Patristic Explanations

On the Apocolypse: Ch. 3

2009-04-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

FROM THE THIRD CHAPTER

The fifth class, company, or association of saints, sets forth men who are careless, and who are carrying on in the world other transactions than those which they ought - Christians only in name. And therefore He exhorts them that by any means they should be turned away from negligence, and be saved; and to this effect He says:-

2. "Be watchful, and strengthen the other things which were ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God." For it is not enough for a tree to live and to have no fruit, even as it is not enough to be called a Christian and to confess Christ, but not to have Himself in our work, that is, not to do His precepts.

The sixth class is the mode of life of the best election. The habit of saints is set forth; of those, to wit, who are lowly in the world, and unskilled in the Scriptures, and who hold the faith immoveably, and are not at all broken down by any chance, or withdrawn from the faith by any fear. Therefore He says to them:-

8. "I have set before thee an open door, because thou hast kept the word of my patience." In such little strength.

10. "And I will keep thee from the hour of temptation." That they may know His glory to be of this kind, that they are not indeed permitted to be given over to temptation.

12. "He that overcometh shall be made a pillar in the temple of God." For even as a pillar is an ornament of the building, so he who perseveres shall obtain a nobility in the Church.

Moreover, the seventh association of the Church declares that they are rich men placed in positions of dignity, but believing that they are rich, among whom indeed the Scriptures are discussed in their bedchamber, while the faithful are outside; and they are understood by none, although they boast themselves, and say that they know all things - endowed with the confidence of learning, but ceasing from its labour. And thus He says:-

15. "That they are neither cold nor hot." That is, neither unbelieving nor believing, for they are all things to all men. And because he who is neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, gives nausea, He says:-

16. "I will vomit thee out of My mouth." Although nausea is hateful, still it hurts no one; so also is it with men of this kind when they have been cast forth. But because there is time of repentance, He says:-

18. "I persuade thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire." That is, that in whatever manner you can, you should suffer for the Lord's name tribula tions and passions.

"And anoint thine eyes with eye-salve." That what you gladly know by the Scripture, you should strive also to do the work of t he same. And because, if in these ways men return out of great destruction to great repentance, they are not only useful to themselves, but they are able also to be of advantage to many, He promised them no small reward - to sit, namely, on the throne of judgment.

On the Apocalypse: Ch. 2

2008-12-31T18:29:00.000-08:00

FROM THE SECOND CHAPTER

2. "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience." In the
first epistle He speaks thus: I know that thou sufferest and workest, I see that thou art patient; think not that I am staying long from thee.

"And that thou canst not bear them that are evil, and who say
that they are Jews and are not, and thou has found them liars, and
thou hast patience for My name's sake."
All these things tend to praise, and that no small praise; and it behoves such men, and such a class, and such elected persons, by all means to be admonished,
that they may not be defrauded of such privileges granted to them of
God. These few things He said that He had against them.

4, 5. "And thou hast left thy first love: remember whence thou hast fallen." He who falls, falls from a height: therefore He said whence: because, even to the very last, works of love must be practised; and this is the principal commandment. Finally, unless this is done, He threatened to remove their candlestick out of its place, that is, to disperse the congregation.

6. "This thou hast also, that thou hatest the deeds of the
Nicolaitanes." But because thou thyself hatedst those who hold the
doctrines of the Nicolaitanes, thou expectest praise. Moreover, to
hate the works of the Nicolaitanes, which He Himself also hated,
this tends to praise. But the works of the Nicolaitanes were in that
time false and troublesome men, who, as ministers under the name of
Nicolaus, had made for themselves a heresy, to the effect that what
had been offered to idols might be exorcised and eaten, and that
whoever should have committed fornication might receive peace on the
eighth day. Therefore He extols those to whom He is writing; and to
these men, being such and so great, He promised the tree of life,
which is in the paradise of His God.

The following epistle unfolds the mode of life and habit of
another order which follows. He proceeds to say:-

9. "I know thy
tribulation and thy poverty, but thou art rich." For He knows that
with such men there are riches hidden with Him, and that they deny
the blasphemy of the Jews, who say that they are Jews and are not;
but they are the synagogue of Satan, since they are gathered
together by Antichrist; and to them He says:-

10. "Be thou faithful unto death." That they should continue to be faithful even unto death.

11. "He that shall overcome, shall not be hurt by the second
death." That is, he shalt not be chastised in hell.

The third order of the saints shows that they are men who are
strong in faith, and who are not afraid of persecution; but because
even among them there are some who are inclined to unlawful
associations, He says:-

14-16. "Thou hast there some who hold the
doctrine of Balaam, who taught in the case of Balak that he should
put a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat and to
commit fornication. So also hast thou them who hold the doctrine of
the Nicolaitanes; but I will fight with them with the sword of my
mouth." That is, I will say what I shall command, and I will tell
you what you shall do. For Balaam, with his doctrine, taught Balak
to cast a stumbling-block before the eyes of the children of Israel,
to eat what was sacrificed to idols, and to
commit fornication - a thing which is known to have happened of
old. For he gave this advice to the king of the Moabites, and they
caused stumbling to the people. Thus, says He, ye have among you
those who hold such doctrine; and under the pretext of mercy, you
would corrupt others.

17. "To him that overcometh I wil
l give the hidden manna, and I
will give him a white stone." The hidden manna is immortality; the
white gem is adoption to be the son of God; the new name wri
tten on
the stone is "Christian."

The fourth class intimates the nobility of the faithful, who
labour daily, and do greater works. But even among them also He
shows that there are men of an easy disposition to grant unlawful
peace, and to listen to new forms of prophesying; and He reproves
and warns the others to whom this is not pleasing, who know the
wickedness opposed to them: for which evils He purposes to bring
upon the head of the faithful both sorrows and dangers; and
therefore He says:-

24. "I will not put upon you any other burden."
That is, I have not given you laws, observances, and duties, which
is another burden.

25, 26. "But that which ye have, hold fast until I come; and he
that overcometh, to him will I give power over all peoples." That
is, him I will appoint as judge among the rest of the saints.

28. "And I will give him the morning star." To wit, the first
resurrection. He promised the morning star, which drives away the
night, and announces the light, that is, the beginning of day.

On John 1:1-14 (Averkey)

2008-12-30T03:40:00.000-08:00

Everlasting birth and the incarnation of the Son of God.

(John 1:1-14).

While the Evangelists Matthew and Luke narrate about the earthly birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, Saint John begins his Gospel by expounding the teachings of His everlasting birth and incarnation as the Only Son of God. The first three Evangelists begin their narrations with the event, which as a consequence the Kingdom of Heaven received its beginning in time and space, while Saint John, akin to an eagle, soars to the eternal basis of this Kingdom, observing the everlasting existence of Him, Who only in “these last days” (Hebrews 1:1) became a human.

The second semblance of the Holy Trinity — Son of God — is named by John as “Word.” At this point, it is important to note and remember that the Greek word “logos,” unlike in the Russian language, doesn’t only mean the spoken word but also thought, reason, wisdom, expressed by word. Consequently, the naming of the Son of God as the “Word” means the same as Him being named “Wisdom” (see Luke 11:49 and Matthew 23:34). Saint Apostle Paul in 1Corinthians 1:24 calls Christ — “Wisdom of God.”

Undoubtedly, the teachings about “God’s wisdom” is expressed in the same sense in the Acts (see especially the wonderful part in Proverbs 8:22-30). After this it is strange to insist, as some people do, that as if Saint John derived his teachings on Logos from the philosopher Plato and his successors, and in part from Philonus. Saint John wrote about events that were known to him from the Holy Books of the Old Testament. And also about that, which as a beloved disciple, he learned from the Divine Teacher Himself, as well as what was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit.

“In the beginning was the Word” means that the Word is co-eternal to God. What’s more, Saint John explains further that in respect of His existence, the Word does not separate from God and consequently, It is One Essence to God and finally, he directly calls the Word God: “and the Word was God.” Here, the word “God” was applied in Greek without any co-member, giving rise to the Arians and Origen to assert that the Word is not the same God as God the Father. However, this is simply a misunderstanding. In reality, this hides a most profound conception of the non-confluxion of the three countenances of the Holy Trinity. The absence of a co-member indicates that the dialogue is about the same subject as that of the preceding lines; that’s why, had the Evangelist similarly applied the co-member “o Theos” (in Greek) and in the phrase “The word was God,” then it would have resulted in an incorrect thought — as though “Word” is the same God the Father as is mentioned earlier. Consequently, in speaking of the Word, the Evangelist names it simply “Theos,” indicating by this His Divine quality, but also at the same, underlining that Word has an independent hypostatic existence and not identical to the hypostasis of God the Father.

As Blessed Theophylact notes that in revealing us the teachings on the Son of God, St.John calls Him Word and not Son, “so that we, having heard of the Son, did not think in terms of passion and carnal birth. He called Him Word, so that you would know that as the word is born from the mind without passion, so is He born from the Father without passion.”

The words “all things were made through Him” doesn’t mean as though the Word was only an instrument in the creation of the world, but that the world originated from the Primal Reason and Primal Source of all existence (including the Word Himself) — God the Father, through the Son, Who He by Himself is already the source of everything that began to exist (that was made), only not for He Himself and not for the other countenances of God.

“In Him was life” — here the meaning of the word life is not to be understood in the ordinary sense, but in a spiritual life, that induces intelligent creatures to strive toward the Cause of their creation, toward God. This spiritual life is obtained through the path of communion and unification with the hypostatic Divine Word. Consequently, Word is the source of genuine spiritual life for any intelligent being.

“And the life was the light of men” — has in mind that this spiritual life that emanates from the Divine Word, enlightens a person with a full and complete guidance.

“And the light shines in the darkness…” The Word that presents light of genuine guidance does not cease to direct them amid sinful darkness, as the light is not absorbed by darkness: those who persist in sin have preferred to remain in the darkness of spiritual blindness. However, “the darkness did not comprehend it” — did not restrict its activity and dissemination.

Then, in order to join the people that abided in sinful darkness with His Divine light, the Word undertook extraordinary measures: John the Baptist was sent and finally, the Word became flesh.

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John” — “there was” as stated in Greek is “egenetos” (“became”) and not “inos” as enunciated about the Word; that is, John “came to being,” born in a point of time and did not exist eternally like the Word, Who Himself “gives light to every man coming into the world.”

The world did not recognise the Word, even though it was obliged for its existence. “He came to His own,” ie. to His chosen people of Israel, “and His own did not receive Him.” — of course not everybody.

“But as many as received Him” with love and faith, “He gave the right to become children of God,” that is He gifted them a beginning of a new spiritual life, which, like a physical one, also begins through birth — although the birth is not from carnal passion but through a higher power, from God.

“And the Word became flesh.” Here, the understanding of the word “flesh” does not mean the human body alone, but the whole, complete person — in the same meaning as the word “flesh” is often applied in the Holy Gospels (eg. Mat. 24:22). That is, the Word became a complete person, at the same time not ceasing to be God. “And dwelt among us….full of grace and truth.” It must be understood that grace means God’s goodness, as are the gifts of goodness from God, reveal the access toward a new spiritual life for humanity ie. gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Word that dwells among us, was also filled with the Truth — complete guidance in everything that concerns the spiritual word and spiritual life.

“And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” The Apostles actually saw His glory in Transfiguration, Resurrection and Ascension to Heaven; glory in His Teachings, miracles, works of love and voluntary self-abasement. He is — the “only Son of the Father,” for only He alone is the Son of God in essence, by His Divine nature. These words point to His immense superiority over God’s sons and children through grace, the faithful that are mentioned above.

(From "The Explanations of the Four Gospels" by Archbishop Averkey)

On the Apocalypse: Ch. 1

2008-12-29T21:47:00.000-08:00

By St. Victorinus

An ecclesiastical writer who flourished about 270, and who suffered martyrdom probably in 303, under Diocletian.

He was bishop of the City of Pettau (Petabium, Poetovio), on the Drave, in Styria (Austria); hence his surname of Petravionensis or sometimes Pictaviensis, e.g. in the Roman Martyrology, where he is registered under 2 November, which long caused it to be thought that he belonged to the Diocese of Poitiers (France). Until the seventeenth century he was likewise confounded with the Latin rhetorician, Victorinus After. According to St. Jerome, who gives him an honourable place in his catalogue of ecclesiastical writers, Victorinus composed commentaries on various books of Holy Scripture, such as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Isaias, Ezechiel, Habacuc, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, St. Matthew, and the Apocalypse, besides treatises against the heresies of his time.

FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER

1. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, and showed unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass, and signified it. Blessed are they who read and hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the things which are written." The beginning of the book promises blessing to him that reads and hears and keeps, that he who takes pains about the reading may thence learn to do works, and may keep the precepts.

4. "Grace unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come." He is, because He endures continually; He was, because with the Father He made all things, and has at this time taken a beginning from the Virgin; He is to come, because assuredly He will come to judgment.

"And from the seven spirits which are before His throne." We read of a sevenfold spirit in Isaiah - namely, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, of knowledge and of piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

5. "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the
first-begotten of the dead." In taking upon Him manhood, He gave a
testimony in the world, wherein also having suffered, He freed us by
His blood from sin; and having vanquished hell, He was the first who
rose from the dead and "death shall have no more dominion over Him,"
but by His own reign the kingdom of the world is destroyed.

6. "And He made us a kingdom and priests unto God and His
Father." That is to say, a Church of all believers; as also the
Apostle Peter says: "A holy nation, a royal priesthood."

7. "Behold, He shall come with clouds, and every eye shall see
Him." For He who at first came hidden in the manhood that He had
undertaken, shall after a little while come to judgment manifest in
majesty and glory. And what saith He?

12. "And I turned, and saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the
midst of the seven golden candlesticks one like unto the Son of
man." He says that He was like Him after His victory over death,
when He had ascended into the heavens, after the union in His body
of the power which He received from the Father with the spirit of
His glory.

13. "As it were the Son of man walking in the midst of the golden
candlesticks." He says, in the midst of the churches, as it is said
in Solomon, "I will walk in the midst of the paths of the just,"
whose antiquity is immortality, and the fountain of majesty.

"Clothed with a garment down to the ankles." In the long, that
is, the priestly garment, these words very plainly deliver the flesh which was not corrupted in death, and has the priesthood through suffering.

"And He was girt about the paps with a golden girdle." His paps
are the two testaments, and the golden g
irdle is the choir of
saints, as gold tried in the fire. Otherwise the golden girdle bound
around His breast indicates the enlightened conscience, and the pure
and spiritual apprehension that is given to the churches.

14. "And His head and His hairs were white as it were white wool,
and as it were snow." On the head the whiteness is shown; "but the
head of Christ is God." in the white hairs is the multitude of
abbots like to wool, in respect of simple sheep; to snow, in respect
of the innumerable crowd of candidates taught from heaven.

"His eyes were as a flame of fire." God's preceipts are those
which minister light to believers, but to unbelievers burning.

16. "And in His face was brightness as the sun." That which He
called brightness was
the appearance of that in which He spoke to men face to face. But
the glory of the sun is less than the glory of the Lord. Doubtless
on account of its rising and setting, and rising again, that He was
born and suffered and rose again, therefore the Scripture gave this
similitude, likening His face to the glory of the sun.

15. "His feet were like unto yellow brass, as if burned in a
furnace." He calls the apostles His feet, who, being wrought by
suffering, preached His word in the whole world; for He rightly
named those by whose means the preaching went forth, feet. Whence
also the prophet anticipated this, and said: "We will worship in the
place where His feet have stood." Because where they first of all
stood and confirmed the Church, that is, in Judea, all the saints
shall assemble together, and will worship their Lord.

16. "And out of His mouth was issuing a sharp two-edged sword."
By the twice-sharpened sword going forth out of His mouth is shown,
that it is He Himself who has both now declared the word of the
Gospel, and previously by Moses declared the knowledge of the law to
the whole world. But because from the same word, as well of the New
as of the Old Testament, He will assert Himself upon the whole human
race, therefore He is spoken of as two-edged. For the sword arms the
soldier, the sword slays the enemy, the sword punishes the deserter.
And that He might show to the apostles that He was announcing
judgment, He says: "I came not to send peace, but a sword." And
after He had completed His parables, He says to them: "Have ye
understood all these things? And they said, We have. And He added,
Therefore is every scribe instructed in the kingdom of God like unto
a man that is a father of a family, bringing forth from his treasure
things new and old," - the new, the evangelical words of the
apostles; the old, the precepts of the law and the prophets: and He
testified that these proceeded out of His mouth. Moreover, He also
says to Peter: "Go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the
fish that shall first come up; and having opened its mouth, thou
shalt find a stater (that is, two denarii), and thou shalt give it
for me and for thee." And similarly David says by the Spirit: "God
spake once, twice I have heard the same." Because God once decreed
from the beginning what shall be even to the end. Finally, as He
Himself is the Judge appointed by the Father. on account of His
assumption of humanity, wishing to show that men shall be judged by
the word that He had declared, He says: "Think ye that I will judge
you at the last day? Nay, but the word," says He, "which I have
spoken unto you, that shall judge you in the last day." And Paul,
speaking of Antichrist to the Thessalonians, says: "Whom the Lord
Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth." And Isaiah says: "By
the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked
." This, therefore,
is the two-edged sword issuing out of His mouth.

15. "And His voice as it were the voice of many waters."
The many waters are und
erstood to be many peoples, or the gift of
baptism that He sent forth by the apostles, saying: "Go ye, teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

16. "And He had in His right hand seven stars." He said that in
His right hand He had seven stars, because the Holy Spirit of
sevenfold agency was given into His power by the Father. As Peter
exclaimed to the Jews: "Being at the right hand of God exalted, He
hath shed forth this Spirit received from the Father, which ye both
see and hear." Moreover, John the Baptist had also anticipated this,
by saying to his disciples: "For God giveth not the Spirit by
measure unto Him. The Father," says he, "loveth the Son, and hath
given all things into His hands." Those seven stars are the seven
churches, which he names in his addresses by name, old calls them to
whom he wrote epistles. Not that they are themselves the only, or
even the principal churches; but what he says to one, he says to
all. For they are in no respect difent, that on that ground any one
should prefer them to the larger number of similar small ones.

In the whole world Paul taught that all the churches are arranged
by sevens, that they are called seven, and that the Catholic Church
is one. And first of all, indeed, that he himself also might
maintain the type of seven churches, he did not exceed that number.
But he wrote to the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to
the Ephesians, to the Thessalonians, to the Philippians, to the
Colossians; afterwards he wrote to individual persons, so as not to
exceed the number of seven churches. And abridging in a short space
his announcement, he thus says to Timothy: "That thou mayest know
how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the Church of the living
God." We read also that this typical number is announced by the Holy
Spirit by the month of Isaiah: "Of seven women which took hold of
one man." The one man is
Christ, not born of seed; but the seven women are seven churches,
receiving His bread, and clothed with his apparel, who ask that
their reproach should be taken away, only that His name should be
called upon them. The bread is the Holy Spirit, which nourishes to
eternal life, promised to them, that is, by faith. And His garments
wherewith they desire to be clothed are the glory of immortality, of
which Paul the apostle says: "For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on mortality." Moreover, they
ask that their reproach may be taken away - that is, that they may be
cleansed from their sins: for the reproach is the original sin which
is taken away in baptism, and they begin to be called Christian men,
which is, "Let thy name be called upon us." Therefore in these seven
churches, of one Catholic Church are believers, because it is one in
seven by the quality of faith and election. Whether writing to them
who labour in the world, and live of the frugality of their labours,
and are patient, and when they see certain men in the Church
wasters, and pernicious, they hear them, lest there should become
dissension, he yet admonishes them by love, that in what respects
their faith is deficient they should repent; or to those who dwell
in cruel places among persecutors, that they should continue
faithful; or to those who, under the pretext of mercy, do unlawful
sins in the Church, and make them manifest to be done by others; or
to those that are at ease in the Church; or to those who are
negligent, and Christians only in name; or to those who are meekly
instructed, that they may bravely persevere in faith; or to those
who study the Scriptures, and labour to know the mysteries of th
eir
announcement, and are unwilling to do God's work that is mercy and
love: to all he urges penitence, to all he declares judgment.

On John 1:31-34 (Theophylact)

2008-12-29T03:51:00.000-08:00

ON THE "CHILD MIRACLES" OF CHRIST

1:31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
1:33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
1:34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

Blessed Theophylact has this to say regarding the above verses:

The angel said to the Virgin, Behold thy kinswoman Elizabeth hath conceived [Luke 1:36]. This This shows that the Forerunner was a kinsman of the Lord. To dispel the notion that he was partial to the Lord because they were related, the Forerunner stresses, And I knew Him not. Then he continues, But He that should be manifest to Israel therefore am I come baptizing. "I baptize," he continues, "in order to guide all to faith in Him, and to reveal Him to the people. When I baptize, all run to me. They assemble, and Christ is revealed to them as I proclaim him.I point out to them the one who is present in their midst." Had the people not gathered around John for baptism, how would he have shown the Lord to them. Would he have gone from house to house leading Christ by the hand and showing Him to each person? "I am baptizing in water to reveal Christ to those who wish to be cleansed," exclaims John. This passage also teaches us that the so-called "child-miracles" of Christ are false, the invention of those who mocked the mystery of Christ's earthly life. If they were true, how could the Lord have remained unknown before His baptism? His name would have been on everyone's lips if He had really worked these miracles.

But He that sent me to baptize..., the same said unto me, Unto Whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, ... the same is He that baptizeth in the Holy Spirit. John renders unimpeachable his testimony back to its source - God the Father. "I knew Him not, but the Father revealed Christ to me at His baptism," the Forerunner assures us. Someone might ask, "If John did not know him, how is it that Matthew says, But John forbade Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of Thee [Matthew 3:14]?" We may answer thus: understand the words I knew Him not to mean that John did not know Him during the years before His baptism. But at Christ's baptism, John learned who He was. By a different [yet Orthodox] interpretation of this passage, John knew all along that Jesus was the Christ, but did not learn that Jesus was He Who baptizeth in the Holy Spirit until he saw the Holy Spirit descending upon Him. When he says I knew Him not, he means that he did know this was He who baptizeth in the Holy Spirit, but he did know that Jesus was above all other men. This is why, as Matthew says, he forbade Him, knowing that Christ was greater than he. Later when the Spirit descended, he understood more clearly and proclaimed Christ to the others. The Spirit was seen by those present and not only by John. Why did they not believe? Because, being void of understanding, their hearts were darkened. Even when they saw Christ working miracles, they did not believe. Some say that only those that were God-fearing saw the Spirit descending. Even though the Spirit descended in bodily form, it is likely that this was seen only by those who were worthy. The prophets, such as Daniel and Ezekiel, saw many things in a form perceivable by the senses, but not seen by others. And I saw, and bare witness, that this is the Son of God. When did John bear witness that this is the Son of God? It is not mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. In another place John calls Jesus the Lamb of God, but nowhere does it state that John calls Jesus "the Son of God." From this we understand that much else has been omitted as well; not everything was written down.16

16 The Evangelist says in another place, And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. [John 21:25].

(From The Explanations of the Gospel of John" by Blessed Theophylact of Ochrid)