Holy Apostles Peter and Paul
July 12th (June 29^th)

 The Holy Apostle Peter

Apostle Peter, formerly known as Simon, was the son of a fisherman named Jonah from Bethsaida in Galilee (John 1:42-45) and brother of Andrew the “First-called,” who was the one that brought him to Christ. St. Peter was married and had a house in Capernaum (Mark 1:21,29). Having being called by Christ the Savior while fishing on the lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee; Luke 5:8), he always expressed extraordinary loyalty and zeal, for which he earned, together with the Zebedee brothers, an exceptional closeness to Christ (Luke 9:28). Being strong and ardent of spirit, he naturally assumed an influential role among Christ’s Disciples. He was the first to resolutely acknowledge Lord Jesus as Christ — i.e., Messiah (Mat. 16:16) — and for this, earned the name Rock (Peter). It was on this rock of Peter’s faith that Christ promised to build His Church, which even the gates of Hell would not prevail against (Mat. 16:18). Peter’s three renunciations of Christ (on the eve of Christ’s Crucifixion) were washed away with bitter tears of repentance. Consequently, after His Resurrection, Christ reinstated his apostolic standing thrice, matching the number of his renunciations, charging him to “feed my lambs” and “tend My sheep” (John 21:15-17). After the descent of the Holy Spirit, Apostle Peter was the first to assist in the spread and affirmation of Christ’s Church by making a fiery speech on Pentecost and converting 3,000 souls to Christ. Shortly after, having cured a man “lame from his mother’s womb,” Peter’s second sermon converted an additional 5,000 Jews to Christianity (Acts chps. 2-4). From the first chapter through to the 12th, the Book of Acts narrates his apostolic activities. However, after his miraculous release from prison by an Angel, and being forced to hide from Herod (Acts 12:1-17), he is mentioned only once and that is in the passages about the Apostolic council (Acts ch. 15). Other data on Peter had been preserved only in the Church tradition records. It is known that he preached along the shores of Mediterranean Sea, in Antioch (where he ordained Bishop Evodius). The apostle Peter preached also to the Jews and Proselytes (pagans that have converted to Judaism) in Asia Minor, and later in Egypt, where he ordained Mark (the author of the Gospel “according to Mark,” transcribed from the apostle Peter’s words; Mark was not one of the twelve Apostles) as the first Bishop of the Alexandrian Church. From here he crossed over to Greece (Achaia) and preached in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:12). He then evangelized in Rome, Spain, Carthage, and Brittany. Toward the close of his life, the Apostle Peter returned again to Rome where he accepted martyrdom in 67 AD, by being crucified upside down.

The apostle Peter’s First General Epistle is directed “to the pilgrims dispersed in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” – provinces of Asia Minor. It must be understood that “pilgrims” would, in the main, be converted Jews as well as converted heathens that were part of the Christian communities. These communities were established by Apostle Paul. The Apostle Peter’s reason for writing the Epistle was his wish to “strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:31-32) when disagreements arose in these communities, and also when they were persecuted by the enemies of Christ. Internal antagonists in the form of false teachers appeared among the Christians. Taking advantage of the Apostle Paul’s absence, they began to distort his teachings on Christian freedom and began patronizing every type of immoral profligacy (1 Peter 2:16; 2 Peter 1:9,2:1).

The Apostle Peter’s aim for this Epistle was to encourage, comfort, and confirm the Asia Minor Christians in their faith as he himself points out: “By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand” (1 Peter 5:12).

The place of the first Epistle is shown as Babylon (5:13). In the history of the Christian Church, the Babylonian Church in Egypt is well known where, apparently, St. Peter wrote his Epistle. At that time, both Silvanus and Mark were with him after leaving Apostle Paul, who was sent to trial in Rome. That is why the data of the first Epistle is dated to be between the years 62 and 64 AD.

The Apostle Peter’s Second General Epistle is written for the same Asia Minor Christians. In this second Epistle, the Apostle Peter cautions the faithful with particular vigor against the corrupt false teachers. These false teachings resemble those that the Apostle Paul discloses in his Epistles to Timothy and Titus, as well as the Apostle Jude in his General Epistle. These false teachings posed a threat to the faith and morals of the Christians. At that time, there was a swift spreading of Gnostic heresies, which imbued into themselves elements of Judaism, Christianity, and various pagan teachings. (In essence, gnosticism is theosophy, which in turn is a fantasy clothed in philosophy). In real life, the adherents of these heresies were conspicuous in their immorality, and prided themselves in the knowledge of the “mysteries.”

The second Epistle was written by Peter shortly before his martyrdom: “I know that shortly I must leave my temple, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.” These writings can be put down to the years 65-66. The Apostle Peter’s final years were spent in Rome, from which it can be concluded that the second Epistle was written there in the nature of a “death-bed” testament.

The Holy Apostle Paul

Saint Paul, carrying at first his Hebrew name Saul, belonged to the tribe of Benjamin and was born in the Cilician town of Tarsus (in Asia Minor), which was then praised for its Greek academy and for the education of its citizens. Because he was a native of this city and descended from Jews freed from Roman slavery, Paul had the rights of a Roman citizen. In Tarsus Paul received his first education, and probably became familiar with the pagan culture, since his acquaintance with gentile writers is clearly shown in his speeches and writings (Acts 17:28; 1 Cor. 15:33; Titus 1:12). He received his final education in Jerusalem from the famous teacher Gamaliel in the rabbinical school which was acclaimed at that time. Gamaliel was considered an expert of the law and despite belonging to the party of Pharisees, he was a freethinking person (Acts 5:34) and an admirer of Greek wisdom. Here, according to the accepted custom of the Jews, young Saul learned the art of tent-making, which later helped him to earn the means to live off his own labors (Acts 18:3; 2 Cor. 11:8; 2 Thes. 3:8).

Evidently young Saul was preparing for a rabbinical career, since directly after finishing his education and training he appeared as a strong zealot of pharisaic traditions and persecutor of the Christian faith. Perhaps by the appointment of the Sanhedrin he was a witness of the death of the first martyr, Stephen (Acts 7:58; 8:1) and then he received the authority to officially follow the Christians even beyond the borders of Palestine to Damascus (Acts 9:1-2.).

The Lord, seeing in him a “chosen vessel,” called him to apostolic service by miraculous means on the road to Damascus. During his journey, a bright light shown on Saul, from which he fell to the ground blind. A voice resounded from the light, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul asked, “Who are you?” Jesus answered, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” The Lord commanded Saul to go to Damascus, and there he would be instructed on what to do further. Saul’s companions heard the voice of Christ, but they did not see the light. After being led by the arm to Damascus, Paul was taught the faith and on the third day was baptized by Ananias. The moment Saul was submerged in the water he regained his sight. From that time, he became a zealous preacher of the teachings he had formerly persecuted. For awhile he left for Arabia, and then again returned to Damascus to preach about Christ.

The rage of the Jews, angered by his conversion to Christ, forced him to run to Jerusalem (Acts 9:23) in 38 AD, where he joined with the community of believers and was introduced to the apostles. Because of an attempt on his life by the Hellenists, he left for his native Tarsus. He was called from there with Barnabas to Antioch to preach around 43 AD, and then they traveled together to Jerusalem, where they brought aid for the needy (Acts 11:30).

Soon after his return from Jerusalem, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, Saul, together with Barnabas, left on their first missionary journey, lasting from 45 to 51 AD. The apostles traveled though all of the island of Cyprus, and by the time Saul converted the proconsul Sergius Paulus, he was already known as Paul. During the time of Paul’s and Barnabas’ missionary journey, Christian communities were founded in the Asia Minor cities of Pisidian, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. In 51 AD, Saint Paul took part in the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem, where he heatedly stood against the necessity for gentile Christians to follow the traditions of Mosaic law.  

Returning to Antioch, Saint Paul, accompanied by Silas, undertook his second missionary journey. At first he visited the churches that he had founded earlier in Asia Minor, and then he crossed over to Macedonia, where he founded congregations in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. In Lystra, Saint Paul acquired his favorite pupil Timothy, and from Troas he continued the journey with Apostle Luke, who had joined them. From Macedonia Saint Paul crossed over into Greece, where he preached in Athens and Corinth, being detained for the last half of the year. From there he sent two letters to the Thessalonians. The second journey lasted from 51 to 54 AD. In 55 AD, Saint Paul left for Jerusalem, visiting Ephesus and Caeseria, and from Jerusalem he went to Antioch (Acts chps. 17-18.).

After a short stay in Antioch, Saint Paul undertook his third missionary journey (56-58 AD), at first visiting, according to his custom, churches that were founded earlier in Asia Minor, and then stopping at Ephesus, where he preached daily for two years in the school of Tyrannus. He wrote his letter to the Galatians (because of the insurgence of a faction of Judaizers there) and his first letter to the Corinthians (because of the springing up of agitators and to answer a letter from the Corinthians to him). A local riot, stirred up against Paul by Demetrius, a master at working silver, forced Paul to leave Ephesus, and he left for Macedonia (Acts 19). On the way, he received news from Titus about the condition of the Corinthian church and about the successful result of his letter. So from Macedonia he sent with Titus a second letter to the Corinthians. Soon, he came himself to Corinth, where he wrote a letter to the Romans, intending to leave for Rome and further west after going to Jerusalem.

After saying farewell in Miletus to the Ephesian elders, he arrived in Jerusalem. Because of a riot that sprung up against him, Paul was taken under guard by the Roman authorities and ended up in prison, at first under Proconsul Felix and then under his successor, Proconsul Festus. This happened in 59 AD. In 61 AD, Paul, as a Roman citizen, was granted his wish to be sent to Rome to the court of Caesar. Enduring a shipwreck in Malta, the apostle only made it to Rome in the summer of 62 AD. Because of the great leniency of the Romans, Paul was able to freely preach. Thus ends the details of his life in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts chps. 27-28). In Rome, Saint Paul wrote his letters to the Philippians (with thankfulness for the financial aid sent to him by Epaphroditus), to the Colossians, to the Ephesians, and to Philemon, a citizen of Colossus (concerning his slave Onesimus, who had run away). All three of these letters were written in 63 AD and were sent with Tychicus. Also in Rome was written an epistle to the Palestinian Hebrews in 64 AD.

The further fate of Apostle Paul is not known for certain. Some think that he stayed in Rome and by the orders of Nero died a martyr’s death in 64 AD. But there is evidence that suggests that after a two year imprisonment, Paul was given his freedom and he took on a fourth missionary journey, which was indicated by his “Pastoral Epistles” to Timothy and Titus. After defending his actions before the Senate and Emperor, Saint Paul was freed from bondage so he could again travel to the east. Spending a long time on the island of Crete, he left his pupil Titus to ordain elders throughout all the cities (Titus 1:5), which shows that Titus was ordained by Paul to be the bishop of the church in Crete. Later in his letter, Paul instructs Titus on how to go about his duties as a bishop. From this letter it is clear that Paul intended to spend that winter of 64 in Nicopolis (Titus 3:12), near his native Tarsus.

During the spring of 65 AD, he visited the rest of the churches in Asia Minor and in Miletus he left the sick Trophimus. The people in Jerusalem rioted against Paul because of Trophimus earlier, which brought about Paul’s first imprisonment (2 Tim. 4:20). Whether Saint Paul went through Ephesus is not known. He said that the Ephesian elders would not see his face again (Acts 20:25), but it appears that he ordained Timothy to be a bishop of the Ephesian church at this time. Later the apostle went through Troas, where he left his cloak (the outer layer of liturgical clothing) and books (probably also liturgical books, 2 Tim. 4:13) with a certain Carpus, and then he left for Macedonia. There he heard about the strengthening of false teachings in Ephesus and wrote his first letter to Timothy. After spending some time in Corinth (2 Tim. 4:20) and meeting Peter on the way, they continued their journey together through Dalmatia (2 Tim. 4:10) and Italy. They arrived at Rome, where Peter stayed, and in 66 AD Paul went alone further to the west, possibly reaching Spain.

After his return to Rome, he was imprisoned (for the second time) where he stayed until his death. There is a tradition that upon his return to Rome, he preached at the very door of the emperor Nero and brought his favorite concubine to Christ. For this he was condemned and even though, by God’s mercy, he was “delivered from the lion’s mouth,” according to the saying, that is from being devoured by animals in the circus (1 Tim. 4:16-17), he was yet again in prison. During this second imprisonment he wrote his second letter to Timothy in Ephesus, inviting him to Rome for a last meeting, feeling the closeness of his own death. Tradition doesn’t say whether Timothy managed to see his teacher again among the living, but it does say that the apostle did not have to wait long for his martyr’s crown. After a nine-month imprisonment he was beheaded, as a Roman citizen, not far from Rome. This happened in 67 AD during the 12th year of Nero’s reign.

After a quick look on the life the Apostle Paul, it is seen, that it cleanly divides into two halves. Before his conversion to Christ, Saint Paul, then Saul, was a strict Pharisee, fulfiller of the Law of Moses and his ancestor’s traditions, thinking that he could be justified by works of the law and zeal for the faith of his fathers, reaching even fanaticism. After his conversion, he became an apostle of Christ, entirely given to the task of spreading the gospel, happy in his call, but recognizing his own weakness for fulfilling this high calling and attributing all of his deeds and merits to the grace of God. All of Paul’s life before his conversion was, according to his deep convictions, error and sin and led him towards condemnation instead of justification, and only the mercy of God saved him from this fatal error. From that time on Saint Paul tried to be worthy of this gift of God and not to stray from his calling. Therefore, there could not be any talk about that there ever was merit — all of it was God’s doing.

All of Saint Paul’s teachings opened in his epistles, being a full reflection of the life the apostle, carry this very basic thought: man is justified by faith, independent of lawful deeds (Romans 3:28). But from this, it is impossible to support the conclusion that the Apostle Paul was against all lawful works (See for example Gal. 6:4, Eph. 2:10 or 1 Tim 2:10 and others). According to his letters, “lawful works” does not, of course, include “good deeds” in general, but ritualistic observance of the Mosaic Law. We need to remember that Paul, during the time of his evangelistic work, needed to carry out a bitter struggle against the opposition of the Jews and Judaizing Christians.

Many of the Jews, upon becoming Christians, held the view that it was necessary for Christians to vainly hold all of the ceremonial instructions of Mosaic Law. They puffed themselves with proud thoughts that Christ came to earth only to save the Jews, and therefore gentiles wanting to be saved, needed to be circumcised and observe all of the Jewish rituals. This error so strongly prevented the spread of Christianity among the gentiles, that the apostles needed to call together the Jerusalem Council in 51 AD, which removed the requirements of the ceremonial decrees of the Law of Moses for Christians. But even after this Council many Judaizing Christians continued to stubbornly hold onto their former views and subsequently split from the Church, establishing their own heretical society. These heretics, personally opposed Apostle Paul, carried disorder into church life, and used Paul’s absence in one church or the other. Therefore Saint Paul needed to continually underline in his epistles that Christ was the savior of all humanity, for Jews just as for gentiles, and that a person was not saved by fulfilling the ceremonial actions of the Law, but only by faith in Christ. Unfortunately, these thoughts of Apostle Paul were distorted by Luther and his successors, the Protestants, as if Paul denied universally the meaning of every good deed for salvation. If this were so, then he would not have written in his first letter to the Corinthians in the 13th chapter that “if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2), since this love would immediately appear in good deeds.

Troparion to Saints Peter and Paul, Tone 4:

Leaders of the Apostles and teachers of the world,/ pray to the Master of all to grant peace to the world// and great mercy to our souls.

 Kontakion to Saints Peter and Paul, Tone 2:

Thou hast taken the firm and divinely inspired Preachers, O Lord,/ the leading Apostles, for the enjoyment of Thy blessings and for repose./ For Thou hast accepted their labors and death/ as above every burnt offering,// O Thou Who alone knowest the secrets of our hearts.

Reproduced from the website of 
www.fatheralexander.org