Fathers

1 Peter 1

Tap a verse to read the Fathers. Press and hold, then drag, to make a card.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved in various trials, that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ— whom, not having known, you love. In him, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently. They prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them. To them it was revealed, that they served not to themselves, but to you, in these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into. Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ— as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.” If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear, knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ, who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever. For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls; but the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.

About · Privacy · Credits · Support VRSZ

What the Fathers say

1 Peter 1:3

Eastern Fathers

Theophylact of Ohrid

He blesses God, thanking Him for all the good things that He bestows. What does He bestow? Hope — not the kind that was through Moses, concerning settlement in the land of Canaan, which was mortal, but a living hope. From where does it have life? From the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. For as He Himself rose, so also to those who come to Him through faith in Him He gives the power to rise as well. …

Commentary on 1 Peter ↗

Oecumenius

Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Peter blesses God, referring this act of thanksgiving for the good things He grants. But what are those things that are given? Hope, not like the promised dwelling in the land of Canaan through Moses, which hope, being corruptible, promises corruptible things: but a living hope. And from where has it received life? …

Commentary on 1 Peter ↗

Clement of Alexandria

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by His great mercy has regenerated us." For if God generated us of matter, He afterwards, by progress in life, regenerated us. "The Father of our Lord, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" who, according to your faith, rises again in us; as, on the other hand, He dies in us, through the operation of our unbelief. …

From the Latin Translation of Cassiodorus ↗

Western Saints

Bede

Who according to His great mercy has reborn us, etc. Rightly is God blessed by us, who, when we had been begotten by our merits unto death, through His mercy reborn us unto life. And this through the resurrection of His Son, when He so loved our life that He arranged for Him to die on its behalf; and by that same death destroyed through the resurrection, showed us the hope and example of rising again. For He died, so that we would not fear death. He rose from the dead, so that we might hope through Him to be resurrected.

Commentary on the Catholic Epistles ↗

Bonaventure

From Christ is the fruit of grace. This fruit of grace is fourfold: it consists in steadying the soul through faith, blessing it through divine love, lifting it up through hope, curbing it through divine fear. And in the First Epistle of Peter: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy hath regenerated us unto a lively hope."

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18 ↗