ST. PETER IN THE GOSPELS.

THE PASSAGES OF SACRED SCRIPTURE, COMMENTED ON, OR USED AS ILLUSTRATIONS, WITH REGARD TO ST. PETER'S PLACE AND PREROGATIVES.

As this Treatise is solely a Commentary by the Fathers, on those portions of Holy Writ which point out St. Peter's place in the New Testament, those texts, and those only, are here adduced, for facility of reference, which are found either expressly commented on by them, or an acquaintance with which is presupposed by the general deductions at which those fathers arrived. The remarks also made here are, as a whole, only such as will be found scattered in the various extracts from their writings, which make the present work.

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I.-St. Peter's call, and promised name.*

*It will be found that four instances especially are noticed by the Fathers, as illustrating the change of Simon's name to that of Peter; viz. those of Abraham, Sara, Jacob (Israel), and Joshua. On account of its special significance, and the many points of resemblance between Peter and Abraham, it may be useful to give the account of the change of name from Abram to Abraham.

Genes. xii. 1.-" And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father's house, and come into the land which I will show thee.

2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. 3. I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that

St. John i. 35.-"The next day again John stood, and two of his disciples.

36. And beholding Jesus walking, he saith: Behold the Lamb of God.

37. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they fullowed Jesus.

38. And Jesus turning, and seeing them following Him, saith to them: What seek you? Who said to Him: Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted,) Master, where dwellest Thou?

39. He saith to them: Come and see. They came, and saw where He abode, and they stayed with Him that day now it was about the tenth hour.

curse thee; and in thee shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

4. So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him." Genes. xvii. 1.-"And after he began to be ninety and

nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, and said unto him I am the Almighty God; walk before Me and be perfect.

2. And I will make My covenant between Me and thee; and I will multiply thee exceedingly.

3. Abram fell flat on his face.

4. And God said to him: I am, and My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

5. Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram; but thou shalt be called Abraham; because I have made thee a father of many nations.

6. And I will make thee increase exceedingly; and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 7. And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee, and between thy seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant; to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee."

St. Paul says on this (Gal. iii. 14, 16): "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus. To Abraham were the promises made, and to his seed. He saith not, And to his seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."

See this parallelism ably developed by Allies, in his "St. Peter; his Name and his Office," pp. 16-24.

40. And Andrew the brother of Simon Peter was one of the two who had heard of John, and followed Him. 41. He findeth first his brother Simon, and saith to him: We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

42. And he brought him to Jesus. And Jesus looking upon him, said: Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter." The Protestant version has, "Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A Stone."

II. The name, when given.

St. Mark iii. 13.-" And going up into a mountain, He called unto Him whom He would Himself: and they came to Him.

14. And He made that twelve should be with Him, and that He might send them to preach.

15. And He gave them power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.

16. And to Simon He gave the name Peter.*

* The name Cephas, rock, or stone, is considered by some of the Fathers as symbolical of firmness and stability; but others, as will be seen, notice that it means more than this, and regard it as a communication to Peter of one of the names of Christ, with all the consequences that flow from a participation in that title.

A few passages will suffice to show the grounds of the first of these opinions.

II. Kings xxii. 2.-" The Lord is my rock, and my strength, and my Saviour."

Ps. xxvi. 5.-"For He hath hidden me in His tabernacle;

in the day of evils He hath protected me in the secret places of His tabernacle.

6. He hath exalted me upon a rock; and now He hath lifted up my head above my enemies." Ps. xxxix. 3.-" And He heard my prayers, and brought

me out of the pit of misery, and the mire of dregs. And He set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps." Ps. lx. 3.-"To Thee have I cried from the ends of the earth; when my heart was in anguish, Thou hast exalted me on a rock.'

Matthew vii. 24.-"Every one therefore that heareth

III.-The Catalogues or Lists of the Apostles.

St. Matthew x. 1.—" And having called His twelve disciples together, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities.

these My words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man, that built his house upon a rock.

25. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock."

That the name Cephas is a prophetic title, and one of the names of Christ, both in the Old and New Testament.

Is. xxviii. 16.-" Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will lay a stone in the foundations of Sion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation. He that believeth, let him not basten." Ps. cxvii. 22.-"The stone which the builders rejected; the same is become the head of the corner.

23. This is the Lord's doing; and it is wonderful in our eyes."

Daniel ii. 34.-"A stone was cut out of a mountain with

out hands; and it struck the statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.

35. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth."

Zach. iii. 9.-"Behold the stone that I have laid before Jesus; upon one stone there are seven eyes; behold I will grave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of Hosts; and I will take away the iniquity of that land in one day."

Rom. ix. 32.-"For they stumbled at the stumbling

stone.

83. As it is written: Behold I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and a rock of scandal; and whosoever believeth in Him shall not be confounded." (Is. viii. 14.)

I. Cor. x. 4.-"And all drank the same spiritual drink; and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ."

Ephes. ii. 20.-"Built upon the foundation of the apostles

2. And the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first* Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother. 3. James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus.

4. Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

Mark iii. 14.-" And He made that twelve should be with Him, and that He might send them to preach.

15. And He gave them power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.

16. And to Simon He gave the name Peter.

17. And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and He named them Boanerges, which is, the sons of thunder.

18. And Andrew and Philip, and Bartholomew and Matthew, and Thomas and James of Alpheus, and Thaddeus and Simon the Cananean.

19. And Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him."

St. Luke vi. 13.-" And when day was come, He called unto Him His disciples: and He chose twelve of them (whom also He named Apostles).

14. Simon, whom He surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew. 15. Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon who is called Zelotes.

16. And Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who was the traitor."

Acts i. 12.-" Then they returned to Jerusalem, from the mount that is called Olivet, which is nigh to Jerusalem, within a Sabbath day's journey. And when they were come, they went up into an upper room, where abode

and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief

corner stone:

21. In whom all the building, being framed together groweth up into a holy temple in the Lord."

* IIρwтos Σíμwv. ""The first,' not 'first,' for pτos, being Πρῶτος Σίμων. an ordinal, is not the less definite by being anarthrous. Middleton's Greek article in loco."-Wilberforce, Principles of Church Authority, p. 108, note 4.