Acts 10 And Peter

[GeorgeSword]

In Acts 10, Peter refuses the honour being given to him by the centurion. I’ve heard some Protestants say that this is in stark contrast with the Papacy of today, that is ‘wordly and in love with themselves’, as they put it. My usual response is to say that the problem was not with gesturing with respect with say, bowing or prostrating, which would have been much more common in St. Peter’s time and less esoteric than it is to us, but many translations, like the NAB, don’t use the word worship but instead say ‘honour’ or ‘give honour’. I don’t speak Greek so I really can’t say what is most accurate, and this damages my understanding of it. If anyone understands the Greek, what is the most accurate way of conveying it? What other arguments could/should I use?

 

[Eucharisted]

Acts 10
25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and, falling at his feet, paid him homage.
26 Peter, however, raised him up, saying, “Get up. I myself am also a human being.”

Revelation 22
8 It is I, John, who heard and saw these things, and when I heard and saw them I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me.
9 But he said to me, “Don’t! I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets and of those who keep the message of this book. Worship God.”

Matthew 2
10 They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
11 and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

 

[BerhaneSelassie]

I don’t speak Greek and from what I see in Acts 10 there is no real advantage here to it either since the Greek word is ambiguous as to whether its divine worship or veneration. The Greek word is προσεκύνησεν (prosekuneesen). And in the Bible that word in used for both honoring a king, prophet etc. and also for Divine worship.

The NAB reads
When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and, falling at his feet, paid him homage.—Acts 10:25

DRV:
And it came to pass, that when Peter was come in, Cornelius came to meet him, and falling at his feet adored.

Even the DRV is ambiguous since its a translation of adoravit, which is used in the Vulgate for honoring men and divine worship.God

But from the context it suggests divine worship, it appears Cornelius thought St Peter was divine:

Peter, however, raised him up, saying, “Get up. I MYSELF I AM ALSO A HUMAN BEING.”—Acts 10:26

The implication is Peter thought Cornelius thought Peter was God

 

[BerhaneSelassie]

The last was my understanding of Acts 10, there’s other ways of seeing.

What other arguments could/should I use?

The Pope does not demand honor be given him, but it should be done out of honor as he is a leader.

Consider the Prophet Elisha:

2 Kings 2:15—“And the disciples of the prophets who were in Jericho saw him from a distance, and they said, “Elijah’s spirit has rested on Elisha.” And they came toward him and prostrated themselves before him to the ground.”

Certainly the prophets were not “worldly”.

 

[Todd_Easton]

In Galatians 4:14, St. Paul praises the Galatian Christians for the respect they showed him:
and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.
If Catholics show similar respect to the bishop of Rome, how can they be blamed?

 

[Eucharisted]

In Galatians 4:14, St. Paul praises the Galatian Christians for the respect they showed him:
and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.
If Catholics show similar respect to the bishop of Rome, how can they be blamed?

Paul isn’t the Pope, although he is a bishop, and a bishop is a priest, and the priest works in the Person of Christ Jesus and is as high as the angel, which is why Paul praises them for giving him the proper honor.

 

[EnterCanaan]

Acts 10
25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and, falling at his feet, paid him homage.
26 Peter, however, raised him up, saying, “Get up. I myself am also a human being.”

Revelation 22
8 It is I, John, who heard and saw these things, and when I heard and saw them I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me.
9 But he said to me, “Don’t! I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets and of those who keep the message of this book. Worship God.”

Matthew 2
10 They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
11 and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The King James Version:

25And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and **worshipped **him.26But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.

8And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to **worship **before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. 9Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

The word is worshipped, and it is the same word in each verse. To clarify why the angel did not want worship and why he is a fellow servant is because all the worship is due to Christ, and just like Peter and Paul and John, the angel is also a creation of god, and creations are not due worship. There was one creation of God who wanted worship, and that is Satan as Satan elevated himself with Christ. This is rebellion against God, the angels knew it, Peter knew it, to seek worship is to elevate yourself to God. Satan was the one to do that and Satan was cast out.

Also the word angel can be correctly translated as messenger. Angels are messengers, just as Peter was a messenger, just as Christ was the Chief messenger. However Christ is not an angel, and Peter is not an angel, however they are all messengers. This word angel/messenger has been alltogether mis translated in many places. The angel, who is a messenger, is a fellow servant like Peter and John because they too are also messengers of the truth and also they are creations. In fact it could be said that while angels are in the heavenly places, only man was made in Gods image. We are actually elevated above angels as we were the creations made in His image, and not angels, however all of us are all messengers of righteousness proclaiming the truth of the Gospel. The highest praise is worship and the messege given is to worship Christ alone, as Christ is the creator. We worship our creator not creations. Angels and men are creations of God.

I hope this helps a little bit.

 

[BerhaneSelassie]

I do not take the view the Apostle, Prophet, the Beloved Disciple Saint John committed idolatry in both Revelation 19, 22, though many take this view, I find it highly unlikely since St John was knew Jesus personally and was His disciple. I do see Revelation as saying roughly “do not honor me, I am your equal” since you give honor to people who are greater or holier than you. There is no mistranslation in the word “angel” or “messenger” since in both Old and Testament the word tends to be sort of morphed together, for example Malachi and Jesus say the Prophet John the Baptist was “an angel.”

Man in His original state might be said to be “greater than the angels” however, since the Fall man has the tendency to do evil, whereas the angels of God do nor have that and they are sinless and holy.

The humans who we can say are “greater than angels” are Jesus (He is also God, and is sinless), His mother Mary (Because Gabriel greets her saying “Hail Graced One”, and hail is a term often in the NT used to greet for a superior) and possibly John the Baptist.

 

[Roman_Army]

In Acts 10, Peter refuses the honour being given to him by the centurion. I’ve heard some Protestants say that this is in stark contrast with the Papacy of today, that is ‘wordly and in love with themselves’, as they put it. My usual response is to say that the problem was not with gesturing with respect with say, bowing or prostrating, which would have been much more common in St. Peter’s time and less esoteric than it is to us, but many translations, like the NAB, don’t use the word worship but instead say ‘honour’ or ‘give honour’. I don’t speak Greek so I really can’t say what is most accurate, and this damages my understanding of it. If anyone understands the Greek, what is the most accurate way of conveying it? What other arguments could/should I use?

In Acts 10:26, given the nature of Peter’s reply and the fact that Cornelius was a Centurion it would seem that Cornelius was worshiping Peter as he would worship the Emperor or a Roman god’s statue. It was the custom of the Roman army for the soldiers to do some outward sign of worship to the Emperor and also worship and sacrifice to their statues and the statues of the gods. Remember, in those days Emperor themselves were considered gods in their own right. It also happened that frequently when the Apostles preached to the Gentiles they themselves were also worshiped as gods. The pagans were so used to idolatry that it was like a spontaneous reflex or natural instinct. So, it was necessary for the Apostles to correct it and exercise humility. Cornelius was a devout Christian and a righteous man, but worshiping idols and emperors was all he knew and it was a bad habit that needed correction.

This form of worship is not to be confused with the homage or salutes we pay to the Pope or to other bishops. In such homages, we do not worship him as a god, but merely honor him as our spiritual father in the faith. We do this out of respect for the office which God has given him for his service.