1 Peter 3:15Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

This does not move the Gentiles to condemn their own errors. If they, stubborn in falsehood, do everything to cover the shame of their false teachings, while we, servants of the truth, cannot even open our mouths for its sake, how will they not condemn us for weakness in our confession?

How will they not suspect us of deception and error? How will they not blaspheme Christ as a hypocrite and deceiver, who used the ignorance of simple people for deception?

We are guilty of such blasphemy whenever we do not wish to labor in learning our faith, but consider this work superfluous and care only for earthly things.

Some lover of a dancer, runner, or beast-fighter makes every effort not to yield when contending about them. He lavishes praises on them, defends them against those who reproach them, and strikes opponents with a thousand insults.

But when it is time to speak in defense of Christianity, everyone lowers his eyes to the ground, scratches himself, yawns, and withdraws in ridicule.

What indignation does this deserve, when Christ appears among you lower than a dancer? You gather thousands of arguments in defense of what is done for a dancer, ignoring that such people are most contemptible.

Yet in defense of Christ's miracles, which drew the whole inhabited world, you do not even wish to think about anything or take the least care.

We believe in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the resurrection of bodies, and in eternal life.

Now, if some Gentile asks, "Who is this Father? Who is the Son? Who is the Holy Spirit?" or, "How do you yourselves acknowledge three gods and yet accuse us of polytheism?" what will you say?

What answer will you give? How will you repel such an objection?

And what if, while you are silent, another question is proposed to you: What is this resurrection? Shall we rise again in this body, or in another?

If in this one, why must it be destroyed? What will you say to this?

And if they also ask: Why did Christ come now, and not earlier? Did He only now wish to care for people, while during all the rest of time He had no care for us?

What if, besides this, they begin to inquire about many other things?

But we have no need to propose further questions and leave them unresolved, lest by this we harm simpler people. What we have said is enough to drive sleep away from you.

Indeed, what if you are examined in these matters, and you are not even able to listen to such words?

Tell me, will we undergo a small punishment if we become the cause of such errors for people sitting in darkness?

If you had enough leisure, I would like to show all of you a book written against us by one godless pagan philosopher, and another by one older than he, in order to rouse you and draw you away from such inactivity.

If they are so wakeful in their accusations against us, can we deserve any forgiveness if we do not know how to repel their attacks?

Why then have we been brought into the Church? Do you not hear what the Apostle says: "Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and reverence"?

Paul also teaches the same, saying: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Col 3:16).

What will those who are more senseless than drones say to this? "Blessed is every simple soul," and again, "He who walks blamelessly walks securely" (Prov 10:9).

Is not every evil caused by the fact that many do not even know how to cite the testimonies of Scripture appropriately?

The wise man in this passage is not speaking of a stupid person, nor of one who knows nothing, but of a person without malice, not cunning, and prudent.

If it were otherwise, it would have been said in vain: "Be wise as serpents and simple as doves" (Mt 10:16).

But why should we enlarge upon this, when this word leads nowhere?

Besides what has now been said, we do nothing else that pertains to life and activity. In every respect we are miserable people and worthy of ridicule.

We are always ready to accuse one another. But to correct that in which we ourselves are guilty and subject to reproof, we are always slow.

Therefore I beseech you: do not limit yourselves merely to mutual accusation. This is not enough to propitiate God.

Let us strive to show in all things a change for the better, so that we may live to the glory of God and ourselves enjoy the glory to come.

May we all be able to attain it by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The words “ready to give an answer,” and so forth, must be joined with the words about showing good conduct, that is, having a good conscience. For when you do this with meekness and propriety, you yourselves will be assured that you have a good conscience.

You will also put to shame those who think evil of you.

The apostle commands the faithful man always to be ready to give an account of the faith. Whenever we are asked about the faith, we should always be able to answer readily, and to do this with meekness.

Everything, in general, should be done as if in the presence of God Himself. For in the presence of his master, no prudent servant is insolent.

The benefit of this is that unbelievers will learn what we are like and will be just toward us.

It should be observed that these words of the apostle do not contradict the saying of the Lord. When the Lord says that, when we are led before rulers and authorities, we should not be anxious about what to answer (Lk 21:14), He is speaking about witness.

The apostle Peter, however, is speaking about teaching. For whoever thinks that he knows something without understanding and examination brings blasphemy upon himself. The knowledge of the unwise consists of unexamined words.

Another explanation is this. Since we were accused of many transgressions, and our hopes were represented as vain, the apostle commands us to prepare thoughtful answers and to have a praiseworthy life. This he calls conscience.

For it was a very great thing that, when kings were seated and provincial governors and commanders stood by, when swords were drawn and all were ready to stand together, men almost as mute as fish could utter a word.

They had entered bound and bowed down to the earth. Therefore, some rightly make use of divine help, while others are instructed not to surrender to the sleep of ignorance. For disciples of Wisdom must be wise.

To sanctify God in the heart means to make our heart a temple of the most holy God. It must be such that He may dwell and live in it. He must be the greatest holy thing of our heart.

No impure thought and no sinful desire must dare to defile or touch it. Then a man is truly united to the most holy Being, God, and partakes of His holiness.

Therefore, just as one who magnifies God inwardly partakes of His majesty, and as the contemplation of God’s glory serves to glorify the one who contemplates it (Ex 34:29), so the sanctification of God in the heart communicates holiness to the human heart.

“Ready always to give an answer” (πρὸς ἀπολογίαν). The position of Christians among Jews and adherents of ancestral religion in apostolic times gave many occasions for questions about Christian hope.

National and Jewish authorities met the courageous resolve of Christians to endure everything for their beliefs, even to die for them. In amazement, they asked about the reasons for such, as they thought, mad resolve, and about their hopes in the life beyond the grave.

Christians had to disclose to their questioners that their readiness for torment was not madness. It had a firm foundation in the promises of Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, the virtuous life of Christians, and again their disregard for sufferings, could dispose unbelievers to accept Christianity. It was necessary to show these people also the expectations of the Christian faith.

Thus the apostle’s counsel to be ready to give an answer is a call to suffer for Christ. It is also an invitation to spread the preaching of Christ.

This sanctification of the Lord in the heart gives a lofty disposition to a person's spiritual life in general. At the same time, it is the best protection against fear before any kind of terror, and against sufferings from evil and impious men.

For this reason the Apostle and the Prophet place these sayings in such close mutual connection. He who sanctifies the Lord in his heart is a stranger to fear before everything except God alone.

The fear of the Lord casts out every fear before men and the calamities caused by them.

With the inward sanctification of God in the heart there must be joined the outward confession of Him before men: "always be ready," and so forth.

Freedom from fear before men does not exclude, but includes, the moral duty always to be ready to give an answer concerning the Christian's faith, or hope.

"To everyone who asks": the Lord forbade giving what is holy to dogs and casting pearls before swine (Mt 7:6; cf. note). Therefore the word "everyone" in the passage under consideration seems to need limitation.

One need not be ready to give an answer to every unbeliever or mocker who asks about the faith only to deride it and the believer. It is completely useless to speak with such a person.

But the Apostle speaks chiefly about those who demand an account because they truly wish to know the foundations and objects of the faith.

Nevertheless, a general instruction is given. Its application to particular cases in life is left to the prudence of each believer, according to the measure of his Christian understanding.

"The Apostle commands the faithful person always to be ready to give an account of the faith, so that whenever we are asked about the faith, we may always be able to answer easily.

We must do this with meekness, as also everything in general, as if in the presence of God Himself.

It should be noted that these words of the Apostle do not contradict the Lord's saying, when the Lord says that when we are brought before rulers and authorities, we should not be anxious about what to answer (Lk 21:14).

There the Lord speaks about testimony, but the Apostle Peter speaks about teaching" (Theophylact).

"An account of the hope that is in you": hope, according to the Apostle (cf. note on 1 Pet 1:3, 13), constitutes an essential distinguishing quality of true spiritual Christian life.

It is the goal of regeneration, the center of all spiritual saving blessings, and the seed of Christian life.

It is hope for blessedness in the Kingdom of Christ. This hope animates the Christian in every aspect and in the whole of his activity.

Without it, this activity would be dead, or even impossible. But when this hope is strong, his will is able to overcome every obstacle on the path to attaining the Christian's highest goal.

This hope is founded on faith and is closely united with it. Therefore to give an answer to those who ask about this hope means to give an answer about the foundations of this hope in faith.

Consequently, it means to speak about the objects of faith, and therefore about faith in general, in the broad sense of the word.

For such hope and faith the first Christians were so often persecuted. This hope made them so unshakably firm in faith.

"To give an answer": the foundations of this hope, or the objects of faith on which it rests, must be known to the Christian. Therefore he must be ready, when necessary, to set them forth.

The Apostle is not speaking about disputes or debates, but simply about an answer. Of course, these are not excluded if the Lord has granted someone deeper knowledge than others about the objects of faith and hope.

One or another form of answer in this matter is left to the Christian prudence of each person questioned. Yet the Apostle obliges everyone questioned to give an answer with meekness and reverence.

Meekness is a moral quality opposed to arrogance and conceit, which are out of place in the mouth of one defending Christian truth, or simply setting it forth in answer to questions.

Reverence means reverence before God, before whom the person questioned sets forth or defends revealed truth. It also means reverence toward the truth itself, as divine truth.

Let the one who hears be filled with reverence for God and glorify Him. This is how many Christian martyrs acted. By their God-fearing confession of faith and hope in the Lord Savior, they converted many to faith in Christ.

Both fear of men and indifference toward them must be equally foreign to a Christian heart.

What is it to sanctify God in the heart? It is ceaselessly to stand in reverence before Him, always bearing in the mind the thought of His omnipresence.

It is to be zealous with all zeal, every moment, to be pleasing before Him, and with all fear to beware of everything displeasing to Him. Above all, it is to entrust one’s whole life to His fatherly care, both temporal and eternal.

It is to receive everything that happens humbly, obediently, and gratefully, as coming directly from His hand.