ACC ~ Acts 10 v1 - 8

OVERVIEW:

In the following selections from the early Christian authors on the first verses (Acts 10:1-8) of this episode, we see a notable division between the concerns of eastern (CHRYSOSTOM) and western authors (AUGUSTINE, BEDE) over the role of Cornelius’s good deeds and piety, and yet there prevails a similar use of the character of Cornelius as an exemplum for either the audience’s beliefs (AUGUSTINE) or their behavior (CHRYSOSTOM). Chrysostom engages in a detailed laudatory construction of Cornelius’s moral character in order to motivate his audience to better behavior and dispositions in very specific matters that concern primarily those in positions of power. Augustine and Bede are concerned to foster a humble disposition that the apparent Pelagianism in God’s blessing of Cornelius’s actions could undermine, and so the specificity, which begets a multitude of different perspectives in Chrysostom, narrows to a radical concern over the question of merit in Latin authors. Three other eastern authors (BASIL, AMMONIUS, ORIGEN) illustrate different uses of Cornelius’s vision. Basil makes a distinction that Chrysostom at times misses, that between inchoate and perfect faith, and yet like Chrysostom he is concerned to acknowledge God’s love of a sincere heart earnestly desirous of the truth. It is the difficulty in achieving this purity of intention that breeds heresy (AMMONIUS). While there is evident in all these authors a concern to give a description of how God not only has worked but also continues to work—a conviction that through the story of Cornelius, or of all Scripture, one can glean principles applicable to today—two selections from Bede (Acts 10:3, 7) do not look at this particular historical event to gain a universal understanding of God’s actions in history but see therein evocations of other particular historical events or a prophetic hint of the future structure of the church (BEDE).

Among modern exegetes, the conversion of Cornelius and the justification of this event by Peter (see Acts 11:1-18) are the turning point in Luke’s account of the spread of the gospel beyond the Jewish people. Modern exegesis emphasizes how Luke portrays the event as one under heavenly guidance, not initiated by people. There is, however, a typically western concern among some (e.g., Barrett, 503) that a works theology lingers beneath (something that is somewhat evident in Chrysostom’s interpretations), while others (e.g., Fitzmyer, 448) insist that there is no evidence in the episode itself that Cornelius has “merited” this from God.

10:1 | A Man Named Cornelius

NOT BECAUSE OF HIGH RANK. CHRYSOSTOM: This man is not a Jew, nor of those under the law, but he had already anticipated our manner of life. Observe, thus far, two persons, both of high rank, receiving the faith, the eunuch at Gaza and this man; and the pains taken on behalf of these men. But do not imagine that this was because of their high rank: God forbid! It was because of their piety. The Scripture mentions their dignified stations to show the greatness of their piety, since it is more wonderful when a person in a position of wealth and power is such as these were. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 22.

10:2 | A Devout Man

ALL GLORY TO GOD. AUGUSTINE: For it is often said, “He deserved to believe, because he was a good man even before he believed.” This may be said of Cornelius since his alms were accepted and his prayers heard before he had believed on Christ; and yet without some faith he neither gave alms nor prayed. For how did he call on him on whom he had not believed? But if he could have been saved without the faith of Christ, the apostle Peter would not have been sent as an architect to build him up. For, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it.” And we are told, faith is of ourselves; other things that pertain to works of righteousness are of the Lord; as if faith did not belong to the building—as if, I say, the foundation did not belong to the building. But if the foundation primarily and especially belongs to the building, he labors in vain who seeks to build up the faith by preaching, unless the Lord in his mercy builds it up from within. Whatever, therefore, of good works Cornelius performed, whether before he believed in Christ or when he believed or after he had believed, all to be ascribed to God. Otherwise, it might be assumed that human initiative is being lifted up. PREDESTINATION OF THE SAINTS 1.7.12.

HE DID NOT NEGLECT HIS OWN HOUSE. CHRYSOSTOM: But here again is a high commendation of alms, just as was there given by means of Tabitha. “A devout man,” it says, “and one that feared God with all his house.” Let us hear this, lest we neglect those of our own house. This man was also concerned for his soldiers. “And who gave alms,” it says, “to all the people.” Both his doctrines and his life were right. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 22.

VIRTUES RECEIVED BY FAITH. BEDE: “One does not attain faith by virtues, but rather one attains virtues by faith,” as the blessed Pope Gregory explains. Cornelius, he says, “whose almsdeeds before his baptism were praised by an angelic witness, did not come to faith by works but came to works by faith. For if he had not believed in the true God even before his baptism, to whom was he praying? Or how had almighty God heard this man, if it was not that he had been asking to be perfected in the good by this very God? Therefore he knew God as the creator of all things, but he did not know that the all-powerful Son had become flesh. He had faith, this man whose prayers and alms were able to please [God], and by his good deeds he earned the right to know God perfectly and to believe in the mystery of the incarnation of his only begotten, so that he might approach the sacrament of baptism. Therefore, through faith he came to works, yet through works he was strengthened in faith.” COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 10.1.

10:3 | An Angel of God

A MESSAGE CONCERNING BAPTISM. BEDE: It is fitting that it was at the ninth hour that [Cornelius] received the divine message concerning the baptism he was to ask for, since he was to be baptized in the death of the one who sent forth his spirit at the ninth hour. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 10.3.

10:4 | Prayers and Alms

THE VIRTUE OF ALMS. CHRYSOSTOM: See how great the virtue of alms, both in the former discourse and here! There, it delivered from temporal death; here, from eternal death, and opened the gates of heaven. Such are the pains taken for the bringing of Cornelius to the faith, that both an angel is sent, and the Spirit works, and the chief of the apostles is fetched to him, and such a vision is shown, and, in short, nothing is left undone. How many centurions were there besides, and tribunes and kings, and yet none of them obtained what this man did! Hear, all you that are in military commands, all you that stand beside kings. “A just man,” it says, “fearing God”; “devout”; and what is more than all, with all his house. Not as we who do everything that our servants may be afraid of us, do everything, but not that they may be devout. … Not so this man; but he was “one that feared God with all his house,” for he was as the common father of those with him and of all the others [under his command.] But observe what [the soldier] says himself. … He adds this also, “well reported of by all the nation.” So what if he was uncircumcised? No, the alms give him a good report. There is nothing like alms. Great is the virtue of this practice, when the almsgiving is poured forth from pure stores; for it is like a fountain discharging mud when it issues from unjust stores, but when from just gains, it is as a limpid and pure stream in a paradise, sweet to the sight, sweet to the touch, both light and cool, when given in the noonday heat. Such is alms. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 22.

SANCTIFIED THROUGH GIVING. ARATOR: Cornelius, born of Gentile stock, was highly respected in the city of Caesarea; his life, given over to godly works, sanctified him for the waters, and he, who did whatever faith was inclined to perform in those washed by baptism, … began to believe through his actions. For an angel, sent from the stars, drawing near to [Cornelius] said, “The wealth that you distribute, the words that you pray, stand [pleasing] in the sight of the highest Lord. Rewards for your virtue will not be lacking. Accept the certain Way when Peter comes here.” Thus the glistening messenger implanted with his word the commands for eternal washings. ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1.

CORNELIUS: A WORKER CALLED AT THE ELEVENTH HOUR. BASIL THE GREAT: Are there even now some who work from the first hour and others from the eleventh, and who are they? Perhaps [the answer to this] is most evident to anyone from the events recounted in the divinely inspired Scripture that while there are many, in the words of the apostle, who have learned the holy Scriptures from childhood, many still, such as Cornelius, although making good use of natural movements, are slow in coming to perfection of knowledge because of a lack of teachers. “For how,” he says, “do they believe, if they do not hear?” If, therefore, it happens that some, like Cornelius, are engaged in nothing evil but rather are desirous of perfection and genuinely demonstrate the good that they can and that comes to their knowledge, to these God gives the same blessings as he did to Cornelius by not holding them culpable for the period of idleness, since it was not their fault, as I said, and he is content with their desire that was previously made manifest through their eager actions and what has been more diligently set right in relation to perfection. THE SHORT RULES 2.224.

SOBER AND OF GOOD WILL. CHRYSOSTOM: Did you see what assurance came from prayers and almsgiving to this man, whose whole life was spent in the cloak and belt of the soldier? Let them hear this who have enlisted in the army and let them learn that military service presents no hindrance to virtue for the one who is willing to be sober. Let them learn that one can take great care of virtue, even though he wears the soldier’s cloak and belt, even though he has a wife, the care of children, the management of a household, and even though he has undertaken a public duty. Look at this admirable man, who wore the soldier’s cloak and belt, who commanded troops, for he was a centurion! Of what care did heaven deem him worthy because of his good will, his sobriety and his vigilance?

And that you may know clearly that grace wings its way down to us from on high only after we have first done our fair share, hear the story itself. After Cornelius had taken the first step by his frequent and generous almsgiving, he was devoting himself earnestly to prayer. About the ninth hour, the Scripture says, an angel stood beside him as he prayed and said, “Cornelius, your prayers and your alms have gone up and been remembered in the sight of God.”

Let us not simply pass these words by, but let us carefully consider the virtue of the man. Then let us learn how loving and kind the Master is and how he overlooks no one. But where he sees a soul that is sober, there he lavishes his grace upon him. Here is a soldier who has had benefit of no instruction, who was tangled up in the affairs of this life, who has each day a thousand things to distract and bother him. Yet he did not waste his life in banquets and drinking and gluttony but spent his time in prayer and almsgiving. He showed such eagerness on his own initiative, he attended so constantly to prayer, he was so generous in his almsgiving, that he showed himself deserving of such a vision. BAPTISMAL INSTRUCTIONS 7.28-29.

PRAY TO KNOW THE TRUTH. AMMONIUS: It must be noted that whoever, with pure conscience, earnestly prays to God and gives alms, does not remain in the same condition, but God makes known, through the vision of an angel or through a pious person, the true faith through which we are saved. In the case where one does not know whether this or that action is pleasing to God, it is best earnestly to pray to God so that the truth may be revealed. This is essential especially if one is at a loss concerning the faith, what it is necessary to think or in whom one must believe. For this reason there are many heresies among those who seem to be Christians. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 10.4.

ALL EFFORTS IN VAIN WITHOUT CHARITY. CHRYSOSTOM: We seek those virtues that are most salutary for our salvation and for our neighbor. Such is almsgiving and such is prayer, or rather the latter becomes efficacious and capable of flight as a result of the former. “Your prayers,” the text says, “and your alms have ascended for a memorial before God.” This is true not only of prayer, but fasting has its strength from this as well. If you fast without giving alms, your fasting is not considered to be valid. Rather, such a person is worse than a glutton and a drunkard, and so much worse as cruelty is harder to bear than luxury. And why do I speak about fasting? Even though you are chaste, even though you observe virginity, if you do not cultivate charity you are out of the bridal chamber. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 77 (78).6.

10:5 | Bring Peter

THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF PEOPLE. AUGUSTINE: Let us beware of such dangerous temptations of pride, and let us rather consider the fact that the apostle Paul himself, although stricken down and admonished by the voice of God from heaven, was yet sent to a man to receive the sacraments and be admitted into the church. Cornelius the centurion, although an angel announced to him that his prayers were heard and that his alms were remembered, was yet handed over to Peter for instruction, and not only received the sacraments from the apostle’s hands but was also instructed by him as to the proper objects of faith, hope and love. And without doubt it was possible to have done everything through the instrumentality of angels, but the condition of our race would have been much more degraded if God had not chosen to make use of people as the ministers of his word to [other people]. For how could that be true which is written, “The temple of God is holy, and that temple you are,” if God gave forth no oracles from his human temple but communicated everything that he wished to be taught to people by voices from heaven or through the ministration of angels? Moreover, love itself, which binds people together in the bond of unity, would have no means of pouring soul into soul, and, as it were, mingling them one with another, if people never learned anything from [others]. CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION, PREFACE 6.

10:7 | Cornelius Called Two Servants

ZEAL OF PREACHING. BEDE: Cornelius sent three people to Peter because the Gentile world, which was to come to believe in the faith of the apostles, had subjugated Europe, Asia and Africa, which were to be taken over partly by militant zeal (that is, by urgent preaching) and partly by domestic business dealings. Note also that one soldier and two domestic servants were sent, for among the members of the church, the greater their strength, the fewer you will find. There are more who know how to hear the word than those who know how to speak it. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 10.7.

10:8 | Sent to Joppa

NOT BY WORLDLY AUTHORITY. CHRYSOSTOM: “And when the angel that spoke to Cornelius had left, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; and when he had declared all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.” Do you see that it is not without purpose that the writer says this? [It shows] that those also “who waited on him continually” were such as he. “And when he had declared the whole matter to them,” observe the unassuming character of the man: for he does not say, “Call Peter to me,” but in order also to induce him to come, he declared the whole matter. This was so ordered by Providence, for he did not choose to use the authority of his rank to fetch Peter to him; therefore “he declared the matter;” such was the moderation of the man. And yet no great notion was to be formed of one lodging with a tanner. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 22.