E01960: Asterius of Amasea, in his Homily VIII, On the Apostles *Peter (S00036) and *Paul (S00008), delivered during a service celebrated on their feast, refers to the superiority of Peter over the Apostles *John (S00042), *James (son of Zebedee, S00108) and *Philip (S00109). Written in Greek in Amaseia/Amasea (northern Asia Minor), in the late 4th or early 5th c..

Asterius of Amasea, Homily VIII, On Peter and Paul (CPG 3260.1, BHG 1494)

1. (1.) Πᾶσαι μὲν αἱ συνήθεις αὗται καὶ κατὰ νόμον τελούμεναι τῶν μαρτύρων τιμαί, ἱεραὶ πανηγύρεις εἰσὶ καὶ τῶν κατὰ Θεὸν ἀνδραγαθησάντων στῆλαι διαιωνίζουσαι· ἐν αἷς οἱ πρόεδροι τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν, ὅταν εἰς τὸ λέγειν ἀφίκωνται, τὰς ἑαυτῶν δυνάμεις ἀντεξετάζοντες τῷ μεγέθει τῶν ὑποθέσεων εὐθὺς ἐν προοιμίοις εἰς τὴν συγγνώμην καὶ τὴν παραίτησιν καταφεύγουσιν καί φασιν ἐλαττοῦν τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων μεγαλοπρέπειαν τῇ τοῦ λόγου σμικρότητι. (2.) Εἰ δ’ ἐκεῖνοι τοὺς καθ’ ἕκαστον τῶν μαρτύρων ἐγκωμιάζειν μέλλοντες ἀπαγορεύουσι πρὸς τὸν ἔπαινον καὶ λαμπρᾷ τῇ φωνῇ τὴν σφῶν αὐτῶν ὁμολογοῦσιν ἀσθένειαν, τίς ἂν γενοίμην ἐγὼ σήμερον, ὁ τοὺς διδασκάλους τῶν μαρτύρων ἔχων προκειμένους εἰς εὐφημίαν, τοὺς γνησίους καὶ πρώτους μαθητὰς τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοὺς πατέρας τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν, τοὺς μόνους ἀξιοπίστους τοῦ εὐαγγελίου κήρυκας, τοὺς Θεῷ λαλήσαντας καὶ τὴν παρὰ Θεοῦ φωνὴν δεξαμένους ταῖς ἀκοαῖς;

‘1. All these regular celebrations of the martyrs, which are held according to custom, are sacred assemblies and monuments immortalising those who have excelled according to God. On them, the presidents of the Churches, when they are about to preach, compare their own strength to the greatness of the subject, and they straightway in their prefaces resort to apologies and resignation, claiming that they fall short of the magnificence of the matter by the littleness of their discourse. But if they shy away from praise and by a loud voice declare their own weakness, while about to give an encomium for each one of the martyrs, what should I do today, having as I do the teachers of the martyrs before me to praise, the true and first disciples of Christ, the fathers of the Churches, the only credible heralds of the Gospel, who spoke with God and received the voice of God into their own ears?’

The homily consists of two encomia, for Peter (1-16) and for Paul (17-34). Particularly interesting is paragraph 11, where the author argues for the superiority of Peter among all the disciples of Christ:

11. (1.) Ζηλωτὸς μὲν οὖν καὶ ὁ μέγας Ἰωάννης ἐπὶ τῶν τοῦ Κυρίου στέρνων ἀναπαυόμενος· μέγας καὶ Ἰάκωβος ὡς υἱὸς ὀνομασθεὶς βροντῆς· λαμπρὸς ἐν ταῖς τιμαῖς καὶ ὁ Φίλιππος, ὁ παρὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἁρπασθεὶς ἡνίκα τὸν Αἰθίοπα πρὸς τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐμυσταγώγησεν· ἀλλ’ ὅμως οἱ πάντες ὑποχωρείτωσαν Πέτρῳ καὶ δευτερεύειν ὁμολογείτωσαν, ὅταν ἡ τῶν χαρισμάτων σύγκρισις δοκιμάζῃ τὸν προτιμότερον.

‘So the great John who rests on the breast of the Lord is enviable; great is also James, who was called Son of Thunder; resplendent in his honours is also Philip, who was snatched away by the Spirit, when he initiated the Ethiopian into knowing the Saviour; but let all cede to Peter and confess that they fall short, when a comparison of graces judges who is more prominent.’

Text: Datema 1970.
Translation: E. Rizos.