St Albans Cathedral … a cathedral since 1877, and the oldest place of continuous Christian worship and pilgrimage in Britain (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Patrick Comerford
I have been in St Albans, the cathedral city in Hertfordshire, twice in the past week. It is about 30 km (20 miles) north-west of London, and an hour by train from Milton Keynes. I spent one afternoon this week visiting the Roman Theatre and Verulam Park, the site of the Roman city of Verulamium. I spent much of the other afternoon last week on my first-ever visit to St Albans Cathedral or Abbey, where I also saw the installation ‘Peace Doves’ by the sculptor Peter Walker, in which thousands of paper doves hang from the tower.
The cathedral claims to be the oldest place of continuous Christian worship and pilgrimage in Britain. It was once the leading Benedictine monastery in England and the nave, 85 metres long, is the longest nave in any cathedral in England.
Although the cathedral is one of the newer cathedrals in the Church of England, its name recalls England’s first martyr and saint, Saint Alban, and today’s city of Saint Albans stands on the site of Verulamium, the first major town on the Roman Watling Street for travellers heading north. Saint Alban was martyred in Verulamium in the third or fourth century. Later, this was the home of the only English-born Pope, Nicholas Breakspear, who became Pope Adrian IV.
The Diocese of St Albans was formed in 1877, and today includes Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and parts of the London Borough of Barnet. St Albans Cathedral become a cathedral in 1877, but dates back to the eight century.
Saint Alban, England’s first martyr and saint, lived in Verulamium in the third or fourth centuries (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
As St Albans Abbey, this was an abbey church until its dissolution in 1539, and then a parish church until it became a diocesan cathedral in 1877. The abbey was probably founded in the eighth century, but much of its architecture is Norman or Romanesque from the 11th century, with Gothic and 19th-century additions.
According to Bede, Saint Alban lived in Verulamium in the third or fourth centuries at a time when Christians were suffering ‘cruel persecution.’ The legend says Alban sheltered Amphibalus, a priest fleeing persecutors. Alban hid Amphibalus in his house for a number of days, and was so impressed by his faith that he too became a Christian.
When soldiers came to seize Amphibalus, Alban donned his guest’s cloak, was arrested and was sentenced to death. He was executed on a hill overlooking the River Ver. When he was beheaded, according to the legend, was struck off head rolled downhill and that a well gushed up where it stopped. As for the executioner, it is said his eyes fell out and dropped to the ground alongside Alban’s head.
The date of his execution is not known. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives the year 283, Bede places it in 305, while other sources indicate the period of 251-259. St Albans Cathedral stands near the supposed site of Saint Alban’s martyrdom, and the road up to Holmhurst Hill where the abbey stands is called Holywell Hill, with the offices of the Diocese of St Albans in Holywell Lodge, a Grade II building that is probably much older than its 19th century appearance.
The shrine of Saint Alban dates from the mid-4th century and was restored in 1992-1993 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
A shrine with the remains of Saint Alban existed from the mid-4th century or earlier, and Bishop Germanus of Auxerre visited it in 429. The 13th century chronicler Matthew Paris said the Saxons destroyed the building in 586.
Offa II of Mercia founded a double monastery at St Albans in 793, and in time it became the leading Benedictine abbey in England, rebuilt in the early 11th century with building material from Verulamium.
The first Norman abbot, Paul of Caen, a nephew of Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, rebuilt the church in the Norman or Romanesque style between 1077 and 1115. To make maximum use of the hilltop site, the abbey was oriented to the south-east. It was the largest abbey built in England at that time, and the tower at 144 ft high is the only 11th century great crossing tower still standing in England.
The abbey was consecrated on Holy Innocents’ Day, 28 December 1115, by the Archbishop of Rouen, with King Henry I and many bishops and nobles attending.
Inside Saint Albans Cathedral … the nave is 85 metres long and the longest nave in any cathedral in England (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Internally, the abbey church was bare of sculpture, almost stark. The plaster walls were coloured and patterned in parts, with extensive tapestries adding colour. Sculptural decoration was added in time.
The original Norman arches survive in the present building principally under the central tower and on the north side of the nave. The arches in the rest of the building are Gothic, following mediaeval rebuilding and extensions, and Victorian era restoration.
The number of monks grew from 50 to over 100 in the 1190s, and the abbey church was extended westwards with three bays added to the nave in the early 1200s, and a more prominent shrine and altar to Saint Amphibalus were added.
Nicholas Breakspear, who was born near St Albans, was turned down when he asked to enter the abbey. Eventually, he was accepted into an abbey in France. In 1154 he was elected Pope Adrian IV, the only English Pope ever. The head of the abbey was confirmed as the premier abbot in England that same year.
The wall paintings on the west side of the pillars date from the early 1200s and were rediscovered in 1862 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
There are outstanding wall paintings throughout the cathedral. Those on the west side of the pillars date from the early 1200s and depict the Crucifixion and the life of the Virgin Mary. A mediaeval wall painting of the Doubting Thomas with the Risen Christ can be seen on the east wall of the north transept.
These wall paintings were hidden under whitewash after the Reformation, and they were not rediscovered until 1862.
St Albans Psalter (ca 1130-1145) is the best-known Romanesque illuminated manuscript produced at the abbey. Later, Matthew Paris, a monk at St Albans from 1217 until he died in 1259, was an important chronicler and artist: 18 of his manuscripts survive.
An earthquake damaged the east end of the abbey church in 1250 and damaged the eastern end of the church, and the south side of the nave collapsed in 1323, damaging the shrine of Saint Amphibalus.
The Abbey Gateway was built in 1365 and is now part of St Albans School (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
The Abbey Gateway, built in 1365, is the only part of the monastery buildings – apart from the church – to survive the dissolution during the Tudor reformations and is now part of St Albans School.
When Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the fourth son of King Henry IV, died in 1447, he was buried in St Albans.
The High Altar Screen and reredos was first built in 1484 by the 47th abbot, William Wallingford. The statues on the screen were destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries at the Tudor Reformation, but were replaced in Victorian times.
The High Altar Screen and reredos were first built in 1484 by Abbot William Wallingford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
After Abbot Thomas Ramryge died in 1521, the abbey fell into debt and decay under three weak abbots. The abbey was surrendered at the Dissolution in 1539, and the abbot and the remaining 40 monks were pensioned off. The buildings were looted, all gold, silver and gilt objects were carted away, stonework was broken and defaced and graves were opened to search for riches.
The abbey became part of the Diocese of Lincoln in 1542 and was moved to the Diocese of London in 1550. Richard Lee bought up all the buildings, except the church and chapel and some other crown premises in 1550 and began the systematic demolition for building material. When he had removed the stone removed, Lee returned the land to the abbot in 1551.
The Lady Chapel was turned into a school, the Great Gatehouse became the town jail, other buildings passed to the Crown, and Edward VI sold the abbey church was sold to the town for £400 in 1553 to use as the parish church.
The Lady Chapel was restored in the 19th century, and is now used regularly for Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Free Church services (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
During the English Civil War in the mid-17th century, the abbey church was used to hold prisoners of war and was vandalised. Grant from William III and Mary II in 1689 and 1698 was used to repairs the building and to conceal many Gothic features.
But the church was dilapidated, and the abbey lost many of its windows in a storm in 1703. As the 18th century continued, great cracks appeared in the walls, walls were leaning, subsiding and falling, roof timbers decayed, the roof was rotten, and many windows were cracked or shattered. The abbey came close to demolition in the 1770s, when a proposal to build a smaller church almost succeeded, and again in 1797 when a storm caused further subsidence and the church was flooded.
Despite repair schemes in the 19th century, part of the clerestory wall fell through the roof of the south aisle in 1832, leaving a gap almost 30 ft long. A survey showed mortar was in a wretched condition throughout the building and wooden beams were rotten and twisted. The clerestory wall was rebuilt, the nave roof was repaired, and 40 blocked windows were reopened and glazed.
The ‘Doubting Thomas’ mediaeval wall painting in the north transept (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
As the abbey became the cathedral of a new diocese, Sir George Gilbert Scott oversaw a number of works from 1860 until he died in 1878. Around £20,000 was spent on the abbey in 1870-1875, and Scott became the ‘saviour of the Abbey.’
St Albans was transferred from the Diocese of Lincoln to the Diocese of Rochester in 1845, and the new Diocese of St Albans was formed in 1877. Thomas Legh Claughton, then Bishop of Rochester, became the first Bishop of St Albans, and remained until 1890. He died in 1892 and is buried in the churchyard.
Sir George Gilbert Scott was working on the nave roof, vaulting and west bay when he died in 1878. His plans were partially completed by his son, John Oldrid Scott, but the remaining work fell into the hands of Edmund Beckett (1816-1905), Lord Grimthorpe, whose work was controversial. The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner describes him as a ‘pompous, righteous bully.’
The rose window in the north transept (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Scott’s work was in sympathy with the existing building, but Grimthorpe’s plans reflected Victorian ideals, and he spent considerable time dismissing and criticising the work of the Scotts, father and son.
Grimthorpe designed a new west front, and it was completed in 1883 at a cost of £20,000. He often mixed architectural styles carelessly, remade the nave, rebuilt the south wall cloisters, completely remade the south face, demolished the Perpendicular window in the north transept and replaced it with a rose window of his own design, adapted the antechapel for consistory courts and redesigned the Lady Chapel. His use of cement led to cracking, while his use of ironwork in windows caused corrosion and damage to the surrounding stone.
Scott’s son John Oldrid Scott, had continued working at the cathedral. He designed Bishop Claughton’s tomb and built a new bishop’s throne, and designed new choir stalls.
The main west window was reglazed and dedicated as a war memorial in 1925.
St Albans Cathedral was rearranged liturgically in the 1970s (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
With the liturgical movement of the 1970s, the need was seen to encourage a closer link between the celebrant and congregation in the nave. The nine-tonne pulpit and the choir stalls and permanent pews were dismantled and removed in 1972. The altar space was enlarged and improved, new choir stalls were put in place, the pews were replaced with seats, and a new pulpit was installed.
The nave and clerestory roofs were repaired in the 1970 and 1980s, the clerestory windows were repaired, other work by Grimthorpe was replaced, and his west front was repaired. A new visitor centre was built on the south side of the cathedral, close to the site of the original abbey chapter house and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982.
The shrine of Saint Alban was restored in 1992-1993, and it is the focus for pilgrims each year on Saint Alban’s Day, 22 June.
The shrine of Saint Amphibalus was restored in 2020 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Other work in the late 20th century included inserting stained glass by Alan Younger in Grimthorpe’s north transept rose window, unveiled by Princess Diana in 1989. Seven new painted stone statues by Rory Young were inserted in 2015 in the the nave screen, which dates from ca 1360.
The shrine of Saint Amphibalus was restored in 2020.
Robert Runcie, later Archbishop of Canterbury, was Bishop of St Albans in 1970-1980 and returned to live there when he retired in 1991. He is buried in the churchyard and commemorated with a gargoyle on the roof.
The Very Revd Jo Kelly-Moore has been the Dean of St Albans since 2021. Sunday services are: Sunday Services: 8 am Eucharist; 9:30 am, Parish Eucharist; 11:15 am, Choral Eucharist; 6 pm, Choral Evensong. The cathedral is open daily from 8:30 to 5:30.
The chapter and choir stalls in the Quire … one stall bears the name of Nicholas Breakspear, Pope Adrian IV (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
• Peace Doves is an art installation by the sculptor Peter Walker, in which thousands of paper doves hang from the cathedral tower. It continues in St Albans Cathedral until Tuesday 13 February.
‘Peace Doves’ is an art installation by the sculptor Peter Walker (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
18 January 2024
Daily prayers during
Christmas and Epiphany:
25, 18 January 2024
Saint Peter (right) and Saint Paul (left) in windows in the west porch in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Skibbereen, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
The celebrations of Epiphany-tide continue today (18 January 2023), and this week began with the Second Sunday of Epiphany (14 January 2024). Christmas is a season that lasts for 40 days that continues from Christmas Day (25 December) to Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February).
The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today recalls Amy Carmichael (1951), founder of the Dohnavur Fellowship and spiritual writer. Today is also the first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Before today begins, I am taking some time for reflection, reading and prayer. My reflections each morning during the seven days of this week include:
1, A reflection on one of the seven people who give their names to epistles in the New Testament;
2, the Gospel reading of the day;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
The Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul holding the church in unity … an early 18th century icon in the Museum of Christian Art in Iraklion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
5, Saint Peter:
Saint Paul does not give his own name to any of his letters, but seven people give their names to a total of seven of the letters or epistles in the New Testament: Timothy (I and II Timohty), Titus, Philemon, James, Peter (I and II Peter), John (I, II and III John), and Jude.
The attribution of the authorship of the two letters of Peter (I and II Peter) to the Apostle Peter has been challenged by many commentators and critics in recent years.
I Peter is addressed, with a Trinitarian invocation, to the ‘exiles of the Dispersion’ scattered throughout ‘Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,’ five Roman provinces in Asia Minor (see I Peter 1: 1).
The author of I Peter presents himself as Saint Peter the Apostle, and the epistle was traditionally said to have been written while he was either Bishop of Rome or Bishop of Antioch. However, these titles are not used in the epistle.
The author describes himself as ἀπόστολος (apostolos, apostle; I Peter 1: 1) and as συμπρεσβύτερος (sympresbyteros, fellow priest; see I Peter 5: 1), a title that appears a little later in the development of early ecclesiology.
Saint Peter lived his early life in Bethsaida, which was granted city status under Philip the Tetrarch. Philip was a Helleniser or advocate of Greek culture, and Bethsaida probably had a large Greek speaking population.
There is general consensus, because of an internal reference to ‘Babylon’ (see I Peter 5: 13), that the epistle was written from Rome.
Those who favour the Petrine authorship date the letter to sometime shortly before Saint Peter’s martyrdom, which may have been as late as 68 CE. The reference to Silvanus at the end of the letter may indicate a date following Saint Paul’s arrival in Rome, and it may then date from as early as 63-64 CE.
The language, dating, style, and structure of this letter have led many scholars to conclude that I Peter letter is pseudonymous. They see evidence that the author had a formal education in rhetoric and philosophy, advanced knowledge of Greek, along with geometry, arithmetic and music, and a reading of classical authors such as Homer.
Some say it is most likely that I Peter was written during the reign of Domitian in the year 81, when the persecution of Christian became widespread – a date that is long after the death of Peter. On the other hand, the persecutions described in this letter do not need a time period outside of the Saint Peter’s lifespan.
Other scholars doubt the letter’s Petrine authorship. They say I Peter is dependent on the Pauline epistles – especially Ephesians, Colossians and the Pastoral Letters (I and II Timothy and Titus) – and so it was written after Saint Paul’s ministry. Yet others argue that it makes little sense to attribute the work to Saint Peter when it could have been ascribed to Saint Paul.
One theory supporting the Petrine authorship is the ‘secretarial hypothesis,’ which suggests that I Peter was dictated by Peter and was written in Greek by his ‘faithful brother; or secretary, Silvanus (see I Peter 5: 12). However, we could ask whether Silvanus was not the secretary, but the courier or bearer of I Peter?
Some scholars believe the language, dating, literary style and structure of the letter make it implausible to conclude that I Peter is the work of Saint Peter. They say I Peter is a pseudonymous letter, written later by one of Saint Peter’s disciples in his honour.
Yet there are similarities with Saint Peter’s speeches in the Acts of the Apostles, and the earliest attestation of Peter as author comes from II Peter (see II Peter 3: 1) and the letters of Clement.
One possible context for I Peter is by provided the trials and executions of Christians in the Roman province of Bithynia-Pontus under Pliny the Younger. In a letter to Emperor Trajan, written in 112 CE, Pliny asks Trajan if the accused Christians should be punished for the name ‘Christian’ alone, or for crimes associated with the name (for the use of the word ‘name,’ see I Peter 4:14-16). But this theory is rejected by those who argue the suffering in I Peter is caused by social, rather than official, discrimination.
The second letter, II Peter, is the first book in the New Testament to regard other New Testament writings as scripture (see II Peter 3: 15-16). The letter is addressed to the churches in general. II Peter is written to warn Christians about false teachers and to exhort them to grow in their faith in and knowledge of Christ.
II Peter opens with greeting: ‘Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ’ (II Peter 1: 1). The letter is ascribed by some scholars to Saint Peter, and the letter says that it is written shortly before the apostle’s death (II Peter 1: 14), and that it is Peter’s second letter (see II Peter 3: 1).
According to the letter, it was composed by the Apostle Peter, an eyewitness to Christ’s ministry. It criticises ‘false teachers’ who distort the authentic, apostolic tradition, and predicts judgment for them.
II Peter contains eleven references to the Old Testament, and also shows some knowledge, albeit, perhaps, second-hand knowledge of marginal apocryphal books. II Peter also refers to many of Saint Paul’s letters (II Peter 3: 15) and specifically (II Peter 3: 15, 16) to one letters (see I Thessalonians 4: 13 to 5: 11).
Most noticeably, though, II Peter quotes from Jude and adapts from that letter extensively, sharing a number of passages with the Epistle of Jude.
When it comes to dating II, commentaries vary, placing the letter in almost every decade between 60 and 160.
II Peter was not accepted into the Biblical canon without some difficulty, but doubts about the letter’s authorship were never used for definitive rejection. By the time of Jerome (ca 346-420) it had been mostly accepted as canonical.
Saint Peter’s Day (29 June) and Petertide are one of the two traditional periods for the ordination of new priests and deacons – the other being Michaelmas, around 29 September.
The Cambridge poet-priest Malcolm Guite says on his blog that Saint Peter’s Day and Petertide are an appropriate time for ordinations because Saint Peter is ‘the disciple who, for all his many mistakes, knew how to recover and hold on, who, for all his waverings was called by Jesus “the rock,” who learned the threefold lesson that every betrayal can ultimately be restored by love.’
In the Orthodox Church, Saint Peter and Saint Paul are seen as figures of Church Unity, sharing a common faith and mission despite their differences. They are often seen as paired, flanking images at entrances to churches, and the icon of Christian Unity in the Orthodox tradition shows the Apostles Peter and Paul embracing each other – signs of the early Church overcoming its differences and affirming its diversity.
When Pope Francis marked the feast of Saint Peter and Paul some years ago, he stressed the importance of unity in the Church and allowing ourselves to be challenged by God, urging people to spend less time complaining about what they see going wrong, and more time in prayer.
He noted that Saint Peter and Saint Paul were two very different men who ‘could argue heatedly’ but who ‘saw one another as brothers, as happens in close-knit families where there may be frequent arguments but unfailing love.’
God, he said, ‘did not command us to like one another, but to love one another. He is the one who unites us, without making us all alike.’
Saint Peter in chains (see Acts 12) … the window by Charles Eamer Kempe in Lichfield Cathedral commemorating Dean Herbert Mortimer Luckock (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Mark 3: 7-12 (NRSVA):
7 Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; 8 hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. 9 He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; 10 for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ 12 But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.
Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Prayers (Thursday 18 January 2024):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is: ‘Climate Justice from Bangladesh perspective.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Right Revd Shourabh Pholia, Bishop of Barishal Diocese, Church of Bangladesh.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (18 January 2024) invites us to pray in these words:
Let us pray for ourselves, asking God to guide us so that we can play the stewardship role and take responsibility to heal the planet and protect it for future generations.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
God of glory,
you nourish us with your Word
who is the bread of life:
fill us with your Holy Spirit
that through us the light of your glory
may shine in all the world.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Eternal Lord,
our beginning and our end:
bring us with the whole creation
to your glory, hidden through past ages
and made known
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflection (James)
Continued tomorrow (John)
Saint Peter and Saint Paul in a pair of stained glass windows in Saint John’s Church, Wall, near Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Patrick Comerford
The celebrations of Epiphany-tide continue today (18 January 2023), and this week began with the Second Sunday of Epiphany (14 January 2024). Christmas is a season that lasts for 40 days that continues from Christmas Day (25 December) to Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February).
The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today recalls Amy Carmichael (1951), founder of the Dohnavur Fellowship and spiritual writer. Today is also the first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Before today begins, I am taking some time for reflection, reading and prayer. My reflections each morning during the seven days of this week include:
1, A reflection on one of the seven people who give their names to epistles in the New Testament;
2, the Gospel reading of the day;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
The Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul holding the church in unity … an early 18th century icon in the Museum of Christian Art in Iraklion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
5, Saint Peter:
Saint Paul does not give his own name to any of his letters, but seven people give their names to a total of seven of the letters or epistles in the New Testament: Timothy (I and II Timohty), Titus, Philemon, James, Peter (I and II Peter), John (I, II and III John), and Jude.
The attribution of the authorship of the two letters of Peter (I and II Peter) to the Apostle Peter has been challenged by many commentators and critics in recent years.
I Peter is addressed, with a Trinitarian invocation, to the ‘exiles of the Dispersion’ scattered throughout ‘Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,’ five Roman provinces in Asia Minor (see I Peter 1: 1).
The author of I Peter presents himself as Saint Peter the Apostle, and the epistle was traditionally said to have been written while he was either Bishop of Rome or Bishop of Antioch. However, these titles are not used in the epistle.
The author describes himself as ἀπόστολος (apostolos, apostle; I Peter 1: 1) and as συμπρεσβύτερος (sympresbyteros, fellow priest; see I Peter 5: 1), a title that appears a little later in the development of early ecclesiology.
Saint Peter lived his early life in Bethsaida, which was granted city status under Philip the Tetrarch. Philip was a Helleniser or advocate of Greek culture, and Bethsaida probably had a large Greek speaking population.
There is general consensus, because of an internal reference to ‘Babylon’ (see I Peter 5: 13), that the epistle was written from Rome.
Those who favour the Petrine authorship date the letter to sometime shortly before Saint Peter’s martyrdom, which may have been as late as 68 CE. The reference to Silvanus at the end of the letter may indicate a date following Saint Paul’s arrival in Rome, and it may then date from as early as 63-64 CE.
The language, dating, style, and structure of this letter have led many scholars to conclude that I Peter letter is pseudonymous. They see evidence that the author had a formal education in rhetoric and philosophy, advanced knowledge of Greek, along with geometry, arithmetic and music, and a reading of classical authors such as Homer.
Some say it is most likely that I Peter was written during the reign of Domitian in the year 81, when the persecution of Christian became widespread – a date that is long after the death of Peter. On the other hand, the persecutions described in this letter do not need a time period outside of the Saint Peter’s lifespan.
Other scholars doubt the letter’s Petrine authorship. They say I Peter is dependent on the Pauline epistles – especially Ephesians, Colossians and the Pastoral Letters (I and II Timothy and Titus) – and so it was written after Saint Paul’s ministry. Yet others argue that it makes little sense to attribute the work to Saint Peter when it could have been ascribed to Saint Paul.
One theory supporting the Petrine authorship is the ‘secretarial hypothesis,’ which suggests that I Peter was dictated by Peter and was written in Greek by his ‘faithful brother; or secretary, Silvanus (see I Peter 5: 12). However, we could ask whether Silvanus was not the secretary, but the courier or bearer of I Peter?
Some scholars believe the language, dating, literary style and structure of the letter make it implausible to conclude that I Peter is the work of Saint Peter. They say I Peter is a pseudonymous letter, written later by one of Saint Peter’s disciples in his honour.
Yet there are similarities with Saint Peter’s speeches in the Acts of the Apostles, and the earliest attestation of Peter as author comes from II Peter (see II Peter 3: 1) and the letters of Clement.
One possible context for I Peter is by provided the trials and executions of Christians in the Roman province of Bithynia-Pontus under Pliny the Younger. In a letter to Emperor Trajan, written in 112 CE, Pliny asks Trajan if the accused Christians should be punished for the name ‘Christian’ alone, or for crimes associated with the name (for the use of the word ‘name,’ see I Peter 4:14-16). But this theory is rejected by those who argue the suffering in I Peter is caused by social, rather than official, discrimination.
The second letter, II Peter, is the first book in the New Testament to regard other New Testament writings as scripture (see II Peter 3: 15-16). The letter is addressed to the churches in general. II Peter is written to warn Christians about false teachers and to exhort them to grow in their faith in and knowledge of Christ.
II Peter opens with greeting: ‘Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ’ (II Peter 1: 1). The letter is ascribed by some scholars to Saint Peter, and the letter says that it is written shortly before the apostle’s death (II Peter 1: 14), and that it is Peter’s second letter (see II Peter 3: 1).
According to the letter, it was composed by the Apostle Peter, an eyewitness to Christ’s ministry. It criticises ‘false teachers’ who distort the authentic, apostolic tradition, and predicts judgment for them.
II Peter contains eleven references to the Old Testament, and also shows some knowledge, albeit, perhaps, second-hand knowledge of marginal apocryphal books. II Peter also refers to many of Saint Paul’s letters (II Peter 3: 15) and specifically (II Peter 3: 15, 16) to one letters (see I Thessalonians 4: 13 to 5: 11).
Most noticeably, though, II Peter quotes from Jude and adapts from that letter extensively, sharing a number of passages with the Epistle of Jude.
When it comes to dating II, commentaries vary, placing the letter in almost every decade between 60 and 160.
II Peter was not accepted into the Biblical canon without some difficulty, but doubts about the letter’s authorship were never used for definitive rejection. By the time of Jerome (ca 346-420) it had been mostly accepted as canonical.
Saint Peter’s Day (29 June) and Petertide are one of the two traditional periods for the ordination of new priests and deacons – the other being Michaelmas, around 29 September.
The Cambridge poet-priest Malcolm Guite says on his blog that Saint Peter’s Day and Petertide are an appropriate time for ordinations because Saint Peter is ‘the disciple who, for all his many mistakes, knew how to recover and hold on, who, for all his waverings was called by Jesus “the rock,” who learned the threefold lesson that every betrayal can ultimately be restored by love.’
In the Orthodox Church, Saint Peter and Saint Paul are seen as figures of Church Unity, sharing a common faith and mission despite their differences. They are often seen as paired, flanking images at entrances to churches, and the icon of Christian Unity in the Orthodox tradition shows the Apostles Peter and Paul embracing each other – signs of the early Church overcoming its differences and affirming its diversity.
When Pope Francis marked the feast of Saint Peter and Paul some years ago, he stressed the importance of unity in the Church and allowing ourselves to be challenged by God, urging people to spend less time complaining about what they see going wrong, and more time in prayer.
He noted that Saint Peter and Saint Paul were two very different men who ‘could argue heatedly’ but who ‘saw one another as brothers, as happens in close-knit families where there may be frequent arguments but unfailing love.’
God, he said, ‘did not command us to like one another, but to love one another. He is the one who unites us, without making us all alike.’
Saint Peter in chains (see Acts 12) … the window by Charles Eamer Kempe in Lichfield Cathedral commemorating Dean Herbert Mortimer Luckock (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Mark 3: 7-12 (NRSVA):
7 Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; 8 hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. 9 He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; 10 for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ 12 But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.
Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Prayers (Thursday 18 January 2024):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is: ‘Climate Justice from Bangladesh perspective.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Right Revd Shourabh Pholia, Bishop of Barishal Diocese, Church of Bangladesh.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (18 January 2024) invites us to pray in these words:
Let us pray for ourselves, asking God to guide us so that we can play the stewardship role and take responsibility to heal the planet and protect it for future generations.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
God of glory,
you nourish us with your Word
who is the bread of life:
fill us with your Holy Spirit
that through us the light of your glory
may shine in all the world.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Eternal Lord,
our beginning and our end:
bring us with the whole creation
to your glory, hidden through past ages
and made known
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflection (James)
Continued tomorrow (John)
Saint Peter and Saint Paul in a pair of stained glass windows in Saint John’s Church, Wall, near Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Labels:
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Saint Mark's Gospel,
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