ACC ~ 1 Peter 2 v12a

GOOD CONDUCT. HILARY OF ARLES: As the head of the church Peter lays down rules for everyday behavior, and by doing so he unites all the members of the church in one overall harmony. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER.

CONVERSION OF THE PAGANS. BEDE: It often happens that pagans who once reviled the faith of Christians, because they had abandoned their gods, stop doing so after they see what a holy and pure life they lead in Christ. They begin instead to glorify and praise God, who is shown by acts of goodness and righteousness to be good and righteous himself. ON 1 PETER.

THE MARTYRDOM OF SANCTUS AND BLANDINA. OECUMENIUS: Peter presents the pagans as people who disparage us. Anyone who doubts the truth of this should read what Irenaeus wrote about the martyrs Sanctus and Blandina. Stated briefly, when the Gentiles discovered servants of these Christians, who were learned in the sacred mysteries, they tortured them in order to find out some secret evil about them. But since the servants had nothing to say which would please them, beyond the fact that they had heard their masters talk about the holy communion as the body and blood of Christ, which they took to mean real flesh and blood, they gave that answer to the inquisitors. The Gentiles seized on that apparent cannibalism as if it were something practiced by Christians and tortured Sanctus and Blandina as a result. Blandina replied to them freely and intelligently as follows: “How can people who do not touch meat because of their devotion to the study and contemplation of God do such things?” The day of visitation is the day on which worldly people like those Gentiles will be judged. For when our lives are laid bare, it will become apparent that the truth is the very opposite of what they suspected, and not only will they be ashamed, they will also be punished, and God will be glorified. COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER.

1 Pet