[The posts which follow make extensive use of The Acts of the Apostles, by Madame Cecilia, (Religious of St Andrew's Convent, Streatham), with an Imprimi potest dated 16 October 1907 (Westminster); Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd. (London). With grateful prayers for the author and her team:
REQUIEM æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.ETERNAL rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.]
Acts XI : 1-18
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| Ego quis eram, qui possem prohibere Deum? Who was I, that could withstand God? Acts xi 17 (in highlighted scroll). From the Baptismal font (1107-1118) at St Bartholomew's Church, Liège Image by courtesy of: Jean-Pol Grandmont (2006). CC BY-SA 2.5 |
[2] And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
[3] Saying: Why didst thou go in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them?
[4] But Peter began and declared to them the matter in order, saying:
[5] I was in the city of Joppe praying, and I saw in an ecstasy of mind a vision, a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners, and it came even unto me.
[6] Into which looking, I considered, and saw fourfooted creatures of the earth, and beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air:
[7] And I heard also a voice saying to me: Arise, Peter; kill and eat.
[8] And I said: Not so, Lord; for nothing common or unclean hath ever entered into my mouth.
[9] And the voice answered again from heaven: What God hath made clean, do not thou call common.
[10] And this was done three times: and all were taken up again into heaven.
[11] And behold, immediately there were three men come to the house wherein I was, sent to me from Caesarea.
[12] And the Spirit said to me, that I should go with them, nothing doubting. And these six brethren went with me also: and we entered into the man's house.
[13] And he told us how he had seen an angel in his house, standing, and saying to him: Send to Joppe, and call hither Simon, who is surnamed Peter,
[14] Who shall speak to thee words, whereby thou shalt be saved, and all thy house.
[15] And when I had begun to speak, the Holy Ghost fell upon them, as upon us also in the beginning.
[16] And I remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said: John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
[17] If then God gave them the same grace, as to us also who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; who was I, that could withstand God?
[18] Having heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying: God then hath also to the Gentiles given repentance unto life.
[1] Audierunt autem Apostoli, et fratres, qui erant in Judaea, quoniam et gentes receperunt verbum Dei. [2] Cum autem ascendisset Petrus Jerosolymam, disceptabant adversus illum qui erant ex circumcisione, [3] dicentes : Quare introisti ad viros praeputium habentes, et manducasti cum illis? [4] Incipiens autem Petrus exponebat illis ordinem, dicens : [5] Ego eram in civitate Joppe orans, et vidi in excessu mentis visionem, descendens vas quoddam velut linteum magnum quatuor initiis summitti de caelo, et venit usque ad me.
[6] In quod intuens considerabam, et vidi quadrupedia terrae, et bestias, et reptilia, et volatilia caeli. [7] Audivi autem et vocem dicentem mihi : Surge Petre, occide, et manduca. [8] Dixi autem : Nequaquam Domine : quia commune aut immundum numquam introivit in os meum. [9] Respondit autem vox secundo de caelo : Quae Deus mundavit, tu ne commune dixeris. [10] Hoc autem factum est per ter : et recepta sunt omnia rursum in caelum.
[11] Et ecce viri tres confestim astiterunt in domo in qua eram, missi a Caesarea ad me. [12] Dixit autem Spiritus mihi ut irem cum illis, nihil haesitans. Venerunt autem mecum et sex fratres isti, et ingressi sumus in domum viri. [13] Narravit autem nobis, quomodo vidisset angelum in domo sua, stantem et dicentem sibi : Mitte in Joppen, et accersi Simonem, qui cognominatur Petrus, [14] qui loquetur tibi verba in quibus salvus eris tu, et universa domus tua. [15] Cum autem coepissem loqui, cecidit Spiritus Sanctus super eos, sicut et in nos in initio.
[16] Recordatus sum autem verbi Domini, sicut dicebat : Joannes quidem baptizavit aqua, vos autem baptizabimini Spiritu Sancto. [17] Si ergo eamdem gratiam dedit illis Deus, sicut et nobis, qui credidimus in Dominum Jesum Christum : ego quis eram, qui possem prohibere Deum? [18] His auditis, tacuerunt : et glorificaverunt Deum, dicentes : Ergo et gentibus poenitentiam dedit Deus ad vitam.
Notes
Note. — In this passage we have a repetition which brings out the importance of the subject. There are two accounts of St Peter’s vision given (ch. x. 9-16 and xi. 4-10), and three accounts of Cornelius’ vision (ch. X. 1-6, 30-33, xi. 13-14), for the same reason that we have three accounts of St Paul’s conversion. There are a few extra details given in the second account of St Peter’s vision, and these are just those which describe his personal experience, whereas there are various omissions of circumstances which had no special bearing from the point of view of the narrator and his audience.
The additional features are enumerated below : —
It came even unto me (verse 5).I considered and saw (6).All, i.e. all things (), were taken up (10).These six brethren (12),Whereby thou shall be saved and all thy house (14).When I had begun to speak (5).
Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed, etc. (16).
1. the apostles. They had not yet left Jerusalem as a body, though some may have been absent.
in Judea. Better, “scattered throughout Judea” (κατα την Ἰοδαιον).
2. when Peter was come. As St Peter was “ visiting all ” the churches (ix. 32), it is probable that he not only remained a few days with Cornelius, but that he continued his visitation of the churches and then returned to Jerusalem. Thus the brethren in Jerusalem had had time to hear the report of the conversion and baptism of the Gentiles in Cesarea, and doubtless, during his stay there, St Peter received others beside those of the house of Cornelius, for the vision was not given merely for the sake of this centurion.
they that were of the circumcision. Those who held that all Gentile converts must be circumcised. So far, none but Jews had been received into the Church ; now two distinct parties sprang up — the Jewish converts and the Gentile converts.
St Paul was often in conflict with the judaizing Christians, and the existence of such opposition on the part of the Jews shews that the results of early training and customs cannot be instantly renounced, and that, even when the contrary principle is accepted, prejudice still remains. The reception of the Gentiles was an innovation which took the Jewish converts by surprise, for they had not, like St Peter, been exceptionally enlightened on this subject.
In speaking of these brethren as those “ of the circumcision,” St Luke is using a term which was used some years later in distinguishing the Judaizing Christians who gave much trouble to the Church. They were known later as the Ebionites.
contended. It is natural that the Jewish converts should have been divided in their opinions, for the Hellenists, an influential body, held broader views than the Hebrews, whereas the Pharisees and the great multitude also of the priests who obeyed the faith would naturally cling more tenaciously to the traditions of the Ancients.
3. to men uncircumcised. The expression expresses even more contempt than the word Gentiles.”
didst eat. Consequently, the brethren regarded St Peter as legally “ impure,” since in the house of a Gentile he must have partaken of food that was not prepared according to the traditions of the Pharisees ; and further, the Gentiles did not observe the Mosaic precepts as regards the mode of killing animals for food. St Peter is not reproached for preaching the Gospel, since this did not run counter to their customs, and they had made no objection when the Samaritans were baptized.
4. Peter began and declared to them the matter. A simple statement of all that had occurred and of the supernatural intervention would necessarily carry conviction to the hearers and justify his own actions.
St Peter sympathizes with them in their difficulty in grasping that a new order of things was to be inaugurated, since he himself had previously shared their sentiments.
“ By the manner of his defence, he shews that in no one point was he the author, but in every point, God, and upon Him he casts the whole. ‘ The trance,’ he says, ‘it was He that caused me to fall into it, for I was in Joppe (etc.): the vessel, it was He that shewed it; I objected: again He spake, and even then I did not hear: the Spirit commanded me to go, and even then though I went I did not run : I told them that God had sent me, and after these things, even then I did not baptize, but again God did the whole. God baptized them, not I ’ ” (St John Chrys., Hom., xxiv.),
12. these six brethren, etc. St Peter had brought them with him, that they might testify to what they had seen.
13. he had seen an angel in his house. Hence the brethren might infer that if the angel deigned to enter the house of a Gentile, St Peter could not be wrong in so doing.
14. all thy house. We may therefore conclude that all the household received baptism — the family of Cornelius, and his devout servants, and the soldier who feared the Lord.
15. when I had begun to speak. These words shew clearly that St Peter intended to give a much longer discourse.
as upon us also in the beginning. The Gentile Pentecost was the same in its nature and effects as the Jewish Pentecost, to which the Church looked back as the beginning, i.e. the day of her foundation.
Eight or ten years had elapsed since that day. During this time Christianity had been limited to the Jews, and the community of the believers had been drawn from the Hebrew synagogue. A second Pentecost at Cesarea seemed necessary to supplement the first Pentecost at Jerusalem.
16. And I remembered the word, etc. St Peter here gives us an insight into his inner experience, and reveals the motive which determined him to action. Jesus had given a solemn promise to His disciples, which St John alone records : But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you (St John xiv. 26). This promise He now fulfils, and St Peter recalls the words which our Lord had said in the presence of His apostles on Ascension Day (see ch. i. 5). This baptism of the Holy Spirit was no longer confined to the Jews, out was granted likewise to the Gentiles, and in their case, contrary to the usual order, baptism was given afterwards — the symbol after the reality or thing signified.
17. who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. These words must be joined both with ‘‘them” and “us.” Hence the sense of this pregnant construction in the Greek runs thus : “ The same grace was given to them who believed in the Lord Jesus as to us who believed in the Lord Jesus.”
who was I, that could withstand God? In the original we have a double question which may be rendered, Who was I ? (Was I) powerful to withstand God ? (ἐγω τις ἠμην δυνατος κωλυσαι τον θεον)
18. they held their peace. They were now convinced that all had been divinely ordained. “ Not only had the first step in the free admission of the Gentiles been taken by the chief of the apostles, and under direct guidance from above, but it had received the formal approval of the apostles and other members of the Church of the Circumcision at Jerusalem. The judaizers, in opposing St Paul, were acting against the Church from which they pretended to derive their authority ” (Ellicott, Comm. in h. 1.).
glorified God. Better, “ began to glorify” (ἐδοξαζον).
repentance unto life. God had granted that repentance to which the remission of sins is promised, and consequently it procured eternal life for the recipients.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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