, he called grief a fiery temptation (burning), and by that he showed that they are sent down on them for testing. And the test makes the object being tested very valuable, like gold and silver. To this he added something most blessed of all, namely, that those who endure this are like their Master Christ, and now suffer dishonor with Him, in order that together with Him they may be glorified in the age to come. This is the end of all aspirations.
If they curse you for the name of Christ, then you are blessed, for the Spirit of Glory, the Spirit of God rests on you. By those He is blasphemed, but by you He is glorified. If only one of you did not suffer, like a murderer, or a thief, or a villain.
He is blasphemed by the wicked, but glorified by you. Why? Because when their accusation against you turns out to be false, shame will befall them, and glory will be yours.
Or as encroaching on someone else's, and if as a Christian, then do not be ashamed, but glorify God for such a fate.
Encroaching on someone else's - one who is too curious about other people's affairs in order to have a reason to slander. But such an occupation is characteristic of an unclean soul, evil-doing and ready for any evil.
For it is time for judgment to begin at the house of God; but if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who disobey the gospel of God? And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and sinner appear?
Judgment is here called by the apostle not condemnation, but investigation, consideration. He inspires fear in them in order to turn them away from a scattered life. Why does he add: if your life is inherited first, what end will be rebellious? Judgment begins first with the house of God. For, according to the words of Basil the Great, we are naturally indignant at our household when they are guilty before us. And those who belong to God are none other than the faithful, who fill His house, that is, the Church. Therefore, the Savior also said: first he will speak to those who are on His right hand (Matt. 25:34). Judgment or consideration here calls the sorrows inflicted on the faithful by the ungodly, the coming of which the Lord foretold, saying: They will hand you over to judgment, etc. (Matthew 10:17). Then, as if to console them, he says: if he does not spare you, who are so close to Him; then imagine what kind of end will be unholy? and confirms this with a passage from Scripture: if the righteous is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and sinful appear? (cf. Proverbs 11:31). The meaning of the speech is this: if the righteous receives salvation with difficulty and effort (for the Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, and if anyone receives it, then with many sorrows: (Matt. 11, 12. Acts 14, 22), then what share will those who spend their lives receive? in bliss and pleasures—one must mean—the ungodly, in the age to come?Therefore, we, who suffer according to the will of God, must not lose heart, but must surrender our souls to Him, as to a faithful Creator, doing good.
So, those who suffer according to the will of God, let them surrender their souls to Him, as a faithful Creator, doing good.
By the will of God. With the word will of God, the apostle shows either that our sufferings are not without God's providence, but are sent from Him as a test, or that, suffering for His will, we must also provide Him with the end of suffering. For He is faithful and true in His promises, and will not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength (1 Cor. 10:13). How should one surrender oneself to God? Doing good, he says. What does this mean? It means to rely on God with humility, not attach much value to your sufferings, but the more someone suffers, the more he should consider himself indecent, saying to the Lord: You are righteous in everything that you have done to us (Dan. 3, 27). The wicked and the sinner differ from each other in that the wicked does not recognize God at all, while the sinner, having faith in God, despises His law. However, the same person can be wicked and sinful. For, committing iniquity, he, without a doubt, dishonors, not thinking, at the time of sin, about the existence of God (Ps. 9:25).
CHAPTER FIVE
I implore your shepherds, co-pastor and witness of the sufferings of Christ and partner in the glory that must be revealed: shepherd God's flock, which is yours, overseeing it not under compulsion, but willingly and pleasing to God, not for vile self-interest, but out of zeal, and not dominating over the heritage of God, but setting an example for the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive an unfading crown of glory. Likewise, the younger ones, obey the shepherds.
The apostle was supposed to speak about humility, which he already mentioned when he said: doing good (4, 19). He calls himself a pastor (presbyter) either by age or by the dignity of a bishop; for the book of Acts (20:17) also calls bishops presbyters. Then, wanting to show that he takes precedence over them and that he calls himself a fellow pastor in humility, he exposes his dignity, namely, that he is a witness of the sufferings of Christ. He says as it were: if I, who explained such visions to you, do not find it low to call myself a fellow shepherd, then it is unfair for you to exalt yourself above your subordinates. Similarly, the Lord says about humility of mind: if I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet (John 13:14). The apostle adds that he is a partner in the glory that must be revealed, in order to represent the advantage of humility, just as Paul says: when Christ, your life, appears, then you will appear with him (Col. 3, 4). The one who in himself offers his flock an example of good deeds does not graze without compulsion, and thereby encourages them to compete with the teacher before each other. He does not feed for vile gain who does not come forward with pride and do not exalt himself above his subordinates, but lives without luxury, or who does not covet precious clothes and luxurious dishes, which produce pride and serve as a pretext for vile self-interest. He refers to the sacred assembly as heritage. Addition by setting an example to the flock means the same thing as shepherding without compulsion. In words, and when the Chief Shepherd appears, and is set in place of so that, that is, so that when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of incorruption.
Nevertheless, in submission to one another, clothe yourself with humility of mind, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Put on means: gird yourself, put on, or lay on yourself, surround yourself on all sides.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.
The apostle speaks of his time, as David also says: which (the tree) bears its fruit in its season (Ps. 1:3); the word in time alludes to an exaltation in the future age, what an exaltation, and it is only one, unchanging and lasting. For the exaltation here is neither safe nor firm, but rather abases itself rather than rises. And what humility exalts, the Lord Himself says about this: everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Lk. 14:11), and: who among you wants to be the first, be the last of all (Mark 9, 35). In a word, the apostle pointed out in his time that exaltation from humility is promised in the age to come. For the time of unchanging blessings is in the age to come. Then, in order to remove the fear that comes with humility, he says: do not be afraid, but cast all your care on the Lord, for He cares, that is, takes care of all this.
Be sober, stay awake, because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him with firm faith.
Those who are accustomed to sleep spiritually (and this means being absorbed in vanity) and thus burden the sobriety of the soul, are attacked by the crafty beast of despair. Warning against this, the disciple of Christ urges us to always be awake and beware of the sower of tares, so that when we sleep, that is, we lead a careless and lazy life, he secretly sows evil thoughts and does not distract us from the true life. Because he, he says, constantly goes around, like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. St. Justin the Martyr believes that the reason for such unrelenting deceit and slander on the part of the devil is that the devil, before the coming of the Lord, clearly did not know how strong his punishment was, since the holy prophets spoke about this mysteriously (thus Isaiah depicted the whole sad story and fate of the devil in the face of an Assyrian: Isaiah 18:4-27), and when, with the coming of the Lord, the devil clearly knew that eternal fire was set before him and his angels (Matt. to make many partakers of his apostasy, so as not to endure the disgrace of condemnation alone, and in this to find cold and malicious consolation.
Wknowing that the same suffering happens to your brothers in the world.
Probably, those to whom the apostle Peter wrote this suffered many sorrows for Christ; that is why he consoles them at the beginning and at the end of the epistle, at the beginning by the fact that they become partakers in the sufferings of the Lord and heirs of the glory that will be revealed, and here by the fact that not only they suffer, but all the believers living in the world.
But the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, Himself, according to your short-term suffering, may he perfect you, yes, he will establish, yes, he will strengthen, and make you unshakable. To Him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
And at the beginning of the letter (1, 2-3) the apostle said that the Father had mercy on us through the Son, and now, at the end of it, he teaches that the same Father called us through the Son. For this is the purpose of the apostles, to preach the sacrament, even if they do it together with exhortation.
This I wrote briefly to you through Silouan, your faithful brother, as I think, to assure you, comforting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. The elected, like you, the church in Babylon and Mark, my son, greet you. Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
This Silouan is an excellent believer and diligently labors in the work of preaching. Paul also mentions him, and, together with Timothy, calls him, in the epistles, a collaborator; thus, he writes: Paul and Silouan and Timothy (1 Thess. 1:1). Rome calls Babylon because of its nobility, which Babylon also enjoyed for a long time. The chosen one is the Church of God, which was formed in Rome. Mark calls the evangelist, calling him and the son after the Spirit, and not after the flesh. It was he who ordered him to write the Gospel. Whereas Paul writes (Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20) that believers greet each other with a holy kiss, Peter says, greet with a kiss of love. But both have the same idea. Paul knows that love in the Lord is greater than all the virtues, even martyrdom for Christ, and therefore he calls that which is given in God a holy kiss. And Peter, when he speaks of the kissing of love, means: true love. Therefore he adds: Peace be with you all in Christ Jesus. He does not speak about the ordinary, human world, but wishes them to receive the peace that Christ honored them, going away to suffering and saying: I leave the world to you, and noticing the difference: not like the world gives (Jn. 14, 27). For you must keep the peace, not out of passion, but because you are bound by love, so that you must endure blows from rivals. The disciples of the Lord everywhere, at the end of the epistles, attach a prayer, like a seal, and thereby show their sincere holiness. Some of those who were before us thought that Mark, of whom Saint Peter speaks, was his son and according to the flesh. They based this conjecture on the fact that in the Acts of the Apostles Luke says that after the angel of God miraculously freed the Apostle Peter from the dungeon in which he was imprisoned by Herod and ceased to lead him, he, the Apostle Peter, came to the house of John's mother. called Mark (Acts 12:12). They believed that he had come to his own house and to his lawful wife.
The first conciliar epistle of the Apostle Peter was written from Rome.
Notes
"There are two fears: one is primary, and the other is perfect, and one is characteristic of beginners, so to speak, to be pious, the other is (fear) of perfect saints who have reached the measure of perfect love." A lion. Dorof. Soul field. teach. and ate., pp. 55, 56. St. Petersburg. 1862.
See St. Grigor. Theological words. 45: Creation. part 4, p. 179. M. 1844.
St. Justin. Oper page. 1592-1593. Paris. 1857.
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