Augustine of Hippo : In this redemption, the blood of Christ was given, as it were, as a price for us, by accepting which the devil was not enriched, but bound: that we might be loosened from his bonds, and that he might not with himself involve in the meshes of sins, and so deliver to the destruction of the second and eternal death, any one of those whom Christ, free from all debt, had redeemed by pouring out His own blood unindebtedly; but that they who belong to the grace of Christ, foreknown, and predestinated, and elected before the foundation of the world should only so far die as Christ Himself died for them, i.e. only by the death of the flesh, not of the spirit. — ON THE TRINITY 13.15 Clement of Alexandria ((as quoted by Cassiodorus)) : "Verily foreknown before the foundation of the world." [1 Peter 1:20] Inasmuch as He was foreknown before every creature, because He was Christ. "But manifested in the last times" by the generation of a body. — From the Latin Translation of Cassiodorus Oecumenius : He was indeed predetermined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for you, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Peter connected the death of Christ with the resurrection. For he fears the easy change of beginners in faith to skepticism, due to the disgrace of Christ's afflictions, but he says there is no recent mystery about Christ: since this also disturbs the foolish; but in former times and before the foundation of the world, it had been hidden by divine providence until the opportune time, indeed it was revealed to the prophets who inquired about these things, as he had said a little earlier, now, however, he says, it is more manifest, because what had been foreknown before the foundation of the world, namely by God, is now revealed, whether completed or perfected. And he adds because of whom it may be perfect, namely because of you. For because of you, he says, he raised him from the dead. But why because of you? So that when you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth through the Spirit, you may have faith and hope in God. And how have you purified yourselves? Because by believing in Him who has proclaimed to you the resurrection from the dead to an incorruptible life, you are debtors to Him who, being incorruptible, called you to walk in newness of life. But if both Peter and Paul say that the Father raised the Lord from the dead, do not be disturbed: for now they are using introductory teachings to say these things. For listen to Christ saying that he raised himself, when he says: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (Jn. 2:19) But also Luke: "To whom he also showed himself alive, after he had suffered." (Acts 1:3) And again Christ himself: "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again." (Jn. 10:18) Therefore, in a certain dispensation, the Son's resurrection is sometimes referred to the Father, to show the unity of the operation of the Father and the Son. The sequence of the letters is as follows: He was indeed predetermined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for you, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory: so that you may purify your souls (in fact, ὥστε is taken for 'so that') in obeying the truth, having faith and hope in God. For it is accepted that εἶναι means "to have", because of the preceding. For if ὥστε is left in its meaning as stated, the sentence will be incoherent and unintelligible. — Commentary on 1 Peter Pseudo-Clement : I think not that you are ignorant that the living church is the body of Christ (for the Scripture, says, "God created man male and female;" [Genesis 1:27; cf. Ephesians 5:22-23] the male is Christ, the female the church,) and that the Books and the Apostles teach that the church is not of the present, but from the beginning. For it was spiritual, as was also our Jesus, and was made manifest at the end of the days in order to save you. [1 Peter 1:20] — Second Epistle To The Corinthians (Pseudo-Clement) Shepherd of Hermas : "First of all, sir," I said, "explain this to me: What is the meaning of the rock and the gate?" "This rock," he answered, "and this gate are the Son of God." "How, sir?" I said; "the rock is old, and the gate is new." "Listen," he said, "and understand, O ignorant man. The Son of God is older than all His creatures, so that He was a fellow-councillor with the Father in His work of creation: for this reason is He old." "And why is the gate new, sir?" I said. "Because," he answered, "He became manifest in the last days of the dispensation: for this reason the gate was made new, that they who are to be saved by it might enter into the kingdom of God." — Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9 Tertullian : We have been predestined by God, before the world was, (to arise) in the extreme end of the times. And so we are trained by God for the purpose of chastising, and (so to say) emasculating, the world. — On the Apparel of Women Book II