6. Thou wilt learn moreover, from the writings of His
Disciples,--that it was by their means He was about soon to call in the
nations--which are to this effect: " When Jesus passed over a part of the sea of Galilee, he saw two brethren,
Simon who is called Cephas, and Andrew his brother, casting nets into the sea
:--for they were fishers. -- He said to them, Follow me; and I will make you
fishers of men. And they, in the same hour, left their nets and followed him.
And, when he departed thence, He saw two brethren, James the son of Zebedee and
John Ms brother, in the ship with Zebedee their Father, and He called them ;
and they, in the same hour, left the ship and their Father, and
followed Him." Another writer too has left it on record, that He
spoke to Simon on two occasions, a prediction similar to this: "When a great multitude was standing over against Jesus" He (this writer) has said, that " He went up into one of the ships, which was Simon's; and, when He had sat
down in it, He interpreted to the multitude." But, after the teaching which was sufficient,--because it was
suitable that He should add some Divine work to His words, for the advantage of
those who were looking on,--He commanded Simon to "cast forth his net for a draught: and he said to Him, We have toiled the
whole night, and have found nothing ; nevertheless at thy word, I will cast out
the net." And, what He had been commanded, he did. And, when
he had taken a great number of fishes, their nets were breaking,--because they
were heavy with the many (fishes),--and they called to those who were in the
ship at their side, to help them. And thus, when they had drawn up the fishes,
they filled both their ships, insomuch that they were pressed to sinking; and,
upon these things, Simon was astonished and wondered, confessing that he was
not worthy, that our Saviour should come near him. But, when He had thus
shewn him a representation of what was about to take place,
He also gave its explanation (thus); "and Jesus said to him, Fear not; Thou shalt henceforth
be a fisher of men unto life." It was to Galileans,--men unacquainted with any
thing beyond the Syriac language, and this mean profession and necessity of
fishing, by which they were driven,--that our Saviour well promised, that He
would "make them fishers of men" and preachers of His doctrine. And, He made them (such). Nor
did He belie His promise; but He shewed forth the "POWER OF GOD," the
Doer of a thing, which eclipsed every human excellence! For, had He brought
near to Him the Intellectual and the Wise, the Rich, and Illustrious, among the
Jews; and had made use of these (as) the Teachers of His words; it would indeed
have been likely, that men would have supposed this matter to have been brought
about by human means only. For thus are most men usually overcome; (namely),
they are either wrought upon by the gifts of the rich, or, they are led astray
by excellency of speech, or, by the phantasms of science : or, they fear the
power of illustrious personages. But He made use of no such disciples as these:
on the contrary, by the poor, the despised ;--by men ignorant as to speech,
Syrians in language, and in their character humble and mean,--did He openly
manifest His work (of redemption). It was the Divine Power alone, which He made
use of;--that which He evinced when He previously called them, and made them go
forth ; and so promised that He would make them both "Fishers of men," and Preachers; that, instead of the nets which they then had,
they should receive from Him the net, which should comprehend in its texture,
an aggregate of the declarations of both the Law and the Prophets, as well as
of those comprehended in (all) the Divine teaching. This they should cast into
the sea of mankind as existing in the world, and inclose (therein) as many as
they could; filling these their rational nets with every sort
of the fish that are rational. But these things, which were then heard by word,
were words and sounds, and nothing more: it was an effort of the Divine Power
itself, which, at no distant time, brought them to pass; and so fulfilled by
deeds the things which had been foretold, that, in a short time, He made His
own possession the whole creation of mankind,--congregations innumerable,--by
means of these poor and illiterate men; and, that His Churches were every where
filled, both with Greeks and Barbarians. For, it was not by that one Divine
word of promise, that He would teach His Disciples, but, that He would MAKE them Fishers of men. Nor was it therefore, that He knew only, what
should come to pass; nor, that He foretold this; but, that He should also be
looked upon (as) the Effectuator of all this knowledge.--He spoke in word, and
He performed and established the deed:-- that something (I say), which was to
be brought about, (He foretold) by demonstration and representation; and of
this He gave the fulfilment in the fact itself! For, to them who formerly
toiled throughout the lengthened night, which was dark and destitute of the
true light and knowledge of God, and could find nothing which they could take,
(leading) to salvation, He arose (as the sun) in His brightness, and commanded
those who were in the light and the day,--not by their art, but by trusting in
his word,--to cast out their nets into the deep. And they so enclosed this
great multitude of fish, that their fishing vessels were pressed to breaking,
and the ships themselves to remaining in the deep from their weight. And,
because these things were so done, astonishment and great fear came upon Simon.
But, our Saviour said (as it were) these things to him, Let not these things alarm thee: they are (but as) recitations for the
present, and representations of something hereafter to come to pass: for, these
are fish unendued with either voice, or reason; these too, are ships and nets,
composed of (earthly) material, and are inanimate; but, not as these things,
are those of which these are the representations : for shortly
afterwards,--that is, immediately, nmv, and forthwith,--thou shall be a fisher
of men unto life (eternal). This laborious fishing which returns no profit,
thou shalt relinquish; and, thou shall become a fisherman of
reasonable creatures, in place of these which are irrational. Nor shalt thou
again draw up those whom thou shalt catch from the depths of the sea, but from
the bitterness of the life that is hateful; from the chambers of ungodly
darkness and from sin, into the light which is intellectual; and to the
elevation of purity. That is, thou shalt catch them for life, by means of that which is of
life: it is not death that thou preparest for them. These first indeed, which
are drawn up out of the sea, and which formerly enjoyed life in darkness and
the deep, perish immediately on their ascending and receiving the light. But,
those who shall be caught by thee from among men, shall be caught up out of the
darkness of ignorance, and shall be changed to the life that is of God. These things therefore, (namely,) " Thou shalt henceforth catch men unto life," our Saviour foretold by the Divine power: and the same, our
Saviour shewed by very deed, were sure and true. This Syrian fisherman therefore,
this net-caster,--did by means of his net,--the texture of which was by the
Divine power composed of the words of mystery,--catch innumerable multitudes of
men. And, " The visual perception of something hidden, is something visible."
The things therefore, which the long life of the world,-- and which from the
first experienced not the rising (as of the Sun) of our Saviour,--could not
effect:--the things which neither Moses who gave the law to the Hebrews, nor
the Prophets who came after Moses, could ; nor yet the multitmdes of others,
who from ancient times carried as fishermen the doctrine of God to man, and who
toiled throughout the whole night which preceded his manifestation,--could do,
this Galilean, this Pauper, this Barbarian, this Simon did, by means of his
voice bring to pass. The demonstrations indeed, then given of Simon as to these
things, are the Churches which up to this time have arisen, far more in number
than the ships (then present), and these, filled with fish that are rational.
Such is this of Caesarea of Palestine, and such is that of Antioch of
Syria; and such is that of Rome; for, by these
Churches--which Simon set up, and by all those near them,--are these things
commemorated. Those too that are in Egypt and in Alexandria itself, did he
again, not by his own means, but by those of Mark, his disciple, erect. Of
those also, that are in Italy and among the nations adjoining, he was the
Steward (Dispenser): and he made his disciple Mark the Teacher and Fisherman of
those in Egypt. Now, give thy consideration likewise, to the rest of our
Saviour's Disciples, on those whom He said He would make Fishers of men;--and this his word He has shewn forth by deeds. For
up to this time He did, and caused, that, forthwith, and throughout the whole
creation of man,-- His rational net should be filled with every sort of
rational fish, Barbarian and Greek ; and that He should draw up from the depths
of evil, and the darkness of ungodliness, the souls of men ; turning these
daily and hourly to the light and knowledge of God which had been delivered by
Himself. Which things, seen as they are with our own eyes, establish,--as it
appears to me,--beyond (all) doubt, the Divine manifestation of our Saviour.
We note
that Peter is no longer the Spokesman-Leader of the Apostles, but simply one
among others. Neither is his considered to be the founder of the Church par
excellence but the founder of individual Churches (Caesarea, Antioch, Rome and Alexandria),
i.e. merely an historical personage who was used as an instrument by the Power
of God, the effects of those works were to be seen not in any special authority
to be attributed to them or their bishops but simply in the large number of “geistige
Fischen” (= Christians) who still populated those Churches. There is no allusion
to Peter’s reputed confrontation with Simon Magus at Rome or to his martyrdom
in the city he once understood to be the capital of the unredeemed world. (Vincent
Twomey, Apostolikos Thronos: The Primacy of Rome as Reflected in the Church
History of Eusebius and the Historico-Apologetic Writings of Saint Athanasius
the Great [Münster: Aschendorff, 1982], 227)
