The husband is the head of the wife, and so she must be subject to him just as the other members of the body must be subject to the head. Peter wants wives to show their husbands the path of virtue with just the same vitality as so many of them lead their husbands in the opposite direction.

Actions speak louder than words, and the husbands will be persuaded by what they see, not by what they hear from their wives.

Note how Peter wants good and honest women to be submissive to their husbands, so that not only will they not fail to heed their commands but also that they will be so firm in their pure behavior that their example will be communicated to their husbands as well.

But he who is both the head of the man and the beauty of the woman, the husband of the church, Christ Jesus, what sort of crown did he put on, for both male and female? A crown of thorns!

Touching modesty of dress and ornament, the rule of Peter is also plain, because he speaks with the same spirit as Paul against the empty glory of apparel and the pride of gold.

There is nothing wrong with these ornaments in themselves, but they are unnecessary extras for the believer and should therefore be avoided. Most of them were invented by the daughters of Ham, which explains why the prohibition is directed to women rather than to men.

Women should not indulge in the outward adornment of braiding the hair or of wearing gold, or of putting on robes. Their adornment should be in the inner life of the heart, in the imperishableness of a quiet and gentle spirit, which is of great price in the sight of God.

When reading the apostle Peter I noticed that every wise man is rich. Note that Peter does not exclude women from this. Neither the wise man nor the rich one needs to hoard riches for himself. Peter has mentioned very beautifully the inner life of the heart, because the whole man of wisdom is invisible, just as wisdom itself is invisible, though understood. No one before the time of Peter used such an expression in speaking of the inner man.

God would not give riches to the outer man and leave the inner man in need; he has given invisible riches to the invisible self and invisibly adorned it.

Since the outer man is corrupt and you no longer possess the beauty of integrity which is proper to virgins, imitate the purity of your spirit by strict abstinence and do with your mind what you cannot achieve in your body. For Christ wants these inward riches. He desires to see you clothed in this way.

Outward beauty is not the real thing but rather something quite superfluous. A woman’s proper beauty is obedience to her husband. The truth of this statement is made manifest by the examples of the holy women of the past, like Sarah.

Women must remain holy in every state of life, whether they are married, single or celibate.

Peter commands women to imitate their holy forebears, and in particular Sarah. He urges them to submit to their husbands just as she submitted to Abraham and says that they have become her children by their good behavior. For just as a man who does the works of Abraham and has his faith becomes his child, so also believing women who do good have Sarah as their mother.

Since Sarah had become a companion to Abraham of such great faith, God called her the mother of all the righteous,^[1] and when Peter was urging believing women among the Gentiles to practice the virtues of humility, chastity and modesty, he remembered our mother Sarah with due praise.

Is it true that such spouses do not think about the things of the Lord, how they might please him? They are very rare. Who denies this?

The pure and united marriage of a man and woman speeds on toward the gates of heaven. For if they bear the image of conjunction by which the church is mystically conjoined to Christ as his bride, they can pray that they will be elevated to a position equal to that of the church. Peter enjoins obedience on wives and tells husbands to bear patiently with them. . . . He also shows that there is another reason for being patient, which is so that their prayers will not be hindered. For nothing hinders the work of God like trouble in the home.

The head can easily corrupt the members of the body, but Peter addresses himself to the latter first, lest it be thought that the lesser might somehow despise the greater. But then he goes on to exhort the greater to treat the lesser members properly. This means, first, husbands must respect the times set aside for prayer and fasting and not demand their marital rights if these are going to be a distraction from other things. Second, men must accept that they are stronger than their wives and therefore have a duty to protect them. Third, both parties are heirs of eternal life which God gives by grace, not by any merit which we may possess, and we do well to remember that It depends not on man’s will or exertion, but on God’s mercy.^[1]

What Peter demanded of wives he now demands of husbands as well, for husbands must find out what God wants and give honor to the weaker vessel. If we abstain from intercourse we honor one another, but if we do not abstain, it is obvious that the intercourse, which we have is contrary to the demands of honor. Sexual intercourse is a barrier to prayer, as Paul also implied.^[1] This means that whenever I have intercourse I cannot pray. But if we are supposed to pray without ceasing, as Paul also said, it is obvious that I can never have sexual intercourse, because if I do so I shall have to interrupt my prayers.

Peter, as the head of the church, calls everyone to unite in harmony, whether they are secular rulers and peasants, princes of the church and monks, or husbands and wives. The same basic principles apply to them all.

Here Peter moves on from husband and wife and sets out the law of love for everyone. Every virtue is based on it—compassion, mercy, humility, and so on.

Peter has already taught that different persons, classes and sexes must live together. Here he exhorts them all to be united with one heart and mind in the cause of the faith of our Lord.

Peter now moves on to give general advice to everyone. There was no need for him to target specific groups, since what he says here applies equally to all. This is the law of love, from which every virtue derives.

Of course you should not return evil for good or cursing for blessing either, though some people do. A Christian is called to the exact opposite behavior!

What is humility? It is to bear the insults of others, to accept sins against oneself, to bear punishments. Indeed this is not just humility, but prudence as well.

Peter forbids us to return evil for evil and even commands us to bless those who harm us, but he also reminds us by quoting Psalm 34:12-16 that God keeps an eye on both the good and the bad and will reward us in eternity for the kindness which we show when we choose to do good to those who persecute us. Furthermore, he will also punish our persecutors if they do not repent, but if they do repent we shall also receive a crown of thanksgiving, because we have prayed to the Lord for their salvation.

Peter is referring here to those who want to be eternal and incorruptible.

Guile elicits falsehood, deception, hypocrisy, and slanders which are untrue. It is the friend of the enemy of truth, that is, Satan, the father of lies. Believers are advised to avoid his influence and to prefer the things of God, who is truth.

James also said: If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.^[1] It is a great thing to be able to control the tongue, for failure to do so is the greatest of evils.

The present is evil, but the future is bright. We should always remember that.

Exhortations and encouragements to godliness are of fundamental importance. It is essential to turn away from the tendency toward evil and from the evil path of acquiescence in wickedness, so as to reach out to what is good. We must first distance ourselves completely from everything evil if we want to enjoy genuine health, free from all disease. The person who seeks peace seeks Christ, for he is our peace, who made us both—Jew and Gentile—one new man, bringing peace by the blood of his cross. He will find it through faith, because our God and Father has called us to this inheritance.

These things do not come naturally to us, for bad thoughts are always entering our minds. But if a man is wise, he will put them aside and in their place choose thoughts which will be advantageous and profitable for him. This, I believe, is what it means to turn away from evil.

Here Peter is referring to the many different ways in which the Holy Spirit observes us.

The Lord will accept those who repent but will punish those who remain in their sins.

It is not those who are still in their sins who are worthy of such divine oversight, but those who have been cleansed from them. The phrase the eyes of God is a metaphor for those divine powers which see everything. It is they who watch over the righteous, but his ears are also ready to hear their prayers. If you want to enjoy this experience, however, you must first turn your eyes away from evil. God never distances himself from the righteous. Whenever the hand of a righteous man does mercy, it has the eye of God watching over it. And whenever his tongue prays, it inclines the divine ear to hear, as for example the prayer of Cornelius was rewarded.^[1]

If you love the good, you will suffer no loss, because whatever you may be deprived of in this world, you will never lose God, who is the true Good.

Who can prevent you from being blessed, for the Scriptures say that no one can take our joy from us.^[1]

Peter is speaking here of things like abuse, damage and bodily injury which come to us from our enemies. These and similar things are the common lot of believers, both because they are good imitators of Christ and because they know that such things, far from doing them any harm, actually bring glory to those who endure them with patience. At the same time, harm does in fact come to those who do such things, because they are storing up eternal punishment for themselves.

No one can harm a person who does not do evil himself. Peter shows that trials which come from the Gentiles cannot harm those who live according to virtue. On the contrary, they turn those who endure them into blessed people.

Not only does Peter say that believers will not suffer any harm for being persecuted, but they will even be blessed. Here he repeats what Jesus said: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.^[1]

This is just what the Lord’s Prayer says: Hallowed be your name.^[1]

We must be so well instructed in the knowledge of our faith that whenever anyone asks us about it we may be able to give them a proper answer and to do so with meekness and in the fear of God. For whoever says anything about God must do so as if God himself were present to hear him.

The apostle tells us to be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks us for an explanation of our faith, because if an unbeliever asks me a reason for my faith and hope and I perceive that he cannot accept it unless he believes, I give him that very reason, so that he may see how absurd it is for him to ask a reason for things which he cannot grasp until he believes.

The one who decides to do this is not doing anything new, nor is he making up some new explanation. Rather he is making clear to those who ask him what his faith in Christ is all about.

Just as magnifying God cannot add anything to his greatness and glorifying him does not make him any more glorious, so sanctifying the Lord does not mean that there is any addition to his existing holiness. Rather we are called to sanctify him in our hearts, and if we form a clear understanding of his holiness, then we do not sanctify him on one occasion only, but rather by doing this we have a better understanding of what his holiness is and something of it is implanted in our hearts. Likewise someone who magnifies God receives a share of his greatness, and someone who glorifies him is glorified in turn. It is a prophetic voice which says that there should be no fear in you which might prevent you from confessing Christ in your hearts. You should sanctify him there also. For this confession is sanctification both for the soul and for the body. Some people wonder why the Savior said: Do not worry about what you will say,^[1] but here the apostle writes: Be ready to give an explanation. However, there is no contradiction. Jesus was speaking about bearing witness, whereas Peter is talking about teaching others the faith.

What does it mean to sanctify God in your heart if not to love that holiness of his which is beyond understanding, in the innermost depths of your heart? Think what strength to overcome all enemies God gives to those from whose hearts his holiness shines forth.

Do not get angry or threaten anyone. Your conscience is the part of you which embraces what is good and which rejects evil. It is like the doorkeeper of a house which is open to friends and closed to enemies.

Act in such a way that those who revile you because they cannot see your faith and your hope for a heavenly reward may see your good works and be put to shame by them, because they cannot deny that what you are doing is good. For it is quite certain, my brothers, that those who despise your good behavior will be put to shame when the last judgment comes and they see you crowned along with Christ, while they are condemned along with the devil.

Everyone who lies acts unjustly, and if lying ever seems to be useful to someone, it may be that injustice sometimes seems useful to him. But in fact injustice is never useful, and lying always does harm.

Once again, Peter exhorts us not to grieve over unjust suffering, if that is God’s will for us. He teaches us that we suffer for the specific purpose of being trained for what we are meant to be according to the mercy of God.

There are two benefits to be gained from unjust suffering. First, the righteous person who suffers grows in righteousness as a result of his patience. Second, the sinner who is spared in this way may be converted by seeing someone else suffer on his behalf.

This is said in relation to our faith. In other words, Christ is brought to life in our spirits.

Again Peter expounds Christ’s death and resurrection. Notice how he proclaims the mystery to us. For by saying that he died in the flesh and that he was made alive again in the Spirit, what he is really saying is that he died for the sake of our flesh, which is under the power of corruption, but that he rose again as God, for the word spirit means God in this instance.

The righteous person suffers for the salvation of others, just as Christ did. This is why Peter mentions our Lord’s example, since Christ did not die for his own sins but for ours. This is the point he makes by adding the righteous for the unrighteous. For as the prophet long ago foretold, Christ did not sin at all. Furthermore, in order to emphasize the effectiveness and completeness of Christ’s sacrifice, Peter adds the key word once. So great was his passion that however often human beings may sin, that one act of suffering is sufficient to take away all our transgressions.

They did not see his form, but they heard the sound of his voice.

Christ descended into hell in order to acquaint the patriarchs and prophets with his redeeming mission.

If the passage about John the Baptist not being worthy to untie Jesus’ shoes^[1] possesses a hidden meaning, we ought not to pass over it. I think that the incarnation, when the Son of God takes on flesh and bones, is one of the shoes, and the descent into hell is the other. It is said in Psalm 16: You will not leave my soul in hell. And Peter, in his general epistle, mentions Jesus’ descent into hell. Therefore the one who can show the meaning of both sojourns in a worthy manner is able to unloose Jesus’ shoes.

Here Peter answers the question which some objectors have raised, namely, if the incarnation was so beneficial, why was Christ not incarnated for such a long time, given that he went to the spirits which were in prison and preached to them also? In order to deliver all those who would believe, Christ taught those who were alive on earth at the time of his incarnation, and these others acknowledged him when he appeared to them in the lower regions, and thus they too benefited from his coming. Going in his soul, he preached to those who were in hell, appearing to them as one soul to other souls. When the gatekeepers of hell saw him, they fled; the bronze gates were broken open, and the iron chains were undone. And the only-begotten Son shouted with authority to the suffering souls, according to the word of the new covenant, saying to those in chains: Come out! and to those in darkness: Be enlightened. In other words, he preached to those who were in hell also, so that he might save all those who would believe in him. For both those who were alive on earth during the time of his incarnation and those who were in hell had a chance to acknowledge him. The greater part of the new covenant is beyond nature and tradition, so that while Christ was able to preach to all those who were alive at the time of his appearing and those who believed in him were blessed, so too he was able to liberate those in hell who believed and acknowledged him, by his descent there. However, the souls of those who practiced idolatry and outrageous ungodliness, as well as those who were blinded by fleshly lusts, did not have the power to see him, and they were not delivered.

That the dead might know salvation,

who in limbo long had dwelt,

Into hell with love he entered;

to him yield the broken gates

As the bolts and massive hinges

fall asunder at his word.

Now the door of ready entrance,

but forbidding all return

Outward swings as bars are loosened

and sends forth the prisoned souls

By reversal of the mandate,

treading its threshold once more. HYMNS 9.70-75.

Forgiveness was not granted to everyone in hell, but only to those who believed and acknowledged Christ. Those who cleansed themselves from evil by doing good works while they were alive recognized him, for until he appeared in the lower regions everyone, including those who had been educated in righteousness, was bound by the chains of death and was awaiting his arrival there, for the way to paradise was closed to them because of Adam’s sin. Nevertheless, not everyone who was in the lower regions responded to Christ when he went there, but only those who believed in him.

The academician Caesarius asked me whether the chains of all the souls in hell were cut off when Christ went down there or not. I said that they were. How can that be, he said. Was Judas also set free? Yes, I said. For when the king of all is present, it is not possible for the tyrant and his servant, I mean death, to retain their captives any longer. So what did the Lord do? He died. He preached the way which leads to eternal salvation on earth, and to all who were in hell, so that they might believe in the Father and in him, who became man and died for us and who went down into hell by the power of the Holy Spirit. And those who believed he brought back with him, but those who did not believe, he cast back again into their previous state. . . . Did he also preach to Judas and give him a chance to repent? I said that I did not think so, for it is superfluous to preach to someone who already knows the truth. Not only had Judas been instructed in the mystery and accepted it, but he had even preached it to others and been considered worthy to receive divine grace, so that he could drive out demons and heal the sick. Later on he fell away by his own choice. Do not tell me that he did evil unwillingly, for no Christian does that. Even Judas never blamed others for his betrayal but recognized that it was his own fault.

God is so good that he even works his salvation by means of patient instruction.

The question which you put to me about the spirits in hell is one which disturbs me profoundly. . . . What troubles me most is why only those who were imprisoned in the days of Noah should deserve this benefit. Think of all the others who have died since Noah’s time and whom Jesus could have found in hell. The meaning must be that the ark of Noah is a picture of the church, and so those who were imprisoned in his days represent the entire human race. In hell Christ rebuked the wicked and consoled the good, so that some believed to their salvation and others disbelieved to their damnation.

By pointing out that only eight people were saved from the flood, Peter reminds us that in comparison to the large numbers of Jews, heretics and unbelievers which there are in the world, the number of God’s chosen ones is very small. As Jesus said: The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.^[1]

Someone might easily ask: Who preached salvation before Christ, so that those who did not believe in him should be condemned? The answer to this, which Paul also adopted, is that those who lived before Christ had enough light given to them to enable them to distinguish good from evil. Because of this, if they chose to do evil, they are worthy of condemnation. Therefore Peter reminds us that they were rebellious, not merely from the time of the prophets but long before that, virtually from the creation of the world in fact. As he demonstrates, the way of salvation was proclaimed to them from the beginning, but they spurned it and preferred to go after vanities of one kind or another. The result was that of all the millions of people who lived at that time, only eight were saved, because they alone believed the message which they heard.

Peter showed and vindicated the unity of the church by commanding and warning that we can be saved only through the baptism of the one church. Just as in that baptism of the world by which the ancient iniquity was purged, the one who was not in the ark could not be saved through water, so now anyone who has not been baptized in the church cannot be saved, for the church has been founded in the unity of the Lord, as the sacrament of the one ark.

If some people have the worst consciences, full of every fault and crime, unchanged by penance for their evil deeds, baptism nevertheless saves them, for on the basis of the foundation which is laid in baptism they will be saved, even if it is through fire.

The water of the flood is a type of baptism because it both punished evil people and saved the good, just as baptism expels evil spirits and saves those who turn to Christ. This shows the great power of baptism, and how much we need it.

The angels are the first rank in the hierarchy of perfection, the authorities are the second, and the powers are the third.

Just as all rational creatures are made by the Son of God, who is the Word, or Reason, so too is their salvation brought about by him. For those who possess holiness not by nature but by grace, because they are creatures, must be cleansed by him in order to obtain goodness.

While the strength of the angelic legions that waited on Christ was held in check, he drank the cup of sorrow and death, thereby transforming the entire affliction into triumph. Deceptions were overcome, and the powers of evil were suppressed.

Look how clearly the dispensation of grace is set out for us. Peter recalls Christ’s death and resurrection and then goes on to mention his ascension as well, and the fact that he sits at the right hand of the Father, lest you imagine that when he suffered he lost something of his glory.

There can be no doubt that the angels and the powers of heaven were always subject to the Son of God, but Peter wants to stress that the humanity which that Son assumed has also been taken up into that glory, so that now it is greater than any angelic dignity or power.

The Christians of Carthage have an excellent name for the sacraments, when they say that baptism is “salvation,” and the sacrament of the body of Christ is “life.” This was derived from that primitive and apostolic Tradition by which the churches of Christ maintain it to be an inherent principle that without baptism and partaking of the supper of the Lord it is impossible for any man to attain the kingdom of God or salvation and everlasting life. So does Scripture testify.

When we speak of within and without in relation to the Church, it is the position of the heart that we must consider, not of the body. . . . All who are within [the Church] in heart are saved in the unity of the ark [by baptism of desire].