II Peter 2 · The Lantern

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who secretly shall bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

And every prophet that speaketh in the Spirit ye shall neither try nor judge; for every sin shall be forgiven, but this sin shall not be forgiven. But not every one that speaketh in the Spirit is a prophet; but only if he hold the ways of the Lord. Therefore from their ways shall the false prophet and the prophet be known.

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their obscene ways, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.

By false teachers the apostle means the like-minded followers of Nicolaus and Cerinthus, and by the name of prophecy, commonly attributed to both prophets and false teachers, he warns the faithful not to heed false prophets. What the difference is between the one and the other, Paul taught when he said that no one calls Jesus Lord "except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:3).

And many shall follow their sensuality; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

They revile the way of truth because they have turned orthodox doctrine into heresy, or because they have rejected the rule given to them at their baptism, or because they have abandoned the way of truth.

The heresy of the Nicolaitans had already appeared at that time. Peter says that it was evil in two ways. The Nicolaitans were wrong in their doctrine, and they were also wicked in their behavior. It reminds us of what was said about the Jews: "Because of you my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles."

And many will follow their debaucheries, etc. The way of truth will be blasphemed by heretics not only in those whom they draw out to associate with their heresy, but also in those whom by their most impure deeds and sacrifices, or the execrable mysteries they perform, they provoke to hatred of the Christian name, those who are unskilled thinking all Christians to be entangled…

And through greed shall they with fabricated words exploit you: whose judgment now of a long time is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

The destruction of these people comes from none other than the God of Israel, who is never idle or asleep.

Their judgment has not ceased long ago. When 'long ago' signifies a past time and 'has not ceased' is a word in the present tense, it seems to mean nothing else but that the judgment of the perdition of the impious, which has already long begun, continually torments them presently and will never cease with any end.

By the word "covetousness" he shows that they acquire gain in a shameful manner. For covetousness sometimes means injustice, and sometimes the baseness of acquisition in general. That is why the word "exploit" is fittingly used. To show that they are completely foreign to divine teaching, he says that they use flattering words.

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved to judgment;

And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and saw much blood being shed upon the earth, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the earth. And they said one to another: 'The earth made without inhabitant cries the voice of their cryingst up to the gates of heaven.

When Christ came from heaven, he bound the leaders of the demons in hell. This is clear from the way in which he commanded the spirits, lest they be thrown into the abyss. For he bound some and ordered others to depart, as we can see from sayings like "Look, I have given you power over unclean spirits"; "Cast out demons," and so on.

Not without reason does the apostle begin with believers, who are more honorable, but he wishes to show that they are liable to greater condemnation for their sins. They have the advantage of being the first called to apostleship. Therefore, for going astray from the right path they will also be subject to greater condemnation.

And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those that after should live ungodly;

And delivered just Lot, troubled with the filthy conduct of the wicked:

(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, troubled his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished:

So, then, brethren, having received no small occasion to repent, while we have opportunity, let us turn to God who called us, while yet we have One to receive us. For if we renounce these indulgences and conquer the soul by not fulfilling its wicked desires, we shall be partakers of the mercy of Jesus.

The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, etc. He says the unjust are reserved for punishment on the day of judgment, not because they do not suffer torment for their merits even before the day of judgment, freed from the body, but because greater torments await them in judgment when, having received their body back, they will be punished, who are now tormente…

Piety avails for avoiding all evils. Whence blessed Peter says: "The Lord knows how to deliver the pious from temptation, but to reserve the impious for torment unto the day of judgment." The impious are those who do not acknowledge divine piety.

But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise authority. Presumptuous are they, arrogant, they are not afraid to speak evil of glorious ones.

Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not blasphemous charge against them before the Lord.

Of this same thing in the Epistle of Peter: "As strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; but having a good conversation among the Gentiles, that while they detract from you as if from evildoers, yet, beholding your good works, they may magnify God."

Where angels, though greater in strength and power, do not bring a blasphemous judgment against themselves. When he says: Where, it signifies in that they despise dominion, that they are daring, that they are self-pleasing, that they create heresies, that is, sects, that they blaspheme.

Wishing to restrain them from such audacity, he says: whereas even angels, who surpass them in might and power, do not pronounce against them a reviling judgment before the Lord. The Apostle, as we have noted, says one and the same thing as the Apostle Jude; for he too, restraining those who are bold of tongue, persuades them by this very same example.

But these, as irrational animals, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

The inspired psalmist said this when he sang: "Man, when honored, had no understanding. He is like the beasts that perish." Although human beings had laws, their morals were irrational, and they soon degenerated into animals whose only end was destruction.

But these, like irrational animals naturally, etc. Just as it is natural for irrational animals to often ignorantly fall into traps and destruction out of the need for food, so heretics, compared to foolish beasts, out of a desire to fulfill their own corruption, blaspheming the incorrupt and sound doctrine of the Catholic Church and life, bind themselves with the snares of ete…

Some explained this thus: they will perish in their own corruption, like irrational animals born naturally, that is, differing in no way from cattle that are born for destruction alone. "Like irrational animals, led by nature," that is, living by sensuality alone, and not by mind and rational life.

And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes, reveling with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; enticing unsteady souls: a heart they have exercised with greedy practices; cursed children:

Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

But was rebuked for his iniquity: the mute donkey speaking with man’s voice forbade the madness of the prophet.

These are waterless springs, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

Peter calls these people dry springs—springs, because they have received knowledge of the Lord Christ, but dry, because they do not live in accordance with that knowledge.

They did not have the living word of the Spirit, the channel of delights which overflows to the glory of the nations. They were not clear-sighted like the saints. They were in some sense like clouds but more like "mists" covered in darkness and ignorance, for they were governed by an evil spirit.

Having inserted much into the middle of his discourse, including among other things the example of Balaam, the apostle again begins to speak about the impure Gnostics. He likens them to waterless springs, because they have lost the purity of preaching and the sweet water of life.

For when they speak loud boasts of folly, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much sensuality, those that were barely escaped from them who live in error.

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

For as the serpent beguiled Eve, by promising her what he had not himself, so also do these men, by pretending [to possess] superior knowledge, and [to be acquainted with] ineffable mysteries; and, by promising that admittance which they speak of as taking place within the Pleroma, plunge those that believe them into death, rendering them apostates from Him who made them.

These men promised people freedom from deception when in fact they were encouraging others to lapse back into it.

They themselves, he says, being slaves of the aforementioned impurity, which he rightly also called corruption, promise freedom to those they deceive. And as to why they promise freedom to others while themselves being slaves of sin, he brings forth a fine proof of this: whoever is overcome by any passion is also a slave to it. But this will be explained more fully further on.

For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.

But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mud.

There has appeared one, Noetus by name, and by birth a native of Smyrna. This person introduced a heresy from the tenets of Heraclitus. Now a certain man called Epigonus becomes his minister and pupil, and this person during his sojourn at Rome disseminated his godless opinion.

But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and a pig, having washed, to her rolling in the mud. For since a dog returns to its own vomit is more abominable.

He also adds a proverb confirming the same thing (Prov. 26:11). For even a dog returning to its own vomit becomes still more disgusting, just as a pig seeking to wash itself of filth, if it does so in filth itself, turns out even filthier than before.

II Peter2