Exposition of the Second Epistle of Saint Peter

after his departure from this life: and how he heard the voice of God on Mount Tabor bearing witness to Christ the Lord. 3. A prediction of the deceitful insurrection of heretics, and of their impiety and future punishment. 4. A repetition concerning the malice of heretical men. In this, 1° that Christ the Lord will suddenly come at the end of this age; 2° that for this reason it is necessary for us to be adorned with every virtue.

SECOND EPISTLE OF SAINT PETER THE APOSTLE

CHAPTER ONE

^A Ver. 1. "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ." The name "Simon" is a certain abbreviation of the name Simeon: in the same way as Metras is made from Metrodorus, Menas from Menadorus, and Theudas from Theodosius. At the very beginning of the Epistle, he rouses and provokes the spirits of the faithful, so that they might emulate and equal the zeal of the apostles regarding their preaching. For it is not right that those who have obtained an equal grace should be inferior to any of them, to whom they have been declared equal. And everywhere he welcomes them with peace, which Christ also granted after he rose from the dead, and when he was departing to the Father, crying: "Peace be unto you." And in the churches we pray that the "angel of peace" be given to us. And the priest imparts this to the people from the holy altar: for it is the mother of all good things. Wherefore also the Lord commanded his disciples that they should give this first, as often as they entered houses.

^C Ver. 2. "Grace unto you and peace be multiplied through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord." The words should be ordered thus: "To you who have obtained like faith with us in the knowledge of God and of Christ Jesus our Lord, through the righteousness of our God, may grace and peace be multiplied."

^D Ver. 3. "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue."

^A The order is this: Grace be unto you and peace; just as all things relating to life and godliness, in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord, through his divine power, have been granted unto you, to the knowledge of glory and virtue, by which the greatest promises have been given, that by avoiding the worldly corruption which is engendered by desire, ye may become partakers of the divine nature. Otherwise: these things are indeed treated at length in the text, but the sense returns to this: Since we have received countless good things through the power of Christ, we can also become partakers of the divine nature and be led to life and godliness. But we must conduct ourselves in such a way that we exercise virtue by faith, and through virtue advance into godliness, until we arrive at the most perfect of all goods, which is love. We have become partakers of the divine nature through the advent of the Lord, who in himself assumed the first-fruits of our nature and, by assuming them, sanctified them. If, then, the first-fruits are holy, the whole lump must be holy. By corruption, however, he here means that which proceeds from worldly desire, inasmuch as it consists of corruptible things and tends toward corruptible things.

^B "That by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." That is: That, having been delivered from the corruption that is in the world, which is accomplished through carnal lust, ye may become partakers of the divine nature. For the word "having escaped" is the same as "having been delivered."

"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." He sets forth here the degrees by which we must progress. And indeed in the first place he establishes "faith," which is the foundation and basis of all good works. Next "virtue," that is, good works: for without these, faith is dead, as the holy James says. Then follows "knowledge." But what is this? Truly, the cognition of the secret mysteries of God, which is not open to everyone, but to him who exercises himself continually in better works. Afterward, "temperance," or self-control. For he who has arrived at a good measure has need of this also, lest he be puffed up immoderately by the greatness of the gift. Since it is impossible that he who has kept temperance for a short time should possess a firm and secure gift (for the passions always strive to destroy those things which are contrary to their freedom and to turn them to the worse), patience supervening accomplishes the whole matter: for it both conciliates godliness and bestows a more perfect confidence in God. Therefore, to godliness is also added "brotherly kindness," or fraternal love, and over all, that which is the fullness of all good things, charity, as seems best to Paul and to the truth. For this also sought out as its own both the Son of God and the Father of him; the former, the good ^C

lived lives. This, for them, is to live in the spirit, that is, in the life according to Christ. For the condemnation of their former ways makes them more cheerful regarding present matters and those now at hand. So much for them. But if anyone says that these things are well-taken, yet he does not fully grasp what has been said. For since it was said above concerning those in Hades, that he preached ^A also to those spirits who were in prison, it is necessary to refer the present discourse, which is introduced with a reason, to this fact, and not to examine it as if it were said only for the present moment. Therefore we shall say that, since he recently said, “To him who is ready to judge the living and the dead,” and the question that arises regarding this is: “Where are the living, and where are the dead judged?” he brings in the confirmation of the discourse from what he had previously said, that “he preached also to the spirits in prison,” and this preaching resulted in a judgment, that is, a condemnation: for those who were conscious of a virtuous life immediately adhered to the goodness of him who appeared there, and so on; but those who were wicked, being filled from the start with shame, awaited their own sentence. This, then, is what it means to be the judge of the dead. But with regard to the “living,” when the Lord came to this mortal life, his presence was for many a condemnation; for while the good ran to him for the purpose of receiving his teaching, the wicked deliberately shut their eyes and rejected the truth. For this reason the Lord uttered that word: ^B “For judgment I came into this world,” that is, for condemnation. 376. “That they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” The complete meaning of this text is as follows: When the Lord descended to the underworld, those who had lived carnally in the world were condemned; but those who had led a spiritual life either rose again with the Lord (since many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose), or at the very least were recreated in the best of hope. Moreover, in those words “be judged” and “live,” the future tense is used for the past (a change of tense which is not infrequent in Scripture), that is, for “have been judged” and “have lived.” “But the end of all things has drawn near,” that is, both of those justified in this life and of those in Hades. For in the second coming of the Lord, that which is reserved for each one will be accomplished. If, however, anyone rejects the preaching of the Lord in Hades, claiming that it is of no benefit to the dead who are in Hades, according to the verse, ^C “Who will confess to Thee in Hades?” such a one also understands the preaching in Hades too crassly, and considers “confession” to mean not the praise of God, but the declaration of hidden things, ignoring the warning, “The dead shall not praise Thee, O Lord.” But the meaning of “In Hades who will confess to Thee?” is as follows: Confession is thanksgiving to God for those things from which one has been released from difficulties. Since, therefore, all things that are to be done are accomplished and take effect in the present life (for to those who have died all things are inactive), it is reasonable that, since none of these things is being performed for which one who has been released would render confession, it is considered ^D

^A this tabernacle, to stir you up by way of remembrance, since I know that the putting off of my tabernacle is coming soon, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me." Lest they think that, because they are being constantly reminded of the same things, they are being condemned for sloth and, hearing this, be saddened, he adds: "Although you know and are established in the present truth." And wishing to provide the reason for this constant reminding, he adds: "Knowing that the putting off of this body of his is soon" to take place.

^B VERS. 15. "I will also endeavor every time to have you keep these things in mind, and also after my departure to make a memory of them." Some, hearing this through a hyperbaton—as if it said, "I will endeavor that even after my departure you may have always" (that is, daily and incessantly) "a memory of them"—wish to demonstrate from this that the saints even after death retain a memory of the things of the world and intercede for the living, just as those who call upon their divine grace see this happening daily, not without efficacious faith. Thus, indeed, do they argue. Others, however, simply accept and understand this saying of Peter; namely, as follows: "I will endeavor that after my departure you may have a perpetual memory of these things." This is to say: "For this reason we assiduously refresh the same things for you, not that we condemn you for disobedience or unteachableness, but so that, ^C by the habit introduced through the constant repetition of these same matters, you may firmly and indelibly retain what we prescribed for you while alive, even after our departure."

VERS. 16. "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty." Having said that they ought to pursue with great zeal the things which he had announced to them, and having discoursed at more length on this matter, he now says that it is not without cause that he is so anxious about these things, but rather that he dwells on them longer because he is altogether convinced of their firmness and certainty. For he means that it is not by using human wisdom ^D toward you, nor by tickling your hearing with polished words, that we have made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Gentiles and heretics do: the former deceiving their hearers with the elegance of their speech and the beauty of their poetry, the latter with their fabrications (for, as is probable, by that time such men had already begun to arise); nothing, I say, of this kind can anyone find in us, since we have proposed our doctrine to you in plain and simple speech (the same as Paul testifies of himself when writing to the Corinthians *), but [we set forth] the things which we perceived by our own sight, being with him on the holy mount (he speaks of the glory of the Only-Begotten shown to them in the transfi-

transfiguration, and of the voice which they heard brought from the Father in heaven on account of the Lord). Since, however, we have learned by experience itself the things which the prophets announced, for this reason we judge their prophecy to be firmer; for the things themselves followed upon the words. Therefore you also ^A "do well to pay attention to the prophetic word," that is, to the things spoken beforehand by the prophets, even if they were spoken somewhat obscurely by the prophets at that time.

VERS. 17. « For having received from God the Father honor and glory. » — He said « having received, » either by taking the participle for the past indicative « he received »; for there does not correspond any verb in the indicative mood which, according to the rule of syntax, ought to follow the participle. Or if that word « having received » is to be taken truly as a participle, the discourse necessarily departs from the rules of syntax. If it be taken for « he received, » it correctly stands thus: « For he received from God the Father honor and glory. »

VERS. 17-18. « A voice having been brought of such a kind to him from the magnificent glory: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And we heard this voice brought from heaven, when we were with him on the holy mount. » Not that there exists any prophecy concerning the voice brought from the Father from heaven, but because from the voice of the Father testifying from above to His Son, we recognize more certainly that all the prophecies of the prophets are referred to Him, to whom the Father bore witness. We know, indeed, that our Lord Jesus had witness from the Father three times that He is His Son: namely, first, at the baptism; second, when the ^B passion was imminent, when He said: « And I have glorified, and I will glorify again »; and in the mount.

VERS. 17. « And we hold the prophetic word firmer: to which you do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star rises in your hearts. » You will not, he says, fall short of your hope by paying attention to the things said by the prophets. For when the things themselves come to pass in their own time (which he also called « the day, » following the metaphor; for he had said « a lamp, » and a dark place, which is night), when the day, therefore, has arrived—that is, I mean, the presence of the things—you will have the morning star rising in your hearts, that is to say, the presence of Christ the Lord, formerly announced by the prophets, who will also, as « true light, » enlighten your hearts.

VERS. 20, 21. « Understanding this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is made of private interpretation. For prophecy was ^C not brought at any time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke moved by the Holy Spirit. » The prophets indeed knew the things that were given to them by the prophetic Spirit, but not so clearly and exactly as they happened afterwards; for which reason they desired to see the outcome of those very things, as the Lord says. He explains, moreover, why the prophets ^D

what they said, they did not interpret. At the same time, it ^A distinguishes true prophecy from that which is demoniacal and counterfeit, which is also found among heretics. "For no prophecy of Scripture comes from private interpretation." This means that while prophets receive prophecy from God, it is not as they themselves wish, but as it pleases the divine Spirit to pour it forth; and although they knew and understood the prophetic word sent down to them, they did not make an interpretation or explanation of it. And indeed, that the prophets knew the word moved in them by God was from God, is clear from the fact that they served God as He moved them willingly, and what they wished to speak they spoke, but what they did not wish to speak, they kept silent about; this is not, however, the case with false prophets. For ^B they, when moved, were not in control of themselves; but being carried outside themselves by a certain frenzy, like drunken men, they were ignorant of what they were experiencing. But the holy prophets, even though they understood their own words, did not consider it a matter to interpret them; partly because they were ministering them to others, that is, to us, and partly so that the coming of the Lord might remain hidden, and not be plotted against by the impious. For had it been plotted against, it could have been evaded through the power of the Lord. But it is likely that, had the escape happened through miraculous means, the process of the Incarnation would have appeared monstrous. And that this is true is clear from the prophets in the New Testament, who did interpret their own prophecies, although not all of them did. For there was no suspicion of any such thing in the New Testament. And that the prophets did not prophesy while in a state of ^C ecstasy is also clear. For since those in the Old and New Testaments prophesied by one and the same Spirit, Paul says: "But if anything be revealed to another sitting by, let the first hold his peace." It is clear from this that the prophets, standing in their natural state, prophesied willingly. Therefore, when another rose up who had been inspired, the first one speaking was ordered to be silent, which one would not find in the case of those who are mad. For how could he who does not even know what he is doing keep silent? And that it is the operation of the Holy Spirit in the prophets, the same Paul testifies when he says: "To one, he says, is given the word of wisdom, and to another prophecy."

CAPUT II

^D VERS. 1-3. "But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who shall bring in sects of perdition, and deny the Lord who bought them: bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their riotous doings, through whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you." By false teachers here, he understands the followers of Nicolaus and Cerinthus. Since the name of prophet is commonly applied both to true and false prophets, he warns them not to pay attention to false prophets. The distinction, however, which exists between them...

Paul taught, saying: “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.” ^A From here he begins a refutation of the heresy of the Nicolaitans, describing their wickedness as twofold. For they are most impious regarding their dogmas—which is shown by their blasphemies against the Lord Christ—and in their manner of life they are most wanton. And this aspect is indicated at present by their vile practices; after advancing a little further, he will bring it forward more clearly. For by naming “covetousness,” he sets their base method of profit before our eyes. For “covetousness” ^B sometimes signifies injustice, but at other times it signifies mere base gain; wherefore he appropriately added the word “to make merchandise.” And in order to show that they are utterly alien to divine doctrine, he states that they use feigned words. “But they shall have,” he adds, “the wages of impiety, death.” But that word “of old” denotes the foreknowledge of God. For God, by His foreknowledge, just as He prepared rewards for the good, so also prepared for the wicked the place appropriate for them: “for their judgment of old does not cease,” that is, “it does not delay.” ^C

“Against whom the judgment of old does not cease, and their perdition does not slumber.” He does not without cause begin with those who are more excellent, but because he wished to show that these men have become guilty of greater punishment for sinning. Since, therefore, these were among the more excellent (as having been called first to the apostolate), when they have deviated from the straight path, they have a greater condemnation. But although he set out to confirm this matter by way of a hypothesis through examples—and even though he ought to have immediately subjoined what was the consequence of the hypothesis, by saying: “If He did not spare them, shall He therefore spare these present wanton ones?” or by way of affirmation: “Therefore He shall much less spare them”—he does not do so. Why? Because since there were examples of two kinds (namely, of ^D good and bad) set forth, such a consequence regards the evil alone, and does not also encompass the good; for good things are not compensated by evil. Since, therefore, he could not satisfy what he had prefaced with a single answer or consequence, he therefore makes use of another phrase, and completes his discourse by way of an epiphonema. But why he adds the examples of the good to those of the evil, will be stated in the appropriate place. As we have said, therefore, the understanding does not follow the form of the apparent discourse. For that which usually follows in periods or constructions of this kind is not added; but it is a bare confirmation from examples, both of those who were punished on account of sins, and of those who were honored on account of virtue. Just as if he were to say: God knows how to punish those who now live in sins, without hope of pardon, by an inevitable penalty, just like the angels who sinned, as in the case of the flood, as in the case of the cities of Sodom; and, conversely, to honor those who practice righteousness, as the

^A Lord did for Noah and for Lot. The construction is as follows: having said that false teachers will be punished both for their blasphemies and for their licentious life, he brings forward examples, namely that God did not spare the angels who sinned, nor the ancient world in the time of the flood. And again, he details those who practiced righteousness, saying that he preserved both Noah and Lot from the destruction of the others who lived at that time because of their temperance and continence. For Noah was not led astray by the impiety of those before the flood, and Lot was not at all captivated by the licentiousness of those in Sodom, but actually did not surrender the angels, who were hosted by him in human form, to those who were demanding them for the sake of licentiousness, although he was harassed by the demanders with myriad injuries. This is what he indicated by the word "oppressed."

^B "For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but having cast them into the abyss of darkness, delivered them into custody for judgment. And he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and by reducing the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, condemned them to destruction, setting an example for those who were to act impiously; and rescued just Lot, who was oppressed by the behavior of the lawless in their licentiousness. For the righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul day by day with their lawless deeds. The Lord knows how to rescue the pious from temptation, but to keep the unrighteous to be punished on the day of judgment." And he says this regarding Lot: "The Lord knows how to rescue the pious from temptation," and so forth. Having said nothing regarding the righteous before this, ^C but only regarding the ungodly and their punishment, he also introduced these examples, first because sacred history makes mention in the same place of both the destruction of the wicked and the salvation of the righteous; and secondly, because by such a comparison he might both exaggerate the malice of those who sin, and make the virtue of those who have attained it more brilliant, and furthermore persuade his hearers to hate licentiousness because of the punishment, and to embrace virtue because of the desire for salvation.

"But especially those who go after the flesh in the desires of uncleanness and despise authority." From these preceding examples he cleverly descended to the matter at hand. He is speaking of the accursed Nicolaitans, ^D and Naasenes, and Cerdonians. For their wickedness is multivarious, and just as it is in their foul deeds, so is it apprehended in their many names as being confused. For these, as we have already said, positing "Depth" and "Silence" as the primordial causes of the creation of the world, and concocting certain mothers and "aeons" from these, just as Marcion also did, having taken evil seeds from them. Then, pushing aside the authority or God from the creation of the world and

^A from [His] supervision, they proceeded shamelessly into every carnal impurity. And if anyone wishes to learn about these matters, let him take into his hands the book written against them by Irenaeus, whom the West—or the Celt—reveres, titled

Against Falsely Named Knowledge,

VERS. 11. "Where angels, being greater in strength and power, do not bring a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord." Wishing to restrain such audacity of the aforementioned heretics regarding these matters, he says: "Whereas angels, being greater in strength and power, do not bring a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord," the same as what the blessed Jude says, as we have already warned. For he, too, correcting the petulance of some people's tongues, instructs his warning with the same example, but somewhat more fully, saying thus: "Michael the archangel did not dare to bring against him a judgment of blasphemy." Peter now wishes to say something similar: namely, that these execrable spirits have no hesitation about assailing dignities with insults, although not even the angels—who are far superior in power and strength to those wicked men—bring, that is, do not produce, a blasphemous judgment before the Lord against those very dignities. For, since the devil also participates in some dignity, in that he is the "beginning of the creation of the Lord" (for he was created a creature of God, even if he did not remain in it), Michael the archangel did not bring against him words of insult. As if to say: If the devil, who is most worthy of all to be denounced with insults, did not however endure this from Michael before the Lord, then certainly those who assail dignities with curses are not of a sound mind, being far inferior in dignity to the angels. ^C By "dignities," he means either the heavenly virtues or the ecclesiastical authorities, against whom these men, rising up, do not cease to persecute them with contumely.

VERS. 12-13. "But these, as irrational animals, naturally born for capture and perdition, blaspheming in those things which they are ignorant of, shall perish in their own corruption; receiving ^D

^A the wages of injustice, counting for a delight the pleasures of the day. Some have explained this as follows: As irrational animals naturally born for perdition they will perish, that is, differing nothing from beasts which are made for destruction alone. As irrational animals, that is, living by sense alone, not by mind and the intellectual life; and therefore easily led astray by the seduction of corruptible life, guided and carried about by anger and desire, ^B "in those things which they are ignorant of," that is, in their own appropriate ignorance blaspheming, they will perish in their own deserved corruption, "receiving the wages of injustice," which they have voluntarily brought upon themselves. "Counting for a delight the pleasures of the day." He says that they place what is truly desirable, true and lovely joy and pleasure, in the daily gratification of the throat. However, it should be noted that holy Scripture, when it reproves those things which are naturally in men, that is, those things which exist in them as they are animals, compares them to irrational beasts. For instance, when it says: "Man, when he was in honour, did not understand; he was compared to senseless beasts, and became like to them." And, "Do not become as the horse and mule." And, "Horses became lustful." And, "Be prudent as the serpents, and guileless as the doves." By saying these things, it does not want to transform their natures, but only exhorts us to decline from their natural impulses. But when it suggests something salvific, it brings in a likeness from better things, as when it says: "Be merciful, as your Father who is in heaven is." Even here, it does not transform our natures, but exhorts us to exert ourselves ^C to do that, as much as our strength allows.

VERSES 13-16

^A things that are interjected here announce and confirm their vanity. The sense, however, is this: They have nothing pure, he says, but like stains on a white garment, they cling to the pure manner of life of the Church. Whenever they meet anyone, if they can render the men or women with whom they associate unchaste through their conversation, they count this a delight, finding thereby an opportunity to satisfy their own lasciviousness. They even gladly welcome you to their banquets, not out of charity, so as to make others partakers of their goods, but because they judge such a time to be opportune for the deception of women; for they fix their eyes on nothing else but adulterous women, and always keep them so directed. And failing so, they, as children of the curse, entice and ensnare unstable and weak souls. For their heart is trained in nothing else but the greed for impure pleasures, or for wealth; and because of both of these things, they have wandered far from the road that leads to life. Wherefore they suffer the same fate as once befell Balaam ^B the son of Bosor. For he too loved the gifts and the reward of iniquity, but he received a rebuke for his own iniquity from a dumb animal, which, speaking with a human voice, restrained the madness of the prophet. From this we learn that Balaam, after having once been forbidden by God to go to Balak because of his puffed-up passion which he nurtured through his frenzied sorcery, nevertheless struggled to go to him a second time; but terrified on the way by the fear of God and by the fears that met him on the road, he was compelled to pour forth words of blessing. For the prophets speak with understanding the things that they speak; and for that reason he was called a prophet, because he knew what he was saying, and did not, by ignorance, choose to speak better things by chance. Therefore, that blessing was not the work of some insane divination, but of divine power.

VERS. 17-19. "These are wells without water, clouds carried with a tempest, to whom the mist of darkness is reserved. For, speaking strong things of vanity, they entice through the desires of the flesh, in luxury, ^C those who have barely escaped, who live in error. Promising them liberty, whereas they themselves are the slaves of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same also he is the slave." Having said much by way of digression (among which he proposed the example of Balaam), he turns his discourse again to the most impure Gnostics, and likens them to "wells without water," inasmuch as they had lost the pure and life-giving water of the evangelical preaching. Then he also compares them to clouds that are carried about by a contrary wind, which he therefore calls a "tempest," inasmuch as it agitates and disturbs what it carries along. They are not, therefore, he says, clear clouds, such as the saints are, but mists full of darkness. And why so? He himself provides the cause, because, he says, they also speak "strong things" out of "vanity," enticing through carnal concupiscence ^D

speak, enticing through the lusts of the flesh in wantonness those who had truly escaped and had once been conversing in error, then being controlled by the Lord. ^A But they themselves, he says, being slaves of the aforementioned impurity—which he justly calls corruption—dare to promise liberty to those who are being deceived. Therefore he also adds a marvelous argument: that since they are slaves of sin—for by whatever anyone is overcome, to that he is also enslaved—they themselves promise liberty to others. This shall be known more fully through what follows.

"For if, having escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returning to its own vomit, and a sow having washed to wallowing in the mire." ^B Through what has been said, he establishes two points: that one who is overcome necessarily serves the one who has conquered him, and that those who after the knowledge of the truth are again involved in their former ways have fallen into evils worse than the former ones. To these he also adds the proverb as an advocate. The discourse is as follows: If, having escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome by them, they surely are also enslaved to them, and they have become worse than they were before the knowledge regarding their enslavement to these things, as Satan is eager for them to be carried off to worse things. Therefore, the Apostle says that since this is in store for those who sing the palinode of evils, it would have been better for them never to have known, than to have known and been captured by worse things, ^C since, when a dog returns to its own vomit, it is more loathsome; and just as a sow, in like manner, seeking to roll, if it does this in the mire, appears filthier than the previous filth.

CAPUT III

Vers. 1, 2. "This is now, beloved, the second letter I write to you, in which I stir up your sincere mind with a reminder, to remember the words previously spoken by the holy prophets, and the commandment of your apostles of the Lord and Savior Jesus." ^D From this we learn that the Epistles of Peter are two in all. The phrase "in which I stir up" is as follows: "In which epistles," or "through which epistles, I stir up the sincere mind in you." For it is the mark of a sincere mind to remember the things that have been heard or deposited as saving truths, and to be stirred up toward the repetition of the practice of these things with all strength and readiness. These things were deposited through prophetic and apostolic proclamations. Therefore, Paul also says: "Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets."

^A For all these proclaimed the coming of the Lord; and it is not possible to deny faith to such witnesses. And why, he says, do I mention prophets and apostles? Because they proclaimed both the first and the second coming of our Lord and Savior. The structure of the sentence is as follows: "That you may be mindful of the words spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of your apostles, of the commandment of the Lord and Savior." For the word "of" [or "by"] is common to both. And why does he exhort them to rekindle this memory? He adds the reason: because those who live dissolutely according to their own desires, seeing some who fear the coming of the Lord—which the Lord Himself had also proclaimed along with other God-bearing men—and who, on account of this, condemn their own unseemly mode of life, and especially because the proof does not follow immediately upon the words but is extended for the salvation of those written in the book of the saved ^B, they shamelessly beset the believers, mocking them.

"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." "For this they willfully are ignorant of." For because the proof of the coming of the Lord does not follow immediately after the words—on account of the salvation of the many who are written in the book of the living—scoffers beset the believers, mocking them and saying: "Where is the promise of his coming?" Now, because one promise has not yet been fulfilled for the reasons we have mentioned, it is neither right to distrust all His other sayings, nor, by being emboldened by the persuasions of wicked men, to disobey His saving commandments. These things the Gnostics of that time, or the Naassenes, and the Lampetiani, and the Euchites, used to babble. ^C But he says that this was hidden from them willfully; for they voluntarily closed their eyes to the light of the truth. And what is it that is hidden from them? Namely, that just as of old, when the heavens and the earth, according to the Mosaic history of the world's creation, were produced from water (for he says that God commanded, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters," and likewise the earth "appeared" out of the waters by His command, whereas it had previously lain submerged under water), and just as the heaven and earth were composed of waters, the flood came unexpectedly; so also now it is decreed that the destruction of the universe shall come to pass through fire, with which the ungodly shall also perish. For since there are two primary elements of this world, water and fire, from which the other two, air and earth, receive their being—the former from the evaporated waters, and the latter from the same waters condensed, with fire ^D causing both the evaporation and the condensation (which is not at all incredible, since this power has been granted to the nature of fire by God the Creator)—and since destruction was once brought upon the ungodly through water, at the time of the flood, it is entirely necessary, he says, that another also

by fire should at some point occur. ^A

"For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water."

"Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished."

"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."

^A visible creation was made good, but because of man's transgression this same creation was subjected to vanity—that is, it did not have stability of being—and then, through the flood, when few pious men remained on the earth, namely Noah and those saved in the ark, to provide a new seed for the world, the entire universe was renewed and took on, as it were, a second beginning. Yet even then human nature did not remain in its original state, but gradually declined toward worse things, from which neither the Law given through Moses nor the presence of the Lord himself sufficiently recalled it. Since, therefore, the calling to salvation was manifold, and the destruction resulting from disobedience and infidelity was likewise manifold, for this reason a deluge of fire and a consumption will be necessary: not, however, in every way and perfectly, not of souls certainly, nor of bodies either. ^B "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ," not indeed stripped of our bodies or as souls alone, but with bodies free from corruption. For how could a soul be punished without a body, bearing back the things done through the body or according to how it acted through the body? For it is not the act of a just judge, when two people have sinned in the same way, to let one go without punishment and to transfer the whole weight of the crime onto the other. Moreover, since we are accustomed to purify unclean materials with fire and restore them to their former brightness, why should God not do something similar? That expression, however, "reserved for the day of judgment and perdition," is to be understood in a common sense, as if it were: "for the day of judgment, and for the day of perdition." "Judgment" here carries the same meaning as "condemnation." ^C

VERS. 8,9. "But of this one thing be not ignorant, my beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some consider delay, but is long-suffering toward us, not wishing any to perish, but all to come to repentance." Having concluded the discourse concerning the consummation of the age, in which he said that it will be both necessary and by means of fire (all of which we have also treated at greater length), he moves on to the delay of this very consummation and says: "The Lord does not delay his promise, as some consider delay, but is long-suffering, awaiting your salvation and the complement of those to be saved." Since God is infinite, there is for him no delay or length of time; but even the "thousand years are with him as one day," or rather, according ^D to David, not even the smallest part of a day. For he says thus: "For a thousand years in thy sight, O Lord, are as yesterday which is past, and as a watch in the night." He uses this, to indicate a very short time, comparing it to a watch of the night, since the night is divided into four parts; and the Lord "comes in the fourth watch of the night" to the apostles, as is narrated in the Gospel.

Chapter III

^A "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up." Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" The uncertainty of the time of the Lord's coming, and the fact that it will appear suddenly and unexpectedly, He declares by "a thief" and "at night": the first by "at night," the other by "a thief," for no one who expects a thief is robbed. Wherefore the Lord also says: "As in the days of Noah were the people eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the flood came upon them"; so also the coming of the Son of man shall come upon the ungodly suddenly and unexpectedly. ^B The word "with a noise" (ῥοιζηδόν) means "with a sound"; and such a sound is peculiar to things that are consumed by fire. Observe, however, that He said "the earth" and the "works" in it shall be burned up, but not men; unless He spoke of destruction only for the ungodly, that is, their ways. "For the way of the ungodly shall perish," but not the ungodly man himself.

^A "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation." — "New heavens" and "a new earth" the Lord will establish, not in substance and matter; for neither does one who constructs a new house build it from matter that did not previously exist. Thus God, having once established the matter and having fashioned it with various ^C forms and compositions—what was necessary insofar as the need of that time demanded, but for the hereafter was unprofitable and superfluous—will remove and reject it; but whatever is useful and fitting, He will retain in an immortal beauty, refashioned for another incorruptible world.

^A "Even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." ^D Paul also said this same thing when he stated: "The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." But if toward repentance

the long-suffering of God leads us to repentance, and repentance is to you [us] a saving thing; the long-suffering of God aims entirely at our benefit and salvation. He says that there are ^A things difficult to understand, which he asserts are twisted even by impious persons. For this is what "to be distorted" means. And that we may demonstrate the whole matter from one of these, as the divine Paul has said: "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Rom. v, 20); these very men, twisting it, said that Paul says this: "Let us sin more, so that we may be forgiven more." This they do to their own destruction. For just as those who killed the prophets and the apostles, so also those who destroy their words through distortion are subject to the same judgment. For they killed those men, stopping them from helping those who were to be [instructed] in saving doctrines by them, and they similarly distort their words, so that no one might grasp salvation through them. By his own "steadfastness" he means faith in the Lord. And finally, just as he ends the other Epistle with a prayer, so also in this one, he prays for them, at the very end, for growth in the faith of the Lord.

The end of the Second Epistle of the holy apostle Peter, 154 verses.

ORDER OF THE CONTENTS WHICH ARE CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME

THEOPHYLACT, ARCHBISHOP OF BULGARIA. Exposition on the Epistle I to Timothy. Exposition on the Epistle II to Timothy. Exposition on the Epistle to Titus. Exposition on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Preface of Boniface Finetti to the third volume of the Theophylact edition of Venice. Section I. — On the Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles edited by Sifanus. Section II. — On the Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles taken from the Vatican Library. Section III. — On the Commentary on the Catholic Epistles. Section IV. — On the Sermon on the Adoration of the Holy Cross. Section V. — On the Sermon on the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple. Section VI. — On the Martyrdom of the Fifteen Martyrs of Tiberiopolis, under the Emperor Julian the Apostate. Section VII. — On the Address to a Friend regarding the things for which the Latins are accused. Section VIII. — On Royal Instruction, to Constantine Porphyrogenitus. Section IX. — On the Eulogy to the Emperor Alexius Comnenus. Section X. — On the twenty Epistles taken from the Vatican Library. Section XI. — On the last part of the eleventh homily, On the Resurrection. Section XII. — On the Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles from the Florentine-Medicean library. Dedication by Sifanus. Second dedication by the same. Argument of the Book of Acts together with their chapters. Exposition on the Acts of the Apostles. Another text of the same exposition from a Vatican codex. Another text of the same exposition from a Florentine codex, but purely Greek. Argument of the Catholic Epistle of St. James, with an index of chapters. Exposition on the Catholic Epistle of St. James. Argument of the Epistle of St. Peter, with its chapters. Exposition on the Epistle I of St. Peter. Argument of the Epistle of St. Peter with an index of chapters. Exposition on the Epistle II of St. Peter.

THE END OF VOLUME ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE.