Ammonius of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture

By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

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…

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.

Acts 3:16

And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

“And the faith which is through him.” This is said because someone is healed through the faith that is directed to Christ. For it is necessary that the faith of both concur, that is, the faith of the one healed and the faith of the one praying over the sick person. This we see in the case of the paralytic and the woman with the flow of blood.

Acts 6:6

Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

It is to be noted that the ordination comes by the word of the leaders through their prayer and the imposition of their hands, and that the rank of deacons was given to deacons from the beginning, and that this custom has been observed until now.

Acts 10:4

And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.

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.

Acts 10:26

But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.

If such a man as Peter did not allow him to kneel down before him but rather made himself an equal of Cornelius, and he said these things to one who was still a Gentile, what must we say about all other people?

Acts 10:28

And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

We must note that God himself ordered the Christian people not to call anyone common or unclean but to associate with them as those who hope most of all for faith in Christ.

Acts 13:1

Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

“And Manaean, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch.” Behold the customs of each of them: not even the fact of being brought up together saves them both. See how absolutely evil Herod was, for he did not want to be converted. But his foster brother Manaean certainly changed a great deal, because he was considered worthy of the gift of prophecy.

Acts 13:2

As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

It must be noticed that the Holy Spirit does not speak to those who happen to be there by chance but to those who serve him and observe fasting. And it must be noticed again that they did not lay hands on the deacons at random but on those who were previously fasting and praying.

Acts 13:39

And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

It should be noticed that those who believe in Christ are justified and obtain absolution from their sin. In fact, the law of Moses was not unjust. Rather, it was difficult and able to justify only those who had followed the entire law perfectly. Therefore it was clearly incapable of correcting people because the one who had fallen into a single crime was made guilty of all. Thus the law was not able to justify. And, since the law itself was incapable of justifying anyone, its inability to correct made people incapable of being justified by the precepts of the law.

Acts 13:46

Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

Therefore God declares that nothing is unworthy of salvation or of entering the kingdom, nor, on the contrary, does he judge that humankind deserves damnation. Rather, we judge ourselves, through our freely committed malice, to be unworthy of eternal life and worthy of eternal damnation. Therefore the judgment is in ourselves as well as the lot of our future state.

Acts 13:50

But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.

“Honest rich women,” the text says, “and pious,” but not faithful. They certainly were Greek-Jewish women. In fact they, being most evil and imitators of the archevil demon and transgressor, endeavor through women to close to men the way of salvation, just as that one closed paradise to men through Eve until the proper time. But the divine Jesus opens it again for those who believe in his name and also allowed them to enter there, the first of whom entered with him as a thief.

Acts 14:2

But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.

They caused an uprising against the faithful. The Jews joined forces with the Greeks so that what was said in the psalm might be fulfilled: “Why do the nations clamor and peoples devise plans in vain?” when, all the while, the faithful, throughout all their exhortations, kept calling them brothers when they said, “My brothers.” And in the same manner, the psalm, speaking for Christ, also prophesied about the Lord as doing and saying this very thing, “I will declare your name to my brothers.”

Acts 14:6

They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:

It is not odd that the saints flee from those intending to attack them. Nor, because of this, do they appear to flee from the martyr’s battle.

Acts 14:12

And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.

In the writers of ancient stories you can find that Jove, even though he was a man, made himself a god and said that he was a god, just as many Roman and Macedonian kings styled themselves gods. There one ought to believe in what was said long ago about this, namely, that some were misled and called certain persons gods. Consequently these too were misled in regard to Barnabas and Paul.… Barnabas’s followers, in order to close their mouths and to instruct them gently, kept saying, “No one has ever seen God.” We are what we look like, not gods but human. In Jesus alone it happened that he was God and man at the same time for the principle of union. But in this case, these were only men who performed miracles through the Holy Spirit.

Acts 15:2

When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

It is to be noted that the early believers, with much searching and great eagerness, discussed dogmas, and that they benefited to such an extent through their discussions and that the Antiochians did not hesitate to send [someone] to Jerusalem to inquire about the controversy. And yet their inquiry was not, in the first place, about the Godhead, or the providential incarnation of the Son, or the Holy Spirit, or angels, or powers, or heaven, or anything like this, but about circumcision, about the least part of a man’s genitals. They were aware of the fact that the words “a single iota and a single point of the law” were full of a great spiritual meaning. The Antiochian disciples were afraid to take authority, but they took so much thought even for questions that seemed to be trifling, seeing that those from Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to consult those in Jerusalem, while the disciples from Jerusalem sent Judah and Silas back to Antioch with their letters.

Acts 16:15

And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

Observe that instruction came first, and then, after the disciples heard the word, baptism followed. But if someone dares to say, “Behold! God saves only those whom he wants to save, he has compassion on and opens only the hearts of those he wants,” as if he were seeking to assign to God the reason why we are either saved or not saved, so that he can say that God is responsible—if he says, “Look, see how he opened the heart of Lydia,” we must reply to him, “Search the Scripture,” for he who does not search does not find what he requires. How do we say that what is said about Cornelius is by the grace of God? We answer that God opens the door to those who live a righteous life but err about faith because of the error transmitted to them by their fathers. And so Lydia too worshiped God but did not know the way in which she had to be saved, which God revealed to her through the true teaching. Therefore the text says “she was a worshiper of God.” On the other hand, if God does not open the heart of someone, he does not open it because that person is impious and receives his words in vain…

Observe that instruction came first, and then, after the disciples heard the word, baptism followed. But if someone dares to say, “Behold! God saves only those whom he wants to save, he has compassion on and opens only the hearts of those he wants,” as if he were seeking to assign to God the reason why we are either saved or not saved, so that he can say that God is responsible—if he says, “Look, see how he opened the heart of Lydia,” we must reply to him, “Search the Scripture,” for he who does not search does not find what he requires. How do we say that what is said about Cornelius is by the grace of God? We answer that God opens the door to those who live a righteous life but err about faith because of the error transmitted to them by their fathers. And so Lydia too worshiped God but did not know the way in which she had to be saved, which God revealed to her through the true teaching. Therefore the text says “she was a worshiper of God.” On the other hand, if God does not open the heart of someone, he does not open it because that person is impious and receives his words in vain. For even if someone should establish the word of God through manifest proofs, just as the apostles did through signs and wonders, while he, still desiring to be a slave to his passions and wickedness, rejects the word, he is responsible for himself. In fact, God never aids someone in evil, but because of his love of goodness he joins anyone in approving what is noble. But as for what is evil, he allows each to walk in his desires: each may live for whatever he wishes.

Acts 16:16

And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:

It should be noted that Christ was announced through demons, in which the Gentiles were believing. It was also these that gave witness and said that the apostles were servants of God, that their preaching was saving and that Jesus was God and not a mere man. That was the proclamation of the ones concerning Paul and Silas.… After the demon had repeatedly testified that the message of the apostles was saving, Paul ordered him to come out in order to demonstrate to those who believed him, that every believer was stronger than the demon, and to show that each had power both to allow the demon to stay as one subject to the believer and to release him. See how powerful the words of the servants of Christ were: as soon as they gave a command, the demons came out.

Acts 16:23 · 2 passages

And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:

This is Stephen whom Paul mentions in the first letter to the Corinthians.

“They ordered the jailer to keep them securely.” Since they knew their virtue, they deceived themselves by saying, “Keep them securely.” But by doing so they testified that they were not ordinary but great men who had the power to do, through the Lord, whatever they wanted.

Acts 16:25

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

They followed the psalmist, who says, “At midnight I will rise to confess to you.”