Animal protection NGO, Cruelty Free Europe, urges Ursula von der Leyen’s incoming European Commission to accelerate plans to phase out animal testing after the release of statistics for 2021 and 2022 showed that progress in reducing the number of animals used in science in the European Union has stalled.
Cruelty Free Europe are, however, pleased to see a significant decrease in the use of animals in regulatory testing (tests which prove the safety and efficacy of consumer products), which is likely to be due to an increase in the adoption of approved non-animal testing methods. This has led to a 21% decrease in the use of animals in regulatory testing since 2020.
European Commission statistics[1] show that there were 9.34 million tests on animals in the EU and Norway in 2022. This is an 8% decrease from 2021 to 2022, but the number of tests has also risen by 7% since 2020.
At 2.13 million, France carried out the most tests using animals in the EU in 2022 – a rise of 29% since 2020. Germany conducted 1.73 million tests and Norway 1.41 million (95% of which involved fish). Spain conducted 1.12 million tests on animals, an increase of 53% on their 2020 total.
These top four countries accounted for 68% of the total number of tests involving animals in the EU in 2022.
There was a small decrease in tests which were reported to have caused ‘severe suffering’, from 2020 to 2022, but a significant increase of 19% in tests which caused moderate suffering (the second highest level of pain), to over 3.71 million. Overall, the number of tests causing moderate or severe suffering to the animals involved totalled 49%.
From 2020 to 2022, there were increases in the uses of:
Dogs – up 2% to 14,395
Monkeys – up 5% to 7,658
Horses, donkeys and cross-breeds– up 5% to 5,098
Rabbits – up 8% to 378,133
Goats – up 69% to 2,680
Pigs – up 18% to 89,687
Reptiles – up by 74% to 5,937
Cephalopods (e.g., squid and octopus) – up by 65% to 2,694
There were also decreases in the uses of:
Cats – down 15% to 3,383
Ferrets – down 27% to 941
Guinea pigs – down 23% to 86,192
Sheep – down 12% to 17,542
There was a decrease in some of the tests included on the RAT (Replace Animal Tests) List[2], created by Cruelty Free Europe founder, Cruelty Free International – a list of regulatory tests that have accepted and reliable non-animal replacements and could be ended immediately. For example, the number of skin and eye irritation, skin sensitisation and pyrogenicity tests fell in 2022 but still amounted to over 55,000. Shockingly, there was an 18% increase (to 49,309 procedures) in the use of the cruel and archaic ascites method of producing antibodies, a test which causes the most severe level of suffering.
The European Commission, in response to Cruelty Free Europe’s 2020 European Citizens’ Initiative, ‘Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe Without Animal Testing’[4], promised last year to develop a roadmap to phase-out animal testing for chemical safety assessments [3]. Last month, in partnership with a group of animal protection NGOs, Cruelty Free Europe led a meeting with key stakeholders from across the European Union as a critical step towards creating a roadmap to end animal testing in Europe.
Cruelty Free Europe’s Head of Public Affairs, Dylan Underhill, said: “These new statistics show how important it is for the European Commission to continue and accelerate its work to end animal testing in Europe. As we enter a new cycle of politics in the European Union it is absolutely vital that we build on the work that has already been done, and double our efforts to speed up progress. We urge the Commission President to press upon her incoming Commissioners the importance of the mission to phase out animal testing, and will be calling on all of them to make this issue a shared priority.
“The 1.2 million people who signed our European Citizens’ Initiative illustrated the strength of feeling that there is on this issue, and we stand ready to help the European Commission take the bold steps forward that we need to reflect public opinion. Without this, we will be condemned to a never-ending cycle of stagnation and small reductions, when what we need is transformative change.”
Green Loan – In a move to support the wind energy sector, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Haizea Wind Group have officially agreed on a €35 million green loan aimed at advancing manufacturing technologies and digital processes in the renewable energy field. This partnership comes at a juncture as Europe aims to strengthen its presence in the sustainable energy market.
This funding will empower Haizea, a company renowned for manufacturing components for wind energy systems, to enhance its capabilities in producing vital structures like wind towers, monopile foundations and transition pieces for offshore wind projects. This collaboration not aligns with Haizea’s objectives but also plays a role in enhancing the European supply chain for renewable energy parts ensuring competitiveness, within the offshore wind sector.
Gilles Badot, the Director of Operations, for Spain and Portugal at EIB emphasized the significance of this initiative. He mentioned, “The loans we are finalizing with Haizea today showcase EIB’s dedication to innovation and advancing energy technologies. This move helps us progress in our energy transition journey. Enhances the competitiveness of businesses.” This commitment is in line with EIB’s objectives of enhancing energy security within the European Union, especially considering the REPowerEU strategy aimed at reducing reliance on fossil fuel imports.
Sustainability and environmental responsibility
Apart from supporting Haizea’s progress, the eco-friendly loan forms part of EIB’s financial effort to promote sustainability and environmental responsibility. In 2023 EIB Group allocated over €21 billion for bolstering energy security in Europe with €4.5 billion designated specifically for projects in Spain. These investments play a role in expediting the transition to energy sources and fortifying economic stability within the region.
Alvaro Quintana, Finance Director at Haizea Wind Group expressed their objective to assist clients in transitioning towards a economy. He highlighted EIB’s confidence in Haizea enabling them to innovate and supply components, for wind power as part of the green transition.
A new study published in the journal Psychological Medicine estimates that teenagers who use cannabis are 11 times more likely to develop a psychotic disorder than their non-marijuana-smoking peers.
The paper is entitled “Age-Dependent Association of Cannabis Use with Risk of Psychotic Disorder”.
This finding suggests that the link between cannabis and psychotic disorders may be stronger than indicated in previous studies that relied heavily on older data, when it was less effective than it is today. For context, the average THC strength of cannabis in Canada has increased from approximately 1% in 1980 to 20% in 2018.
Researchers from the University of Toronto, the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and ICES linked recent data from a population-based survey of over 11,000 adolescents in Ontario, Canada to data on health service use, including hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and in an outpatient clinic.
“We found a very strong association between cannabis use and the risk of psychotic disorder in adolescence. But surprisingly, we found no evidence of a relationship in young adulthood,” says lead author Andre McDonald.
Of the teens who were hospitalized or visited the emergency room for a psychotic disorder, approximately 5 in 6 reported prior cannabis use. MacDonald’s observations indicate that “a large proportion of teenagers who use cannabis will not develop a psychotic disorder, but according to these data, most adolescents who are diagnosed with a psychotic disorder have a history of cannabis use.”
The researchers say they cannot completely rule out reverse causation, as adolescents with psychotic symptoms may have self-medicated with cannabis before receiving a clinical diagnosis.
They also cannot account for potentially important factors, such as genetics and trauma history. These limitations make it impossible to say definitively that teenage cannabis use causes psychotic disorders. The authors also note that their estimates are only approximate, suggesting that further studies are needed.
The European Parliament marks European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day and honours the Sinti and Roma murdered in Nazi-occupied Europe.
Today, the European Parliament joins the international community in marking European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day and remembering the 500,000 Sinti and Roma who faced atrocities in Nazi-occupied Europe.
On the night between the 2nd and 3rd of August 1944, the last 4,300 Sinti and Roma remaining in the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp were murdered, with most of them being women, children and elderly people. Today, the European Parliament does not only remember the crimes committed against humanity, but also the importance of speaking up.
On this solemn occasion, the European Parliament remembers the lessons learned from the first recognition of the Roma and Sinti Holocaust, and reaffirms that Romani people must enjoy the same rights and treatment as all European citizens.
The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said: “Today we pay tribute to Roma and Sinti people’s contribution to the rich fabric of our European socities. Europe must stand up for the values it holds to be true: the rule of law, democracy and equality. The moment we become complacent is the moment we allow history to repeat itself.”
80 years later, too many Romani women and men in Europe still live in the margins of society. “In our Europe, we cherish our differences, unique traditions, cultures and diversity. That means that Roma people must enjoy the same opportunities and chances as any other European citizen,” President Metsola said.
Since 2015, the European Parliament has been marking the European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day every 2nd August.
Acts. 2:26 a.m. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue rejoiced; and also my flesh shall rest in hope.
Acts. 2:27. Because You will not leave my soul in hell and You will not allow Your saint to see corruption.
“My flesh shall rest in hope, for Thou wilt not forsake,” in Greek ἡ σάρξ μου κατασκηνώσει ἐπ᾿ ἐλπίδι, ὅτι οὐκ ἐγκαταλείπεις τὴν ψυχήν μου. The Slavic translation is more accurate than the modern one: “my flesh is filled with hope, you did not leave it.” It should be said in a modern translation: “my flesh will dwell” (ie in the grave) “in hope, because You will not leave”. On the occasion of these words, blessed Theophylact notes: “since Jesus, perceiving death, put off that flesh which he assumed according to the plan of the household, in order to raise it again from death: it is fair [to say] that His flesh nourished by the hope of expected immortality’.
“Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,” i. you will bring her out of hell again for life, which will be completely possible with the incorruption of the body – “you will raise her up” already for a new and better life (verse 28).
Acts. 2:28. You have given me to know the ways of life; You will fill me with joy through Your face.”
“Thou hast given me to know the paths of life; You will fill me with joy through Your face.” Blessed Theophylact writes: “It is not without reason that [the apostle] used these words when he mentions the resurrection, teaching that instead of sorrow [He] will be in eternal joy, and becoming passionless, unchangeable, and immortal in human nature; since God has always been such, it is not difficult for Him to make human nature a partaker of this soon after its formation in the mother’s womb, but suffered His adopted nature to pass through the path of suffering, so that He might thus , having destroyed the power of sin, to put an end to the torments of the devil, to destroy the power of death, and to give all men the opportunity of quickening. Therefore, as a man, he receives both incorruption and immortality.”
Acts. 2:29. Men brothers! May I be permitted to tell you boldly about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
“Let me boldly tell you.” The apostle will speak of the greatest and most honored of the ancestors of the Jewish people as inferior to the Crucified Jesus, and for this reason he uses such a mild expression.
“died and was buried” – as an ordinary person, with whom nothing special or unusual happened after his death and burial, i.e. it is implied that he did not rise from the dead, which means that it was not on him that was fulfilled what was said about the righteous who will not remain in the grave.
“his grave is with us to this day”, i.e. the grave with the remains of his body, which is subject to decay like the bodies of all other men.
Saint John Chrysostom says, passing on to the further interpretation: “now he [Peter] proves what he needed. And then he still does not pass to Christ, but again speaks with praise of David…, so that his listeners, at least out of respect for David and his family, will accept the word about the Resurrection, as if otherwise their honor would suffer.”
Acts. 2:30. And being a prophet and knowing that God had promised him with an oath from the fruit of his loins to raise up Christ in the flesh and place Him on his throne,
“God promised with an oath.” This promise, fulfilled only upon the Messiah, is contained in 2 Kings. 7:12-16; cf. Ps. 131 In its essence, it is also a prophecy about the Resurrection, without which it could not be fulfilled.
“to place Him on his throne,” i.e. namely as the Messiah (cf. Luke 1:32). “As in many places of the Divine Scripture, so here throne is used instead of kingdom.” (blessed Theophylact).
Acts. 2:32. God resurrected that Jesus, of which we are all witnesses.
“His Jesus” – This one, not someone else, namely Jesus of Nazareth.
“of which we are all witnesses,” because we have seen Him, the Risen One, talked with Him, eaten with Him, touched Him, and by all this have been convinced of the reality of His resurrection, so that we may be entitled to testify about Him and to others .
Acts. 2:33. And so He, having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, poured out what you now see and hear.
“And so, He, after being ascended to the right hand of God” – in Greek: τῇ δεχιᾷ οὖν τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑψοθεις, in Slavic: десницию убо Божиею вознесеся – an expression allowing for two interpretations: or “being ascended” to heaven by God’s right hand , in the same sense in which it is said above that God raised Him from the dead (verse 24); or “being taken up” ie. exalted to sit at the right hand of the Father in His glorified human flesh. Both interpretations are equal and equivalent.
“and received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit,” i.e. having received from the Father the authority to send to those who believe in Him the Holy Spirit, promised by the Father and proceeding from the Father.
Acts. 2:34. For David did not ascend into heaven; but he himself spoke: “said the Lord to my Lord: sit at my right hand,
Acts. 2:35. until I make Your enemies your footstool.”
After confirming the truth about the resurrection of Christ based on David’s prophecy, the apostle finds it necessary to also confirm the truth about the ascension of Jesus, the immediate result of which is the outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This truth the apostle affirms by referring to the prophetic sentence of David in Ps. 109 (verse 1), attributing the fulfillment of these words entirely to Christ. The Lord Himself also applies this sentence to Himself in His conversation with the Pharisees (Matt. 22:42, etc.).
Acts. 2:36. And so, let the whole house of Israel know for sure that God has made Jesus, whom you crucified, Lord and Christ.
“the whole house of Israel,” i.e. the entire Jewish people.
“This Jesus, whom you crucified, God made Lord and Christ”, in other words: “God made it so that this Jesus, whom you crucified, is also your true Lord and Christ”, or Messiah (double designation of His messianic dignity – general and private).
“Whom ye crucified.” According to the remark of St. John Chrysostom, “the apostle admirably ends his speech in this way, that he may thereby shake their souls.”
Acts. 2:37. When they heard this, their hearts were moved, and they said to Peter and the other apostles: what shall we do, men and brothers?
“their heart became tender” – the listeners of the Apostle Peter fell into heartbreak, because they had done this with the Messiah and showed readiness in their hearts to erase their guilt with faith in Him, which is why they ask further: “what shall we do? “
“men, brothers” – full of trust, respect and love address of the apostles, on whose behalf Peter speaks.
Acts. 2:38. And Peter said to them: repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For reconciliation with God and the unaccepted Messiah, Peter offers repentance and baptism, with their blessed fruits – forgiveness of sins and receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
“everyone… to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ”. According to the interpretation of blessed Theophylact, “these words do not contradict the words “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19), because the Church thinks of the Holy Trinity as indivisible, so because of the unity of the three hypostases in essence, the one who is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ is baptized in the Trinity, since the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are inseparable in essence”. It is obvious that when the apostle calls for baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, he only indicates with this the basic content of our faith and confession, which conditions the recognition of everything that was discovered by the Son of God who came to earth.
Acts. 2:39. For the promise is to you, to your children, and to all who are far off whom the Lord our God would call.
“for you . . . and for your children,” i.e. of posterity in general, “and for all distant,” i.e. for those who stand in the remotest degrees of kinship and affinity with the Jewish people. Here we may also think of the Gentiles, of whom the apostle speaks covertly, sparing the weakness of the Jews, who might see something seductive in giving the Gentiles an equal share in the Messiah’s kingdom. This matter should have been resolved from the very beginning; here, however, everything that could cast a shadow on the dignity of the new truths being preached had to be avoided.
“whom the Lord our God would call.” The Lord calls all, desires salvation for all; obviously, here are meant those who, responding with their free will to the Lord’s call, fulfill their calling in action by repenting and accepting baptism in the name of Jesus Christ.
Acts. 2:40: And with many other words he testified and invited them, saying: be saved from this wicked generation.
“And with many other words”, which the author does not cite, presenting only the main content of what the apostle Peter said.
“save yourselves from this wicked generation.” In Greek: σώθητε ἀπὸ τῆς γενεᾶς τῆς σκολιᾶς ταύτης. It is more accurate to say: be saved from the modern wicked, obstinate human race (σκολιός means crooked, and then cunning, crafty), from God’s judgment and punishment awaiting those people who by their obstinacy have come to reject the Messiah and His work, and not to believe in Him. This admonition of the apostle is also applicable to all subsequent times, pointing out the need for all Christians to be saved from the world lying in evil by pure faith in Christ and living according to that faith.
Acts. 2:41 a.m. And so those who gladly accepted his words were baptized; and about three thousand people joined that day.
“were baptized.” As there is no water so abundantly collected in Jerusalem and its immediate vicinity that so many people can be baptized by immersion at once, we may suppose that the baptism itself followed a little later, individually for each, in homes, or in groups with more or less sufficient reservoirs, by one of the apostles and disciples of the Lord.
Acts. 2:42. And they persisted in the teaching of the apostles, in communication, in the breaking of bread and in prayers.
“And they persisted.” In Greek: ἦσαν δὲ προσκαρτεροῦντες, the Slavic translation is more accurate than the modern one: they were patient, literally – they were tireless in the teaching of the apostles, etc.
Of course, it is difficult to suppose that all this mass of people (3,000 people, besides the previous considerable number of believers) assembled in one place or in one house. It is more likely that the believers, divided into several groups or communities, gathered in several places where the apostles taught them the new truths, prayers and sacraments. Between all these communities there existed the closest communication, which united them in one fraternal family, whose soul was the apostles.
“in the breaking of bread.” In Greek: τῇ κλάσει τοῦ ἄρτου. this expression usually means eating food (Luke 24:30, etc.), but at that time it was also used in another, higher sense – as performing and participating in the sacrament of the Eucharist (1 Cor. 10:16). Both meanings can be implied here, both separately and together, especially since this was a time when the Eucharist was usually a supper of love, with the participation of all the faithful, in a spirit of fraternal equality, love and mutual communication. This is how the main characteristics of the original Christian worship, separate and independent from the Old Testament worship, are outlined: teaching, breaking of bread (Eucharist) and prayers, although the apostles and other believers do not sever the connection with the Old Testament temple and its services (Acts 3:1 and etc.).
Acts. 2:43. Fear gripped every soul, because many miracles and omens were happening through the apostles in Jerusalem.
“Fear fell upon every soul,” i. the soul that does not believe. The unexpected and astonishing manifestations of divine power, the extraordinary success of Peter’s preaching, his fervent warnings and sermons, the miracles and signs of the apostles – all this could not fail to startle the impressionable soul and plunge it into deep reflection.
Acts. 2:44. And all the believers were together, and they had everything in common;
“were together.” In the Greek text: ἦσαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ. The Slavic text of this verse, compared to the Greek original and the Russian translation, has an additional line (repeating the beginning of verse 43): “a great fear was upon all of them. Все се верующие были вместе” (All believers were together”), i.e. gathering in certain places (cf. Acts 1:14, 2:1), for teaching and prayers, all together formed a united family, with strong brotherly love and fellowship.
“they had everything in common.” The distinguishing feature of the first Christian fraternal family or community was the sharing of property, which was neither forced nor legal, but entirely voluntary, due to the sublime impulse of the living faith and brotherly love of the first Christians among themselves. There was no destruction of the right of property (cf. Acts 5:4), but a completely voluntary distribution or relinquishment of that right, wholly and privately, in favor of others in need.
How long this distinctive feature of the first Christian communities persisted is not known; in any case, the traces of it are lost in history very soon. It can be considered that the disappearance of this feature and its removal is due to the significant difficulties that the rapid growth and multitude of Christ’s followers gave rise to (cf. Acts 6:1).
Acts. 2:46 a.m. And every day they unanimously stayed in the temple and, breaking bread from house to house, they ate with a cheerful and pure heart,
“every day with one accord they stayed in the temple,” i.e. attended the Jewish temple service, “because, as St. John Chrysostom says, they had not yet rejected anything Jewish; and the very respect for the place was transferred to the Lord of the temple”…. The whole temple service contained at its core and embodied the aspiration to the Messiah; this made this service useful also for the Christians, who differed from the Jews in this case only in that they believed not in the Advent, but in the Messiah who had already come.
“breaking bread from house to house.” In the Greek original: κλῶντές τε κατ᾿ οἶκον ἄρτον. The expression κάτ’ οῖκον allows one to say both “in the houses” (different, several) and “in the house” (one). Both have their reasons (cf. v. 42), depending on the multitude of those gathered and the capacity of the meeting place
“they ate with a cheerful and pure heart.”
Cf. Acts. 2:12 and Acts. 20:7 – 11. From these passages it can be concluded that in the earliest times of Christianity there were two kinds of love suppers (αγάποι): those which were held in different houses and therefore by separate societies of believers ( chiefly in Jerusalem), and those which on certain days, namely, Sundays, were held by the whole assembly of the faithful. The dinner opened and ended with prayer and washing of hands. During the dinner itself, psalms and other sacred songs were sung, excerpts from the Holy Scriptures were read and interpreted.
In the beginning, the evenings of love were very common and, together with the Eucharist, took place too often, almost daily. But even in the first centuries of Christianity there were churches in which no traces of these evenings could be seen. St. Justin Martyr, speaking of the performance of the Eucharist and the services of the Roman Christians of his time, does not mention agapi. St. Irenaeus of Lyons also says nothing about them. With the spread of Christianity, the initial life of Christians, having a family character, more and more took on the vast dimensions of public, ecclesiastical-folk life. This led to the disappearance of the original agapes because of the inevitable undesirable abuses and irregularities mixed with them.
Acts. 2:47. praising God and being loved by all the people. And the Lord daily added to the church those who were saved.
“as they praised God” is a general designation of the exalted religious mood of the spirit of the first Christian society (Luke 24: 53).
“being beloved by all the people”—no doubt because of their strict religiosity, pure life and virtues, peaceful and joyful benevolence towards all.
“The Lord daily added to the church those who were being saved.”
Here, the growth of Christ’s Church appears not as a work of the ordinary development and growth of a society, but as a direct work of the Lord Himself, who invisibly governs His Church.
Source in Russian: Explanatory Bible, or Commentaries on all the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments: In 7 volumes / Ed. prof. A.P. Lopukhin. – Ed. 4th. – Moscow: Dar, 2009, 1232 pp.
Chapter 2, Acts of the Apostles. 1 – 4. The first Christian Pentecost and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. 5 – 13. The astonishment of the people. 14 – 36. Speech of the Apostle Peter. 37 – 45. The impact of the first sermon. 43 – 47. The internal situation of the first Christian community in Jerusalem.
Acts. 2:1. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one mind.
“When the day of Pentecost came.” It pleased the Lord – like the Passover – that the first Christian Pentecost coincided with the day of the Jewish Pentecost, which meant nothing more than the cancellation and better replacement of the two Jewish festivals.
Blessed Theophylact spoke about this event as follows: “on the day the Law was given, on the same day it was necessary to give the grace of the Spirit, because as the Savior, who had to bear the holy suffering, was pleased to give Himself in no other time, and then, when the [Passover] lamb was slain, to connect the truth with the very image, so the descent of the Holy Spirit according to the good will from on high, was granted at no other time, but at that in which the Law was given, to show that even then the Holy Spirit legislated, and he legislates now. As on the day of Pentecost the sheaves of the new fruit were gathered together, and different people flocked together under one heaven (into Jerusalem): so on the same day this also had to happen, that the beginnings of every nation of the nations living under heaven should be gathered into one sheaf of piety and by the word of the apostles to be brought to God”…
“All of one mind were together” – ἦσαν ἅπαντες ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό. Who all and where? The Slavic translation adds “apostles”, the Russian – “them”. By “all” is meant not only the apostles, but all believers in Christ who were then in Jerusalem (Acts 1:16, cf. Acts 2:14), who came again to the feast of the Jewish Pentecost.
From the next verse (2) it is clear that the meeting of these believers in Christ took place in the house, probably the same one in which the previous meeting took place (Acts 1:13). It is hardly possible to suppose that the home was particularly crowded, for that is to suppose that a house of immense dimensions was at the disposal of the apostles.
Acts. 2:2. And suddenly there was a noise from heaven as of a mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
“A noise… as if a strong wind was coming.” Therefore, the wind itself was not there, only a noise similar to a wind (cf. St. John Chrysostom and blessed Theophylact), which came down from above, from heaven to the place where the apostles were gathered – this noise was so loud that it attracted everyone’s attention (verse 6).
“Filled the whole house,” i. focus on this house.
“where they were,” more precisely “where they sat” (οὗ ἦσαν καθήμενοι·), abiding in prayer and pious conversation, waiting for the promise to be fulfilled.
Acts. 2:3. And tongues appeared to them, as if of fire, which parted, and rested one on each of them.
“Tongues as of fire.” As noise was without wind, so tongues were without fire, only resembling fire. “He beautifully says: as if fiery, as if wind, so that you do not think something sensual about the Spirit (Theophilus, St. John Chrysostom).
The noise was a confirmation sign for the hearing that the Holy Spirit had descended, and the tongues for the sight. Both the one and the other exalted the apostles and prepared them for the greatness of the event and its impact on the soul, which was actually the main object of the miracle of the promised baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
“Languages that separated” – διαμεριζόμεναι γλῶσσαι – more precisely: “divided languages”. The impression of the moment of the descent of the Holy Spirit was evidently that from some invisible but near source there suddenly arose a noise which filled the house, and suddenly tongues of fire began to issue forth, which were divided among all present—so that it was felt the same common source of them all.
The noise from heaven was also a sign of the mightiness of the power of the Holy Spirit given to the apostles (“power from on high”, cf. Luke 24:49), and the tongues – the fervor of preaching, which was to serve as the only weapon for the subjugation of the world at the foot of Christ’s cross. At the same time, the tongues were an accurate indication of the change that took place in the souls of the apostles, expressed in the unexpected ability they felt to speak in other languages.
Acts. 2:4. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
“they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Saint Gregory the Theologian (IV, 16) says: “The Holy Spirit worked first in the angelic and heavenly forces…, then in the fathers and prophets… and finally worked in Christ’s disciples, and in them three times – according to the measure of their receptivity and in three different times: before Christ’s glorification through suffering, after His glorification through Resurrection and after His ascension to heaven (Acts 3:21). As the first shows – the cleansing from diseases and spirits, which happened, of course, not without the Spirit; also after the completion of the house-building, the breathing of Christ, which was evidently a Divine inspiration, and finally [His action was manifested in] the present division of the tongues of fire… But the first was not clear, the second was more manifest, and the present was perfect: for no longer by action, as before, but essentially by presence, – as someone would say – “the Spirit coexists and coexists.”
“as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Explaining this, St. Cyril of Jerusalem says: “Peter and Andrew, the Galileans, spoke in Persian and Median, John and the other apostles spoke in all languages with those who came from among the Gentiles. The Holy Spirit taught them many languages at the same time, which those taught by Him did not know at all. This is divine power! What comparison can there be between their long ignorance and this comprehensive, manifold, unusual, sudden power of speaking in all languages.’
Saint Theophylact taught thus: “Why did the apostles receive the gift of tongues before the other gifts? For they were to be scattered abroad; and as at the time of the building of the pillar the one language was divided into many languages, so now the many languages were united in one man, and the same man, by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, began to speak in Persian, and in Roman, and in Indian , and in many other languages. This gift was called the “gift of tongues” because the apostles could speak in many languages.
Saint Irenaeus (died in 202) says of many Christians living in his time who have “prophetic gifts, speak in tongues (παντοδαπαῖς γλώσσαις), discover the secrets of the human heart for edification, and explain the mysteries of God” (Against Heresies , V, 6).
In the Conversations on the Lives of the Italian Fathers, written by St. Gregory the Two-Syllabic, mention is made of a young man, Armentarius, who spoke in foreign languages without having learned them. Traces from antiquity of how the gift of tongues was understood in its own sense can also be seen in the fact that Philostratus, describing the life of Apollonius of Tyana, whom he wanted to contrast with Jesus Christ, notes about him that he knew no only all human languages, but also the language of animals. In church history there are also later examples of miraculous understanding of foreign languages, for example with Ephraim the Syrian.
Acts. 2:5. And in Jerusalem there were Jews, pious men, from every nation under heaven.
In addition to the fact that there were quite a few Jewish immigrants living in Jerusalem “from every nation under heaven”, and on the occasion of the great feast of Pentecost, many temporary worshipers from different countries gathered there, who became involuntary witnesses and confirmers of the miracle that happened over the apostles, when they all heard them speak in the languages of their countries.
Acts. 2:6. When this noise was made, many people gathered together and were amazed, because everyone was listening to them speak in his language.
“Everybody listened to them talk.” St. Gregory the Theologian taught: “Stop here and consider how to divide speech, for in speech there is reciprocity removed by punctuation. Did they hear, each in his own way, that – so to speak – the speech proceeded from one, and many speeches were heard because of such a commotion in the air, or, I will say more clearly, from one voice proceeded many? Or else the word “listened” “to speak in his speech” should be referred to the following, in order to understand the meaning of the spoken speeches, which were their own for the listeners, and this means – foreign language speeches. With the latter I agree more, because the former would be a miracle, which would refer more to the hearers than to the speakers, who were reproached for being drunk, from which it is evident that they themselves, by the operation of the Spirit, worked miracles by uttering voices” .
Acts. 2:7. And they all marveled and wailed, saying among themselves: Are not all these who speak Galileans?
“Are they not all Galileans?” that is, firstly, from the well-known part of Palestine where they speak this idiom, and, secondly, from that particular part that was not famous for enlightenment. The one and the other, with which they connected the Galileans, intensified the greatness of the miracle and the astonishment of its witnesses.
Acts. 2:9: We Parthians and Medes, Elamites and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, of Pontus and Asia,
“Parthians and Medes, Elamites,” i.e. Jews who came for the holiday from Parthia, Media and Elam – provinces of the former powerful Assyrian and Medo-Persian kingdoms. These countries were located between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. At first, the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Israel were resettled there after its destruction by the Assyrians around 700 BC, and then the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Judah, after its destruction by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar around 600 BC. Many of them returned to Palestine in the time of Cyrus, but most remained in the countries of settlement, unwilling to part with their profitable occupations.
“inhabitants of Mesopotamia” – a vast plain along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Here was the main area of the Assyro-Babylonian and Persian kingdoms, and here there were numerous Jews resettled by Nebuchadnezzar.
“Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia” – all are Asia Minor provinces that were part of the then Roman Empire. Asia in particular, according to the Roman enumeration of the provinces, was called the whole western coast of Asia Minor, where were the provinces of Mysia, Caria, and Lydia; its capital was Ephesus.
Acts. 2:10. of Phrygia and Pamphylia, of Egypt and the Libyan countries adjacent to Kyrenia, and those who came from Rome, both Jews and proselytes *,
“The Libyan Countries Adjacent to Kyrenia”. Libya is a region to the west of Egypt, which was a huge steppe, inhabited only in its northern part along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, where the main city of the region, Cyrene, was located. This coast is here called the “Libyan countries,” belonging to Kyrenia or Cyrene. As here, Jews were numerous in Egypt in general. They even had a special temple. The translation of their sacred books into the then generally accepted Greek language was also done here for them. In Cyrene a full quarter of the population were Jews.
“those who came from Rome” – arrived for the feast of Pentecost from Rome, or in general from the cities of the Roman west, where the Jews were also scattered everywhere. In Rome itself there was a whole Jewish quarter.
“Jews, so proselytes” – i.e. Jews by birth, as well as Gentiles who accepted the Jewish faith, of which there were also many everywhere in the listed localities.
Acts. 2:11. Cretans and Arabs, – how do we listen to them speak in our languages about the great works of God?
“Cretans” – inhabitants of the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea, speaking a slightly different dialect from the Greek language.
“Arabs” – inhabitants of Arabia, to the southeast of Palestine, whose language, Arabic, had some similarities and a significant difference from the Hebrew language.
“we hear them speak in our tongues” – a clear indication that the apostles did indeed speak in different languages and dialects.
“to speak in our tongues of the great works of God” – τὰ μεγαλεῖα τοῦ Θεοῦ, i.e. for everything great that God has revealed and is revealing in the world, especially with the coming of the Son of God into the world. But the greatness of such a subject of speech, and the speech itself, should have been of a lofty and solemn character, of inspired glorification and thanksgiving to God.
Acts. 2:14. Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice and began to speak to them: Jewish men and all you who live in Jerusalem! Let this be known to you, and heed my words:
“Peter rose up with the eleven.” As before, at the council for the selection of the twelfth apostle, “Peter served as the mouthpiece of all, and the other eleven were present, confirming his words with testimony” (St. John Chrysostom).
Acts. 2:15. they are not drunk, as you think, for it is three o’clock in the day;
As proof that they were not drunk, the apostle points out that it is now “the third hour of the day.” This hour, which corresponds to our 9th hour, was the first of the three daily hours for daily prayer (3, 6, 9), coinciding with the offering of the morning sacrifice in the temple. And according to the custom of the Jews, no one tasted food before this hour, even more so on such a great holiday as Pentecost.
Acts. 2:16 a.m. but this is what was said through the prophet Joel:
Deyan. 2:17. “and behold, in the last days, says God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
“the saying of Joel the prophet,” therefore 700 years before (Joel 2:28-32). The prophecy of Joel itself is brought by the writer in a slightly modified form from the original and the text of the Septuagint, as the Lord Himself and the apostles often do. Thus, instead of the original indefinite expression “after that” in the apostle Peter, we see a more definite expression – “in the last days”. This excludes any relation of the prophecy to a closer Old Testament time, and its fulfillment refers to the New Testament time, since, according to the biblical view, the entire period of the New Testament kingdom of God is presented as the last age of the house-building of human salvation, after which it will followed by a general judgment and the Kingdom of glory. At the same time, under the expression “in the last days,” the prophecies usually indicate not only events that must occur at the end of the Old Testament time and the beginning of the New Testament, but also those that will occur throughout the entire New Testament time, until his end (cf. Is. 2:2; Mic. 6, etc.).
“I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” In the sense of this expression, the Spirit of God is presented as the fullness of all gifts, from which one or another gift is poured out to one or another believer.
“pouring out” – giving in abundance, similar to the pouring out of rain or water.
“on all flesh” – on all people, on all humanity redeemed by Christ, who will enter the new Christ’s Kingdom, throughout the time of its spread on earth, on all peoples, without distinction of Jews and Gentiles. To begin the fulfillment of this prophecy, the holy apostle points to the present moment, filled with such wonderful signs.
“they shall prophesy…they shall see visions…they shall dream dreams,” etc. As the gifts of the Holy Spirit are incalculably varied, only some of the most familiar ones in the Old Testament are given separately: “prophecy” as a general action of those who received the Holy Spirit, “visions” (in the waking state) and “dreams” as the two main modes of Divine revelation to the prophets (Num. 12:6).
“sons… daughters… youths… old men” is an indication that the Holy Spirit is poured out on all, regardless of gender or age; although the actions of the Holy Spirit are distributed in such a way that to sons and daughters he gives prophecy, to youths – visions, to old men – dreams; but this dispensation, made for the strengthening and beauty of speech, has the meaning that the Holy Spirit pours out His gifts upon all without distinction.
Deyan. 2:18. and in those days I will pour out My Spirit on My servants and My maidservants, and they will prophesy.
“and on My slaves and My slave-girls”. With the prophet in this place we find an important peculiarity of speech arising from the absence of the added pronoun “My.” He says simply, “upon the male slaves and upon the female slaves.” With the latter expression the prophet expresses more categorically the idea of the superiority of the New Testament outpourings of the Holy Spirit over the Old Testament: in the whole Old Testament there is not a single case of a slave or a slave who possessed the gift of prophecy; but in the New Testament, according to the prophet, this difference in condition will disappear under the influence of the Holy Spirit, who will give the gift of prophecy. The Spirit will be given to all without distinction not only of sex and age, but also of human conditions, because in Christ’s kingdom all will be equal before the Lord and all will be servants of the Lord.
Deyan. 2:19. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and omens on the earth below, blood and fire, smoke and smoke.
“I will show miracles.” The prediction of the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Messiah’s Kingdom is also connected with the prediction of the last judgment on the wicked world and the salvation of those who worship the true God. As harbingers of this judgment, special signs in heaven and earth are pointed out. Signs on earth will be “blood and fire, smoke and smoke”, which are the symbols of bloodshed, turmoil, wars, devastation… Signs in heaven are the eclipse of the sun and the bloody appearance of the moon. In the figurative language of the sacred writers, these phenomena generally mean great calamities in the world and the coming of God’s judgment upon it.
Deyan. 2:20. The sun will turn into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
“Lord’s Day” – i.e. the day of the Messiah; according to the New Testament usage of the word, it is the day of judgment of the Messiah upon the world, the day of judgment.
“the great and glorious” – great is called because of the greatness and decisive importance of the judgment for mankind; and glorious (επιφανῆ) is called because the Lord will come “in His glory.”
Deyan. 2:21. And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Terrible for the unbelievers and the wicked will be the last judgment, but saving for everyone “who calls on the name of the Lord”, but not just to call on Him, because Christ teaches that not everyone who says to Me: “Lord! God! He will enter the kingdom of heaven’, but he who calls with diligence, with a good life, with appropriate boldness’. (Saint John Chrysostom). From this it is clear that what is meant here are true believers in the Lord – ie. the righteous.
Applying this prophecy to the event of the day of Pentecost, the apostle evidently does not say that it was entirely fulfilled on that day, but only indicates the beginning of its fulfillment, which must continue for a long time, the duration of which is known only to God, until the end of everything.
Deyan. 2:22. Men of Israel! Hear these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a Man testified before you by God with powers, miracles and signs, which God did through him among you, as you yourselves know,
Saint John Chrysostom says that, starting to preach about Jesus, the apostle “does not say anything lofty, but begins his speech extremely humbly…, with wise caution, so as not to bore the ears of unbelievers.”
“witnessed before you by God,” i.e. for His messianic dignity and messengership.
“signs which God did through Him among you.” According to the interpretation of St. John Chrysostom, the apostle “does not say: He Himself did it, but God through Him, to draw them through modesty.”
“among you” – the inhabitants of Jerusalem are meant, and then all those present, not only those who could have had any contact with Jesus Christ during His activity in Galilee and Judea, but also the representatives of the people as a whole , responsible for a case of such important general human importance. In this sense, we also talk about “traditions”, i.e. of Judas, whom “you seized, and having bound with the hands of lawless men,” i. with the help of the pagan authorities and those who crucified Christ, “You killed Him” (verse 23).
Deyan. 2:23. Him, delivered up by God’s determined will and foreknowledge, you seized and, having chained with the hands of lawless men, killed Him;
To clarify the seemingly strange circumstance that a man so witnessed by God (Jesus) could be crucified by the hands of lawless men, the apostle adds that this happened “according to the determined will and providence of God” (cf. Rom. 8:29; Heb. 10:5 – 7), or, as the blessed Theophylact explains, “they did not by their own power, because He himself had consented to it.”
Deyan. 2:24. but God raised Him up, freeing Him from the birth pangs of death, because it could not hold Him.
“God raised Him” - according to the interpretation of blessed Theophylact, “if it is said that the Father raised Him, it is because of the weakness of the hearers; for through whom does the Father work? By His power, and the Father’s power is Christ. And so He Himself raised Himself, although it is said that the Father raised Him”… (cf. John 5:26, 10:18).
“by freeing from the bonds of death” – in Greek: ἀνέστησε λύσας τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανατου, it is more precisely translated into Slavic: “resolved болезни сомерния”. According to the interpretation of blessed Theophylact, “death was tormented (as if by birth) and terribly suffered when it detained Him. The woman in labor does not retain what is within her, and does not act, but suffers and hastens to release herself. The apostle beautifully called the resurrection a release from the pains of death, so it can be said: tearing apart the pregnant and suffering womb, the Savior Christ appears and comes out as if from some birthing womb. That is why he is called the firstborn from the dead.”
Deyan. 2:25. For David says of Him: “I always saw the Lord before me, for He is at my right hand, that I should not be moved.”
The apostle confirms the truth of Christ’s resurrection through the prophecy of King David, especially authoritative in Judea, in a remarkable passage from his 15th Psalm (Ps. 15:8-11). Having set forth this place fully and accurately according to the translation of the Septuagint (verses 25-28), the apostle immediately proceeds to interpret it himself (verses 29-31), making manifest the evident gift of the Holy Spirit in himself to interpret the Scriptures Applied to David, this passage from his psalm expresses his joyful confidence in the constant help and goodness of God, extending even beyond the grave (immortality). But if, applied to David, all this was fulfilled only in part, then applied to the Savior (the expression of the apostle is indicative: “David spoke of Him”, i.e. of Christ), it was fulfilled literally exactly and completely, as St. Peter points out.
Source in Russian: Explanatory Bible, or Commentaries on all the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments: In 7 volumes / Ed. prof. A.P. Lopukhin. – Ed. 4th. – Moscow: Dar, 2009, 1232 pp.
Acts of the Apostles, chapter 3. 1 – 11. Saint Peter heals a crippled man from birth. 12 – 26. Speech on this occasion to the people.
Acts. 3:1. Peter and John ascended together into the temple at the ninth hour of prayer.
“At the ninth hour of prayer” – ἐπὶ τὴν ὥραν τῆς προσευχῆς τὴν ἐνάτην; the Slavic translation is not exact: “at prayer at nine o’clock”. The Greek text and the Russian translation suggest, by the form of their expression, other hours for prayer besides the ninth: these other hours are the third and the sixth (according to our reckoning at 9 o’clock and at 12 o’clock). At the same time, the Slavic translation is such that the coincidence of the time of the apostles’ prayer with the ninth hour (according to ours at 3 o’clock in the afternoon) can be allowed. Traces of the three times daily prayer are found in Jewish history very early: even David in one of the psalms speaks of prayer in the evening, in the morning and at noon (Ps. 54:18). Prophet Daniel during the Babylonian captivity knelt three times daily for prayer (Dan. 6:10). In the temple, the morning and evening hours (3rd and 9th) were sanctified by the specially appointed morning and evening sacrifices, and it was at one of these prayer times that the apostles went to offer their prayers to God in the temple hours established by Him religious services, which have not lost their meaning for them until this moment.
Acts. 3:2. There was a man lame from his mother’s womb, whom they brought and placed every day at the temple gates, called Red, to beg alms from those entering the temple;
” crippled from mother’s womb” – Acts.4:22 – he was already more than forty years old.
For the “Red Doors” of the temple (θύραν τοῦ ἱεροῦ τὴν λεγομένην ὡραίαν), lit. – “at the temple gate called beautiful”. Probably this door was so called because of its beauty. She is not mentioned elsewhere. These were probably the main eastern doors (in Solomon’s portico) leading to the court of the Gentiles, which Josephus describes as the most beautiful, surpassing in beauty all the other doors of the temple (Jewish War 5:5,3).
Acts. 3:4. And Peter looked at him together with Joanna and said: look at us!
Acts. 3:5. And he stared at them, hoping to get something from them.
The performance of the miracle over the crippled was preceded by a careful looking at each other of the apostles and the sick man. It was like a mutual preparation for the miracle. In the case of crippled, it was a means of attracting his attention and spiritual receptivity to the miraculous healing.
Acts. 3:6. But Peter said: silver and gold I have not, but what I have, this I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!
“what I have I give you.” Even before the miracle was performed, the apostle had complete confidence in its performance. This assurance rests, no doubt, on the Lord’s promises to the apostles (Mark 16:18; Luke 9:1, John 14:12, etc.), as well as on the sensation of the unusual power of the Holy Spirit in him, which the Apostle describes with the words: “what I have, that’s what I give”.
“In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk.” Not by his own power, but by the udder of the Lord Jesus Christ, Peter performs this miracle.
Acts. 3:7. And taking him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles became stiff,
“taking him by the right hand, raised him up.” To the word, the apostle adds external action, as the Lord Himself once did.
Acts. 3:8. and leaping up, he stood up and passed, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God.
“as he walked, he leapt” is an expression of the ecstatic and joyful mood of the soul of the healed person.
Acts. 3:9. And all the people saw him walking and praising God;
“And a whole people,” i.e. the people gathered and gathering in the temple court see him no longer as a cripple, but as healthy and cheerful.
Acts. 3:11 a.m. And because the cured chrome did not separate from Peter and John, the whole people flocked to them in terror in the porch called Solomon’s.
“the portico called Solomon’s” is a vast, covered gallery through which the beautiful gates led into the temple. Here a people gathered, after the news of the miracle had spread with lightning speed, the best proof of which was the well-known former crippled man, who now ecstatically glorified God without separating from the apostles.
Acts. 3:12. When Peter saw this, he said to the people: Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why have you looked at us, as if by our power or piety we made him walk?
In response to the bewilderment and astonishment of the people, Peter again delivered a speech similar to the first (on the day of Pentecost), proving to the assembled people, based on the testimonies of the Old Testament, that the Lord Jesus is the awaited Messiah, and persuading them to repent and to believe in Him. But before that, he dispels people’s misunderstanding of the reasons for the miracle. The amazed eyes of the people, fixed on the apostles, seemed to ask: What power do these people have in themselves who perform such great miracles? Or: How great must be the piety of these people that God glorifies them with such wonderful signs…? The apostle immediately refutes both explanations: “this, he says, does not belong to us, because we have not attracted God’s grace according to our own merits…” (Saint John Chrysostom).
Acts. 3:13. The God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Son Jesus, whom you betrayed and denied before Pilate, when he had decided to let Him go.
“God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” emphasizes the great guilt of the Jews towards His beloved Son – the Messiah Jesus. At the same time, it indicates the real culprit for the performed miracle, and also the purpose of the miracle – to glorify Jesus (cf. John 17:1, 4 – 5, 13:31 – 32).
“His Son”, τόν παῖδα αυτοῦ; letters Child, Child. This name of the Messiah taken from the prophecies of Isaiah (Is. 42:1), where it is said: “Behold, My Son, Whom I hold by the hand, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights.” I will put my Spirit on him, and he will pronounce judgment on the nations.”
“Whom ye betrayed and Whom ye denied,” cf. the interpretation of John 19:14 – 15; Luke 23:2. The abbreviated exposition of the circumstances of the Savior’s sufferings is in full accordance with the Gospel account and constitutes, so to speak, precious extracts from the “fifth” Gospel “from Peter.”
St. John Chrysostom says on this occasion: “Two accusations [are against you] – and that Pilate asked to let Him go, and that when he asked, you did not want… It is as if [Peter] said: instead of Him you asked for the robber . He presented their act in the most terrible way… You, says the apostle, asked for the release of the one who killed others, but the One who revives the slain, you did not ask.
Acts. 3:15. and the Prince of life you killed. God raised him from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
“You killed the chief of life” is an unusually strong expression, contrasting two such sharp contrasts. The term “life” here takes on a full and most perfect meaning, signifying not only the higher spiritual life and eternal salvation obtained through faith in Christ, but also all life in general, of which Christ is the main source, head, and restorer.
“God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” See the interpretation to Deyan. 2:24-32.
Acts. 3:16 a.m. And because of faith in His name, His name strengthened him whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Him gave him this healing before all of you.
“because of faith in His name.” Whose faith is the apostle referring to? It’s not clear. The faith of the apostles or the faith of the sick? In any case, however, the reason for the miracle is the power of faith – the faith, we must say, of both the apostles and the healed man – namely, faith in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.
“the faith that is from Him” – faith as a gift of Christ through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:9).
“before all of you.” Although the healing itself took place in the presence of perhaps a few, yet this miracle might be said to have been performed “before all,” for all these people now saw the healed man walking and leaping—instead of seeing him, as usual, to lie helpless at the temple gate.
Acts. 3:17. But I know, brethren, that you, as well as your superiors, did this in ignorance;
Having laid before the eyes of the Jews the gravity of their guilt against God the Father and the Lord Jesus, and with the intention of predisposing their hearts to repentance and conversion to Christ, the apostle softens his speech by addressing his hearers with the friendly address of “brethren” and explains the killing of Jesus by their ignorance (cf. Luke 23:34; 1 Cor. 2:8), while at the same time presenting this killing as a deed which was predetermined in the eternal counsel of God and foretold by all the prophets.
In this way, according to St. John Chrysostom, the apostle “gives them an opportunity to deny and repent of what they have done, and even presents them with a good justification, saying: that you killed an Innocent, you knew that; but that you killed the Prince of life—that you did not know. And in this way, it justifies not only them, but also the main culprits of the crime. And if he would turn his speech into an accusation, he would make them more obstinate.”
Acts. 3:18. and God, as He had foretold by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ would suffer, so He fulfilled.
“God… foretold by the mouth of all His prophets.” Although not all the prophets had prophesied of the sufferings of Christ, yet the apostle spoke of them in this way, evidently because the chief center of Jewish prophecy was Christ, that is, the Messiah, and therefore all His work, for which He was to came to earth.
“so he fulfilled”. The Jews handed Christ over to suffering and death, but in this case, although they remained responsible for what was done, they were instruments for the fulfillment of God’s will and the will of the Messiah Himself, as He said more than once (John 10:18, 2:19, 14 :31, 19:10-11).
Acts. 3:19. Therefore repent and turn, that your sins may be blotted out,
“turn around”, i.e. to Christ, believe in Him that He is the Messiah.
Acts. 3:20. that there may be times of cooling from the face of the Lord, and that He may send you the prophecies of Jesus Christ,
“cooling off times”, i.e. that favorable time, about which the Lord announced the good news in the synagogue in Nazareth – the kingdom of the Messiah, the kingdom of grace with his justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. As the time of the Old Testament is here supposed to be a life alienated from God, a life filled with all kinds of troubles, sufferings, struggles; so also the time of the New Testament is here regarded as a true rest and repose of the soul in peace with God and in close communion with Him, capable of erasing and healing all bitterness of suffering.
“from the face of the Lord” – judging from what was said further, here God the Father is understood.
“He shall send” – this refers to the Second glorious coming of the Lord Jesus at the end of the world, the meaning of the expression being the same as above “God raised Him up” etc.
Acts. 3:21. Whom heaven was to receive until that time, until all that God had spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets of old was restored.
“Whom heaven had to receive” – an indication of the residence of the Lord Jesus with glorified flesh in heaven from the day of the Ascension.
“Until that time until all things are restored” – ἄχρι χρόνον ἀποκαταστάσεως πάντων. Probably the same thing is meant here, which the Apostle Paul foretells, speaking of the conversion of all Jews to Christ (Rom. 11:26).
“Through the mouth of all His holy prophets” – cf. above the interpretation of verse 18. The general meaning of this text, according to the interpretation of the blessed Theophylact, is the same. Namely, that “many of the things foretold by the prophets have not yet been fulfilled, but are being fulfilled [now] and will be fulfilled until the end of the world, because Christ, who ascended into heaven, will remain there until the end of the world and will come with power when all that the prophets have foretold will be finally fulfilled”.
Acts. 3:22. Moses had said to the fathers: The Lord your God will raise up for you from among your brothers a Prophet like me: listen to him in everything he tells you;
After mentioning the predictions of the prophets about Christ, the apostle quotes as one of the clearest and most authoritative predictions – the words of Moses (Deut. 18:15ff.). In these words, Moses, warning God’s people about the lying soothsayers and soothsayers of the Canaanites, promises in the name of God that they will always have true prophets to whom they must listen without question after Moses. Therefore, it is a matter of referring to the entire multitude of Jewish prophets under the general collective name “prophet” who were raised up by God. But since the end and fulfillment of every Old Testament prophecy is Christ, all antiquity – both Jewish and Christian – rightly refers this prophecy to Christ – especially since among all the Old Testament prophets there was no one like Moses (Deut. 34: 10 – 12). Only Christ excels Moses (Heb. 3:3-6).
“A prophet like me,” προφήτην ὑμῖν, i.e. the same – a special, extraordinary mediator between God and the people, as Moses was. This especially points to the legislative activity of Jesus Christ, in which He, unlike all other prophets, resembled and surpassed Moses.
Acts. 3:23. and every soul that will not obey that Prophet shall be cut off from among the people.
“will be cut off from among the people” – ἐξολοθρευθήσεται ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ. In the Old Testament original: “from him I will demand tribute”. The apostle replaces this expression with another stronger and often used in other places by Moses, meaning condemnation of extermination or capital punishment: in the given case is meant eternal death and deprivation of participation in the kingdom of the Promised Messiah (cf. John 3:18 ).
Acts. 3:24. And all the prophets from Samuel and after him, as many as have spoken, likewise foretold these days.
“all the prophets . . . foretold these days,” i.e. the days of the appearance of the Great Prophet – Messiah (cf. verses 18 and 21).
“from Samuel,” who is here taken to be the greatest prophet after Moses, with whom begins the continuous line of Old Testament Hebrew prophets, ending with the end of the Babylonian captivity.
Acts. 3:25. Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant, which God bequeathed to your fathers, speaking to Abraham: and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
Blessed Theophylact’s interpretation is as follows: “The apostle says, ‘sons of the prophets,’ instead of saying: you must not despair, nor think that you have lost the promises.” “Ye are the sons of the prophets,” for to you they have spoken, and because of you all these things have come to pass. And what does “sons of the Covenant” mean? This is instead of “heirs”, but heirs not only imputed, but such as the sons are. And so, if you yourselves will, then you are heirs.’
“God had bequeathed to your fathers, speaking to Abraham.” The covenant with Abraham is a covenant with all the fathers of the Jewish people, having Abraham as their forefather, and therefore with the entire Jewish people. But this is not exclusive: God’s blessing is not only promised to them, but to all the tribes of the earth – first only to the Jews, according to the special covenant with them concluded through Moses.
“In your seed they shall be blessed” – a promise given to Abraham, which God repeatedly repeats (Gen. 12:3, 18:18, 22:18). By the “seed” of Abraham here is meant not the seed of Abraham at all, but only one particular Person of that seed, namely the Messiah. This is how not only Peter, but also the apostle Paul interprets this promise (Gal. 3:16).
Acts. 3:26. God, having resurrected His Son Jesus, first of all sent Him to you to bless you, so that each of you may turn from your evils.
By the fact that God sent the blessed descendant of Abraham “first” to the Jews, the apostle tries to show not only their superiority over all other nations, but also the strongest incentive and, as it were, the obligation to receive the promised blessing before all others – by turning to Christ and believing in Him.
“by raising up His Son”, – cf. above the interpretations to Acts. 2:24, 3:13.
“send to bless you,” i. to fulfill upon you the promise given to Abraham, to make you blessed partakers of all the benefits of the Messiah’s kingdom, to grant you salvation and eternal life. “Therefore, do not consider yourselves cast off and cast off.” – concludes Saint John Chrysostom.
“to turn from one’s evils” is an important condition for receiving God’s promised blessing in the Kingdom of the Messiah, in which nothing impure and unrighteous will enter.
In the judgment about the primacy of Israel in receiving the benefits of the Kingdom of the Messiah, the apostle again repeats the thought of the general, universal character of this Kingdom, which will spread over all the peoples of the earth.
Source in Russian: Explanatory Bible, or Commentaries on all the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments: In 7 volumes / Ed. prof. A.P. Lopukhin. – Ed. 4th. – Moscow: Dar, 2009, 1232 pp.
The American state of Louisiana ordered the Ten commandments of God to be displayed in all classrooms of the state’s educational institutions, the world agencies reported.
A local ordinance dictates that the Ten Commandments must be on posters that are large enough — 12 inches by 8 inches — to be easy to read. They will be placed from kindergartens to universities.
The law was drafted by representatives of the Republican Party, which holds a two-thirds majority of the seats in both houses of the Louisiana legislature. The posters will be funded through donations and no government funds will be used for them.
According to NGOs, the new law violates the rule of separation of church and state and is a blatant violation of the constitution.
Louisiana is the first and only state with such a law.
A house church in Shunyi, Beijing
Photo by Huang Jinhui
.CC BY-SA 4.0
Persecution of Christians in China is increasing and spreading to Hong Kong, Release International has warned on the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
The Tiananmen massacre in Beijing on June 4, 1989 brought a brutal end to pro-democracy protests and marked an increase in anti-Christian repression.
Thirty-five years later, Christians in China face the worst level of persecution since the Cultural Revolution, a trend that has spread to Hong Kong, where draconian national security laws further restrict free speech and religious freedom .
The organization, which supports persecuted Christians around the world, said the new law could force Roman Catholic priests in Hong Kong to reveal the secrets of confession. According to Art. 23, passed in March, priests can be jailed for up to fourteen months if they refuse to reveal so-called “crimes of treason” shared during confession.
Increasing anti-Christian repression forced many Christians to leave Hong Kong and emigrate to the United Kingdom. Christian rights activists say Britain has a moral obligation to uphold religious freedom in its former colony.
“The people of Hong Kong expect the UK to stand firm in defense of their religious freedom and stand up for them, and to take all necessary measures to protect those fleeing persecution,” they said.
A new report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) claims that China is increasingly repressing practicing Christians. The report says that religious freedom is the cornerstone of all freedoms and that the current crackdown on Christians in China is the most severe since Mao Zedong’s “Cultural Revolution.” These include harassment and deprivation of rights, disruption of services, baptisms and even online services to intimidate Christians. Heavy fines are imposed on people who rent out Christian places of worship to discourage Christians from gathering for prayer. In 2022, for example, Huang Yuanda, a Christian from Xiamen, was fined 100,000 yuan (about $14,500) by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau for renting a house to the church school. Numerous anti-Christian regulations have been introduced to monitor Christian information in cyberspace.
He says Chinese censorship efforts especially target Christian youth.
“For the first time, millions of Chinese children were forced to sign a form – these are Christian children – to renounce their faith in public.”
Communist leaders also continue to remove crosses from church buildings. “Even the government-sanctioned churches have been targeted for persecution,” says Fu. “Those pastors who refuse to voluntarily destroy, remove, and demolish their crosses have been facing huge risks of persecution.”
Furthermore, Chinese Christians know their every move is increasingly watched as China embraces digitalized social monitoring.
Fu says, “The government-sanctioned churches, every church pulpit and the four corners of the church have to install face recognition cameras so that they can monitor the congregation – whether there’s any children, there’s any youth under 18 years old, any Communist Party member, any Communist Youth League member, any civil servant, or any police or military service member. These are all forbidden to even enter into the church building.”
Today, the European Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), the world’s first comprehensive regulation on artificial intelligence, enters into force. The AI Act is designed to ensure that AI developed and used in the EU is trustworthy, with safeguards to protect people’s fundamental rights. The regulation aims to establish a harmonised internal market for AI in the EU, encouraging the uptake of this technology and creating a supportive environment for innovation and investment.
The AI Act introduces a forward-looking definition of AI, based on a product safety and risk-based approach in the EU:
Minimal risk: Most AI systems, such as AI-enabled recommender systems and spam filters, fall into this category. These systems face no obligations under the AI Act due to their minimal risk to citizens’ rights and safety. Companies can voluntarily adopt additional codes of conduct.
Specific transparency risk: AI systems like chatbots must clearly disclose to users that they are interacting with a machine. Certain AI-generated content, including deep fakes, must be labelled as such, and users need to be informed when biometric categorisation or emotion recognition systems are being used. In addition, providers will have to design systems in a way that synthetic audio, video, text and images content is marked in a machine-readable format, and detectable as artificially generated or manipulated.
High risk: AI systems identified as high-risk will be required to comply with strict requirements, including risk-mitigation systems, high quality of data sets, logging of activity, detailed documentation, clear user information, human oversight, and a high level of robustness, accuracy, and cybersecurity. Regulatory sandboxes will facilitate responsible innovation and the development of compliant AI systems. Such high-risk AI systems include for example AI systems used for recruitment, or to assess whether somebody is entitled to get a loan, or to run autonomous robots.
Unacceptable risk: AI systems considered a clear threat to the fundamental rights of people will be banned. This includes AI systems or applications that manipulate human behaviour to circumvent users’ free will, such as toys using voice assistance encouraging dangerous behaviour of minors, systems that allow ‘social scoring’ by governments or companies, and certain applications of predictive policing. In addition, some uses of biometric systems will be prohibited, for example emotion recognition systems used at the workplace and some systems for categorising people or real time remote biometric identification for law enforcement purposes in publicly accessible spaces (with narrow exceptions).
To complement this system, the AI Act also introduces rules for so-called general-purpose AI models, which are highly capable AI models that are designed to perform a wide variety of tasks like generating human-like text. General-purpose AI models are increasingly used as components of AI applications. The AI Act will ensure transparency along the value chain and addresses possible systemic risks of the most capable models.
Member States have until 2 August 2025 to designate national competent authorities, who will oversee the application of the rules for AI systems and carry out market surveillance activities. The Commission’s AI Office will be the key implementation body for the AI Act at EU-level, as well as the enforcer for the rules for general-purpose AI models.
Three advisory bodies will support the implementation of the rules. The European Artificial Intelligence Board will ensure a uniform application of the AI Act across EU Member States and will act as the main body for cooperation between the Commission and the Member States. A scientific panel of independent experts will offer technical advice and input on enforcement. In particular, this panel can issue alerts to the AI Office about risks associated to general-purpose AI models. The AI Office can also receive guidance from an advisory forum, composed of a diverse set of stakeholders.
Companies not complying with the rules will be fined. Fines could go up to 7% of the global annual turnover for violations of banned AI applications, up to 3% for violations of other obligations and up to 1.5% for supplying incorrect information.
Next Steps
The majority of rules of the AI Act will start applying on 2 August 2026. However, prohibitions of AI systems deemed to present an unacceptable risk will already apply after six months, while the rules for so-called General-Purpose AI models will apply after 12 months.
To bridge the transitional period before full implementation, the Commission has launched the AI Pact. This initiative invites AI developers to voluntarily adopt key obligations of the AI Act ahead of the legal deadlines.
The Commission is also developing guidelines to define and detail how the AI Act should be implemented and facilitating co-regulatory instruments like standards and codes of practice. The Commission opened a call for expression of interest to participate in drawing-up the first general-purpose AI Code of Practice, as well as a multi-stakeholder consultation giving the opportunity to all stakeholders to have their say on the first Code of Practice under the AI Act.
Continued independent, evidence-based research produced by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) has been fundamental in shaping the EU’s AI policies and ensuring their effective implementation.
