1 Corinthians

Introduction to the First Epistle to the Corinthians.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 3

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE

CORINTHIANS.

IN my preface to the Epistle to the Romans I have made several extracts from Dr. Paley’s Horæ Paulinæ, in which, from internal evidence, he demonstrates the authenticity of that epistle. His observations on the first Epistle to the Corinthians are distinguished by the same profound learning and depth of thought: and as, in an age in which skepticism has had an unbridled range, it may be of great consequence to a sincere inquirer after truth to have all his doubts removed relative to the authenticity of the epistle in question; and as Dr. Paley’s observations cast considerable light on several passages in the work, I take the liberty to introduce them, as something should be said on the subject; and I do not pretend to have any thing equal to what is here prepared to my hands. I have scarcely made any other change than to introduce the word section for number.

Section 1.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 3

SECTION 1.

§ Before we proceed to compare this epistle with the history, says Dr. Paley, or with any other epistle, we will employ one section in stating certain remarks applicable to our argument, which arise from a perusal of the epistle itself.

By an expression in the first verse of the seventh chapter, “Now, concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me,” it appears that this letter to the Corinthians was written by St. Paul in answer to one which he had received from them; and that the seventh and some of the following chapters are taken up in resolving certain doubts, and regulating certain points of order, concerning which the Corinthians had in their letter consulted him. This alone is a circumstance considerably in favour of the authenticity of the epistle; for it must have been a far-fetched contrivance in a forgery, first to have feigned the receipt of a letter from the Church of Corinth, which letter does not appear, and then to have drawn up a fictitious answer to it, relative to a great variety of doubts and inquiries, purely economical and domestic; and which, though likely enough to have occurred to an infant society, in a situation and under an institution so novel as that of a Christian Church then was, it must have very much exercised the author’s invention, and could have answered no imaginable purpose of forgery, to introduce the mention of it at all. Particulars of the kind we refer to are such as the following: the rule of duty and prudence relative to entering into marriage, as applicable to virgins and to widows; the case of husbands married to unconverted wives, of wives having unconverted husbands; that case where the unconverted party chooses to separate, or where he chooses to continue the union; the effect which their conversion produced upon their prior state; of circumcision; of slavery; the eating of things offered to idols, as it was in itself, or as others were affected by it; the joining in idolatrous sacrifices; the decorum to be observed in their religious assemblies, the order of speaking, the silence of women, the covering, or uncovering of the head, as it became men, as it became women. These subjects, with their several subdivisions, are so particular, minute, and numerous, that though they be exactly agreeable to the circumstances of the persons to whom the letter was written, nothing I believe but the existence and the reality of those circumstances could have suggested them to the writer’s thoughts.

But this is not the only nor the principal observation upon the correspondence between the Church of Corinth and their apostle which I wish to point out. It appears, I think, in this correspondence, that although the Corinthians had written to St. Paul, requesting his answer and his directions in the several points above enumerated; yet that they had not said one syllable about the enormities and disorders which had crept in amongst them, and in the blame of which they all shared; but that St. Paul’s information concerning the irregularities then prevailing at Corinth had come round to him from other quarters. The quarrels and disputes excited by their contentious adherence to their different teachers, and by their placing of them in competition with one another, were not mentioned in their letter, but communicated to St. Paul by more private intelligence: “It hath been declared unto me, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:11, 12.) The incestuous marriage “of a man with his father’s wife,” which St, Paul reprehends with so much severity in the fifth chapter of this epistle, and which was not the crime of an individual only, but a crime in which the whole Church, by tolerating and conniving at it, had rendered themselves partakers, did not come to St. Paul’s knowledge by the letter, but by a rumour which had reached his ears: “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife; and ye are puffed up and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:1, 2.) Their going to law before the judicature of the country rather than arbitrate and adjust their disputes among themselves, which St. Paul animadverts upon with his usual plainness, was not intimated to him in the letter, because he tells them his opinion of this conduct before he comes to the contents of the letter. Their litigiousness is censured by St. Paul in the sixth chapter of his epistle: and it is only at the beginning of the seventh chapter that he proceeds upon the articles which he found in their letter; and he proceeds upon them with this preface: “Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me,” (1 Corinthians 7:1;) which introduction he would not have used if he had been already discussing any of the subjects concerning which they had written. Their irregularities in celebrating the Lord’s Supper, and the utter perversion of the institution which ensued, were not in the letter, as is evident from the terms in which St. Paul mentions the notice he had received of it: “Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse; for first of all, when ye come together in the Church, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it.” Now that the Corinthians should, in their own letter, exhibit the fair side of their conduct to the apostle, and conceal from him the faults of their behaviour, was extremely natural and extremely probable: but it was a distinction which would not, I think, have easily occurred to the author of a forgery; and much less likely is it, that it should have entered into his thoughts to make the distinction appear in the way in which it does appear, viz. not by the original letter, not by any express observation upon it in the answer, but distantly by marks perceivable in the manner, or in the order in which St. Paul takes notice of their faults.

Section 2.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 5

SECTION 2.

§ This epistle purports to have been written after St. Paul had already been at Corinth: “I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,” (1 Corinthians 2:1:) and in many other places to the same effect. It purports also to have been written upon the eve of another visit to that Church: “I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will,” (1 Corinthians 4:19;) and again: “I will come to you when I shall pass through Macedonia,” (1 Corinthians 16:5.) Now the history relates that St. Paul did in fact visit Corinth twice; once as recorded at length in the eighteenth, and a second time as mentioned briefly in the twentieth chapter of the Acts. The same history also informs us (Acts 20:1) that it was from Ephesus St. Paul proceeded upon his second journey into Greece. Therefore, as the epistle purports to have been written a short time preceding that journey and as St. Paul, the history tells us, had resided more than two years at Ephesus before he set out upon it, it follows that it must have been from Ephesus, to be consistent with the history, that the epistle was written; and every note of place in the epistle agrees with this supposition. “If, after the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not?” (1 Corinthians 15:32.) I allow that the apostle might say this wherever he was; but it was more natural and more to the purpose to say it if he was at Ephesus at the time, and in the midst of those conflicts to which the expression relates. “The Churches of Asia salute you,” (1 Corinthians 16:19.) Asia, throughout the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles of St. Paul, does not mean the whole of Asia Minor or Anatolia, nor even the whole of the proconsular Asia, but a district in the anterior part of that country called Lydian Asia, divided from the rest much as Portugal is from Spain, and of which district Ephesus was the capital. “Aquila and Priscilla salute you,” (1 Corinthians 16:19.) Aquila and Priscilla were at Ephesus during the period within which this epistle was written. (Acts 18:18, 26.) “I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost,” (1 Corinthians 16:8.) This, I apprehend, is in terms almost asserting that he was at Ephesus at the time of writing the epistle.--“A great and effectual door is opened unto me,” (1 Corinthians 16:9.) How well this declaration corresponded with the state of things at Ephesus and the progress of the Gospel in these parts, we learn from the reflection with which the historian concludes the account of certain transactions which passed there: “So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed,” (Acts 19:20;) as well as from the complaint of Demetrius, “that not only at Ephesus, but also throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people.” (Acts 19:26.) “And there are many adversaries,” says the epistle. (1 Corinthians 16:9.) Look into the history of this period: “When divers were hardened and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples.” The conformity therefore upon this head of comparison is circumstantial and perfect. If any one think that this is a conformity so obvious, that any forger of tolerable caution and sagacity would have taken care to preserve it, I must desire such a one to read the epistle for himself; and when he has done so, to declare whether he has discovered one mark of art or design; whether the notes of time and place appear to him to be inserted with any reference to each other, with any view of their being compared with each other, or for the purpose of establishing a visible agreement with the history in respect of them.

Section 3.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 7

SECTION 3.

§ 1 Corinthians 4:17-19: “For this cause I have sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord; who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every Church. Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come unto you; but I will come unto you shortly, if the Lord will.” With this I compare Acts 19:21, 22: “After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem; saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome; so he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus.”

Though it be not said, it appears I think with sufficient certainty, I mean from the history, independently of the epistle, that Timothy was sent upon this occasion into Achaia, of which Corinth was the capital city, as well as into Macedonia: for the sending of Timothy and Erastus is, in the passage where it is mentioned, plainly connected with St. Paul’s own journey: he sent them before him. As he therefore purposed to go into Achaia himself, it is highly probable that they were to go thither also. Nevertheless, they are said only to have been sent into Macedonia, because Macedonia was in truth the country to which they went immediately from Ephesus; being directed, as we suppose, to proceed afterwards from thence into Achaia. If this be so, the narrative agrees with the epistle; and the agreement is attended with very little appearance of design. One thing at least concerning it is certain; that if this passage of St. Paul’s history had been taken from his letter, it would have sent Timothy to Corinth by name, or expressly however into Achaia.

But there is another circumstance in these two passages much less obvious, in which an agreement holds without any room for suspicion that it was produced by design. We have observed that the sending of Timothy into the peninsula of Greece was connected in the narrative with St. Paul’s own journey thither; it is stated as the effect of the same resolution. Paul purposed to go into Macedonia; “so he sent two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus.” Now in the epistle also you remark, that when the apostle mentions his having sent Timothy unto them, in the very next sentence he speaks of his own visit: “For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, &c. Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you; but I will come to you shortly, if God will.” Timothy’s journey, we see, is mentioned, in the history and in the epistle, in close connection with St. Paul’s own. Here is the same order of thought and intention; yet conveyed under such diversity of circumstances and expression, and the mention of them in the epistle so allied to the occasion which introduces it, viz. the insinuation of his adversaries that he would come to Corinth no more, that I am persuaded no attentive reader will believe that these passages were written in concert with one another, or will doubt that the agreement is unsought and uncontrived. But in the Acts, Erastus accompanied Timothy in this journey, of whom no mention is made in the epistle. From what has been said in our observations upon the Epistle to the Romans, it appears probable that Erastus was a Corinthian. If so, though he accompanied Timothy to Corinth, he was only returning home, and Timothy was the messenger charged with St. Paul’s orders. At any rate, this discrepancy shows that the passages were not taken from one another.

Section 4.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 8

SECTION 4.

§ 1 Corinthians 16:10, 11: “Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear; for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do: let no man therefore despise him, but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me, for I look for him with the brethren.” From the passage considered in the preceding section, it appears that Timothy was sent to Corinth, either with the epistle, or before it: “For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus.” From the passage now quoted we infer that Timothy was not sent with the epistle; for had he been the bearer of the letter, or accompanied it, would St. Paul in that letter have said, “If Timothy come?” Nor is the sequel consistent with the supposition of his carrying the letter; for if Timothy was with the apostle when he wrote the letter, could he say as he does, “I look for him with the brethren?” I conclude therefore that Timothy had left St. Paul to proceed upon his journey before the letter was written. Farther, the passage before us seems to imply that Timothy was not expected by St. Paul to arrive at Corinth till after they had received the letter. He gives them directions in the letter how to treat him when he should arrive: “If he come,” act towards him so and so. Lastly, the whole form of expression is most naturally applicable to the supposition of Timothy’s coming to Corinth, not directly from St. Paul, but from some other quarter; and that his instructions had been when he should reach Corinth, to return. Now how stands this matter in the history? Turn to the nineteenth chapter and twenty-first verse of the Acts, {Acts 19:21} and you will find that Timothy did not, when sent from Ephesus, where he left St. Paul, and where the present epistle was written, proceed by straight course to Corinth, but that he went round through Macedonia. This clears up every thing; for although Timothy was sent forth upon his journey before the letter was written, yet he might not reach Corinth till after the letter arrived there; and he would come to Corinth when he did come, not directly from St. Paul at Ephesus, but from some part of Macedonia. Here therefore is a circumstantial and critical agreement, and unquestionably without design; for neither of the two passages in the epistle mentions Timothy’s journey into Macedonia at all, though nothing but a circuit of that kind can explain and reconcile the expression which the writer uses.

Section 5.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 9

SECTION 5.

§ 1 Corinthians 1:12: “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.” Also 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”

This expression, “I have planted, Apollos watered,” imports two things; first, that Paul had been at Corinth before Apollos; secondly, that Apollos had been at Corinth after Paul, but before the writing of this epistle. This implied account of the several events and of the order in which they took place, corresponds exactly with the history. St. Paul, after his first visit into Greece, returned from Corinth into Syria, by the way of Ephesus; and dropping his companions Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus, he proceeded forwards to Jerusalem; from Jerusalem he descended to Antioch, and from thence made a progress through some of the upper or northern provinces of the Lesser Asia, Acts 18:19, 23; during which progress, and consequently in the interval between St. Paul’s first and second visit to Corinth, and consequently also before the writing of this epistle, which was at Ephesus, two years at least after the apostle’s return from his progress, we hear of Apollos, and we hear of him at Corinth. While St. Paul was engaged, as hath been said, in Phrygia and Galatia, Apollos came down to Ephesus; and being, in St. Paul’s absence, instructed by Aquila and Priscilla, and having obtained letters of recommendation from the Church at Ephesus, he passed over to Achaia; and when he was there we read that he “helped them much which had believed through grace, for he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly;” Acts 18:27, 28. To have brought Apollos into Achaia, of which Corinth was the capital city, as well as the principal Christian Church, and to have shown that he preached the Gospel in that country, would have been sufficient for our purpose. But the history happens also to mention Corinth by name as the place in which Apollos, after his arrival in Achaia, fixed his residence; for, proceeding with the account of St. Paul’s travels, it tells us that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, came down to Ephesus, Acts 19:1. What is said, therefore, of Apollos in the epistle, coincides exactly and especially in the point of chronology with what is delivered concerning him in the history. The only question now is whether the allusions were made with a regard to this coincidence? Now the occasions and purposes for which the name of Apollos is introduced in the Acts and in the epistles are so independent and so remote, that it is impossible to discover the smallest reference from one to the other. Apollos is mentioned in the Acts in immediate connection with the history of Aquila and Priscilla, and for the very singular circumstance of his “knowing only the baptism of John.” In the epistle, where none of these circumstances are taken notice of, his name first occurs, for the purpose of reproving the contentious spirit of the Corinthians; and it occurs only in conjunction with that of some others: “Every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.” The second passage in which Apollos appears, “I have planted, Apollos watered,” fixes, as we have observed, the order of time amongst three distinct events; but it fixes this, I will venture to pronounce, without the writer perceiving that he was doing any such thing. The sentence fixes this order in exact conformity with the history; but it is itself introduced solely for the sake of the reflection which follows: “Neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase.”

Section 6.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 10

SECTION 6.

§ 1 Corinthians 4:11, 12: “Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and ate buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; and labour, working with our own hands.”

We are expressly told in the history, that at Corinth St. Paul laboured with his own hands: “He found Aquila and Priscilla; and, because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and wrought; for by their occupation they were tent-makers.” But in the text before us he is made to say, that “he laboured even unto this present hour,” that is, to the time of writing the epistle at Ephesus. Now, in the narration of St. Paul’s transactions at Ephesus, delivered in the nineteenth chapter of the Acts, nothing is said of his working with his own hands; but in the twentieth chapter we read, that upon his return from Greece he sent for the elders of the Church of Ephesus to meet him at Miletus; and in the discourse which he there addressed to them, amidst some other reflections which he calls to their remembrance, we find the following: “I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel; yea, you yourselves also know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.” The reader will not forget to remark, that though St. Paul be now at Miletus, it is to the elders of the Church of Ephesus he is speaking, when he says, “Ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered to my necessities;” and that the whole discourse relates to his conduct during his last preceding residence at Ephesus. That manual labour, therefore, which he had exercised at Corinth, he continued at Ephesus; and not only so, but continued it during that particular residence at Ephesus, near the conclusion of which this epistle was written; so that he might with the strictest truth say, at the time of writing the epistle, “Even unto this present hour we labour, working with our own hands.” The correspondency is sufficient, then, as to the undesignedness of it. It is manifest to my judgment, that if the history in this article had been taken from the epistle, this circumstance, if it appeared at all, would have appeared in its place, that is in the direct account of St. Paul’s transactions at Ephesus. The correspondency would not have been effected, as it is, by a kind of reflected stroke, that is, by a reference in a subsequent speech to what in the narrative was omitted. Nor is it likely, on the other hand, that a circumstance which is not extant in the history of St. Paul at Ephesus, should have been made the subject of a factitious allusion, in an epistle purporting to be written by him from that place; not to mention that the allusion itself, especially as to time, is too oblique and general to answer any purpose of forgery whatever.

Section 7.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 12

SECTION 7.

§ 1 Corinthians 9:20: “And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law.” We have the disposition here described exemplified in two instances which the history records; one, Acts 16:3: “Him (Timothy) would Paul have to go forth with him, and took and circumcised him, because of the Jews in those quarters; for they knew all that his father was a Greek.” This was before the writing of the epistle. The other, Acts 21:23, 26, and after the writing of the epistle: “Do this that we say to thee; we have four men which have a vow on them; them take, and purify thyself with them, that they may shave their heads; and all may know that those things whereof they were informed concerning thee are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself with them, entered into the temple.” Nor does this concurrence between the character and the instances look like the result of contrivance. St. Paul, in the epistle, describes, or is made to describe, his own accommodating conduct towards Jews and towards Gentiles, towards the weak and over-scrupulous, towards men indeed of every variety of character: “To them that are without law as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law; to the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak; I am made all things to all men that I might gain some.” This is the sequel of the text which stands at the head of the present section. Taking therefore the whole passage together, the apostle’s condescension to the Jews is mentioned only as a part of his general disposition towards all. It is not probable that this character should have been made up from the instances in the Acts, which relate solely to his dealings with the Jews. It is not probable that a sophist should take his hint from those instances, and then extend it so much beyond them; and it is still more incredible that the two instances in the Acts, circumstantially related and interwoven with the history, should have been fabricated, in order to suit the character which St. Paul gives of himself in the epistle.

Section 8.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 12

SECTION 8.

§ 1 Corinthians 1:14-17: “I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that I baptized in my own name; and I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other; for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel.”

It may be expected that those whom the apostle baptized with his own hands were converts distinguished from the rest by some circumstance, either of eminence or of connection with him. Accordingly, of the three names here mentioned, Crispus, we find from Acts 18:8, was a “chief ruler of the Jewish synagogue at Corinth, who believed in the Lord with all his house.” Gaius, it appears from Romans 16:23, was St. Paul’s host at Corinth, and the host, he tells us, “of the whole Church.” The household of Stephanas, we read in the sixteenth chapter of this epistle, “were the first fruits of Achaia.” Here therefore is the propriety we expected; and it is a proof of reality not to be contemned; for their names appearing in the several places in which they occur, with a mark of distinction belonging to each, could hardly be the effect of chance, without any truth to direct it: and on the other hand, to suppose that they were picked out from these passages, and brought together in the text before us in order to display a conformity of names, is both improbable in itself, and is rendered more so by the purpose for which they are introduced. They come in to assist St. Paul’s exculpation of himself against the possible charge of having assumed the character of the founder of a separate religion, and with no other visible or, as I think, imaginable design.*

* 1 Corinthians 1:1; “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, unto the Church of God, which is at Corinth.” The only account we have of any person who bore the name of Sosthenes is found in the eighteenth chapter of the Acts. When the Jews at Corinth had brought Paul before Gallio, and Gallio had dismissed their complaint as unworthy of his interference, and had driven them from the judgment seat; “then all the Greeks,” says the historian, “took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat.” The Sosthenes here spoken of was a Corinthian; and, if he was a Christian, and with St Paul when he wrote this epistle, was likely enough to be joined with him in the salutation of the Corinthian Church. But here occurs a difficulty: If Sosthenes was a Christian at the time of this uproar, why should the Greeks beat him? The assault upon the Christians was made by the Jews. It was the Jews who had brought Paul before the magistrate. If it had been the Jews also who had beaten Sosthenes, I should not have doubted that he had been a favourer of St. Paul, and the same person who is joined with him in the epistle. Let us see, therefore, whether there be not some error in our present text. The Alexandrian manuscript gives παντες alone, without οι ἑλληνες, and is followed in this reading by the Coptic version, by the Arabic version published by Erpenius, by the Vulgate, and by Bede’s Latin version. Three Greek manuscripts again, as well as Chrysostom, give οι ιουδαιοι, in the place of οι ἑλληνες. A great plurality of manuscripts authorize the reading which is retained in our copies. In this variety it appears to me extremely probable that the historian originally wrote παντες alone, and that οι ἑλληνες, and οι ιουδαιοι, have been respectively added as explanatory of what the word παντες was supposed to mean. The sentence without the addition of either name would run very perspicuously, thus: “και απηλασεν αυτους απο του βηματος. επιλαβομενοι δε παντες σωσθενην τον απχισοναγωγον, ετυπτον εμπροσθεν του βηματος. and he drove them away from the judgment seat; and they all,” viz. the crowd of Jews whom the judge had bid begone, “took Sosthenes, and beat him before the judgment seat.” It is certain that, as the whole body of the people were Greeks, the application of all to them was unusual and hard. If I were describing an insurrection at Paris, I might say all the Jews, all the Protestants, or all the English, acted so and so; but I should scarcely say all the French, when the whole mass of the community were of that description.-See the note on Acts 18:17, where the subject mentioned here by the learned archdeacon is particularly considered.

Section 9.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 14

SECTION 9.

§ 1 Corinthians 16:10, 11: “Now if Timotheus come, let no man despise him.” Why despise him? This charge is not given concerning any other messenger whom St. Paul sent: and, in the different epistles, many such messengers are mentioned. Turn to 1st of Timothy, 1 Timothy 4:12, and you will find that Timothy was a young man, younger probably than those who were usually employed in the Christian mission; and that St. Paul, apprehending lest he should on that account be exposed to contempt, urges upon him the caution which is there inserted: “Let no man despise thy youth.”

Section 10.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 14

SECTION 10.

§ 1 Corinthians 16:1: “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia, even so do ye.” The Churches of Galatia and Phrygia were the last Churches which St. Paul had visited before the writing of this epistle. He was now at Ephesus, and he came thither immediately from visiting these Churches: “He went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples. And it came to pass that Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, (viz. the above-named countries, called the upper coasts, as being the northern part of Asia Minor,) came to Ephesus;” Acts 18:23; 19:1. These, therefore, probably, were the last Churches at which he left directions for their public conduct during his absence. Although two years intervened between his journey to Ephesus and his writing this epistle, yet it does not appear that during that time he visited any other Church. That he had not been silent when he was in Galatia upon this subject of contribution for the poor, is farther made out from a hint which he lets fall in his epistle to that Church: “Only they (viz. the other apostles) would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.”

Section 11.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 15

SECTION 11.

§ 1 Corinthians 4:18: “Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.”

Why should they suppose that he would not come? Turn to the first chapter of the second epistle to the Corinthians, and you will find that he had already disappointed them: “I was minded to come unto you before, that you might have a second benefit; and to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judea. When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea, yea, and nay, nay? But, as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.” It appears from this quotation that he had not only intended, but that he had promised them a visit before; for otherwise, why should he apologize for the change of his purpose, or express so much anxiety lest this change should be imputed to any culpable fickleness in his temper; and lest he should thereby seem to them as one whose word was not in any sort to be depended upon? Besides which, the terms made use of plainly refer to a promise: “Our word toward you was not yea and nay.” St. Paul, therefore, had signified an intention which he had not been able to execute; and this seeming breach of his word, and the delay of his visit, had, with some who were evil affected towards him, given birth to a suggestion that he would come no more to Corinth.

Section 12.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 16

SECTION 12.

§ 1 Corinthians 5:7, 8: “For even Christ, our passover, is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Dr. Benson tells us, that from this passage, compared with 1 Corinthians 16:8, it has been conjectured that this epistle was written about the time of the Jewish passover; and to me the conjecture appears to be very well founded. The passage to which Dr. Benson refers us is this: “I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.” With this passage he ought to have joined another in the same context: “And it may be that I will abide yea, and winter with you;” for, from the two passages laid together, it follows that the epistle was written before Pentecost, yet after winter; which necessarily determines the date to the part of the year within which the passover falls. It was written before Pentecost, because he says, “I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.” It was written after winter, because he tells them, “It may be that I may abide, yea, and winter with you.” The winter which the apostle purposed to pass at Corinth was undoubtedly the winter next ensuing to the date of the epistle; yet it was a winter subsequent to the ensuing Pentecost, because he did not intend to set forwards upon his journey till after that feast. The words, “Let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,” look very like words suggested by the season; at least they have, upon that supposition, a force and significancy which do not belong to them upon any other; and it is not a little remarkable that the hints casually dropped in the epistle concerning particular parts of the year should coincide with this supposition.

London, Oct. 1, 1814.

Preface to the First Epistle to the Corinthians.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 17

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE

CORINTHIANS.

CORINTH, to which this and the following epistle were sent, was one of the most celebrated cities of Greece. It was situated on a gulf of the same name, and was the capital of the Peloponnesus or Achaia, and was united to the continent by an isthmus or neck of land that had the port of Lecheum on the west and that of Cenchrea on the east, the former in the gulf of Lepanto, the latter in the gulf of Elrina, by which it commanded the navigation and commerce both of the Ionian and Ægean seas, consequently of Italy on the one hand and of all the Greek islands on the other: in a word, it embraced the commerce of the whole Mediterranean Sea, from the straits of Gibraltar on the west to the port of Alexandria on the east, with the coasts of Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor. It is supposed, by some, to have been founded by Sisyphus, the son of Eolus, and grandfather of Ulysses, about the year of the world 2490 or 2500, and before the Christian era 1504 years. Others report that it had both its origin and name from Corinthus, the son of Pelops. It was at first but a very inconsiderable town; but at last, through its extensive commerce, became the most opulent city of Greece, and the capital of a powerful state. It was destroyed by the Romans under Mummius, about 146 years before Christ, but was afterwards rebuilt by Julius Cæsar.

Corinth exceeded all the cities of the world, for the splendour and magnificence of its public buildings, such as temples, palaces, theatres, porticos, cenotaphs, baths, and other edifices; all enriched with a beautiful kind of columns, capitals, and bases, from which the Corinthian order in architecture took its rise. Corinth is also celebrated for its statues; those, especially, of Venus, the Sun, Neptune and Amphitrite, Diana, Apollo, Jupiter, Minerva, &c. The temple of Venus was not only very splendid, but also very rich, and maintained, according to Strabo, not less than 1000 courtesans, who were the means of bringing an immense concourse of strangers to the place. Thus riches produced luxury, and luxury a total corruption of manners; though arts, sciences, and literature continued to flourish long in it, and a measure of the martial spirit of its ancient inhabitants was kept alive in it by means of those public games which, being celebrated on the isthmus which connects the Peloponnesus to the main land, were called the Isthmian games, and were exhibited once every five years. The exercises in these games were, leaping, running, throwing the quoit or dart, bowing, and wrestling. It appears that, besides these, there were contentions for poetry and music; and the conquerors in any of these exercises were ordinarily crowned either with pine leaves or with parsley. It is well known that the apostle alludes to these games in different parts of his epistles, which shall all be particularly noticed as they occur. Corinth, like all other opulent and well-situated places, has often been a subject of contention between rival states, has frequently changed masters, and undergone all forms of government. The Venetians held it till 1715, when the Turks took it from them; under whose dominion it has till lately remained. Under this deteriorating government it was greatly reduced, its whole population amounting only to between 13 and 14,000 souls. It has now got into the hands of the Greeks, its natural owners. It lies about 46 miles to the east of Athens, and 342 south-west of Constantinople. A few vestiges of its ancient splendour still remain, which are objects of curiosity and gratification to all intelligent travellers.

As we have seen that Corinth was well situated for trade, and consequently very rich, it is no wonder that, in its heathen state, it was exceedingly corrupt and profligate. Notwithstanding this, every part of the Grecian learning was highly cultivated here; so that, before its destruction by the Romans, CiceRomans (PRomans lege Manl. cap. v.) scrupled not to call it totius Græciæ lumen-the eye of all Greece. Yet the inhabitants of it were as lascivious as they were learned. Public prostitution formed a considerable part of their religion; and they were accustomed in their public prayers, to request the gods to multiply their prostitutes! and in order to express their gratitude to their deities for the favours they received, they bound themselves, by vows, to increase the number of such women; for commerce with them was neither esteemed sinful nor disgraceful. Lais, so famous in history, was a Corinthian prostitute, and whose price was not less than 10,000 drachmas. Demosthenes, from whom this price was required by her for one night’s lodging, said, “I will not buy repentance at so dear a rate.” So notorious was this city for such conduct, that the verb κορινθιαζεσθαι, to Corinthize, signified to act the prostitute; and κορινθια κορη, a Corinthian damsel, meant a harlot or common woman. I mention these things the more particularly because they account for several things mentioned by the apostle in his letters to this city, and things which, without this knowledge of their previous Gentile state and customs, we could not comprehend. It is true, as the apostle states, that they carried these things to an extent that was not practised in any other Gentile country. And yet, even in Corinth-the Gospel of Jesus Christ prevailing over universal corruption-there was founded a Christian Church! ——————————

Analysis of the First Epistle to the Corinthians.

CLA_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 19

Analysis of the First Epistle to the Corinthians.

This epistle, as to its subject matter, has been variously divided: into three parts by some; into four, seven, eleven, &c., parts, by others. Most of these divisions are merely artificial, and were never intended by the apostle. The following seven particulars comprise the whole:-

I.-The Introduction, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9.

II.-Exhortations relative to their dissensions, 1 Corinthians 1:9-4:21. III.-What concerns the person who had married his step-mother, commonly called the incestuous person, 1 Cor. 5, 6, and 7. IV.-The question concerning the lawfulness of eating things which had been offered to idols, 1 Cor. 8, 9, and 10, inclusive. V.-Various ecclesiastical regulations, 1 Cor. 11-14, inclusive. VI.-The important question concerning the resurrection of the dead, 1 Cor. 15.

VII.-Miscellaneous matters; containing exhortations, salutations, commendations, &c., &c., 1 Cor. 16.

I CORINTHIANS.

Chronological Notes relative to this Epistle.

-Year of the Constantinopolitan era of the world, as used by the emperors of the east in their diplomata, &c., and thence also called the “civil era of the Greeks,” 5564

-Year of the Alexandrian era of the world, or Greek ecclesiastical epocha, 5558.

-Year of the Antiochian era of the world, 5548.

-Year of the Eusebian epocha of the creation, or that used in the Chronicon of Eusebius, and the Roman Martyrology, 4284.

-Year of the Julian period, 4764.

-Year of the Usherian era of the world, or that used in the English Bibles, 4060.

-Year of the minor Jewish era of the world, 3816.

-Year of the greater Rabbinical era of the world, 4415. -Year since the Deluge, according to Archbishop Usher and the English Bible, 2404.

-Year of the Cali Yuga, or Indian era of the Deluge, 3158. -Year of the Iphitus, or since the first commencement of the Olympic games, 996.

-Year of the two hundred and eighth Olympiad, 4.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to Fabius Pictor, who flourished in the time of the first Punic war, and who is styled by Dionysius of Halicarnassus an accurate writer, 803. (This epoch is used by Diodorus Siculus.)

-Year from the building of Rome, according to Polybius, 807. -Year from the building of Rome, according to Cato and the Fasti Consulares; and adopted by Solinus, Eusebius, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, &c., 808.

-Year from the building of Rome according to Varro, which was that adopted by the Roman emperors in their proclamations, by Plutarch, Tacitus, Dio Cassius, Gellius, Censorinus, Onuphrius, Baronius, and by most modern chronologers, 809.

N. B. Livy, Cicero, Pliny, and Vellcius Paterculus, fluctuate between the Varronian and Catonian computations.

-Year of the epocha of Nabonassar, king of Babylon, or that used by Hipparchus, by Ptolemy in his astronomical observations, by Censorinus and others, 803. (The years of this era constantly contained 365 days, so that 1460 Julian were equal to 1461 Nabonassarean years. This epoch began on Feb. 26th, B. C. 747; and consequently, the commencement of the 803d year of the era of Nabonassar corresponded to the IVth of the Ides of August, A. D. 55.) -Year of the era of the Seleucidæ, or since Seleucus, one of the generals of Alexander’s army, took Babylon, and ascended the Asiatic throne; sometimes called the Grecian era, and the era of Principalities, in reference to the division of Alexander’s empire, 368. -Year of the Cæsarean era of Antioch, 104.

-Year of the Julian era, or since the calendar of Numa Pompilius was reformed by Julius Cæsar, 101.

-Year of the Spanish era, or since the second division of the Roman provinces among the Triumviri, 94. (This epoch continued in use among the Spaniards till A. D. 1383, and among the Portuguese till about A. D. 1422.)

-Year since the defeat of Pompey, by Julius Cæsar, at Pharsalia in Thessaly, called by Catrou and Rouille, the commencement of the Roman empire, 104.

-Year of the Actiac, or Actian era, or proper epocha of the Roman empire, commencing with the defeat of Antony by Augustus at Actium, 80. -Year from the birth of Jesus Christ, 60.

-Year of the vulgar era of Christ’s nativity, 56.

-Year of the Dionysian period, or Easter Cycle, 57.

-Common Golden Number, or year of the Grecian or Metonic Cycle of 19 years, 19, or the seventh Embolismic.

-Jewish Golden Number, or year of the Rabbinical Cycle of 19 years, 16, or the second after the fifth Embolismic.

-Year of the Solar Cycle, 9.

-Dominical Letters, it being Bissextile or Leap-year, DC; D standing till the 24th of February, or the sixth of the Calends of March, (the two following days after Feb. 23rd, or the seventh of the Calends of March, being named the sixth of the same month,) and the other letter for the remainder of the year.

-Jewish passover, (15th of Nisan,) Saturday, April 17th, or the XVth of the Calends of May.

-Number of Direction, or number of days on which Easter Sunday happens after the 21st of March, 28.

-Mean time of the Paschal Full Moon at Corinth, (its longitude being twenty-three degrees to the east of London,) according to Ferguson’s Tables, April 19th, or the XIIIth of the Calends of May, at fifteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds past eleven at night. (The reason of the discrepance of the fifteenth of Nisan, with the day of the mean Paschal Full Moon arises from the inaccuracy of the Metonic Cycle, which reckoned 235 mean lunations to be precisely equal to nineteen solar years, these lunations being actually performed in one hour and a half less time. The correspondence of the Passover with the mean Full Moon, according to the Julian account, was in A. D. 325.) -True time of the Paschal Full Moon at Corinth, according to Ferguson’s Tables, the XIIth of the Calends of May, (April 20th,) at fifty-seven minutes and forty-one seconds past five in the morning. -Easter Sunday, April 18th, or the XIVth of the Calends of May. -Epact, or moon’s age on the twenty-second of March, or the XIth of the Calends of April, 18.

-Year of the reign of Nero. Cæsar, the Roman emperor, and fifth Cæsar, 3. -Year of Claudius Felix, the Jewish Governor, 4.

-Year of the reign of Vologesus, king of the Parthians, of the family of the Arsacidæ, 7.

-Year of Caius Numidius Quadratus, governor of Syria, 6. -Year of Ishmael, high priest of the Jews, 2.

-Year of the reign of Corbred I., king of the Scots, brother to the celebrated Caractacus, who was carried prisoner to Rome, but afterwards released by the emperor, 2.

-According to Struyk’s catalogue of eclipses, which he collected from the Chinese chronology, the sun was eclipsed at Canton in China, on the 25th of December of this year, or on the VIIIth of the Calends of January, A. D. 57. The middle of the eclipse was at twenty-eight minutes past twelve at noon; the quantity eclipsed at this time being nine digits and twenty minutes. The day of this eclipse was the 19th of Tybi, in the 804th year of the Nabonassarean era, and on the 24th of Cisleu, of the minor Rabbinical or Jewish era of the world, 3817, or 4416 of their greater era.

-Roman Consuls, Q. Volusius Saturninus, and P. Cornelius Scipio.

Preface

BEN_VOL7.PDF, source PDF p. 878

FIRST EPISTLE TO THE

CORINTHIANS.

PREFACE

CORINTH, as has been observed in the note on Acts 18:1, was a celebrated city of Greece; for some time, indeed, the most illustrious of all the Greek cities, and the capital of Achaia. It is said to have been founded 1514 years before the Christian era, by Sisyphus, the son of Eolus, and grandfather of Ulysses. Various reasons are given for its name, but most authors derive it from Corinthus, the son of Pelops. It was situated in the south part of the isthmus which joins the Peloponessus (now the Morea) to the continent. It consisted of a citadel, built upon an eminence, and thence called Acro-corinthus; besides which, it had two maritime towns subject to it, named Lecheum and Cenchrea. And so advantageously were these ports situated, that they might have gained the Corinthians a superiority, if not a command, over all Greece, had not their advantageous situation for commerce inclined them to attend to it, rather than war: for their citadel was almost impregnable; and, commanding both the Ionian and Ægean seas, they could easily have cut off all communication from one half of Greece with the other; for which reason this city was called one of the fetters of Greece. But as the genius of the Corinthians led them to prefer commerce to martial exploits, their city became the finest in all Greece. It was adorned with the most sumptuous buildings, as temples, palaces, theatres, porticoes, and other edifices, all enriched with a beautiful kind of columns, which, with their capitals and bases, gave rise to the Corinthian order in architecture.

This city continued to preserve its liberty till the year before Christ 146, when it was pillaged and burned by the Romans. It was, at that time, the strongest place in the world; but the inhabitants were so disheartened by a preceding defeat, and the death of their general, that they had not presence of mind enough even to shut their gates. The Roman consul, Mummius, was so much surprised at this, that, at first, he could scarce believe it; but afterward, fearing an ambuscade, he advanced with all possible caution. As he met with no resistance, his soldiers had nothing to do but to destroy the few inhabitants who had not fled, and plunder the city. The men were all put to the sword, and the women sold for slaves. After this, the city was ransacked by the greedy soldiers, and the spoils of it are said to have been immense. There were more vessels, of all sorts of metal, more fine pictures and statues, done by the greatest masters, in Corinth than in any other city in the world. All the princes of Europe and Asia, who had any taste in painting and sculpture, furnished themselves here with their finest moveables: here were cast the finest statues for temples and palaces, and all the liberal arts brought to the greatest perfection. Many inestimable pieces of the most famous painters and statuaries fell into the hands of the ignorant soldiers, who either destroyed them, or parted with them for a trifle. When the city was thoroughly pillaged, fire was set to all the corners of it at the same time. The flames grew more violent as they drew near the centre; and at last, uniting there, made one prodigious conflagration; at which time the famous metalline mixture is said to have been made, which could never afterward be imitated by art. The gold, silver, and brass, which the Corinthians had concealed, were melted, and ran down the streets in streams; and when the flames were extinguished, a new metal was found, composed of several different ones, and greatly esteemed in after ages. The town lay desolate till Julius Cesar settled there a Roman colony; when, in removing the rubbish, and digging, many vases were found of brass, or earth, finely embossed. The price given for these curiosities excited industry in the new inhabitants. They left no burying-place unexamined; and Rome, it is said, was filled with the furniture of the sepulchres at Corinth. After this, Achaia being made a Roman province, and Corinth becoming the residence of the pro-consul, who governed it, this city soon regained its ancient splendour; for, its inhabitants increasing exceedingly, they began to carry on, by means of its two sea-ports, an extensive commerce, which brought great wealth into it. From that time forth, the arts which minister to the conveniences and luxuries of life were carried on at Corinth in as great perfection as formerly; schools were opened in which philosophy and rhetoric were publicly taught by able masters; and strangers from all quarters crowded to Corinth to be instructed in the sciences and arts: so that Corinth, during this latter period, was filled with philosophers, rhetoricians, and artists of all kinds, and abounded in wealth. These advantages, however, were counterbalanced, as before, by the effects which wealth and luxury never fail to produce: in a word, a universal corruption of manners soon prevailed; so that Corinth, in its second state, became as corrupt as in any former period whatever; even as when, according to Strabo, “there were more than a thousand harlots in the temple of Venus, who, in honour of the goddess, prostituted themselves to all comers for hire, and through these the city was crowded, and became wealthy.” And as it furnished to the debauched opportunities of gratifying their lusts, under the pretext of religion, it is easy to see what corruption of manners must have been caused thereby. Indeed, lasciviousness was carried to such a pitch in Corinth, that, in the language of these times, the appellation of “a Corinthian,” given to a woman, imported that she was a prostitute; and, Κορινθιαζειν, “to behave as a Corinthian,” spoken of a man, was the same as εταιρευειν, “to commit whoredom.” The apostle, therefore, had good reason, in this epistle, to exhort the Corinthian brethren to “flee fornication;” and, after giving them a catalogue of the “unrighteous, who shall not inherit the kingdom of God,” (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10,) he was well entitled to add, “and such were some of you.” In short, the Corinthians had carried vice of every kind to such a pitch, that their city was more debauched than any of the other cities of Greece. Yet, even in this city, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ was preached with great success; a great reformation was effected in the manners of many of its inhabitants, and a flourishing Christian church was founded, in which were some Jews of note, (verse 8,) and a great number of Gentiles; (1 Corinthians 12:2;) a church which hath continued, though not without many changes, to the present times.

Of the manner in which Christianity was first introduced into Corinth, see the notes on Acts 18:2-11. This was about A.D. 54, at which period the apostle continued in this city eighteen months, preaching with considerable success, first in the synagogue of the Jews, every sabbath day, and afterward in the house of one Justus, a religious proselyte, whom he had been instrumental in converting to the faith. Here the idolatrous inhabitants of the city, prompted by curiosity, came to him, from time to time, in great numbers, to hear his discourses. And having themselves seen, or having been credibly informed by others, of the miracles which he wrought, and of the spiritual gifts which he conferred on them who believed, they were so impressed by his discourses and miracles, that many of them renounced their ancient superstition. So we learn from Acts 18:8, where Luke tells us that “many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized.” Such was the state of the church at Corinth during the time of the apostle’s continuing with them. And soon after his departure, he appears, from 1 Corinthians 5:9, to have written a friendly letter of admonition and advice to them, which is now lost. His cautions and counsels not producing the desired effect, but various disorders and schisms quickly taking place, partly, it seems, through false teachers creeping in among them, he judged it needful to write to them more at large than he had done before, to prevent, if possible, the fruit of his labours from being entirely blasted; and this letter, which seems to have fully answered the end intended, has been preserved, by the care of Providence, for the benefit of the church in all ages.

With regard to the place where this epistle, which is now to come under our consideration, was written, there never has been any doubt among commentators. The mention that is made (1 Corinthians 16:8) of the apostle’s purpose of remaining at Ephesus till the pentecost, and the salutation of the churches of Asia, show that this letter was not written at Philippi, as the spurious postscript indicates; but at Ephesus, during his second abode in that city, of which we have an account Acts 19:1-41. It is not, however, so generally agreed at what particular time of the apostle’s abode in Ephesus this letter was written. Mill (Proleg. No. 9) says it was written after the riot of Demetrius, because the apostle’s fighting with wild beasts at Ephesus is mentioned in it, (1 Corinthians 15:32,) which he thinks happened during the riot. But Paul did not then go into the theatre, being restrained by the disciples, and by some of the Asiarchs, who were his friends, Acts 19:30, 31. His fighting with wild beasts, therefore, at Ephesus, must have happened in some previous tumult, of which there is no mention in the history of the Acts. That this epistle was written a little while before the riot of Demetrius, appears probable from two circumstances. The first is, the apostle told the Corinthians, (Acts 17:8, 9,) that he resolved to abide in Ephesus till pentecost, on account of the great success with which he was then preaching the gospel. The second circumstance is, that Demetrius, in his speech to the craftsmen, mentioned Paul’s turning much people from the worship of idols (and thereby putting an end to their occupation and wealth) as a recent event. These two circumstances joined, lead us to conclude that this epistle was written a little while before the riot; for if it had been written after it, the apostle could not have said, “I will abide at Ephesus till pentecost.” And on this supposition, that it was written a little while before that riot, its date may be fixed to about A.D. 57. As to the design of this first epistle to the Corinthians, it was intended, partly, to correct some corruptions and abuses among the believers at Corinth, and partly to answer certain queries which they had proposed to him. After expressing his satisfaction at all the good he knew of them, particularly at their having received the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, for the confirmation of the gospel, (chap. 1:1-9,) setting himself to correct the disorders and evils which had taken place among them, he, 1. Rebukes the factious men among them, and defends himself against one or more false teachers, who had alienated the affections of most of the Corinthians from him, 1 Corinthians 1:10-5:2. He considers the case of a notorious offender, who had married his father’s wife, that is, his own step-mother; and orders them to excommunicate this person, and to acknowledge no fornicator as a brother, 1 Corinthians 5:3. He reproves them for their covetous and litigious temper, which caused them to prosecute their Christian brethren in heathen courts of judicature, 1 Corinthians 6:1-9. 4. Cautions them against fornication, a vice to which they had been extremely addicted before their conversion, (1 Corinthians 6:10-20,) and which some of them still reckoned among the things indifferent. In the next place, he answers certain queries which they had proposed: and, 1. He determines some questions relating to the marriage state, 1 Corinthians 7:2. He instructs them how to act with respect to things that had been offered to idols, 1 Corinthians 8.-11:1. 3. He answers a query concerning the manner in which women should deliver any thing in public, when they thought themselves called to it by a divine impulse, 1 Corinthians 11:2-17; and he censures the unusual dress of both sexes, in prophesying, which exposed them to the contempt of the Greeks, among whom the men usually went uncovered, and the women veiled. He also takes occasion here to censure the irregularities committed at their celebrations of the Lord’s supper, and in the exercise of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, 1 Corinthians 11:18-15:4. He asserts the resurrection of the dead, which some among the Corinthians doubted, and others denied, chap. 15. He then concludes with some directions to the Corinthian church concerning the manner of collecting alms, promises them a visit, and salutes some of the members, chap. 16.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians.

SUT_VOL4.PDF, source PDF p. 655

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE

CORINTHIANS.

CORINTH took its name from Corinthus, son of Pelops, who had rebuilt and fortified it with a wall, eleven miles in circumference. It was situate on the isthmus or neck of land which joins Achaia to Attica. Corinth had of course a double port, which opened to the Egean, and to the Ionian sea. Commerce took possession of a city so favourable, as the emporium of merchandise to all the east. Its riches were so great that “opulent Corinth” became the adage of the world. It was the residence of the Roman governor of Achaia, and was distinguished by schools of sectarian philosophy and eloquence. The luxury and debauchery of the place, severely censured by the poets, were consequences of their wealth, and want of revelation. When the Romans stormed it under the command of L. Mummius for revolt, one hundred and forty six years before Christ, a great part of the city was burned, and the statues and vases of gold, silver and brass, while in a state of fusion, formed a mixture very much admired under the name of Corinthian metal.

The first entrance of St. Paul into this metropolis was after the year fifty, and before the Pentecost of fifty two. Acts 18:1. Here he found Aquila and Priscilla, Claudius having banished the jews from Rome for sedition. The apostle laboured in Corinth, making excursions into Achaia, where his ministry was crowned with success, and accompanied with miraculous seals. But in Corinth the violence of the jews was such against Paul, that they dragged him before the tribunal of Gallio, the deputy, Acts 18:12, who, it would seem, leaned more to Paul than to the jews. Nor is it doubted but this circumstance occasioned some intercourse to take place between Paul and Seneca, brother to Gallio, and tutor to Nero. See on Acts 18.

Introduction

WHD_CO13.PDF, source PDF p. 9

1 CORINTHIANS

INTRODUCTION

CORINTH.

OF the ancient and opulent city of Corinth, and of St. Paul’s first introduction of Christianity there, we have a full account in the pages of Luke, Acts 18:1-18, and our notes on the passage. The ancient and purely Greek Corinth of the classic ages had, when St. Paul visited it, ceased to exist. Burned by the Roman Consul Mummius, it had lain a desolation for a century. Less than half a century before Christ it had been rebuilt by Julius Cesar, and colonized largely with Roman freedmen. It was restored to more than its ancient opulence; its schools of eloquence and philosophy were flourishing, and it was the acknowledged capital of ACHAIA, a name then embracing that southern and central Greece to which the glory of ancient Hellenic civilization properly belonged. But unrestrained profligacy was in the ascendant. Near her suburbs lay the palestra of the ancient Isthmian games; and there, even through the century of her desolation, these contests had been uninterruptedly celebrated. A sensual paganism was the sole religion of the Gentile population. And, what sounds strange to Christian ears, the sacred temple of Venus was munificently endowed with a thousand priestesses, whose ritual was prostitution. This making a religion of debauchery was an inheritance from the old Phenician abominations, by which Israel was so often sensualized. It was first based in a celebration of the generative powers of nature, and, through long centuries of heathenism, had found ready acceptance and perpetuity from the passions of men. It was the deification by man of his own lowest appetites, and furnished occasion and consecration to their unbridled indulgence.

It was into this hotbed of wealth, intellectual excitement, and vice, consecrated by false religion, that Paul, alone and silently, entered to plant a pure Christianity. He had left his associates, Silas and Timothy, in Macedonia, and his sympathetic heart pining for them, his vigour was paralyzed. After three months’ sojourn with the faithful Aquila and Priscilla, and preaching in the synagogue, he was enabled to welcome his faithful aids from Macedonia. Then followed the secession from the angry synagogue and the preaching in the house of Justus; the arraignment and triumph before Gallio; and the consequent peaceful closing of his first mission of a year and a half in Corinth, in which he established his fourth and greatest Church in Europe.

TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING THE EPISTLE.

Our apostle, then taking his affectionate leave of a Church then in a high state of unity and prosperity, crossed the AEgean to Palestine, and thence returned to EPHESUS. It was during his three years’ sojourn at Ephesus, perhaps in the last seven weeks after the commotion of Diana, that this epistle was written. He had kept up communication with, and received intelligence from, Corinth. The eloquent Apollos, after his theological training under Aquila and Priscilla, had gone there, had won great popularity, gained large accessions of converts, and given the Church a new prosperity. Even St. Peter, if the statement made by a learned bishop of Corinth a century or two later be true, was there for a time. After the return of the noble Apollos to Ephesus, (whence Paul sends, 1 Corinthians 16:12, his greetings to Corinth,) things grew dark in the Corinthian Church. Partisanships arose between different sections of the Church, who placed, without authority, the great names of Paul, Peter, Apollos, and even Christ, upon their schismatic banners. Various questions upon Christian morality and doctrine arose. And, what was worse than all this, the licentiousness of the city had entered, in a most flagrant form, into the Church itself. Nay, the very eucharist had been desecrated into a secular banquet, and made a scene of envy and strife. Paul first sent Timothy and Erastus before writing his epistle to Corinth. It was then that three delegates arrived from Corinth, namely, Fortunatus, Achaicus, and Stephanas, bringing an epistle from the Church asking for an apostolic solution of various questions which they presented. Paul thereupon wrote this epistle, bearing on its face the twofold purpose of reasserting his apostolic authority, and of furnishing an authoritative series of responses to the queries, stated or unstated, which had arisen in the Church. SUBSEQUENT PHASES OF THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH.

About twenty years after St. Paul had met the martyr’s fate, (A.D. 68,) the Church of Corinth received from the Church of Rome a fraternal epistle, written, as is commonly supposed, by St. Clement, third bishop of Rome. This invaluable epistle, written by an apostolic man, and addressed from one great Church to another, was deposited by the Church of Corinth in her archives, and was ordained to be read in its turn in her Sunday service. The only copy of it coming down to modern times was found in the Alexandrine Codex of the New Testament, being apparently held by the copyist as belonging to the canon. In this epistle we find that the Church of Corinth had, after a period of holy Church harmony, been divided into factions by her ambitious leaders, and it was by these dissensions that Clement’s letter was called into existence. This our epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians was retained, as St. Clement indicates, in the archives of the Churches both of Corinth and Rome. “Take into your hands,” says he, “the epistle of the blessed Paul, the apostle. What did he, at the first, write to you in the beginning of the Gospel. Verily he did, by the Spirit, admonish you concerning himself, and Cephas, and Apollos, because that even then you did form parties.” The authenticity of Paul’s epistles to the Corinthians has, indeed, never been called in question by any respectable criticism.

About seventy-five years after this memorable correspondence flourished Dionysius, the most celebrated of the bishops of Corinth. His epistles were many, addressed to various sections and individuals of note. His epistle to Soter, bishop of Rome, in reply to an admonitory letter from Soter, has these words: “You, by this your so suitable admonition, have blended together the gardens of the Romans and the Corinthians planted by Peter and Paul; for they both having planted us, taught alike, and, having alike gone into Italy, suffered martyrdom at the same time.” Probably Dionysius inadvertently assumed here that Peter had been at Corinth from the fact that his name was placed by one of the factions at its head. In another passage Dionysius says to Soter, “To-day we kept the Lord’s holy day, in which we read your epistle, which we shall always have for occasional reading for our admonition, as also the former epistle of Clement.” This shows that apostolic writings were kept for regular public reading in the Church. It was a little before this time that Hegesippus, the earliest Church historian, made a journey from Syria to Rome, and having visited many bishops, declared that “he found every-where the same doctrine.” “And the Church of Corinth,” he says, “had continued in the true faith when Primus was bishop there, with whom I had familiar conversation on my voyage to Rome, having stopped several days at Corinth, during which we refreshed ourselves with the same doctrine.”

From all these pleasing testimonies, it is clear that the Church of Corinth retained her reverence for her great founder, preserved his epistles in her archives, read them in the Sunday service, maintained the purity of his doctrine, and usually enjoyed a high state of prosperity. LATER HISTORY OF CORINTH.

In the year 268 the city was captured by the Goths, and in 523 was destroyed by an earthquake. In 1462 it was captured by the Turks, and remained under their power until the late revolution, which made Greece independent. During Turkish times the cathedral of the Church was in the Acrocorinthus. But a small village is now existing bearing the ancient name. There are the remnants of an old temple, which are the sole survivors of two or three successive Corinths, and, indeed, are the most ancient relics in Greece. There are also faint traces that mark the grounds of the Isthmian games. The lines of Byron which commence his Siege of Corinth are blended history and poetry:—

Many a vanished year and age,

And tempest’s breath, and battle’s rage,

Have swept o’er Corinth; yet she stands

A fortress formed to Freedom’s hands.

The whirlwind’s wrath, the earthquake’s shock,

Have left untouched her hoary rock,

The key-stone of a land which still,

Though fallen, looks proudly on that hill;

The landmark to the double tide

That purpling rolls on either side,

As if their waters chafed to meet,

Yet pause and crouch beneath her feet.

But could the blood before her shed

Since first Timoleon’s brother bled,

Or baffled Persia’s despot fled,

Arise from out the earth which drank

The stream of slaughter as it sank,

Plan of the Epistle.

WHD_CO13.PDF, source PDF p. 13

That sanguine ocean would o’erflow

Her isthmus idly spread below;

Or could the bones of all the slain

Who perished there, be piled again,

That rival pyramid would rise

More mountain-like, through those clear skies,

Than yon tower-capt Acropolis,

That seems the very clouds to kiss.

PLAN OF THE EPISTLE.

AS this Epistle must necessarily be an exercise of apostolical authority in response to the needs of the Church, it required two things: First, a distinct and full settlement of his apostolic authority, (1 Corinthians 1:10-4:21;) and, Second, the utterance of apostolic orders through the remainder of the epistle.

Taking his starting-point from those parties which the Corinthians, after the Greek fashion, were forming around their leaders, just as in philosophy the schools were formed around their founders, such as Democritus, Zeno, Plato, and Aristotle, our Paul proceeds to disown the whole body of philosophies. Neither he nor his fellow-apostles are philosophic founders. As leader in original wisdom he is nothing. But it must not for one moment be imagined that in this profound self-abnegation he abates one jot of his apostolic authority. As the originator of a philosophy he is, indeed, nothing; but as the organ of a revelation which is from God, and so is absolute, his decisions are ultimate. And he closes this firm self-assertion (1 Corinthians 4:8-20) with the most unequivocal apostolic warning and menace.

That settled, he goes over the list of their requirements, and thereto furnishes his ten successive responses, as detailed in the following scheme:—

PART FIRST.

Paul’s Settlement of his Authority over the Corinthian Church 1 Corinthians 1:10-4:21

I. AS

FOUNDER OR

LEADER IN A

PHILOSOPHY HE IS

NOTHING

1 Corinthians 1:10-2:5

1. Starting from their partisan preferences of leaders 10-17

2. He abases all philosophy beneath the cross supreme 18-31

3. As he had renounced it at first coming to Corinth 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

II. BUT AS

ORGAN OF A

GOD-GIVEN

REVELATION HIS

AUTHORITY IS

DECISIVE

1 Corinthians

2:6-4:21

1. A philosophy, nevertheless, the Gospel is, which is not human but God-given, and understood solely by the spiritual 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

2. And which was not understood by their partisan carnality 1 Corinthians 3:1-4

3. Herein appear the preacher’s God-imposed responsibilities 5-15 a. His success (based on Christ) is solely from God 5-11 b. His work, even if based on Christ, must undergo God’s test of fire 12-15

4. And also hence appears the people’s position as the God-founded temple, above all party and all philosophy 16-23

5. The true dignity of the apostles 1 Corinthians 4:1-13 a. Dispensers of God’s mysteries to God alone responsible 1-5 b. Not to be treated with partisan arrogance 6-8

c. The effects of such arrogance on the suffering apostles depicted. 9-13

6. Paul’s final assertion of his apostolic authority 14-21 PART SECOND.

Paul’s Exercise of his Apostolic Authority over the Corinthian Church—in Ten Responses 1 Corinthians 5:1-16:3

I. RESPONSE TO RUMOUR CONCERNING

INCEST

v, 1-13

II. RESPONSE CONCERNING GOING TO

LAW WITH

BROTHER

1 Corinthians 6:1-20

III. RESPONSE TO

QUESTIONS CONCERNING

MARRIAGE

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

1. Advisory counsel as to marriage and celibacy 1-9

2. Law and counsel as to separation of married persons 10-17

3. Counsel, generally, as to abiding in present calling 18-24

4. Response on marriage under present pressure, especially of maiden daughters 25-40

IV. RESPONSE TO

QUESTIONS OF

EATING

OFFERINGS TO

IDOLS

1 Corinthians 8:1-13;

10:14-11:1

V. RESPONSE TO

QUESTIONINGS OF HIS

APOSTOLICITY

1 Corinthians 9:1-10:13

1. Assertion of his apostolic right and prerogative 1-6

2. Ministers entitled to support by law of compensation 7-15

3. Reason why St. Paul renounced his right 15-22

4. These self-denials undergone for an eternal prize 23-27

5. Israel’s wilderness-sojourn a type of the Christian race 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

VI. RESPONSE AS TO

HEAD-DRESS OF THE

SEXES IN

RELIGIOUS

SERVICE

1 Corinthians 11:2-16

VII. RESPONSE AS TO

DISORDERS AT THE

LORD’S

SUPPER

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

1. The Corinthians abuse of the Lord’s Supper 17-22

2. History and nature of the Lord’s Supper 23-27

3. Reform, and treatment at the Lord’s Supper 28-34 VIII. RESPONSE AS TO

EXERCISES OF

SPIRITUAL

GIFTS

1 Corinthians 12:1-1 Corinthians

14:40

1. Of gifts—their true place and value 1 Corinthians 12:1-30

2. Infinite superiority of love over gifts 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

3. Management in use of gifts 1 Corinthians 14:1-40 IX. RESPONSE AS TO

DENIAL OF THE

RESURRECTION

1 Corinthians 15:1-58

1. The Christ-history, especially of resurrection, stated 1-11

2. Denial of resurrection is a repudiation of Christianity 12-19

3. Reaffirmation; position of resurrection in Christianity 20-28

4. Devastating results of the no-resurrection doctrine 29-34

5. Contrast of mortal and immortal bodies illustrated by contrast between other material bodies 35-41

6. Correspondence of the differences 42-50

7. Picture of resurrection, paean, and admonitory inference 51-58 X. RESPONSE AS TO THE

COLLECTION FOR

SAINTS

1 Corinthians 16:1-4 PERSONAL

MATTERS IN

CONCLUSION

1 Corinthians 16:5-24

Preface

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 3

Editorial note: Additional printed-edition collation — Beet (1882): The quoted sections 8–32 and dissertation transition belong to the contents list, pp. xiii–xvi. The older print supplies the complete headings, including About the Idol-Sacrifices, The Lord’s Supper, and The Body of Christ. This alert was generated from preliminary source pages and attached here; it does not identify a missing Greek or Hebrew word in the surrounding commentary. The printed source resolves the kind and location of the quoted material. The complete body text and every character of the preliminary apparatus were not collated in this check. BEET_1CO.PDF, PDF page 11; BEET_1CO.PDF, PDF page 12; Beet, Corinthians (1882), scan leaf 16; Beet, Corinthians (1882), scan leaf 17; Beet, Corinthians (1882), scan leaf 18; Beet, Corinthians (1882), scan leaf 19.

I CORINTHIANS

PREFACE

The aim and method of the present volume are similar to those pursued in my Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. I have endeavored, by careful grammatical study of St. Paul's words, to trace the line of thought they were designed to convey; and to look, through his actual thoughts while writing, into his abiding conception of the Gospel and of Christ. The various elements of this conception, thus obtained, I have arranged in order along the course of my exposition; and have compared them, in the concluding dissertations, with the results gained in my volume on Romans. This orderly arrangement and comparison of the practical results of exposition give to this commentary a claim to be, like its predecessor, a contribution to Systematic Theology. And I hold firmly that the method here adopted is the only safe pathway to a correct and comprehensive and connected view of the truths which, through the lips of Christ and through the intelligence and the pen of His Apostles, God has made known to men. The peculiar subject-matter of the Epistles to the Corinthians makes them to be also a record of St. Paul's movements a reflection of his surroundings, and a revelation of his inmost spiritual life. All these, St. Paul's movements, surroundings, and spiritual life, I have with the utmost care tried to reproduce and combine, in order thus to obtain a view, as full and correct as possible, of the great Apostle and of an apostolic church. Consequently, the present volume claims to be also a contribution to the Biography of St. Paul and to the Early History of the Christian Church. A conspicuous feature of this volume, as of the last, is its direct reference, unique I believe among commentaries, to the Evidences of Christianity. At great length I have developed the proof that the Epistles to the Romans and to the Corinthians came, practically as we have them now, from the pen of Paul. To those familiar with these epistles and with their literature, this proof may seem superfluous. For they know that no one calls it in question. But for my readers generally I thought it well thus to reveal the absolute strength of this first link in the historic chain which supports the Christian hope. And this example of absolute historic certainty, taking firm and visible hold of unquestionable matters of fact, is of great value as a standard with which to compare other historic evidence. The first great link of evidence here exposed to view receives its practical worth from the succeeding links unveiled in Dissertation I. of my volume on Romans, links sustaining our most deeply cherished hopes. To the great arguments there expounded, the argument of this volume is altogether subordinate. The method I have adopted is the best approach to the credentials of Christianity. Many popular writers on this subject set themselves to prove that the Bible is all true. But whoever attempts this undertakes a task involving immense scholarship and very much which the general reader must take on trust; and exposes himself, and those who follow him, to attack along an extended line and from innumerable points. For every assault upon the historic correctness of a statement in the Bible, unless repelled, shakes his position. But against the line of argument pursued in these volumes such objections have no bearing whatever. For, without assuming or attempting to prove the Divine authority or historic truth of the Bible, and therefore without pledging ourselves to the correctness of all its statements, we have traced the Gospel, which we have stated in plain terms, by evidence tested according to the principles of ordinary historic credibility, to the lips of Christ; and have discovered reliable evidence that He claimed to be in a unique sense the Son of God, and that in proof of His claim God raised Him from the dead. In other words, the witnesses we have interrogated have led us into the presence of the Great Teacher, to the cross on which He died, and to His empty grave.

This line of investigation is also the best avenue to criticism of the date, authorship, and credibility of all other parts of the Old or New Testaments. For, from the point of view thus gained we can survey securely and calmly and clearly the entire domain of sacred scholarship. By reaching first, under guidance of numerous witnesses comparatively near to us, a firm ground for our faith, we are the better prepared to investigate matters further from our day or not attested by so abundant evidence.

But in every case the investigation must accord with the universal laws of human credibility. To attempt to withdraw the matters of fact stated in the Bible from this supreme court of appeal is as absurd as for a man to claim that because he is a Christian his conduct must not be tried by the laws of human morality. And, just as these laws of morality reveal the grandeur and the divine origin of that Gospel which both reveals a still higher morality and gives us power to realize it in our own lives, so the laws of human credibility reveal the absolute certainty of the Great Facts of Christianity and thus reveal in the drama of human history an historical Person infinitely higher than man.

Amid the infinite variety of opinion, even among professed Christians, about the Bible and its contents, opinions shading imperceptibly one into another along the whole line, two extreme groups are easily distinguished, those who deviate furthest from, and those who cling most tenaciously to, the traditional teaching of the churches. About each of these groups I have something to say.

To many writers who have denied the Great Facts for which in these volumes I have strenuously contended, Biblical Scholarship and the Church of Christ owe, by the kind Providence of God, an immense debt. Even the spiritual indifference with which some of them have handled sacred subjects has not been without advantage. For then it has left them free from the prejudice which has warped the judgment of so many earnest Christians. And their devotion to the philosophic study of the sacred languages and of the text and narratives and teaching of the Bible, looking at all these from a human point of view, has produced the best results. For, like the Personal Word, the Written Word is thoroughly human as well as divine. But, while cheerfully acknowledging this debt, I notice in many of their followers, of whom not a few are honest and earnest seekers after truth, a wonderful readiness to build up important theories on the scantiest foundation, and to accept with amazing confidence an hypothesis unheard of till yesterday. One is tempted to think that some of them make up for lack of faith by a large share of credulity.

On the other hand, very many who cling firmly to teaching which they and their fathers have proved to be a power of God to salvation betray an overweening satisfaction with even the details of their religious beliefs. All opinions new to them, they meet at once with hostility, and in proportion as these opinions differ from their own. And, to them, sacred scholarship seems to be of value chiefly as a weapon to defend their own views. But, surely, the most infatuated theologian cannot believe that, amid the infinite variety of religious opinions, his own system of doctrine is absolutely correct and all others in error in proportion as they deviate from it. And if, as we cannot deny, error and imperfection cling to all human conceptions of the divine, and all error conceals some truth and obscures the harmony of related truths and thus lessens the moral power of the Truth in our hearts, it should ever be our aim to correct our own mistakes and to obtain fuller and deeper knowledge. Only those who are willing and eager to be both taught and corrected can correct others. Again, I am compelled to say that many popular theological works on what may be called the conservative side betray, by ignoring important adverse evidence, a very imperfect acquaintance with the facts of the case, at which they seem unwilling or unable to look; and, frequently, an utter absence of original investigation of the matter in hand. The chief aim of some writers seems to be, not to elucidate the subject, but merely to overthrow an opponent's argument. But it should never be forgotten that a reply which to persons unacquainted with the matter seems very clever may yet do nothing to prove the truth of the doctrine attacked; or even to remove objections to it. For, to those familiar with the whole case, many objections, like all good arguments, suggest much more than lies on the surface. Moreover, unless a man has positive teaching to offer he had better not write at all. For mere negations never satisfy.

Our only safeguard amid the Babel of opinions around us is a fuller and more accurate knowledge of Holy Scripture. This alone will enable us to distinguish, in teaching new to us, the true from the false. And it is not too much to hope that such fuller knowledge will not only preserve us from disquietude, but will reveal to us a nearer and clearer view of the Son of God, and thus work in our hearts and lives a richer likeness to Him. And this is the true aim of all Biblical Scholarship.

Throughout this work I have endeavored at every point and as far as possible to give proof of all I say, so as to make the fewest and least possible demands on the implicit confidence of my readers. Of this, my dissertation on the chronology of these epistles is a good example. And I think that this dissertation will prove that even for ordinary readers the details of the historic criticism of the New Testament, when clearly stated, have interest. For similar reasons I have discussed the date of the epistles to the Thessalonians, the authorship of the Book of Acts, and that of the Epistle of Clement. Necessarily, the validity of my proofs depends on the correctness of my quotations. But almost all these the English reader may test for himself in Clark's Ante-Nicene Library. And by so doing he will gain an intelligent conviction such as can never be derived from mere quotations.

I have also endeavored to distinguish the different degrees of confidence which different proofs warrant. Sometimes we have evidence which outweighs all that can be said on the other side but is not such as to remove doubt. And again, there may be evidence which justifies a confidence hardly to be distinguished from certainty and yet is inferior to other evidence open to no question whatever. Of this last, the proof that St. Paul wrote these epistles is a specimen. Upon evidence of this kind rest all the Great Facts of the Gospel. A grade lower is the evidence that the Fourth Gospel is from the pen of the Apostle John. This various worth and importance of various evidence I have kept in view throughout the reasoning of these volumes.

All quotations have been carefully verified. Except two, where the source is mentioned, all have been taken from the original works. A few errors which unfortunately have crept into my pages are noted below. Like most modern commentators, I have given a table of contents of each epistle. These are of great value as affording a connected view of the whole epistle and of the mutual relation of its parts. A special feature of this work is that the titles of my Sections, read consecutively, form an outline of the epistles: the titles of the Divisions form another and still shorter outline. These outlines, the student will do well to keep constantly before him. In addition to the tables of contents, I have frequently and from various points taken a retrospect of the ground already passed over, and have summarized the results gained. This may expose me to the charge of repetition. And my deep conviction of the immense importance, for intelligent and thorough comprehension, of going again and again over the same ground, has made me the less reluctant to look back at the same objects from different points of view.

The extracts from the Epistle of Clement afford a most instructive comparison and contrast with the Epistles of Paul. The references to the words of Christ, and the quotations from the Old Testament, are specially interesting, as revealing the form in which these were current in the first century. The influence of St. Paul's epistles, and the inferiority of the work of Clement, are conspicuous throughout.

Appendix B supplements Introd. iii. It marks out almost the whole area still open to doubt and of practical importance in these epistles; and will give the reader some idea of the frequent contradiction of the best documents and of the difficult task before the Textual Critic.

In addition to the commentaries mentioned in the preface to my volume on Romans, the work on these Epistles by the late lamented Dean Stanley has frequently and in various ways been useful to me. Of German writers, I have the able commentary of Osiander, and the very good and more recent one published by Kloepper. Of recent popular commentaries, the contribution of Dean Plumptre to Bishop Ellicot's Commentary for English Readers is, like everything from his pen, excellent. Canon Evans' work upon the First Epistle in the Speaker's Commentary is of great value, especially in its frequent renderings of St. Paul's words and in its first rate Greek scholarship. Occasionally, even in matters of grammar, I have ventured to dissent from the writer; but never without respectful consideration. I am also under obligations to Canon Evans' papers in The Expositor, vol. iii. new series, on the Revised Version. Also very good is Mr. Waite's contribution on the Second Epistle.

Of biographies of St. Paul, I have for many years owed much to the able and attractive work of Conybeare and Howson, which is by no means superseded now. Of equal value, especially for its abundant and well-chosen quotations from all sources and for its beautiful engravings, is the second edition of Lewin's St. Paul. His Fasti Sacri has also been, as a collection of facts, of great use to me. But he frequently builds up conclusions on very insufficient data and bases arguments (e.g. on Acts 18:21 in F. S. p. lxiv. f; in p. lxxiii. on Acts 27:16) on readings indisputably spurious. Consequently, while his laborious collection of facts lays us under heavy obligation, his deductions from these facts must be received with great caution. These works, of which the value is chiefly in details, are supplemented by the living picture of the great Apostle, moving and speaking before us as a man among men, skilfully and beautifully painted in the great work of Canon Farrar. Of Neander's Planting of the Christian Church I have spoken in my former volume.

Quite different from the above, and written from an altogether different point of view, a point of view far removed from my own, the more valuable perhaps because of this difference, are F. C. Baur's scholarly and thoughtful work on Paul the Apostle and Renan's attractive volumes. These and others of the same school I have had constantly in mind, especially while writing Dissertations I. and II., and Dissertation I. of my Romans; and have endeavored to disprove their chief conclusions. But it was needless to quote them.

A few words now about the remainder of this series, I purpose to publish next a small volume on the Epistle to the Galatians; thus completing the Epistles written during St. Paul's third missionary journey. Then, if life and strength and opportunity be granted me will follow a volume on Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon; and another volume on Thessalonians, Timothy, and Titus. These I hope to supplement by a volume discussing St. Paul's teaching as a whole, and its relation to that of the other New Testament writers. These are my purposes. Their accomplishment is with God.

WARRINGTON,

1st September, 1882.

Notes and Replies

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 13

Editorial note: Additional printed-edition collation — Beet (1882): The quoted sections 16–17, 21, and 25–26 are contents-list entries on p. xiv; The Greek Athletic Festivals is a bracketed subheading there. This alert was generated from preliminary source pages and attached here; it does not identify a missing Greek or Hebrew word in the surrounding commentary. The printed source resolves the kind and location of the quoted material. The complete body text and every character of the preliminary apparatus were not collated in this check. BEET_1CO.PDF, PDF page 11; BEET_1CO.PDF, PDF page 12; Beet, Corinthians (1882), scan leaf 17.

I CORINTHIANS

NOTES AND REPLIES

(See… Intro to SEC. III. ARE OUR COPIES … CORRECT? ¶ 9.)

On page 22. My translation has been objected to by some critics for its uncouth literality. Now every translator, while endeavoring to combine faithfulness to the full sense and force of the original Greek with good idiomatic English, finds himself frequently compelled, owing to the difference of the languages, to sacrifice the one or the other. In versions designed for ordinary use the genius of the English language must be respected at all costs. But in a translation designed to be used only as a companion to others, I was justified in sacrificing everything to a fuller reproduction of the sense and force of the original. To what extent I have in each case succeeded, Greek scholars must judge.

1 Corinthians 15:28

On page 233. My exposition of 1 Corinthians 15:28 is, like all I have seen, very imperfect. Will someone attempt a better? Canon Evans' suggestion that “the term God may denote the Tripersonal Deity” cannot, in view of Paul's constant use (e.g. 1 Corinthians 3:23; 11:3) of the word God to distinguish the Father from the Son, be accepted. This final subjection of the Son to the Father needs, I think, further study than it has yet received.

1 Corinthians 15:45

On page 245, line 19 from below. Schoettgen, in his Horae Hebraicae, quotes under 1 Corinthians 15:45 a Rabbinical book, N'veh Shalom or Abode of Peace (cp. Isaiah 32:18) f. 160. 2: “Just as the First Adam was One in sin, so Messiah will be the Last, in order to bear away sins completely.”

Section 1. — Retrospect and Prospect

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 14

Editorial note: Additional printed-edition collation — Beet (1882): The quoted marriage, church-meetings, spiritual-gifts, and dissertation transitions are contents-list entries on pp. xiv and xvi. The latter page prints The Book of Acts. This alert was generated from preliminary source pages and attached here; it does not identify a missing Greek or Hebrew word in the surrounding commentary. The printed source resolves the kind and location of the quoted material. The complete body text and every character of the preliminary apparatus were not collated in this check. BEET_1CO.PDF, PDF page 11; BEET_1CO.PDF, PDF page 12; Beet, Corinthians (1882), scan leaf 17; Beet, Corinthians (1882), scan leaf 19.

I CORINTHIANS

INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLES TO THE

CORINTHIANS

SECTION 1. — RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

1. In a former volume I attempted to show that we have abundant proof that the Epistle to the Romans came from the pen of Paul; and that it is fairly reproduced in the Authorized English Version and still more correctly in the Revised Version. We learned, by study of the epistle itself, that its entire argument rests upon five unproved but confident assertions or assumptions, viz: that God in undeserved favor accepts as righteous all who believe the Gospel; by means of the death of His Son; that He designs believers to be, by union with Christ, sharers of the life of Christ, a life devoted to God; that this design is accomplished in all who believe the gospel promises, so far as they believe. by the agency of the Holy Spirit. It was evident to us that Paul accepted these doctrines because they were taught by Jesus, that he accepted the authority of Jesus as decisive because he believed Him to be in a unique sense the Son of God, and that he believed this because he had what he thought sufficient proof that Jesus rose from the dead. We found also that in each of these matters Paul's belief was shared by the many and various writers of the New Testament; of which nearly the whole was before A.D. 200 accepted as authentic by the entire Christian Church. For this unanimous belief of the early disciples of Jesus, and for its effect upon them, and through them upon the world, we could conceive no explanation or sufficient cause except that Jesus actually rose from the dead, actually claimed to be Son of God, and actually taught these great doctrines.

Throughout our inquiry we did not ascribe to any part of the Bible an infallible or special authority. We merely accepted the Epistle to the Romans as written by an honest and intelligent man. And, although we referred to other writings of the New Testament, we did not assume even their historical correctness; but simply accepted their unanimous testimony as proof that the above-mentioned belief of Paul was shared by other early Christian teachers. Owing to the number and variety of these witnesses, their testimony would remain unshaken even if it were proved that some of their statements contradict each other or contradict reliable contemporary history. For their unanimity can be explained only by the truth of that in which they agree.

2. In our study of the Epistles to the Corinthians we will adopt the same method. We shall find equally valid for them the documentary evidence already quoted for the genuineness of the Epistle to the Romans and for the correctness of our copies. And our study of the Epistles now before us and comparison of them with that to the Romans will afford internal evidence removing to an infinite distance from all possibility of doubt the genuineness of all three Epistles.

3. At the close of the former volume I pointed to a line of argument which if followed would lead, I confidently believe, to a full conviction that the extant writings of Paul are the authoritative voice of God. But this I do not wish to assume in the present volume. For the Epistles to the Corinthians contain in themselves so strong a confirmation of the reality and the truth of the facts and the teaching of the Gospel that I prefer, in order to feel the strength of this confirmation, to study them for the present without reference to their apostolic authority. We have no need to bring to Holy Scripture any opinion about its divine authority. This we shall learn best from the Scriptures themselves.

Section 2. — Are the Epistles Genuine?

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 16

Editorial note: Additional printed-edition collation — Beet (1882): The quoted sections 15 and 18 and the concluding dissertations and appendix titles are contents-list entries on pp. xiv and xvi. The older print supplies Paul and the Church of Corinth, Summary of Results, and The Epistle of Clement of Rome. This alert was generated from preliminary source pages and attached here; it does not identify a missing Greek or Hebrew word in the surrounding commentary. The printed source resolves the kind and location of the quoted material. The complete body text and every character of the preliminary apparatus were not collated in this check. BEET_1CO.PDF, PDF page 11; BEET_1CO.PDF, PDF page 12; Beet, Corinthians (1882), scan leaf 17; Beet, Corinthians (1882), scan leaf 19.

I CORINTHIANS

SECTION 2. — ARE THE EPISTLES GENUINE?

1. The facts and arguments adduced to prove the genuineness of the Epistle to the Romans are equally valid for those to the Corinthians.

2. Both Epistles are found in all Greek MSS. of Paul's Epistles; and in the Latin, Syriac, Egyptian, Gothic, Armenian, and Ethiopic Versions.

3. Tertullian (Against Heretics ch. 33) says: “Paul in his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians speaks of those who deny or doubt the resurrection.” So On Modesty ch. 13: “For they suppose that the Apostle Paul in the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians forgave the same fornicator whom in the 1st Epistle he commanded to be given to Satan for destruction of the flesh;” and then quotes in full 2 Corinthians 2:5-11. In chs. 13-16 he quotes expressly as Paul's 1 Corinthians 1:14, 15; 2:2; 3:16, 17; 4:3, 4, 7-9, 13, 18, 21; 1 Corinthians 5:1, 2, 5, 6; 6:8, 9-11, 13, 14, 15-20; 1 Corinthians 7:1-3, 7-9, 26-28, 29, 31, 32-34, 40; 8:2; 9:1, 4, 5, 15; 1 Corinthians 10:12; 11:16; 16:22: 2 Corinthians 2:6; 4:1, 2; 6:14-7:1; 12:7, 9, 21. In his work Against Marcion, bk. v. 5-12, he quotes as admitted by Marcion, whose teaching was nevertheless utterly opposed to that of these Epistles, 1 Corinthians 1:18-22, 25, 27-29, 31; 2:6-8; 1 Corinthians 3:10, 13, 16-22; 4:5, 9; 5:1, 5, 7, 13; 6:13-15, 20; 1 Corinthians 7:10, 11, 29, 39; 8:4-6; 9:9, 10; 10:4, 11; 11:3, 7, 10; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10; 14:34; 15:12, 21, 22, 25, 29, 35-57: 2 Corinthians 3:13-18; 4:4, 7, 10, 16; 5:1-4, 8, 10, 17; 7:1; 11:4, 14; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. These quotations are complete proof, not merely that both by Tertullian and Marcion the Epistles were accepted as genuine, but that in the main they existed then in the form we now possess. So CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, Pedagogue bk. i. 6: Most clearly the blessed Paul has relieved us from the inquiry, writing in such a way as this in the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, Brothers, be not children in understanding, etc. “ So elsewhere abundantly.

So IRENÆUS in bk. iv. 27. 3: “That the Apostle showed this very clearly, saying in the Epistle to the Corinthians, I do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, etc.,” quoting 1 Corinthians 10:1-11. This seems to be a quotation from the teacher referred to on p. 6 of my Romans. In ch. 27 he also quotes, as written by the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 5:6, 11; 6:9, 10; and, in ch.26, 1 Corinthians 12:28; 2 Corinthians 2:17; 7:2. Innumerable quotations make us quite certain that the above writers were unconscious of any doubt about the genuineness of these Epistles. The FRAGMENT OF MURATORI says: “The Epistles of Paul, from whatever place and for whatever cause they were drawn up, themselves declare to those who wish to understand. First of all to the Corinthians forbidding the division of sect, etc.”

In the Latin version which is all that remains of the latter part of POLYCARP'S letter to the Philippians (referred to in Irenaeus bk. iii. 3. 4) we read, “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world, as Paul teaches?” IGNATIUS refers evidently, in ch. 2 of his Epistle to the Ephesians, to 1 Corinthians 1:10; and less clearly, in ch. 18 to 1 Corinthians 1:20.

Still more valuable proof of the genuineness of Paul's 1st Epistle to the Corinthians is found in the letter of CLEMENT of ROME to the Corinthian church, of which I have given extracts in Appendix A. The express mention, in ch. 47, of the Epistle as Paul's, and the clear reference to its subject matter, prove conclusively that about A.D. 100 it was accepted by the churches of Rome and Corinth as written by Paul.

We find, therefore, that the Epistles to the Corinthians, like that to the Romans, were well known and were accepted without a shadow of doubt both by friends and foes before A.D. 200 in places so far apart as Carthage, Egypt, and Gaul; and that the First Epistle was referred to by three writers born before A.D. 100, and was appealed to within the lifetime probably of some who had seen the Apostle in a public letter from the church at Rome to that at Corinth as having been written to the latter church by Paul. We have thus external evidence for the Second Epistle equal to, for the First Epistle much stronger than, that adduced for the Epistle to the Romans.

4. For the genuineness of the Epistles to the Corinthians, we have moreover other evidence peculiar and irresistible. Their contents are such as no forger would dare to write; and such as would certainly prevent their acceptance by the church at Corinth except on evidence which forbad all doubt. Each letter abounds in severest condemnation. Self-conceited men (1 Corinthians 4:18) evidently resisted the Apostle: and (1 Corinthians 5:2) the whole church, inflated with pride, tolerated a crime not found even among the heathen. Church-members insulted the church (1 Corinthians 6:1) by going to law against each other. Intercourse with harlots (1 Corinthians 6:18) needed to be seriously warned against; and connivance (1 Corinthians 10:14ff) at idolatry. The Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:21) was shamefully desecrated. And some church-members maintained a denial logically subversive of the whole Gospel. Bad men doing Satan's work (2 Corinthians 11:13ff) and bitterly hostile to the Apostle were tolerated (2 Corinthians 11:20) by the church. In spite of reproof (2 Corinthians 12:21-13:2) some church-members persisted in gross sensuality. And the Apostle was accused (2 Corinthians 1:17) of vacillation and weakness. Even if we suppose these descriptions of the church to have been true, no contemporary forger would dare to record them in a letter for which he sought acceptance as written by Paul: nor would any church accept, with careful scrutiny, so public a monument of its degradation. If at a later date the forgery were made, reverence for the earliest Christians at Corinth and for the Apostle would at once suggest a scrutiny which could not fail to detect the imposture.

That we have two condemnatory letters, increases the unlikeliness of forgery. For two letters would attract more attention than one. And two forgeries must necessarily be more difficult than one.

5. The above evidence, conclusive as it is, is yet by no means the whole. Our study of these Epistles, as embodied in Dissertations I. and II., will assure us that the Epistles to the Corinthians and the Romans came from the same author, from a man of vast mental power, of intense earnestness, and of the highest moral grandeur. Now the contents of the Epistles to the Corinthians are such as must be either genuine or written with an intent to deceive. Can we conceive a man able to write such letters as these three perpetrating a forgery in order to hide his own name in oblivion? Nay more: no man could do it. For the tone of reality throughout these Epistles is too clear to be simulated. The living picture here presented can be no other than a genuine reflection of actual life. And, that it is such, will be strongly confirmed by our comparison of the Book of Acts. So abundant and unquestionable is this various evidence that in all ages these three Epistles and that to the Galatians have been accepted as genuine both by those who share, and those who trample under foot, the earnest faith of the great Apostle. As Renan says, (Saint Paul, Introd. p. v.,) they are “incontestable and uncontested.”

Section 3. — Are Our Copies and Versions Correct?

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 20

Editorial note: Additional printed-edition collation — Beet (1882): The clipped appendix titles belong to the contents list on p. xvi: The Epistle of Clement of Rome; Doubtful Various Readings; The Revised Version. This alert was generated from preliminary source pages and attached here; it does not identify a missing Greek or Hebrew word in the surrounding commentary. The printed source resolves the kind and location of the quoted material. The complete body text and every character of the preliminary apparatus were not collated in this check. BEET_1CO.PDF, PDF page 12; Beet, Corinthians (1882), scan leaf 19.

I CORINTHIANS

SECTION 3. — ARE OUR COPIES AND VERSIONS CORRECT?

1. The proofs given in my Romans, Introd. § 3, that our Authorized Version is, within narrow and specified limits, a correct reproduction of the words actually written by Paul are equally valid for the Epistles to the Corinthians. And they are strengthened immensely by the Revised Version. For, after a searching scrutiny during many years, by men of different theological opinions, the New Testament is presented to us in a form practically the same as the Old Version. It now remains to us only to note the principle changes in the Greek Text which the Critical Editors agree to propose, the principle variations of Text still open to doubt, and the extent to which the assured results of Textual Criticism in the Greek Text of these Epistles are adopted by the Revisers; and the Revisers' rendering of this Text.

2. Out of 233 variations from the text underlying the Authorized Version of 1 Corinthians which Lachmann, Tischendorf, and Tregelles agree to propose, Westcott and Hort (see my Romans, Appendix A) accept without note 226: they place 4 more in their text with an alternative in the margin, and 3 more in their margin; and overlook none. In 2 Corinthians, out of 120 variations which the earlier editors agree to propose, Westcott and Hort accept 119, placing only one (2 Corinthians 1:8) in their margin. The only changes worthy of note proposed by them and not mentioned by the other editors are:—

1 Corinthians 2:1: mystery for testimony which is put in their margin. 1 Corinthians 13:3: that I may glory, for may be burned. 1 Corinthians 15:54: this corruptible shall put on incorruption is removed to the margin.

2 Corinthians 1:22: who marked as doubtful.

These Editors have carefully sifted for themselves the entire evidence on which rests the Text of the New Testament, using methods of research quite different from those of their predecessors. The remarkable agreement in results, noted above, is therefore a complete proof how solid is the basis of the Text which all recent Critical Editors agree to accept. And, by calling fresh attention to their reading of 1 Corinthians 2:1, Westcott and Hort have rendered special service.

3. Of readings (embodied or not embodied in the A.V.) materially affecting the sense, which the Critical Editors confidently agree to accept in the Epistles to the Corinthians, the Revisers accept every one without note; except that in 2 Corinthians 1:22 they omit one letter, questioned hitherto only by Westcott's brackets, and in 1 Corinthians 7:7; 11:24 they put notes against changes from the A.V. which are accepted without note by all the Editors. Out of 254 changes in 1 Corinthians given by the Revisers without note, 213 are found without note in all the Critical Editions; 17 more with another reading in the margin of one or more Editions: and only in 24 cases given by the Revisers without note do the Critical Texts differ. In the Second Epistle, of 143 such changes, 111 are accepted also without note by all the Editors; 3 more are accepted with an alternative in the margin: and only in 29 cases do the Critical Texts differ. Consequently, unless we question the united judgment of the Editors and the Revisers, the area open to doubt is limited to the 24 + 29 places just mentioned, and the 16 + 12 textual marginal notes.

4. List of more important corrections agreed to by Editors and Revisers.

1. 1 Corinthians 1:15: you were baptized for I baptized.

2. 1 Corinthians 1:22: signs for a sign.

3. 1 Corinthians 1:23: Gentiles for Greeks.

4. 1 Corinthians 2:4: of wisdom for of man's wisdom.

5. 1 Corinthians 2:13: the Spirit for the Holy Spirit.

6. 1 Corinthians 3:3: omit and divisions.

7. 1 Corinthians 3:4: men for carnal.

8. 1 Corinthians 4:6: omit to think.

9. 1 Corinthians 5:1: omit named.

10. 1 Corinthians 5:3: omit as.

11. 1 Corinthians 5:7: omit therefore and for us.

12. 1 Corinthians 5:7: omit therefore and for us.

13. 1 Corinthians 7:3: that which is due for due benevolence.

14. 1 Corinthians 7:5: omit and fasting.

15. 1 Corinthians 7:17: transpose God and the Lord.

16. 1 Corinthians 8:2: not yet learnt for knows nothing yet.

17. 1 Corinthians 8:4: no god for no other God.

18. 1 Corinthians 8:7: habitual intercourse with for conscience of.

19. 1 Corinthians 8:11: for for and; and read a brother for whom Christ died.

20. 1 Corinthians 8:11: for for and; and read a brother for whom Christ died.

21. 1 Corinthians 9:1: transpose apostle and free.

22. 1 Corinthians 9:9: the fruit for of the fruit.

23. 1 Corinthians 9:10: read he that thrashes, in hope of partaking.

24. 1 Corinthians 9:15: read or … no one shall make void.

25. 1 Corinthians 9:20: add not being myself under law.

26. 1 Corinthians 9:23: all things for this.

27. 1 Corinthians 10:1: for for moreover.

28. 1 Corinthians 10:19: transpose idol and idol-sacrifice.

29. 1 Corinthians 10:23: omit for me.

30. 1 Corinthians 10:24: omit every man.

31. 1 Corinthians 10:28: sacred-sacrifice for idol-sacrifice.

32. 1 Corinthians 10:28: omit for the earth … to end.

33. 1 Corinthians 11:11: transpose twice man and woman.

34. 1 Corinthians 11:24: omit take, eat.

35. 1 Corinthians 11:26: the cup for this cup.

36. 1 Corinthians 11:27: the bread for this bread.

37. 1 Corinthians 11:29: omit unworthily and of the Lord.

38. 1 Corinthians 12:31: greater for better. (A.V. best)

39. 1 Corinthians 15:55: transpose victory and sting.

40. 1 Corinthians 15:55: death for grave.

41. 2 Corinthians 1:12: holiness for simplicity.

42. 2 Corinthians 1:20: read for which cause also through Him.

43. 2 Corinthians 2:1: in sorrow following again.

44. 2 Corinthians 2:16: from death, from life for of death, of life.

45. 2 Corinthians 3:1: omit 2nd commendation.

46. 2 Corinthians 5:12: omit for.

47. 2 Corinthians 5:14: omit if.

48. 2 Corinthians 5:17: they instead of all things.

49. 2 Corinthians 5:21: omit for at the beginning.

50. 2 Corinthians 7:13: our instead of your; and rearrange the clauses.

51. 2 Corinthians 8:4: omit that we would receive.

52. 2 Corinthians 8:19: our readiness for your readiness.

53. 2 Corinthians 9:5: before-promised for before-announced.

54. 2 Corinthians 9:10: shall supply, shall multiply, shall increase.

55. 2 Corinthians 10:7: omit Christ's at end.

56. 2 Corinthians 11:6: having made manifest for have been made manifest.

57. 2 Corinthians 11:32: omit desirous.

58. 2 Corinthians 12:11: omit in glorying.

59. 2 Corinthians 12:19: for a long time for again.

60. 2 Corinthians 13:2: omit I write.

The reading displaced in No. 18 is a very early and widespread error. In Nos. 24, 31, 39 the displaced reading is in the margin of Lachmann: a variation affecting a part of No. 57 is given in the margin of the R.V. and of Westcott. All the other changes are given without note by the Revisers and by all the Editors: and all may be accepted with perfect confidence.

5. Of the 24 + 29 changes (see p. 7) accepted without note by the Revisers but about which the Critical Texts differ, the only cases worthy of mention are 1 Corinthians 9:22; 2 Corinthians 12:7, where I follow the Revised Version; 2 Corinthians 11:4, open to doubt; 2 Corinthians 12:15, which I reject; and 1 Corinthians 8:8; 2 Corinthians 1:22, where see notes. All the others are unimportant. Only two variations from the Authorized Version of any moment, given without notes in any two Critical Editions, have the Revisers overlooked, viz.:—

1 Corinthians 10:20: they for (A.V. and R.V.) the Gentiles 1 Corinthians 14:18: with a tongue for (A.V. and R.V.) with tongues. And the Revisers' reading is supported by evidence in the former case I think decidedly, in the latter slightly, preponderant.

6. Of the Revisers' Marginal Readings, the student will distinguish those said to be read by “many,” and those by “some, ancient authorities.” The former are:—

1. 1 Corinthians 1:28: omit and.

2. 1 Corinthians 2:1: testimony for mystery in text.

3. 1 Corinthians 7:7: for instead of yet.

4. 1 Corinthians 7:15: you for us.

5. 1 Corinthians 7:33: general rearrangement.

6. 1 Corinthians 9:24: insert broken.

7. 1 Corinthians 13:3: that I may glory for to be burned

8. 1 Corinthians 14:38: he is not known for let him be ignorant.

9. 1 Corinthians 15:49: let us bear for we shall bear.

10. 1 Corinthians 15:54: omit this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and

11. 2 Corinthians 3:9: to the ministration for the ministration.

12. 2 Corinthians 13:4: with him for in him.

Of these, in Nos. 3, 6 the R.V. text is given without note by all Editors, on evidence so decisive that the marginal note seems needless. In No. 12 the R.V. text is accepted by all Editors, on evidence slightly preponderant; with the other reading in the margin of all but Tischendorf who gives no marginal notes. In No. 10 the R.V. text is accepted without note by the other Editors, on what seems to be sufficient evidence; and is put in the margin by Westcott, with the R.V. margin in the text. In No. 7 the Revisers' margin is given without note by Westcott, and in Lachmann's smaller Edition: in all other Critical Editions the Revisers' text is given, without note. In No. 2 the Revisers' margin is given without note by the earlier Editors: the Revisers' text, which I accept, is given in the text of Westcott. No. 5 does not perceptibly affect the sense. In No. 8 the Revisers' margin is given, with preponderant documentary evidence, by all Editors except Tregelles who puts it in the margin: and the Revisers' text is noted in Westcott's margin. It is a very difficult, and unimportant variation. I prefer the Revisers' margin to their text in Nos. 1, 11; and especially in No. 9, which is given by all Editors, Westcott alone noting in his margin the Revisers' text.

Of marginal readings worthy of mention said to be found in “some ancient authorities,” in every case the Revisers' text is preferred by all Editors; except that in 1 Corinthians 2:10; 15:14; 2 Corinthians 1:15; 2:1, 7; 7:7 Westcott and Hort prefer the Revisers' margin. So far as I can judge, the Revisers' text has in each case preponderant evidence. Possibly true are the unimportant marginal readings in 1 Corinthians 1:4, 14, especially the latter.

7. The above figures and lists prove that the assured results of modern Textual Criticism are embodied fairly and fully in the Revised Version. And they reveal how narrow, in the Epistles before us, is the area open to doubt. With the few and small exceptions noted above, the Revisers' Greek Text may be accepted with reasonable confidence as recording the exact words of the great Apostle. A few readings subject to doubt or of special interest, I have discussed in Appendix B.

8. Much more open to question than the Greek Text they have adopted, is the Revisers' Rendering of that Text into English. At this we need not wonder. For we can conceive a Greek Text presenting the exact words written by Paul; and therefore absolutely perfect. But no translation can possibly reproduce exactly and fully the sense of the original. In every translation something is lost in accuracy and force and beauty. And opinions will differ as to which elements, in any given phrase, can be sacrificed with least loss on the whole. Moreover, the task of the Revision Committee was complicated by the fact that they were set, not to make a new Version, but to revise one made centuries ago. Archaic diction enshrined in the hearts of millions had its claims upon them. And they were frequently compelled to decide between these claims and those of the modern English reader wishing to know as clearly and fully as possible the sense intended by the Sacred Writers.

In Appendix C I have noted, as samples of numberless others, some of the more important improvements of rendering given in the New Version; also some passages in which, as I think, unwisely the Revisers retain the old renderings; and a few in which I venture to think that they have needlessly or wrongly altered the Old Version.

9. It may seem strange that even after the appearance of the Revised Version I have ventured to give a new version of my own. I have done so because I was not able to accept in every case the readings and renderings of the Revisers as the actual words and true meaning of Paul; and because it seemed to me that independent value would attach to a translation made on the principles expounded in § iii. 17 of my Introduction to the Epistle to the Romans, principles very different from those which different circumstances prescribed for the Westminster Revisers. They were bound to preserve as far as possible the familiar speech of the Old Version, and to use classic English suitable for public worship. I was absolutely free. My aim has been simply to reproduce as accurately and fully as I could, even sometimes by inelegant or uncouth grammatical forms or clumsy arrangement, the sense and emphasis of Paul's Greek. My translation was completed before the Revised Version was published; but has been revised, and in some passages amended, by its welcome aid. A few points of importance in which I am unable to accept the Revisers' judgment are discussed in my exposition.

Section 4 — the City of Corinth

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 27

I CORINTHIANS

SECTION 4 — THE CITY OF CORINTH

1. A moment's survey of the map tells us that Greece consists of two clearly marked divisions, a peninsula called the Peloponnese and now sometimes the Morea, and a part of the mainland of South-Eastern Europe. These divisions are united by an irregular bridge of land some 25 miles long, and averaging rather less than 10 miles across from sea to sea. The greater part of it is mountainous and difficult to traverse. But, as we approach the Morea, the mountains sink into a level stony plain ten miles long reaching to the mountains of the peninsula; and the sea encroaches on either side leaving a low neck of land at one point only four miles across. This is the Isthmus of Corinth the famous Isthmus which has given its name to similar necks of land all over the world. The ground is so nearly level that formerly along a path called the Diolcus or Pulling-through ships were dragged from sea to sea. As a low-lying isthmus uniting a mountainous peninsula to a mountainous mainland, it may be compared to the almost level ground at Llandudno between the Great Orme's Head and the mainland of North Wales.

2. Looking now from the narrowest part of the isthmus towards the Peloponnese, we notice that the receding shores of the sea leave a widening plain, blocked in, except a strip of rich soil along the Northern coast, but a range of hills which closes the entrance by land to the peninsula. In front of these, rising to the height of 1886 feet, is a very conspicuous, abrupt, steep, rocky mountain, perhaps the most gigantic natural fortress in Europe, the Acrocrinthus, or Citadel of Corinth. For its abruptness it has been compared to the rock of Dumbarton, which is however less than one-third its height. In height, a closer comparison is found in Penmaenmawr, opposite Llandudno. At the Northern base and in front of this mountain, on a broad level rock some 200 feet above the plain, in full view of the isthmus and the hills beyond it, and of the two seas which seem to lie submissive at its feet and to refrain from mingling their waves that their separation may enrich the city, on the site now occupied by a small modern town which bears the ancient name, once stood (Florus, ii. 16) “Corinth, head of Achaia, ornament of Greece, between two seas, Ionian and Aegean, as if exposed for public view.”

A mile and a half to the North, connected formerly with Corinth by walls, like the Piraeus with Athens, is the ancient port of Lechaeum on the gulf of Corinth, affording ready access to Italy and the West. Eight miles away east-south-east, on the Saronic gulf is the port of Cenchrae, affording access to Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. And eight miles east-north-east, near to the ancient port of Schoenus also on the Saronic gulf, are remains of the temple and enclosure of Poseidon around which were celebrated during long centuries the famous Isthmian athletic Festivals. Also discernible, and forming part of the sacred enclosure of Poseidon, are remains of an ancient fortified wall which reached from the bay of Schoenus across the Isthmus.

3. The summit of the Acrocorinthus, a space some half-mile square, is enclosed by a wall, in part double; which contained sixty years ago a small town, destroyed during the war of liberation and now completely in ruins except a barracks for thirty soldiers. In the old days of Greek freedom, the fortifications of the city, ten miles long, embraced the Acrocorinthus; with the long walls to Lechaeum making Corinth to be, as it was often called, the citadel of the Peloponnese and of Greece.

The view from the Acrocorinthus is one of the most beautiful and most interesting in the world. And it explains in a moment very much of the history of Corinth. At our feet lies the port of Lechaeum on the bay of Corinth opening out into the gulf of Corinth which stretches before us like a great lake of surpassing beauty bounded by the endless mountain ranges of north-western Greece. Across the bay and across the low-lying isthmus rise in varied outline the Geranian mountains, terminating at the west in the promontory which separates the bay of Corinth from that of Alcyon, these bays together forming the eastern end of the gulf of Corinth. Beyond and above these mountains, at a distance of 25 miles, is seen the mountain range of Cithaeron, famous in heroic story. Due north, across the bay of Corinth rises the still loftier range of Helicon. And to the north-west, 60 miles away, but distinctly visible, are the snowy heights (8186 ft.) of Parnassus. Looking now rather north of east, the port of Schoenus and the site of the Isthmian Festival seem close at hand. And, across the Saronic gulf and above Salamis, island of illustrious fame, at a distance of 45 miles, lit up by the rays of the setting sun and awakening a multitude of reminiscences, the Acropolis of Athens is clearly seen; guarded as it were on left and right by Mounts Pentelicus and Hymettus. And not unfrequently is seen also the whole southern coast-line of Attica as far as the famous and lovely promontory of Sunium, some 60 miles distant. To the south the view is limited by the mountains of Argolis. But to the south-west the landscape reaches across a great part of the Peloponnese. Thus from this Roman Capital was seen, spread out in gorgeous panorama, no small part of the Roman province of Achaia; including parts of the ancient states of Attica, Megaris, Beotia, Phocis, Achaia, Arcadia, and Argolis. And this city of Corinth, commanding both geographically and socially a view of the whole province, was Paul's chosen center from which to hold forth to the eyes of Greece the light of the Gospel of the glory of God. The geographical position of Corinth determined in great part its historical relations. Unlike Athens, whose relations were chiefly with the East, Corinth, while keeping her hand upon the East through her port of Cenchreae, turned her face towards the West, across the bay whose placid waters lay almost at her feet. Nearly all the early colonies of Corinth were westward: and doubtless its easier access from the West led the Romans to choose it as the metropolis through which to govern the province which included nearly all the soil of ancient Greece. We may therefore suppose that during his residence at Corinth for eighteen months Paul came into contact with the West as he had never done before; and that to his residence there we may attribute in great part his deeply cherished desire to carry to the nations of the West the good news of the blood shed for the whole world.

4. Corinth was famous in every age of Greek history. In the stories which have come down from the so-called heroic times it is mentioned in connection with Oedipus and with Jason. Homer (Illiad ii. 570: cp. xiii. 664) speaks of “wealthy Corinth.” Thucydides (bk. i. 13) tells us that the Corinthians were said to have been the earliest to undertake seamanship in a way similar to that of his own day; that the earliest large ships were built at Corinth; that 300 years before his time (i.e. in B.C. 700) four ships were built there for the Samians; and that the earliest known sea-fight was between the Corinthians and their colonists the Corcyrians. He also says that “the Corinthians, inhabiting the city of the Isthmus, always had a market: for the Greeks of old, rather by land than by sea, both those within and those without the Peloponnese, had intercourse with each other through their country. And the people were of great wealth: as has been made clear by the old poets; for they called the city wealthy.” Strabo (bk. viii. 6. 20) says it was called wealthy Corinth. He speaks of the wealth of the dynasty of the Bacchiadae who ruled in Corinth and made profit by its merchandise for 200 years; and of Cypselus, who overthrew them in B.C. 655, whose wealth was attested by a large statue of beaten gold presented by him to the temple at Olympia. Under his son Periander, Corinth was the most wealthy and prosperous of the commercial cities of Greece. For this wealth Strabo accounts by the preference of the traders between Asia and Italy to carry their goods across the Isthmus rather than risk the great perils of sailing round the Peloponnese; and by the position of the Isthmus as the only route for merchandise between the peninsula and the mainland of Greece. The Corinthians thus commanded two streams of traffic, on both which they were able to impose toll; and their city was the best residence for the merchants who conducted the traffic. Strabo mentions also the Isthmian Festivals as a source of profit by bringing strangers to the city. See note under 1 Corinthians 9:27. As a proof, and means of increase, of the wealth of Corinth, he speaks of the temple of Aphrodite, which was served by a thousand sacred courtezans. This is sad proof that in Corinth abundance of material good had produced its frequent result of self-indulgence and gross sin. Strabo says that Corinth was also the chief home of painting and sculpture. We notice, however, that the wealth of Corinth, so conducive to the development of art, did little for intellectual development. Among the many great writers of ancient Greece, no Corinthian is found.

Although ever prominent among the commonwealths of Greece, Corinth never held the first place till the last days of Greek freedom. Its political importance and wealth at that time are attested by the fact that the final blow which crushed the independence of Greece was the destruction of Corinth in B.C. 146, by the Roman general Mummius; and also by the splendor of the triumph, a splendor unknown before, which the spoils of Corinth enabled the conqueror to celebrate at Rome.

The ruin was complete. Except the public buildings, all was destroyed. And the city lay in ruins for a hundred years. In B.C. 46 it was rebuilt by Julius Caesar, as a Roman colony; and became afterwards capital of the Roman province of Achaia, which was nearly coextensive with the modern kingdom of Greece before its recent enlargement.

5. This New Corinth, the city known to Paul, was in many respects very different from, and in many points similar to, the ancient city. Its geographical position was the same: and to its position Old Corinth owed its concourse of strangers, its wealth, and its consequent gross immorality. All this the new city inherited as lineal descendant of the old one. But Strabo's use of the past tense when speaking of the thousand priestesses of Aphrodite, and his simple mention of a small temple to her on the Acrocorinthus without any hint of the continuance of this gigantic service of sin, warns us not to infer that it existed in his day. But, if not exactly in this form, in other forms the new city emulated the sensuality of its predecessor. Moreover, Corinth was still in the midst of Greece: and the Greeks retained, in spite of the loss of independence, many of their ancient characteristics.

But very much was changed. New Corinth was, what the old city had never been, the acknowledged political capital of all Greece. But Greece was now the Roman province of Achaia: and Corinth was its capital as residence of a Roman governor. Seutonius (Claudius §25) tells us that the Emperor Claudius gave up Achaia to the senate. This would involve its being governed by a proconsul: and, by an interesting coincidence, this is the exact title given in Acts 18:12 to the ruler of Achaia resident at Corinth. Suetonius also says, in agreement with Acts 18:2, that Claudius “expelled from Rome the Jews, who at the instigation of Chrestus were constantly in tumult.”

Corinth was a Roman colony. This term denotes a sort of translation into other soil of a part of the city of Rome. By a decree of the senate, a number of Roman citizens went forth, under appointed leaders, with all the pomp of war, to plant in foreign soil an offshoot of the mother-city. The bounds of the new city were marked out with a plow: a territory was assigned to it: and a portion of land was given to each colonist. The colonists were ruled by their own magistrates, called praetors or generals; the title correctly given in Acts 16:20 to the magistrates of the colony of Philippi. Other Roman colonies were Antioch in Pisidia, and Troas. We must therefore think of Corinth in Paul's day, risen a hundred years ago from its ruins, as no longer a Greek city, but rather a city of foreigners in the midst of Greece. So Pausanias (bk. ii. 1) says: “none of the original inhabitants live still at Corinth, but strangers sent by the Romans.” And Strabo, bk. viii. 6. 23: “Corinth, having lain desert a long time was restored, because of its natural excellence, by the divine Caesar; who sent strangers, for the most part of the class of freedmen.” But doubtless, in the century which had elapsed since its restoration, the position of the city had attracted to it many of the inhabitants of the surrounding province. And we are not surprised to find, in so central and commercial a city, sufficient Jews to have a synagogue; nor to find (Acts 18:2) that some of the Jews banished from Rome took refuge at Corinth. Perhaps nowhere in the world was there a greater concourse and mixture of races than in this city. In short, in Corinth, a Roman colony and the capital of a Roman province, the political capital of Greece, having a Jewish synagogue, and seated on two seas as the center of the commerce of the eastern Mediterranean, we have an epitome of the civilized world in the days of Paul.

6. The city of Corinth has lingered to our times, and is now rising; or rather is being rebuilt nearer to the coast. It suffered greatly during the war of liberation. In A.D. 1851 Mr. Lewin counted only fifty houses. It is now a straggling, uncouth, and rather unhealthy town of 8,000 inhabitants. The only remains now of the city known to Paul are seven massive Doric columns, each consisting of one gigantic stone some 21 ft. high and 6 ft. diameter, surmounted by portions of the architrave; which once formed the front, and part of the side, of a temple, and now present a strange contrast to the poor modern town. The architecture of these columns betrays their extreme age. On this massive temple, which even then had survived the changes of probably 700 years, the great Apostle must have often looked, a monument as old in his day as the oldest monuments in our own land now.

Section 5. — Paul and the Church of Corinth

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 33

I CORINTHIANS

SECTION 5. — PAUL AND THE CHURCH OF CORINTH

1. All we know of the church at Corinth is gathered from these Epistles and the Book of Acts.

2. Paul claims (1 Corinthians 3:6, 10; 4:15; 2 Corinthians 12:14) to be himself alone the founder of the church. With this accords the authority which in these Epistles (e.g. 1 Corinthians 5:3f) he assumes. So also Acts 18:1ff, where we learn that while his companions Silas and Timothy were still in Macedonia Paul came apparently alone from Athens to Corinth, and where even his host Aquila is spoken of only as “a Jew,” and nothing is said of any Christians found by Paul at Corinth.

3. From Corinth probably Paul wrote his letters to the Thessalonican church. For evidently they were written soon after the founding of that church; but not earlier (1 Thessalonians 3:1) than Paul's arrival at Athens and (1 Thessalonians 1:1) his reunion with Silas and Timothy, who (Acts 18:5) rejoined him at Corinth. When he made his oration on Mars' Hill at Athens he was waiting (Acts 17:16) for them there in compliance with his request. This request was, it would seem, for reasons unknown to us but easily conceivable, complied with only by Timothy; whom apparently Paul sent back from Athens to Thessalonica to allay by further tidings his anxiety (1 Thessalonians 3:1) about the church there. Paul was thus “left at Athens alone.” That this intermediate journey of Timothy is not mentioned in the Book of Acts, is no presumption against it. And we may suppose that after sending Timothy northward Paul went to Corinth, where he was afterwards joined by Silas and Timothy, the latter bringing good news (1 Thessalonians 3:6) about the Thessalonican church. This good news prompted Paul's first letter, in the beginning of which (1 Thessalonians 1:1) he joins with himself Silas and Timothy, who had been his helpers in founding the church and now at Corinth were with him again. That Paul stayed at Corinth eighteen months and then went away almost direct to Syria, suggests that also from Corinth 2 Thessalonians was written. These Epistles cast little light on Paul's labors there or the state of the Corinthian church. But they will help us to understand (cp. 1 Corinthians 15:12ff) some of the questions raised at Corinth.

4. As usual, Paul began his work at Corinth in the Jews' synagogue, where each Sabbath he reasoned (Acts 18:4) with Jews and Greeks. When his companions from Macedonia arrived, he was specially occupied with Jews. But these soon, by their opposition, made it expedient for him to leave the synagogue. He found, however, a suitable place next door, in the house of Titus or Titus Justus, a Jewish proselyte. This does not imply that Paul left his first home (Acts 18:3) at the house of Aquila, but rather that the house of Justus was the place in which he preached.

Paul had marked success. The family of Stephanas, afterwards (1 Corinthians 16:15) most devoted to church work, were the first converts not only at Corinth but in the province of Achaia. Since this province included Athens, this family must have been converted earlier than were (Acts 17:34) Dionysius and Damaris. They may have heard Paul preach at Athens or elsewhere. But, when the First Epistle was written, they belonged to the church of Corinth: and they were an exception to Paul's assertion that he baptized none of his readers. Doubtless Aquila and Prisca were early converts. We may also suppose that the conversion of the ruler of the synagogue, Crispus, with his family, marked an era in the founding of the church: as did perhaps the conversion of Gaius, probably the same as Paul's host (Romans 16:23) when writing to the Romans, at whose house room seems to have been found for the church assemblies. That those were special cases, is made likely by the exceptional fact that (1 Corinthians 1:14) of the baptism of them also at Paul's hands. A vision of Christ foretelling great success at Corinth moved Paul to stay there more than (Acts 18:11, 18) a year and a half. During the latter part of his sojourn, a united effort of the Jews brought him before the court of Gallio, proconsul of Achaia, on the charge that (Acts 18:13, 15) although a Jew he taught a religion contrary to the Jewish Law. But this charge Gallio refused to consider; and did not prevent the mob, who were perhaps favorably disposed to Paul, from ill-treating even in the court of justice the leader of the Jews. After this incident Paul continued some time at Corinth; and then, apparently with external pressure bid adieu to the church, and sailed with Aquila and Prisca to Ephesus and then alone to Caesarea. And now the curtain falls, hiding from our view for some years the church so auspiciously founded in the political metropolis of the most intelligent and enterprising nation of the ancient world; to be lifted only by the Epistles before us. From these, however, we shall gather some information about the state of the church in the interval. An unmentioned visit of Paul to Corinth, a lost letter, and the circumstances which prompted the existing letters, are discussed fully in the course of my Exposition and at the close of each Epistle. The results of this discussion are embodied in Dissertation IV. at the end of this volume.

To the Epistle to the Romans, the Epistles before us are a marked contrast; a contrast corresponding exactly to Paul's different thoughts at the moment of writing. To a church he had never seen but hoped soon to visit, he gives a connected view of his general teaching, i.e. of the Gospel and of its relation to the Old Covenant. To the Corinthians Paul wrote under the influence, in one case of news about them recently received, in the other of his own wonderful escape from peril and of the tidings just brought by Titus. Consequently, the one Epistle is the most complete and systematic exposition of the Gospel which the Bible contains: the others give, both singly and still more combined, the most graphic picture we have of an apostolic church in which we see the Gospel molding the thought, and contending with the imperfections, of living men. And, since a man's principles of action and his entire disposition are most clearly revealed in his treatment of the various details of life, these Epistles are our best reflection of the heart and inner life of Paul, and of the Gospel as permeating and ennobling the entire self and life of a richly endowed man. Not less marked is the mutual contrast of these Epistles. The former is essentially matter-of-fact; and takes up one by one, and discusses calmly, a variety of topics. The second letter is from beginning to end a torrent of intense emotion. But each Epistle reflects Paul's circumstances and feelings while writing it. The first was written from Ephesus at the close of a long period of (1 Corinthians 16:9) successful and promising labor, and in comparative security. The Second Epistle was written after an almost miraculous escape from what was perhaps the most deadly peril to which even Paul had been exposed, an escape from what seemed to be certain death. And the emotions aroused by his peril and by his deliverance, emotions most various, quiver in every line of the Epistle. Consequently, in no epistle so much as in this do we feel the beating of the great heart of the Apostle.

To the delightful study of these living pictures of one of the noblest of men, and of one of the most famous of the churches he founded, we now betake ourselves.

Dissertation 1 — the Epistle to the Romans Compared With Those

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 381

I CORINTHIANS

DISSERTATION 1 — THE EPISTLE TO THE

ROMANS COMPARED WITH THOSE TO THE

CORINTHIANS

1. In a former volume I endeavored to show that the Epistle to the Romans is a logical and orderly development of five great doctrines assumed by Paul without proof but with perfect confidence; that he accepted them because they were proclaimed by Christ, because Christ claimed to be the Son of God, and because as Paul believed Christ rose from the dead. With this analysis we now hasten to compare the Epistles to the Corinthians. Each of these fundamental doctrines, and no other broad general principles, we shall find assumed with equal confidence in the Epistles now before us as matters universally believed in the early churches even by Paul's enemies: and we shall find them brought to bear on the many and various details discussed in the First Epistle, and on the very delicate personal matters of the Second Epistle. This various application of these great principles to practical life will enable us better to grasp them in their full compass, and will also reveal even more than does the Epistle to the Romans how closely they were inwoven into the mind and thought of Paul. But, inasmuch as the same doctrines are assumed in every book of the New Testament, (a proof how confidently they were accepted by the entire early church,) these great foundation stones of gospel teaching are not in themselves proof that the Epistles to the Corinthians were from the author of the Epistle to the Romans. Careful comparison, however, will reveal in this last Epistle a mode of stating, and a development of, these great fundamentals which is found only in the epistles which bear the name of Paul; and will reveal, in both Epistles to the Corinthians, the same mode of statement, and further developments which are the true complement of the developments already noted in the Epistle to the Romans. These further developments, on the lines already marked out, would be an irresistible proof, if such were needed, that the three Epistles are a product of one mind.

This superabundant evidence will be still further conformed by the picture of the emotional and moral and spiritual nature of their writer presented in these Epistles, a picture much fuller and containing lines not noticed before, but nevertheless an harmonious and almost necessary complement of the self-delineation given in the Epistle to the Romans. In our comparison, the total difference of tone and feeling between each of these epistles and the two others, a difference corresponding to the total difference of Paul's surroundings and aims while writing will greatly aid us. For it will throw into strong relief the one mind and one heart which thinks and beats in every page of each epistle.

2. In letters not treating of abstract doctrine and written to men already familiar with Paul's teaching, the great fundamental doctrine of salvation by faith has naturally a place less conspicuous than in the formal exposition given in the Epistle to the Romans. But, that they who believe are those whom God is pleased to save by the gospel proclamation, is expressly asserted in 1 Corinthians 1:21; a verse wonderfully in harmony with the main argument of the Epistle to the Romans, and revealing by its early place in the Epistle how prominent in the mind of Paul was the thought it embodies. Of Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18, 24 are emphatic restatements. That the Gospel is a divine summons, a doctrine conspicuous in Romans 8:28, 30; 9:24, finds echo immediately after the doctrine of salvation by faith in 1 Corinthians 1:24, 26. The doctrine of election, which like the gospel call is a corollary of salvation by faith, finds not only echo but development in 1 Corinthians 1:27, 28; verses implying that the objects of salvation were chosen by God to be His instruments, and asserting that they were selected with the further purpose of putting to shame the pride of man. This development of the doctrine of election deserves careful study. That faith is designed to save us from our sins, is implied in 1 Corinthians 15:2, 14, 17. And, that it is the source of Christian stability and of fortitude in face of danger, is implied in 2 Corinthians 1:24; 4:13; 5:7: cp. 2 Corinthians 4:18. The word justified in 1 Corinthians 6:11 is, in spite of its peculiar sense, a close harmony with Romans 5:9; 6:7: for, only in Luke 18:14 and the epistles of Paul do we read of justification as already received. The word reconciled in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 recalls Romans 5:1, 10, 11.

3. That our salvation comes through the death of Christ, a doctrine asserted and expounded in Romans 3:24-26, is the only conceivable explanation of the importance given throughout these epistles to the death of Christ. The cross of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:17) must not be made an empty thing for the word of the cross is a power of God. Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23) Paul preaches; and desires (1 Corinthians 2:2) to know nothing else. That Christ has been sacrificed, as our Passover, (1 Corinthians 5:7,) links His death with the Mosaic sacrifices: and we remember that the innocent paschal lamb, by dying, saved the firstborn from death. Christ died for the finally lost: for (1 Corinthians 8:11: cp. Romans 14:15) there is danger lest a brother for whom Christ died, perish. Unless salvation comes to us through the death of Christ I can conceive no meaning in 1 Corinthians 10:16, partnership in the blood of Christ: nor can we explain 1 Corinthians 11:25, the New Covenant in My blood, and the importance given to the Lord's Supper. The price with which we were bought can be no other (Matthew 20:28) than the blood of Christ, in whom (Romans 3:24) there is redemption. The repetition in 1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23 suggests that these words were a common phrase of Paul, if not of the early church. As in Romans 4:25 so in 1 Corinthians 15:3, Christ's death is placed in special relation to our sins. In 2 Corinthians 5:15 we have a most important development of the doctrine before us, a combination of Doctrines 2 and 3, (see under Romans 8:39,) viz. that Christ died not only to save us from the due penalty of our sins but to create in us a life altogether new. This is stated to be a purpose of the death of Christ; because only so far as we now live for Christ do we now, and shall we for ever, enjoy the benefits purchased for us by His death. In 1 Corinthians 15:22 we have the rudiments of the argument developed in Romans 5:12-19.

4. The deeply significant phrases in Christ, in the Lord, found by us first at the foot of the cross in Romans 3:24, and in Romans 6:11, 23, etc. are found in the epistles before us in various connections in 1 Corinthians 1:2, 4f, 1 Corinthians 1:30; 3:1; 4:10, 15-17; 7:22, 39; 9:1f; 1 Corinthians 11:11; 15:18, 22, 31, 58; 16:19, 24; 2 Corinthians 2:12, 14, 17; 3:14; 5:17, 19; 12:2, 19. This phrase receives an elucidation, useful though very imperfect, from its counterpart in 1 Corinthians 15:22, in Adam.

That God designs us to live by union with Christ a life altogether new, a life of which Christ is Himself the one aim (cp. Romans 6:10f) and that for this end God gave Christ to die, is expressly asserted in 2 Corinthians 5:13-17. The purity from all defilement which this devotion to Christ involves, Paul (2 Corinthians 7:1) bids us claim. The intimacy of the believer's union with Christ, in virtue of which Christ lives and speaks and acts in him, is wonderfully set forth in the teaching of 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 that the church is the body of Christ; of which teaching, peculiar to Paul, we have the rudiments in Romans 12:4-6. A practical application of this teaching is given in 1 Corinthians 6:15; followed in 1 Corinthians 6:17 by an important explanatory addition. Upon the subjective holiness which ought to be the aim of the people of God, light is cast by 1 Corinthians 7:34, that she may be holy in her body and in her spirit; and by the parallel in 1 Corinthians 7:32 how he may please the Lord. The phrase “sanctification in Christ,” which under Romans 8:39 I used as a concise statement of Doctrine 3, has an exact counterpart in 1 Corinthians 1:2, sanctified in Christ Jesus.

5. The fifth fundamental doctrine of the Epistle to the Romans viz. that the Holy Spirit is the agent of our sanctification, is not only implied and asserted again and again in the epistles before us but receives there important development. Paul expects his readers to know (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19: cp. 2 Corinthians 6:16) that the Holy Spirit dwells in all believers, and therefore presumably in all church members; and that His presence makes their bodies to be the temple of God. Apart from the Holy Spirit we cannot (1 Corinthians 12:3) even look up to Jesus and call Him, Master. The Spirit is the element in which (1 Corinthians 12:13) the baptized ones were united into the one body of Christ. For, the oneness of every living body is derived from the one animating spirit which moves harmoniously its various and variously endowed members. Indeed, this far-reaching and significant analogy, so dear to Paul but unknown to the other writers of the New Testament, is but a logical development of the great doctrine that in all believers the Holy Spirit dwells, reproducing in them the life of Christ to be their life. Not only have the Apostles (1 Corinthians 2:10-3:1) received the Spirit of God as a source of higher intelligence, but church-members are also expected to be spiritual men. The earnest of the Spirit in 2 Corinthians 1:22 is practically the same as the firstfruit of the Spirit in Romans 8:23. In complete harmony with Romans 8:2-27, Paul declares himself (2 Corinthians 3:6) to be a minister of the Spirit. Consequently, to turn (2 Corinthians 3:17) to the Lord is to turn to the Spirit. In harmony with Romans 12:3, to each one God has allotted a measure of faith, the abiding faith of the servants of God is attributed (2 Corinthians 4:13) to the Spirit of faith. A close coincidence with Romans 15:19 is found in 2 Corinthians 12:12. That the Spirit allots His gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11) according as He pleases, and that He is placed in 1 Corinthians 12:5f and in 2 Corinthians 13:14 beside the Lord Jesus Christ and God, both these being Persons, suggests or implies that the Spirit of God is a Divine Person, distinct from the Father and the Son.

6. Thus all the five great doctrines assumed without proof and made foundation stones of argument in the Epistle to the Romans are assumed with equal confidence in the Epistles to the Corinthians. The frequent appearance of these doctrines, in various forms and variously developed, in practical details and even in outbursts of emotion, reveals their deep root in the mind of Paul. The confidence with which he assumes them, as matters needing no proof and not open to question, proves that they were universally accepted both by Paul's faithful converts and his bitter and unscrupulous enemies. And the modes of stating these doctrines and the logical development and practical application in the Epistles to the Corinthians of the subordinate doctrines found in rudiment in the Epistle to the Romans, of all which the above is a very imperfect exposition, will be to the careful student a proof excluding all doubt, even if it stood alone, that all three epistles are an outflow of one profound mind.

7. As in the Epistle to the Romans so in those now before us, Paul bows with humble reverence in the presence of One whom he counts it an honor to call his Lord. Whatever we there learned about Paul's conception of Jesus is also found and is supplemented here.

Paul calls himself (1 Corinthians 4:15) the father of the Corinthian church in contrast to others who were only tutors. But the infinite difference between the relation to the church of himself and of Christ provokes (1 Corinthians 1:13) the indignant question Paul, was he crucified for you? All the apostles (1 Corinthians 3:22f) belong to the church: but the church belongs to Christ. Even Paul's guileful enemies make it their boast (2 Corinthians 10:7; 11:23) that they are Christ's ministers. The unique relation of Christ to the church is seen in Paul's desire (2 Corinthians 11:2) to present to Him the church as a spotless bride; and in the teaching (1 Corinthians 12:12ff) that the church is the body of Christ. Of every man (1 Corinthians 11:3) He is head. He is the one foundation beside which no other can be laid. For Him, exist even (1 Corinthians 6:13) the bodies of His people. The unique relation of Adam to the race which sprang from him reveals the unique position of Him who though Son of Man is yet called (1 Corinthians 15:45) the Last Adam. And He died (2 Corinthians 5:15) that He might be the aim of His people's life.

Although removed from sight, Christ is still present in His Church putting forth His power (2 Corinthians 12:9) to help and to (1 Corinthians 5:4; 11:32) inflict punishment. From Him (2 Corinthians 13:10) Paul received his apostolic authority. Upon His will (1 Corinthians 4:19) hang the uncertainties of the future. In 1 Corinthians 4:5, as in Romans 2:16, Paul looks forward to the day when Christ will come to make known the secrets of men's hearts and to allot to each his due praise. In that day, the day of the Lord, (1 Corinthians 1:8; 5:5; 2 Corinthians 1:14,) all men will appear (2 Corinthians 5:10) before the judgment-seat of Christ. Even under the Old Covenant He was the real source (1 Corinthians 10:4) of the refreshment miraculously given to Israel in the wilderness. All this marks the absolutely unique relation of Christ to men, and raises Him absolutely above the whole human race.

As in Romans 1:7, repeated in 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2, the name of Christ; and that of the Holy Spirit are placed beside the name of God in 1 Corinthians 12:4ff; 2 Corinthians 13:13.

The most important addition to our knowledge of the Son of God afforded by the Epistles to the Corinthians as compared with that to the Romans is the fuller teaching about the subordination of the Son to the Father. That He is Mediator between God and men, they holding a relation to Him in some points similar to His own relation to God, is very prominent. We belong (1 Corinthians 3:23) to Christ, and Christ to God. Of every man (1 Corinthians 11:3) Christ is the head; and of Christ God is head. In all these passages the simple name God distinguishes the Father from Christ. Even in His final glory (1 Corinthians 15:28) and for ever the Son will bow to God. In 1 Corinthians 8:6, as distinguished from the One Lord, the Father is the One God as in Romans 5:1, 8, 10, 11, etc., the Father is ever supreme, operating through the Son and reconciling men to Himself. That the Son, while possessing to the full the attributes of deity, but possessing them (John 5:26; 6:57) as derived from the Father, bows to the Father in absolute and eternal and essential subordination, a teaching most conspicuous both with Paul and with John, is the only conceivable basis of the Unity of the Divine Trinity.

8. As in Romans 1:4; 4:25, etc., so in 1 and 2 Corinthians Paul assumes with full confidence that God raised Christ from the dead. This he announced (1 Corinthians 15:4) as part of his Gospel on his first visit to Corinth. And upon it rests (1 Corinthians 15:17f) all Christian hope. Paul's list of witnesses suggests that he had carefully interrogated those who had seen the risen Saviour. Christ both died and rose, 2 Corinthians 5:15. And, as in Romans 6:4, etc., so in 1 Corinthians 6:14; 2 Corinthians 4:14, He was raised by God. Therefore (2 Corinthians 13:4) the life which the Crucified One lives is by the power of God. This was not doubted by any church-party at Corinth. And Paul's silence implies that it was not questioned even by his bitter opponents, and that even the immoral men (1 Corinthians 15:33f) whose bold denial of the resurrection involved logically a denial that Christ had risen did not venture to contradict this universal belief of the church. Thus even the dissensions at Corinth attest the firm and universal belief among Christians that Christ rose from the dead. The great significance of this universal belief, I have in my Romans, Dissertation i. 10, endeavored to expound.

9. Naturally the doctrines so firmly held by Paul clothed themselves in appropriate and often recurring phrases, which everywhere reveal his hand in contrast to other writers of the New Testament.

As examples we note 1 Corinthians 1:1, 2, 9, 24, 26: called apostle, called saints, etc. The deeply significant words in Christ have been already mentioned. Compare and contrast 1 John 2:6, 24, 28. Verbatim repetitions of Romans 1:7 are 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2. Each epistle, after a salutation, bursts into praise to God. The word always in 1 Corinthians 1:4 recalls how ceaselessly in Romans 1:9. The words grace, grace given, gift-of-grace, are conspicuous links binding together the three epistles. The contrast of Jew and Greek (Romans 1:16; 2:9, 10; 3:9; 10:12) meets us in 1 Corinthians 1:22ff. The word exult or boast (Romans 2:17, 23; 3:27; 4:2; 5:2, 3, 11; 15:17) is a conspicuous feature of the Epistles to the Corinthians. The phrase I do not wish you to be ignorant binds together Romans 1:13; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 12:1; 2 Corinthians 1:8; while the word ignorant is very frequent. All these examples meet us at once on the threshold of the Epistles; and might be indefinitely multiplied. A careful study of the three epistles, and this only, will reveal the oneness of expression, an evident outflow of one mind, which pervades each epistle. This will be the more conspicuous if we compare any epistle which does not bear the name of Paul.

Intermingled with familiar words and phrases, we find in the Epistle to the Corinthians others quite new to us but full of meaning. Such are sanctified in Christ, 1 Corinthians 1:2; Day of the Lord, 1 Corinthians 1:8; 5:5; 2 Corinthians 1:14; being-saved or perishing, 1 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 2:15; 4:3. The contrast in 2 Corinthians 3:6 of Old and New Covenants in complete harmony with Paul's quotation in 1 Corinthians 11:25 of Christ's words at the Last Supper, is an important theological element not found in Romans. This variety amid similarity proves that the epistles are no mere copies one from another, but living originals from one hand. Their likeness is that, not of a photograph, but of children whose faces reveal their common parentage.

10. Each member of this family of epistles has very marked features of its own. The differences are as conspicuous as the general similarity. The Epistle to the Romans is eminently theological and philosophical. Great truths are arranged in their natural order, without reference to any special application; and are theologically developed. Then follows a general application. The First Epistle to the Corinthians is intensely matter of fact. A long list of subjects is taken up in order, one by one, and discussed calmly. The Second Epistle is throughout a torrent of emotion. These differences correspond exactly to the circumstances in which each letter was written. To the Roman Christians, whom he had never seen, Paul gives a connected outline of his general teaching. The First Epistle to the Corinthians is a reply to questions about certain matters of detail, and was written to men about whom Paul knew much and had lately received special information. The Second Epistle was written under great emotion caused by deadly peril and by unexpected rescue from it, strangely intermingled with emotions roused by news good and bad just received about the much-loved readers.

11. This diversity of circumstances, impressed so deeply on every page of each epistle, reveals more fully even than the similarity of phrase the oneness of their origin. For it gives us a deeper and clearer view of the underlying principles of the mind and moral life of the great Apostle. We know him better now than when we rose from our study of the Epistle to the Romans, because we have seen him dealing with other matters and amid totally different surroundings. We have thus seen another side of his character.

We notice as before the calm impartiality with which Paul looks at both sides of a question, and judges accordingly. This is as conspicuous in his advice about marriage and idol-sacrifices and the exercise of spiritual gifts as about the weaker brethren in Rom. 14. And in each of these cases he rises from a matter of detail to some broad principle involved therein; and, after discussing this principle in its general bearing, points out its bearing upon the matter in hand. This method occasions the apparent digressions so remarkable in all three epistles, which give to Paul's treatment of passing details abiding worth as examples of unchanging principles. This constant reference of details to broad principles, a mark never absent in human greatness, pervades and ennobles every chapter of each of these epistles. The intense earnestness and the moral grandeur which in the Epistle to the Romans claimed our profound respect are equally present now. And the exultant joy which in Romans 8:31-39 burst into song at sight of the hardships and perils of the Christian life reaches its highest note in the epistle written by a hand still trembling for deadly peril from which a few weeks ago there seemed to be no escape.

Very conspicuous in the Epistle to the Romans is Paul's frequent reference to the Old Testament. Such references are less frequent in the epistles now before us, but not less conspicuous. There is no need now to prove by abundant quotations that the Gospel does not contradict the Old Covenant. But, by a remarkable coincidence, even when discussing ordinary topics of his own day Paul quotes the Old Testament expressly, or appropriates its words. The old phrases according as it is written, etc. are the more conspicuous because of their Gentile surroundings. So deeply inwoven in the mind of Paul is the comparison of the two Covenants that while showing the grandeur of the Gospel ministry he contrasts it with that of Moses; and warns converts from paganism against apostasy by a long series of references to the story of Israel in the wilderness. All this betrays the man who passed suddenly in mid-life from the Old Covenant to the New and reveals a mind steeped from childhood in Jewish thought.

12. The surroundings and history of Paul as reflected in these three letters are in complete accord. The collection for Jerusalem is a common matter binding all together. We do not wonder that writing from a church lately torn by dissension Paul warns (Romans 16:17) the Roman Christians against those who make dissensions. The terrible exposition in Romans 1:24ff would be easily suggested by the sensuality at Corinth, even in the church, which caused Paul so much sorrow.

13. In the epistles now before us we not only trace the old familiar features of the Apostle but we notice others not seen before. In the Epistle to the Romans we saw Paul, and heard his kindly voice, only from a distance. We now see him close at hand, dealing with practical details of church life. So tender is his sympathy that the weakness and injury of others are to himself a weakness and a burning sorrow. Yet he writes words of severest condemnation and threatening; but writes them in tears, afterwards regrets them, and overflows with joy to find that his regrets were needless. In spite of the deep impression made upon him by recent peril just escaped, and without any human necessity, he plans fresh enterprises involving new and unknown perils. We find him toiling for a living, while preaching the Gospel: and, when the Gospel so occupies his time that he can no longer earn for himself a livelihood and is thus in actual want, he resolutely refuses to receive money from his converts at Corinth lest his motives should be misunderstood and the effect of the Gospel thereby lessened. Although the continued obstinacy of the impenitent will reveal the awful power with which he has been invested by Christ, Paul begs them to repent, that this his power may be unexercised and unknown. In short we have in the letters to Corinth as compared with that to Romans a nearer and fuller picture of the Apostle. But the new lines thus brought into view are in complete harmony with the noble outlines already seen. This harmonious development of so noble a portrait proves beyond possibility of doubt, not only that the three epistles are from the same pen, (and this increases immensely the difficulty of supposing that the epistles are forged,) but that the portrait is a reflection of real life. For, had not such excellence lived it could never have been conceived or portrayed. Nor could it have been portrayed by the skill of a mere literary artist.

14. To sum up. Our comparison of the three epistles has confirmed the correctness of our analysis which traced up the whole teaching of the Epistle to the Romans to a few great doctrines which Paul accepted with complete confidence from the lips of Christ, accepting in common with all His followers the authority of Christ because, as they all believed, He had risen from the dead. And, by showing us these great doctrines applied to details of practical life, our comparison of the epistles has given us a firmer grasp of them, both as abstract principles and as a moral and spiritual influence. Of the complete unanimity with which even in a disturbed church these all-important doctrines were accepted, the dissensions at Corinth are a clear proof.

The recurrence of familiar phrases and modes of stating these doctrines, and further developments of them on the lines already marked out in the Epistle to the Romans, assure us that the three epistles are from one author. And, that this one author is no other than the Great Apostle whose name they bear, is made quite certain by the harmoniously developed and evidently genuine self-portraiture which the epistles contain.

Dissertation 2 — the Book of Acts Compared With the Epistles To

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 392

I CORINTHIANS

DISSERTATION 2 — THE BOOK OF ACTS

COMPARED WITH THE EPISTLES TO THE

CORINTHIANS AND TO THE ROMANS

1. The Book of Acts was accepted before A.D. 200 by all churches everywhere without a shadow of doubt as a true narrative, as of equal authority with the Four Gospels and the Epistles of Paul, and as written together with the Third Gospel by Luke, the companion of Paul. “The Scripture of the Acts of the Apostles” is enumerated by Eusebius (Church History bk. iii. 25) as having an unquestioned place in “the Scriptures of the New Covenant.” So ch. 4: “Luke, being by birth from Antioch, by profession a physician, having been associated for the most part with Paul, and with the others having had no little intercourse, has left us proofs of the art of healing souls which he obtained from these men, in two God-inspired (same word as in 2 Timothy 3:16) books; the Gospel which he professes to have written as it was handed over to him by those who from the beginning became eye-witnesses and servants for the word, all whom he declares that from the beginning he has followed; and the Acts of the Apostles which he composed not from hearing but having observed with his own eyes.” We have a short fragment, quoting Acts 1:16, of Origen's homilies on the Book of Acts. The Book is also quoted, as is the Third Gospel, as Luke's, by Tertullian, e.g. On Fasting ch. x., and Against Marcion bk. iv. 5; by Clement of Alexandria, e.g. Stromata bk. v. 12; and (e.g. On Heresies bk. iii. 10, 14, 15) by Irenaeus. Both works are enumerated as by Luke the physician in the Fragment of Muratori. That these anonymous writings were thus universally accepted before the close of the second century as by Luke, and that so far as we know no other author was anywhere suggested, is clear proof that they were current early in the century, and affords strong presumption that they came actually from the pen of Luke. For it is not easy to account otherwise for this universal tradition. The value of this argument is illustrated by the various opinions and doubts about the authorship of the anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews. Its force is not weakened by the fact that many centuries later, as we learn from the Questions of Photius who however himself accepted Luke as the author, the Book of Acts was by some attributed to Clement, by others to Barnabas, and by others to Luke. For, when the lapse of time had weakened the force of early tradition, the mere absence of the author's name sufficiently accounts for this diversity of opinion. That the Book of Acts was written by a companion of Paul is strongly confirmed by the use of the first person in Acts 16:10-17; 20:5-21:18; 27:1-28:16. (This was observed by Irenaeus: see quotation above.) For this unobtrusive indication of the writer's presence is in the last degree unlikely to be the work of a deceiver. That no mention of the Epistles of Paul is found in the Book of Acts, is absolute proof of its very early date. For after Paul's death his letters became too famous to be omitted in a narrative of his life. Whereas while he was living they would seem less important.

2. The position of the epistles before us in the narrative of the Book of Acts, we shall now consider. The references to the collection for Jerusalem prove (see note under 2 Corinthians 9:15, and my Romans, Introd. iv. 3) that in order of time the epistles stand 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians, Romans. But, when writing to Rome, (cp. Romans 1:13ff; Romans 15:22ff) Paul had not been there. Consequently, these epistles, written while Paul was free, were earlier than his arrest at Jerusalem. This places them not later (Romans 15:25) than the arrival at Jerusalem mentioned in Acts 21:17. Paul's reference to two earlier visits to Corinth implies that the two Epistles to the Corinthians were written later than his first arrival at Corinth, narrated in Acts 18:1. Between Acts 18:1 and Acts 21:17 we must therefore seek for some reference to the events mentioned or alluded to in the epistles before us.

That 1 Corinthians was written from Ephesus some time before Whitsuntide, we infer from 1 Corinthians 16:8. And we find (Acts 19) Paul at Ephesus for (Acts 20:31) some three years, intending (Acts 19:21) to go through Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem, and actually (Acts 20:1ff; Ac 21:17) doing so, after spending three months in Achaia. On his return journey he passed (Acts 20:6) from Europe to Asia soon after Easter, in company with the writer of the Book of Acts, who thus claims respect as an eye witness. Consequently, the three months spent in Greece, probably at Corinth the capital of the Roman province of Achaia, were in winter, doubtless the winter following the Whitsuntide mentioned in 1 Corinthians 16:8. A comparison of 1 Corinthians 5:7; 16:8 suggests that 1 Corinthians was written about Easter, and that the time of year prompted the reference to Christ as the sacrificed Passover. And this we may provisionally accept as the date of the First Epistle. We must therefore place it about the time referred to in Acts 19:21.

That 2 Corinthians was written from Macedonia, some time after Paul's arrival from Troas and after his meeting there with Titus who brought news from Corinth, we infer securely from 2 Corinthians 2:12f;2 Corinthians 7:5f. That Paul speaks of unrest even in Macedonia, suggests an interval between his arrival there and his meeting with Titus. And since this letter was evidently (2 Corinthians 1:3; 2:14; 7:6) written under influence of the good news brought by Titus, and since the liberality of the Macedonians moved Paul (2 Corinthians 8:6, 17) to urge Titus to go to Corinth to complete the collection there, which he was eager to do, we may perhaps infer that Paul wrote this Second Epistle soon after the arrival of Titus. Again, since (Acts 20:1) Paul left Ephesus suddenly, immediately after the tumult, he probably did not fulfil his intention (1 Corinthians 16:8) of remaining there until Pentecost. We may suppose then that between Easter and Whitsuntide he came to Troas, and almost at once (2 Corinthians 2:13) went across to Macedonia; that soon after his arrival there Titus came with news from Corinth; and that soon afterwards, probably about mid-summer, Paul wrote his second extant letter to Corinth. Its composition would thus fall within the journeys and evangelical labors in Macedonia mentioned in Acts 20:2, which occupied probably most of the summer. That Phillipi was the first important city of Macedonia to one coming from Troas, that Paul spent the next Passover there, and his great love for the Philippian church make probable the suggestion that this was the exact place of writing. We have already (Romans, Introd. iv.) seen that the Epistle to the Romans was written from Corinth near to the close of Paul's three months sojourn there mentioned in Acts 20:3.

3. That these Epistles of Paul find for themselves so easily a place in the Book of Acts, where there is no express mention of them, testifies strongly to its historical trustworthiness. Other coincidences in narrative, circumstances, and personal characteristics, we shall now consider. In agreement with 1 Corinthians 4:15, I begat you, we infer from Acts 18:1ff that on his first visit Paul found no Christians at Corinth, and that therefore the founding of the church was his work. His evident (Romans 16:3) affection and obligations to Aquila and Prisca accord with the statement in Acts 18:3 that on his first coming to Corinth he shared Aquila's toil in tent making. The persons who both at Rome and Ephesus (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19) had Christian churches in their house were such as would welcome Apollos (Acts 18:26) and teach him more accurately the way of God. They went with Paul (Acts 18:18f) from Corinth to Ephesus: and there in 1 Corinthians 16:19 we find them. Even the order of the names in Romans 16:3 Prisca and Aquila, (so 2 Timothy 4:19,) whatever be its cause, is a remarkable coincidence with Acts 18:18, 26. That they left Rome, not for reasons of their own, but in obedience to an edict of the Emperor Claudius, removes all surprise that we find them again at Rome when Claudius was dead. That Silas and Timothy (Acts 18:5) were with Paul during his first visit to Corinth, agrees exactly with Paul's own statement in 2 Corinthians 1:19. The description in Acts 19:22 of Timothy as one who ministered to Paul accords with the mission of Timothy in 1 Corinthians 4:17; 16:10. The Epistles reveal only a small Jewish element in the church at Corinth: and from Acts 18:6f we learn that obstinate resistance compelled Paul to forsake the synagogue there. Since Crispus (Acts 18:8) was ruler of the synagogue, and in turning to Christ was followed by his whole family, we wonder not that (1 Corinthians 1:14) Paul made him an exception to his rule not personally to baptize his converts. The great number (Acts 18:8-11) of Paul's converts at Corinth and his long sojourn there explain the deep anxiety for the welfare of the church which breathes throughout the Second Epistle and tore him away (2 Corinthians 2:12f) from the promising opening for the Gospel at Troas. The Apollos faction at Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:12, etc.) is explained by (Acts 18:24ff) this fervent and scholarly teacher's arrival at Corinth and successful labor there in the glow of the deeper inspiration received from the teaching of Prisca and Aquila, during the interval between Paul's first and second visits. We find Apollos at Ephesus both in Acts 18:24 and later in 1 Corinthians 16:12. The great opening (1 Corinthians 16:9) for usefulness and the many opponents at Ephesus are fully portrayed in Acts 19:10-20, 24-29. The determined hostility of Demetrius removes all surprise that before Paul left Ephesus he was in deadly peril; although the exact nature of the peril is unknown to us. The sending of Timothy in 1 Corinthians 4:17 (cp. 1 Corinthians 16:10) is probably that mentioned in Acts 19:22. And Paul's thoughts then (Acts 19:21) about Rome accord with his statement in Romans 1:13 that he had frequently purposed to go there. We have already seen that Paul's allusions in his letters to his journey from Ephesus to Corinth agree exactly with the short account of it given in Acts 20:1, 2. And although the writer of the Book of Acts says nothing about the collection for Jerusalem, yet by a most interesting and unexpected coincidence we have in Acts 24:17 a clear reference to it.

We find also important coincidences between the Book of Acts and Paul's Epistles in their delineation of his character and conduct. The affectionate and earnest address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:18-35 is a true counterpart of 2 Corinthians. Even the many tears (2 Corinthians 2:4) amid which he wrote to the Corinthians from Ephesus were mingled (Acts 20:19, 31) with his work there. The fear about enemies at Jerusalem which breathes in his request in Romans 15:31 (cp. 2 Thessalonians 3:2) finds utterance again in Acts 20:23, and received dark confirmation in Acts 21:11. Paul's constant habit (Acts 13:5, 14; 14:1; 17:2, 10; 18:4, 19) of preaching Christ first in the synagogue is a practical comment on Romans 1:16; 2:9, 10, to the Jew first and then to the Greek. In Acts 16:3; 21:26 we see him becoming (1 Corinthians 9:20) To the Jews as a Jew. We wonder not that the man who recognized (Romans 2:27) the superiority in God's sight of sincere Gentiles to faithless Jews gained the evident respect (Acts 19:31) of the Gentile Asiarchs at Ephesus. In close agreement with 1 Corinthians 9:12-18; 2 Corinthians 11:8-12; 12:14, 16 (cp. 2 Thessalonians 3:8) we learn from Acts 20:31 that also at Ephesus Paul toiled to maintain himself and his companions: and Acts 18:3 tells us his trade. The escape in a basket (2 Corinthians 11:33) and the one stoning (2 Corinthians 11:25) are recorded in Acts 9:25; 14:19. The theological teaching of these Epistles as compared with that of the Book of Acts and with the teaching of Christ as recorded in the Gospels will be discussed in another volume.

4. The complete independence of the Book of Acts and the Epistles of Paul is as remarkable as their innumerable coincidences. The former work contains no reference to these all-important epistles, even while narrating the events amid which they were written; nor directly to the collection for Jerusalem, which occupies so prominent a place in them. This proves that the Book of Acts was written before the Epistles became famous. That they were not copied one from the other, receives minute but very conclusive testimony in the longer spelling of the name Priscilla and the shorter name Silas in the Book of Acts as compared with Prisca and Silvanus in the Epistles of Paul.

5. Taken in connection with this evident independence of origin, the various coincidences noted above confirm strongly, if confirmation were needed, the proof already given that the epistles before us came from the pen of Paul. For only by supposing that the actions and purposes alluded to in the epistles were real, and that they came to the knowledge of the writer of the Book of Acts, can we account for these various and minute and evidently undesigned coincidences. Just as in the stereoscope two pictures combine to show in relief the one object therein portrayed, so the double picture of Paul presented by his own letters and by the Book of Acts produces at once an irresistible conviction that we have before us a reflection of real life.

These coincidences bear testimony, not only to the genuineness of the Epistles, but to the truthfulness of the Book of Acts. They thus confirm the writer's claim (see p. 494) to have been in part an eyewitness of the events recorded.

These confirmatory proofs would not be invalidated by small contradictions, even were such detected. For errors about matters of fact, and especially about small details which do not come under their own observation, are easily accounted for even in reliable witnesses by the imperfection of all human observation and research. But frequently the concurrence of witnesses who singly are utterly unreliable produces complete conviction of the truth of that which they narrate; because not otherwise can their concurrence be explained. Of this, our courts of law afford daily examples. Consequently, in weighing up coincidences and apparent contradictions we cannot set one against the other. We must accept the hypothesis which best accounts for the whole case. And, when only one explanation of the facts is conceivable, we are compelled to accept this as true. Of the documentary facts now before us the only conceivable explanation is that these letters are genuine, and that when they were written the church at Corinth actually presented the features therein reflected.

It is right to say that the liability to error of all human writers, especially in details, forbids us to accept the foregoing argument as full proof that the Book of Acts is absolutely correct in all it narrates. It was confidently accepted in the second century as a true narrative, and from the pen of Luke. But the question of its trustworthiness as a whole is beyond the scope of the present volume. I have referred to it chiefly as bearing upon the epistles now before us.

6. Our proof of the genuineness of the Epistles to the Romans and to the Corinthians is now complete. We found that each of these epistles was accepted with perfect confidence in the latter part of the second century as a genuine work of Paul, in places so far apart as Gaul and Carthage and Egypt, and by sure inference in Rome and Greece. And we found 1 Corinthians accepted as genuine by the churches of Rome and Corinth during the life of many who were born long before Paul died at Rome. The contents of each letter taken singly were such as no forger could or would dare to write. Consequently, had any one of these letters even stood alone, we should have accepted it with perfect confidence as a work of the great Apostle. But we found proof that the three Epistles were from the same mind and the same pen; and we felt that the triple fraud involved in the supposition that any one of them was spurious was immeasurably removed from the limits of possibility. Moreover, the deep underlying harmony of the three Epistles, amid much difference, was an additional mark of genuineness. And lastly, we found an independent witness bringing his own credentials from the early church, and bearing testimony which convinced us that the events alluded to in the Epistles had come within his own knowledge and that he had been associated with the professed author of these epistles. Evidence so complete and superabundant is not only sufficient to banish all doubt and has actually done so throughout all the ages of Christianity, but cannot be produced, I believe, for the genuineness of any other ancient documents. To doubt such evidence is to surrender all historical certainty. If these epistles be not genuine we have no sure knowledge about the ancient world.

The bearing of the foregoing argument upon the truth of the Gospel preached by Paul, and upon the reality of the Resurrection of Christ, is developed in my Romans, Dissertation i. To the great argument there developed the present argument is subordinate.

Dissertation 3 — the Chronology of the Three Epistles

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 400

I CORINTHIANS

DISSERTATION 3 — THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE

THREE EPISTLES

1. Already we have obtained, by comparing these Epistles with each other and with the Book of Acts, several notes of time. These we will not recount, and supplement by other notes of time in the Book of Acts. Some of these last we shall be able to connect with events having a known place in secular history. And this will enable us to fix, within narrow limits and with some confidence, the date in the Christian era of these Epistles and of some of the events therein alluded to.

2. We have seen that nearly at the close of a three years' sojourn at Ephesus, in the spring and probably about Easter, Paul wrote his first extant letter to the Corinthians; that soon afterwards arose the tumult; that immediately after this Paul went from Ephesus to Troas and almost at once crossed over to Macedonia, and that from Macedonia and perhaps from Philippi, about midsummer, he wrote his second letter to Corinth. A few months later, probably about November, Paul arrived at Corinth, where he stayed three months. Instead of going as he intended (Acts 20:3) direct from Corinth to Jerusalem, he returned through Macedonia, arriving at Philippi (Acts 20:6) probably just before the Passover. After this festival he crossed over to Troas, and then went on to Jerusalem. His purpose was (Acts 20:16) to arrive there in time for the great gathering at Pentecost. And, that he lingered a week at Tyre, instead of pursuing his way to Jerusalem by land suggests, but in our ignorance of details is very far from proving, that he arrived in Syria in time to accomplish his purpose. In any case he must have arrived at Jerusalem before midsummer. Within a fortnight (Acts 24:11) of his arrival he was brought back to Caesarea and stood before Felix. Shortly afterwards (Acts 24:24) he gave his famous discourse before Felix and Drusilla. After two years, which included probably Paul's frequent (Acts 24:26) interviews with Felix, this latter was replaced as governor by Festus. Within probably little more than a fortnight of this (Acts 25:1, 6) Paul appealed to Caesar: the hearing before Agrippa (Acts 25:13) followed shortly: and probably within two months of the arrival of Festus as governor Paul started on his journey to Rome. For, the fast which was already past (Acts 27:9) when the ship was near Crete must have been that (Leviticus 16:29; 23:27) of the great day of atonement, at the end of September: and some time (Acts 27:9) before this, i.e. during the summer, Paul began his journey. (Thus the two full years of Acts 24:27 bring us to the most likely time of year for Festus to arrive in Judea: for the sea was impassable during winter.) Paul's ship, after drifting (Acts 27:27) fourteen days, was wrecked on the island of Malta; where he stayed (Acts 28:11) three months. He then went in a few days to Puteoli, and on to Rome, where we must suppose that he arrived early in the year.

To sum up our notes of time, Paul wrote 1 Corinthians in spring: the spring following he was on his way, after three months at Corinth, to Jerusalem, where before midsummer he was made prisoner and sent to Caesarea. Two years afterwards, also in summer, Felix was superseded by Festus: and Paul soon afterwards started for Rome; where he arrived early the next year. If, therefore, from secular history we can fix the date of any one of these events, the dates of all will thereby be fixed.

3. Our chief aids in searching for links connecting the story of Paul with general history are the Annals of Tacitus, which gives year by year the chief events of the Roman empire; and the contemporary narratives of Josephus.

4. Josephus says (Antiquities bk. xx. 8. 9) that Felix, after his recall, was followed to Rome, and accused, there, by the leading Jews of Caesarea; and would certainly have been punished but for his brother Pallas whom Nero then held in honor. From Tacitus (Annals bk. xiv. 65) we learn that Pallas died in A.D. 62, as was believed poisoned by Nero: and the order of the narrative suggests that this was not later than midsummer. Therefore, if these notes of time be correct, the summer of Felix's recall was not later than A.D. 61. That it was still earlier, has been suggested, on the ground that long before his death Pallas must have lost his influence over Nero. But Nero's waywardness forbids this inference.

Again, after narrating the recall of Felix, Josephus says that through the influence of Burrus two prominent Syrians of Caesarea gained from Nero a letter placing the Jewish residents there under disadvantage; and then goes on to speak of the arrival of Festus. But at the beginning (Annals xiv. 51) of his narrative of A.D. 62 Tacitus records the death of Burrus. That Josephus says that Burrus was tutor and Greek secretary to Nero, by no means implies, as Lewin suggests in Fasti Sacri p. 320, that he was a different man from Burrus whom Josephus calls in Antiq. xx. 8. 2 “general of the armies”: for the description in 8. 9 was added to explain the influence over Nero which enabled Burrus to obtain the letter to Caesarea: and certainly (Tacitus, Annals xii. 42) Burrus the tutor of Nero was a soldier.

Once more. Josephus says (Wars bk. vi.5. 3) that during the feast of tabernacles at the end of September, and seven years and five months before the siege of Jerusalem, and during the rule of Albinus who (Antiq. xx. 9. 1) succeeded Festus, a peasant began to denounce woe to Jerusalem. Now the siege of Jerusalem began (Wars v. 3. 1, 2, vi. 9. 3; Tacitus, Histories bk. v. 10) at the Passover of A.D. 70. Consequently, late in September A.D. 62 Albinus must have been governor and Festus already dead. And, since (Antiq. xx. 9. 1) Nero did not send Albinus to Judea as governor till he heard that Festus was dead, the summer in which Paul stood before Festus could not have been later than A.D. 61. The concurrence of these three notes of time is fair proof that Felix was recalled not later than A.D. 61: and, if so, Paul was arrested not later than A.D. 59.

5. From Acts 21:38 we learn that some time before Paul's arrest an Egyptian made a sedition and led out into the wilderness some 4000 men. This incident is narrated by Josephus (Wars ii. 13. 5) as occurring in the time of Felix, after (13. 2) Nero had made him governor of Judea. Now Nero began to reign in A.D. 54. Consequently, the revolt of the Egyptian was later than this. Yet it was evidently some time before Paul's arrest. This must therefore have been some years later than A.D. 54. Again, when Paul stood before Felix, the latter had (Acts 24:10) for many years been judge to the Jewish nation. Now Felix was appointed governor when (Antiq. xx. 7. 1) Claudius had reigned twelve years, i.e. in A.D. 53. These two notes of time make it unlikely that Paul's arrest was earlier than the summer of A.D. 57.

6. Josephus tells us (Life § 1) that he was born in the first year of Caligula, i.e. in A.D. 37; and (§ 3) that in his 26th year (i.e. we may suppose in the summer of A.D. 63: for only in spring and summer was seafaring safe) he went to Rome to obtain the release of some friends whom Felix while governor had sent there in bonds. His words imply or suggest that when he went to Rome Felix was no longer governor. Now it is not likely that this journey would be delayed beyond two years after Felix' recall. And, if not, he must have been recalled not earlier than A.D. 61. Certainly, this note of time makes it extremely unlikely that Felix was recalled earlier than the summer of A.D. 60. Moreover, in the dates of his own birth and his journey to Rome Josephus' own words claim our confidence.

7. Another note of time has been appealed to in proof that Felix was recalled not later than A.D. 60. When Albinus arrived at Jerusalem in September 62, King Agrippa at once deposed (Antiq. xx. 9. 1) the high priest Annaus, after a priesthood of three months. He therefore became high priest in June. Now he was preceded by Joseph, whom Agrippa appointed when he heard of the success of the deputation sent to Rome with Festus' concurrence. Consequently, during spring at the latest news of this success must have reached Jerusalem. If so, it is almost certain that the deputation went to Rome the previous autumn: for in winter the sea was impassable. And, since Festus became governor about midsummer, to suppose that he became governor that year would leave but little time for the building of the Jewish wall to block out Agrippa's palace (xx. 8. 11) and for the contention which arose thereupon. This suggests therefore that Festus came not later than the preceding summer, i.e. in A.D. 60. But Josephus gives no hint that either the palace of Agrippa or the Jewish wall was built after Festus' arrival; but only “about that time.” The narrative leaves open the supposition that the wall was finished about the time of Festus' arrival; and that he at once took, with great vehemence, Agrippa's part in the quarrel about it. And if so, the deputation to Rome may have been sent soon afterwards and have arrived at Rome during the autumn: and news of its success may have reached Jerusalem, as we have seen it must have done, the following spring. Whether Festus was then alive, Josephus does not say. If he died not later than March, there would be abundant time for Nero to hear of his death and to send Albinus so as to arrive in Jerusalem in September. We also notice plain indications in both narratives of Josephus (Antiq. xx. 8. 10, and Wars ii. 14. 1) that the rule of Festus was very short. The only other event in it mentioned is an expedition against brigands; which may easily have taken place during the autumn after his arrival. Consequently, the foregoing notes of time do little or nothing to contradict the note afforded by Josephus' visit to Rome which suggests that Felix was recalled not earlier than A.D. 61. The statement of Josephus that the success of the embassy was due to Poppaea, Nero's “wife,” whom (Tacitus, Annals xiv. 60) he married in the spring of A.D. 62, cannot be relied upon to prove that we have no need to put Felix' recall earlier than A.D. 61: for, that she became his wife soon afterwards, would account for Josephus speaking of her as such. The words to the captain-of-the-pretorian-guard, to which both Conybeare and Lewin appeal in proof that Felix was recalled not later than A.D. 60, are certainly spurious. Lewin's argument that A.D. 58 would give Paul more time to go from Philippi to Jerusalem between Easter and Pentecost is little better than trifling: for by his own showing A.D. 59 would give only one day less.

8. We found in art. 4 three indications that the recall of Felix and the arrest of Paul were not later than A.D. 61 and A.D. 59 respectively: and we have found no proof or reasonable presumption that these events were earlier than this. That they were not many years earlier, we found indications in art. 5. And in art. 6 we found a reliable note of time which made it almost inconceivable that Felix was recalled earlier than A.D. 60, and very unlikely that his recall was earlier than A.D. 61. Therefore, with such confidence as the scantiness and the liability to error, of our materials warrant, we may accept this latter date as the most likely. That Felix was recalled several years before the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and that Paul was arrested several years after the accession of Nero in A.D. 54, is open to no doubt whatever.

We may therefore suppose that Paul was at Ephesus, except occasional journeys, from A.D. 55, the year after Nero's accession, to the spring of A.D. 58; that at Ephesus about Easter he wrote his First Epistle to the Corinthians, and soon afterwards went through Troas to Macedonia where about midsummer he wrote his Second Epistle, and arrived at Corinth about November; that early in A.D. 59 he wrote his Epistle to the Romans, and soon afterwards went to Philippi where he spent the Passover, and immediately afterwards started for Jerusalem where he arrived about Whitsuntide and was soon afterwards arrested and removed to Caesarea; that he remained there till the summer of A.D. 61, when, after appearing before Festus and Agrippa, he was sent towards Rome but was shipwrecked during the autumn on the island of Malta; and that he arrived in Rome early in A.D. 62, soon after the death of Burrus had weakened (Tacitus, Annals xiv. 52) the influence of Seneca and removed the only check to Nero's ferocity, and shortly before the Emperor's marriage with the malignant Jewish proselyte Poppaea and before the murder of his former wife Octavia.

9. The student will notice how much more liable to error are the historical data appealed to above in our search for the dates of these epistles than those which placed their genuineness beyond all possibility of doubt. That Paul actually wrote these three letters, is the only conceivable explanation of an innumerable multitude of indisputable facts. To deny it, would be to surrender all certitude about the events of the far past. But, in our search for the time when he wrote these letters, we have assumed the absolute correctness, even in details, of the Book of Acts and of the narratives of Josephus and Tacitus: and in our determination of the exact year of writing we have relied upon one note of time and upon what is at best only a strong probability. We notice, however, that our microscopic sifting of details has revealed several notes of agreement and not one clear discrepancy. It has thus in a remarkable manner confirmed the truthfulness and accuracy of the narratives we have used. Moreover, the time when these epistles were written is a matter of little practical importance: whereas, that they were actually written by Paul, is the foundation of the entire historic proof of Christianity. In each case in proportion to our need evidence has been preserved for us by the kind of forethought of God. Consequently, while various opinions have been current about the exact date of the epistles, their genuineness has been admitted in all ages by friends and enemies of all kinds.

Dissertation 4 — Paul and the Church at Corinth

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 406

I CORINTHIANS

DISSERTATION 4 — PAUL AND THE CHURCH

AT CORINTH

1. The historical results attained in this volume, I shall now weave into a consecutive narrative. This will supplement the narrative of the church at Corinth already given in Introd. v. Since I shall but arrange in order results of former researchers, it will for the more part be needless to give proofs. These will be easily found in their proper places.

2. Early in the reign of Nero we find (Acts 19:1-20) Paul at Ephesus, the splendid capital of the Roman province of Asia and the chief seat of Asiatic idolatry, superstition, and sensuality. There he had great success. From Ephesus as a center the Gospel was proclaimed throughout the whole province. Asiatic superstition was overpowered by the most remarkable miracles recorded of Paul. The impression thus made was widened and deepened by confusion which befell some who tried to use the names of Jesus and of Paul as a magical incantation. The whole city felt the power of the name of Jesus. Some converts who had in secret continued the magical arts of their earlier days could no longer hide themselves, and both confessed their conduct and destroyed its costly instruments. And the Gospel continued to spread and to increase in power. Thus in the great capital of the Asiatic Greeks the might of God opened for the Gospel an abundant entrance.

3. But amid this success and the widening prospect of still greater success Paul could not forget the church he had founded in the capital of Achaia. The frequent communication between the cities enabled him to visit Corinth (see under 2 Corinthians 13:2) during his long sojourn at Ephesus. The visit seems to have been short: and it was certainly painful and humiliating to Paul. In many of the church-members, sensual passions, nourished by the heathenism of former days and for a time stunned we may believe by the force of Paul's teaching, had again revived, as lapse of time had lessened the influence of that teaching; and had burst forth into actual and outward and gross sins. Yet even these erring ones Paul treated with leniency. Instead of inflicting bodily punishment as he did upon Elymas, or even excluding them from the church, he merely reproved them and threatened severe punishment if when he came again he found similar unfaithfulness. And with a sad heart, doubtless, Paul returned to his toil at Ephesus.

Naturally, Paul's anxiety about the Corinthian Christians continued after his return. It found expression in a letter now lost urging them to have nothing to do with immoral men. Paul meant, with immoral church-members. It would seem that some of them misrepresented him as forbidding thereby all intercourse with heathens, who were notoriously immoral: an injunction evidently impracticable.

4. Another matter now occupied Paul's attention. He felt that he was approaching a turning point in his career. His work in the East was nearly complete. In all the great centers he had planted Christian churches. And even in the City of the Caesars the Gospel had made converts. But as yet, probably, the far West was untrodden by messengers of the cross. And Paul resolved to leave his beloved converts in Greece and Asia and to carry to the distant province of Spain the good news of life.

But before he goes West Paul wishes to crown the edifice he has erected in the East.

It had been his constant effort to bind together the Jewish and Gentile elements of the Church of Christ. For he felt that upon their cohesion depended its highest welfare, if not its permanence. He was anxious that the Gentile Christians should not break away from the historic people of God: for converts reared in heathenism needed the stability derived by the better Jewish Christians (cp. 2 Timothy 1:5) from early godly training. The newly engrafted twigs needed sap from the old root. But Paul opposed strenuously (Galatians 2:5) such legal restrictions as would make the Christian Church only the latest and best of the Jewish sects. Of the earnestness of Paul's effort to unite these diverse elements in the Church we have indisputable proof in his long and frequent journeys to Jerusalem and his evident wish to work in connection with the Apostles of the Circumcision. And he now resolved to crown his work among the Gentile by promoting an act of generosity which would both reveal the genuineness of the work and endear the Gentile converts to the Christians in Judaea. That these latter were very poor, we have various proof. During Paul's early labors at Antioch (Acts 11:27, 30) he was a bearer of a collection made there for the Christians at Jerusalem. At the conference in Jerusalem, when Paul and Peter shook hands (Galatians 2:10) in recognition of their different spheres of apostolic work, Peter begged Paul not to forget, while laboring among the Gentiles, the poverty of his fellow-countrymen at home. The promise then eagerly made Paul resolved now to fulfil on a scale surpassing all expectation. He resolved to make a collection in various provinces for the Christian poor in and around the mother-city of Christianity.

By some means unknown to us Paul gave directions in this matter to the churches of Galatia. And, probably in the autumn before these epistles were written, he sent Titus and another to Corinth to promote a collection there. The Corinthians took it up eagerly, and began at once to make the collection.

5. Early the next year unfavorable news about the Corinthian church reached Paul at Ephesus. During the interval between his first short visit to Ephesus (Acts 18:19) and his long sojourn there, an eloquent Alexandrian Jew called Apollos, deeply versed in Holy Scripture, formerly a disciple directly or indirectly of John the Baptist but lately brought at Ephesus into the full light of the Gospel by the teaching of Prisca and Aquila, glowing with the fervor of a new and richer spiritual life, arrived at Corinth bearing a commendatory letter from the Christians at Ephesus. His labors at Corinth were very successful. Believers were greatly helped: Jewish disputants were publicly silenced: and converts were added to the church. This good work was not without some bad results. The enthusiasm thus aroused provoked some to proclaim themselves, in opposition to those who hung on the lips of Apollos, the followers of the great founder of their church. The partisan spirit, once kindled, soon spread and became universal. The men who boasted of the name of Paul were confronted by a party which inscribed on its banner the name of Apollos. Devotion to human teachers recalled to Jewish converts the apostle to whom Christ had personally given the keys of the kingdom of heaven and who was by Paul's admission apostle of the circumcision. Retaining the Aramaic name used probably by Christ in His solemn commission, they called themselves followers of Cephas. Others, condemning superciliously the prevalent sectarianism, formed themselves into a fourth sect; and claiming a monopoly of that great Name which belongs to all who believe the Gospel, called themselves, in a sense which they denied to others, the followers of Christ. Into these four sects the whole church divided itself; the last two being probably small. All this was made known to Paul by members of the family of Cloe.

Paul's earnest wish (1 Corinthians 16:12) that Apollos should come to Corinth proves that the latter was absolutely free from the party-spirit which sheltered itself under his name.

Other evil reports reached Paul. One church-member had sunk below the level of the heathen by marrying his step-mother while her husband was still living. There were lawsuits between Christians in heathen courts of justice. And a general spirit of rapacity and sensuality was in the church. Some women had laid aside the appropriate headdress of their sex. The Lord's Supper was made an occasion of ostentation and revelry. Some church-members whose conduct proved the hollowness of their profession, denied boldly the possibility of dead men rising again. And some were evidently disaffected towards Paul; and thought in their silly conceit that he would not, because he dared not, visit Corinth again. All this sad news reached Paul, according to our reckoning, early in A.D. 58.

6. It had been Paul's purpose to go direct from Ephesus to Corinth, to go on to Macedonia and back to Corinth; and then to go, perhaps in company with those who took the collection, to Jerusalem. This purpose was known at Corinth. But the bad news moved Paul to modify it. To go to Corinth now, would compel him to act with severity: for he could not allow his former disregarded threats to remain unfulfilled. And remembrance of his former sad visit made him in the last degree reluctant to have another painful meeting with his beloved though unfaithful converts. In order to spare both himself and them, Paul resolved to go first to Macedonia and then to Corinth; thus leaving time for improvement. And, early in A.D. 58, he sent Timothy, who was at least in the early part of his journey accompanied by Erastus, to go to Macedonia, and to Corinth. (It is not likely that “Erastus being the steward of the city” (Romans 16:23) would be called (Acts 19:22) “one of those who ministered to” Paul. He may easily have had two friends bearing this not uncommon name.) But, for reasons unknown to us, Paul did not expect Timothy to reach Corinth before his First Epistle, which was written after or about the same time as Timothy started; and was not sure that he would go there. That he did not then go to Corinth, is probable. But he was there with Paul during the following winter.

7. About this time, i.e. about Easter in A.D. 58, Paul was saddened by the arrival at Ephesus of three excellent men, one of them known to us as an early convert and a faithful servant of the Church and worker for Christ, bringing a letter from the Christians at Corinth. The letter asked advice about marriage, about food offered in sacrifice to idols, and about the exercise of spiritual gifts; and possibly about other matters. That the coming of these men gave rest to Paul's spirit, suggests that their account of the state of the church was less unfavorable than that he had previously received; and that they somewhat allayed his anxiety.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians was Paul's reply to this letter; and was designed to prepare the way for his own visit. Before he can answer their questions he must first deal with some of the evils in the church. He then discusses the questions proposed to him, and deals with other evils in the church; and concludes with references to the collection, to the movements of himself and of Timothy, to Apollos, and to the messengers from Corinth. The bad state of the church made this letter a severe condemnation. But its strong rebukes came from a loving heart; and were mingled with tears. And needful and salutary as they were, the tenderness of Paul regretted that he had written them. The messengers from Corinth took the letter back with them, as an invaluable recompense for the toil and cost of their journey.

About the same time Paul requested Titus by message or letter, unless possibly he had returned to Paul at Ephesus, to visit Corinth and then to meet the apostle at Troas with news about the church and especially about the effect of the severe letter just written.

8. We are not surprised to find in this letter a casual reference to enemies at Ephesus. In a city which prided itself in being sacristan of the goddess Artemis many would have vested interests in idolatry, gaining we may suppose an abundant livelihood from the superstition of the worshippers. And the whole population would be more or less enriched thereby. Now we can well believe that the success of Paul would interfere perceptibly with these impure gains. For the devotion which enriched the idol-mongers would by the preaching of the truth be weakened in many who were not prepared to accept Christianity. Consequently, an outburst of fury, prompted and fanned by those most deeply interested and taken up by the mass of the inhabitants, would be at any time likely, and in proportion to the success of the Gospel. Such an outburst occurred a few weeks after the First Epistle was written; probably during the month of May, all which was held sacred as a great festival to the patron goddess of the city and was called after her Artemision. (This is asserted in a decree on a marble slab found at Ephesus: see Lewin's Paul. And it is an interesting coincidence of time.) By the urgent kindness of some of the officers presiding over the festival Paul was persuaded to hide himself from the fury of the excited mob. Probably he was thus saved from death. But the peril to which he was at that time exposed made a deep mark in the brave heart of the veteran apostle. Immediately after the tumult, and only a few weeks earlier than he had for some time intended, Paul left the City of Artemis in which he had labored so long and so successfully, and went to Troas.

9. Paul's purpose was to preach the Gospel at Troas; and he found a good opportunity for doing so. But he did not find there Titus, whom he impatiently expected with tidings about his beloved converts at Corinth, and especially about the effect of the severe rebukes of his letter to them. Conscious of the greater importance of preserving old converts than making new ones, Paul bids farewell to the Christians at Troas and crosses to Europe, and is soon we may suppose in the bosom of the church at Philippi. Even here at first, apparently, he did not find or hear of Titus. And his anxiety seemed to know no bounds. Around him were conflicts: within were fears. But soon after his arrival in Macedonia anxiety was changed to exultant joy by the arrival of his trusted companion Titus with good news about the effect of his letter, and especially by the good impression which the Corinthian Christians made on the mind of Titus. All anxiety about the wisdom of the severe letter was at once removed: sorrow suddenly gave place to joy: and that joy revealed to Paul the grandeur of the ministry which God had committed to him, a grandeur in no wise dimmed even by the hardships and deadly perils amid which it was performed. The news brought by Titus proved that much still needed to be done and to be corrected at Corinth. The collection undertaken and begun so readily last year, as Paul boasted to the Macedonians, was now evidently lagging; and he cannot bear to think that his generous boasting might be found to be untrue. Moreover, many church-members whom on his last short and sad visit he had reproved were still unrepentant. And, tolerated and favored by the church, were Jewish emissaries, determined enemies of the apostle, bad men doing under guileful pretext the work of Satan. The liberality of the Macedonians Paul accepts as a divine suggestion that Titus go back at once to Corinth to complete the collection before the apostle's own arrival. And, to assist him in this, to reveal to the Corinthian Christians the true character of the deceivers in whom they trusted, and to give a last warning to the guilty ones and thus avoid if possible the sorrow of inflicting punishment, Paul wrote, and sent by the hands of Titus, about midsummer we may suppose, the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. In writing it, Paul joins with himself Timothy, his colleague in founding the church; who was with him in Macedonia when Titus arrived from Corinth.

10. After writing this letter Paul spent some months in evangelical labors and journeys throughout Macedonia. In Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, the apostle's presence and counsel would strengthen and instruct many. About November, with feelings difficult to conceive and impossible to describe, Paul arrived at Corinth. He was the guest of his early convert Gaius; at whose house probably the church-meetings were held. From the intelligence brought to Macedonia by Titus and in part interwoven in the second Epistle, we infer with confidence that he would be welcomed by his children in Christ with enthusiastic devotion. The only direct record of this visit is in the Epistle to the Romans. From this we learn that early the next year the collection was complete. And the quiet thought which breathes throughout this epistle suggests that the storm of faction and insubordination in the church, and of consequent anxiety in the breast of Paul, had subsided into complete calm.

Early, perhaps in February, the next year, A.D. 59 according to our reckoning, Paul bid adieu, probably for the last time, except perhaps a passing visit after more than five years and near to the close of his life, to the church at Corinth about which he had thought and cared so much. This long separation was foreseen. For Paul had just said to the Romans (in remarkable agreement with Acts 20:38) that his work in the East was done, and that he was now to turn his steps towards the far West. And Paul's knowledge of the instability of the Corinthian Christians must have made this long farewell specially anxious and sad to him. Doubtless he found relief in commending them “to God and to the word of His grace.” And with anxious thought about those he was leaving behind, with fears about the dangers awaiting him at Jerusalem, fears which he could neither dismiss nor hide, but which could not turn him back from a journey which he felt to be divinely directed, the great Apostle began his long and weary way, over land and sea, leaving behind him in every city of Greece and Macedonia and Asia Minor his weeping converts, towards the Father-land of his own beloved nation, and the Mother-City of Christianity, now become the citadel of his foes. And here for the present we too must bid farewell to illustrious teacher.

Dissertation 5 — Summary of Results

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 414

I CORINTHIANS

DISSERTATION 5 — SUMMARY OF RESULTS

1. Our study of the credentials of the Epistle to the Romans brought us by secure steps into the presence of the foremost of the Apostles of Christ. From his lips we heard the great foundation doctrines of the gospel, arranged and developed in logical order: and we found them to be a necessary supplement, or the only conceivable explanation, of the commands and promises of the covenants with Abraham and Moses. Paul's exposition and application of these doctrines revealed to us his familiar acquaintance with the Jewish Scriptures, his wide and careful observation of men and things, his well-balanced judgment, and his firm grasp of broad principles. And we caught in some measure the absolute devotion with which Paul bowed humbly in the presence of Jesus of Nazareth.

2. Whatever we learned from the Epistle to the Romans, our study of the Epistles to the Corinthians has confirmed. It has given us innumerable and indisputable proofs that the three widely different epistles are from the same author. And comparison of them with others and with the Book of Acts has revealed the reality of the facts therein narrated or alluded to. Each of the great doctrines assumed in the Epistle to the Romans we found assumed in those to the Corinthians, and brought to bear on matters of practical life. And this various application of these doctrines gave us several important developments of them, which enabled us to grasp them more completely in their full compass; and revealed how firmly they had taken hold of, and how deeply they were inwrought into the mind of Paul. Lastly, the writer's portrait reflected in the Epistle to the Romans we saw reflected with equal clearness and much greater fullness in the Epistles to the Corinthians. We thus obtained a nearer view of the great Apostle.

3. This nearer view of Paul is one chief gain derived from the Epistles to the Corinthians. They bring us into the nearer presence of a man in whom the highest mental grandeur bows with unreserved devotion to Christ and burns with love to those for whom Christ died. Just rescued from what seemed to be certain death, the writer's hand trembles while he writes. But while trembling he goes forward to meet other perils already looming before him, and deliberately plans new enterprises involving new and unknown perils. His chief anxieties and sorrows are for those who are hasting to run. His highest joy is news of their repentance. And their ingratitude only strengthens his determination to spend and to be spent for them. Lifelong toil and hardship and peril are joyfully endured in order to serve Christ and save men. And in all this the unwearied toiler is unconscious of merit: for he knows that every sacrifice is God's gift to him, a forerunner of infinite reward. This picture is our noblest ideal of human excellence. And, as such, it is of priceless worth.

4. Another element of great value in the epistles before us is the picture here presented of an apostolic church, both in the character of its members and in its joint worship. But this picture is by no means an ideal of excellence. Indeed, it dispels rudely a pleasant dream that the early Christians were a pattern of purity and love. Transported to the midst we find, not love and order and maturity, but spiritual childishness, a universal spirit of faction, blind self-conceit, resolute opposition to the great and loving Apostle, and gross sin.

Yet these imperfect Christians Paul recognizes as brethren in Christ, justified and sanctified, the living temple of God, and a living letter evidently written by Christ with the Spirit of God through the agency of Paul and therefore to him a source of thankfulness to God. This warns us to treat as worthless imperfect forms of Christianity; and not to shut out men, and still less churches, from the family of God because of imperfections or inconsistencies. Human nature is a strange mixture. Churches with bad men in their chief places have often contained true followers of Christ. And underlying much that is unchristlike there has often been genuine though infantile Christian life. There are both tares among the wheat and among many tares wheat which will be garnered in the eternal harvest.

This picture of an early church dissipates fears for the churches of today. Possibly Paul trembled when he thought how soon these children in the faith would be left orphans in a wicked and stormy world. Certainly, had we stood by his side and seen the feebleness of the soldiers of the cross and the divisions in their camp, and thought that to them alone must soon be committed the royal banner and all the interests of the kingdom of God on earth, we should have feared that the church itself would not long survive the departure of its founders. But the feeble Christianity of that day overspread the Roman Empire, overthrew the gods of Greece, and became the religion of the civilized world. In view of this triumph we cannot fear, as some seem to do, that the Christianity of our day will be ruined by the imperfections and disorders prevalent here or there. For underneath weakness, or even disease, in the body of Christ there breathes immortal life.

5. We have now studied the three longest epistles of Paul. All were written within a year; during his third missionary journey. There remains one other epistle written on the same journey-the Epistle to the Galatians. These four epistles are intimately connected, each supplementing the others. And their genuineness is proved by evidence indisputable; and such as cannot be brought for any other books of the Bible taken alone as we have taken these epistles. But, as we shall see, their genuineness involves the genuineness or trustworthiness of others. This Quadrilateral of St. Paul is thus the historical citadel of the Christian faith. On this as a base rests safely the historical defense of Christianity. And it contains within itself a full, though by no means exhaustive, exposition and development and application of the Gospel; with abundant proof that it came from the lips of Christ, that He claimed to be in a unique sense the Son of God, and that in proof of His claim God raised Him from the dead.

Within this impregnable and well-stored fortress, which our King and Saviour has built for our defense, we take secure refuge from the assaults of our foes; and from its gates go forth, armed with His might, to claim the victory which He has already won for us by His own struggle with and victory over the forces of evil in their most tremendous forms. TO GOD BE THANKS WHO GIVES TO US THE VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Appendix A — the Epistle of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 417

I CORINTHIANS

APPENDIX A — THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT OF

ROME TO THE CORINTHIANS

1. Eusebius, in his Church History bk. iii. 15, 16, says: “In the twelfth year of the reign of Domitian, (A.D. 92,) Anencletus, having been bishop of the church of the Romans twelve years is succeeded by Clement; whom the Apostle, writing to the Philippians, declares to have been a fellow-worker of his own, saying “with Clement also and my other fellow-workers whose names are in the book of life.” Of this Clement, then, one acknowledged epistle is current, great and wonderful, which he composed as from the church of the Romans to that of the Corinthians, a dissension at that time having arisen at Corinth. That also in very many churches this has been commonly used for a long time and to our day, we know.”

Origen, in his commentary on John, vol. vi. 36, refers to ch. 55 of the epistle of “the faithful Clement to whom witness is borne by Paul saying with Clement and my other fellow-workers etc.”

Eusebius says (bk. vi. 13) that Clement of Alexandria used in his Stromata “even testimonies from the contradicted Scriptures, viz. the so-called Wisdom of Solomon, and that of Jesus son of Sirach, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, and that of Barnabas, of Clement, and of Jude.” And in Clement's Stromata, bk. i. 7, after a quotation of Psalm 118:20, we read: “Clement in the epistle to the Corinthians says, setting forth the excellences of those approved in the church, Let one be faithful etc.” verbatim from ch. 48. Also Stromata iv. 17. “In the epistle to the Corinthians the apostle Clement says,” with long quotations from, and references to, ch. 1 and chs. 9-12 of the epistle before us. So Stromata v. 12 quotes ch. 20. But in bk. vi. 8 part of a quotation from ch. 48 is, probably by oversight, attributed to Barnabas. and the rest to “Clement in the Epistle to the Corinthians.”

Similarly Irenaeus (quoted by Eusebius v. 6) in bk. iii. 3. 3: “After Anencletus, in the third place from the apostles the episcopate (of Rome) is allotted to Clement, who also saw the blessed apostles and was associated with them… . Under this Clement then, no small dissension having arisen among the brethren at Corinth, the church at Rome wrote a most excellent letter to the Corinthians leading them to peace.”

Of Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, an earlier contemporary of Irenaeus, we read in Eusebius, Church History bk. iv. 23: “Moreover, of Dionysius a letter to the Romans also is current, appealing to the then bishop, Soter … In this, mention is made also of the letter of Clement to the Corinthians, making it clear that from the first by an ancient custom, it was read in the church. At any rate he says, Today then we have kept the Lord's holy day, in which we have read your epistle, reading which we shall always be able to receive instruction, as also that formerly written to us by Clement.” Another contemporary reference in a lost work is noted by Eusebius, Church History bk. iv. 22: “Hegesippus, in the five memoirs which have come to us … after some things about the letter of Clement to the Corinthians, adds, the church of the Corinthians continued in the right word till Primus was bishop at Corinth.”

There is no reference, I believe, to Clement of Rome in Tertullian or in any early Western writer, except the few who understood Greek. The above quotations, and some other quotations and references, prove that before A.D. 180 this epistle was confidently accepted in the East, and even by some in the West, as written by Clement, Bishop of Rome, who was assumed to be the companion of Paul. Whether this last assumption be correct, the commonness of the name, and a natural wish to connect this well-known letter with a man commended by Paul, leave room for doubt. But it is possible. And this assumption itself, and the early and wide-spread acceptance of the epistle, prove its very early date. This is confirmed by the reference in ch. 5 to Peter and Paul as belonging to “our own generation.” and in ch. 44 to elders appointed by the apostles as possibly still living; and is made quite certain by the synonymous use of elder and bishop, and the absence of any hint of an episcopal order. Contrast with ch. 42 Ignatius To the Trallians ch. 3: “Let them reverence the deacons … and the bishop … and the elders… . Without these nothing is called a church.” So To Polycarp ch. 6: “those who submit to the bishop, elders, deacons.” All this supports the testimony quoted above that the epistle of Clement was written in the first century.

The absence from Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians of any reference to elders or deacons, even when dealing expressly with church discipline, confirms the proof already adduced that they were written long before even the early date just assigned, as the latest possible, to the letter of Clement. That this venerable document was placed by the early church altogether below the Epistles of Paul and the four Gospels and the Book of Acts, is at once evident to all who study the writings of the Fathers. And I think that this judgment of the early church will be confirmed by a comparison of the Epistle of Clement with those of Paul.

The interesting work known as the 2nd Epistle of Clement is not a letter, but an ancient homily. Its authorship is quite unknown. The easiest supposition is that it was preserved at Corinth, and was thus associated with the Epistle of Clement.

2. In the Alexandrian MS., after the Book of Revelation, follow the Epistle of Clement, chs. 57. 6-63 being lost, and part of the so-called second epistle. No other copy was known until in A.D. 1875 there was published at Constantinople by Bryennios, Metropolitan of Serrae, a cursive manuscript found in a library at Constantinople and containing entire among other ancient writings both Epistles of Clement. The next year, among some MSS. purchased from Paris for the Library of the University of Cambridge was found a Syriac MS. of the New Testament containing, after the Epistle of Jude and before that to the Romans, the two Epistles of Clement. The heading of the former is “the Catholic Epistle of Clement the disciple of Peter the Apostle to the Church of the Corinthians:” and at the foot we read “Here ends the First Epistle of Clement, which was written by him to the Corinthians from Rome.” The latter is called simply “the Second Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians.” The MS. bears a date corresponding to A.D. 1170.

A full account of both epistles and of the MSS. containing them, with an English translation, are found in Bishop Lightfoot's very excellent volume on S. Clement of Rome. There are also good editions by Hilgenfeld and by Gebhardt. There is a cheap translation by the Religious Tract Society: but it is out of print.

3. The following extracts illustrate the matters discussed in the present work.

“The church of God which sojourns at Rome to the church of God which sojourns at Corinth, called ones sanctified in the will of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from Almighty God through Jesus Christ be multiplied.

CH. I. Because of the sudden and repeated misfortunes and accidents which have happened (or which happen) to us, rather slowly we think that we have paid attention to the matters disputed among you, beloved ones, to the impure and unrighteous dissension, foreign and strange to the chosen ones of God, which a few persons, being rash and bold, have kindled to such a degree of folly as to cause your venerable and far-famed name, worthy of all men's love, to be greatly blasphemed. For who that has visited you has not proved your all-virtuous and firm faith? And has not wondered at your sober and forbearing piety in Christ? and has not proclaimed your magnificent disposition of hospitality? and has not pronounced blessed your mature and unfailing knowledge? For without respect of persons you did all things, and in the laws of God you went, submitting to your leaders and rendering the due honor to the older men among you. To young men you enjoined moderate and seemly thoughts. And to women you gave charge to perform all things in a blameless and seemly and pure conscience, loving as is meet their own husbands, and you taught them, being in the rule of submission, to do in a seemly way the affairs of the household, acting very discreetly.

CH. II. And all of you were lowly minded, in nothing boastful, submitting rather than claiming submission, more gladly giving than receiving, being content with the supplies of God. And paying attention you had His words carefully laid up in your hearts: and His sufferings were before your eyes. Thus peace deep and rich was given to all and insatiable longing for doing good: and a full pouring out of the Holy Spirit came upon all. Full of right purpose in good eagerness with pious confidence, you stretched out your hands to Almighty God beseeching Him to forgive if in anything you had unwillingly sinned. Conflict you had day and night on behalf of all the brotherhood that the number of His chosen ones may be in the way of salvation with fear and conscience. Secure and pure you were, not remembering evil one towards another. All dissension and all schism was abominable to you. At the transgressions of your neighbors you mourned: their shortcomings you judged to be your own. Without regret you were for all good-doing, ready for every good work. Adorned with the all-virtuous and honorable citizenship, you performed all things in fear of Him: the ordinances and the decrees of the lord were written on the tablets of your hearts.

CH. III. All glory and enlargement was given to you, and there was fulfilled the written word: He ate and drank and was enlarged and was made fat and kicked, even the beloved one. (Deuteronomy 32:15.) Hence jealousy and envy, strife and dissension, persecution and confusion, war and captivity. In this way the men without honor were raised up against the honored men, the men without repute against the well-reputed, the imprudent against the prudent, the young men against the old ones. Because of this righteousness and peace removed far off, when each one forsook the fear of God and became dim-sighted in faith of Him, and does not go in the statutes of His ordinances and does not act as citizen according to the desires of his bad heart, they have taken up unrighteous and ungodly jealousy, through which also death entered into the world. CH. IV. For it is written thus: (Genesis 4:3-8:) And it came to pass after some days, Cain brought from the fruits of the earth a sacrifice to God; and Abel also he brought from the firstborn of the sheep and from their fat parts. And God looked upon Abel and upon his gifts: but to Cain and to his sacrifices He did not pay attention. And Cain became very sorrowful: and his face fell. And God said to Cain, Why hast thou become all-sorrowful, and why has thy face fallen? Is it not, if thou do offer rightly? But if rightly thou do not divide, thou has sinned. Be quiet. Towards thee is his resort: and thou will rule him. and Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go through into the plain. And it came to pass when they were in the plain, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. You see, brothers, jealousy and envy wrought out fratricide. Because of jealousy our father Jacob ran away from the face of Esau his brother. Jealousy caused Joseph to be persecuted even to death and to come even to slavery. Jealousy compelled Moses to fly from the face of Pharaoh king of Egypt when he heard from his fellow-tribesman, (Exodus 2:14,) Who set thee as judge or magistrate over us? To make away with me dost thou wish, in the way which thou madest away yesterday with the Egyptian? Because of jealousy Aaron and Miriam were lodged outside the camp. Jealousy brought down Dathan and Abiram alive into Hades, because they had raised dissension against the minister of God, Moses. Because of jealousy David was envied not only by the aliens, but also by Saul king of Israel was persecuted.

CH. V. But that we may cease from the ancient examples, let us come to those who nearest to us have become athletes. Let us take the noble examples of our generation. Because of jealousy and envy the greatest and most righteous pillars were persecuted, and even to death fought as athletes. Let us take before our eyes the good apostles. Peter, who because of unrighteous jealousy endured not one nor two but more labors; and in this way having borne testimony he went to the due place of glory. Because of jealousy and strife Paul exhibited a prize of endurance. Seven times having worn bonds, having been put to flight, having been stoned, having become herald both in the East and in the West, he obtained the noble renown of his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world and having come to the boundary of the West and having borne testimony before the rulers, in this way he was removed from the world and went into the holy place, having become a very great pattern of endurance.” CHS. IX.-XII. quote the examples of Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Lot and Rahab, e.g. “Because of faith and hospitality Rahab the harlot was saved.” CH. XIII. “Let us be lowly-minded, then, brothers, having set aside all boasting and conceit and folly and displays of anger, and let us do that which is written. For the Holy Spirit says: (Jeremiah 9:23f:) Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the rich man in his riches; but he that boasts let him boast in the Lord, to seek out Him and to do judgment and righteousness. Most of all remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, which He spoke, teaching forbearance and longsuffering. For in this way He said: Have mercy, that you may receive mercy. Forgive, that there may be forgiveness to you. As you do, thus it will be done to you. As you give, thus it will be given to you. As you judge, thus you will be judged. As you show kindness, thus, will kindness be shown to you. With what measure you measure, with it will measure be made for you. With this commandment and with these precepts let us make ourselves firm in order to walk in obedience to His holiness-befitting words, being lowly-minded. For the holy word says, Upon whom shall I look, except upon him that is meek and quiet and trembles at my oracles? (Isaiah 66:2.)

CH. XIV. Just then and right it is, brothers, that we rather become obedient to God than follow those who with boasting and confusion are leaders in loathsome jealousy. No casual injury, but rather great danger, shall we suffer if recklessly we give ourselves over to the will of the men who launch out into strife and dissensions, in order to alienate us from that which is good. Let us act kindly one towards another according to the compassion and sweetness of Him that made us. For it is written, Kind men shall be inhabitants of the earth: and innocent men shall be left upon it. (Proverbs 2:21; Psalm 37:9)… .

CH. XV. Therefore let us be joined to those who with piety keep peace, and not to those who with hypocrisy wish for peace. For He says somewhere: This people with the lips honors me; but their heart is far from me. (Isaiah 29:13.) And again …

CH. XVI. To lowly-minded ones belongs Christ, not to men who lift themselves up over the flock. The scepter of the greatness of God, even the Lord Jesus Christ, did not come with noise of boasting nor of haughtiness, although able to do so, but lowly-minded, as the Holy Spirit spoke about Him. For He says, Lord, who has believed etc.” quoting verbatim the whole of Isa. 53.

CH. XXIV. “Let us consider, beloved ones, how the Master shows to us constantly the coming resurrection, a firstfruit of which He made the Lord Jesus, when He raised Him from the dead. Let us see, beloved ones, the resurrection which takes place according to season. Day and night declare to us resurrection. The night falls asleep; the day rises up: the day goes away; night comes on. Let us take the fruits. The sowing, how and in what way does it take place? The sower went forth (Matthew 13:3) and cast into the earth each of the seeds; which having fallen into the earth dry and naked are dissolved. Then out of the dissolution the greatness of the forethought of the Master raises them: and out of the one a larger number grow and bear fruit.

CH. XXV. Let us see the wonderful sign which takes place in the Eastern places, i.e. those about Arabia. For there is a bird called phoenix. This, being only-begotten, lives 500 years. And, having come now to dissolution for it to die, a coffin it makes for itself of frankincense and myrrh and the other spices, into which when the time is completed it enters and dies. But while the flesh rots a certain worm is begotten which being nourished from the moisture of the dead animal develops wings. Then having become noble it takes that coffin where are the bones of the before-existing one, and bearing these completes a course from the Arabian country as far as Egypt to the so-called Heliopolis; (City of the Sun;) and by day, while all are looking, having alighted upon the altar of the sun, puts them down, and having done this starts back. The priests then observe the records of the times, and find that it has come when the 500th year is completed. CH. XXVI. A great and wonderful thing then do we think it to be if the Maker of all things shall make a resurrection of those who rightly have served Him in confidence of good faith, since even through a bird He shows to us the greatness of His promise? For He says somewhere: And Thou wilt raise me up, and I will praise Thee.”

CH. XXIX… . “Behold the Lord takes for Himself a nation out of the midst of nations; (Deuteronomy 4:34;) just as a man takes the firstfruit of his thrashing-floor. And there shall go forth from that nation things holy of holies.

CH. XXX. Of a holy thing then being a portion, let us do all the things of the sanctification, (cp. 1 Thessalonians 4:3,) let us fly from evil speakings… . Let us put on as clothing concord, being lowly-minded, self-controlled, from all whispering and evil-speaking far removing ourselves, by works being justified and not by words… . Our praise, let it be in God, and not from ourselves.”

CH. XXXII. “Whoever may consider sincerely will recognize great things belonging to the gifts given by Him. For from Him are both priests and Levites, all who publicly-minister to the altar of God. From Him is the Lord Jesus, according to flesh, (cp. Romans 9:5.) From Him, kings and rulers and leaders in the line of Judah. And his other tribes exist in no small glory, God having so promised: Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven. (Genesis 22:17.) All then were glorified and magnified not through themselves or their works or the righteous action which they worked out, but through His will. And we then, through His will in Christ Jesus having been called, not through ourselves are justified nor through our wisdom or understanding or piety or works which we have worked out in uprightness of heart, but through faith, through which all those from of old the Almighty God justified. To whom be the glory for the ages of the ages. Amen.”

CH. XXXIV. “The good workman with boldness receives the bread of his work; but the slothful and careless dares not look eye to eye at his employer. Needful then it is that we be eager for doing good. For from Him are all things. For He says beforehand to us: Behold the Lord, and His reward is before His face to give back to each according to His work. (Isaiah 40:10.) He urges us then, believing with all the heart upon Him, not to be idle nor careless for any good work. Our ground of boasting and our boldness, let it be in Him. Let us submit to His will. Let us consider the whole multitude of His angels, how standing by they minister to His will. For the Scripture says: Myriad myriads stood by Him, and a thousand thousands ministered publicly to Him, and cried Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth. Full is all the creation of His glory. (Daniel 7:10; Isaiah 6:3.) And we then in concord, having been brought together by our conscience, as from one mouth let us cry to Him constantly that we may become partakers of His great and glorious promises. For He says: (cp. 1 Corinthians 2:9:) Eye has not seen and ear has not heard and upon man's heart there has not gone up how many things He has prepared for those who wait for Him.”

CH. XXXVI. “This is the way, beloved ones, in which we found our salvation, even Jesus Christ, the High Priest of our offerings, the protector and helper of our weakness. Through Him we gaze into the heights of heaven. Through Him we behold reflected in a mirror (cp. 2 Corinthians 3:18) the blameless and most excellent visage of Him. Through Him were opened the eyes of our hearts. Through Him our void-of-understanding and darkened mind springs up into His wonderful light. Through Him the Master desired us to taste the immortal knowledge. Who, being an outshining of His greatness, is so much greater than angels by how much more excellent a name He has inherited. For it is written thus: He who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire. (Psalm 104:4.) But of His Son the Master said: Son of Mine art Thou, I this day have begotten Thee. Ask from Me, and I will give Thee nations as Thy inheritance and as Thy possession the ends of the earth. (Psalm 2:7.) And again He says to Him: Sit at My right hand until I have put Thy enemies as footstool of Thy feet. (Psalm 110:1.) Who then are the enemies? The bad ones and they who oppose His will. CH. XXXVII. Let us serve as soldiers then, brothers, with all earnestness, in His blameless ordinances. Let us observe those who serve as soldiers to our rulers, how orderly, how submissively, how in subjection, they perform the things commanded. Not all are governors, nor leaders of a thousand, nor leaders of a hundred, nor leaders of fifty, nor so forth: but each in his own order performs the things commanded by the king and the rulers. The great ones apart from the small ones cannot be; nor the small ones apart from the great ones. A certain mixture there is in all: and therein is utility. Let us take our body. The head apart from the feet is nothing: so neither are the feet apart from the head. The least members of the body are necessary and useful to the whole body. Yes, all parts breathe together and with one submission act for the whole body to be in safety. CH. XXXVIII. Let our whole body then be in safety (be saved) in Christ Jesus; and let each submit to his neighbor, according as also he was put, in the gift of His grace. Let the strong man take care of the weak one: and let the weak one respect the strong one. Let the rich man give supply to the poor man: and let the poor man give thanks to God that He has given to him one through whom his shortcoming may be supplied. Let the wise man show his wisdom not in words but in good works. Let the lowly-minded not bear witness to himself, but allow witness to be borne to him by another. Let him that is pure in the flesh not boast, knowing that it is another who supplies to him his self-control. Let us take account then, brothers, of what kind of material we were made, and what kind of persons and who we were when we entered into the world; out of what kind of grave and darkness He who formed and made us led us into His world, having before prepared His good actions before we were born. All these things then having from Him, we ought in all things to give thanks to Him; to whom be the glory for the ages of the ages. Amen.”

CH. XL. “Clear to us then these things being, and we having looked down into the deep things of the divine knowledge, we ought to do all things in order, so many as the Master has commanded us to perform at set seasons. That the offerings and ministrations be performed (with care), and not be done at random or disorderly, He commanded; but at fixed seasons and times. And where and by what persons He wishes them to be done, Himself fixed by His most excellent will, in order that all things being done rightly in good pleasure they may be acceptable to His will. They then who are the appointed seasons perform their offerings are both acceptable and blessed. For following the enactments of the Master they do not miss their aim. For to the High Priest public-ministrations of his own are given: and for the priests a place of their own is ordained; and on Levites ministries of their own are laid. The layman is bound by the layman's ordinances. CH. XLI. Each of you, brothers, in his own order let him give thanks to God, being in good conscience, not transgressing the appointed rule of his public ministration, in sobriety. Not everywhere, brothers, are there offered sacrifices, the perpetual one, or for vows, or for sin and trespass, but in Jerusalem alone. And there, moreover not in every place is it offered, but before the temple on the altar, the victim being offered having been inspected for blemish by the High Priest and the before said ministers. They then who contrary to the appropriate order of His will do anything have death as their penalty. You see, brothers, by how much we have been counted worthy of greater knowledge, so much the more are we exposed to danger.

CH. XLII. The Apostles announced to us good news from the Lord Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ was sent forth from God. Christ then is from God; and the Apostles from Christ. Both came then in orderly manner by God's will. Having then received charges, and having been fully assured by means of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and having been confirmed by the word of God with full assurance of the Holy Spirit, they went forth announcing as good news that the kingdom of God is about to come. Preaching then in countries and cities, they appointed their firstfruits, having proved them by the Spirit, for bishops and deacons of those who were about to believe. And this is no new way. For long ago it had been written about bishops and deacons. For in this way somewhere the Scripture says: I will appoint their bishops in righteousness and their deacons in faith. (Isaiah 60:17.)

CH. XLIII. And what wonder if they who in Christ were entrusted from God with such a work appointed those before-mentioned? Since even the blessed faithful servant in all the house, (Numbers 12:7,) Moses, signified in the Sacred Books all the things ordained for him. Whom also the other prophets followed, bearing witness with him to the laws ordained by him. For he, when jealousy had arisen about the priesthood, and the tribes were in dissension what sort of tribe should be adorned with the glorious name, commanded the twelve chiefs of tribes to bring to him rods engraved with the name of each tribe:” expounding the story of Num. 17. CH. XLIV. “And our Apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife over the name of the bishop's office. For this cause then, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed the beforesaid ones; and afterwards they provided continuance in order that if they fall asleep other approved men may succeed to their public ministry. Those then who were appointed by them or afterwards by other men of repute, the whole church having been well pleased, and who have ministered blamelessly to the flock of Christ with lowly mind, quietly and modestly, witness being borne to them for a long time by all, these we think are being unjustly cast out of the ministry. For no small sin it will be to us if we cast out those who blamelessly and uprightly have offered the gifts of the bishop's office. Blessed are the elders who went before, who had their departure fruitful and mature: for they have no fear lest some one remove them from the firm place set for them. For we see that you have removed some men, after having behaved nobly, from the public ministry blamelessly honored by them.

CH. XLV. Be contentious, brothers and jealous about the things pertaining to salvation. You have looked into the Scriptures, those given by the Holy Spirit… .

CH. XLVI… . Let us be joined then to innocent and righteous men. These are chosen ones of God. Why are there strifes and passions and separations and divisions and war among you? Or have we not one God and one Christ and one Spirit of grace, that which was poured out upon us, and one calling in Christ? Why do we pull apart and tear apart the members of the body of Christ and are in dissension towards our own body and come to so great folly as to forget ourselves that we are members one of another? Remember the words of Jesus our Lord. For He said: Woe to that man: good were it for him if he had not been born than that he ensnare one of my chosen ones: better were it for him that a millstone be hung about him and he be sunk into the sea than that he ensnare one of my little ones. (Matthew 18:6; 26:24.) Your division has turned aside many: many it has cast into faintheartedness, many into doubt, all of us into sorrow. And your dissension is abiding.

CH. XLVII. Take up the Epistle of the blessed Paul the Apostle. What at first did he write to you in the beginning of the Gospel? In truth in a spiritual way he wrote a letter to you about both himself and Cephas and Apollos, because of your having even then made parties. But that partisanship brought less sin to you. For you became partisans of testified apostles and of a man approved among them. But now consider who they are that have turned you aside and have lessened the dignity of your far-famed brotherly love. Shameful, beloved ones, and very shameful, and unworthy of behavior in Christ, that it is heard that the most firm and the ancient church of the Corinthians because of one or two persons is in dissension against the elders. And this report has reached not only to us but also to those differently disposed from us, so that even blasphemies are brought to the name of the Lord because of your foolishness; and to yourselves danger is being wrought.

CH. XLVIII. Let us take this away then quickly, and let us fall before the Master and weep, begging Him that looking with favor He may be reconciled to us and may restore us to the honored pure behavior of our brotherly love. For a gate of righteousness opened for life, is this, according as it is written: “Open for me gates of righteousness. Let me, having entered by them, give praise to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. Righteous men will go in by it. (Psalm 118:19.) Since then many gates are opened, this gate in righteousness is that in Christ, in which blessed are all who have entered and make their journey straight in uprightness and righteousness, performing all things without confusion. Let one be faithful, let him be able to speak forth knowledge, let him be wise in distinguishing words, let him be pure in works. For so much the more ought he to be lowly-minded as he seems to be greater, and to seek the common profit of all and not his own.

CH. XLIX. He who has love in Christ, let him do the commandments of Christ. The bond of the love of God, who can set forth? The greatness of His beauty, who is sufficient to speak forth? The height into which love leads up is unspeakable. Love joins us to God: love (cp. James 5:20) covers a multitude of sins: love bears all things; is longsuffering in all things. Nothing coarse is there in love, nothing haughty. Love has no divisions: love makes no dissensions: love does all things in concord. In love have all the chosen ones of God attained to full growth. Apart from love nothing is well-pleasing to God. In love the Master took us to Himself. Because of the love which He had towards us, His blood Jesus Christ our Lord gave on our behalf in the will of God, and His flesh on behalf of our flesh, and His soul on behalf of our souls. CH. L… . Happy are they whose breaches of law have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. He is a happy man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin, and there is not in his mouth guile. (Psalm 32:1, 2; cp. Romans 4:7.) This happiness was pronounced on those chosen by God through Jesus Christ our Lord: to whom be the glory for the ages of the ages. Amen.”

CH. LIII. “For you understand and understand well the Sacred Scriptures, beloved ones, and have looked down into the oracles of God… .” CH. LIV. Who then among you is noble? Who is compassionate? Who is filled with love? Let him say, If because of me is dissension and strife and divisions, I retire, I go away wherever you wish, and I do the things commanded by the people. Only let the flock of Christ be at peace with the appointed elders. He who shall have done this will win for himself great honor in Christ: and every place will receive him. For the Lord's is the earth and the fullness of it. (Psalm 24:1.) These things, they who live as citizens the citizenship of God which is not to be regretted have done and will do.

CH. LV. But, to bring also examples of Gentiles. Many kings and leaders, during some season of pestilence, taught by oracles, have given themselves up to death, that through their own blood they might rescue the citizens. Many have returned from their own cities that dissension might go no further. We understand that many among us have given themselves up into bonds that they might redeem others. Many have given themselves away for slavery and having received their price have fed others. Many women having been made strong by the grace of God have performed many manly things.” (Then follow the examples of Judith and Esther.) CH. LVII. “You then who made the foundation of the dissension submit yourselves to the elders, and be brought by instruction to repentance, having bent the knees of your heart. Learn to submit, having put away the boastful and haughty self-will of your tongue. For it is better for you to be found in the flock of Christ little and of good repute than while seeming to be superior to be cast out of His hope. For thus says the all-virtuous Wisdom: Behold I will send forth to you a saying of my breath.” … quoting Proverbs 1:23-33.

CH. LVIII. “Let us then obey His all-holy and glorious Name, having fled from the threatenings before-spoken by Wisdom to those who disobey, that we may dwell in our tent trusting upon the most upright Name of His greatness. Accept our counsel, and you will have no causes of regret. For as God lives, and the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and the Holy Spirit, the faith and the hope of the elect ones, so he who in lowliness of mind with earnestness of kindness, without regret, has done the decrees and ordinances given by God, this man shall be enrolled and of repute among the number of those who are being saved through Jesus Christ, through whom there is to Him glory for the ages of the ages.

CH. LIX. But if some disobey the words spoken by Him through us, let them know that they entangle themselves in no small transgression and danger. But we will be innocent of this sin. And we will ask, earnestly making our prayer and supplication, that the Maker of all things may guard unbroken the number which has been numbered of His chosen ones in the whole world, through His beloved servant Jesus Christ, through whom He called us from darkness into light, from ignorance into understanding of the glory of His Name, to hope on Thy Name, the First Cause of all creation.” … (Here follows to end of ch. lxi. a prayer of exceeding beauty.) CH. LXII. “About the things which befit our religion, the things most profitable for virtuous life to those who wish piously and righteously to go in a straight path, we have sufficiently written by letter to you, brothers. For about faith and repentance and genuine love and self-control and soberness and endurance we have handled every point, calling to mind that you must needs be well-pleasing to the Almighty God uprightly in righteousness and truth and longsuffering, preserving concord without remembrance of evil in love and peace with earnestness of kindness; as also our fathers, mentioned conspicuously before, were well-pleasing, pondering with lowly mind the things pertaining to the Father and God and Creator, and to all men. And these things with so much more pleasure we called to your mind since we knew clearly that we were writing to men faithful and most highly reputed and who have looked into the oracles of the instruction of God.

CH. LXIII. It is right then, giving heed to such and so many examples, to submit the neck and to occupy the place of obedience, in order that having ceased from the vain dissension, apart from all blame we may attain to the goal set before us in truth. For joy and gladness you will afford us if becoming obedient to the things written by us through the Holy Spirit you break off the unlawful anger of your jealousy according to the entreaty which we have made with peace and concord in this epistle. And we have sent men faithful and sober, who from youth to age have conducted themselves blamelessly among us, who will be witnesses between you and us. And this we have done that you may know that all our thought both has been and is that you may quickly be at peace.

CH. LXIV. Finally, may the All-seeing God and the Master of the spirits and the Lord of all flesh, who chose the Lord Jesus Christ and us through Him for a people specially His own, give to every soul which is called by His worthily-great and holy Name, faith, fear, peace, endurance, long-suffering, self-control, purity and soberness, for good pleasure to His Name through our High Priest and Protector, Jesus Christ, through whom to Him be glory and greatness, power, honor, both now and for all the ages of the ages. Amen.

CH. LXV. The men sent from us, Claudius, Ephebus and Valerius Bito, with Fortunatus also, send back to us quickly they may announce to us the prayed for and longed for peace and concord that the more quickly also we may rejoice about your good state.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and with all men everywhere who have been called by God through him. Through whom to Him be glory, honor, power, and greatness, an eternal throne, from the ages and to the ages of the ages. Amen.”

That this brotherly appeal was effectual, we infer from the quotations given above from Hegesippus and Dionysius. For a letter of correction thus treasured cannot have been in vain. The intercourse of churches revealed in the Epistle of Clement and the quotation from Dionysius is a beautiful feature of early Christian life.

Appendix B — Doubtful Various Readings

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 433

I CORINTHIANS

APPENDIX B — DOUBTFUL VARIOUS

READINGS

A few readings open to doubt or of special interest I shall now discuss. See pages 7-10. {PREFACE and NOTES AND REPLIES}

In 1 Corinthians 1:28, documentary evidence slightly favors, I think, the omission of and before the things which are not. This would make the following words a thoughtful and forceful comment on those preceding; a comment easily overlooked: whereas the insertion of the word and is easily accounted for. It is marked as doubtful by Westcott and the Revisers, and is omitted without note by the earlier Editors mentioned on p. 6. {PREFACE}

In 1 Corinthians 2:1, the Sinai, Alex., Ephraim MSS., and the Syriac and the very valuable Coptic (Egyptian) Versions, read mystery; the Vat. and most later MSS. and the Latin Versions read testimony. The Editors above-mentioned give testimony without note. But, following Griesbach, Westcott and Hort and the R.V. read mystery, with the other in the margin. Their choice is I think the better attested reading, and is confirmed by the teachings in § 4. In 1 Corinthians 2:10, Westcott prefers, and Tregelles and the R.V. give in the margin, the reading for God etc., with the Vatican MS. and the two Egyptian Versions, but against all other uncials and versions. This preponderance of documentary evidence, I do not see reason to reject.

In 1 Corinthians 7:34, the best documents are in hopeless confusion: and it is quite uncertain whether the word divided is required by those following as their predicate, or must be joined to the words foregoing. In the latter case it would denote a divided mind: in the former, different circumstances. The confusion of the evidence and the variety of opinion of the Critical Editors are fairly reproduced in the Revisers margin. Their second note, which is the reading of Tregelles and of Westcott, should be (cp. 1 Corinthians 7:11) the woman (or wife) without a husband. This reading is the best attested; and, apart from the singular verb is careful following a plural subject, would give a good sense, whether we read simply (R.V. margin) the virgin or (with Lachmann) the virgin without a husband. The repetition would emphasize the fact that the maiden and the separated wife were alike in not having a husband. Practically, the A.V. is retained by the R.V. and Tischendorf. Fortunately, the differences are as unimportant as they are perplexing. Whether the division be in the heart of the married man or in the lot of womankind, the teaching is practically the same.

In 1 Corinthians 8:7, conscience of the idol was read probably by Tertullian in A.D. 200 and afterwards apparently universally in the West, and is found in the Syriac Version and in most later Greek MSS. But, in deference to the Sinai, Alex., Vat. MSS. and the Coptic Version the reading accustomed intercourse with the idol is accepted without note by all recent Editors and by the Revisers. The A.V. reading is interesting as casting light (cp. 1 Peter 2:19) on the exact meaning of the word conscience; and as a probable error which became nearly universal both in the Eastern and Western churches. In 1 Corinthians 8:8, the order of clauses is quite uncertain and unimportant.

In 1 Corinthians 9:22, the word as (weak,) is in nearly all the Greek copies except the Sinai, Vat., Alex. MSS., and in the oldest versions except the Latin. It was apparently omitted by Origen, the earliest commentator. The insertion is so easily explained by the same word three times in 1 Corinthians 9:20, 21 that the omission confirms the trustworthiness of the oldest copies. An interesting coincidence with the true reading is found in 2 Corinthians 11:29. In 1 Corinthians 10:20, the word Gentiles is omitted in some very early Greek and Latin copies; but is sufficiently attested.

In 1 Corinthians 11:24, the word broken is almost certainly spurious. The parallel passage Luke 22:19b, Luke 22:20, Westcott and Hort in their Appendix confidently reject, following the Beza MS. (6th cent.) and a Latin copy of 4th cent. and in part the oldest (Cureton's) Syriac Version, and influenced by various marks of confusion in what are called Western documents. The omission is noted in the Revisers' margin. The verses are found in the Sinai, Vat., Alex. MSS., (the Ephraim MS. is lost from Luke 22:19,) to which elsewhere especially when agreeing these Editors pay the highest respect, in some very ancient versions and in various other witnesses. The rejection of evidence so preponderant needs certainly a justification more complete than that given in Westcott's note. The variation is interesting chiefly as bearing upon the relation between the accounts of the Supper given by Luke and by Paul.

In 1 Corinthians 11:29 the four earliest uncials and the Sahidic (Egyptian) Version omit unworthily and of the Lord; and are followed without note by R.V. and all recent editors. The insertion of these words became universal in Latin, Greek, and Syrian copies. But it is easily accounted for by the word unworthily in 1 Corinthians 11:27 and the apparent baldness of the words the body. It is an interesting example of early and wide-spread error in our N.T. documents.

In 1 Corinthians 13:3, the Sinai, Vatican, Alex. MSS. and probably the Coptic Version, for that I may be burned read that I may glory. That this reading was in some copies of his day, Jerome says. But the other reading was certainly known in the third century, and became universal. The difference is only one letter of one word. This is an interesting case of the best MSS. contradicting almost all other documents. For greater definiteness may glory might have been changed to may be burned: whereas the opposite change is not easy to explain. And the general excellence of the oldest MSS. claims our respect. But confident decision seems to me impossible.

In 1 Corinthians 14:18, except Tregelles' margin, the reading with a tongue is confidently accepted by the earlier Editors; and is in Westcott's margin. Westcott's text, and the R.V. without note, on evidence perhaps slightly preponderant, read with tongues. In 1 Corinthians 14:37, Tischendorf omits a command. But the Revisers' reading is well attested by the oldest Greek MSS. and the Coptic Version. In 1 Corinthians 14:38, the reading he is not known, in the Sinai, Alex., and Clermont MSS. and read apparently by Origen, is very difficult to expound. The reading let him be ignorant is in the Vatican MS. and some early versions, and became universal in the Greek Church. With documentary evidence fairly divided, I retain, with R.V. text, the familiar reading.

In 1 Corinthians 15:14, as in 1 Corinthians 7:15, the variation us and you is unimportant. In 1 Corinthians 15:49, the reading let us wear is in all uncials except the Vatican MS., in must cursives, and in the best versions; and was read by Tertullian and by most of the Fathers. Documentary evidence so preponderant, I see no reason to set aside. Its rejection by the Revisers merely shows that not two-thirds of them were prepared to accept the change. In 1 Corinthians 15:51, the Sinai and Ephraim MSS. read all of us will sleep: but not all of us will be changed. And Jerome says that this reading was in some Greek copies of his day. The Clermont MS. (Greek and Latin) and the Latin Vulgate read all of us will rise: but not all etc. The Vatican MS., followed by the Syriac and Coptic Versions and the later Greek copies, and by all Editors except Lachmann and the margin of Tregelles, give the reading of the A.V. which the R.V. retains without note. In 1 Corinthians 15:54, the evidence for this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, though preponderant I think, is not such as to exclude doubt.

2 Corinthians 1:6 is variously arranged both in the best ancient documents and in modern Critical Editions: but the variations are unimportant. In 2 Corinthians 1:15, the Vatican MS. reads a second joy, as do the text of Westcott and the margin of Tregelles. It may have been suggested by the rather difficult reading grace, which differs only in one letter, and is found in the other early, and in most later, documents. In 2 Corinthians 1:22, the Revisers omit with confidence, following the Sinai, Alex., Ephraim MSS. and apparently the Syriac and Coptic Versions, but against the Vat. and Clermont MSS. and the Latin Versions, a word of one letter given in all Critical Editions without note, except that Westcott puts it in brackets. But the omission affects the sense very slightly. In 2 Corinthians 2:1, following the Vat. MS., two cursives, and the Coptic Version, but against the other Greek and Latin MSS., Westcott in his text and Tregelles and R.V. in their margins give For I determined. This would give a good sense, and one likely to be overlooked by a copyist. But in face of such preponderant documentary evidence we can only surmise that it may possibly be correct. Similarly, in 2 Corinthians 2:7, following the Vat. and Alex. MSS. and the Syriac Version but against the mass of documents, Westcott puts the word rather only in the margin, and Tregelles and R.V. mark it as doubtful.

In 2 Corinthians 3:3, following all Greek MSS. earlier than the 9th cent. and all the Critical Editors, (but not Tischendorf's 7th Edition,) the R.V. reads without an alternative tables that are hearts of flesh. All the oldest versions and most later Greek MSS. read fleshen tables of the heart. The same is found in existing copies or translations of Irenaeus, Origen, and other fathers. But these last have been so often conformed, by copyists and translators, to their own copies of Paul's Epistles that we cannot confidently accept their evidence. This is an interesting case of a simpler reading replacing one more difficult, and passing into all the earliest versions and into most later Greek copies. In 2 Corinthians 3:9, the reading to the ministry has, I think, preponderant documentary evidence. But all Editors are in doubt about it. And the variation is unimportant. In 2 Corinthians 8:7, following the Vat. MS. and some of the best versions, but against nearly all other Greek MSS. early and late and the Latin Versions and the other Critical Editors, Westcott gives in his text from us to you instead of from you to us. The former reading speaks of Paul's love as an enrichment to the Corinthians: the latter is a courteous acknowledgment of their love to him, as an enrichment to themselves. Each reading gives a correct sense. Certain decision is impossible. In 2 Corinthians 11:3, the addition and the purity is rejected by Tischendorf, but accepted with some doubts by Tregelles and Westcott, and without note by the Revisers. It is attested, sufficiently I think by the Sinai and Vat. MSS. and (but placed before simplicity) by the Clermont MS. The Syriac Version, but no very early Greek MS., omits it. In 2 Corinthians 11:4, the Revisers omit without note one letter, on evidence hardly decisive. But the change is merely from you would bear to you bear. In 2 Corinthians 12:1, there is much confusion in the best documents. The reading I must needs glory in the text of R.V. and Westcott, and without note in the earlier Critical Editions, is well attested. The marginal reading of Westcott and the Revisers, Now to glory is not etc., is that of the Sinai and Clermont MSS. and the Coptic Version. It is suspicious as being easily derived from the other reading. The difference is only one letter. In 2 Corinthians 12:7, following the Sinai, Vat., Alex. MSS. and the Greek part of two almost identical Greek and Latin copies of the 9th century, and the Latin part of one of them, but against the Clermont MS. and nearly all later Greek MSS. and the Latin and Syriac Versions, the Revisers and all editors except Tischendorf insert without note the difficult word wherefore, in Greek only three letters, which disturbs seriously the even flow of the verse. But, for this reason, it might easily have been omitted in the later copies; and, as we actually find, in nearly all versions and in the existing translations of Irenaeus and Origen, being almost incapable of translation. It lays rough, and therefore conspicuous, emphasis on the cause of Paul's thorn in the flesh. The concluding repetition, that I be not overmuch lifted up, is omitted in the Sinai, Alex., and Clermont MSS. and in the Vulgate Version; but is in the Vatican MS. and later uncials and nearly all Greek cursives, and the Syriac and Coptic Versions. The documentary evidence seems to be slightly in favor of the words, and so the internal evidence. They are accented by all editors except Tregelles who puts them in his margin. Lachmann brackets them. This is one of the few doubtful passages not noticed by the Revisers. But it is of slight importance. In 2 Corinthians 12:15, following the Sinai and Alex. MSS. and the two Egyptian Versions, with Tischendorf and with Westcott's text, the Revisers omit without note one important letter given without note by Tregelles, and in Westcott's margin, and found in the Vatican and most later MSS. uncial and cursive, and in Latin and apparently Syriac Versions. How good a sense the rejected reading gives, but one very likely to be overlooked by a copyist, I have shown in my notes. Certainly it should have had a place at least in the Revisers' margin. In 2 Corinthians 13:4, the Revisers and all Editors retain the reading in Him; but, except Tischendorf, who has no margin, all put with Him in the margin. This last reading is well attested; but might easily have been copied from the same word soon afterwards.

Besides the above are many other variations without any appreciable bearing on the sense of the Epistles, or indisputably spurious. To the student of Textual Criticism these last are of great interest, as casting light on the affinities and the value of our documents, and on the ways in which error has crept into them. Indeed, for these purposes passages not open to doubt are our chief guides. And of such variations the most trifling are important. But to discuss them, does not fall within the scope of the present work.

For English readers, a good account of various readings is given in Queen's Printers' Bible.

Appendix C — the Revised Version

BEET_1CO.PDF, source PDF p. 439

I CORINTHIANS

APPENDIX C — THE REVISED VERSION

1. That the Revised Version rests upon a text much purer than that underlying our Authorized Version, and that the corrections of the text are of considerable importance, I have in Introd. iii. already endeavored to prove. A few words now about the Revisers' rendering of their text into English.

2. Among others less conspicuous I notice as indisputable improvements 1 Corinthians 1:18, them that are perishing and us which are being saved, 1 Corinthians 1:21, seeing that in the wisdom of God; the article omitted before Jews and Greeks in 1 Corinthians 1:22, 23; in 1 Corinthians 2:4, persuasive instead of enticing; knoweth for knew in 1 Corinthians 2:8, noting an abiding fact; through the fire in 1 Corinthians 3:15 instead of by fire; 1 Corinthians 4:5, each man have his praise from God, already in 1 Corinthians 4:8, more correct and more graphic than now; 1 Corinthians 4:9, men doomed to death instead of the unintelligible rendering approved to death, imitators, for followers, of Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1; 5:9, in my epistle, preserving Paul's definite reference; 1 Corinthians 6:12, not all things are expedient; the article omitted twice in 1 Corinthians 6:15 before members; the clearer renderings in 1 Corinthians 7:5, because of your incontinency, and in 1 Corinthians 7:6, by way of permission, not of commandment; the more graphic form sitting at meat, in 1 Corinthians 8:10; 9:7, what soldier ever serveth, preserving the reference to the men composing an army; 1 Corinthians 9:17, I have a stewardship entrusted to me, a rendering which rescues the verse from utter obscurity; so 1 Corinthians 9:25, every man that striveth in the games; 1 Corinthians 9:27, I buffet my body, with bruise in the margin; 1 Corinthians 11:26, proclaim the Lord's death, reproducing well the force of the original; 1 Corinthians 11:29, judgment for condemnation, 1 Corinthians 12:3, 9, 13, in the Holy Spirit, recalling Romans 8:15; Matthew 22:43; in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 love instead of charity; mirror instead of glass in 1 Corinthians 13:12; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 14:16, the Amen, suggesting the familiar response; 1 Corinthians 15:45, life-giving for quickening; 1 Corinthians 16:22, Maran atha, apart, and as two words. In the Second Epistle I note 2 Corinthians 1:12, we behaved ourselves for we had our conversation; 2 Corinthians 1:17, fickleness for lightness; 2 Corinthians 2:14, leadeth us in triumph, a most important change; 2 Corinthians 3:6, a new covenant, (cp. 1 Corinthians 11:25,) recalling Jeremiah 31:31, and God's covenants with Abraham and Moses; 2 Corinthians 3:7, 13, was passing away; 2 Corinthians 3:18 unveiled face, and 2 Corinthians 4:3 gospel veiled, bringing to light an obscured, but very beautiful and important, train of thought; 2 Corinthians 4:4, the gospel of the glory of Christ; 2 Corinthians 4:16, our outward man is decaying; 2 Corinthians 5:14, one died for all, therefore all died, a most important correction; 2 Corinthians 8:1, make known to you instead of do you to wit; and, in 2 Corinthians 12:10, a comma after distresses, suggesting, as I believe, the correct exposition.

3. Some of the marginal notes are of great value. In 1 Corinthians 2:6, full-grown and age explain perfect and world: in 1 Corinthians 2:14, 15; 4:3, examined explains judged; and in 1 Corinthians 3:9 tilled land explains husbandry. The note in 1 Corinthians 3:16f; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16 distinguishes, though not in the best way, two different and important words: and in 1 Corinthians 10:16 participation in the margin sheds light on the meaning of communion in the text. In 2 Corinthians 3:14, the margin gives what is, I think, the right exposition. This case illustrates the use of the margin where the meaning of the original is open to doubt. So 2 Corinthians 11:3; and 2 Corinthians 11:5; 12:11. Very useful are the explanatory notes to 2 Corinthians 5:10, 17, 19; 7:2; 8:2; 12:15. The note in 2 Corinthians 8:23 casts light on the root meaning of the word usually rendered apostle.

The word daughter added in italics in 1 Corinthians 7:36ff makes the meaning quite clear: and the omission of the word unknown in italics (A.V.) in 1 Corinthians 14:2, 4, 13, 14, 19, 27, removes a misrepresentation which obscured greatly the nature of the mysterious gift of tongues.

4. Naturally, every one finds in the Revised Version renderings retained which he would like to see removed. In 1 Corinthians 1:2, the rendering given in these notes is not even recorded in the margin. In 1 Corinthians 2:14; 15:44, 46, the Revisers do not indicate the connection between the word soul and that rendered (A.V. and R.V.) natural, thus leaving Paul's argument in utter obscurity. In 1 Corinthians 4:8, the incorrect rendering ye have reigned is retained, merely omitting as kings, instead of ye have become kings. In Revelation 19:6, we have another incorrect rendering of the same tense of the same word, reigneth. The aorist notes the beginning of the reign. So Kuehner, Greek Gram. § 386. 5. In 2 Corinthians 2:2; 7:8f, sorry corresponds to sorrow. But the ideas conveyed now by these words are very different. Much better is the rendering sorrowful, retained, with strange inconsistency, for the same Greek word in 2 Corinthians 6:10; Matthew 19:22; 26:22, 37; John 16:20. In 2 Corinthians 4:6 a mere schoolboy following the order of the Greek words would have avoided the Revisers' vapid rendering and have reproduced the exact force of Paul's picturesque words, out of darkness light shall shine. In 2 Corinthians 5:16, the word him, retained but now in italics, obscures the meaning of the verse. See note.

5. In a few cases I am compelled to believe that there are changes for the worse. Of these, the worst cases are 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16, where the new rendering a temple implies as I think a serious theological error. See notes. In 1 Corinthians 9:19, the rendering brought myself under bondage to all is very ugly, and obscures the idea of work for others' good suggested by (A.V.) servant to all. This rendering retained, with the other in the margin, would have been much better.

6. The Revisers' treatment of the Greek aorist is not satisfactory. Although again and again compelled to render it, as I think with perfect accuracy, by the English perfect, yet in many other cases they have used for it the English preterite even where by doing so they have forced upon the “indefinite” Greek tense a definite reference quite foreign to it. In 1 Corinthians 1:4, 5 we have (R.V.) was given, were enriched, as though Paul referred necessarily to some definite time; but in 1 Corinthians 1:11 properly it hath been signified, in 1 Corinthians 1:20 hath not God made foolish, and in 1 Corinthians 2:16 who hath known the mind of the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 4:8, where the Greek has one perfect and two aorists, the R.V. suggests two perfects and one Aorist. The good rendering already are ye filled should have been followed by already ye have become rich, apart from us ye have become kings. But in 1 Corinthians 5:7 we have a good change, hath been sacrificed for (A.V.) is sacrificed. In 1 Corinthians 7:28, the form hast not sinned etc., which reproduces correctly the full sense of the aorist, is necessarily retained. So. 1 Corinthians 12:18, 28. In 2 Corinthians 3:14 a definiteness not belonging to the aorist is imposed upon it by the rendering were hardened. Against this, the Revisers should have been guarded by their own rendering of 2 Corinthians 4:2, 4, have renounced, hath blinded. In 2 Corinthians 5:13 the force of the aorist, if we have become beside ourselves, is missed both in text and margin. The full latitude of the tense is fortunately preserved in 2 Corinthians 9:2, your zeal hath stirred up very many.

7. A blemish of the Revised Version is the frequent but not uniform retention of the rendering of for two different Greek prepositions in addition to its proper use for the Greek genitive. Instead of from him we still read in 1 Corinthians 8:6 of whom are all things; 1 Corinthians 11:8, 12, the man is not of the woman, 1 Corinthians 15:47, the first man is of the earth; 2 Corinthians 5:18, all things are of God. But with great gain the Revisers have changed of into from in 1 Corinthians 7:7, his own gift from God; 2 Corinthians 2:16, savor from death … savor from life; 2 Corinthians 3:5, anything as from ourselves, our sufficiency is from God; 2 Corinthians 4:7, not from ourselves; 2 Corinthians 5:1, a building from God; 2 Corinthians 12:6, heareth from me. Instead of by, which all Englishmen understand as denoting (so often in A.V. and R.V.) an agent, we still find in 1 Corinthians 2:15 judged of no man; 1 Corinthians 4:3, that I should be judged of you; 1 Corinthians 8:3, known of him; 1 Corinthians 11:32, chastened of the Lord; 2 Corinthians 1:4, comforted of God; 2 Corinthians 1:16, and of you to be set forward; 2 Corinthians 3:2, known and read of all men; 2 Corinthians 5:4, may be swallowed up of life; 2 Corinthians 12:11, commended of you. Fortunately, but inconsistently, it is changed into by in 1 Corinthians 2:12, given to us by God; 1 Corinthians 10:9f, perished by the serpents; 1 Corinthians 10:29, judged by another conscience; 1 Corinthians 14:24, reproved, judged, by all; 2 Corinthians 2:6, inflicted by the many. In 1 Corinthians 15:47, perversely enough the A.V. from heaven is changed to the second man is of heaven. Very bad is the retained rendering unto for εις when noting a purpose, and for the Greek dative of advantage: instead of the intelligible and accurate rendering for which is also often found both in A.V. and R.V. and might be used uniformly. We have still unto our glory, 1 Corinthians 2:7; unto judgment, 1 Corinthians 11:34: unto God, 2 Corinthians 5:13, and in 2 Corinthians 5:15 unto themselves, unto him who died. In 1 Corinthians 8:6, neglecting the excellent marginal rendering of the A.V. for him, the R.V. gives the obscure jargon of whom are all things, and we unto him. In 2 Corinthians 5:13, the plain words it is for your cause are changed into the unmeaning form it is unto you. But in 1 Corinthians 6:12 all things are lawful unto me is properly changed to lawful for me. And again and again both A.V. and R.V. use the rendering for in precisely the same connection: e.g. 1 Corinthians 6:13, the body is not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

8. The Revised Version I have further discussed in The Expositor 2nd series vol. ii. pp. 92, 205, and vol. iii. p. 380. When all strictures have been made it still remains by far the best production of Holy Scripture in English which has yet been published. And the use of a second version different from that in common use is of great value as a means of distinguishing between the familiar form of words and their underlying sense.

9. With the Revised and Authorized Versions it is interesting to compare the Roman Catholic Version* (*Reprinted, with the Latin Vulgate in parallel columns, in very cheap but beautiful form by Messrs. Bagster and Sons.) published at Rheims in A.D. 1582, twenty-nine years before the Authorized Version. It must be admitted that, although translated from the Latin Vulgate, it rests upon a purer Greek text than does our Authorized Version. Of the sixty corrections of the Greek text noted above on pp. 7, 8 {Preface, Introduction} as accepted by the Revisers and all recent Editors, forty-one were already incorporated in the Rheims Version. To these others of some importance might be added. Whereas the readings inferior (e.g. 1 Corinthians 15:51: see p. 534) to the A.V. are few or unimportant. But the rendering into English follows the Latin so closely that it is frequently obscure and to our ears unpleasant, with very little of the classic diction of the Authorized Version. Not unfrequently, technical terms are left untranslated: e.g. 1 Corinthians 5:7, 8. Purge the old leaven, that you may be a new paste, as you are azymes. For our Pasche, Christ is immolated. Therefore let us feast, not in the old leaven, nor in the leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the azymes of sincerity and verity. But this is an unfair specimen of the translation as a whole. Here and there (e.g. 1 Corinthians 12:9 in for by twice: so 1 Corinthians 12:3) our Revisers have with gain returned to its literal renderings. On the whole the Rheims Version, like our A.V. and Luther's German Version, is faithful; and with very few and doubtful exceptions, (e.g. perhaps 1 Corinthians 11:24, this is my body which shall be delivered for you,) as few as in the above Protestant versions, it bears no trace of ecclesiastical bias. Yet, while cheerfully admitting this, we cannot forget that to Protestantism directly or indirectly all the nations of the world owe the Bible freely circulated in their mother tongues. It is to their honor that from Protestants chiefly have come efforts to restore the Sacred Text to its original purity, and to elucidate its meaning; that in our day the three great Protestant nations are endeavoring to give to their peoples the most exact reproduction possible of that Text in their own languages; and that, eager to be corrected wherever error has crept into even our most cherished convictions, we joyfully submit all matters of difference to the arbitrament of the Book of God, and ever turn to its pages for that clearer light and fuller knowledge which day by day through His Written Word God gives and will give.