4 Somrrarcent ons, . wee mre vhs. anole . - ον ρῊν ree ts Ἄμε Ψ: ey OF PRING KS > Eb Pa : So, OGIGAL SEX wwe Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/criticalexegetic1905bigg THE EPISTLES OF ST. PETER AND ST. JUDE Rev. CHARLES BIGG, D.D. NY THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICAL COMMENTARY IAN 3. 1939 CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY ON THE ΠΡ ΓΤ OP 57. PETER AND ΘΙ ΡΕ BY THE REv. CHARLES BIGG, D.D. RECTOR OF FENNY COMPTON CAxNO8 OF CHRIST CHURCH, AND REGIUS PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY ἘΜ THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 1905 PREE-ACE: I SEND this laborious volume to the press with a clear sense of its limitations. But on this subject no more need be said ; the shortcomings of the work will be at least as evident to others as to myself. The books that I have used most for the purpose of the commentary are those of Alford, Kiihl, and von Soden, that of Dr. Hort for part of the First Epistle of St. Peter, that of Spitta for 2 Peter and Jude Of Introductions I know at first hand only those of Salmon, B. Weiss, Westcott, Jiilicher, and Zahn, the excellent articles of Dr. Chase in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, and Harnack’s Chronologie. No one can write of the early Church without feeling how greatly he has been helped in an infinity of directions by the eminent scholar last named. But the apparatus of a commentator on the New Testa- ment ought to be much wider than it usually is. The Anti- nomians with whom we meet in 2 Peter and Jude cannot be understood from the New Testament alone. To see what they were we must turn not merely to Corinthians, Thessa- lonians, or the Apocalypse, but to the lives of Luther and Wesley, to the times of Eckhart, Tauler and Ruysbroek, or to such books as Barclay’s Juner Life of the Religious Societies of the Commonwealth. Every great religious upheaval repro- 1'Valuable summaries of the Literature are found—for 1 and 2 Peter, Hastings’ D. of the B., vol. iii. pp. 817, 818; for Jude, vol. ii. pp. 805, 806, and Smith’s D. of the B., vol. i. p. 1839, ed. 1893. Vv vi PREFACE duces the same phenomena. There can be no doubt that they existed also in apostolic times. The Gnostics again, with whom these Antinomians have been confounded, cannot be understood without some acquaintance with the magic and devil-worship which reigned throughout the Greco- Roman world. For this we must go to Plutarch, Apuleius, Lucian, the Neo-Platonists, or the papyri. Deissmann, in his Bzbelstudien, gives some specimens of magical formule, and the Pzs¢zs Sophia will show how the sacred names of the Bible and of the heathen mythology were mixed up together. At this moment in Hayti there are Gnostics who blend Vaudoux, or snake-worship, with Roman Catholicism, and it is probable that the same kind of “syncretism” is known to missionaries in other quarters. The Gnosticism of the Greeks and Orientals was probably not quite so sinister as that of the Haytian negroes, but it belonged to the same family. A point which gives the commentator much trouble is the nature of the Greek with which he has to deal. It is Vulgar Greek, but this is a most indefinite term. There is (1) the Greek that was written by men of education, by Epictetus, Plutarch, Dio Chrysostom, Lucian, Clement of Alexandria. In this there are many new words and expres- sions, and the niceties of Attic grammar are relaxed; at the same time the old classics exercise a strong influence over the writer's mind. (2) Again there is colloquial Greek, which, as it was spoken in Egypt, we see fresh from the source in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, published by Grenfell and Hunt. (3) There is, again, the colloquial Greek as written by Jews, whose grammar and phraseology were more or less influenced by the Septuagint and the genius of the Hebrew tongue. (4) Again we have to take into account the force of Christian usage, which coined many new terms of its own. (5) Finally, there are perceptible differences in the linguistic habits of the New Testament writers themselves. Con- stantly we have to ask whether any inference can be drawn PREFACE vii from the presence or absence of the article, what sense is to be attached to a μή or an ἐν, whether such a phrase as χρίσις βλασφημίας is Hebrew or Greek, whether ἐν Χριστῷ is Pauline or liturgical. Much has been done in later years to simplify these questions. The admirable Concordance of Hatch and Redpath is often the best of commentaries. Field has done much good service, and books like Deissmann’s Bzbelstudien (of which an English translation has recently been published by Messrs. T. & T. Clark) are of great use. Finally, Dr. Blass has earned the gratitude of all commentators by his Grammar. It is the work of one who with a profound knowledge of classical Greek combines a large and accurate acquaintance with the language of the New Testament, and no book shows so clearly, what we want especially to know, the difference between the two. Some of my readers may be startled, or even shocked, by the view taken in this volume of the relation between the two great apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. It has not been adopted hastily, nor is it, I trust, irreverent. But it will not be accepted by anyone who regards the Dzdache as belong- ing to the first or even to the second century. My own conviction is that it belongs to the fourth. According as the reader accepts one view or the other, his conception of the early history of the Church will be fundamentally different. As regards the relation between St. Peter and St. Paul again, there is need of a wider historical sense than is usually brought to bear upon the question. The difference between the two apostles was, as I believe, practically that which divided Hooker from Cartwright. I say practically, as meaning that a strictly Pauline Church would, in the details of worship and discipline, approximate very closely to the ideal of the Puritans. It would be built upon the theory of direct and personal inspiration, not upon that of indirect and corporate inspiration. These two theories produce very different results in the way of organisation, as, in fact, viii PREFACE everybody knows. I have called St. Paul a Mystic and St. Peter a Disciplinarian, not because the latter was not truly inspired, but because his inspiration was of a different type, of that type which is on amicable terms with reason, edu- cation, and law. People often tell one that the more Mysticism is explained the more obscure it becomes. It is a natural difficulty, be- cause up to a certain point all Christians are Mystics, as indeed are many who are not Christians at all. I may refer all those who wish for light upon this perplexing question to the excellent Bampton Lectures of my friend Mr. Inge. Or they may consider the difference between Law’s Serious Call and his Spirit of Prayer. Or they may read the Sermons of Tauler, or that most instructive book the Journal of George Fox. Or they may ask themselves that question, on the answer to which everything turns, what they mean by the right Uf private judgment, on what it rests, and how far it extends. No man may presume to ask whether St. Peter or St. Paul was the greater saint. Nor can we ask whether the Pauline or the Petrine spirit is the more profitable for our times, for this, too, God alone knows. But, as we read the second chapter of Galatians, we cannot fail to be struck by the remarkable fact that St. Peter made no reply, nor can we well avoid the attempt to see what he might have said for himself, if he had thought it wise to take up the glove. Further, every Christian ought to ask which of these great apostles speaks more directly to his own soul. If it be Paul, let us be sure that we know what Freedom means, where it meets and where it parts from Law. If it be Peter, let us be sure that we know where Discipline begins and where it ends, lest for others, and indeed for ourselves, it become a yoke too heavy to be borne. Like all brethren of the guild of students, I owe more than I can tell, to more people than I can name. It has been my desire to acknowledge all debts. But the great PREFACE ix libraries are not easy of access to a dweller in the country, and often, from lack of intercourse with fellow-labourers, one does not even hear of good books. In this way, not only is much valuable information missed, but it becomes impossible to render the due tribute of respect and appreciation to those who have tilled the same ground beforehand. If there is any scholar who may think that I have been vending his wares without his trade-mark, I trust he will accept this imperfect apology. But I must tender special thanks to the Rev. Dr. Plummer, Master of University College, Durham, who has revised all the proofs with laborious care, and whose learning and judgment have been exceedingly helpful at many points; and to those eminent and most courteous scholars, the Rev. Dr. Sanday and the Rev. Dr. Driver, who have been most kind in answering questions as to which I was very much in the dark. With these words of explanation and gratitude the book must go forth to face the world. Whatever be its fate, it is a sincere and humble endeavour to promote the interests of scholarship, edification, and peace, CHARLES BIGG, Fenny Compton, June 29, 1901. CON TEN TS: I PAGE INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. ΡΈΕΙ % : . . . . . . 1-87 8. τ ΠΕ Catholic Epistles τ΄ « τς « settee dis I § 2. Vocabulary and Style . . . . . . . 2 § 3. Testimonia Veterum . A A : : 7 § 4. The Relation of 1 Peter τὸ ΤῈ rest of the New Testament . : : . ° 15 § 5. The Allusions to Perse ciGen 3 in I Weere : Ξ e 24 § 6. Doctrine, Discipline and Organisation in 1 Peter . 33 Note on Post- -Apostolic Prophecy : e 50 § 7. St. Peter and St. Paul in the New earner eis 52 § 8. The Diaspora, Babylon, and the Elect Lady . . 67 § 9. Mark, Silvanus, and Date ofthe Epistle . . ὁ 80 NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. PETER . 88-198 INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EPISTLE OF oi. PETER ς ° . . . . . . 199-247 § 1. Testimonia Veterum . . .« eer dee Ot 199 § 2. Observations onthe Testimonia . . ἡ .« ὁ 210 § 3. The Relation of 2 Peterto Jude . - Ὁ - 216 § 4. Vocabulary, Grammar, and Style of 2 Peter . . 224 § 5. Organisation and Doctrine in 2 Peter . ° . . 232 8 6. To whom and against whom was 2 Peter written? . 237 § 7. Date, Authenticity, and Occasion of 2 Peter ‘i 242 NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. PETER 248-304 INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE OF ST. JUDE . 305-322 ἘΠῚ: TestimoniaVeterum τ΄ ὁ ὁ ὁ « «s ὁ 305 § z. Vocabulary and Style . ° e . ° . ° 310 § 3. Indications of Date in Jude . τὺ ὃς 312 § 4. Authorship of the ee Where, and to whom was it written? . - : : : . το 317 NOTES ON THE EPISTLE OF ST.JUDE . . . 323-344 INDEX e e ° .Φ Φ e 9. .Φ Φ Φ Φ 345 xi THE BEIstLES* OF PETER AND .~JUDE pee INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF Si; PETER: § 1. THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES, THE group of Epistles in which 1 Peter occupies a place is variously known as Catholic, Canonic, or Apostolic. The title Catholic is used by the Council of Laodicea, Chry- sostom, Johannes Damascenus, Ebed Jesu, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius, the Alexandrine Codex, Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, Amphilochius, Leontius, Nicephorus. Canonic is used by Junilius, Gelasius (according to two MSS.), John of Salisbury, Hugo of St. Victor, and by the Liber Pontificalis (see Duchesne). Apostolic is used by Gelasius (according to the reading pre- ferred by Bishop Westcott), and perhaps also by Ebed Jesu. The title Cathoic appears to be understood by Ebed Jesu as signifying the universal acceptance of the Epistles. His words are: ** Tres etiam Epistolae quae inscribuntur Apostolis in omni codice et lingua, Jacobo scilicet et Petro et Joanni; Et Catholicae nuncupantur.” But Leontius explains it differently: καθολικαὶ δὲ ἐκλήθησαν ἐπειδὴ ov πρὸς ἕν ἔθνος ἐγράφησαν, ws ai τοῦ IlavAov, ἀλλὰ καθόλου πρὸς πάντας This, however, can hardly be the true explanation, for James, 1 and 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, all have a limited address, and there can be little doubt that 1 John and Jude are also intended for a definite circle of readers. Canonic is understood by Junilius to mean “ containing the rule I 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER of faith”: Qui libri ad simplicem doctrinam pertinent? Canonici septemdecim. . . . Quae sunt perfectae auctoritatis ἢ Quae canonica in singulis speciebus absolute numeravimus. The references for this section will be found in Westcott, On the Canon of the New Testament, Appendix D. Canonic appears to be the Western title, Catholic the Eastern. The two words probably mean the same thing, “included in the Canon,” “ universally received,” ‘ orthodox.” The order of the books in the New Testament varies greatly in different authorities. In the Greek MSS. it is usually Gospels, Acts, Catholic Epistles, Pauline Epistles, Apocalypse. In the Sinaitic MS. and Peshito Version it is Gospels, Pauline Epistles, Acts, Catholic Epistles, Apocalypse. In the Canones Apostolict, the Memphitic and Sahidic Versions, it is Gospels, Pauline Epistles, Catholic Epistles, Acts, Apocalypse. In the Muratorian Fragment the order is apparently (see next section) Gospels, Acts, Pauline Epistles, Catholic Epistles, Apoca- lypse. This is the prevalent usage in the West. There are numerous variations of minor importance. (See Gregory and Abbot, p. 132 544.) Since the fourth century the generally received order of the Catholic Epistles has been James, Peter, John, Jude, but there are many ancient variations which will be found in Gregory and Abbot, Pp. 138, 139. 8 2. VOCABULARY AND STYLE OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. PETER. The vocabulary of the Epistle is remarkable as containing a large number of words which are not used by any other of the New Testament writers. The list of them is as follows: ἀγαθοποιία, ἀγαθοποιός!, ἀδελφότηςϊ, ἀδίκωςϊ, ἄδολος, αἰσχροκερδῶς, ἀλλοτριοεπίσκοπος, ἀμαράντινος, ἀμάραντοςϊ, dvayevvav!, ἀναγκαστῶς, ἀναζώννυσθαι!, ἀνάχυσις, ἀνεκλάλητος, ἀντιλοιδορεῖν, ἀπογίνεσθαι3, ἀπονέμειν!, ἀπροσωπολήπτως, ἀρεταί!, ἀρτιγέννητος, ἀρχιποίμηνϑ, βιοῦνϊ, γυναικεῖοςϊ, ἐγκομβοῦσθαι (ἐγκολποῦσθαι), ἐμπλοκή, ἔνδυσις!, ἐξαγγέλ- Aew!, eLepevvav!, ἐπερώτημαϊ, ἐπικάλυμμαϊ, ἐπίλοιποςϊ, ἐπιμαρτυρεῖνϊ, ἐποπτεύεινξ, ἱεράτευμα!, κλέοςϊ, κλῆροι, κραταιόςϊ, κτίστηςϊ, μώλωψὶ, οἰνοφλυγία, ὁμόφρων, ὁπλίζεσθαι, πατροπαράδοτος, περίθεσις", πότοςϊ, προθύμωςϊ, προμαρτύρεσθαι, πτόησις!, ῥύπος!, σθενοῦν, oropa', συμπα- θής!, συμπρεσβύτερος, συνεκλεκτός, συνοικεῖν!, ταπεινόφρωνϊ, τελείωςϊ, ὑπογραμμός!, ὑπολιμπάνειν, φιλάδελφοςϊ, φιχόφρων (ὁ... in iil 8), ὠρύεσθαιϊ. They number in all sixty-two. Words marked (1) are found in VOCABULARY AND STYLE 3 the Septuagint. Words marked (3) are found in one of the other Greek versions of the Old Testament. ᾿Αναγεννηθείς occurs only as a doubtful variant for παραγενηθείς in the preface to Sirach. Some MSS. appear to have read this word in John iv. 3, 5, but here it is possibly borrowed from St. Peter. What observations are necessary on these words will be found in the Notes. Here we may remark that the language and the thoughts of the author are deeply tinged by the influence of the Greek Old Testament. He appears to have had a special predilec- tion for Maccabees, with which he has many words in common (καταβολή, διασπορά, ἀμίαντος, δόξαι, ἀναστροφή, παροικία, ἱεράτευμα, περιέχω, ἀρεταί, ὑπογραμμός, πτόησις, ἀπονέμειν, συμπαθής, ξενίζειν, κτίστης, ἀδελφότης), and for Wisdom (ἄφθαρτος, ἀμίαντος, ἀμάραντος). His vocabulary is marked by a certain dignity and elevation. It shows no trace of the Atticist affectation which was common in the second century, but is such as might have been employed by a well- read Jew of good social standing in the first. The Hebraisms which occur are neither many nor harsh. We find ἐλπίζειν ἐπί (i. 13); τέκνα ὑπακοῆς (1. 14); τὰς ὀσφύας τῆς διανοίας (i. 13); ἀπροσωπολήπτως (i. 17); ῥῆμα Κυρίου (i. 25); λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν (ii. 9); σκεῦος (iii. 7); πορεύεσθαι ἐν (iv. 3), and so on; but there is nothing to suggest that the writer habitually spoke or thought in Hebrew, or that he was translating from a Hebrew original. There are no Latinisms. ; What may be called the new Christian vocabulary appears, of course. We find Χριστιανός, βάπτισμα, ἀγαπᾶν, πίστις, εὐαγγελίζειν, ἀλήθεια, ἐκλεκτός, ξύλον, πρόγνωσις, ἁγιασμός, πειρασμός, πνεῦμα, πρεσβύτερος, ταπεινός, κλῆροι, and other words might be added. But we do not meet with νόμος, ἐπίσκοπος, διάκονος, ἐκκλησία. There is no mention of the Christian Prophet, or of Widows or Orphans. Nor do we find any of those words which belong especi- ally to the circle of St. Paul’s ideas (δικαιοῦν and its family: ἀκρο- βυστία, περιτομή : ἐλλογεῖν : ἀνακεφαλαιοῦσθαι : viobecia: πλήρωμα : μυστήριον : ἀρραβών : παράπτωμα, παράβασις, παραβάτης : πρόθεσις, προορίζειν : καυχᾶσθαι: καταργεῖν : σταυρός, σταυροῦν : μορφή: ζύμη: γράμμα, and so forth). What grammarians note as vulgarisms or colloquialisms of later Greek are present, but not in any striking degree. There are a few words of late coinage, like καθώς, ὑπολιμπάνειν. The terminations -μα and -wos are confused; thus we have ὑπογραμμός for ὑπό- Ὑραμμα, and some words, 6.5. προμαρτύρεσθαι, δοκίμιον, seem to be incorrectly used. But, generally speaking, the orthography and grammar are not bad. In some points, indeed, there is remarkable correctness in the writer’s use. Thus the particle μέν occurs six times, and is always followed by δέ. + INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER The article is employed in more classical style than by any other writer of the New Testament. Take, for instance, the quite Thucydidean clause in iil, 3, ὁ ἔξωθεν ἐμπλοκῆς τριχῶν καὶ περιθέσεως χρυσίων ἢ ἐνδύσεως t ἱματίων κόσμος, and eight times he uses the nice arrangement exemplified in the phrase τὸν τῆς παροικίας ὑμῶν χρόνον (i. 17, iii, 1, 3, 20, iv. 14, v. 1 és, 4). In iv. 3 he has τὸ BovAnpa τῶν ἐθνῶν, the collocation which in the rest of the New Testament is almost universal. Still more striking is the refined accuracy of his use of ὡς in i. 19, ὡς ἀμνοῦ ἀμώμου καὶ ἀσπίλου Χριστοῦ: il. 16, μὴ ὡς ἐπικάλυμμα ἔχοντες τῆς κακίας τὴν ἐλευθερίαν : iii. 7; ὡς ἀσθενεστέρῳ σκεύει τῷ γυναι- κείῳ. In the first passage Χριστοῦ ὡς ἀμνοῦ ἀμώμου καὶ ἀσπίλου would be Greek, but the masters of style prefer the arrangement followed by Peter; for instance, Plato, Zazs, 905 B, ὡς ἐν κατόπτροις αὐτῶν ταῖς πράξεσιν, compare Diognetus, vi. 6, pa PE ὡς ἐν φρουρᾷ τῷ κόσμῳ: Josephus, At. xvill. 9. 5, ὡς ὑπὸ κρείττονος κακοῦ. τῆς ἐπιθυμίας νικωμένου. This subtlety was a stumbling-block in later Greek (see Cobet, Variae Lectiones, pp. 163, 532). I find no other instance of this nicety in the New Testament except in Hebrews, Xil. 7, ὧὡᾷ υἱοῖς ὑμῖν προσφέρεται ὃ Θεός. Peter himself follows the other, to us more natural, order in ii. 12, καταλαλοῦσιν ὑμῶν ὡς κακοποιῶν. On the other hand, Peter constantly omits the article altogether, especially in the case of a noun used with another noun in the attributive genitive, —év ἁγιασμῷ Πνεύματος, εἰς ῥαντισμὸν αἵματος, i2; δὲ. ἀναστάσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, i 1. 35 ἐν ἀποκάλυψει᾽ Inood Χριστοῦ, i. 7; σωτηρίαν ψυχῶν, i. 93 ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπισκοπῆς, ii. 12,—but also with sa nouns, eg ἅγιον, i. 12; Θεός, passim; ἐν καιρῷ ἐσχάτῳ, ie γραφή, ii. 6; γυναῖκες, iii, 1; ἄγγελοι, i χαὉ νεκρῶν, 135 ro ae καὶ νεκρούς, ἵν. 53 ποικίλης χάριτος, iv. 10; λόγια, iv. 10; πρεσβυτέρους, ν. τ. Some of these may be instances of that dropping of the article before familiar words or in current phrases which is common in all Greek writers ; in some again there may be a doubt whether the absence of the article does not give the noun a qualita- tive force, whether, for instance, ἄγγελοι, in i. 12, means “the angels,” or ‘even angels,” “such wonderful beings as angels.” But there are cases where no reason can be found, and where the attempt to find one only leads to mistranslation. As elsewhere ii the New Testament, μή is used with the participle where classic usage would exact ov; see i. 8, iv. 4; but we have οὐκ ἰδόντες, i. 8. It is doubtful whether any distinction is made between the present and the aorist imperative in li. 17. "Iva is followed once by the fut. ind. (iii. 1) ; elsewhere invariably by the subjunctive, whatever the tense of the principal verb. Very few connecting particles are employed. “Apa, ye, ἐπεί, VOCABULARY AND STYLE 5 ἐπειδή, τε, δή, που, πως, do not occur. Nor is ἄν to be found in the Epistle. This fact alone is sufficient to show that the writer was not a Greek. The writer of the Epistle was probably unable to produce such work as we see in the highly finished preface to St. Luke’s Gospel. Nevertheless he was quite awake to the difference between good Greek and bad, and used the language with freedom and a not inconsiderable degree of correctness. It follows almost necessarily that St. Peter cannot have written the Epistle himself. The apostle could not speak even his own native tongue with refined precision, but was easily recognised by dialect or accent as a Galilaean (Matt. xxvi. 73; Mark xiv. 70; Luke xxii. 59). He struck his own countrymen as an unlearned and ignorant man (Acts iv. 13), and it is not probable that he ever acquired an easy mastery of Greek, for primitive tradition represents him as making use of Mark as interpreter (Papias in Eus. #. Z. iii, 39. 15; Irenaeus, iii. 1. 1; το. 6). Basilides the Gnostic pretended to have learned some part of his doctrine from Glaucias, “the interpreter of Peter” (Clem. Al. S¢vom. vii. 17. 106) ; and though this is fiction, it testifies to the prevalent belief of the early Church that St. Peter shrank from the effort of literary composition in Greek. On the other hand, the Epistle shows no trace of translation, and we may dismiss with confidence Jerome’s view (2 2152. ad Hedib. 150) that it was originally written in Aramaic. It is highly probable that the Epistle as it stands is the work of | an “interpreter,” and this was the general view held by scholars of | the last generation (Semler, Eichhorn, Ewald, W. Grimm, Renan, Weisse; in recent times Kiihl). Opinions differ as to who the interpreter was. Many have fixed upon St. Mark, guided by the old tradition which makes him the ἑρμηνεύς of Peter. But the evangelist was probably not the only friend who helped the apostle in literary composition, and the style of the Epistle is very unlike that of the second Gospel. It is more probable that the interpreter | was Silvanus; indeed this may very well be the meaning of the/ words διὰ Σιλονανοῦ ὑμῖν ἔγραψα (v. 12). Kiihl insists that dud can only denote the bearer, not the draughtsman of the Epistle. But he is certainly mistaken in thus limiting the sense of the pre- position. Dionysius of Corinth (in Eus. 4. £. iv. 23. 11) speaks of the Epistle of Clement as ἡμῖν διὰ Κλήμεντος γραφεῖσαν, meaning clearly that Clement was the mouthpiece or interpreter of the Church of Rome. It is quite possible that St. Peter’s phrase is to be understood in the same way. At the same time, Silvanus might be, and probably was, the bearer as well as the draughtsman of the Epistle. Neither is it certain what was the precise function of the “interpreter.” He would be more than an amanuensis (ὑπογραφεύς, ie 6 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER ταχυγράφος), such as was employed by St. Paul, Origen, and indeed most ancient writers; but how much more we cannot say. We might suppose that the apostle dictated in Aramaic, and that Silvanus expressed the substance in his own Greek. In this sense King Oswald served Aidan as interpres uerbi caelestis (Bede, H. £. ili. 3; see Mr. Plummer’s note). Or the apostle may have dictated in Greek—St. Peter must have been able to speak the language in some degree—and the interpreter may have altered and corrected his expressions more or less, as was necessary. Thus Josephus (contra Apion. i. 9) availed himself of the assistance of Greek scholars to polish and correct the style of his writings. ‘There is yet a third possibility, that the interpreter received only general instructions, and was allowed a free hand as to the manner in which they should be carried out, subject to the revision and approval of the author. This seems to have been the position of Clement of Rome. But Clement, though the servant of the Church, was yet its leading member, and we can hardly suppose that the liberty allowed to St. Peter’s assistant would be so wide as this. If an interpreter, in any of these senses, was employed, it follows that the actual words of the Epistle are not altogether those of the apostle himself; and this consequence must be borne in mind when we come, as we shall come later on, to discuss the relation of 1 Peter to other documents in the New Testament. But there is nothing to prevent us from supposing that the points handled, the manner in which they are developed, the general tone of thought, are those of St. Peter himself. There are certain striking characteristics which undoubtedly are the property of the author: the constant allusions to the Old Testament; the strong sense of an unbroken continuity between the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel ; the absence of anything that can be called specula- tion; the fatherly pastoral temper, and constant preference of the concrete to the abstract ; the imagination which, though never lofty or soaring, is yet tender and picturesque ; and, lastly, the connexion of ideas, which is conversational, like that of a good old man talking to his children. There is no definite plan or logical evolution of a train of thought. One idea haunts the whole Epistle ; to the author, as to the patriarch Jacob, life is a pilgrim- age: it is essentially an old man’s view. Out of this central sentiment (which differs from that of the Epistle to the Hebrews, inasmuch as there the pilgrimage is that of the world, here that of the individual soul) spring the sister thoughts of suffering, patience, humility.. These constantly return, each time with some new application ; the apostle travels round and round his beloved spot, and at each recurring halt some fresh feature in the view presents itself. Even the words repeat themselves, always in a different connexion; the repeated word appears to suggest the thought TESTIMONIA VETERUM 7 which follows (see a list of instances in the Prolegomena to 2 Peter, § 4). This habit of verbal iteration deserves more notice than may at first sight appear, because it meets us again in 2 Peter, and is a point of some importance in the discussion of the authenticity of the later Epistle. § 3. TESTIMONIA VETERUM. Eusebius (7. £. iii. 25. 2) places the First Epistle of Peter among the ‘OmoAoyovpeva, or books which were accepted by the whole Church without any feeling of doubt. There is no book in the New Testament which has earlier, better, or stronger attestation, though Irenaeus is the first to quote it by name. The Second Epistle of St. Peter. “The earliest attestation to Peter’s First Epistle is that given in the Second (iii. 1); for those who deny this Second Epistle to be the work of Peter acknowledge that it is a very early document ” (Salmon, /trod. pp. 457, 458). This reference in 2 Peter would prove not only that 1 Peter existed, but that it bore the name of Peter. But it should be observed that Spitta, Zahn, and others consider that 2 Pet. iii. 1 refers not to 1 Peter, but to a lost Epistle, and that 2 Peter is the older of the two. The Epistle of St. James. This also may be cited as an attesting witness ; see next section. Barnabas. The date of the Epistle of Barnabas is 70-79, Lightfoot ; 80-130, probably towards the end of this period, Harnack, Chrono- logie, p. 427. Barn. i. 5, ζωῆς ἐλπίς, ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος πίστεως, cf. 1 Pet. i. 9, κομιζόμενοι TO τέλος τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν. Barn. iv. 12, ὃ Κύριος ἀπροσωπολήμπτως κρινεῖ τὸν κόσμον" ἕκαστος καθὼς ἐποίησεν κομιεῖται, cf. τ Pet. i. 17, καὶ εἰ πατέρα ἐπικαλεῖσθε τὸν ἀπροσωπολήπτως κρίνοντα κατὰ τὸ ἑκάστου ἔργον. Barn. v. 1, ἵνα τῇ ἀφέσει τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἁγνισθῶμεν, ὅ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ αἵματι τοῦ ῥαντίσματος αὐτοῦ, cf. τ Ῥεῖ. 1. 2, ἐν ἁγιασμῷ Πνεύματος, εἰς ὑπακοὴν καὶ ῥαντισμὸν αἵματος ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (but see also Heb. ΧΙ]. 24, where αἵματι ῥαντισμοῦ occurs, though without mention of sanctification). Barn. v. 6, of προφῆται, ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἔχοντες τὴν χάριν, εἰς αὐτὸν ἐπροφήτευσαν, Cf. τ Pet. i. 11, προφῆται. .. ἐραυνῶντες εἰς τίνα ἢ «- 8 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER ποῖον καιρὸν ἐδήλου τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς Πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ προμαρτυρόμενον τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν παθήματα. Barn. Xvi. 10, πνευματικὸς ναός, cf. x Pet. ii. 5, οἶκος mvew ματικος, Clement of Rome. About 95, Lightfoot; 93-95, hardly so late as 96 or 97, Harnack, Chronologie, p. 255. Bishop Lightfoot gives a list of twelve parallelisms between 1 Peter and Clement; Harnack in his edition numbers twenty. The following points may be selected : Clement has a considerable number of words from the vocabu- lary of τ Peter :—dyaGororeiv!, ἀγαθοποιία, ἀδελφότης, duwpos', ἀντί- turov!, ἀπροσωπολήμπτως, apKetds!, ἄσπιλος, παροικία, ὑπογραμμός. These words, with the exception of those marked ('), and even these are rare, are not found in the New Testament except in 1 Peter. The salutation of Clement’s Epistle appears to be suggested by that of 1 Peter: χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ παντοκράτορος Θεοῦ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πληθυνθείη. This resemblance is peculiarly important in view of Harnack’s suggestion that the Address of 1 Peter is a later addition, Clem. vii. 4, ἀτενίσωμεν εἰς τὸ αἷμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ γνῶμεν ὡς ἔστιν τίμιον τῷ Πατρὶ αὐτοῦ, cf. τ Pet. i. 19. Clem. ix. 4, Νῶε πιστὸς εὑρεθεὶς διὰ τῆς λειτουργίας αὐτοῦ παλιγ- γενεσίαν κόσμῳ ἐκήρυξεν, καὶ διέσωσεν δι᾿ αὐτοῦ ὃ δεσπότης τὰ εἰσελθόντα ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ ζῶα εἰς τὴν κίβωτον, which is apparently a reminiscence of 1 Pet. iii. 20. Clem, xxxvi. 2, εἰς τὸ θαυμαστὸν αὐτοῦ φῶς (the words θαιμαστὸν αὐτοῦ are omitted by Clement of Alexandria in quoting this passage) : lix. 2, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, SV οὗ ἐκάλεσεν ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς φῶς, cf. 1 Pet. ii. 9. Clement has also in common with 1 Peter two quotations. Clem. xxx. 2, Θεὸς yap, φησίν, ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται, ταπεινοῖς δὲ δίδωσι χάριν, cf. τ Pet. ν. 5; Jas. iv. 6. Both have Θεός, while the LXX. (Prov. iii. 34) has κύριος. Clem. xlix. 5, ἀγάπη καλύπτει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν, so 1 Pet. iv. 8: here the LXX. (Prov. x. 12) has πάντας δὲ τοὺς μὴ φιλονεικοῦντας καλύπτει φιλία. Testamenta XII. Patriarcharum. Mr. Sinker thinks that the date of this book is to be placed in a period ranging from late in the first century to the revolt of Bar Cochba. Professor Harnack (Chrono/ogie, p. 569 544.) distinguishes between a Hebrew original and a Christian edition; the latter, he thinks, was known to Origen, and possibly but doubtfully to Irenaeus, The book offers certain similarities to 1 Peter which are deserv- TESTIMONIA VETERUM 9 ing of notice, the words ἀγαθοποιία, Jo. 183 ἀγαθοποιεῖν, Benj. 53 μιασμός, Benj. 8: and certain phrases, Wepht. 4, κατὰ τὸ πολὺ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος, cf. 1 Pet. i. 3; 70. 19, ἀμνὸς ἄμωμος, cf. τ Pet. 19; Gad 6, ἀγαπᾶτε οὖν ἀλλήλους ἀπὸ καρδίας, cf. 1 Pet. 1. 22; Benj. 8, dva- παύεται ἐν αὐτῷ TO πνεῦμα TOD Θεοῦ, cf. 1 Pet. iv. 14; “4567 4, ov θέλει ἡμέραν ἀγαθὴν ἰδεῖν (from Ps. xxxiii. 13?), cf. 1 Pet. ili. 10; and in Levi 4 there is mention of the Harrowing of Hell, τοῦ ᾧδου σκυ- λευομένου ἐπὶ τῷ πάθει τοῦ ὑψίστου. Hermas. The fastor was probably published about 140, and written at various times between 110 and that date; Harnack, Chronologie, pp. 266, 267. Vis. iii. 5, the account of the stones in the Tower may have been suggested by the λίθοι ζῶντες of 1 Pet. 1]. 5. Vis. iv. 3. 4, ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ χρυσίον δοκιμάζεται διὰ τοῦ πυρός, οἴ, τ Pet. i. 7. Sim. ix. 28. 5, ὑμεῖς δὲ οἱ πάσχοντες ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματος δοξάζειν ὀφείλετε τὸν Θεόν, cf. 1 Pet. iv. 15. Mand. viii. 10, in the list of Christian virtues, several Petrine words occur close together: φιλόξενος, ἡσύχιος, ἀδελφότης, ἀγαθο. ποίησις (= ἀγαθοποιία). Sim. ix. τό. 5. οὗτοι of ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ διδάσκαλοι οἱ κηρύξαντες τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, κοιμηθέντες ἐν δυνάμει καὶ πίστει τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκήρυξαν καὶ τοῖς προκεκοιμημένοις, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔδωκαν αὐτοῖς THY σφραγῖδα τοῦ κηρύγματος : these words are probably an expansion and explanation of 1 Pet. iv. 6; just before them comes the Petrine word ζωοποιεῖν. Polycarp. He died a martyr in 155. Eus. 17. £. iv. 14. 9, ὁ γέ τοι ἸΠολύ- καρπος ev τῇ δηλωθείσῃ πρὸς Φιλιππησίους αὐτοῦ γραφῇ φερομένῃ els δεῦρο, κέχρηταί τισι μαρτυρίαις ἀπὸ τῆς Πέτρου προτέρας ἐπιστολῆς. In Polycarp we find not merely similarities, but actual quotations ΞΞΞ 7, Ξ ν Pet, i. o 5 ib. =n ΒΘ 1 15. 205 ti. 2—1 Pet. ΠῚ ΟἿ» ve. 3= 1 ῬΕΙ͂ iis tis vil. 2—\t ΒΕῖ ἵν. 7} vill. r= 1, Pet 1]. 24, 225. x. 2= 1 Pet. ii. 12. Polycarp does not name St. Peter; hence Professor Harnack thinks that though he knew the Epistle, he did not know it as Peter’s. St. Paul is mentioned four times, and twice quoted by name, xi. 2, 3; but there is a special reason for this, because St. Paul also had written to the Philippians, and Polycarp writes to remind them of the fact. Otherwise, though his epistle abounds in quotations, it is not his habit to name his authority. On this point see Dr. Chase’s article on Peter, First Epistde, in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, vol. iii. pp. 780, 781. 10 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER Papias. He wrote between 130-140 or even later; Lightfuot. Eus. .£. iii. 39. 17, κέχρηται 8 αὐτὸς μαρτυρίαις ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰωάννου προτέρας ἐπιστολῆς Kal ἀπὸ τῆς Πέτρου ὁμοίως. Justin Martyr. His death has been placed as late as 163-165, but Dr. Hort (Journal of Philology, iii. 155, On the Date of Justin Martyr) sets it as early as 148. The later date is more probable. Apol. i. 61 we find the word ἀναγεννᾶν : Trypho, 110, ἄσπιλος, is used as an epithet of Christ ; it is so used in the New Testament only in t Pet. i. 19 ; Zxypho, 35, ἄμωμος, of Christ (1 Pet. i. 19 or Heb. xi. 14); Zrypho, 114, Tod ἀκρογωνιαίου λίθου, of Christ (1 Pet. ii. 6 or Isa. xxviil. 16); Z7ypho, 116, τῆς πυρώσεως, ἣν πυροῦσιν ἡμᾶς ὅ τε διάβολος καὶ οἱ αὐτοῦ ὑπηρέται πάντες. The word πύρωσις in this sense is peculiar to 1 Pet. iv. 12; 1614., ἀρχιερατικὸν τὸ ἀληθινὸν γένος ἐσμὲν ἡμεῖς, Of. τ Pet. ii. 9; Zrypho, 119, ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐ μόνον, λαὸς ἀλλὰ καὶ λαὸς ἅγιός ἐσμεν, cf. τ Pet. ii. το (but Justin is here referring to Isa. Ixii. 12); Z7ypho, 138, the story of Noah is com- mented upon in manner that seems to imply a knowledge of 1 Pet. ili, 18-21. Noah is a type of Baptism, the eight persons are dwelt upon, and we find close together ἀναγεννᾶν, διεσώθη, dv ὕδατος. Justin speaks also of the descent of our Lord into Hell, to preach the gospel to the dead (Z7vpho, 72); but he appeals to an apocryphal quotation which he ascribes to Jeremiah. The same quotation is used by Irenaeus. It is probable, but not certain, that Justin knew 1 Peter. Melito of Sardis. His Apology, the latest o: his writings, is assigned by ancient authorities to the year 169 or 170 Apology (Otto, vol. ix. p. 432), “‘maec cum didiceris, Antonine Caesar, et filii quoque tui tecum, trades iis haereditatem aeternam quae non perit”; cf. τ Pet. i. 4. The authenticity of this Apology, which exists only in Syriac, has been impugned. Bishop Westcott (Canon, p. 222) thinks that “though, if it be entire, it is not the Apology with which Eusebius was acquainted, the general character of the writing leads to the belief that it is a genuine book of Melito of Sardis.” But Professor Harnack (Chronologie, p. 522 sqq.) main- tains that the piece is of Syrian origin, and belongs to the beginning of the third century. TESTIMONIA VETERUM II Theophilus of Antioch. He died probably 183-185 ; Lightfoot. Ad Autol. ii. 34, πειθόμενοι δόγμασιν ματαίοις διὰ πλάνης πατρο- παραδότου γνώμης ἀσυνέτου, cf. τ Pet. i. 18. Lbid., ἀπέχεσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς ἀθεμίτου εἰδωλολατρείας, cf. 1 Pet. iv. 3. Letter of the Churches of Vienna and Lugdunum. The date is 177. Eus. H. £. v. 2. 5, ἐταπείνουν ἑαυτοὺς ὑπὸ τὴν κραταιὰν χεῖρα, cf. 1 Pet. v. 6. Lbid. ν. τ. 32, we find the Petrine word ἀδελφότης. Ibid. v. 2. 6, ἵνα ἀποπνιχθεὶς ὃ Onp, ods πρότερον ᾧετο καταπεπω- κέναι, ζῶντας ἐξεμέσῃ, cf. 1 Pet. ν. 8. Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs. The date is 180. See Zexts and Studies, vol. i. No. 2, ed. J. A. Robinson, p. 114, “ Donata dixit: Honorem Caesari quasi Caesari ; timorem autem Deo”; cf. 1 Pet. ii. 17, τὸν Θεὸν φοβεῖσθε" τὸν βασιλέα τιμᾶτε. Irenaeus. Harvey thinks that he was born in 130; he died in his 86th year. This Father is the first to quote 1 Peter by name; see iv. 9. 2: kG. 5: Vs ἡ. 2: Earlier than Irenaeus himself is the Presbyter “qui audierat ab his qui apostolos uiderant.”. From him come the words, iv. 27. 2, “‘et propter hoc Dominum in ea quae sunt sub terra descendisse, euangelizantem et illis aduentum suum; remissione peccatorum exsistente his qui credunt in eum.” Irenaeus appeals to the same apocryphal quotation as Justin, ascribing it in one place (iii. 20. 4) to Isaiah, in another (iv. 22. 1) to Jeremiah. It may be suspected that this apocryphon is itself shaped on the words of 1 Pet. iv. 6, νεκροῖς εὐηγγελίσθη. Tertullian. Born, 150-160; died, 220-240. Scorpiace, xii., “ Petrus quidem ad Ponticos, Quanta enim, inquit, gloria est,” etc. ; cf. 1 Pet. 1]. 20 sqq. fbid., “et rursus; Dilecti ne epauescatis ustionem,” ete. ; cf. 1 Pet. iv. 12 566. : Adu. Judaeos, x., “Christus, qui dolum de ore suo locutus non est > cf, τ Pet. it: 22. I2 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER Adu. Marctonem, iv. 13, “sed et cur Petrum?... An quia et petra et lapis Christus? Siquidem et legimus positum eum in lapidem offendiculi et in petram scandali”; cf. 1 Pet. ii. 8. This reference Bishop Westcott considers very doubtful. The same phrase is found also Rom. ix. 33, but it is used by Tertullian to explain the name Peter, and is therefore probably taken from the Petrine Epistle. De Oratione, xv., “de modestia quidem cultus et ornatus aperta praescriptio est etiam Petri, cohibentis eodem ore, quia eodem et spiritu quo Paulus, et uestium gloriam et auri superbiam et crinium lenoniam operositatem ; cf. τ Pet. iii. 3; 1 Tim. ii. 9. Bishop Westcott (Canon, p. 263, note 3) thinks that both the Scorpiace and the aduersus Judaeos are “more or less open to sus- picion.” But Jerome mentions the Scorpiacum (ad Vigil. viii.) as a work of Tertullian’s, and quotes the 4d. /udaeos (Com. in Dan. ix. 24; v. 691, Vall.) See Geschichte der altchristlichen Litteratur, p. 681. LEpistula ad Diognetum. Harnack thinks that for the present the Epistle must be assigned to the end of the second or beginning of the third century (Chrono- logié, P. 515). δ" Ad Diogn. ix., τὸν δίκαιον ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδίκων, cf. 1 Pet. iii. 18, Lbid., ras ἁμαρτίας καλύψαι, cf. 1 Pet. iv. 9 (?). Clement of Alexandria. Died about 213, probably. Clement quotes very freely from every chapter of the Epistle ; it is needless to set out the references. He commented on 1 Peter in his Aypotyposes, and a Latin version or abstract of the Com- mentary is extant. See the text in Zahn’s Forschungen, iil. p. 79 546.» and Zahn’s remarks, p. 133 566: The First Epistle of Peter was known to several of the Gnostic writers. Basilides. Zahn (Kanongesch. i. p. 763) dates his commentary on the Gospels 120-125 ; Professor Harnack, soon after 133 (Chronologie, p. 291); Basilides professed to be a pupil of Glaucias, ‘‘the interpreter of Peter” (Clem. Alex. Srom. vii. 17. 106). Clem. Strom. iv. 12. 81, ἵνα μὴ κατάδικοι ἐπὶ κακοῖς ὁμολογουμένοις πάθωσι, μηδὲ λοιδορούμενοι ὡς ὃ μοῖχος ἢ 6 φονεύς, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι Χριστιανοὶ πεφυκότες, cf. τ Pet. iv. 15, 16. TESTIMONIA VETERUM 13 The Valentinians. Clem. Excerpta ex Theod. 12, εἰς ἃ ἐπιθυμοῦσιν of ἄγγελοι παρα: κῦψαι, ὁ ἹΤέτρος φησίν (the same passage is quoted again in 86), ef. z Pet. 1. 12. Ibid. 12, κατὰ τὸν ἀπόστολον τιμίῳ καὶ ἀμώμῳ καὶ ἀσπίλῳ αἵματι ἐλυτρώθημεν, cf. τ Pet. i. 18, 19. Lbid. 41, διότι πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου εἰκότως λέγεται ἡ ἐκκλησία ἐκλελέχθαι, cf. 1 Pet. i. 20 (0). The Marcostans. Irenaeus, i. 18. 3, καὶ τὴν τῆς κιβώτου δὲ οἰκονομίαν ἐν τῷ κατα- κλυσμῷ, ἐν ἣ ὀκτὼ ἄνθρωποι διεσώθησαν φανερώτατά φασι τὴν σωτήριον ὀγδοάδα μηνύειν. Bishop Westcott thinks that these words have a marked similarity to 1 Pet. iii, 20. The correspondence becomes more striking if we compare Justin, Zxypho, 138 (referred to above), and if we add Marcion. Theod. Haer. Fad. i. 24 (cf. Irenaeus, i. 27. 3), οὗτος τὸν μὲν Κάιν καὶ τοὺς Σοδομίτας καὶ τοὺς δυσσεβεῖς ἅπαντας σωτηρίας ἔφησεν ἀπολελαυκέναι προσεληλυθότας ἐν τῷ Gdn τῷ σωτῆρι Χριστῷ καὶ εἰς τὴν βασίλειαν ἀναληφθῆναι. Marcion goes on to say that Abel, Enoch, Noah, the Patriarchs, prophets, and just were not saved, because they refused to come to Christ. Marcion did not accept, and is here giving one of the reasons why he did not accept, 1 Peter. Just Noah was not saved, because our Lord said, “1 came not to call the just.” The First Epistle of Peter is found in the Syriac Peshito, and in the Egyptian, Aethiopic, Armenian, and Arabic versions. See West- cott and Hort, Introduction, p. 84 sqq.; Gregory, Prolegomena, pp. 814-929. : ; δ There is, however, an ancient Syriac tradition represented by the Doctrine of Addai and the Homilies of Aphraates, which ignores tne Catholic Epistles altogether; see Dr. Sanday’s article in Studio Biblica, vol. 111. p. 245 566. It existed also in the Vetus Latina, though only fragments are now extant, 1 Pet. i. 1-12 in s (Gregory, p. 966); 1 Pet. i. 8-19, il. 20-ili. 7, iv. 10 to end in g (Gregory, pp. 967, 968). But Westcott and Hort (p. 83) consider that g exhibits “‘a later (? Italian) text,” and that “the palimpsest fragments of 1 Peter accompanying s of the Acts are apparently Vulgate only.” The First Epistle of Peter is found in all the catalogues of the 14 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER New Testament given by Bishop Westcott in Appendix D of his Canon, and also in the Cheltenham List (see Dr. Sanday, Studia Biblica, vol. iii. p. 217). No one of these catalogues is older in its present shape than the fourth century. On the other hand, it is not to be found in the A/uratorianum, which probably belongs to the end of the second century (see Light- foot, Clement of Rome, ii. p. 405 sqq.; Westcott, Canon, p. 521; Geschichte der altch. Litteratur, p. 646). The Muratorianum is mutilated both at the beginning (where the notice of Matthew and Mark has perished) and at the end. It treats in succession of the Gospels of Luke and John, the Johannine Epistles, Acts, Pauline Epistles, Gnostic forgeries, Jude, two Epistles of John, Wisdom, the Apocalypse of John, the Apocalypse of Peter, Hermas, other Gnostic and Montanist νόθα. In the existing text there is no mention of Hebrews, 1 and 2 Peter, James, 3 John. There is at least one lacuna in the text. The notice of Acts ends with the words sicute et semote passioné petri euidenter declarat. sed profectioné pauli ab urbes ad spania proficescentis. ‘‘The passion of Peter” may refer to John xxi. 18, 19, or to 2 Pet. i. 14; the journey of Paul to Spain is mentioned only in Rom. xv. 24. It is clear that some words, we cannot guess how many, have dropped out here. Again, the three Catholic Epistles are introduced in a very peculiar way, in the midst of a list of νόθα and ἀντιλεγόμενα. After speaking of Marcionite documents, which are to be rejected, be- cause ‘“‘gall must not be mingled with honey,” the text proceeds: epistola sane tude et superscrictio tohannis duas tn catholica habentur. The apologetic sane, “it is true that,” seems to imply, what we gather from the general run of the passage, that the three Epistles named here had all been challenged. The Epistles of John had already been mentioned immediately after the Gospel, but it is not stated there how many they were. Now, if for the corrupt super- scrictio we take Dr. Westcott’s emendation superscripti, “of the before-named John,” it may very well be the case that the A/ura- torianum is here defending 2 and 3 John and Jude. It is possible, however, though less probable, that the right reading is superscriptae ; and if so, only two Johannine Epistles are recognised. It seems highly improbable that 1 Peter should have been passed over in silence by one who accepted the Apocalypse of Peter. Two explanations may be hazarded—(1) the Petrine Epistle, or indeed Epistles, may ha e been noticed after the Gospel of St. Mark, as those of St. John are after the Gospel of St. John; or (2) the Catholic Epistles may have been placed after Acts; this is a position which thzy frequently occupy. The words stcufe et semote, etc., ‘as also (Sc ipture?) expressly mentions in separate places, in passages which do not come quite where we should expect them, RELATION OF FIRST PETER TO THE REST OF N.T. 15 the passion of Peter and Paul’s journey to Spain,” seem to imply that other information about the apostles not to be found in Acts has just been given. Such might very well be the connexion οἱ James with the Diaspora and of Peter with Asia Minor. The author of the Fragment, whoever he was, may have regarded James, 1 and possibly 2 Peter, 1 John as undisputed, and have recurred to Jude, 2 and 3 John in his list of spurious or doubtful works, because he knew that some authorities viewed them with suspicion. But conjecture more or less plausible is all that we can attain to on this point. Some of the TZestimonia adduced in: this section may be challenged, but the chain as a whole is strong, and the evidence of Clement of Rome is very remarkable. § 4. THE RELATION OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER TO THE REST OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. The facts collected in the foregoing section prove that the First Epistle of Peter was regarded as canonical from the time when “canonical” first began to have a meaning. They may be held to show that the Epistle is older than that of Clement of Rome, probably older than that of Barnabas. We now proceed to inquire to what books of the New Testament 1 Peter bears any resem- blance, and what is the extent and nature of the resemblance; whether, in so far as it exists, it is such as may be accounted for by the general similarity of all Christian writers, or whether it goes beyond this, and can only be explained by actual documentary use. We must bear in mind that the actual words of 1 Peter may very probably be the creation not of the apostle, but of his interpreter, There can be little doubt that St. Peter had read several of St. Paul’s Epistles. In the Second Epistle (iii. 16) he tells us so; and even if the Second Epistle is regarded as a forgery, it lies in the nature of things that each apostle would desire to know what the other was doing, and would take pains to keep himself informed. But what we want to ascertain is whether there is anything like positive proof that St. Peter had any of the Pauline writings, or indeed any book of the New Testament, in his mind as he wrote or dictated ; whether his words, ideas, beliefs were in any degree shaped or given to him by anybody else. It should hardly be necessary to guard the reader against the presupposition that St. Paul invented either the doctrines or the terminology of the Church. In certain directions he modified both. But there is no reason why we should not here apply the common- sense rule, that what is peculiar to a writer belongs to himself, and what is not is the property of the society of which he is a member. 16 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER Only, if we are to use this rule with profit, we must look more narrowly into differences between the sacred writers than theologians are generally willing to do. With what ‘books, then, in the New Testament does St. Peter display an acquaintance in his First Epistle? The extraordinary variety of the answers to this question shows the uncertainty of the ground. Early in the century Daniel Schulze maintained that the Petrine Epistle was little more than a cento of reminiscences of the Epistles of St. Paul; and in recent times Holtzmann and Jiilicher think it can be proved that our author was acquainted with nearly the whole of the New Testament. On the other hand, Rauch, Jachmann, B. Brickner regard Peter as wholly independent. Be- tween these extreme views lie others of a more moderate character. Von Soden finds a definite literary connexion between 1 Peter, Romans, Galatians, 1 Timothy, and Titus. Bishop Lightfoot (Clement, ii. p. 499) judged that “with two Epistles of St. Paul more especially the writer shows a familiar acquaintance—the Epistle to the Romans and the Epistle to the Ephesians.” Dr. Hort entertained the same view. Sieffert even maintained the amazing proposition that Ephesians and 1 Peter were written by the same hand. The elder and younger Weiss, with Kihl, admit a connexion between 1 Peter, Romans, and Ephesians, but assign the priority to 1 Peter. We will take the Pauline Epistles first and begin with Ephesians. The parallelisms most commonly cited are the following : Eph. i. 1-3 =1 Pet. i. 1-3. There is no special similarity in the Address. In both there follows a benediction of Hebrew type. This appears to have been a common form in the letters of devout Jews. See the letter of Suron (Hiram), king of Tyre, given by the historian Eupolemus of Alexandria (in Eus. Praep. Luang. 1x. 34), Σούρων Σολομῶνι βασιλεῖ μεγάλῳ χαίρειν. Ἑλογητὸς ὁ Θεός, ὃς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ἔκτισεν. On the form of the Petrine Address, see note. Eph. i. 4=1 Pet. i. 20, πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. The phrase is quite common ; found in the Synoptists, Hebrews, and the Assump- tion of Moses. Eph. i. 14, εἰς ἀπολύτρωσιν τῆς περιποιήσεως =1 Pet. ii. 9, λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν (from Mal. ili. 17). Eph. i. 14, εἰς ἔπαινον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ --ι Pet. i. 7, εἰς ἔπαινον καὶ δόξαν. Eph. i. 21, καὶ καθίσας ἐν δεξιᾷ αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ὑπεράνω πάσης ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐξουσίας καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ κυριότητος --ἰ Pet. iii. 22, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ, πορευθεὶς εἰς οὐρανόν, ὑπο- ταγέντων αὐτῷ ἀγγέλων καὶ ἐξουσιῶν καὶ δυνάμεων. Here we have ἃ remarkable similarity, yet it may be based upon a common formula attached to the commen doctrine of the Session at the Right Hand. RELATION OF FIRST PETER TO THE REST OF N.T. 17 The names of angels are found elsewhere; see note, and add Test. XII. Patr., Levi, 3, θρόνοι, ἐξουσίαι. Eph. ii. 21, 22=1 Pet. ii. 5, the brotherhood form a spiritual temple; the same thought is expressed in quite different terms. Eph. v. 22-24=1 Pet. iil. 1-6. Instructions to Wives. One phrase, ai γυναῖκες τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ = γυναῖκες ὑποτασσό- μεναι τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν, is nearly identical, but the treatment of the subject is altogether different. Paul is mystical; the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church; Peter is very simple and practical. Eph. v. 25-33 =1 Pet. iii. 7. Instructions to Husbands. Here, again, the treatment is wholly different. In Ephesians marriage is a type of the union between Christ and the Church. Peter bids the husband honour the wife as the weaker vessel, because she is fellow-heir of the grace of life. Eph. vi. 1-4. Instructions to Children. Not in Peter. Eph. vi. 5-9. Instructions to Slaves and Masters=1 Pet. ii. 18-25. Instructions to Slaves alone. Quite different in detail. Similar addresses to the members of families may very well have been a commonplace. The Epistle to the Ephesians abounds in strong words and striking thoughts of which there is no trace in 1 Peter—e.g. υἱοθεσία, ἄφεσις, μυστήριον, ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι, ἀρραβών, οἰκονομία, πλήρωμα, προφῆται (of Christian prophets), προσφορά, τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς, τέκνα φωτός, πανοπλία. Some of these must have been found in 1 Peter, if the writer was familiar with Eph sians. Not one of the re- semblances cited above turns upon a phrase of any significance, except the Benediction of God; if this is struck off the list, very little remains. Dr. Hort says that “the connexion (between 1 Peter and Ephesians) though very close does not lie on the surface. It is shown more by identities of thought, and similarity in the structure of the two Epistles as wholes, than by identities of phrase.” But others will fail to detect these subtle affinities. Indeed the two Epistles may seem to illustrate two wholly different types of mind, that of the mystic and that of the simple pastor. The majority of critics regard the two Epistles as connected, and many believe that Ephesians is the later of the two. Von Soden decides that it is possible, but not certain, that the one author had seen the work of the other. But a doubt may be expressed whether the evidence carries us even so far as this. As regards Romans, the passages generally cited are as follows: Rom. iv. 24, δι᾿ ἡμᾶς, οἷς μέλλει λογίζεσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐπὶ τὸν ἐγείραντα Ἰησοῦν τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν ἐκ νεκρῶν -- τ Ῥεῖ. 1. 21, dv ὑμᾶς τοὺς δι᾿ αὐτοῦ πιστοὺς εἰς Θεὸν τὸν ἐγείραντα αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν. Here the specially Pauline word λογίζεσθαι is not in Peter; the phrase 2 18 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER πιστοὺς eis Θεόν in the latter is unique (see note); the other words are probably common property. Rom. vi. 7, 6 yap ἀποθανὼν δεδικαίωται ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας =1 Pet. iv. I, 6 παθὼν σαρκὶ πέπαυται ἁμαρτίας. Neither language nor meaning is the same. Rom. Vi. 11, οὕτω καὶ ὑμεῖς λογίζεσθε ἑ ἑαυτοὺς νεκροὺς μὲν εἶναι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ζῶντας δὲ τῷ Θεῷ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦτει Pet. ii. 24, ἵνα ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἀπογενόμενοι τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ ζήσωμεν. In Peter ἀπογενόμενοι does not mean “ having died”; Peter again uses δικαιοσύνη in a sense which is not that of St. Paul, and ἁμαρτία has in the one passage a meaning which it does not possess in the other. Rom. viii. 18, πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν δόξαν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι εἰς ἡμᾶς = 1 Pet. v. 1, 6 καὶ τῆς μελλούσης ἀποκαλυφθῆναι δόξης κοινωνός. Rom. viii. 34, Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς. .. ὅς ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ -Ξ 1 Pet. iii. 22, ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Probably a common form. Rom. xii. 1, παραστῆσαι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν θυσίαν ζῶσαν, ἁγίαν, εὐάρεστον τῷ Θεῷ = τ Pet. il. 5, εἰς ἱεράτευμα ἅγιον, ἀνενέγκαι πνευματικὰς θυσίας εὐπροσδέκτους @cG. This is one of the most original passages in Peter. Rom. xii. 2=1 Pet. i. 14. Both have συσχηματίζεσθαι, which is not found elsewhere in the New Testament. Rom. xii. 3-8 =1 Pet. iv. το, 11. Both inculcate the duty of diligence in the use of the diverse gifts of grace. The mode in which the subject is treated is similar, but there is little resemblance in phrase. St. Paul dwells upon the figure of the One Body, and mentions prophecy ; both these points are missing in Peter. Rom. xii. 9, 10, ἡ ἀγάπη ἀνυπόκριτος. ἀποστυγοῦντες τὸ πονηρόν, κολλώμενοι τῷ ἀγαθῷ, τῇ φιλαδελφίᾳ εἰς ἀλλήλους φιλόστοργοι -- t Pet. i. 22, τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν ἡγνικότες ἐν τῇ ὑπακοῇ τῆς ἀληθείας εἰς φιλαδελφίαν ἀνυπόκριτον ἐκ καρδίας ἀλλήλους ἀγαπήσατε ἐκτενῶς. There is little resemblance except in the word ἀνυπόκριτος, which is found also in Jas. iii. 17. Little importance can be attached to φιλαδελφία. Rom. xii. 14-19, εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας ὑμᾶς" εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε. . τὸ αὐτὸ εἰς ἀλλήλους φρονοῦντες. . . μηδενὶ κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ ἀποδιδόντες. .. εἰρηνεύοντες τε ῖ Pet. iii. 8-12, ὁμόφρονες . μὴ ἀποδιδόντες κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ, ἢ λοιδορίαν ἀντὶ λοιδορίας, τοὐναντίον δὲ εὐλογοῦντες. . « ζητησάτω εἰρήνην καὶ διωξάτω αὐτήν. In Peter “‘seek peace, and ensue it,” is quoted from a Psalm; but there is a strong resemblance between the two passages. Rom. xiii, 1-4=1 Pet. ill, 13-15. Duty of Obedience to Magistrates. Here there is a considerable similarity, not so much in expression as in the general idea. Like the sections on the Family Duties in Ephesians, the passage may be a recognised commonplace. There remains for consideration the remarkable similarity RELATION OF FIRST PETER TO THE REST OF N.T. 19 between Rom. ix. 33 and 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7. Here we find a peculiar combination of quotations from the Old Testament which can hardly have been made independently by two different writers. For the sake of clearness the text may be broken up into its component clauses. Rom. ix. 33, καθὼς γέγραπται. (i.) ἰδοὺ τίθημι ἐ ἐν Σιών, Isa. xxviii. 16a. (ii.) λίθον προσκόμματος καὶ πέτραν σκανδάλου, Isa. viii. 14. (11.) καὶ ὃ πιστεύων ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ οὐ καταισχυνθήσεται, Isa. xxviii. 160. 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7, διότι περιέχει ἐν γραφῇ. (i. iii.) Ἰδοὺ τίθημι ἐν Σιὼν λίθον ἀκρογωνιαῖον, ἐκλεκτόν, ἔντιμον" καὶ ὃ πιστεύων er αὐτῷ οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῇ, Isa. xxvill. 16a ὁ. ὑμῖν οὖν ἡ τιμὴ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν: ἀπιστοῦσι δὲ (iv.) λίθος ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας, Ps; cxvii. (cxviii.) 22. (ii.) καὶ λίθος προσκόμματος καὶ πέτρα σκανδάλου, Isa. viii. 14. In (i.) there i is a remarkable departure from the original. The LXX. has ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐμβάλλω εἰς τὰ θεμέλια Σιών, which is a fair trans- lation of the Hebrew (Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, R.V.). In both writers this has been altered, in Peter we might suppose because the λίθος ἀκρογωνιαῖος is regarded as the “head of the corner,” in Romans because the stone is immediately spoken of as λίθος προσκόμματος, a loose stone which could not be a foundation. In (ii.), again, both writers abandon the text of the LXX., which has καὶ οὐχ ὡς λίθου προσκόμματι συναντήσεσθε, οὐδὲ ὡς πέτρας πτώματι. “ΠΕ LXX. translators shrank from the plain sense, and boldly substituted a loose paraphrase containing a negative which inverts Isaiah’s drift” (Hort). ‘Theodotion and Symmachus have εἰς λίθον προσκόμματος καὶ εἰς πέτραν πτώματος: Aquila, εἰς λίθον προσκόμματος καὶ εἷς στερεὸν σκανδάλου (Field, Hexap/a). Both St. Peter and St. Paul here represent the Hebrew original, but it is not necessary to suppose that either invented the phrase λίθος προσ- κόμματος Kal πέτρα σκανδάλου Von Soden thinks it probable that both writers used a Greek Bible, the text of which differed from that of the LXX (see Swete, Juirod. to O.T. in Greek, pp. 47, 403). But how are we to explain the peculiar combination of passages which, as most critics have felt, can hardly be independent? Kuhl argues positively that St. Paul has borrowed from St. Peter, because (1) the words πιστεύων κιτ.λ. belong to the ‘‘ chief corner stone elect precious” with which they are rightly connected in 1 Peter, while their connexion with λίθος προσκόμματος in Romans is so harsh that St. Paul could hardly have written as he does unless he had somewhere seen the two passages of Isaiah brought into juxta- position ; (2) the whole run of the passage in 1 Peter is easier and more natural. Peter begins (11. 4) by an allusion to Ps. cxviii. and Isa, xxviil., and proceeds in his habitual fashion to develop 20 INTRODUCTION TO THE -IRST EPISTLE OF PETER the allusion by quoting the two passages, and adding to them Isa. viii; One word suggests another—A/@os ἔντιμος, πιστεύων, τιμή, ἀπιστοῦντες, ἀπεδοκίμασαν, λίθος προσκόμματος. St. Peter, it may be added, elsewhere (Acts iv. 11) makes use of Ps. cxviii., but St. Paul nowhere does so. There is some force in this argument of Kuhl’s, though Dr. Hort dismisses it as a paradox. Yet the facts admit of a different explanation. Volkmar (die a/ttestament. Citate bet Paulus, p. 41) thinks that the early Christians may have possessed anthologies of Messianic prophecies, and it is noticeable that in Lk. xx. 17 the quotation from Ps. cxviii. is followed by words (πᾶς 6 πεσὼν ἐπ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τὸν λίθον) which may be, or may have been thought to be, an allusion to Isa. viii. 14. It is possible, therefore, that St. Peter and St. Paul may both have drawn from a common source (see Swete, pp. 394, 397): In the case of Romans as in that of Ephesians the resemblances to 1 Peter are quite superficial, attaching only to current common- places. As Ephesians is the most mystic, so Romans is the most scholastic of the Pauline Epistles ; but not one of its salient features in words, in imagery, in argument reappears in τ Peter. Ifthe author of the latter Epistle was really familiar with the great Afo/ogia of St. Paul, it is most singular that he should never draw any distinction between Grace and Works, Spirit and Letter, Law and Promise ; that he should omit the figure of the One Body in passages which were, as some think, actually before his eyes; that he should never touch upon the rejection of Israel, or that he should speak of pre- destination as he does (ii. 8) without a hint that any difficulty on that subject had ever been suggested to him. In truth, the two Epistles are as different as they can be, except that they have a few not very remarkable phrases, and a couple of obvious practical topics in common. It may be argued with some force that this peculiar combination of agreement in the commonplace, and dis- agreement in the remarkable, tends to prove the originality of St. Peter. St. Paul might very easily have borrowed any of the phrases quoted above. But if St. Peter was the borrower, it is surely a very curious fact that he should carefully have avoided every one of that large family of words, images, and ideas that St. Paul delights in. We can, however, sufficiently explain the phenomena of the case by supposing that the draughtsman of 1 Peter was one who had often heard St. Paul preach. Or, again, all the resemblances may very well be covered by what we may call the pulpit formule of the time. As regards Galatians, Von Soden rests his judgment on Gal. lil, 23, iv. 7=1 Pet. i. 4 sqq.} Gal. v. 13=1 Pet. i. 16; Galea 24=1 Pet. iii. 16. None of these points seems serious. But, if a writer calling himself Peter had read Galatians, it is hard to believe that he would not have made some distinct allusion to the RELATION OF FIRST PETER TO THE REST OF N.T. 21 second chapter of that Epistle. The fact that no such allusion is to be found in 1 Peter may be regarded as a strong indirect argument in favour of its authenticity. If the author wrote before the publication of Galatians, his silence is natural; but, if he wrote after that date, he: must have possessed great strength of mind or great dignity of position. The Epistles to Timothy present little that is germane to our present purpose, but the relation between Titus and 1 Peter deserves closer consideration. In the Address we find the word “elect” (Tit. 1. 1=1 Pet. i. 1), The readers are “a peculiar people” (λαὸς περιούσιος, Tit. 11. 14= λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν, τ Pet. ii. 9), who are saved by the washing of regeneration (λοῦτρον παλιγγενεσίας, Tit. 111. 5 = ἀναγεννᾶν, τ Pet. i. 3 ; σώζει βάπτισμα, τ Pet. iii. 21). They are heirs according to hope of eternal life (Tit. iii, 7=1 Pet. iii. 7, 1. 3, 4), and throughout this Pastoral Epistle hope is brought to the front as in 1 Peter and Hebrews (i. 2, ii. 13). The readers are redeemed (λυτροῦσθαι, Tit. ii. 14, here only is the verb used by St. Paul,=1 Pet. i. 18). They are to deny worldly lusts (Tit. ii, r2=1 Pet. 11. 11), and emphasis is laid on the necessity of good works (Tit. i. 16, iii. 1, 8, 14) and sound doctrine (Tit. i. 9, 11. 1). Titus is “mine own child,” γνήσιον τέκνον (Tit. i. 4), as Mark is Peter’s vids. The authority of the Elder is rated very high, and Elder is here an official title, though Bishop may be used as an alternative designa- tion (Tit. i. 5, 7). St. Paul still maintains his own doctrinal position (Tit. 111. 5), and is still vexed by those of the circumcision (Tit. i. 10). In Titus we also find another edition of the family duties (old men and women, wives, young men, servants), and the special phrases ὑποτασσόμεναι τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν---ἀρχαῖς, ἐξουσίαις ὑποτάσ- σεσθαι: but these commonplaces occur also in Romans and Ephesians. Upon the whole, the resemblance between Titus and 1 Peter lies not in mere words, as is the case in regard to the other Pauline Epistles, but in ideas; and these ideas seem to imply a certain change in St. Paul’s mental attitude towards discipline and ordi- nances. But in this St. Paul was drawing perceptibly nearer to a type of Church life older and stronger than that depicted in his Epistles of the first and second groups—in other words, he was approximating to the Petrine view, and the inference that 1 Peter is older than the Pastoral Epistles has much to recommend it. The affinity between 1 Peter and Hebrews is of a more intimate kind. Let us take the facts as they are given by Von Soden with some slight modification. The two documents employ in common a considerable number of words and phrases not found elsewhere in the New Testament, or not in the same sense and connexion, eg 22 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER ἀντίτυπος, παρεπίδημος, γεύεσθαι, οἶκος (of the Church), λόγος ζῶν, εὐλογίαν κληρονομεῖν, ποιμήν (of Christ; but so also in John x.), ἀναφέρειν (of sacrifice; so also Jas. ii. 21). Other resemblances of diction are to be found: 4... the Doxology (1 Pet. iv. 11 = Heb. xiii. 21); the final prayer (1 Pet. v. 1o=Heb. xiii. 21); εἰρήνην διώκειν (1 Pet. 111, 11 = Heb. xii. 14); the reproach of Christ (1 Pet. iv. 14= Heb. xi. 26, xili. 13); ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν Or τῶν χρόνων (1 Pet. i. 2o=Heb. i. 2). There is an affinity between the terms used of the work of Redemption, ἄμωμος of Christ (1 Pet. 1. 19= Heb. ΙΧ. 14); “ἅπαξ (τ Pet. iii, 18=Heb. ix 28) ; the phrases ἀναφέρειν ἁμαρτίας (τ Pet. ii. 24.--- Ηεῦ. ix. 28) and ῥαντισμός (1 Pet. i. 2=Heb. xii. 24). Faith is nearly identified with ἐλπίς, and the object of Faith is the invisible (1 Pet. ii 8=Heb. xi. 1). It is the habit of both writers to clothe their admonitions in Old Testament words, to use Old Testament personages as examples, and transfer Old Testament predicates to the Christian Church. Patience under suffering is enforced by the example of our Lord (1 Pet. ii. 21-23, iii. 17, 18 = Heb. xii. 1-3). Both Epistles describe themselves as short exhortations (1 Pet. v. 12 = Heb. xiii. 22); both authors are bracing their readers to endure persecution which is impending, and is a sign of the end (1 Pet. iv. 7, 17-19 = Heb. x. 37): Von Soden himself considers that these resemblances are sufficiently accounted for by the supposition that the authors were contemporaries, and breathed the same spiritual atmosphere. The affinities, however, are very close, and the two Epistles may be said to belong to the same school of thought, which is neither Johannine nor Pauline; on the great question of the relation of the Law to the Gospel they seem to be in complete accord. ‘Their resemblances should be borne in mind when we come to compare the Petrine and Pauline theologies. The points of contact between 1 Peter and the Apocalypse are that Christians are called δοῦλοι Θεοῦ (1 Pet. ii. 16 = Apoc. i. 1), and priests (1 Pet. ii; g=Apoc. i. 6, v. 10); that Christ is Shepherd (1 Pet. ii. 25, v. 4 = Apoc. vii. 17), and Lamb (1 Pet. i. 19, ἀμνός τε Apoc. v. 6, ἀρνίον. There is a doxology to Christ (1 Pet. iv. r1= Apoc. i. 6); Rome is called Babylon (1 Pet. v. 13=Apoc. xiv. 8 and five other passages). There is a certain similarity between στέφανος τῆς δόξης (1 Pet. v. 4) and στέφανος τῆς ζωῆς (Apoc. ii. 10), and the metaphor of gold tried in the fire is employed in both (1 Pet. i. 7=Apoc. iii, 18). For our purpose the most important of these points is the use of Babylon for Rome. There is a certain affinity between the minds of the two authors; the imagination of both is concrete not abstract, and it was not without some fitness that an Apocalypse was composed in the name of Peter. But there is nothing to show that the one book was known to the author of the other. RELATION OF FIRST PETER TO THE REST OF N.T. 23 But there can be little doubt that a positive literary connexion exists between James and 1 Peter. The student may compare especially τ PEE 1 i— Jas. i © (the Diaspora); 1 Pet. 1: 6, 7= Jas. i. 2, 3 (δοκίμιον): 1 Pet. i. 23-1. 2=Jas. i. τὸ, 11, 18-22; 1 Pet. v. 5-9 =Jas. iv. 6, 7, ro. The general opinion is that the one writer was acquainted with the work of the other; and Von Soden agrees with Grimm, Holtzmann, Brickner, Weiss, Usteri, that St. James was the borrower. Intrinsic probability is in favour of this view. We can sometimes explain St. Peter’s phrases by showing how he came to form them (see notes on δοκίμιον and on ἀγάπη καλύπτει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν : this last instance seems very strong), while the corresponding phrase in the Epistle of St. James seems to have been picked up ready made. Dr. Hort, however, is of opinion that the Epistle of St. James was used by St. Peter ; and the same view is held by Dr. Mayor (article on Zfistle of James in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible). Von Soden thinks that in 1 Peter we cannot fail to observe a large number of allusions to the Gospels in some pre-canonical shape. This is a point of great importance, for it may be main- tained that St. Peter stands appreciably nearer to the Synoptical Gospels than any other apostolical writer. The use of the leading facts in our Lord’s history is much the same as we find elsewhere. Here we have Father, Son, and Spirit ; the Passion, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension; the Second Advent; the sacrament of Baptism. A peculiar feature of the Epistle is the Preaching of Christ in Hades, to which we have an allusion in Matt. xxvii. 51-53. But besides these, there are a number of phrases which may well be regarded as reminiscences of the Gospel story. We may take as the general standard of reference the Gospel of St. Luke, to which 1 Peter shows upon the whole the nearest resemblance—1 Pet. i. 1o= Luke x. 24, 25; fret i. rt, 21 — Luke xxiv. 26 ; 1 Pet. 1. 13= Luke xii. 35; 1 Pet. i, 17=Luke xi. 2; 1 Pet. 1. 23=Luke viii. 123; 1 Pet. ii. 7 = Luke Xx. 17, 18; 1 Pet. iii. 9= Luke vi. 28; 1 Pet. iv. 1o= Luke xii. 42; 1 Pet. ii. 12 = Matt. v. 16; 1 Pet. iii, 14= Matt. v. το. We may add certain points of resemblance between 1 Peter and the Gospel ὉΠ 5: John—=1, Pet: 1. 3=John tii. 3; 1 Pet. i 23=John 1. 13; Penectri. τὸ - ohm 15.265 Σ Petri. 25 =John x..11; 1 Pet. v.2= John xxi. 16. Any single one of these allusions may be disputed, but much will remain. Von Soden remarks that we do not find in 1 Peter cestain ideas or phrases which are familiar in the Synoptical Gospels, especially Kingdom of God and Son of Man. We have an allusion to the kingdom in the βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα of 11. 9, and our Lord never appears to have been called Son of Man except by St. Stephen. Our Epistle has certain words in common with Acts—zaporxéa, 24. INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER πρόγνωσις, ἐκτενής, ἐκτενῶς, κακοῦν, ξενίζειν (to astonish), Χριστιανός, ἀγαλλιᾶν (in Gospels and Apoc.), ἄγνοια (in Eph.), ἀθέμιτος, ἀμνός (in John’s Gospel), ἀπειλεῖν, διασώζειν (in Matt. and Luke), ἡγεμών (in Gospels), κατακυριεύειν (in Matt. and Mark), περιέχειν (of the contents of a document), συντρέχειν (in Mark), φονεύς (in Matt. and Apoc.). A few other parallelisms may be noted; we may divide them into phrases connected in Acts—(i.) with St. Peter, (ii.) with St. Paul. (i.) Petrine. God is no respecter of persons, 1 Pet. i, 17= Acts x. 34; the soul is purified through faith, 1 Pet. i. 22 = Acts xv. 9; Ps. cxviii. quoted, 1 Pet. ii. 4=Acts iv. 11; the Christian rejoices in shame, 1 Pet. iv. 13, 16=Acts v. 41; the qualification of an apostle is that he is a “witness,” 1 Pet. v. 1=Acts i. 8, 22, Vv. 32, X. 39. (ii.) Pauline. Heathenism is ignorance, 1 Pet. i. 14 = Acts xvii. 30; God has called the Christian out of darkness into light, τ Pet. ii. g=Acts xxvi. 18; feed the flock, 1 Pet. v. 2= Acts xx. 28 (or John xxi. 15). The evidence of style, vocabulary, phraseology does not appear to afford any conclusive evidence of either the absolute or relative date of 1 Peter. It has been dated after Ephesians, or after 62; between Ephesians and Romans, between 62 and 58; or before Romans. For each of these opinions plausible grounds may be alleged. Such uncertainty attaches from the nature of things to all arguments drawn from language or ideas, unless the marks of derivation are strong and clear. In the present case, if it be granted that there is a connexion, direct or indirect, between Romans and 1 Peter, we cannot cut the knot by the round asser- tion that St. Paul could not have borrowed from St. Peter. On the contrary, the supposition in itself is probable enough. We must therefore look round and consider what other means we have at our disposal for fixing the relative dates of the documents in question. § 5. ON THE ALLUSIONS TO PERSECUTION IN I PETER. The date of our Epistle will depend in part on the exact signi- ficance of those allusions to the sufferings of Christians in which it abounds. It will therefore be necessary to survey the history of persecution during the period in question ; and we cannot well stop short of the Rescript of Trajan, for it has been held that the language of the Epistle is such as could not have been employed till after the issue of the famous directions to Pliny. We may take in order the state of things depicted in Acts, in the Epistles, in the Apocalypse, and in profane history. After this review, it will be possible, perhaps, to attach a definite value to the phrase- ology of St. Peter. ON THE ALLUSIONS TO PERSECUTION IN I PETER 25 In the Book of Acts the treatment of the rising Church within the limits of Judaea proper depends mainly on the attitude of the Sanhedrin, though the reign of Herod Agrippa I. comes in as an interlude. Even under Roman rule the Sanhedrin, the Court of the Seventy-one, enjoyed very considerable power. Theoretically, its authority did not exist outside of the eleven toparchies which made up Judaea proper; Galilee and Samaria were exempt from its jurisdiction ; but wherever a synagogue of Jews was to be found, its orders were executed so far as the secular authorities would sanction or connive. Within Judaea the Sanhedrin could order arrests (Matt. xxvi. 47; Mark xiv. 43; Acts iv. 3, v. 17, 18), and could finally dispose of any case which did not involve the death penalty (Acts iv. 5-23, v. 21-40). It could even pronounce sen- tence of death, though all judgments of this nature were invalid until ratified by the procurator (John xviii. 31). The procurator was not compelled to guide himself by the Jewish law, but he was at liberty to take this course, and often did so. Indeed, in one most remarkable case, the Roman governor appears to have had no option. If any one, who was not a Jew, intruded into the inner court of the temple, he was put to death, and even the privilege of Roman citizenship did not save the offender from his doom (see Schiirer, Zhe Jewish People in the Time of Christ, English trans. 11. i. 184 sqq.). Thus in the Book of Acts we find the Sanhedrin arresting, imprisoning, flogging, and menacing the apostles. Shortly after- wards the rapid increase in the number of the brethren led to the stoning of St. Stephen. It is most likely that this bloody deed was in excess of jurisdiction ; still it was the act of the Sanhedrin ; its method was in strict accordance with Jewish law; and it shows at least what extravagances might be and were tolerated by the Roman government. The death of St. Stephen was followed by a short reign of terror. Pushed on probably by the fiery energy of Saul, the Sanhedrin ordered domiciliary visitation. Many were cast into prison, and many fled from Jerusalem. At the same time it seems to have been possible for Peter and John to remain unharmed in the sacred city. But Saul even went so far as to set out for Damascus, armed with a warrant, which he had per- suaded the high priest to grant, empowering him to arrest Christians, man or woman, and bring them away in chains to Jerusalem for trial. Such a warrant would, of course, need endorse- ment, but Saul does not appear to have felt the slightest doubt that he would obtain the exeguatur of the civil authority. Who this was is not quite certain; but Aretas, who within three years was so anxious to apprehend Saul himself on the same charge of Christianity, was possibly already master of the city. That Saul was the prime mover and instigator of this violent “26 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER measure appears from the fact that from the moment of his con- version the persecution ceased. Not only in Samaria and Galilee but in Judaea, the legitimate sphere of the Sanhedrin’s power, the Churches had rest and were edified. From this time the anger of the Jewish powers seems to have concentrated itself with undying animosity on the head of him whom they regarded as the great renegade and traitor, and the chief enemy of the sacred law. When Saul revisited Jerusalem for the first time after his conversion, we read that the Jews “went about to slay him.” Some years later, Herod Agrippa, perhaps taking occasion of discontent excited by the famine in the reign of Claudius, vexed certain of the Church, beheaded St. James, and imprisoned St. Peter. Peter was released by an angel, and “ went into another place,”—fled for refuge, prob- ably, to some spot outside Herod’s jurisdiction. But the king died shortly afterwards, the persecution did not outlive him, and as far as we can gather from Acts, the Christians in Judaea lived a quiet life till Paul, no longer Saul, reappeared upon the scene, after the end of his third mission journey. On this occasion, again, the fury of the Jews seems to have bent itself entirely against the Apostle of the Gentiles, whom they would undoubtedly have killed, if they had not been prevented by the Roman government. St. Luke, however, tells us little of the condition of the Church in Jerusalem from the time when St. Paul began his mission labours. There are some words in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians which may point to troubles of which we do not read in the Book of Acts—“ For ye, brethren, became followers of the Churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews” (I ii. 14). There was probably many a scourging and many an imprisonment of which we have no record. Even without these penalties a people like the Jews, in which the Church is identical ἡ with the nation, has the power of inflicting, by excommunication and social outlawry, sufferings of a very poignant kind. No doubt this power was used then, as it is now in India. In the countries which St. Paul traversed as a missionary he was far away from the domains of the Sanhedrin, yet even here his enemies were able to reach him. They drove him out of Antioch and Iconium, and stoned him at Lystra. Even in Europe, at Thessalonica, Beroea, and Corinth, they were strong enough to occasion dangerous tumults. But in Greece the Jewish law was held in scanty reverence. Any disturbance came immediately before a Gentile magistrate, whose sole care was for the maintenance of order. A high official, like Gallio, would not at this time dream of going into points of theology; the only question he would ask would be, who began the brawl, and the answer might be anything but satisfactory to the ruler of the synagogue. But at Philippi, and ON THE ALLUSIONS TO PERSECUTION IN I PETER 27 again at Ephesus, we catch sight of one result of the new faith which led instantly to serious trouble, and was fraught with evil consequences in the future. Nearly every way in which a man gained his living in the Greco-Roman world was connected with idolatry, but the law insisted that every man should be allowed to gain his living without interference. At Philippi, Paul and Silas were flogged and imprisoned for stopping the trade of some men who kept a slave-girl to tell fortunes, and it is curious to notice that these rogues were the first to formulate the real crime of the Christian missioi ary. ‘They charged the apostles not with disloyalty to Caesar, but with “teaching customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.” ‘They had seen at a glance, with the keen eye of a disappointed tradesman, that heathenism and Christianity were two incompatible lives. Later on the same cause brought the apostle into collision with‘the silversmiths of Ephesus, who drove a profitable trade in silver images of Artemis. These men also found their receipts falling off, and at once appealed to mob-law. We read no more of these incidents, but it is evident that we have here a cause of hostility which would be immediately and universally operative. In every town and village where Chris- tianity struck root the local tradesman would find his custom diminished, and his shop placed under what we have learned to call a boycott. He would protest against this, and the magistrate would be quite ready to help him with a strong hand. The references to persecution in the Epistles of St. Paul are in the same key as those in the Pauline chapters of the Book of Acts. In Thessalonians we read of afflictions, persecutions, and tribulations (I i. 6, 11. 2, 14, ili. 3; 111. 4). The apostle is afraid that his novices may be “moved” by these trials; but the phrases he employs and the tone in which he speaks are such as might be employed of the sufferings, for instance, of a Hindu convert in British India. In Galatians we find only the words “did ye suffer so much in vain?” In Romans we read how Priscilla and Aquila had laid down their own necks for the apostle’s life; in order to save St. Paul they had brought themselves into some real danger of death either at Corinth (Acts xviii. 12) or at Ephesus (Acts xix. 23), and there isa passing allusion to the sword (Rom. viii. 35), which is perhaps not to be interpreted literally. In Corinthians, St. Paul appeals repeatedly to his own sufferings as the seal of his commission (I iv. 9, xv. 32; II iv. 9, vi. 5, xi. 23). Some of these passages show that the narrative of St. Luke gives a very inadequate idea of the apostle’s persecutions. It may well be that the Jews were fiercer against St. Paul than against the other apostles, and that he had really more to bear; certainly he claims this distinction (II xi. 23); and again his words may be used to show how much pain was endured by the early believers in silence. But the 28 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER apostle does not speak as if the Corinthians themselves had much to fear. In the Epistles of the Captivity and the Pastoral Epistles we perceive the same tone. The apostle speaks naturally of his own chain and his own fears. He exhorts the Philippians (i. 28-30) not only to believe on Christ, but also to suffer for His sake ; but the exhortation is not specially pressing or urgent. Even in his second captivity he speaks of his own death as imminent (2 Tim. iv. 6), but gives no indication of any special peril hanging over the heads of the brethren. They dared not stand by him at his first answer (zézd. 16); but the apostle would hardly have blamed their timidity, if Nero’s fury against the Church had already declared itself. So far it would seem as if the ordinary Christian, though he had much to bear, was not confronted by any perils, except such as a sincere and resolute believer might be expected to overcome. In the Epistle to the Hebrews we come upon an entirely different state of things. The Epistle comes from a Church where many were in bonds, and many were bearing great sufferings (κακουχούμενοι), and its language is marked by that stern solemnity which betokens the imminence of the supreme moment. The Hebrews are warned against apostasy, as a quite possible and yet absolutely unforgivable offence, worse than any death (vi. 6, x. 26-39). So far they had done well ; they had taken joyfully the spoiling of their goods. But a worse and more fearful trial was at hand. And at last we come to the decisive words: ‘ Ye have not yet resisted unto blood.” Here we have a new language. ‘The time has arrived when Christians saw their property confiscated by process of law, and when not apostles only, but everybody must make up his mind whether he was or was not ready to shed his blood for the Name’s sake. The State has drawn the sword. What is the particular persecution referred to we cannot say, but it was clearly widely spread. It was in full action in the Church from which the letter came, and it had begun in the Church to which the letter is addressed. It may very well have been the persecution of Nero. The Apocalypse was, no doubt, written later. Many had been slain for the word of God (vi. 9), one of them, Antipas, at Pergamos, (ii. 13). Rome was drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus (xvii. 6, xviii. 24). We need not ask whether this language refers to the time of Nero or of Domitian. The point is that it is quite different from the language of Acts or of the Pauline Epistles. Christian blood had been shed deliberately, not by Jews, but by the pagan government. The fact caused an indescribable shock of horror, alarm, and execration. After this no Christian could speak of tribulation or persecution in the same tone as before. ON THE ALLUSIONS TO PERSECUTION IN I PETER 29 What kind of language, then, is used on this subject in the First Epistle of St. Peter? Christians were spoken against as evil-doers (ii. 12). So they were in the time of Nero (Tac. Azz. xv. 44), and so they had been by the masters of the Philippian slave-girl. They suffered reproach for the name of Christ (iv. 14). So also did the apostles in the very first days of the Church (Acts v. 41). They were to be ready to give an answer to every man that asked a reason of their hope (iii. 15), and even to suffer for righteousness’ sake (iii. 14 , compare Matt. v. 10-12). Suffering in St. Peter’s mind does not by any means necessarily extend to death, even when it is spoken of in immediate connexion with the death of Christ. Thus we read: “ orasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God” (iv. τ, 2). There is but one passage that seems to go beyond these: ‘‘ Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil- doer, or as a meddler in strange matters (ἀλλοτριοεπίσκοπος ; see note on the passage) ; but if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed ; but let him glorify God in this name.” It is urged that murderers were put to death by process of law, and that, therefore, the Chris- tian who is coupled with them must have been in the same danger. But thieves were not put to death, not to speak of “ busybodies ” (or whatever the word so translated may mean). And suffering, as has already been pointed out, need not by any means imply loss of life. The passage is, beyond a doubt, ambiguous, to say the least, and St. Peter could not have spoken ambiguously, if both himself and those whom he addresses were in imminent peril of the death sentence. If we recall the language of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of the Apocalypse, it seems quite clear that Christian blood had not been shed in any formal systematic way by the Roman government at the time when St. Peter wrote. Professor Ramsay, in his Church in the Roman Empire, maintains that not only is Stat? persecution referred to in the Epistle, but that this persecution had alreacy entered on a later and more formidable stage. He holds that “Nero introduced the principle of punishing the Christians” on the ground that “certain acts which all Christians were regularly guilty of were worthy of death” (p. 244); in other words, that at first Christians were executed for what Pliny calls the flagitia cohaerentia nomint, the crimes and moral offences which were popularly believed to be practised in secret by all members of the Church. But between 75 and 80 a.p., under the reign of the Flavian emperors, a new form of process was adopted. Henceforth the Christian was condemned fropier nomen tpsum. No charge of crime or immorality was brought against him; he was simply asked, 30 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER “ Are you a Christian?” Further, the Christian was placed in the same class as the sacrilegt, latrones, plagiarit, fures, who were to be hunted out by the Roman governors in pursuance of their standing instructions (Dzges?, i. 18. 13); and in whose case no definite accuser was needed. Trajan by his famous Rescript adopted in the main the Flavian policy, but ameliorated the position of the Church in so far as he forbade the governors to seek out Christians, and required proceedings against them to be set on foot by an informer who should give his name and take responsibility for his action. Thus the Rescript “marks the end of the old system of uncom- promising hostility.” In conclusion, Mr. Ramsay thinks that the First Epistle of St. Peter was written “soon after Vespasian’s resumption of the Neronian policy in a more precise and definite form,” probably about ὡς A.D. (see Church in Roman Empire, p. 196 544.}.} But this elaborate apeitient is really baseless. There is no evidence whatever that a new form of procedure against Christianity was adopted by the Flavians. Mr. Ramsay builds his view almost entirely on the words of St. Peter, “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ” (iv. 14), which he regards as substantially identical with the phrase of Pliny, proper ipsum nomen, “ for the name alone,” and takes as meaning that Christians at this time were punished as such, and not as evil-doers. But St. Peter tells us that Christians were regarded as evil-doers (ii. 12), and he says, “for the name,” not “for the name alone.” It is surely obvious that, whatever the pagan might say, the Christian would from the first regard the sufferings entailed by his profession as borne “for the name” and for no other cause, however the true issue might be disguised by the malice or prejudice of his adversaries. Nor, again, can Mr. Ramsay be right in maintaining that Pliny followed a mode of pro- cedure marked out for him by the Flavian cognitiones. Pliny expressly says that he did not know anything about the method which had been pursued in these cases. He invented a method for himself, and the object of his despatch is to obtain from Trajan a sanction for what he had done, and a clear direction for his future guidance in a matter which had proved much more serious than he anticipated. Certain persons had been definitely informed against as Christians (deferebantur). ‘These he simply asked, three times over, whether they were Christians, warning them at the same time of the consequences of their reply. Those who persisted in their faith he ordered for immediate execution (duci tuss?), except some who were Roman citizens; these he directed to be sent to Rome for trial there. Here we have an instance of the regular three summonses, disobedience to which constituted the offence of con- tumacia (Digest, xlii. 1. 53). Pliny possessed the undefined and formidable power of coercitio. He simply ordered these unfortunate _<_ ee 0 ΘΘΉΜΜΟΟΝ ON THE ALLUSIONS TO PERSECUTION IN I PETER 31 people to give up their faith, and, on their refusal, dealt with them as rebels. Later on, an anonymous accuser posted up or sent to Pliny a list of many names of persons who were liable to the same charge. These Pliny examined ; clearly he had taken alarm at the magnitude of the task before him. Some denied that they were or ever had been Christians ; these he ordered to worship the gods and Caesar, and especially to “curse Christ,” and, on their compliance, dis- missed. Others asserted that, though they had been Christians, they had ceased to be so. When these also had justified themselves by the same tests, Pliny proceeded to find out from them, what one would think he might have tried to learn at an earlier stage of the proceedings, what Christianity really was. ‘They told him that it was not a conspiracy but a religion, that it consisted in the worship of Christ as God, that there were no /lagitia at all, and that the reason why they had left the Church was, that the religious practices of Christians conflicted with the law against clubs or guilds (Aetaeriae). Pliny obtained corroboration of this statement by putting to the torture two slave-women, who were possibly deacon- esses (guae ministrae dicebantur). Upon the whole, he came to the conclusion that Christianity was nothing worse than a debased and extravagant superstition. And so he turns to the emperor and askstwhether he had done right ; whether he is to punish Christianity as such (omen ipsum), or only wicked and criminal Christians (flagitia cohaerentia nomini); whether Christianity is a crime like murder, for which repentance is no atonement, or a merely religious offence, which change of mind wipes out; and, lastly, whether it admits of degrees and distinctions, or whether all offenders, man and woman, young and old, are to be treated with the same severity. Trajan replies that Pliny has acted rightly, and proceeds to state certain rules for his future guidance. Christianity is not a crime like others, and no definite formula can be laid down. Christians are not to be hunted out, like notorious malefactors, by the police. The contumacious are to be put to death ; those who recant may be discharged. But anonymous accusations are on no account to be received. They are bad in themselves, and the spirit of the age condemns them. In these last words the emperor administers a severe and well- merited rebuke to Pliny. But Pliny’s despatch throughout is as silly and helpless a production as was ever penned. First he puts men to death without inquiry, then he inquires, and then he does not know what to do. We can gather little from him for our present purpose beyond the fact that coguitiones had been held upon Christians in Rome, probably not long before and not infrequently. The precise effect of Trajan’s Rescript has been much debated. 32 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER Some have held that it altered the position of the Christian for the better, some for the worse. It may be maintained that it made no difference at all. ‘So far as I can see,” says Professor Harnack, “Tertullian is the only independent witness for the Rescript in ecclesiastical literature.” It is not mentioned in the Rescript of Hadrian. In the Vienna persecution the proconsul acted without any reference to it; “sought out” Christians ; listened to charges of _Thyestean banquets and Oedipodean incest”; tortured Blandina, Sanctus, Biblias, Pothinus, to ascertain the truth of these horrid stories, just as Pliny had done; finally, wrote to Rome for instruc- tions, and received much the same answer as Pliny (Eus. & Z. v. 1. 14, 19, 20, 25, 29, 44, 47, 52). It is not clear what was the force of a Rescript in the time of Trajan. Gaius, writing under Marcus Aurelius, says that it has never been doubted that a Rescript has | the force of law; yet again he tells us that a letter from the emperor had not always a general application (Gaius, i. 2, 5, 73, in Huschke, Lurisprudentiae antetustinianae quae supersunt, pp. 171, 189—the text in the last passage is uncertain). Before the time of Hadrian there are very few traces of general rescripts (see the /udex Fontium at the end of Huschke), and they seem to be unknown to Tacitus. The Emperor Macrinus, who was an accomplished lawyer (see his Life in Hist. Aug. chap. 13), at one time thought of repealing all the rescripts of his predecessors, ‘“‘saying it was monstrous that the will of Commodus and Caracallus and other ignorant men should be counted law, when Trajan never answered petitions (cum Traianus numquam libellis responderit).” Macrinus was thinking, perhaps, rather of favours or exemptions granted by rescript ; but he could hardly have said what he did if Trajan’s rescripts laid down general rules, modified accepted methods of procedure, and formed a new law to be followed in all similar cases, At any rate it seems clear that Trajan’s Rescript was not pub- lished, or was not included in the directions given to provincial governors. It was not known at Vienna; just as another rescript referred to by Tertullian (ad Scapulam, 4), by which Christians were ordered to be beheaded, not burnt alive, was not known, or not obeyed, in his province. Yet Trajan’s words clearly dictate a sterner line of conduct than Pliny would probably have followed if left to himself. What the emperor approves is Pliny’s treatment of his first batch of prisoners. Pliny had inquired into the fagitva. But Trajan tells him that this is mere waste of time; the offence is the nomen ipsum. Gradually, as the issues of the struggle between paganism and the Church became clearer, this rule prevailed. The Christian was not allowed to plead his loyalty or his moral innocence. His mouth was shut, and his trial resolved itself into a plain yes or no. Hence the bitter complaints of the Apologists that the Christian, unlike all other DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, ORGANISATION IN I PETER 33 offenders, was punished for a mere name (Justin, Afol. i. 4; Athenagoras, Suppl. 2; Tatian, Oratio ad Graecos, 27; Theo- philus Antioch. 1. 1; Tertullian, “4202. 1). The best illustration of the justice of these complaints may be found in the Acés of the Scillitan Martyrs (the date is a.D. 180; see the text in Zexts and Studies, edit. J. A. Robinson, p. 112 sqq., Cambridge, 1891). We have been wandering rather far afield in the latter part of this discussion. But the reader who will consider the Rescript of Trajan, the way in which Tacitus speaks of the Neronian per- secution (Annals, xv. 44), the language of the Apocalypse and even of the Epistle to the Hebrews, will feel that the First Epistle of St. Peter must come in point of date before them all. At the time when it was written Babylon had not yet unmasked all its terrors, and the ordinary Christian was not in immediate danger of the tunica ardens, or the red-hot iron chair, or the wild beasts, or the stake. : 8 6. DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, AND ORGANISATION IN 1 PETER. It has been argued in preceding sections that 1 Peter was probably not composed by the hand of the apostle himself—that, though the ideas of the Epistle are those of St. Peter, the words, to a degree which cannot be precisely ascertained, belong to his draughtsman—that the resemblances of expression between 1 Peter and the Pauline Epistles turn upon phrases and topics of a commonplace kind, do not include any of the favourite words, ideas, or metaphors of St. Paul, and generally are not such as to prove a literary use of any of the Pauline Epistles by the author or composer of 1 Peter, and that the language of 1 Peter on the subject of Christian suffering is such as to lead to the conclusion that our Epistle was written before the outbreak of the Neronian persecution. We may now turn to another topic, the realisation of the Christian idea as it is presented to us in 1 Peter. The question is of some interest as regards the date, but may be called vital as regards the authenticity of the Epistle. Does 1 Peter represent, as has been said, “ἃ step in the process by which Pauline ideas passed into the consciousness of the Church”? Τῇ so, the author may have been a very good man, but he was certainly not St. Peter, though he decked himself with the apostle’s name. This opinion is, how- ever, widely entertained by scholars of great authority. Professor Harnack (Chronologie, p. 452) holds that “the author of 1 Peter is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Pauline Christianity,” and many other scholars use terms implying that he was a docile but not very intelligent disciple of the one great apostle. Indeed, many go further still, and regard St. Paul as having given such a stamp, 3 34 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER such a direction and impulse to Christianity, that he might without impropriety be called its founder. It must be of importance to get clear ideas upon this point. Let us endeavour, then, to see what is the agreement, and what is the disagreement, between St. Paul and St. Peter. It will be argued in the following pages that in what we may call dogma the two apostles are substantially in accord ; that in the practical sphere St. Peter differs widely from St. Paul, not as one who misunderstands a teacher, but as one who looks at things from a different point of view. It will be argued also, and this is a point that is usually passed over, that, where the two differ, St. Peter stands perceptibly nearer to the evangelists and to the Book of Acts. We may venture to assume here that Acts is a genuine history, written by St. Luke, an educated, intelligent, sincere man, who had personal knowledge of much that he relates, and took pains to inform himself about the rest. It is of the highest importance that we should study the differences between the sacred writers. As yet this task has hardly been attempted except by Baur and Ritschl with their respective followers. Baur was a Hegelian, and the Hegelian theory of history, with its perpetual thesis and antithesis, led him to imagine that there were great differences in dogma between the Twelve and St. Paul. Yet Hegelianism has the great merit of giving to Art, Knowledge, and Discipline their true value as means of education. Ritschl was a Kantian, and Kantism may be called the philosophy of Lutheranism. From the Kantian point of view Art, Knowledge, and Discipline have no religious worth, and the one thing necessary is Faith: Hence the disciplinary system of 1 Peter is to be regarded as a degradation or misapprehension of the Pauline view of freedom. On the other hand, theologians as a rule have refused to see any differences at all. One school has interpreted the whole of the New Testament in terms of St. Peter, another in terms of St. Paul. Since the time of Mr. Maurice there has been a strong tendency in England to make St. John the norm. But the duty of the critic is neither to separate things which are the same, nor to confuse things which are different. Harmonising, as it is wrongly called, is the more pressing danger of the two. Out of it flow all our mutual excommunications, and by it we impoverish the rich variety of the Christian life. There are, as is well known, grave practical differences between eminent and sincere Christians. Is it absurd to maintain that these differences have always existed, that they are to be found in the Gospels, that they correspond to the ancient and inevitable distine- tion between the Realist and the Nominalist, that they caused as much heat in primitive times as in our own, that they brought even apostles into sharp antagonisms, that in effect St. Peter was the first DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, ORGANISATION IN I PETER 35 great High Churchman, and St. Paul the first great Low Church- man? At any rate we may look at matters from this point of view, and endeavour to ascertain how far it is in agreement with facts. That the dogmatic teaching of the two apostles was identical we know on indisputable authority, that of St. Paul himself. In the Conference at Jerusalem the apostles “added nothing to him,” in other words they approved his creed, there was no dispute about the essential points of the truth of the gospel (Gal. ii. 6). And at a moment when St. Paul’s feelings were warmly excited, and he was the less likely to minimise differences, he based his rebuke of St. Peter on the very fact that in theology they occupied common ground: ‘We, who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ” (Gal. ii. 15, 16). Such words could not possibly have been uttered and written down, after time for reflexion had intervened, if St. Paul had been divided from St. Peter by such a gulf as Baur imagined. Let us endeavour to see how the matter stands. It will be well to begin by considering how far the theology of the Epistle agrees with the doctrine of St. Peter, as he is depicted by St. Luke in the Book of Acts. The following points call for notice. In Acts (ii. 22) St. Peter calls the Saviour Ἰησοῦν τὸν Nalwpatov. In the Epistle the name Jesus is not used by itself, and the nickname “ Nazoraean” has given way to the other nickname “Christian ” (see note on 1 Pet. iv. 16). In the Epistle we do not find the phrase παῖς Θεοῦ (Acts iii. 13) ; but the passage of Isaiah, from which the phrase is taken, is constantly before the writer’s eyes. Much significance has been found in two expressions that are used by St. Peter in Acts—avépa ἀποδεδειγμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ (ii. 22), and Κύριον αὐτὸν καὶ Χριστὸν ὁ Θεὸς ἐποίησε (11. 36)—which have been thought to involve what was afterwards known as the Adoptianist view. But they do not necessarily involve it, and language of precisely the same character is found in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the author of which was certainly not an Adoptianist (i. 2, ὃν ἔθηκε κληρονόμον πάντων, OL οὗ καὶ ἐποίησε τοὺς αἰῶνας : 4, κρείττων γενόμενος τῶν ἀγγέλων: il. 2, ᾿Ιησοῦν πιστὸν ὄντα τῷ ποιήσαντι αὐτόν͵ The relation between the divine and human natures of our Lord is not expressed in the New Testament with the precision insisted upon by later theology. Even St. John writes that “the Word became flesh ” (i. 14), and in the Zestaments of the Twelve Patriarchs we find phrases that might seem to involve psilanthropism side by side with others that might be interpreted as Sabellianism (see Sinker’s Introduction, p. 91 sqq.). But the broad similarity between the Peter of the Acts and the Peter of the Epistle is so strong that it far outweighs these verbal differences. In Acts, as in the Epistle, Jesus was crucified by the foreknowledge of God (Acts ii. 23); God hath 36 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER raised Him up, and now He is exalted at the right hand of God (ii. 32, 33), to return once more at the restitution of all things and judge both quick and dead (x. 42). Even the most striking pecu- liarity of the Epistle, the Descent into Hell, is implicitly contained _ in the quotation from Ps. xvi. (Acts ii. 25 sqq.), which is not applied to our Lord elsewhere in the New Testament. To Christ, again, all the prophets give witness (x. 43); He is Lord of all (x. 36), and for His Name the disciples suffer shame (v. 41). The last two passages are of the greatest importance. In the Epistle “the word of the living God” is “the word of the Lord” (i. 23, 25), and also the word of the spirit of Christ which spoke in the prophets (i. 11). Again, the Lord of the Psalmist is Christ (ii. 3). Thus the Name of Christ for which the Christian suffers reproach (iv. 14), is that same Name of the Lord on which whoso- ever calleth shall be saved, the only Name given under heaven among men whereby they can be saved (Acts ii. 21, iv. 12). It is St. Paul’s “Name that is above every name” (Eph. i. 21; Phil. ii. g), and it is identified in many places with the Divine Name in the Old Testament. There is, in fact, no theological difference of any moment between the Peter of the Epistle and the Peter of Acts, nor, on the other hand, between St. Peter and St. Paul. Our Epistle opens with the Three Names of the Trinity, and assigns to each a distinct part in the redemption of mankind. God is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as in Eph. i. 3 and in the Gospel of St. John xx. 18. He is also our Father (i. 17), as Creator (iv. 19), and Regenerator (i. 3). To Him belong foreknowledge and election (i. 2), judgment (i. 17), great mercy (i. 3), our calling (v. 10) and stablishing because He is the giver of all grace. The Son is Lord (i. 3), in such a sense that passages used in the Old Testament of Jehovah may without fear be applied to Him (ii. 3. To Hima doxology is addressed (iv. 11) He it was that inspired the prophets (i. 11). He was the spotless Lamb by whose blood we are redeemed (i. 19). He suffered for us, the just for the unjust (iii. 18). He was our sin-offering and expiation (11. 24, ili, 18), and is our Pattern (ii. 21), Shepherd (ii. 25), and Overseer. He de- scended into Hades to preach to the dead (iii. 19, iv. 6), ascended into heaven, is on the right hand of God (iii. 22), and shall come again in the Revelation of Glory to bestow the amaranthine crown (v. 4). The Spirit is one of the Three (i. 2), and a Person, for πνεῦμα in our Epistle means a personality (see below), who was “sent” from heaven to forward the preaching of the gospel (i. 12). He sanctifies (i. 2), and rests upon the Christian (iv. 14), as the Spirit of glory and of God. Two points only are peculiar to St. Peter—the preaching in Hades, which is probably alluded to in Matt. xxvii. 51, 52, and DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, ORGANISATION IN I PETER 37 possibly in Eph. iv. 9; and the inspiration of prophecy by Christ, which may be found without great difficulty in 2 Cor. iii. 7 sqq. We can therefore easily understand the appeal made by St. Paul to St. Peter at Antioch on the ground of their common belief. The creed was the same, though the manner in which it expressed itself in conduct might be very different. For all those terms that we use in theology may be employed in two senses, the Mystic and the Disciplinarian. These two words denote not a difference in the thing believed, but a difference in the way of believing it. Let us try to make this clear without going too far into metaphysics. A Disciplinarian is one who hears God speaking to him; a Mystic is one who feels the presence of God within. The former says, “Christ is my Saviour, Shepherd, Friend, my Judge, my Rewarder” ; the latter says, ‘‘ Not I live, but Christ liveth in me.” The former sedulously distinguishes the human personality from the divine; the latter desires to sink his own personality in the divine. Hence the leading Disciplinarian ideas are Grace considered as a gift, Law, Learning, Continuity, Godly Fear—in all these human responsibility is kept steadily in view. But the leading Mystic ideas are Grace as an indwelling power, Freedom, the Inner Light, Discontinuity (Law and Gospel, Flesh and Spirit, World and God), and Love. Nothing is mere difficult than to define these two tendencies in the abstract, because they run into one another in shapes of manifold diversity. Yet it is easy in practice to see the difference between, for instance, William Laud and George Fox. A great part of the difficulty of discrimination arises from the fact that many people use mystic language, though they are really and truly disciplinarians. Now this is just the difference of which we are sensible in reading the Pauline and the Petrine Epistles. Let us compare the two theologies from this point of view. In 1 Peter, God though full of mercy (i. 3), and the giver of all grace (v. 10), is above all holy (i. 15), and mighty (v. 6); our chastening Father, who sends suffering for our good (iv. 19, v 5 sqq.); the just Judge (i. 17); and on all these accounts He is to be feared with godly fear (i. 17, 11. 17). St. Peter does not speak of loving God, though Christians love Christ with joy unspeakable (i. 8). Throughout the Epistle the attitude is one of profound awe and reverence. Bishop Butler was a true disciple of St. Peter: On the other hand, St. Paul’s thought tends rather to the love of God, to joy in God (Rom. v. 8, viii. 39); and God is not merely Judge, Rewarder, Father, but that infinite and eternal Spirit who shall one day fill all things, and in whom all things shall find perfect rest (1 Cor. xv. 28). St. Peter teaches that after this life 38 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER we shall meet God, and that this must be an awful thought even to the righteous (iv. 18). St. Paul rejoices in the expectation of knowing even as we are known, and seeing face to face (1 Cor. xiii. 12, 13). It is sufficient briefly to refer to those many passages where St. Paul dwells on the unity of the believer with God in Christ (1 Cor. vi. 17). Both these views of the spiritual life have been taken by great saints, and both are to be found in the Gospels. What we are to observe is that St. Paul’s view is the more mystical, and that St. Peter’s view is the more disciplinarian. It will be remembered with what sympathy St. Paul quoted upon the Areopagus the words of the Greek mystic—“ For in Him we live, and move, and have our being ; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring.” This general difference of intention makes itself felt at every point. We may select by way of illustration a few striking instances. Take πίστις. St. Paul uses this word in more than one shade of meaning, and nowhere exactly defines it. Yet we may say that to him it signifies much more than loving trust. It is the comfort- able sense of the Lord’s presence in the heart, whereby the believer is able to say, “Yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which now I live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. ii. 20). It is because of this mystic sense of faith as producing a real unifying contact between the soul and Christ, that St. Paul is able to speak of the believer as justified by faith and not by works of law. He is so justified because he has within him the Source of life and righteousness, because by faith he is one with the Risen Lord. Now, compare the language of St. Paul with that of St. James, “By works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” St. James has been harmonised with St. Paul, but only by force. It is palpable that the two use “faith” and “justify” in different senses. St. Peter says that good conduct is thankworthy (ii. 19), that the righteous man is hardly saved (iv. 18); and these phrases imply a similar conception to that of St. James. Conduct is something ; it springs from the motive, and receives its value from the motive ; yet at the same time it reacts upon the motive. In the view of St. Paul, action is merely the sign of the inspiration within, and has no other value; in that of St. Peter and St. James it is not merely the sign of faith, but the necessary condition of a higher and stronger faith. Neither St. Peter nor St. James would have denied that the Christian is saved by faith, though probably they would not have said that he is justified by faith (cf. 1 Pet. i. 5, 9 with Gal. ii. 16). But to them faith is not so much the presence of God in the heart, as the steadfast will to follow God through all the trials of life. The DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, ORGANISATION IN I PETER 39 practical difference between these two conceptions of the same thing is very great indeed, as we know from history. St. Peter does not define Faith, but he uses the word in the same sense as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. “ Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen... he that cometh unto God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. xi. 1, 6). It is not merely belief, which may be non-moral or even immoral (Jas. i. 19), but strong conviction, carrying with it trustful obedience in the midst of trials which we do not under- stand, godly fear, and the love of Christ. It is not salvation, but it is the way to salvation (1 Pet. i. 9); it destroys sin, but only through patience under suffering (1 Pet. iv. 1). Strong conviction is its beginning, but the blessing of God rests upon the disposition which it produces, on the conduct in which it finds expression. St. Peter’s conception of faith we may say is simpler, more Hebrew, more evangelical, than that of St. Paul. His Faith is that which we find expressed in Ps. cxix. Or take again the word χάρις. From the mystical Pauline point of view Faith and Grace are really the same thing; they differ only in so far as the divine immanence, the unity between God and man, must have an earthward as well as a heavenward side. Faith is Grace, the inner life, the divine life manifesting itself in man; and the gifts of Grace (χαρίσματα) are those spiritual supernatural infusions which testify to the immediate presence of the Holy Ghost (Rom. i. 11, vi. 23; 1 Cor. xii.; even in Rom. xii. 6 the idea is the same). In St. Peter, Grace is not the life, but anything that conduces to the life, any gift of the personal God to the personal man, any good thing whatever that comes down to us from the merciful Father—the gospel (i. 10), the promised joy of heaven (i. 13), or life (111. 7), or money and the power of dispensing hospitality (iv. 9, 10). Grace is the bounty, or mercy, or favour of God. Here again St. Peter is more evangelical, more Jewish. God is the good Father who bestows; the Christian is the good child, the faithful servant, who receives, and receives more in pro- portion to the faithfulness of his service. God’s gifts are free, of course, but this thought does not trouble St. Peter. He does not speculate about it, nor go out of his way to ask why some men receive and some do not. God is free, but He is good, and not arbitrary, and this suffices for the apostle’s simple creed. One striking consequence of this theological attitude is, that in the mind of St. Peter the future outweighs the present to a much greater degree than in that of St. Paul, St. John, or the mystics generally. Faith has, indeed, a present assurance in the Spirit of glory and of God which “rests upon” the Christian, as the _ Shechinah rested on the tabernacle (iv. 14), and causes joy un- 40 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER speakable and full of glory (i. 8); but it is closely allied, indeed it is almost the same thing with Hope, as it is also in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Here, again, Peter is more evangelical; and his sober patience is just what we should expect in a personal companion of Christ’s after the day of Ascension. His frame of mind is that which is suggested by the later parables in St. Matthew’s Gospel. The kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country. Soon He will return bringing His reward with Him. Meanwhile His servants dwell as strangers, as pilgrims, in a world of trouble. They are kept through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed (i. 5); they are to hope perfectly for the grace that is to be brought (i. 13); they are to look for the return of the Chief Shepherd with the amaranthine crown (v. 4). The Christian has joy, peace, good days (iii. 10), but his lot here is one of temptation; and tempta- tion is not the bitter strife fone evil within, but the crushing’ load of sorrow from without (i. 6, 7). What we mean by temptation in our modern phraseology is called by St. Paul ἁμαρτία, by St. Peter ἐπιθυμία. The same sense of the inadequacy of the present life is to be found, of course, in St. Paul (1 Cor. xv. 19); but St. Paul had felt a deeper mental anguish, and risen to a more triumphant sense of victory than St. Peter. Hence, though he prizes hope, he is less oppressed by the deferring of the hope. A few words may be added here on the psychological and ethical terminology of St. Peter, which is entirely unlike that of St. Paul. Πνεῦμα, as applied to man, denotes his soul as a whole, considered as immaterial and immortal. It is used of disembodied spirits (iii. 19), and is opposed to σάρξ as mind to body. In one place (iii. 4, ἡσυχίου πνεύματος) it signifies merely disposition or temper. But St. Peter never employs it, as St. Paul frequently does, to denote inspiration, or the faculty through which man is capable of inspiration. He does not distinguish it from ψυχή (ch 1 Thess. v. 23; 1 Cor. xv. 45, 46) or from νοῦς (cf. τ Cor. xiv. 14, 15). ‘Two very important points are here involved. One has already been noticed, that, as applied to the Holy Spirit, πνεῦμα must certainly in 1 Peter mean Ghost or Personality. The other is that St. Peter could not say, as St. Paul does, “the spiritual man judgeth all things.” Both the phrase and the idea are foreign to him. He points no antithesis between πνεῦμα and γράμμα, nor, in an ethical sense, between πνεῦμα and σάρξ. Indeed, in the First Epistle σάρξ has no moral significance at all; it means simply the body (cf., how- ever, 2 Pet. ii. το, 18), though the desires belong to the flesh (ii. 11). Κόσμος also is simply the world (i. 20, v. 9), not the evil world. Ψυχή, again, denotes the whole inner nature of man, the principle of life, the personality (see i. 9, 22, ii. 25, iii. 20, iv. 19). It does not bear the sense of the lower life of sense or carnal understand- ing, opposed to the higher life of reason or intelligence ; hence such DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, ORGANISATION IN I PETER 41 phrases as Ψψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος (1 Cor. ii. 14), σῶμα ψυχικόν (2214. xv. 44), do not, and indeed could not, occur. Ψυχή is, in fact, the very word which St. Peter uses throughout of the soul in relation te the religious life. Besides these words, we have διάνοια (i. 13), ἔννοια (iv. 1), ἐπιθυμίαι (i. 14, 11. 11, lv. 2, 3), and the Hebraistic καρδία (i. 22, 111. 4, 15). It is a simple, slender, rather archaic list of words, just sufficient for the author’s purpose, taken from common usage, and clearly untinged by speculation. It has been pointed out in the foregoing paragraphs that the Petrine theology regards God as the object of Christian thought, aspiration, worship, rather than of experience, possession, inner realisation ; that it dwells on the transcendental nature and majesty of God, rather than on the mystic union between God and the believer. St. Peter does not, indeed, fail to do justice co the experimental side of the religious life; his people have “ tasted that the Lord is good” (ii. 3). Still, his view is predominantly objective; and this is at all times the attitude of the disciplinarian. He gives very few details of the religious life as it existed among his readers; this was not his object. But there are in the Epistle a certain number of ideas and words belonging to the sphere of practical theology; and these’ all point in the same direction. Everything is simple, easy, stamped by plain, pastoral common sense ; everything again is conservative ; the Church has advanced from its old Hebrew resting-place, but no further than is necessary. The first great point that we notice is, that the corruption of man is still regarded in the same light as in the Old Testament and the Gospels. There is, at any rate, no trace of the Pauline doctrine of inherited sin, and ἁμαρτία always means the concrete act, “8 sin,” as in the Synoptic Gospels, not ‘‘sinfulness,” as in the mystics St. Paul and St. John. Even when he is speaking of the saving power of Baptism, St. Peter calls moral evil ‘the filth of the flesh,” and appears to mean simply that sin is the yielding to those desires which have their root in the body. We cannot absolutely infer from his silence that he did not know, or did not approve, the doctrine of St. Paul, but he certainly is silent. To another very important Pauline doctrine, that of Imputation, he makes not the slightest allusion, and we may gather with confidence that he would not have admitted it without reservation, for he speaks of ‘the righteous man” in exactly the same way as the Psalmist or the Book of Proverbs (iv. 18). Equally important is the absence of the word Law. ‘There is no sign of any difficulty or dispute, nor is any difference whatever made, between Jew and Gentile. Both appear to be living in peace, side by side under the same authoritative supervision. We may account for this remarkable fact in different ways. We may suppose that the whole Church was violently agitated by the circumcision dispute, 42 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER and did not settle down in quiet for some years; and this is the view which has been derived from too exclusive a use of the Epistles of St. Paul. Or we may suppose that the heat was generated by a handful of fanatics, that it was a mere crackling of thorns, which never received any support from the Twelve, and died away at once; and this is the view which we should gather from the Book of Acts. What St. Paul wrote about the Law, except in Galatians, is not directly polemical—it is simply the free expression of his mystic belief that all external authority disappeared with the advent of the Spirit. That St. Peter did not share this belief is abundantly evident ; but why should we expect him to write against it? Orif he was writing against it, how could he do so more properly than by such an Epistle as the present ? The truth appears to be that, in the mind of St. Peter, Chris- tianity itself is a Law, the will of God (ii. 15), the Law fulfilled, transfigured, re-established on a surer foundation by Jesus Christ, yet still in its eternal elements, in its essential nature as Law, lying at the root of all moral life. Hence in St. Peter we find that same sense of the continuity of history which is so nobly expressed in Hebrews. There has been no rejection of the Jew; he has simply been called like everybody else to move on to ahigher plane. There is no antithesis between Law and Promise. Thetitles of the chosen people are transferred without hesitation to the Christian community. The Christians are priests, kings, a holy nation, the people that God always had in view; they are the Diaspora, pilgrims like Abraham ; and all good women are daughters of Sarah. There is no trace of bitterness against the Jews. In a word, history flows on from the far past to the present in a widening but continuous stream. Closely allied to the continuity of the faith is its authority. In the view of St. Paul there is no authority except that of the inner light ; the spiritual man judgeth all things, and is judged of none. Freedom is emancipation from all external control; it is based on that conscious union with God which lifts a man above all precepts and ordinances. But there is another view that Grace (as John Wesley said) is not necessarily Light, and that, at the outset of the spiritual life, men must do, not because they understand and love, but in order that they may understand and love. Here, again, we may test the difference between the apostles at many significant points. In the eyes of St. Peter all Christians are “babes” (ii. 2); it is their natural estate in this life, and to the end of their earthly probation they need to be fed with the “ milk” of God’s word. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, influenced, perhaps, by some writer of the same school as Philo, speaks of the Catechism as “ milk” for babes, and contrasts it with the “strong meat,” the deeper and wider belief of the grown-up Christian. Still DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, ORGANISATION IN I PETER 43 he seems to mean that the lower belief of obedience is a natural preparation for the higher belief of intelligence, that as a regular thing men do rise through the state of Law to the state of Freedom. This attitude we may call that of disciplinary mysticism (Heb. v. 12, 13). But to the mind of St. Paul the evil of this lower stage is more obvious than its good. “Milk” is the food of the carnal, of the weak brother who sets great store by externals, and is always ready to quarrel about them. To him the “babe” is not the Christian, as to St. Peter, nor the novice, as to the author of Hebrews, but the formalist, the disciplinarian (1 Cor. iii. 1). Ob- viously St. Peter would restrict within reasonable limits that right of private judgment which St. Paul bestows without reserve on all Christians. Notice again the use of the word ποιμαίνειν and ποιμήν in St. Peter (ii. 25, v. 2, 4). St. Paul hardly uses this appropriate metaphor of the Christian pastor (Acts xx. 28; Eph. iv. 11), and never applies it to Christ. Another important word is ἅγιος, which in St. Paul is often a noun—all Christians are saints ; but in St. Peter is only an adjective—all Christians ought to become saints. Or observe how St. Peter directs his people to speak like the oracles of God (iv. 11). Scripture is the external norm or pattern for all our words. Or, again, how St. Paul relaxes the gospel tule of marriage, to this extent at least, that in the case of mixed marriages, if the heathen partner desires a separation, the Christian partner is not under bondage (1 Cor. vii. 15). ‘‘ For,” the apostle adds, “ what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or what knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?” But St. Peter appears to know of no such liberty, and exhorts all wives to be in subjection to their own husbands, “that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives” (iii. 1). But more important than all is the entire absence in 1 Peter of any allusion to Christian prophecy. The point is of such conse- quence that it may be permissible to deal with it at some little length. In the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke (not in St. Mark or St. John) our Lord speaks of sending prophets to the Church (Matt. x. 41; Luke xi. 49). They are distinguished from “wise men and scribes” (Matt. xxiii. 34). Prophecy is a miraculous gift, analogous to the power of casting out devils, and might be bestowed on or assumed by people whose conduct was not good (Matt. vil. 22). These are false prophets (Matt. vii. 15); and we gather that the false prophet specially concerned himself with that topic on which Christians are forbidden to speculate (Matt. xxiv. 36), the day and hour of the Second Advent (Matt. xxiv. 11, 23, 24). At the beginning of the Book of Acts we read of the outpouring of the spirit of prophecy on the day of Pentecost, and on several 44 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER occasions we find the same gift bestowed on the newly baptized. We may suppose this form of prophecy to have been an ecstatic outburst of thanksgiving and adoration ; but this particular form of the grace does not appear to have been universal or permanent, nor did it make its recipient a prophet in the regular acceptation of the word. But we meet also with persons who were recognised as prophets and of the same family as the prophets of old, because in their case inspiration was not, indeed, habitual,—this it never was,—but at any rate frequently recurrent. We find them at Jerusalem (xi. 27), at Antioch (xili. 1), at Tyre (xxi. 4), at Caesarea (xxi. 9), but not elsewhere. Some of them were men, some were “virgins.” They read the secrets of men’s hearts (v. 3), or predicted future events (xi. 28, xxi. 11), or delivered special mandates from the Holy Spirit to the Church (xiii. 2). Some of them were also teachers (xiii. 1) ; and two, Judas and Silas, exhorted the brethren at Antioch with many words (xv. 32), explaining to them the circumcision dispute, and pressing upon them the acceptance of the Jerusalem Decree. One passage in the Book of Acts relating to prophecy is so important that it calls for special comment. Originally there were at Antioch two Churches, one of Jews and one of Greeks, and even at the time described in the thirteenth chapter it is not clear to what extent the two had been amalgamated. The Gentile Church was founded by men of Cyrene, and Lucius of Cyrene was one of the prophets and teachers by whom Barnabas and Saul were set apart for their mission (xi. 19, 20, xiii 1) The selection or ordination of the two evangelists may possibly have been the act of the Greek Church alone. Nor is it certain what it was that the prophets and teachers actually did. We may, however, suppose with great probability that the plan of a missionary campaign had already been discussed and approved, and that the whole Church was gathered together, fasting and praying for some definite word from the Holy Ghost, telling them whither to go and whom to send. All eyes and hearts would be fixed upon the five prophets through whom the heavenly voice had so often made itself heard before. At last the mandate comes and the mouthpiece speaks : “Separate me Barnabas and Saul.” A very similar account of the method of prophecy is given by Hermas, who knew it well. ‘ When the man who hath the divine spirit cometh into a congregation of righteous men who have the faith of the divine spirit, and inter- cession of the congregation of those men is made to God, then the angel of the prophetic spirit, who is attached to him, fills the man, and the man being filled with the Holy Ghost speaketh to the assembly as the Lord willeth” (A/and. xi. 9). What we find described here is not the ordinary meeting for public worship, but a special assembly of intercession for a definite object. ee ee DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, ORGANISATION IN I PETER 45 Elsewhere also (1 Tim. i. 18, iv. 14) we find the prophet playing the same part in the selection of God’s ministers. Timothy, how- ever, though marked out by the prophets, was commissioned and, as we should say, ordained by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. St. Luke does not expressly say that the presbyters laid hands on Barnabas and Saul, but this is probably what he means. Generally speaking, from the Book of Acts we should infer that the gift of prophecy, in the proper sense of the word, was not commonly bestowed, that its form was that of direct inspiration, that its expression was occasional and limited. In 1 Peter, James, Jude, Hebrews, we read of no prophets at all. In 2 Peter (ii. 11) mention is made of false prophets. John knows both of false prophets and of true (1 John iv. 1; Apoc. xi. 18, xix. 20). If we take the Pauline Epistles, we find little or no trace of the existence of prophets at Ephesus (see, however, Eph. iv. 11), or Philippi, or Colossae, or in Galatia, or at Rome. Prophecy is, indeed, mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans (xii. 6) ; but when the apostle tells us that he longed to impart unto that Church some spiritual gift (i. rr), we are probably to understand that he hoped to stir up a grace which as yet had not been bestowed upon it. But in two Churches, at Thessalonica and at Corinth, we find a very different state of things. Both were new Churches, composed probably in the main of Gentiles, who but a few months before had been idolaters. Yet in both these communities prophets were very numerous, and the apostle gave them great encouragement (1 Thess. τῇ; ¥ Cor. xiv. 39). At Thessalonica the prophets were busily doing exactly what our Lord forbade, they were proclaiming that the day of Christ was imminent (ἐνέστηκεν, ii. 2) ; and for this error they were rebuked by St. Paul. Even in this town, prophetism appears to have been very active and, on the whole, mischievous. There were those who regarded it with disfavour, and wished to suppress it altogether, or, at any rate, to bring it under control by the imposition of restraints which St. Paul thought too rigorous. ‘“ Quench not the Spirit,” he says; “despise not prophesyings” (1 Thess. v. 19, 20). At the same time he adds a needful word of warning: “ Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good.” But at Corinth the state of affairs was really extraordinary. The number of those who laid claim to the spiritual gifts of speak- ing with tongues and of prophecy must have been very large. But these miraculous endowments, instead of leading to meekness and unity, caused much angry rivalry, which turned even the public worship of the Church into a scene of disorder. These were not good fruits ; indeed, to speak quite plainly, they are the contra- diction of anything that we can reasonably attribute to the Spirit of God. St. Paul treats these extravagances with great wisdom. He 46 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER asserts his own authority, both as apostle and as prophet, with explicit resolution. But he deals only with the symptoms, with the disorders. He does not name the offenders, nor does he charge them with self-deceit, nor does he expressly point out in what way their notion of “ prophecy,” of ‘‘liberty,” was connected with those moral and doctrinal extravagances which he condemns. But he lays down firmly the rule of decency and order, the great principles of Charity and Unity, and points out clearly the besetting danger of what in the eighteenth century was called Enthusiasm. ‘‘ Know- ledge puffeth up.” Knowledge, the knowledge of mysteries, is very closely related to prophecy. A close parallel to the conduct of St. Paul is to be found in that of George Fox towards the Bristol fanatics. Fox was in the same position as the apostle. He, too, had fostered and encouraged prophecy, and, when the behaviour of Naylor opened his eyes to the gulf at his feet, he acted in the same way as St. Paul, not denying his own principles, but building the necessary fence along the edge of the precipice with authority, discretion, and reserve. From Fox’s own account we could hardly guess the nature and the peril of the Bristol crisis, and we can do little more than guess at the inner history of the Corinthian Church. But in the time of Fox, and afterwards of Wesley, Bristol, a seaport and a great seat of the slave trade, was not unlike Corinth in some pertinent features. Corinth had never borne a good reputation, nor had Greeks ever been patient of discipline in any shape. It is in such places that the leaven of Christianity produces the most violent fermentation. Sudden conversions are common ; and the sudden conversion of an undisciplined character is always strongly mystical. It is not sur- prising, therefore, to find many prophets in the town, nor is it difficult to conjecture what would be the results. At Corinth, as elsewhere, prophecy bore its usual and proper form of “revelation” (1 Cor. xiv. 26), that is to say, of immediate communication from the Holy Spirit. Revelation always implies Ecstasy (Acts x. 10, xi. 5, xx. 17), that state which is also called “being in the Spirit” (Apoc. i. 10), and is described by St. Paul himself (2 Cor. xii. 2) as a condition in which the man knew not whether he were in the body or out of it. It was, in fact, a trance, in which sense was suspended, but intelligence, though not active, was quickened into a condition of high receptivity. The prophet understood what he saw or heard, and when he spoke, spoke intelli- gible words. Hence he might be said to edify, comfort, console (1 Cor. xiv. 3). He read the secrets of men’s hearts (d¢d. 24, 25), and the hearers might learn from his prophecies (¢é7d. 31). Both the prophet and the speaker with tongues were allowed to “give thanks” after Communion (d7d. 16). But the Prophet is expressly distinguished from the Teacher (1 Cor. xii. 28). The distinction DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, ORGANISATION IN I PETER 47 rests not so much on the matter of prophecy as on its form. Prophecy was ecstatic (those later writers who denied this only meant that Christian ecstasy differed from Pagan); it was a direct communication from the Spirit, a revelation, not, like Teaching, an exposition of other men’s revelations. For this reason the Prophet took rank before the Teacher, indeed before every member of the Church except the apostles. Yet, of course, the same man might be at once Apostle, Prophet, and Teacher. The Prophet was an ornament, but not an officer of the Church; and the manifestation of his gift was so occasional that he cannot have been intrusted, at any rate in his capacity of Prophet, with any regular ministrations. Indeed this is self-evident from the fact that there were women who prophesied as well as men. When we come to ask what were the precise subjects of Corin- thian prophecy, we find ourselves on uncertain ground. Yet, when we consider the topics dwelt upon by the apostle, and compare them with what we know to have been the themes of prophecy elsewhere, we can arrive at a tenable conclusion. At Thessalonica, the favourite subject was the Second Advent, a question which involved that of the condition of the faithful dead (1 Thess. iv. 14 sqq.). Beyond a doubt this would be the pre- dominant burden of speculation at Corinth also, as it always has been everywhere. Hence St. Paul addresses to that Church the noblest of all his prophecies on this very point (1 Cor. xv.). There were many ways in which the prophet might speak of Eschatology without infringing our Lord’s prohibition. He might have a vision of the angelic hierarchy, like Ignatius, or of the state of the soul after death, like Perpetua, or of heaven and hell, like the author of the Apocalypse of Peter, or of the signs that precede the Second Advent, like the author of the Didache. Even this alluring theme was full of peril. It was forbidden to fix a date for the Second Advent, and this command was often forgotten. But there were some at Corinth who denied the resurrection of the dead. If St. Paul means that they denied the resurrection of the body, there were Gnostic prophets who did the same thing. Again, there were those who defended the act of the man who had married his father’s wife (1 Cor. v. 1, 2). St. Paul tells them that they are “puffed up.” But it is knowledge which “ puffeth up ” (viii. 1), and knowledge is practically identical with prophecy (xiii. 2). Sexual irregularity has, in fact, often been justified by pretenders to the inner light, and cannot be justified in any other way. Another subject which exercised the minds of the prophets was that of Church discipline. Ignatius gives us the text of one of his own prophecies, in which occur the words, “Do nothing without the bishop” (/4z/. vii.). _Hermas also touches on the relation of the prophet to the presbyter (7s, iii. 1. 8, 9), and Montanism was 48 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER largely concerned with this point. If there were prophecies on the one side, there would be prophecies also on the other, and certainly the Corinthian prophets, numerous and self-assertive, and claiming some authority in the regulation of public worship, would not tamely submit to the direction of officials. Indeed, in the Corin- thian Church we cannot affirm with confidence that there were any officials at all. To some extent the Corinthians must have been self-deluded. The genuine spirit of prophecy has never been given to masses of men ; nor can it often have been bestowed upon those who, but the other day, were worshipping stocks and stones, and contaminated by the vices of such a city as Corinth. But St. Paul could not absolutely forbid this outbreak of fanaticism. He was himself the most remarkable of Christian prophets, full of the Holy Ghost, and longing unspeakably to see others like himself. He would believe the best. After all, among the tares would be blades of wheat, and he would not dare to run the risk of plucking up these. But the consequences are very clearly to be discerned. The Church of Corinth was full of the most shocking disorders, both in faith (1 Cor. xv. 12) and in morals. If there was any control there, we cannot see where it resided, or what was its good. It is not too much to say, that if this form of prophetism had not disappeared, the Church could not possibly have endured. Prophetism sums up in one word the difference between St. Paul the mystic and St. Peter the disciplinarian. Where a body of prophets has assumed the direction of affairs, discipline is impos- sible. But it is evident that the confusion which reigned at Corinth, and possibly in a lower degree at Thessalonica, was abnormal. The vast majority of the Churches were, as they had been from the first, carefully instructed and diligently supervised ; and what is true of a couple of Greek communities in Europe is by no means true of Asiatic Christianity. How things were ordered in the Eastern Churches we can gather with confidence from the notices in the Book of Acts, from 1 Peter, from Hebrews, and from the Letters to the Seven Churches in the Apocalypse. Indeed, the Pastoral Epistles of St. Paul tell the same tale. The communities addressed in 1 Peter were clearly under strict and sober government ; but their organisation, as far as we are able to descry it, was of a very simple, primitive kind. In the first place, the writer does not use the word “ Church,” a peculiarity which he shares with Hebrews, for in that Epistle also, ‘‘ Church,” though it twice occurs (ii. 12, in quotation from O.T., xii. 23), does not bear its familiar technical sense. He calls himself ‘‘an apostle of Jesus Christ” (i. 1), or, what is the same thing, ‘‘a witness of the sufferings of Christ” (v. 1); but he writes with the greatest modesty in a tone of exhortation, not of command, exhorting, not rebuking, DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, ORGANISATION IN I PETER 49 calling himself a brother of the presbyters. Nothing in the Epistle is more authoritative than the brief emphatic phrase in which he commends the faithfulness of so eminent a man as Silvanus. Clearly he expected to be heard with deference ; but the tone is just what we should have expected in St. Peter, and just what we should not have expected in anyone masquerading under his name. He addresses his readers as the Dispersion, the brethren or brotherhood (“the brethren” is a familiar phrase in Acts), and uses the word “Christian.” If there were any widows or orphans receiving regular assistance from the common fund, at any rate they are not mentioned. The Deacon possibly did not exist, certainly is not named. ‘There was no Bishop; the noun ἐπίσκοπος is used of Christ (il. 25), and the verb ἐπισκοπεῖν of the Presbyters (v. 2), in a manner which shows us how the title came into being as a synonym for Shepherd; but it has not as yet definitely assumed an official sense. On the other hand, the Presbyter who, as we know from Acts, was the original rector and pastor of the Church, wields great authority, which he is strongly admonished to exert with willingness, uprightness, and sobriety. Of the Sacraments, Baptism is spoken of as having a saving power (iii. 21) ; the Eucharist is not mentioned. Thus the organisation also appears to be marked by the same primitive simplicity that we have noticed as characteristic of the Epistle in other points. If we attach any historical value to Acts —and how can we help doing this?—the polity of the Petrine Churches is more conservative than that depicted in or suggested by any of the Pauline Epistles. But, now, if the relation between the Petrine and Pauline Epistles is as it has here been described, if in dogma they agree and in practice they differ, and if, when they differ, the Petrine Epistle is more primitive, as it proved to be more enduring, how are we to explain these singular facts ? We may say that the sub-apostolic Church, with all its reverence for St. Paul, failed to understand his idea of Freedom, that his pure and noble mysticism was too hard for them (δυσνόητον, 2 Pet. iii. 16), that the time for it was not yet come, and that God sent His people back again into the wilderness after a first glimpse of the Promised Land. But, then, how are we to account for the fact that where the Petrine writer falls away from St. Paul he is falling back upon the Synoptic Gospels? If his Christianity had been derived from that of St. Paul he could not have taken this line. Those who started from a misunderstanding of the mysticism of St. Paul became Antinomians ; this is what actually happened to many of the Gnostics, and to many sects in later times. If the Petrine writer fell back, he must have had something to fall back upon. There must have been some other stamp of Christianity, some other method of 4 50 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER working out in detail the truth of the Resurrection, than that described in the Pauline Epistles. That there actually was one— indeed that there were several—we learn not only from the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament, but from St. Paul’s own testimony. But if this is the case, why should the Petrine writer be thought to have fallen back at all? Why should not his Epistle be just what it professes to be, the work of St. Peter himself? Note on Post-Apostolic Prophecy. Ignatius describes one subject of his prophetic visions in 7va//. v., δύναμαι νοεῖν τὰ ἐπουράνια Kal τὰς τοποθεσίας τὰς ἀγγελικὰς καὶ τὰς συστάσεις τὰς ἀρχοντικάς, ὁρατά τε καὶ ἀόρατα. In another very remarkable passage, Phil. Vil. he gives the actual text of one of his prophecies, τὸ δὲ Ἠνεῦμα ἐκήρυσσεν λέγον τάδε: χωρὶς τοῦ ἐπισκόπου μηδὲν ποιεῖτε" τὴν σάρκα ὑμῶν ὡς ναὸν Θεοῦ τηρεῖτε: τὴν ἕνωσιν ἀγαπᾶτε: τοὺς μερισμοὺς φεύγετε' μιμηταὶ γίνεσθε Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς τοῦ Πατρὸς αὑτοῦ. Here it is to be observed that the subject-matter is the same as that of the Teacher, but that the form is entirely different from that of Teaching. The admonitions are given as a direct communica- tion from the Holy Spirit; hence in style they are ejaculatory and dogmatic, not discursive. Ignatius exhorted Polycarp to pray for the same gift. Polycarp, i i, αἰτοῦ σύνεσιν πλείονα ἣ ἧς ἔχεις. 7ϊά. ii., τὰ δὲ ἄορατα αἴτει ἵνα σοι φανερωθῇ, ἵνα μηδενὸς λείπῃ καὶ παντὸς χαρίσματος περισσεύῃς. Polycarp acknowledges that he himself did not possess the gift of prophecy. Ad Phil. xii., “confido enim uos bene exercitatos esse in sacris literis, et nihil uos latet; mihi autem non est concessum.” It was enough for him to follow humbly in the footsteps of St. Paul, ibid. 111. Here we see that a great and recognised and most authoritative Teacher might yet not be a prophet. But before Polycarp’s death this grace was vouchsafed to him. JMMartyrium FPolyc. v., Set pe ζῶντα κατακαῆναι. With him as with all prophets the gift took the form of a vision or voice. The prophecies of Montanus, Prisca, Maximilla, and others of the same sect, will be found collected in Bonwetsch, Alontfanismus, p- 197 5646. Tertullian says of them, de exhort. cast. 10, “ uisiones uident et ponentes faciem deorsum etiam uoces audiunt manifestas tam salutares quam occultas.” Salutares means moral or disciplinary, as in the second passage DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, ORGANISATION IN I PETER 51 from Ignatius. Occu/tas means pertaining to heavenly mysteries, as in the first. Oehler does not explain the words ponentes faciem deorsum ; apparently the prophet bent his head downwards in the attitude of listening to a voice from above. Of Ecstasy, Tertullian says, adu. Marc. iv. 22, “gratiae extasis amentia. In spiritu enim homo constitutus, praesertim cum gloriam Dei conspicit, uel cum per eum Deus loquitur, necesse est excidat sensu, obumbratus scilicet uirtute diuina.” This agrees very well with the language of St. Paul. Alcibiades (or Miltiades), Eus. # Z. v. 17. 1, wrote a treatise against the Montanists entitled περὶ τοῦ μὴ δεῖν ἐν ἐκστάσει λαλεῖν : but he was certainly using the word ἔκστασις in a peculiar sense, for it is used of true Christian prophecy, Acts x. Io, xi. 5, xx. 17, and “to speak in ecstasy” means neither more nor less than “to speak in the Spirit.” And the author to whom we owe our know- ledge of this treatise of Alcibiades (or Miltiades) goes on to say that the mark of the false prophet is not ecstasy but parecstasy—that is to say, debased ecstasy. ὃ ψευδοπροφήτης ἐν παρεκστάσει, ᾧ ἕπεται ἄδεια καὶ ἀφοβία, ἀρχόμενος μὲν ἐξ ἑκουσίου ἀμαθίας, καταστρέφων δὲ εἰς ἀκούσιον μανίαν ψυχῆς. The false prophet was culpably ignorant —that is to say, he was one so far deficient in morals, or instruction, or both, that the brethren eould not regard him as a likely organ for the prophetic spirit, and his trance was “a madness.” Madness will mean frenzied utterance or gesticulation and “ possession.” The last, in particular, was a most serious point. Simon Magus “gave out that he himself was some great one” (Acts viii. 9); and Montanus said, “1 am the Lord God Almighty coming down in man ” (Epiph. aer. xi. p. 437),—a phrase which is strictly analogous to that of the demoniac, “‘ My name is Legion” (Mark v. 9). The idea that the spirit, good or bad, takes possession of the man, replaces his personality, and speaks with his own voice, is wholly alien to Biblical prophecy, and belongs to demonology or heathen vaticination. But ignorance was quite serious enough. It would be shown by demanding payment or expecting reward as a prophet (Eus. 2. 2. v. 18; Hermas, JZand. xi.) ; by doctrinal unsoundness (1 John iv. 1, 2); and in the eyes of a loyal Churchman by inter- ference with the wholesome and apostolic discipline of the Church. Professor Harnack (Lehre der zwolf Apostel, p. 126) is inclined to regard all these tests as invented by the later Church for the purpose of condemning the Montanists. But they are obvious deductions from eternal common sense. Except non-fulfilment of predictions, for which the existing brotherhood might have to wait in vain, the one and only test of genuine prophecy is that of con- formity to the teaching and practice of undoubted prophets, of Christ and His apostles ; and this test all Christians were bound to apply at all times under very serious penalties. 52 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER A careful review of the facts seems to show two things very distinctly : (1) that the condition of the Corinthian Church is not to be regarded as the normal state of a Christian community in the time of the apostles ; (2) that the Prophet is not, and cannot be, the same thing as the Teacher. The two functions might, no doubt, be combined, but in themselves they are radically different. § 7. ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, We may proceed to compare, in the next place, the characters and histories of St. Paul and St. Peter. To some extent, at any- rate, the investigation will throw further light upon the conclusions arrived at in the preceding chapter. When St. Stephen was stoned to death the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man whose name was-Saul (Acts vii. 58). He was of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, and a Pharisee (Phil. iii. 5), born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in Jerusalem, where he sat at the feet of the famous Gamaliel (Acts xxiii. 3). He was a Roman citizen, and son of a Roman citizen (Acts xxii. 28), spoke and wrote Greek, used the Greek Bible, and had some acquaintance with Greek literature (Acts xvi 28: 0 -Cor xv. 33 3 ΓἸ{ 1 12) We are not told at what age he left Tarsus, but he was probably verging on man’s estate at the time, for he had already been intro- duced to the study of the Greek poets, and he continued to regard the city as his home and natural place of shelter (Acts ix. 30). He was no cosmopolitan, and though he passed his early years under the shadow of a Greek university, remained a strict Jew. Yet Tarsus was a Stoic stronghold, and St. Paul had read and admired at least one Stoic poet. He was aware then that there was current among educated heathen a view of God as the great indwelling Spirit which is antagonistic to any shape of formalism. But doubt- less he had imbibed this belief from Scripture, and from the struggles of his own spiritual experience—if we may regard Rom. vii. 9 sqq. as referring to a time preceding that of his conversion. We may suppose that he was a Pharisaic Mystic of the same type as St. James. But we first see him at Jerusalem, approving of Stephen’s death, leading and goading on the party of persecution. So far he appears to us as well-born, probably wealthy, well- educated, still young, full of fiery conviction and prompt resolution, a natural leader of men in times of great excitement. He was unmarried and childless, and seems to have owed his power entirely to the vigour of his character, for he does not appear to have been a member of the Sanhedrin. Not content with oppressing the disciples in Jerusalem, he extorted from the high priest a despatch authorising the extermina- ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 53 tion of the heretics at Damascus, and was on his way to that city, “breathing threatenings and slaughter,” when he was struck down to the earth by that Jesus whom he was persecuting. ‘Thus in one moment he became a Christian. All attempts to account for his conversion by natural agencies are vain. No doubt the way for this astounding change had been prepared. St. Paul was familiar with many thoughts of many minds ; he must have been familiar also with that lurking sense of disappointment which always besets those who set their hopes on anything lower than the highest, and he had seen St. Stephen die. But the final blow was struck from above with overwhelming force and instantaneous effect. His change was not from immorality to morality, but from one principle of action to another, from moralism to mysticism. It was analogous, not to the conversion of St. Augustine, but to that of Luther, or Wesley, or Law. But the point is, that these sudden changes always leave a mark. A swift uplifting, because it is so immediately divine, gives great nobility of mind. It carries the man up at once into a sphere from which all forms, props, mechanisms, seem very little things, and it imparts great peace, confidence, and joy. At the same time it makes a breach between the present and the past. The converted man looks back upon his old struggles with fear, pain, and horror. For him the hopeful promise of discipline and obedience ended only in cruel defeat. Of what value, then, can they be to others? The Vision on the road to Damascus is enough to stamp St. Paul as a prophet; but throughout his life he continued to receive immediate manifestations of God’s presence and care. His revela- tions, conveyed sometimes in trance, sometimes in dream ; bringing sometimes directions, sometimes prohibitions ; sometimes unfolding mysteries, sometimes displaying the formless glory of things un- speakable—were very numerous (Acts xvi. 6, 9, xviii. 9, 10, xix. 21, ἘΞ 22. 20) XR 17, ΚΑΙ 123, 245 Gal. ii. 2: 2 Cor. xii. 1-7), The sense of direct inspiration seems never to have failed him, except perhaps when discipline was in question (1 Cor. vii. 12), Much of his knowledge in the faith was imparted to him through the same channel (Eph. iii. 3; Gal. i. 12 sqq., ii. 6; 1 Cor. xv. 3). But here we are perhaps justified in making a distinction. Even though he never saw Christ in the flesh, he would know, from hearsay or from reading, the general facts of the Gospel history, and he must surely have learned from ordinary sources the saying of our Lord’s which he quoted in his speech at Miletus (Acts xx. 35). What he means is probably, that the one fact of the Resurrection and the inner meaning of all the facts, his whole theology, came to him direct by way of revelation. We find unmistakable fruits of his prophetic gift in Thessalonians and in 1 Cor, xv. 54 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER Such were the salient features in the character and history of St. Paul. St. Peter on every point forms a strong contrast. He wasa poor Galilean fisherman, a labouring man, uneducated, rough in speech and manner (Matt. xxvi. 73 ; Luke xxii. 59; Acts iv. 13), a husband, and, according to ancient tradition, a father, and he had lived in close intimacy with the Saviour upon earth. He was a simple pious Jew, if not actually a disciple of John the Baptist at any rate the brother of one who was (John i. 40),—that is to say, he was open-minded and docile, a son of Abraham who did not pre- sume upon that privilege (Luke iii. 8), but was well aware of the need of repentance, and was looking for the kingdom of heaven and the advent of Messiah. He was a married, uneducated labourer. Such men always bear the stamp of their class. In England, and presumably elsewhere, they are tender-hearted, but slow. They have seen too much of the hard realities of life to be greatly elated or greatly depressed. But they make fine soldiers, who will follow their captain to the last, and fall where he has placed them. St. Peter is often spoken of as ardent and impulsive, but our Lord called him Cephas, “ Rock,” and the fiery apostles were James and John. He was often the first to speak, because he was the leader and mouthpiece of the Twelve. ‘The quietest of men, when driven past endurance, are often fiercest ; and as Moses, the meek, once smote an Egyptian, so Peter struck a hasty blow in the Garden of Gethsemane. In an hour of utter despair and extreme alarm, he denied his Lord. The Gospels paint him as a man of slow under- standing, but strong conviction, of tender, but not demonstrative feeling, with an exquisitely delicate conscience, and a deep sense of the majesty of God. It was he who made the great confession, “Thou art the Christ,” and yet would have saved Christ from suffering and the Cross (Matt. xvi. 16, 22), just as the disciples besought St. Paul not to go up to Jerusalem where he was to be delivered to the Gentiles (Acts xxi. 12); it was he who at the Last Supper beckoned to St. John to ask the question which he dared not ask himself (John xii. 24); it was he, again, who said, “ Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke v. 8); who went out and wept bitterly when the Saviour turned and looked upon him (Luke xxii. 62), and whose repentance and forgiveness are described with magical power in the last chapter of St. John’s Gospel. The Lord loved John better, but He trusted Peter more (Luke xxii. 31, 32). We may imagine Peter as a shy, timid, embarrassed man, apt on a sudden emergency to say and do the wrong thing, not because he was hasty, but because he was not quick. He was one of those who become leaders because they have been called and appointed, not because nature seems to have marked them out for command. ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT δὲ His defect had been want of readiness and decision. When this was cured, he was all the better fitted to be a guide and pastor by reason of the weakness which the Holy Spirit redressed. ‘“ Be ye ready,” he says in his Epistle (1 Pet. iii. 15), “always to give an answer to every man that asketh for a reason of the faith that is in you, with meekness and fear.” He was meek and fearful, and he knew well the danger of unreadiness. St. Peter had been instructed, trained, disciplined by our Lord Himself, and led on in smooth ‘and unbroken progress from the law to the gospel. He was a prophet, but hardly a visionary. He had witnessed the Transfiguration, he had seen the risen Saviour, he had received admonition in his trance at Joppa, and an angel had been sent to deliver him from prison. The Holy Ghost had come down upon him at Pentecost. But we do not read that he enjoyed the same kind, or the same frequency, of communion with the unseen world which was given to St. Paul or St. John. There is the same shade of difference that we observe in the Old Testa- ment between Moses and Jacob. Further, it is evident that to St. Peter the past would not wear the same colour as to St. Paul. He would look back with affection and regret to days spent in company with our Lord on earth, and he would look forward with intense longing to the time when the Chief Shepherd should reappear. The interval would appear to him as a period of loss, of hope deferred ; and this is exactly what we find in the Epistle. ‘St. Paul’s past was one of shame; there was no brightness in it; and his heart swells with a rapture of gratitude when he thinks of his deliverance from the city of confusion and house of bondage. We need not here dwell minutely on the history of St. Peter as it is given in the first twelve chapters of the Book of Acts. There he appears for some ten or twelve years as spokesman, judge, leader of the disciples at Jerusalem. As occasion served, and the frontier of the Church was pushed forward, he made excursions to other places. We see him at Samaria, passing through all quarters to Lydda and Joppa, and again at Caesarea. After this we read of the visit of Barnabas and Saul to Jerusalem, of Herod’s persecution, of Peter’s imprisonment, deliverance, and departure “to another place.” From this point St. Luke’s thoughts are occupied almost exclusively with the history of St. Paul. But on three occasions we find the two great apostles in actual personal contact. Here, then, it becomes necessary to compare the narrative given in the Book of Acts with that of the Epistle to the Galatians (Gal. 1. 15-24, il, I-10, 11 sqq.). But let us first grasp firmly the key to all the difficulties which may arise. St. Luke is writing as a historian ; his object is summa sequi fastigia rerum ; his interest lies in the permanent, and specially in the Decree of the Council of Jerusalem, which was the first monument of Canon Law, and was 56 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER unquestionably accepted and obeyed by the Church (Acts xxi. 25 ; Apoc. li. 14, 20; Eus. 7. 2. v. τ. 26; Tert. de Ldol. x.; Apfol. ix. ; Clem. Alex. Paed. ii. 1. 8; Didache vi.—I quote this as a fourth century authority. The Decree was falling into desuetude in the West in St. Augustine’s time, contra Faust. xxxii. 13). St. Paul’s intention, on the other hand, is polemical, autobiographical, and apologetic. He wrote in the midst of a very heated dispute which touched him particularly. His first object is to show that the Gentile Christian ought not to accept circumcision ; and, in order to establish this first point, he goes on to maintain a second, that his own authority is equal, and even superior, to that of St. Peter. In St. Paul’s account of his first meeting with St. Peter there is very little difficulty (Gal. i. 15-24 compared with Acts ix. 19-30). St. Luke says that immediately after his conversion St. Paul preached Christ in the synagogues at Damascus, and does not mention his retirement into Arabia. But we do not know how long that retirement lasted, and it was certainly devoid of external incident. It was of deep significance in the eyes of the apostle himself. When he says “immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood” (Gal. i. 16), what he means is that he did confer with the Holy Spirit, and did not apply for instruction to the Twelve. He looks back upon that time, as St. Augustine remembered the days that immediately followed his own conversion, as a period of rapid growth and great joy; but he uses it in the Epistle as the proof of his independence. It is natural enough that it should be passed over in Acts; nor is there any stumbling-block in St. Luke’s statement that St. Paul “immediately” preached Christ. The very day after his baptism the apostle may have given “in the synagogues” some explanation of his sudden change; he was a fearless man, and would not shrink from the ordeal of publicly resigning his commission from the high priest. We may suppose that he did this, and then withdrew for a brief space of recollection, before he felt able definitely to advocate his new faith. But, in any case, if the retirement to Arabia lasted but a few weeks, the word “immediately” may very well pass.