Daily Verse: 2 Peter 1:5-8 Part 1.
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8 (KJV)
Building the spiritual tools to defeat the Antichrists in our lives, whether it be the chugging along monstrosity that is The System or even just devilish behaviors that steep us in Sin, can be challenging. Even with over 1000 pages of spiritual encouragement and wisdom, we still as humans are plagued with the wickedness that seeks to destroy the soul and promote sin as a means of living. As discussed in the previous essay, Sin and the ways of the flesh are inherently unfullfilling in promoting happiness, even if they bring about a great amount of pleasures and stimulation, whereas following a spiritual path can not only enrich our souls, it can provide a way of Being that can frustrate the apparatus of the System and it’s many pleasure nodes.
Here, we are given an interesting methodology to follow in Christ’s mode of Being. Of course, as with many oral tradition texts, the methods are broad, and the KJV of this verse, although eloquent and rendered beautifully as usual, still leave something to be desired. But let’s go through this for a moment and unpack what exactly Simon Peter was going for in this verse.
First off, we are given a sort of direction by which to follow, or a system of building blocks by which we can successfully build a ‘sturdy foundation’. I’m afraid I can’t say whether or not this is a linear progression (that is to say, accomplish one and then continue on) or if it is all to occur at once (vectors of change leading into the Whole). In any case, I will take this verse a bit literally here, although I do believe this can be accomplished in harmony with one another.
The breakdown is thus: Grow virtue, and then from there add knowledge, and from there add temperance, and to that add patience, and to that add godliness, and to that human love, and to that ‘charity’/agape. This is fairly clear, but it does feel incomplete, no? Perhaps a bit vague? How is that we can be given a path to enlightenment, but one that is so obtuse as to be shrouded in mystery1
Of course, part of the fun of the bible, and most religious/holy texts, comes from the chewing that goes on in the mind. this is why, and this may be heretical to a point, that i believe the parables of christ (prodigal son, the sower, etc) should be seen less as obvious 1:1 correlations and more as zen koans by which one can ponder, mini philosophical/spiritual puzzles that can lead to insights rather than just someone telling you to do this or that. More often than not I find hard nosed church orthodox types simplifying these parables down to very basic Christian principles rather than trying to illuminate the narrative mystery contained therein.
So yes, we can look at this passage and go ‘ah yes, I do need to become virtuous, these are described in the Gospels and in Pauline doctrine afterward.” Knowledge of the scripture, controlling one’s actions, being patient, being cool with the bros and finally having a charitable heart. It makes sense and is totally fair in analysis.
However, I find that it is important to go through the original Greek use of some of these concepts, as they highlight a mode of thinking that someone in biblical times may have understood.
Virtue here is originally “aretē”, which is not merely virtuous in a moralistic sense but also a particular philosophy of being exemplary at a particular trait. One who is great at combat, for example, can be of this state, and so is a loyal husband. It is to say that one contains a valuable or noble trait that others would naturally look up to. I think too, and this is speculative, that there is a self contained moral righteousness to it. One who is virtuous therefore is at the pinnacle of their dedication towards a particular noble trait.
This is important because it highlights a particular Christian trait of ‘separate but individual’, that is to say, ‘all citizens of the Kingdom’- unlike the System, which seeks to devalue the fundamental uniqueness of the individual in favor for servitude to the System (that is to say, ‘if your trait doesn’t feed into our methods of control, consumption, or production, then it is of no use, but don’t worry, you’re still an important member of society :) ). Yes, we are in ‘servitude’ towards the Divine, but this shall lead to true freedom of the Self in the endless sea of sin. Here, we can lean into not just talents (like being, say, a great blacksmith or comedian or soldier) but also the very personal driving mission that is contained within our duties and talents- community, joy, and courage, and so on. Therefore, it makes sense that this would be the first of the path towards Spiritual Oneness- it isn’t merely ‘know thyself’ but more so ‘be in the process at striving for greatness’. this is enriched by following Christ’s teachings- we seek to live ‘virtuously’ so that we may begin to understand the very idea of greatness. If we know greatness, we can begin to have even a basic understanding of what it means to be christ.
Next, Knowledge, which of course is ‘gnosin’ in this passage, which is gnosis. Gnosis is not merely just ‘intelligence’, which is more closely related to the greek word ‘eidein’, rather it is a more spiritual knowledge, akin to say personal wisdom with regard to spirituality. The word has seen a bit of a shift in etymology, as the Gnostics adopted it and the word shifted to a more mystical pursuit of the unknowable God. I think that what they mean by gnosis here, or knowledge, is actually not merely scripture (ie knowing the verses, reading the words) but also extracting the wisdom.
This is, to go back to the parables, why their clear messages can also contain different vectors of hermeneutics and layers of narrative depth. one of the biggest realizations for me, for example, was reading the Prodigal Son parable. We all know the story of the son who goes off from his father’s property in search of secular glory (fame, fortune, the delights of the flesh) but was left empty and poor. He returns to his father, begging forgiveness for his rashness, and his father throws him a feast. Clearly, Jesus is demonstrating the forgiving nature of God, and how we as sinners can come back and there will be much joyous celebrating from the heavens above. And so most end there, the story a nice, heartwarming tale of sin and forgiveness, of a return to glory in the face of emptiness. But- we often forget about the titular Prodigal Son’s brother, who remains at the fields of his father. The brother is enraged that such a feast is thrown for his brother, as he had remained steadfastly by his father’s side. The father proclaims “It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.” Luke 15:31-32 (KJV).
Although the proclamation at the end is, ultimately, joyful, the ending is still left ambiguous- does the brother walk into the party and embrace his now found brother, or does he turn his back on the father and return to the fields, or even leave the property? Realizing that this son is, in effect, also a prodigal son is very important. It communicates that, as followers of Christ, and as ones that have sought to improve our lives and others, do we react joyfully when confronted by sinners casting off the heavy yoke of sin/modernity? or do we become bitter that, despite methodically tilling the land, we have yet to receive exaltation? This of course is related as well to the parable of the Tax Collector. And even deeper levels of meaning unfold- perhaps his brother working the fields has symbolic significance, that he had actually not brought about the fruit of his labor, and only worked ‘without thought/knowledge.’ these layers are important in uncovering a deeper soil of wisdom that we may impart on to others, and knowledge by which to lead our lives not just merely as drones of church doctrines but as independent souls that, with each different virtues, come to the same Kingdom.
Another point to add on as well is that the end of the verse, ‘knowledge of Jesus Christ our lord” uses not merely just gnosis but ‘epignosis’, which means ‘knowledge of what is true/precise.’ This presents an interesting contradiction to what i just said, right? “But, IP FREELY, how can there be a Complete Truth when you just said that truth can stem from a kind of subjective experience of the scripture?’ You twist my ideas and god’s ideas, serpent of mistrust! epignosis is a transcendent knowledge- because ultimately, even as we gather round our virtues and our knowledge, it all leads to a singular truth- that of Christ! Again, we see biblical scripture advocating a method of being by approaching Christ- the human embodiment of God! It is why, despite 4 different depictions of Christ, we get clear waters of infinite depth we may plunge into.
Next, we get ‘enkrateian’, which translates to self control or self mastery of the passions. Temperance, restraint. As we have seen in modern times, the System demands that we indulge our passions (as long as it doesn’t contradict the System’s needs!). Pornography, addictive junk food, social media, etc exist as sin mechanisms. As we grow, as we develop our virtues and our knowledge, we resist and moderate our sins so that we may stay focused on striving towards Being Christ. interestingly enough, the word (enkrates, the adjective form of the word) used to mean power over a subject (that is to say, a person or object). I think this is important because it highlights that power is not merely lording over your children, pets, employees, kingdom, etc, but from controlling your animal instincts that want so bad to dive into the pleasure pool and drink forth. This is the key difference between man and animal- temperance. Animals may eat themselves to death. You would think humans wouldn’t either.
Hypomonēn- patience. Or, more specifically, remaining patient or the endurance of patience. I think the remaining patient is key here to understanding this text. Granted, it seems obviously built in that this trait, along with the other traits, are going to be ones that remain in the life of the one who seeks to Be Christlike, but it also illuminates the very nature of patience. This is a trait I personally have struggled with greatly. I am a naturally very impatient person, and this has proved to be detrimental at times as I’ve pursued my own career and interests. I want so bad to get to the finish line, or to jump the starting gun, and as i stew over my failures, over my inability to rise above my current position, I find much vexation and frustration. and as I try to seek patience in a day, or a week, i am continually tested for my patience. and I have yet to fully pass. Perhaps, on some level, I am stuck here in the ‘becoming christ’ process of christian transcendence. Part of this as well is that we live in a very fast time. We have instant gratification out the freakin’ wazoo! Need something? There’s an app for that. Want sex? Want ‘food’? Want to get high? Want to Escape from the tyranny of the System? There’s an app for that! We have been made impatient. And this is reflected back at us as well, in a rather grim irony. andy warhol once said everyone would have 15 minutes of fame, but ultimately he proved to be even more correct than he could have imagined- now you can do so in 15 seconds. And guess what? Your fame lasts for so long as well. Technological society accelerates quicker and quicker towards a vague ‘ultimate progress.’ Because we believe that we understand history, psychology, humanities, etc, we can hack into our biological systems and bypass the process of pain, disease, hurt, and even death. Not only are our devices becoming more obsolete (only for a new shiny bauble to take its place- one that costs more and does nearly everything the old tech did) but humanity itself quickly moves towards obsoletion as well. and the elites in power, the technocrats and technophreaks, can’t wait for us to get there!
Perhaps this is why fasting is often undertaken by mystics on all faith practices- by delaying the gratification of your most base need (hunger) you can work through the pain and find a kind of transcendence from the need of your body. Granted, I’m not saying to go out and fast for 40 days, but this mode of understanding helps us deny the flesh in favor for the Spirit!
(more in part 2)