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VOLUME EIGHT
THE GREAT COMMENTARY
OF
CORNELIUS A LAPIDE
THE
GREAT COMMENTARY
OF
CORNELIUS A LAPIDE
TRANSLATED AND EDITED
BY W. F. COBB, D.D.
orK *TJT:I
- A T T -: I
II CORINTHIANS AND GALATIANS
EDINBURGH : JOHN GRANT
31 GEORGE IV. BRIDGE
1908
SECOND EPISTLE TO THE
CORINTHIANS
CHAPTER I
3 The apostle encourageth them against troubles, by the comforts and deliverances
which God had given him, as in all his afflictions, 8 so particularly in his
late danger in Asia. 12 And calling loth his own conscience and theirs to
witness of his sincere manner of preaching the immutable truth of the gospel,
15 he excuseth his not coming to them, as proceeding not of lightness, but of
his lenity towards them.
PAUL, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our
brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints
which are in all Achaia :
2 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus
Christ.
3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies, and the God of all comfort ;
4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort
them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are com
forted of God.
5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth
by Christ.
6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which
is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer : or whether
we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the
sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to
us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that
we despaired even of life :
9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in
ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead :
10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver : in whom we
trust that he will yet deliver tis ;
11 Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon
us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our
behalf.
VOL. II. A
SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. I.
12 For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity
and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have
had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
13 For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknow
ledge ; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end ;
14 As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even
as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
15 And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye
might have a second benefit ;
1 6 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 Judrea.
17 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?
1 8 But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even
by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the
glory of God by us.
21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us,
is God ;
, 22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
23 Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came
not as yet unto Corinth.
24 Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy :
for by faith ye stand.
CONTENTS
He consoles the Corinthians, whom in the First Epistle he had sharply rebuked,
and absolves the excommunicated fornicator, who was now penitent. He
then proceeds to treat of true repentence, of the dignity of the ministers
of the New Testament, of the duty of avoiding the company of unbelievers,
of patience, of almsgiving for the poor saints at Jerusalem, of the duty of
rejecting the false Apostles who set themselves up as rivals to S. Paul among
the Corinthians, and depreciated him, and rendered it necessary for him to
sing his own praises in self-defence. Then he threatens some of the Corin
thians who still refused to submit to his apostolic authority. The whole
Epistle may be said to be a defence and laudation of his apostleship. The
Greek MSS., the Syriac, and the Latin Complutensian have a note at the
end that it was written at Philippi in Macedonia, and sent by Titus and
Luke. Baronius, however, thinks that it was written at Nicopolis, A.D. 58,
when the Apostle, after being forced to leave Ephesus, where he wrote hi-,
First Epistle, after the uproar raised by Demetrius, left Timothy as Bishop
of Ephesus, and came to Troas ; then, not finding Titus there, he proceeded
into Macedonia, and from thence into Greece ; thence he sailed by the
/Egean Sea and touched at Crete, where he left Titus. At length he
THE FATHER OF MERCIES 3
came to Greece again, to Nicopolis, where he had determined to winter
(Tit. iii. 12). Cf. Baronius, vol. i. p. 575. It is likely that he wrote this
Epistle there in quietness, but the point cannot be decided certainly ; for
S. Paul, while travelling up and down through Asia, might have gone to and
returned from Philippi, and might have stayed there long enough to write
it. S. Luke, as is well known, does not record all the stoppages or all the
journeyings of the Apostle. Cf. Acts xx.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
L Paul shows, in order that he might console others, from what great tribu
lations in Asia the Lord had delivered him.
ii. He commends himself to the Corinthians (ver. 12), by a declaration of
the sincerity of his heart and of his doctrine.
iii. He clears himself (ver. 17) from the charge of lightness and inconstancy
induced by his not coming to them as he had promised, and at the
same time affirms the sure and constant truth of his preaching.
Ver. i. Timothy our brother. That is our co- Apostle ; so the
Pope calls Bishops his brethren, a Bishop his canons, an abbot his
monks.
Ver. 3. The Father of mercies. A Hebraism for "most merciful."
See note to Rom. xv. 5.
S. Bernard says learnedly and piously (Serm. 5 de Natali Dom.} :
" He is rightly called the Father of mercies, not the Father of judgments
or vengeances, not only because it is more the nature of a father to pity
than to be angry, even as a father pitieth his children that fear him,
but rather because it is from Himself that He draws the cause and
origin of His mercy, but from us, that is, from our sins, draws the
cause and origin of His judgment and vengeance. ut if if is because
of this that He is the Father of mercy, why is He called the Father of
mercies ? The Apostle in one Word, in one Son, brings before us a
double mercy in the words f Father of mercies] not merely Father of a
single mercy, in speaking of the God not of comfort merely, but of all
comfort] who comforteth us, not in this or that tribulation, but in all.
1 Many are the mercies of the Lord] says a certain person, meaning
that many are the tribulations of the righteous, and the Lord will
deliver them out of all. There is one Son of God, one Word ; but our
4 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. I.
manifold misery calls for, not only great pity, but a multitude of mercies.
Perhaps, however, because of the double sub stance which is to be found in
our human nature,both of which are miserable, the misery of man may not
unsuitably be said to be t-ivofold, althotigh in both it be of manifold forms.
Truly the tribulations of our body and soul are increased exceedingly, but
He who saves man wholly rescues him from the troubles of both."
Notice that S. Bernard seems to refer the phrase "Father of
mercies " to the Son ; and rightly enough, but it is not the intention
of the Apostle to do so. S. Paul plainly means the same Person by
" the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Father of mercies."
Ver. 5. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our con
solation also aboundeth in Christ. " The sufferings of Christ " are,
(i.) as S. Ambrose takes it, those which we suffer for Christ; (2.)
such as Christ suffered; (3.) those which Christ regards as His own,
in accordance with S. Matt. xxv. 40 and Acts ix. 4, as GEcumenius
understands the words. Theophylact adds that the word " abound."
is used to point to the fact that Christ suffered more in His members
than in Himself. This is true by way of extension, but not in the
way of intension. In S. Laurence Christ suffered the fire, in S.
Stephen the stones, in Ignatius the wild beasts ; but His suffering and
sorrow in Himself were greater and more intense than what all these
suffered. The meaning, therefore, is this, according to Theophy
lact : Do not be downcast whoever of you suffers from afflictions and
various ills, because, however great your sufferings may be, so great
is your consolation.
But here observe, (i.) as Theophylact does, that S. Paul does
not merely say that the comfort equals the sufferings, but that it
abounds and is greater than they are ; and, therefore, whoever is
afflicted may bear his troubles patiently, nay, joyfully and gladly,
and so may gain the victory over them. (2.) The sufferings of Christ
have this characteristic, that Christ gives consolation in proportion to
them, and the greater the suffering the greater the comfort. On the
other hand the sufferings of the world are vinegar without honey,
and as they increase, so do desolation and mourning and woe. (3.)
It follows from this that the suffering of the Cross is not to be fled
DEUS CONSOLATOR 5
from but embraced, as the mother of so much Divine comfort and
joy. So S. Andrew, Ignatius, Xavier embraced it, and prayed daily
for the Cross, and would not be set free from it unless God would
give them a heavier one.
Ver. 6. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation. We
suffer tribulations that we may console and save you, and may ani
mate you, by our patience and hope in God and His comfort, to
bravely bear, as we do, afflictions on behalf of the faith. So Ambrose.
Cf. Chrysostom (Horn, i de Spe et Fort, in Tentat. Serv.).
Which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings. This
salvation, as the wished for end, produces patience. Others, as
Theophylact, take it, "Salvation is wrought in patience." Ambrose
takes it to mean that patience is the meritorious cause of salvation,
and that salvation, therefore, produces patience as its final cause,
for the efficient and final causes have a mutual relation. Salvation
as the final cause, orders and works patience, and in turn patience, as
the efficient cause, works out salvation. The meaning, then, is that
your consolation and salvation alike effectually produce patience,
our exhortation animates you to hope for salvation, and to bear
bravely on its behalf whatever sufferings arise from obedience to
the faith. My exhortation or consolation, therefore, works effectually
endurance by stirring you up to it ; the salvation thence hoped for
works endurance objectively. Just so the resolution to attain some
end makes us lay hold of and employ means.
Ver. 8. Which came to us in Asia. From the tumult raised by
Demetrius, recorded in Acts xix. 29. So S. Thomas understands
this passage, as do all other interpreters except Cajetan, who thinks
that there is a reference here to some persecution not mentioned in
Scripture.
We were pressed out of measure, above strength. Above the strength
of nature, not of grace more than the body could bear, not the mind;
for by the help of grace Paul bore this tribulation undauntedly and
overcame it. "God is faithful," he says, in i Cor. x. 13, "who will
not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able " to bear by the
help of grace. Moreover, he does not say that he was tempted, but
6 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. I.
pressed or afflicted above his strength, inasmuch as the body is a
heavy burden, though the soul preserve her fortitude, and fortitude
overcome temptation.
Insomuch that we despaired even of life. Nature would have pre
ferred death to suffering such afflictions. But there was no despair
when the chanty and grace of God were considered, by which
Paul was enabled to bear any afflictions whatever in God s service.
This despair or weariness was felt by many saints. Cf. Job x. i
and i Kings xix. 4. The Greek word denotes also anxiety and
perplexity. Hence Chrysostom renders it, "We were in doubt,"
and Vatablus as in the text. Hence follows (ver. 9), "But we had
the answer of death in ourselves." The Latin version gives tasdium,
or weariness.
Ver. 9. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves. " But,"
here, has the meaning of "moreover." Nature and inclination pre
saged and expected nothing but death ; and when I thought of the
state of my life, my mind answered that I must die if God did not
. lend miraculous aid. So Ambrose and Theophylact.
The Greek word here rendered "sentence" means, (i.) answer.
(2.) According to Photius, it denotes the crisis of an illness. The
meaning, then, would be: We were so afflicted that our life was
despaired of by nature and by experienced men, who, looking at
our case as doctors might, judged it beyond recovery. (3.) It denotes
sentence, as in the text. We seemed to have received our sentence,
and to be destined accordingly to inevitable death.
Ver. lo. W/io delivered us from so great a death. "From so
great dangers," according to the Latin. The meaning is the same.
Ambrose reads " from so great deaths." The Hebrews are wont to
apply the name of death to great dangers, violent persecutions, grief,
and agony, that are akin to death, and that seem to threaten a speedy
death. So Chrysostom. Cf. Ps. xviii. 5, and 2 Cor xi. 23.
Ver. ii. That by the means of many persons. Primasius reads
this, " By a company of many persons," that is, children, youths, and
old men. S. Paul s meaning is, that through many people in g,
great concourse of men, thanks may be publicly given to God for
A GOOD CONSCIENCE 7
S. Paul s deliverance and safe return, as the common father and
Apostle of all.
For the gift bestowed upon us. That thanks may be given, says
Vatablus, by many, on our behalf, for the gift of grace that was given
to us. As gratitude demands that thanks be given, in proportion to
the benefit bestowed* to the great Giver for our creation, redemption,
justification, education, and growth, so also should thanks be given
for the gift of deliverance.
Ver. 12. For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience.
" For " introduces the reason why the Corinthians should give
thanks and pray for Paul. It is because he was their Apostle,
who, with great grace and efficacy, preached to them the Gospel
and converted them ; and in proof of this he calls upon his own
conscience and theirs.
Observe here the force and quiet that come from a good con
science. " No theatre," says Cicero, for virtue is so great as that
of conscience." Juvenal, too (Sat. xiii.), says : " The summit of happi
ness is to have a mind conscious of its own integrity." S. Augustine
again (contra Secund. Munich, c. i.) says : " Think of Augustine what
you like, my conscience shall not be my accuser in the presence of
God." See notes to i Tim. i. 5.
Not with fleshly wisdom. I have not preached with human
philosophy or eloquence, but with grace, zeal, efficacy, and the
Holy Spirit.
Ver. 14. We are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours. We are
the object of your rejoicing as your teachers; ye, as good disciples,
are the object of our rejoicing ; and this rejoicing will chiefly be seen
in the day when the Lord will come to judge all men.
Ver. 15. I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have
a second benefit. The first benefit was that of his First Epistle ; his
second would have been his visit to them in person. So Theophylact.
Or else the first benefit was his first visit, when he converted them ;
his second would be his second visit, to confirm them in the faith.
Ver. 1 6. And to pass by you into Macedonia. To pay them a
flying visit, and then return from Macedonia to them again, so as to
8 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. I.
stay longer with them. This is what he means in i Cor. xvi. 5,
where he says that he would come to them after he had passed
through Macedonia. Here he adds further to this that he also
wished to see them on his way to Macedonia. So the Greek Fathers
harmonise the passages ; but Lyranus and S. Thomas reconcile them
differently, but not so probably.
Ver. !;._ When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness!
That is, when I proposed to come to you and did not. The Greek
word for lightness is derived from the word for a stag. In a like
way we speak of the wisdom of the serpent, the innocence of the
dove, the stubbornness of the ass, the headiness of the elephant.
Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh 1
S. Paul did not form his determinations relying on human pru
dence and lightness, which readily change men s designs, through
worldly advantage or convenience, or the influence of superiors, nay,
through the mere fickleness and changeability of natural inclination.
So Ambrose.
That with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay. I was not
so unstable and purposeless as at one time to promise to come and
at another to refuse, as boys often do. So Anselm.
Ver. \%.But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and
nay. I call the true God to witness, who is a faithful and true wit
ness, that in teaching you I did not deceive you, and, therefore, that
it was not my intention to fail you when I promised to come to you.
This teaches the preacher to beware of lightness and fickleness of
life, lest the people infer from it that the truth which he preaches is
equally unfixed and uncertain.
Ver. ig.For the Son of God . . . was not yea and nay, but in
Him was yea. My preaching and teaching about Christ was not
variable, inconstant, and contradictory, but was a constant, uniform
statement, for I always said and taught the same of Christ.
Ver. 20. For all the promises of God in Him are yea. All the
promises of God in the Old Testament relating to the Messiah were
constant and true, and have been fulfilled in Him.
The yea yea here, and in S. Matt. v. 47, have a threefold signi-
CHRIST THE AMEN 9
fication : (i.) constant asseveration, as opposed to inconstancy and
deceit; (2.) truth or reality, as opposed to falsity or unreality; (3.)
simple affirmation, as opposed to an oath. Cf. S. James v. 12.
And in Him Amen. "And therefore we say, Amen" is the
Latin rendering ; that is, we affirm that those promises were true.
So Chrysostom and Ambrose. For further notes on "Amen/ see
i Cor. xiv. 1 6.
Add to this that Amen is usually an adverb denoting truly, firmly,
faithfully, and thence came to be the name of the abstract qualities
of truth, firmness, and faithfulness. Cf. Isa. Ixv. 16; Jer. xi. 5;
Isa. xxv. i; Rev. iii. 14, vii. 12. The meaning, therefore, here is:
Through Him, Christ, the Amen, i.e., truth, faithfulness, and con
stancy, we give glory to God, saying : All that God promised con
cerning Christ is Amen, i.e., most true, and has been most truly
fulfilled by God.
Ver. 21. Now He which stablisheth us. Some think that this is
an ellipse, and we must understand the meaning to be, He which
stablisheth us prevented the execution of my purpose. But it is
far better to refer these words, as others do, to what immediately
precedes them. The promises of God have been fulfilled in Christ ;
but He who by His power and authority fulfils them is God Him
self: as He promised, so in fact does He stablish us, anoint us, and
seal us in Christ. In the third place, it would not be amiss to refer
these words to what was said in ver. 18, " Our word toward you was
not yea and nay." In other words I am not fickle and inconstant
in my speech, my preaching, and promises. It is God who gives me
this constancy, and therefore let r.o one think that I am arrogant
enough to ascribe it to my own strength and fortitude, since I
profess that I have it, not from myself but from God. As God in
Himself and in His promises is yea, that is, is ever constant, firm,
and unchangeable, so does He strengthen us, and make us firm and
constant in the faith and in what we promise.
And hath anointed us in God, who also hath sealed us, and given
the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. This seal, says Calvin, is that
special Divine faith by which each has a certain knowledge that he
10 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. I.
is predestinated. But this seal is uncertain and unreliable, and this
faith is false and foolish presumption. For the Apostle, who had as
great faith as possible, fears reprobation in i Cor. ix. 27. His Divine
faith, therefore, did not give him certain assurance of his predestina
tion. Moreover, he frequently impresses on all the faithful that they
carefully work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, and
by so doing he takes from them all ground for assurance of their sal
vation. Add to this that no one is certain that he has this Divine
faith, or that he will always have it ; nay, many have fallen away
from this faith of Calvin s who before believed with him that they
were of the number of the predestinate.
I say, then, i. that God hath sealed means, lie has confirmed His
promises as though He had stamped them with His seal, by giving,
according to them, as a pledge of our future inheritance, His grace,
by which He has sealed and anointed us to be the sons of God, sepa
rated off from the sons of the devil. So Chrysostom, Theodoret,
CEcumenius. This seal is altogether certainly known to God, but to
us is only a matter of probability. This establishing, anointing, and
sealing take place through one and the self-same grace. Similarly,
in Eph. i. 13 he says that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit
of promise.
2. This passage may be referred to baptism ; for (a) in baptism
God anointed us with the oil of His grace ; (l>) He gave the earnest
of the Spirit in the testimony of a good conscience; (c} He sealed us
with the character of baptism, Cf. Bellarmine (de Effedu. Sacr.
lib. ii. c. 20). The exposition of Theophylact and Chrysostom is to
be referred to this. They say : " He hath anointed us and sealed us
to be prophets, priests, and kings." Cf. Chrysostom (Horn. 3) on these
words, who points out how Christians who govern their passions are
kings anointed by God.
3. It is the best explanation which refers these words to the
sacrament of Confirmation, which, in olden times, was received by
all the faithful to strengthen them against persecution. S. Paul has
expressly distinguished, "He hath established us," "He hath given
the earnest of the Spirit," "hath anointed us," "hath sealed us."
THE SEAL OF GOD II
But these four things cannot be distinguished anywhere save in
the sacrament of Confirmation.
These words point to four effects of the sacrament of Confirma
tion: (i.) The gift of faith, by which we are strengthened in Christ
Hence, as was said in ver. 18, S. Paul s faithful preaching of Christ
was firm and constant, because God had strengthened him for it
in Christ by means of the sacrament of Confirmation, i.e., through
Christ and His merits. (2.) The second effect is the grace of charity,
with which we are abundantly anointed, as with a spiritual chrism.
The Greek, indeed, for anointed is the very word whence come
" Christ " and " Christians/ so that " Christians " are " the anointed
ones." Hence S. Augustine (Sent. 342) says: " The word Christ
is from chrism, i.e., anointing. Every Christian, therefore, is sancti
fied, in order that he may understand that he not only is made a
partaker of the priestly and royal dignity, but also an adversary of
the devil." (3.) The third fruit is the earnest of the Spirit, which is
the testimony of a good conscience given by the Holy Spirit, and
which is as the earnest of the future glory promised, and to be given
by the Holy Spirit. For the sense in which the Holy Spirit is the
pledge or earnest, see notes to Eph. i. 14. (4.) The fourth fruit is
the seal and sign of the Cross on the forehead, signifying the " char
acter " imprinted on the soul, by which we are sealed as His servants,
or rather His soldiers and leaders. Cf. Ambrose (de his qui Mysteriis
Initiantur, c. vii.), Suarez (pt. iii. qu. 63, art. i and 4).
Ver. 23. Moreover, I call God for a record upon my soul. From
this it is lawful for a Christian to take an oath, says S. Augustine
(qu. 5, inter. 83); for the Apostle here takes an oath, and that
one of execration. If I lie, he says, may God be my Judge and
condemn my soul.
That to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth. Lest I should
be forced to exert my apostolic authority against the vices of the
offenders among you : it was to spare you from being grieved by
my coming to correct you. So Anselm. Cf. also chap. ii. i. S.
Paul here gives the real reason why he had not kept his promise, or
his purpose of visiting Corinth, which was that the Corinthians had
12 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. I.
not yet given up the vices of which he had admonished them in his
First Epistle, and deserved therefore to be rebuked still more sharply
and punished. But he deals gently with them, and by his absence
he wished tacitly, and by his Epistle openly to remind them once
more of their duty, and so correct them with gentleness.
Let prelates learn from this not to be ever chiding and rebuking
those under them for their faults, lest they make them hard and
callous. And more than this, the faults of some people, especially
those that are more high-minded and sensitive, are more effectually
corrected if they are pointed out patiently and indirectly than if
they are rebuked openly, or actually visited with punishment. Cf.
S. Gregory (Pastor, pt. iii. c. 8 and 9).
As yet. That is, after his first visit, or after the First Epistle.
Ver. 24. Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are
helpers of your joy. This is a well-known rhetorical figure of speech,
by which he tones down what had been said before of his power.
He means : I said that I was unwilling to punish, and wished you of
your own accord to correct yourselves ; but I said this not from love
of power, or as though I wished to act arbitrarily, but to improve
you, that when you were so corrected you might rejoice both on
earth and in heaven. This rebuke of mine, therefore, is not so
much a rebuke as a support and help to your joy. So Anselm.
For by faith ye stand. " Which," says S. Anselm, " works by love
and is not forced by dominion." In your faith I have nothing to
correct, but only in your actions ; and, since you are of the faith
ful, I will not imperiously scold you, but gently admonish you by
this letter, that so you may all rejoice with me. Since you are of
the faith, I have little doubt but that you will at once listen to my
admonitions.
CHAPTER II
I Having showed the reason why he came not to them, 6 he requireth them to
forgive and to comfort that excomunmicated person, IO even as himself also
upon his true repentance had forgiven him, 12 declaring withal why he de
parted from Troas to Macedonia, 14 and the happy success which God gave to
his preaching in all places,
BUT I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in
heaviness.
2 For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same
which is made sorry by me ?
3 And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from
them of whom I ought to rejoice ; having confidence in you all, that my joy is
the joy of you all.
4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many
tears ; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I
have more abundantly unto you.
5 But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part : that I
may not overcharge you all.
6 Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of
many.
7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest
perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.
9 For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether
ye be obedient in all things.
10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also : for if I forgave any thing, to
whom I forgave it, for your sskzs forgave / it in the person of Christ ;
1 1 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us : for we are not ignorant of his
devices.
12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ s gospel, and a door
was opened unto me of the Lord,
13 I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother : but taking
my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.
14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ,
and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and
in them that perish :
16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the
savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things ?
17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God : but as of sin
cerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
3
14 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. I.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. He declares that he had not come to them through fear of causing sad
ness to himself and to them.
ii. He exhorts them (ver. 6) to re-admit the fornicator, on his repentance,
who had been excommunicated by him (i Cor. v.), and (ver. 10) he
absolves him from the sentence of excommunication and from his
penance.
iii. He tells them (ver. 14) that he sheds everywhere a good odour of
Christ, which is life to the good and faithful, and death to the evil
and unbelieving.
Ver. i. But I determined this with myself. I determined not to
come to you from a desire to spare you. Cf. chap. i. 23.
Ver. 2. For if I make you sorry. Although I made you sorry by
rebuking you in my First Epistle, yet I am now made glad with you
in seeing the repentance and sorrow, both of yourselves and the for
nicator. The "for if" is not causal but explanatory.
Who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made
sorry by me ? He who is grieved and made penitent by my reproof
is the one who most makes me glad, i.e., the incestuous person whom
I excommunicated (i Cor. i. 5).
Ver. 3. Lest when 1 came I should have sorrow. I wished by send
ing you a letter first to rebuke and correct your evil ways, lest I should
be forced to do so in person, which would be very painful to me.
Having confidence in you all. I had complete confidence that you
would at once take away whatever might displease me, because you
regard my joy as yours, and my grief therefore as yours also. I knew,
therefore, that what displeased me would displease you. S. Paul says
ail this to prepare the Corinthians for his arrival, and to induce them
to amend themselves, lest he should be deeply grieved at seeing them
not yet amended.
Ver. 5. He hath not grieved me. The fornicator did not grieve
me only.
But in part. He grieved, says Anselm, many other good men as
well as me ; those, viz., who banished from their society with ignominy
the man that I had already excommunicated.
THE ABSOLUTION OF THE PENITENT 1 5
That I may not overcharge you all. Overcharge you by putting
on you the suspicion that there are not many who are grieved on
account of the incestuous person. In the First Epistle (v. 2) he
seems to have charged them all with consenting to, or with treating
lightly, the sin of incest.
Ver. 6. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment. The public
separation and shame of excommunication. Hence it follows that
the man repented after his excommunication, and is here absolved
by the Apostle.
Ver. 7. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him. For
give him the rest of his term of penance by admitting him to your
fellowship again. Cf. ver. 10.
Ver. 8. That ye would confirm your love toward him. By declaring
in public assembly of the Church that you once more embrace him
as a brother. There is an allusion in the Greek verb to the fixed
days of assembly for legal trials or elections, and the Apostle there
fore alludes to the fixed days of assembly in the Church, and bids
the Corinthians confirm their love then toward the incestuous person
by re-admitting him.
Ver. 9. For to this end also did I write. Viz., this Epistle, to the
end that I might induce you to confirm your love toward him.
That 1 might know the proof of you. A proof of your obedience.
Ver. 10. To whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also. You have
asked through Titus that he may be forgiven, and I make the same
request of you. So Theodoret explains these words. Cf. also chap.
vii. 7. It is clear from ver. 7 that this forgiveness had not yet taken
place, and the meaning therefore is : As, when you were gathered
together and my spirit I excommunicated him (i Cor. v.), so now
do I join with you in forgiving him, as you will forgive him at my
exhortation.
Observe against Luther that this Epistle was written to the rulers
of the Church, or rather to the Church itself, that it might exercise
this power of absolving, not corporately, but by the prelates. Yet out
of courtesy he wishes even the laity to co-operate in the absolution,
and by their consent, prayers, desire, and compassion to forgive this
1 6 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. I.
scandal which had been given to them and the Church, and to remit
the due canonical penance or punishment. Cf. i Cor. v. 4. Hence
he goes on to say, " For your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ."
S. Paul here asserts that he forgave in the exercise of his power and
jurisdiction as the vicar of Christ ; and he orders his sentence to be
publicly proclaimed in the Corinthian Church, by the bishop or some
other officer, and implies that the Corinthians forgave merely through
their prayers, consent, and execution of the sentence of absolution.
S. Chrysostom lays this down clearly when he says : " As when he
ordered the man to be cut off he did not allow that with them was any
authority to forgive, since he said, I have judged to deliver such an
one to Satan, so again did he admit them into partnership with him
when he said, When ye are gathered together to deliver him. He was
aiming at two ends, one that the sentence might be passed, and the other
that it should not be carried out without them, lest he should seem to
do them an injury by so acting. Neither does he pass sentence alone, lest
the Apostle should seem to be isolated and to despise them."
If I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave
I it in the person of Christ. I forgave it, i.e., I determined to forgive
it (ver. 7), and now by this letter and by the bearer, whether Titus or
some other, I forgive it. This is a Hebraism, by which the past is
put for the present.
It may be asked, What was it that the Apostle forgave ? I reply,
i. that this forgiveness consisted in giving absolution from excom
munication, and at the same time, or rather still more, in giving full
indulgence for the incest, i.e., remission of all the penalty due because
of it. It is evident from i Cor. v. that the punishment inflicted was
excommunication, and with it the penalty of ignominious exclusion
from the Church, and the handing over of his body to be afflicted by
Satan. Here, however, he absolves him from every chain by which
he had been bound.
2. To forgive, properly speaking, refers to guilt or punishment.
Of excommunication alone is it strictly said, " I absolve."
3. He re-admits him to grace, both on account of the zeal of the
Corinthians and the contrition of the incestuous person, and relaxes
INDULGENCES I/
his punishment and shame and rebuke, lest from too much sorrow
he should despair. This indulgence is referred to by the word any
thing. Whatever part of the punishment you have asked may be
forgiven him, I forgive him.
4. He remits the punishment not merely, as Calvin thinks, before
the Church, but in God s judgment : this is expressed by the phrase
in the person of Christ, otherwise there would not have been any
indulgence or mercy shown here to the fornicator. It is better to be
visited on earth with infamy and corporal punishment than before
the tribunal of God to be handed over to the fire, either of purgatory
or of hell.
Hence S. Thomas and others rightly lay down that the Apostle
and the Church give indulgences. So, in olden times, martyrs, when
in prison, sent to the Bishops men who had lapsed, praying them to
relax their punishment, as appears from Tertullian (ad Martyr, c. i),
Cyprian (Epp. n, 21, 22); and the Council of Nice (c. xi. and xii.)
grants to those that have lapsed that, according to the willingness
with which they bore the punishment inflicted on them, might the
Bishop give indulgence. Cf. Baronius, vol. i. p. 592. Observe that
the reason for giving indulgence was the fear that the penitent might
despair. Hence, formerly, indulgence was not given unless a good
part of the penalty had been paid, and that lest the vigour of disci
pline and of satisfaction, which is the third part of repentance, should
be relaxed. Cf. S. Cyprian (ad Martyr, lib. iii. Epp. 6). The Council
of Trent (sess. xxv.), in its decree on indulgences, orders that modera
tion should be shown in giving indulgences, according to the ancient
practice of the Church, lest ecclesiastical discipline should, by exces
sive leniency, be rendered lax.
If I forgave anything. He speaks modestly of his generosity.
Hence he adds that he did it in the Person of Christ.
In the person of Christ. This may be understood (i.) in the
presence of Christ. So Theodoret and Vatablus. This rendering
is eagerly adopted by Calvin and Beza, and read as if it meant, I
forgive him ex animo, really and not feignedly. (2.) Properly it
means, " I forgive him by the authority of Christ entrusted to me,
VOL. II. R
1 8 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. II.
who said, Whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven." So Theophylact renders it: "I forgive him just as if
Christ had forgiven him : just as a regent acts with the authority
of a king, and orders, passes laws, and pardons in his stead." As
S. Paul, in i Cor. v., had excommunicated the fornicator in the name
of Christ, so here, by the same authority, he sets him free, just as
any one who might have been condemned by the regent could not
be pardoned but by the regent himself.
Ver. ii. Lest Satan should get an advantage over us. Lest we be
deceived, and lest that fornicator be, by excessive severity, driven by
Satan to despair. The Greek verb means, lest we be seized unjustly,
and taken possession of by Satan, just as misers, usurers, and tyrants
defraud, and rob, and oppress. Hence Ambrose renders it, "Lest
we be possessed by Satan." For, as Theophylact says, when Satan
catches and deceives souls, he does not seize what is his own but
what is ours and Christ s. Hence Tertullian (de Pudidt. c. xiii.)
reads for the following clause : " We are not ignorant of his devices,"
"We are not ignorant of his robberies."
For we are ?iot ignorant of his devices. Plutarch relates an excel
lent saying of Chabrias, that " he is the best commander who knows
intimately the plans of the enemy." In like manner he is the best
Christian soldier and captain who knows thoroughly the devices and
machinations of Satan. He transforms himself into an angel of light,
that that which is a suggestion of our enemy the devil may seem to be
the counsel of a friendly angel. We often experience suggestions of
evil surmisings, bitterness of soul, anger, moroseness, cowardice, and
we think that we are moved by some good cause and by reason, and
that these things come forth from our own minds, when all the time
they proceed from the devil, who suggests them to our ruin. The
Christian, therefore, should, in such cases, reflect whether these
suggestions are in accordance with charity, humility, patience, grace,
and the law of Christ, and if he finds them to be opposed, let him
be sure that they are of the devil : if he is in doubt, let him take
counsel with his confessor, his superior, or some prudent man.
S. Anthony, by long experience, learnt this and taught it : he was
THE DEVICES OF SATAN 1 9
in the habit of constantly laying bare and explaining to his disciples,
the arts and devices of the devil, and of pointing out the way to defeat
them, as we read in the life of him by Athanasius. S. Francis, too,
frequently did the same thing, and so freed many of his followers from
the devil s temptations, as S. Bonaventura relates (Vita, lib. i. c. u).
In this way, then, Satan was instigating the leaders of the Corin
thian Church to show anger and indignation against this fornicator for
having so foully stained the first purity of his Church, to the end that,
being deprived of all comfort and hope, he might lose all heart and
become desperate. Paul saw through this intent of Satan, and here
exposes it, and bids them receive the fornicator once more into
grace, and give him, on his penitence, pardon and remission.
Vers. 12, 13. Furthermore, when I came to Troas . . . I had no
rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother. S. Jerome (ad
Hedibiani) says that Titus was S. Paul s interpreter, and explained the
sublime truths taught by him in Greek worthy of the subject. There
was, too, another reason why Paul went to Troas to meet Titus, viz.,
that he was anxious to hear from Titus, whom he had sent to Corinth,
the state of the Church there, before he himself fulfilled his promise
of returning thither. Hence, in chap. vii. 6, he says that he had been
comforted in Macedonia by the arrival of Titus, who brought him
word of the sorrow of the Corinthians and of their desire to see him.
Titus, however, seems to have reported to Paul that the time was not
yet ripe for his return to Corinth. Paul, therefore, postponed his
visit to Corinth, and sent on this letter to pave the way for him, and
to correct the failings of the Corinthians.
Ver. 14. Now thanks be unto God which always causeth us to tri
umph in Christ. The Syriac and Theophylact render this "triumphs
in us," i.e., makes us conspicuous to all. A triumph is the procession
of a victorious commander through the midst of the city with his
trophies and other signs of victory. But those things which seem to
us to be suffering and shame are our glory and triumph, says Theo
phylact. Secondly, Anselm understands it of God triumphing over
the devil in us or through us. Cf. Col. ii. 15.
The Apostle seems to have had to bear sharp persecution in
20 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. II.
Macedonia, and, indeed, in vii. 5 he says that he had suffered there
every kind of tribulation : without were fightings, within were fears ;
but God s grace gloriously and triumphantly overcame them all. S.
Jerome (Ep. 150 adHedibiam, qu. xi.) says beautifully that the Apostle
here gives thanks to God for counting him worthy to be the subject of
the triumph of His Son over so many persecutions and evils, which
he underwent in his task of converting the Gentiles to Christ. " For
the triumph of God," says S. Jerome, " is the suffering of the martyrs
for the name of Christ, the shedding of their blood, and their joy in the
midst of torture. For when any one saw the martyrs stand firm, and so
perseveringly endure tortures, and glory in their sufferings, the odour of
the knowledge of Christ was shed abroad among the Gentiles, and the
half unconscious thought would arise that if the Gospel were not true
it would never be proof against death." The preaching of the Gospel
therefore triumphs in the Apostles, inasmuch as in it faith overcomes
unbelief, truth falsehood, the love of Christ the hatred of the scornful,
patience every kind of suffering and persecution, and even death itself.
Ver. 15. We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ. Or, accord-
to the Latin, a sweet odour. We scatter by word and example a good
report of Christ to the honour of God. A good odour is exhaled from
special kinds of herbs and such things as sweet spices. Such was the
fame of the Apostles and of their preaching, such was the glory and
honour that sprang from their virtues and was due to their merits.
Hence the bride, i.e., the Church, in Cant. vii. i, compares herself
to a garden of sweet spices in which there is to be seen the beauty,
pleasantness, and fair order of the growing herbs and sweetly scented
flowers which exhale their delicious fragrance. This is what Christ
orders in S. Matt. v. 16, where by another metaphor glory and good
name are called the splendour that flows forth from the light of
good works.
S. Bernard (Serm. xii. in Cantic.} says excellently: " Paul was a
chosen vessel, truly a sweet-smelling vessel, filled with pleasant odours
and with every fair colour for the painter, for he was a good odour of
Christ in every place. Truly, far and wide was the fragrance of his
abundant sweetness scattered from that breast which so anxiously cared
THE SWEET ODOUR OF CHRIST 21
for all the Churches. For see what spices and aromas he had stored
up within : 1 die daily] he says, for your glory, and, Who is weak
and I am not weak ?
Observe again that, as the more spices are crushed the greater
is the fragrance they exhale, so is it with Christ, His Apostles and
Martyrs, and all the Saints : the greater the persecutions and tribu
lations that pressed them and, as it were, crushed them, the sweeter
was the odour that their virtue gave forth.
Cf. Ambrose and Anselm, and S. Bernard (Serm. 71 in Cantic.},
who discourses of the spiritual colour and odour of virtues from the
text, " I am the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the valley." He says :
" The character has its colours and its odours ; odour in the good re
port it bears, colour in the conscience within. The good intention of
your heart gives its colour to your work ; the example of your modesty
and virtue gives it its odour. The righteous is in himself a fair lily,
to his neighbour he is full of sweet odours. To our neighbour we owe
it that we maintain a good reputation, to ourselves that we are careful
to have a conscience void of offence." S. Jerome also, alluding to the
same passage, says : " The life and conversation of a Bishop, pastor, or
teacher ought to be such that all his goings out and comings in, and all
his works should be redolent of heavenly grace"
Heathen writers also employ this image of odour in rebuking evil
livers. Martial, e.g., says that "he smells not sweet who always
smells sweet," implying that that man s chastity was to be suspected
who was always endeavouring to overwhelm the foulness of his own
shameful disease by some artificial scent. Certainly we read of the
virgin Catherine of Sienna, that she was wont to close her nostrils
when she met any one that was impure, as though the smell of his
wickedness was grievous to her, God giving this most chaste virgin
perception of such things. S. Basil (Ef. 175) relates that some bird-
catchers were wont to dip the wings of tame doves in some sweet
liquid which was pleasant to other doves, so as to allure them and
catch them. So must the Christian do : by the sweet odour of his
virtues he must allure the lost and bring them to Christ. So did
the virgin Cecilia win to Christ her spouse Valerianus, by causing
SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. II.
him, on the first night of their marriage life, to smell the most
fragrant odour of her chastity, as though it were the scent of spring
roses.
Ver. 1 6. To the one we are the savour of death unto death, and to
the other the savour of life unto life. " We are," says Theophylact,
" a royal censer, and wherever we go we carry with us the odour of
the spiritual ointment, i.e., in every place we scatter the good fumes of
the knowledge of God." Again says CEcumenius : "As the fragrance of
ointment nourishes the dove and destroys the beetle, and as the light
of the sun gladdens the eyes that are healthy and hurts those that are
weak, as fire purifies gold and destroys straw, so is Christ ruin to the
evil, resurrection to the good." Observe the Hebraism, an odour of
death unto death, i.e., a deadly odour bringing death. The fragrance
of the fame of the life, preaching, and conversion of the Apostles
breathed life into the good, death into the evil ; for the wicked, un
able to bear the splendour of such holiness, hardened themselves
the more in their wickedness, envy, or hatred. But Clement of
Alexandria (Pad. lib. ii.) reads, "odour from death" and "odour
from life," which means : The preaching of the Cross and death of
Christ is an odour to the unbelievers arising from the death of
Christ, and tends to the ruin of those who regard that death merely
as a death, and find it accordingly foolishness or a stumbling-block :
but to them that believe it is an odour from life, inasmuch as they
embrace the life offered to them in this death. For the death of
Christ was the cause of his resurrection to a glorious life, and in us
it is the cause of our resurrection to the life of grace in this world,
and the life of glory in the world to come.
And who is sufficient for these things ? The ministers, says Am
brose, who are in every place a good odour of Christ are as few as
they are insufficient.
Ver. 17. For we are not as many which corrupt the word of God.
The particle for denotes that Paul, with the few other Apostles, was
by God s grace a fitting minister of Christ, and scattered wherever he
went the good odour of the Gospel, while many others were unfitting
preachers of the Gospel, of evil odour and of bad report.
CORRUPTERS OF THE WORD 23
The Latin for corrupt is "adulterate," which, Salmeron says, de
notes the act of one who has connection with a woman that is not his
wife ; so does he who mingles truth and falsehood adulterate the word
of God. S. Gregory (Morals, lib. xxii. c. 12) says : " To adulterate
the word of God is either to think of it otherwise than it is, or to seek
from it, not spiritual fruit but the corrupt offspring of human praise.
To speak in sincerity is to say nothing but what one ought, i.e., to seek
always the glory of the Creator." Again (Morals^ lib. xvi. c. 25) he
says: "An adulterer seeks not offspring but carnal delight; and
whoever perversely serves vain-glory is rightly said to adulterate the
word of God, because it is not his aim to beget children to God by
sacred eloquence but to display his own knowledge. WJiosoever there
fore is drawn to speak by the desire of vain-glory spends his labour
rather on pleasure than generation."
But the Greek word used here is not the word for committing
adultery, but one that denotes to traffic as an inn-keeper, and S.
Paul contrasts with this sincere dealing. They make the word of
God a matter of traffic, who, like inn-keepers, preach the Gospel for
gain, and look at it entirely from the point of view of their own
profit. Still the Latin accurately translates the passage, because, as
inn-keepers often adulterate the wine that they sell to increase
their profits, so do greedy and false preachers of the Gospel mingle
with it their own gain, and so adulterate that Gospel which should
be pure, and be purely referred to God s glory. " War is not a
matter of traffic," said King Pyrrhus, " but of fighting." Cowardly
captains, from dread of battle, stave it off by payment of money ;
others sell the loyalty they owe to their leader, and, like inn-keepers,
arrange with the enemy the price of the cities and fortresses en
trusted to their charge.
Again, these same false preachers, in order to add to their gain
and to win the applause of men, often teach and preach what they
see is pleasing to great men or to the people, and tickle their ears,
and so corrupt the Gospel with false and empty doctrines. The
Apostle seems to be here censuring incidentally his enemies the
false Apostles, who were adulterating Christianity with Judaism,
24 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. II.
and who are severely reproved by him in chaps, x. and xi. Hence,
in chap. iv. 2, he explains " corrupt " to mean " handle the word of
God deceitfully," and he contrasts himself and other sincere teachers
of the Gospel with these deceitful dealers in chap. iii.
But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in
Christ. I am not an inn-keeper, as are the false apostles, but a
sincere preacher of the word of God, preaching nothing but what I
have learned from God and have received at His mouth as His
ambassador. I know too, and constantly keep in mind and reflect
that I stand and preach in the presence of God, and that all that I
do or say is noted by Him and will have to be accounted for by me
in the hour of death.
In Christ, says S. Jerome (adHedibiam), is the same as>r Christ;
or it may mean of Christ and His religion." The sense then is : I
preach the doctrine of Christ alone, I spread the honour and glory
of Christ alone. Or in Christ may again be taken to mean that he
speaks and preaches in the truth, faithfulness, and sincerity of Christ.
S. Chrysostom once more takes it to mean through Christ and His
grace.
CHAPTER III
I Lest their false teachers should charge him with vainglory , he sheweth the faith
and graces of the Corinthians to be a sufficient commendation of his ministry.
6 Whereupon entering a comparison between the ministers of the law and of
the gospel, 12 he proveth that his ministry is so far the more excellent, as the
gospel of life and liberty is more glorious than the law of condemnation.
DO we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others,
epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you ?
2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men :
3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered
by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God ; not in tables
of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward :
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves ;
but our sufficiency is of God ;
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament ; not of the
letter, but of the spirit : for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious,
so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the
glory of his countenance ; which glory was to be done away :
8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the minis
tration of righteousness exceed in glory.
10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by
reason of the glory that excelleth.
n For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which re-
maineth is glorious.
12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech :
13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel
could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished :
14 But their minds were blinded : for until this day remaineth the same vail
untaken away in the reading of the old testament ; which vail is done away in
Christ.
15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
1 6 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
17 Now the Lord is that Spirit : and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty.
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of
the Lord.
25
26 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. III.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. Paul asserts that he does not seek or need the praise of men, as the
Judaising false apostles sought it : the fruit of his preaching is, he
says, his sufficient commendation.
ii. He states (ver. 6) the cause of this to be that the Apostles and other
ministers of the New Testament and of the Spirit were adorned by
God with more honour and glory than were Moses and the other mini
sters of the Old Testament and of the letter.
iii. He points out (ver. 13) that the Jews have still a veil over their heart
in reading the Old Testament, and so do not see Christ in it ; but that
they will see Him when this veil shall be taken away by Christ at
the end of the world.
Ver. i. Do we begin again to commend ourselves ? At the end of
the last chapter the Apostle had seemed to praise himself and seek
the favour of the Corinthians, hence he meets here any suspicion
of vain-glory.
Or need we . . . epistles of commendation to you . . . or from you ?
From you, i.e., written by you to commend me to others.
Ver. 2. Ye are our epistle. You, O Corinthians, converted by my
efforts, are to me like an epistle of commendation read and under
stood by all, which I can show as my credentials to whom I like.
As the work recommends the workman, and the seal faithfully is re
presented by its image, so do you commend me as though you were
a commendatory letter, sealed by yourselves. For all know what
you were before your conversion drunken, gluttonous, given up to
impurity and other evil lusts. Corinth was then an emporium, as
famous for its vices as its wares. But now all men see that you
have been completely changed, through my preaching, into diffe
rent men temperate, chaste, meek, humble, devout, liberal. This
your conversion, therefore, is my commendatory letter, i.e., the public
testimony of my preaching before all people.
Written in our hearts. You have been converted by me, and
indelibly written and engraven on my heart. This "epistle" was
twice written by S. Paul, (i.) He wrote it actually when he instilled
into the mind of the Corinthians the faith and Spirit of Christ. (2.)
CONFIDENCE IN GOD 2/
He wrote it and imprinted it on his own heart by his care and love
of them. (3.) Christ again was inscribed on their hearts by Paul s
ministry, as if by a pen ; and Christ Himself, by Paul s preaching,
imprinted on them his faith, hope, charity, and other graces, not
with ink, but by the inspiration of the Spirit of the living God, who
filled their hearts with charity and all virtues.
Ver. 3. In fleshy tables of the heart. Not in hard stone, as was
the law of Moses, but in a heart tender, soft, and teachable. There
is an allusion to Jer. xxxi. 33. The Apostle, we should notice, makes
a distinction between crap/avo?, used here, and vapKiKos: the first
denotes the natural condition of flesh its softness, c.; the other that
which has the vices and corruptions of flesh. Cf. Rom. vii. 14 and
i Cor. iii. 3. Other writers, however, do not observe this distinction.
Nazianzen, e.g., applies the latter of these terms to the incarnation and
manhood of Christ.
Ver. 4. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward.
The Greek word 7re7roi#rjo-is, used here, denotes that confident con
viction which makes the mind strive to attain some difficult end that
it longs for, as though it were certain of success. Such is the con
fidence which is inspired into the Saints by the Holy Spirit enabling
them to work miracles or other heroic works of virtue. This con
fidence God is wont to demand as a fitting disposition, and to
give beforehand, both in him who performs and in him who receives
the benefit of the miracle or other Divine gift, in order that the soul
may, by this gift, expand and exalt itself, and become capable of
receiving Divine power. S. Paul says in effect : " This confident
persuasion that you are our epistle, written by the Spirit of the living
God, we have before God through the grace of Christ; we have
hope and sure confidence in God that, as He has begun, so will
He finish this epistle by His Spirit." In the second place this trust
is the confidence S. Paul had before God, which enabled him to
glory confidently in God of this epistle of his and of God, and of
the dignity of his ministry, and of its fruit, when compared with the
ministry of Moses and of other Old Testament ministers.
Ver. 5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything
28 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. III.
as of ourselves. To think anything that is good and is ordained
to faith, grace, merit, and eternal salvation, so as to make a man
an able minister of the New Testament. But if no one is able to
think any such thing, he is still less able to do it. Cf. Council of
Arausica (can. 7) and S. Augustine (de Prcedest. Sanct. c. ii.).
1. From this passage S. Augustine lays down, in opposition to
the semi-Pelagians, in which he is followed by the Schoolmen, that
the will to believe and the beginning of faith and salvation, and
every desire for it, come, not from free-will but from prevenient
grace. Hence Beza wrongly charges the Schoolmen with teaching
that the beginning of good is from ourselves, though weakly and
insufficiently ; for they all alike teach that the beginning of a good
and holy life, of good thoughts and actions, and salvation in general
is supernatural, and has its origin in the grace of God, not in nature
or the goodness of our will.
2. Calvin is mistaken in inferring from this passage that there
is no power in free-will which may be exerted in the works of grace,
but that the whole strength and every attempt and act spring from
grace. The Apostle says only that free-will is in itself insufficient,
not that it has no power whatever. Just as an infirm man has a cer
tain amount of strength, but not enough for walking, and has enough
for walking if any one else help him, and give him a start and support,
so too free-will is of itself insufficient for good works, but is sufficient
if it be urged on, strengthened, and helped by prevenient grace.
It may be said that the sufficiency Paul speaks of here may be,
as Theophylact and the Syriac render it, power, strength, or might.
I answer that this is true ; for the power and strength of free-will
for a supernatural work, and of grace, which makes it supernatural,
pleasing, to God, and worthy and meritorious of eternal life, are
not from free-will, but from exciting and co-operating grace. When
free-will has this, it is sufficiently able to believe freely, to love, and
to work any supernatural work whatever. For free-will has for every
work natural strength able to produce a free work ; therefore these
two causes concur here in the same work, one natural, viz., free-will,
the other supernatural, viz., grace. Each, too, has its corresponding
GRACE AND FREE-WILL 29
effect : the effect of grace is that it is a supernatural work, of free-will
that it is free and the work of man. In the same way an infirm
man is not only not strong enough, but wholly unable to walk,
because it is a task beyond his strength ; but he becomes able if
he is given strength by a friend, or from some other source, and
then he unites his own strength, however little it be, with that lent
to him, and is able to walk. Still the strength that comes from
without has to start him and begin his walking, and the whole force
and energy with which he walks is to be found in the strength that
is given him. That he tries to walk beyond his strength is not from
himself but from without; but when it is once given, he puts forth
his own strength and co-operates with it, and produces an effect
commensurate to his efforts. In the same way free-will co-operates
with exciting grace, and acts as a companion to it in every super
natural work, in such way as its strength enables it.
We learn from this passage to recognise in every good work our
own weakness, and to ascribe to Christ s grace all the goodness and
worth of what we do. S. Gregory (Morals, lib. xxii. c. 19), says : "Let
no one think himself to have any virtue, even when he can do anything
successfully ; for if he be abandoned by the strength that comethfrom
above he will be suddenly overthrown helplessly on the very ground
where he was boasting of his firm standing." S. Augustine (contra
Julian, lib. ii, c. 8) commends the refutation of the Pelagians by S.
Cyprian in the words : " They trust in their strength and exclaim that
the perfection of their virtue is from themselves ; but you, O Cyprian,
reply that no one in his own strength is strong, but is safe only under
the merciful indulgence of God" The Psalmist, too, says the same
thing (Ps. lix. 9) : " My strength will I guard unto Thee," meaning
that he would lay it up in safety under his ward, hoping to over
come his enemies in God s strength and not in his own, because
God is the Fount of all virtue and strength. Cf. Ezek. xxix. 3, 5,
where Pharaoh is forewarned of his fate for ascribing his power and
success to himself.
Again, this passage teaches us to pray to God constantly that He
would direct our thoughts, and inspire us with heavenly thoughts
30 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. III.
and desires, for such are the fount and beginning of all good works.
This is beautifully expressed in the Collect for the Ninth Sunday after
Trinity. S. Bernard (Serm. 32 in Cantic.} says learnedly and piously :
" Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything good as of
ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God. When, therefore, we find evil
thoughts in our heart, they are our own ; if we find a good thought, it
is the word of God : Our heart utters the former and hears the latter.
I will hear, it says, what the Lord God will say in me, for He
shall speak peace to His people. So, then, he speaks in us peace, righteous
ness, godliness ; we do not think such things of ourselves, but we hear
them within ourselves ; but murders, adulteries, thefts, blasphemies, and
such things proceed from the heart: we do not hear them, we say them,"
or at all events they are suggested to us by the devil.
Ver. 6. Not of the letter but of the spirit. Not of the law, but of
grace. I am a minister of the New Testament, but not in such a
way that I bring tables of the law and of the covenant and its words,
as did Moses in the Old Testament, but so that God may by my
words inspire into you heavenly thoughts and desires. Cf. Augustine
(de Spirit, et Lit. c. iii.X
For the letter killeth. (i.) Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine (de
Doctr. Christ, lib. iii. c. 4) explain this to be that the letter of the law
convicts and condemns them to death who do not obey this letter,
i.e., the precepts of the law relating to righteousness and charity. For
this letter of the law enacts that whosoever breaketh the law is to
die the death. (2.) S. Augustine gives another explanation : If you
abuse the literal meaning, and neglect the sense of Scripture, and fall
into error, as Jews and heretics do, then the letter killeth. (3.) When
metaphorical sayings are taken literally (S. Augustine, ibid. c. v., vi.).
(4.) When types of the new law contained in the old are understood
to be still binding in their literal meaning (ibid. Cf. also Origen, contra
Celsum, lib. iii. ; Didymus, de Spirit. Sanct. lib. iii.). The Fathers in
general frequently say that the letter, i.e., the literal meaning of the
law killeth, but the spirit, i.e., the spiritual and allegorical meaning,
giveth life. This is because it is not now lawful to Christians to ob
serve the ceremonies and ritual precepts of the old law literally under
THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT
penalty of death ; but they are bound to do what those ceremonies
allegorically signified if they wish to attain the life of grace and glory.
(5.) S. Augustine again in the same place says that the letter, both of
the old and new law, killeth if separated from the spirit; but that this
passage refers to the old law alone, because Moses, when he gave the
law, gave only the letter, but Christ gave the spirit and the letter,
and from this he lays down that the law cannot be fulfilled by the
strength of nature alone, but requires the grace of Christ. (6.) S.
Augustine once more and Anselm say that the letter killeth by giving
occasion to sin for the law is the occasion by which concupiscence
is kindled and sin produced which kills the soul. This sense and
the first are the most literal.
But the Spirit giveth life, (i.) The Spirit gives to the soul the
supernatural life of grace and charity. (2.) He gives motives and
strength for good works and for fulfilling the law. (3.) He guides
us towards that eternaUife promised by the law to them that keep it.
Of this life and Spirit the Apostles were sent by Christ as ministers.
Ver. 7. If the ministration of death . . . was glorious. If the
ministration and promulgation of the old law, which threatened and
brought death and condemnation, were glorious, i.e., accompanied
by thundering and the sound of the heavenly trumpet, by an earth
quake and the splendour of Moses countenance : if the old law,
engraven on tables of stone, was so gloriously promulgated, how
much more glorious is the Gospel?
Paul here calls the old law the attendant and lictor of death,
because it could indeed slay them that broke it, but not give life to
them that kept it. From this we may gather that S. Paul is writing
against the false apostles, and that they were Jews who were en
deavouring to blend the old and the new law. He therefore
silences the Jews by depreciating the old law as the law of con
demnation, and by extolling himself and his fellow-apostles as the
ministers of the evangelical law of righteousness and the life of the
Spirit. Cf. in this connection chaps, x. and xi.
Ver. 8. How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glo
rious 1 This glory of the evangelical law of righteousness was seen in
32 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. III.
the mighty wind and the different tongues of fire which, when the
new law was promulgated, glorified the Apostles before all nations.
It was seen too in the gifts of tongues, of prophecy, &c., which used
to descend visibly on Christians, as appears from i Cor. xiv. 26 ;
even as now the graces, gifts and virtues of the Holy Spirit are
received invisibly.
So that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of
Moses for the glory of his countenance. God as a sun so brilliantly
shone on the face of Moses on the mount that his face shone as a
second sun. The Vulgate rendering of Exod. xxxiv. 29 is that "he
wist not that his face was horned while He talked with him," where
the " horns " of course refer to the appearance of rays of light.
Which glory was to be done away. This bright glory left Moses
when he was dying, to signify that the old law would fade away with
its glory when the new came.
Ver. 10. For even that which was made glorious, &c. For, by
a common Hebraism, is here assertive, not causal. The glory of
Moses cannot be called glory when compared with that of the
Apostolic office, which far excels it. "As" says Theodoret, "the
light of a lantern shines at night, but is at noonday overpowered by
the sun, so was the glory of Moses overshadowed by Christ." This is
the bearing of the phrase " by reason of the glory that excelleth."
Ver. 12. Seeing then that we have such hope. Since the Lord
diffuses the spirit of grace by us His Apostles, we have hope that
He will hereafter give us glory far beyond that of Moses.
We use great plainness of speech. We preach the Gospel boldly,
freely, frankly, openly.
Ver. 1 3. And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face. Moses
veiled his face, but we do not veil the face of Christ, but with great
freedom bid all gaze upon it. From Exod. xxxiv. 33 we gather
that Moses in his first interview with the people spoke to them with
unveiled face because of the reverence due to the majesty of the
law, but that he afterwards veiled his face that he might with the
greater freedom speak to them. But when he entered the tabernacle
^Exod. xxxiii. 8), to converse with God, he took away the veil. In
THE SPLENDOUR OF THE GOSPEL 33
this and the next three verses, S. Paul gives the allegorical meaning
of this veiling ; for to the Jews the Old Testament is covered with
a veil, so that they do not see the light of the New Testament, and
Christ contained in it. From us, however, Christ has taken away
the veil, and will take it away from the Jews when they are con
verted at the end of the world.
S. Gregory (Pastor, pt. iii. c. 5) says tropologically : " The
preacher should, like Moses, suit himself to his hearers: what is
deep ought to be concealed from many that hear, and be opened out
io very few"
That the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end.
This is the reading of the Greek MSS., the Syriac, and the older
Latin authors, as Ambrose, but the Latin reads to the face. The end
is Christ, mystically signified by the unveiled brightness of the face
of Moses, as Ambrose and Theodoret say. Others take it more
literally : they could not look on the perfect splendour of the face
of Moses, or again, they could not look on the extremity of the
surface of his face. Theophylact again explains it : " The ignorant
Israelites could not see that the law was to have an end and be
abolished." But this is a mystical meaning; the second is the
literal meaning.
Which is abolished. The splendour of Moses was to be abolished,
or the brightness of his face. These words may refer either to the
face or to the veil, but it is better to understand them of the veil,
especially as the following verses refer to the removal of the veil of
Moses by the light of the law of the New Testament.
Theodoret observes that the sun-like splendour of the face of
Moses typified the glorious brightness of the law of Christ, while
the veil typified the shadow under which the dumb ceremonies of
Moses lay. The Jews have not even yet been able to see the face
of Moses without the veil, because they unbelievingly insist on the
reality of their shadowy ceremonies, and have no eyes for the light
of the Gospel.
Ver. 14. But their minds were blinded. They were blinded by
the brightness of the face of Moses, and, allegorically, blinded by
VOL. n. c
34 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. III.
the Gospel light. As this clause is the antithesis to the preceding,
both meanings are included.
Until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading
of the Old Testament. The Apostle is still continuing the allegorical
sense. Moses and the Old Testament till to-day are veiled to the
Jews, so that they cannot see that Christ is signified by so many
figures, prophecies, ceremonies, and sacrifices. Again, the Old
Testament is veiled to them, because they read it but do not under
stand its meaning nor see its end and intent, its light and splendour,
which is Christ : the eyes of their mind are dull and heavy, as
formerly were the eyes of their body when they could not gaze on
the shining face of Moses.
Which vail is done away in Christ. This veil, by the grace and
faith of Christ, is removed, so that we can clearly see Christ fore
shadowed in the Old Testament.
Ver. 15. The vail is upon their heart. This veil is the foolish
pertinacity with which the Jews still stubbornly cling to the carnal
sacrifices and rites of the Old Law, and so are blinded that they
cannot see Christ typified by them
Ver. 17. Now the Lord is that Spirit, (i.) The Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit are not body but spirit. Spirit in this explanation
is taken essentially for what is common to the Three Persons. So S.
Ambrose. (2.) Spirit here may stand for the Holy Spirit : the
Greek MSS. have the definite article, and Roman Bibles and others
spell it with a capital; for the Jews acknowledge one Lord and
God, but deny that there is a plurality of Persons, and that the Holy
Spirit is God. When the Jews shall have the veil taken away and
shall be converted to the Lord and to belief in the Blessed Trinity,
then will they serve the Lord their God, not in the letter, with dumb
corporeal ceremonies, but in the spirit. The God to whom they
shall be converted is Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will give them the
law of the Spirit of liberty, that with the eyes of their spirit they
may see Christ veiled, under the law, and may worship Him in spirit
and in truth. Cf. S. John iv. 23. S. Augustine (ad Serapiori)
thus explains this last passage : " We must worship the Father in
WORSHIP IN THE SPIRIT 35
truth> i.e., in the Son and Holy Spirit, We must worship the Three
Persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" But
this is the mystical meaning.
Literally, Christ said this against the Samaritans and Jews; for
the Samaritans worshipped God with worship that was false and
devised by themselves, and so worshipped God together with idols ;
consequently the God of their worship was not the true God, but a
created god of their imaginations, and the companion of idols. The
Jews worshipped the true God indeed, but under fixed corporeal
signs, which were shadows of things to come. To both of these
Christ opposes Christians, who worship God in spirit and not in
corporeal signs, and in truth instead of in shadows, falsehood, and
ignorance. God is an incorporeal and pure Spirit. Spirit, therefore,
in this passage denotes the spiritual worship of faith, hope, charity,
and other virtues, by which God is worshipped in truth, i.e., most
truly, rightly, and properly, and not by shadows. Wherefore the
sacraments and ceremonies of the New Law, since they are not
shadows of the Old Law, but ornaments and helps of the Spirit, belong
to the Spirit. Theophylact, Theodoret, Chrysostom thus explain
the passage, and prove from it against Macedonius that the Holy
Spirit is God.
It may be said that the same Spirit is afterwards called "the
Spirit of the Lord." How, then, is He the Lord? The answer
is : He is " the Lord " because He is God ; He is " of the Lord "
because He proceeds from the Father and the Son.
And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Liberty
denotes a spontaneous, frank, free, and clearly illuminated will.
Now that the veil of Moses has been taken away, we can, with
clear and spontaneous will, walk according to the law of God. So
Theophylact.
Notice that liberty is not here opposed to the obligation of law,
Divine or human, as heretics think, but both to the veil of Moses,
or the obscurity of the Old La\v r and to the letter, or to the servile
compulsion, fear, and deadness of the law. This liberty, therefore,
is twofold. See notes to ver. 6.
36 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. III.
1. Liberty is, says Chrysostom, an understanding and clear know
ledge of the mystery of the Trinity, of the incarnation, and other
things that are obscure to the Jews. It is also a knowledge of true
religion and of Divine worship, which the Jews supposed to con
sist in the sacrifice of bulls and goats, though God wills to be
worshipped in spirit and in truth. Just as heaviness, dulness, per
plexity, and ignorance of the understanding, which hold the mind
as it were fast bound in chains, are rightly called slavery, so
on the other hand illumination of the intellect and clear know
ledge are rightly called liberty, because the mind, set free from
ignorance, error, and crass conceptions, is able to freely devote
itself to truth, to God, to things spiritual and Divine. Hence
Aristotle, Plutarch, Seneca, and others used to say that the wise
man alone was free.
2. Liberty, as S. Augustine says, is to be found in the affections
and in the love of righteousness, in freedom from fear of punish
ment, in the spontaneous fulfilling of the law from love of virtue,
and not from fear of punishment. This free spirit of Christian love
is contrasted with the slavery of Jewish fear. This is evident from
the context. The Begardi, three hundred years ago, and the
Suencfeldiani and Libertines of the present day, are therefore as
impious, as ignorant, and foolish (a) in rejecting, on the supposed
authority of ver. 6, the written word of God, as though it were a
sun that had set, and in holding that the light within is sufficient
for our guidance; () in teaching that a holy and perfect man is
set free from the law and does not sin, even if he commit fornication.
(c) They are followed by many others, who deduce the invalidity of
all human laws. Cf. Bellarmine (de Justific. lib. iv. c. 3 and 4),
and Belliolanus, in the fifteen books he wrote on Christian Liberty.
S. Augustine (de Continentia, c. iii.) says excellently : " We are not
under a law which orders good and does not give it, but we are under
grace, which makes us love what the law orders, and which can, there
fore, give orders to free men." Cf. the same Father (de Spirit, et Lit.
c. x., and de Natura et Graf. c. 57).
Ver. 1 8. But we all with open face. The open face is that of
THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL 37
Christ incarnate or of the mysteries of the faith. We, looking on
them, see the glorious Godhead of the Lord and His grace, and
the work of our redemption foreshadowed in Moses and the Old
Testament.
Beholding as in a glass. "Seeing as in a mirror, not beholding
as from a watch-tower," says S. Augustine (de Trin. lib. xv. c. 8) ;
but Erasmus renders the passage, "representing in a mirror,"
because he says this is the image of the glory of God. But the
Greek verb is clearly to see, not represent in a mirror, and besides
the representation is spoken of in the next phrase, "are changed
into the same image." Since we see the glory of God in Christ
and His Gospel, as though in a mirror, we are by this transformed
into the same image of God, and we represent in ourselves this
glory. This mirror, therefore, is the cause of the image, not the
image itself.
The Apostle here means by mirror the Word clothed in flesh,
and made visible, and whatever is put before our eyes in the Gospel
and in the Church, and he contrasts all this with Moses veiled.
Hence, in the next chapter, he speaks of the image of God ; for
Christ as God is the Word and image of the Father, as Man He
is the mirror of the Deity and His grace and glory; consequently
the Gospel of Christ is nothing but a most clearly polished mirror
of the glory of God. Hence S. Augustine calls his " Sentences " a
mirror.
"Mirror" may also be taken here to mean the faith through
which, as through a mirror darkly, we behold God and the things of
God. Cf. notes to i Cor. xiii. 12.
Are changed into the same image. Not essentially, as though our
essence were changed into the Divine Essence, or into its archetypal
being, which it had in God from eternity before it was created, of
which S. John speaks when he says, " That which was made was in
Him life." This is the error of Almaric and other fanatics, which
is refuted by Gerson in his two epistles written against Ruisbroch,
and of Ruisbroch himself (de Vera Contempt). But we are changed
per accidens, i.e., by the rays of the light of Christ being reflected
38 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. III.
on us as from a mirror, we become bright with the light of the faith
and grace of Christ, and so we become like mirrors flashing out the
light of heaven, and like suns illuminating others, as Chrysostom
and Theophylact say. Nay, we become as gods, sharing in the
Divine Nature, as S. Peter says. " God foreknew and predestinated
us to be conformed to the image of His Son," says S. Paul. He
alludes to Moses, who, beholding God and conversing with Him,
received the rays of light reflected from God, as was said in the
note to ver. 7. Moses did not see God Himself, but in a glori
ous, assumed body which acted as a mirror. Tertullian (contra
Martian, lib. v.) reads here, we are transfigured, as though Paul
was alluding to the transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor, when
Christ, brilliant with the light of His glory, shed it over Moses and
Elias and the Apostles, and as it were transfigured them. In the
same way, by the Gospel and the grace and faith of Christ, we are
transformed and transfigured, inasmuch as we are made partakers
of the truth, brightness, and glory of God, so that we are able to
communicate them to others, and at last we reflect them on God
Himself, from whom they first came.
"The whole life of Christ," says S. Augustine, "which was spent
as man on earth, was a mirror giving us a pattern of good living."
How wise are they who gaze constantly into this mirror, and do all
they can to conform their lives to it, and so are transformed into
different men, into heavenly, angelic, and Divine beings !
From glory to glory, (i.) From the glory of Christ into our own
glory, so that we become clear and bright with grace and wisdom,
even as Christ. (2.) From the brightness of faith into the bright
ness of sight. (3.) From the brightness of creation into the bright
ness of justification, according to Anselm. (4.) Daily growing
more and more glorious, till we come to the glory of the Beatific
Vision. Cf. notes to Rom. i. 17. Maldonatus (No fee mss.) gives
a further explanation : " Progressing from the glory of the Old
Testament to the glory of the New." So it is said in Rom. i. 17,
"from faith to faith."
Even as by the Spirit of the Lord. This change is through the
SPIRITUAL GLORY 39
Spirit of the Lord. Even as denotes the cause that is suitable to,
and worthy of, so great a change, such, i.e., as it becomes the Holy
Spirit to work. S. Basil and S. Chrysostom argue from these words
against Macedonius that the Holy Spirit is God, and that it is He
that taketh away the veil and gives understanding of the Scriptures.
Tertullian finally (contra Marcion, lib. v. c. n) reads here: "Even
as by the Lord of Spirits."
CHAPTER IV
I He dedareth how he hath used all sincerity and fait hf til diligence in preaching
the gospel, 7 and how the troubles and persecutions which he daily endured for
the same did redound to the praise of God s power, \2to the benefit of the church,
1 6 and to the apostle s own eternal glory.
I IIEREFORE seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we
JL faint not :
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in
craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully ; but by manifestation of
the truth commending ourselves to every man s conscience in the sight of
God.
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost :
4 In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe
not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, wLo is the image of God, should
shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord ; and ourselves your
servants for Jesus sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in
our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power
may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed ; we are perplexed, but
not in despair ;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken ; cast down, but not destroyed ;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
1 1 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus sake, that the
life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed,
and therefore have I spoken ; we also believe, and therefore speak ;
14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by
Jesus, and shall present us with you.
1 15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the
thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
1 6 For which cause we faint not ; but though our outward man perish, yet the
inward man is renewed day by day.
40
THE HIDDEN THINGS OF DISHONESTY 41
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory ;
1 8 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are
not seen : for the things which are seen are temporal ; but the things which are
not seen are eternal.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. From what was said in the last chapter of the glory and honour
belonging to the office of a preacher of the Gospel, S. Paul proceeds
to assert that he discharges that office holily, sincerely, and blame
lessly. He declares this to be a fact plainly known to all except to
those whose minds were blinded.
ii. lie declares (ver. 7) that he and the other Apostles undergo many
sufferings on behalf of the Gospel without flinching, and that they
with fortitude always bear about in their bodies the mortification of
Jesus, on account of the hope of resurrection to a better life.
iii. He points out (ver. 17) that this our tribulation is but light and short
lived, and works an eternal weight of glory.
Ver. i. Therefore seeing we have this ministry. The ministry of
the New Testament, the excellency of which has been dwelt on
in the preceding chapter. To this God in His mercy has called
us, His unworthy Apostles.
We faint not. We do not yield, are not daunted by dangers and
difficulties, are not wearied, as Erasmus turns it.
Ver. 2. But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. All
hidden and disgraceful wickedness. What is vile loves darkness,
and those who seek for what is impure have ever in their mouth,
" If not chastely, yet cautiously." S. Paul means : I do nothing, not
even in secret, with which fault can be found : I am no hypocrite,
like many false apostles. S. Ambrose (Offic. lib. ii. c. 3), alluding
to the ring of Gyges, which enabled him to see all and be seen by
none, and so led him to deflower the queen and slay the king, and
get possession of the throne of Lydia, says beautifully : " Give this
ring to a wise man, that by its power he may be hid from the eyes of
all if he does wrong: he will none the less flee from the stain of sin,
though he be seen by none. The wise maris hiding-place is not to be
found in fear of punishment, but in hope of keeping innocency . Law
is not laid doivn for the righteous, but for the unrighteous ; for the
42 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IV.
righteous man is a law to himself in the uprightness of his heart, and
has his rule of righteousness within" To the same effect is the
golden sentence of Seneca : "Even if I were sure that no man would
know, and that God would forgive, yet the hatefulness of sin would
prevent me from sinning." Add to this that even if we escape the
notice of men when we sin, yet we cannot escape from the all-seeing
eye of God, who will judge and punish. Therefore let every one
renounce with S. Paul the hidden things of dishonesty, and live
chastely, and keep his heart pure, just as if he were standing in the
presence of God.
Not walking in craftiness. Professing to be one thing and
secretly doing another. The words are aimed at the lust of the false
apostles, and their secret evil-living. Cf. Eph. v. 1 2.
Nor handling the word of God deceitfully. As the false apostles
do, who mix it up with the law of Moses, or fashion their teaching
after the needs of time, place, and persons. These three were
excellently performed by Luther, (i.) He falsified Rom. iii. 28,
"We conclude that a man is justified by faith," by adding the word
" only " to faith ; and also 2 Pet. i. 10 : " Give diligence by good works
to make your calling and election sure," by omitting the words
"by good works." (2.) He wrested the word of God to his own
lusts when he tried to persuade a certain woman that it was lawful
for her to lie with him whilst her husband was asleep, on the autho
rity of i Cor. vii. 39 : " If her husband sleep, she is at liberty." (3.)
To suit different places, times, and persons, he gave different expo
sitions of the words of consecration. Caspar Querhamer Saxo has
published thirty-six contradictory explanations of his on the sub
ject of the Eucharist alone, collected from his writings during his
lifetime.
Commending ourselves to every man s conscience. Those who follow
their conscience and form their judgments by it see that what I say
is true, and if they would say what they think, they cannot deny that
I preach with sincerity, as in the presence of God, seeing and fearing
God everywhere as my witness and judge.
Ver. 3. But if our Gospel be hid. So as not to be understood and
THE GOD OF THIS WORLD 43
hence not believed. He alludes to the veil of Moses (iii. 13), and
anticipates the objection : " If you, O Paul, manifest, as you say, the
word of God in truth, and commend yourself to every man s con
science, how comes it that this word of God of yours is not manifest
to all? Why do not all believe it?" He replies that it is plain
enough to the good and faithful, but to the wicked and unbelieving it
is hidden and unknown, because they are reprobate. He is not speak
ing of the written Gospel, as heretics suppose, as though that were
clear to all the elect, but of the mysteries of the Gospel, or the articles
of the faith that are open and obvious to every Christian, such as
the birth, Passion, and resurrection of Christ. These truths were
preached by Paul and the Apostles before the Gospels were com
mitted to writing ; and when this letter was written, all the Gospels
were not yet written.
To them that are lost. It is the proof and cause of their reprobation
that they have a veil of blindness and unbelief over their heart, which
prevents them from seeing and believing Christ and His mysteries,
which are so clearly set forth in the Gospel and the New Testament.
Ver. 4. In whom the god of this world hatk blinded the minds of
them which believe not. Who is meant by the " god of this world ? "
(i.) Marcion, according to Chrysostom, inferred that there is a certain
god, just but not good, who was the creator of the world. (2.) The
Manicheans reply that it is the devil, and that he was the creator of
the world and of matter in general. (3) Chrysostom, Anselm, Theo-
doret, and Theophylact make the sentence run : God, i.e., the true
God, hath blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this world ; or
God, the true God, the author and maker of the world, hath blinded
the minds of them that believe not. (4.) CEcumenius and S. Thomas
say : The God of this world is the devil, who is the god of worldly
men, not by having created them, but in the way of wickedness,
example, power, and suggestion. This seems the simplest explana
tion ; for S. Paul does not call him God simply, but the God of this
world,./".!?., of worldly men, who prefer the perishing things of time to
the realities of eternity. Cf. Eph. vi. 12. (5.) S. Thomas also says:
"The God of this world is mammon, or the power and pomp that men
44 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IV.
of the world make their chief good and set up as their god. Cf.
Phil. iii. 19.
Them which believe not. The construction is a Hebraism. The
Gospel is hidden in the case of unbelievers who perish, in whom i.e.,
of whom, the God of this world hath blinded the minds.
Lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ . . . should shine unto
them. The Greek word avyrj, from which the verb here is derived,
denotes, say Chrysostom and Theophylact, a faint light and foreshine
of clear light, i.e., of the brightness of the Divine glory which will
be revealed in heaven. As the dawn and the morning star precede
the sun, so does faith in this life, like a morning star, go before the
brightness of the sight of the Beatific Vision. Cf. 2 Pet. i. 19. The
Gospel is called the " Gospel of the glory of Christ," or the "glorious
Gospel of Christ," because by it Christ is glorified.
Who is the image of God. (i.) This is strictly true of the Son, who
proceeds from the Father as His image. (2.) The Son is called the
image of the Father, because He is begotten by Him in such a way
that He is most like to the Father, and most perfectly represents
Him. He is the Word of God or the Wisdom of God, in whom the
Father beholds His own Wisdom mirrored. "Word," however, stands
for a concept of the mind, and is an image of the thought of the
mind, and so He is distinguished from the Holy Spirit, who, though
He perfectly resembles the Father, yet is not this by the mere fact
of His procession ; for by that He is merely the bond of union in will
and love between the Father and the Son. (3.) The Son is the image
of the Father by reason of His Divine Essence, inasmuch as He has
received It from the Father. For, since He has received It from the
Father, He is in reality diverse in Person, just as an image is diverse
from its original. Moreover, since He has received His Essence from
the Father, He is most like to Him, and in all things represents Him.
Observe the depth of the Apostle s statements. The world re
ceives the light of faith from the Apostles, they from Christ, in the
same way that Moses received it from an angel representing Christ ;
Christ from the Father, in the same way that light proceeds from light,
and a ray from the sun.
THE IMAGE OF THE FATHER 45
Ver. 5. Ourselves your servants for fesus sake. Supply "we
show," or " we preach."
Ver. 6. For God , . . hath shined in our hearts. In the account
of the creation of the world given in Genesis, light is said to have
been created first of all, because light is a quality most splendid, pleas
ant, gladdening, useful, efficacious, and powerful. Cf. Dionysius (de
Divin. Nomin. c. iv.), who enumerates thirty-four properties of light
and of fire wonderfully adapted to set forth God and the things
belonging to Him. Cf. note to Gen. i. 2.
Hugo (de Sacram. pag. i. c. 10) and others point out, by way of
allegory, that on the first day, when light was created and divided
from darkness, the good angels were established in good and the
evil in evil, and were separated each from other. What, therefore,
was done in the world of sense was an image of what was being
done in the unseen world. Nay, S. Augustine frequently maintains
that the literal sense is that which refers to the angels.
The Apostle here explains this light tropologically. As God
formerly produced light out of darkness, so now has He made
unbelievers into believers, and has enlightened them with the light
of faith. So, too, S. Augustine (contra Advers, Leg. lib. i. c. 8) lays
down that by light and day succeeding the pre-existing darkness,
and being again succeeded by darkness, is signified what spiritually
takes place in man, viz., grace succeeding sin, and sin again grace.
2o give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. To illuminate us, that we in turn may illuminate
others with that clear and glorious knowledge which shines forth
from God in the face of Christ, or else by means of our clear
knowledge of Christ and His redemption. It is commonly said that
a man is known by his face ; hence to know " in the face "signifies
to know clearly and openly. Just as at night a lighted torch throws
light on the surrounding darkness, and is carried before travellers
to show them the way clearly, so does Christ lighten us in the
night of this world, so that we know God surely and plainly, and go
on our way to see Him in the life of bliss in heaven. Hence the
Glossa symbolically explains these words to mean : by Jesus Christ,
46 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IV.
who is the Face of the Father ; for without Him the Father is not
known. There is still kept up an allusion to the veil over Moses
face contrasted with the open face of Christ (iii. 15). The word
face maybe, with theSyriac, translated the person, i.e., we illuminate,
others in the name, place, and authority of Christ. S. Cyril (de Fide
ad Theodor. Imp.} says : " He hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. .See how openly and plainly the light of the knowledge of
God the Father has shone forth in the person of Christ."
Ver. 7. But we have this treasure. The treasure is the ministry
and preaching of the Gospel entrusted to him by God. Cf. ver. i
and vers. 5 and 6.
In earthen vessels, (i.) In a body of dust frail and fragile. Our
body is as an earthenware vessel; for as an earthen vessel is
nothing but clay baked in the fire, so is our body nothing but
earth made solid by the heat of the soul. Take away the soul, and
the body returns to the dust whence it came. Cf. Ps. ciii. 14.
Or, (2.) in earthen vessels means in ourselves ; for though we are
Apostles, still we are men, frail and fashioned from the dust, and,
like earthen vessels, are worthless, weak, and contemptible, exposed
to injuries at the hands of all. This explanation is favoured by the
words that follow : " We are troubled on every side," &c. So in
i Cor. i. 27, it was said that God had chosen the Apostles as the
foolish, and weak, and base things of the world ; and also in i Cor.
ii. i, Paul said that he had come to the Corinthians, not with
excellency of speech or of wisdom, but in weakness, and fear, and
trembling ; and again, in i Cor. iv. 9, he expresses the same idea.
Origen (Horn, in Numer.} symbolically interprets this treasure
as the grace of the Holy Spirit hidden in earthen vessels, i.e., in the
rude, unpolished, and unadorned words of the law and the Gospel.
That the excellency of the power may be of God and not of -us. God
wills me to have this treasure in an earthen vessel, in order that the
excellency which is in me, and the fruit that I gather in the conver
sion of the heathen, may not be ascribed to me, but to the power
of God and the grace of Christ.
EARTHEN VESSELS 47
Ver. 8. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. Not
made anxious. Physically he was distressed, hemmed in, and
pressed down, but in the midst of adversity the Apostle s mind was
serene and lofty. So, in Ps. iv. i, David says : "Thou hast enlarged
me when I was in distress."
We are perplexed, but not in despair. The Latin Version gives :
" We are in want, but not destitute," or, as Ambrose, Theophylact,
Erasmus, and Cajetan explain it : We are pressed with want, but not
oppressed. There is a similar play on words in the Greek. Poverty
gives sufficiency, nay, plenty, to a soul that is patient, wise, serene,
and fixed on God. To say nothing of Christian writers, this was
taught by Favorinus, who says : " It is true what wise men have
said as the result of their experience, that they who have much
want much, and that indigence takes its rise from abundance, and
not from want. Much more is desired in order to guard the
abundance you already have. Whoever, therefore, has great riches,
and wishes to take forethought and guard against need or loss,
needs loss, not gain, and should have less, that less may be lost."
The Greek may also be rendered : We are without guidance, and
are perplexed in the midst of our evils and difficulties ; still we
are not overcome by them, nor by our anxiety and weariness. We
do not despair, but we hope for, and we find counsel, help, and
deliverance in God, and so we are conquerors. This explanation
is nearer to the Greek az-o/Dia, which denotes, not only bodily
distress, but mental, viz., want of counsel, doubt, and perplexity,
when the mind, seeing itself surrounded by difficulties, is at a stand
still, and knows not what to do. But God succours the Apostles
and their successors in these straits, and points out a way of escape.
S. Xavier and Caspar Barzseus found this true in their work among
the Indians, and testified that in every difficulty the Holy Spirit
taught them more than all doctors or wise men could have done.
Ver. 9. Persecuted, but not forsaken. S. Gregory of Nyssa (de
JSeatitud.}, explaining the last of the Beatitudes, "Blessed are they
that suffer persecution," acutely and piously weighs the meaning of
the word persecution, which etymologically points to some running,
48 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IV.
or rather running before. He puts before our eyes a holy man and
tribulation, like two runners running side by side. When the saint
does not give place to tribulation, he says that he goes before it, as
victorious over it, and that tribulation follows hard after him, and
is, therefore, called persecution, not consecution, for it follows after
but does not reach the holy man. He says that this word points out
that the saints, through patience, run with great swiftness for the
prize of glory, display their vigour and strength most brightly in
the midst of persecutions. He goes on : " Martyrdom shoivs us
the arena, and marks out the course to be run by faith ; for perse
cution denotes an ardent desire for swiftness, nay, it even indicates the
winning of the prize ; for who can be "victor in the race save he who
leaves his competitor behind ? Since, therefore, he that has an enemy
behind, seeking to deprive him of the prize, has one persecuting him,
and such are they who finish the course of martyrdom on behalf of
their holy religion, who are persecuted by their enemies, but not over
taken. Christ seems in these last words to put before us the most
glorious crown of bliss, when He says, Blessed are they that
suffer persecution for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. "
Cast down, but not destroyed. There is here an allusion to the
earthen vessels of ver. 7. Though, he seems to say, we are earthen
vessels, and cast down, as it were, from the most lofty towers of
persecutions, yet are we not shattered. We are so hardened by
the fire of charity that we cannot break. Some add, "We are
humiliated, but not confounded," but the words are wanting in the
Greek and Latin copies.
Ver. 10. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord
Jesus. The death of Jesus, according to S. Ambrose, but the Greek is
rather dying or mortification. The dying meant is the suffering of
death like to the suffering of Jesus Christ, which is the road to and
the beginning of death, a long and living death. This is the suffering
spoken in vers. 8 and 9, suffering inflicted from without, though it
may be extended also to any voluntary mortification of mind and
body. It is called " the dying of Jesus," (i.) because it is borne by
JOY IN SORROW 49
His example ; (2.) because it is undergone for His faith ; (3.) because
we, His servants, bear about in our body, by a kind of representa
tion, the very death and Passion of Christ, just as slaves carry the
badge and token of their master. Cf. Gal. vi. 17. So in Heb. xi. 26, it
is said that Moses bore the reproach of Christ, and preferred it to the
riches of Egypt (see note there). " There is no doubt" says Ambrose,
"that in His martyrs Christ is slain, and that in them that suffer
chains or scourgings for the faith, Christ suffers the same." Paul gives
here the cause why, in the midst of trouble and distress, he is not
crushed and destroyed, but is instead raised up and quickened. It
is because by tribulation he is made like Christ crucified and smit
ten, and then raised and quickened ; and, therefore, he rejoices in
tribulation.
Salvianus (de Vero Jud. et Provid. Dei, lib. i.) says that no one is
miserable who is content in the midst of misery, rather he is happy,
because it is of his own devotion that he lives in misery. Toil,
fasting, poverty, humility, weakness, persecution are not grievous to
those that endure them, but to those that kick at them. Among
the heathen, Fabricius, Fabius, Regulus, Camillus found poverty
and affliction no burden. " No one" he says, "is made miserable by
other people s opinion but by his own, and therefore false judgment
cannot make them miserable whose conscience approves them. . . .
None, I think, are happier than they who act according to their own
knowledge and wish. Religious are of low estate, but they wish it so ;
they are poor, but pleased with poverty ; they have no ambition, for
they scorn it ; they mourn, but they rejoice to mourn ; they are weak,
but they delight in weakness. When I am weak says the Apostle,
then am I strong. And so, no matter what may happen to those
that are religious indeed, they are to be called happy. None are more
joyous in the midst of all kinds of adversity than those who are in a
state of their own choosing."
That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal
flesh. This is that future life when we shall rise with Christ to
glory (ver. 14); and also the present life, when, after the pattern of
the risen body of Christ, our afflicted bodies become more lively
VOL. n. D
50 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IV.
through the operation of the Spirit, on account of our hope of the
resurrection and through the power of God, which delivers us from
so many dangers every day and strengthens us against them.
Ver. ii. For we which live are alway delivered unto death. In
the midst of a life such as ours, we are exposed to constant danger
of death and to every kind of trouble.
The thought, then, that in all our tribulation we are made like to
Christ in His Passion and resurrection is what animates, comforts,
and strengthens us. As in our afflicted and mortified body the
death of Christ is visibly set forth, so in its deliverance, salvation,
and strengthening do we see the life and resurrection of Christ.
When we are thrown to the lions and other wild beasts, to be, as all
expect, surely devoured by them, they spare us and fawn upon us ;
when we are cast into the fire it shrinks from us, nay, with genial
warmth refreshes us; when we are thrown into the sea to be
drowned, the sea bears us up and preserves us from all hurt ; when
I was stoned at Lystra and left for dead, I was soon after found to
be alive. In all these and similar persecutions and afflictions I have
fellowship with, I am made like, and I set forth the suffering, death,
and burial of Christ, which by the power of God, were but the glo
rious prelude to the life of bliss. And for this reason I am strong, nay,
I rejoice and glory in all my tribulations ; for they give me a
sure and certain hope of an eternal life of glory. " Therefore" says
CEcumenius, " was Christ permitted by God to be delivered to death,
that His resurrection might be made manifest to all. He who daily
raises us certainly raised tip Himself also, and will in good time raise
us up to eternal life."
Ver. 12. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. Your
spiritual life, your salvation is produced through faith and grace,
but ours by the death of our body. The passion and death of
the Apostles has been the life of the Church. " The blood of the
martyrs is the seed of the Church," says Tertullian. Chrysostom
gives a different explanation : " You live in peace and suffer no
such persecutions for the faith as I do ; and so you seem to live,
and I seem to die daily."
DEATH IN LIFE 51
We, having the same spirit of faith. As David was hemmed in
with dangers, and yet was delivered by God alone from them all,
and said: "I believed," i.e., I believe that God will always be true
to His promises and deliver me, so too do we believe and hope,
and boldly profess that our help and strength, our deliverance and
resurrection have been promised by God, and will most surely be
wrought out.
Ps. cxvi., alluded to here by S. Paul, is a Eucharistic psalm, in
which David gives God thanks for his safe deliverance. Hence it
begins with, " I believed." In other words : I, David, in the midst
of dangers and adversity, when hunted by Saul and his men, when
my life was sought by Achish and the Philistines, when I was so
placed that I seemed to be deprived of all human help, and to
be in desperate straits, yet put my trust in God, who had promised
me safety, and moreover the kingdom, by the mouth of Samuel.
Wherefore, I said boldly that I believed, without doubting that
God would deliver me from all these evils, and would bring me to
His promised kingdom, as, in fact, He has delivered me, and has
set me on the throne. " Right dear in the sight of the Lord is the
death of His Saints." My death is of great account and great
price in the sight of the Lord. God, therefore, carefully watches
that my death, or that of His other Saints may not be allowed,
except for good cause and great gain, and He wonderfully guards
us and delivers us. This, I, David, found in the cave and at
other times when I was shut in by the bands of Saul and of my
other enemies, and therefore with praise and thanksgiving do I
exclaim, What return shall I make unto the Lord for all the benefits
that He hath done unto me ? I will receive the cup of salvation,
of my many safe deliverances that cup which is a witness and
public profession of God s goodness to me, and of my frequent
escapes from danger of God s salvation will I take.
Observe here that (i.) the Jews had three kinds of sacrifices, the
whole burnt-offering, the sin-offering, and the peace-offering. This
last was a sacrifice of salvation, offered for the peace and salva
tion of any individual or family, or of the whole people, whether
52 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IV.
already obtained or to be obtained. (2.) In every sacrifice a
libation was made to God, just as if the sacrifice were God s
feast. The cup, therefore, of salvation is the cup of wine which
was offered to God, poured out and drunk by the offerers. (3.)
This cup was a figure of the Eucharistic chalice, which makes us
not only mindful of the salvation wrought by Christ, but also par
takers of it.
Tropologically this "cup" is martyrdom and affliction, and the
obstinate resistance that we make to sin, even unto death, says S.
Basil, in his comments on Ps. cxvi. For Paul eagerly longed for
martyrdom, and hence he speaks not of the cross, but of the cup of
salvation, as though he should say : I will readily drink whatever the
Lord may have given to me, even though it be the martyr s death ;
and therefore knowing, says S. Augustine, that martyrdom is not
within my own power, but depends on the grace of God, I will call
upon that grace, and will publicly preach and celebrate the name
of the Lord. Similarly, Christ speaks of His Passion as a cup, and
bids His Apostles and martyrs and all His members drink of it
(S. Matt. xx. 22, and xxvi. 42). As, then, every Christian offers to
Christ, His Deliverer, the Eucharistic cup and sacrifice as a thanks
giving, so does Paul offer his sufferings, his afflictions, and death to
Christ, as a most pleasing cup. So, too, have all the martyrs, by
openly professing their faith and dying for it, offered to Christ the
cup of their martyrdom.
I believed. I believed, and I still believe. This is a continuous
act of belief, and not merely one that is inchoate, especially so
since David speaks of the person of Paul and of us all, and puts
his own belief forward as one deserving our imitation.
Ver. 14. Shall raise up us also . . . and shall present us with
you. Shall present us with you in glory. He says out of modesty,
"shall present us with you," not "you with us," because the Corin
thians were the cause and object of his preaching, and so also
of his glory.
Ver. -L^.That the abundant grace might . . . redound to the glory
of God. I.e , through many giving thanks. The Syriac renders it,
THE INWARD MAN 53
"that since grace abounds through many, thanksgiving may be
proportionately multiplied to the glory of God."
Ver. 1 6. But though our outward man perish. Though the
body be corrupted through persecutions, afflictions, hunger, thirst,
cold, nakedness, scourgings, and diseases, yet the spirit within is
renewed, and advances in faith, hope, charity, readiness of mind,
and, like gold from the fire, comes out stronger and brighter, says
Chrysostom.
This verse differs from Rom. vii. 22. There the outward man
is concupiscence, or the man governed by concupiscence ; the inward
man is charity, or the man renewed by the spirit. But here the
outward man is the body, the inward is the soul; or, more ap
positely, the outward man is the man regarded as corporeal, or
in so far as through his body he is visible, tangible, passible, and
susceptible of injuries from without ; the inward man is the same man
regarded as possessed of a soul, or in so far as through his soul
he is invisible, and bravely and cheerfully bears bodily afflictions.
Since man consists of two so dissimilar parts, the body without
and the soul within, and since the soul itself seems to have two
sides, one which animates the body, and shows itself outwardly in
the body by its working and passions, and so seems in a sense
outward, animal, and embodied; one self-contained, concerned only
with the operations of the mind, and so seems inward and invis
ible, hence man, consisting of these two parts, is called outward in
the first respect, and inward in the second.
Hence it is evident, against Illyricus, that original sin and con
cupiscence are not an evil substance formed from man by the devil,
and united to man s substance as its form ; for this form would be
the inward man, and that so corrupt as to be incapable of renewal,
opposed to what the Apostle says here.
Tertullian was wrong, says S. Thomas, in gathering from this
passage that the soul is corporeal, and has its figure and members
like the body, so that the inward man is but a copy of the outward.
In the same way John Huart, a physician, in his Examen Ingeniorum,
lately published, has maintained that the souls of the lost are tortured
54 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IV.
by fire, because, he says, they have their members or images of
members, they have their senses and sensations, in the same way
that Dives said that his tongue was tormented, in S. Luke xvi.
But this opinion is baseless. As the soul is not corporeal, it has
no members strictly speaking; but what is said of its senses and
sensations may be true. For the rational soul, being also sensitive,
has within itself a root of sense and sensation, e.g., touch, by which
it feels heat and fire, and the pain they cause. Although this
sensation cannot be exercised naturally apart from the body, yet
God can supernaturally produce it in a soul separated from the
body; for such a soul has and retains the root of sensation within
itself. This is the opinion of many subtle philosophers, and they
find it easy in this way to explain how fire affects the soul. Reason,
too, is in their favour; for sensation wholly consists in the soul.
When, e.g., we see with the eye, or hear with the ear, or touch with
the hand, the sight, or hearing, or perception of touch is not in
the eye, or ear, or hand, but in the soul. It is not the body but
the soul which sees by the eye, hears by the ear, and touches by
the hand ; why, then, cannot God, by His omnipotence, produce the
same sensation in a soul separated from the body? The natural
use of the organs of the body, which has been lost at death, may
be supernaturally replaced, as He can and does sometimes supply
the object of sensation ; as, e.g., he may enable a man to see through
a wall what is being done in a closed bedroom, or see what is taking
place in distant countries. We read of such things in the life of
Anselm and other Saints,
Day by day. As the outward, i.e., the body daily is weakened
and aged by affliction, so the inward man, i.e., the mind, is daily
renewed and gifted with youth through the hope of resurrection.
We read of Abbot Barnabas in Sophronius (Prat. Spir. c. x.), that
he drove a thorn into his foot and refused to have it taken out, and
so caused his foot to fester ; and when some expressed their wonder,
he said: "The more the outward man suffers, the more does the
inward flourish." In the same work, in chap, viii., we read of Myro-
genes, a man afflicted with dropsy, saying : " Pray for me, fathers,
OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION 55
that the inward man may not grow dropsical, for my prayer to God
is that I may live a long time in this weakness." No doubt these
Saints applied this general declaration of the Apostle to their own
particular diseases.
So that admirable martyr, Clement of Ancyra, when tortured by
Agathangelus, under the Emperor Diocletian, with every possible
kind of torture, though broken in body, yet became daily stronger,
so much so as to long for fresh tortures, and to pray God that
his life might be prolonged for them, and obtained his request.
He lived for twenty-eight years, during which he was constantly
tortured. At length Diocletian and the judges, amazed at his
constancy, asked him how he could bear such tortures, and he
answered in these words of Paul : "Though our outward man perish,
yet the inward man is renewed day by day."
Ver. 17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment. All
our tribulation is light and short-lived when compared with the
exceeding weight of eternal glory, and is to it as a single feather is
to all the lead in the universe.
S. Augustine (Enarr. in Ps. Ixx.), when explaining the words of
Christ, " For My yoke is easy, and My burden light," says beautifully :
" The one burden is oppressive and wearisome, but that of Christ
sustains thee. One pulls thee down, the other lends thee wings. Jf
you take away its wings from a bird, you take away, indeed, a weight,
but by removing the weight you force it to remain on the ground.
Restore the weight, and it will soar aloft. Of this kind is the burden
of Christ:
S. John Chrysostom had this in his mind when he was being led
to Cucusus into exile. And then when, in extreme bodily weakness
and fever-stricken, he was forced by his guards to travel from there
for seventy days continuously, with the hope that he would succumb
to the hardships of the journey, and so rid the Empress Eudoxia of
one she hated bitterly (as indeed happened), when oppressed with
hunger, thirst, poverty, heat, and attacks by the Isaurians, he cheer
fully and bravely overcame them all, and, forgetful of himself, con
soled and animated the noble matrons, Olympias and Pentadia,
56 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IV.
and his other friends, bidding them be ready te bear bravely
imprisonment and other sufferings for Christ. It was then that he
wrote that Divine treatise on the theme, " No one is injured but
by himself," in which he surpasses himself. By solid arguments
he showed that the whole cause and matter of real pain arise from
ourselves, and not from any one else. " Sin alone," he says, " is
the only evil, and the only one to be grieved for, and it cannot
find lodgment in the breast by one s own free-will. But all other
evils and pains, when compared with sin, are not real, but only
painted shadows, being light, short-lived, and of little account;
but sin brings in its train an innumerable number of grievous and
eternal pains."
A far more exceeding. The Greek is, "from excellence to
excellence," i.e., says Theophylact, a weight of glory that is above
measure wonderfully sublime and great. The Latin version gives,
"above measure excellent." The sense, of course, is the weight
of future glory is incomparably greater and more sublime than the
tribulation we suffer here.
Chrysostom and Theodoret remark on the beautiful contrast
drawn between the eternal and the momentary, the weight and the
lightness, the rest, nay, the glory and the tribulation. So in the
next verse we have a contrast drawn between the things which are
seen and the things which are not seen, between things temporal
and things eternal. So to the Maccabees, to Vincent, Laurence,
Stephen, stones, gridirons, and racks, and all tortures, when com
pared with the glory of heaven, were but as a moment in respect of
eternity, as a feather or a bubble in respect of heaven, as a point in
respect of the whole world.
S. Augustine (Enarr. in Ps. xciv.) says beautifully that " God says
1 1 have somewhat for sale I What is it, Lord ? The Kingdom
of heaven? With what price is it bought V Thy kingdom is bought
with poverty, joy with grief, rest with toil, glory with shame, life
with death?" For it is written, "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven ; blessed are they that mourn, for they shall
be comforted, &c. S. Paul therefore aptly assigns to glory, weight ;
THE GREAT REWARD 57
to tribulation, lightness ; a moment s duration to this, eternity to
that ; to this, present time and place ; to that, an exalted perman
ence j to this, tribulation, that it is ours as a thing we can contain
within the hand ; to that that it ever works within us, beyond all
conception and all measure.
Eternal weight of glory. The Syriac is " an infinite glory for
ever and ever." This is " worked for us," not physically or
efficiently, but morally and meritoriously. Hence appears the
merit of good works. Calvin, however, denies that this follows,
and in this he is followed by Beza; he says that all that is here
signified is the order and road by which we attain to glory, viz.,
through tribulations. But this is too cold an exposition. A road
or way is not said to work the end of the journey, unless you
understand the road to mean, not the way itself by which you go,
but the act of travelling or journeying ; this, indeed, is the cause of
the end of the journey, and not merely the moral cause, but the
physical and efficient cause. But if Calvin assign this to good
works and merits in respect of the eternal reward, he assigns more
to them than Catholics do. Again, the Greek word KarepydfcTai
shows that more than the order of going is meant, for it signifies,
" works out," " finishes," " perfects ; " i.e., it denotes a cause, not of
any kind, but one that is powerful and efficacious. So say Ambrose
and also Chrysostom in these words : "God, the Just Judge, renders
bliss to the just, in the same way that He renders hell to the
wicked." But to the wicked He assigns hell as the merited punish
ment of their wickedness, therefore to the just also He assigns
bliss as the reward they merit for their good works.
S. Bernard (Serm 17 in Ps. xci.) says: "He did not say, Shall
be rewarded, but, Worketh in us an eternal weight of glory. Glory,
my brethren, lies hidden in our tribulation ; in this momentary act
eternity is involved, in this imponderable there is an exceeding weight."
One is contained in the other, as the harvest is contained in the
seed. When the seed puts forth its strength it is already producing
the harvest. S. Bernard goes on to say : " Meanwhile let us hasten
then to buy for ourseh es that field, that treasure hidden in the field ;
58 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. IV.
let us count it all joy when we fall into divers tribulations. Let us
learn to say with all our heart, It is better to go to the house of
mourning than to the house of feasting. "
It may be asked, How can these sufferings be called light, when
in another place they are said to be not worthy to be compared?
I answer that they are not worthy so far as they are sufferings,
or natural penal works, because in this sense they have no propor
tion to so great glory ; yet they are " worthy " in so far as they are
borne from grace or charity. They then become works of grace,
\vhich is the seed whence glory springs. As the seed has a certain
worthy proportion to the harvest, so has grace to glory. Again,
they are "worthy" in so far as they are sufferings of Christ,
springing from His merits and subordinated to them. For Christ
merited for us this endurance of sufferings and afflictions, and also
merited that we should merit eternal glory by this suffering of ours,
as though it were His own, flowing from Him and His merits.
S. Bernard (Serm. i de Diversis} presses well each word of the
Apostle here; he says : " Go on, then ; murmur and say, l It is too
long, it is too heavy : I cannot endure sufferings so great and pro
tracted. The Apostle declares that what He suffered was light and
but for a moment. Certainly you have not yet received of the Jews
five times forty stripes save one ; you have not yet laboured more than
all ; you have not yet resisted unto blood. Let us see, then, if suffer
ings are not vuorthy to be compared with glory, (i.) Why do you
iincertainly count up days and hours ? The hour flieth by and with
it punishment : they do not attach themselves to you, nay, they give
place and are succeeded by others. It is not so with glory, it is not so
with our reward, with the recompense of our toil. It knows no
change, no end ; we enjoy it ivholly and all at once, and it abides for
ever. (2.) Punishment is sipped drop by drop, it is easily swalloived,
and soon done with. But in our reward there is a torrent of plea
sure, and an overpowering current, an overflowing torrent of joy, a
river of glory and of peace. (3. ) It is not a glorious robe, or a glorious
abode, but glory itself that is promised us. In truth, the expectation
of the just is not of something joyful but of joy itself. It is not the
THE JOY OF THE BLESSED 59
honeycomb, but the most pure, liquid honey, that God has laid up for
zfs ; if is very joy, life, glory, peace, pleasure, delight, felicity , happiness,
and exultation that the Lord our God has treasured up for us ; and
all these things are one, that Jerusalem may share it equally in all
her citizens. And this one Thing is nothing save Himself, according
to the -words of the Apostle, God shall be all in all. This is our
reward, this is our crown and prize. Would God that ive may so
run that we may obtain."
The author (perhaps Hugh of S. Victor) of the treatise, de Anima
et Spiritu, which is found in the works of S. Augustine (but evidently
not his, for it quotes Boethius), graphically describes this weight
of glory and these joys of the Blessed (c. Ivii. et seq.\ (i.) He
describes the mutual love of all the Blessed, and their consequent
mutual joy ; for no one rejoices in his own glory alone, but in that
of every one else, and hence he is not once blessed, but a hundred
thousand times. (2.) He describes the rapture of the Blessed
flowing from the Beatific Vision. (3.) He sets before our eyes their
perfect peace and happiness. (4.) He vividly describes (c. Ixiv.)
the greatness of their wealth, which is God Himself. (5.) He
relates the abundant fulness of the beauty, good health, wisdom,
melody, honour, riches, and of all good things more than we can
taste here, or even conceive of. "/ heaven" he says, "is whatever
you love, whatever you desire. If you are delighted with beauty, the
just shall shine as the sun ; if swiftness or strength, they shall be as
the angels of God ; if a long and healthy life, there is eternal health
and a healthy eternity ; if it is fulness, they shall be filled when the
glory of the Lord shall appear ; if it is intoxication, they shall be
intoxicated from the richness of the house of God ; if it is melody,
there the angels endlessly sing sweet strains to God ; if any worldly
pleasure, the Lord shall give them lo drink of the torrent of His God
head ; if wisdom, they shall be all taught of God ; if concord, their
food will be the will of God ; if power, they will enter into the power
of God, and they will be all-powerful over their own will, as God is
over His. As God can do what He will by Himself, so by Him will
they be able to do what they will. If honour and riches, God will set
60 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IV.
His good and faithful servants over many things ; if true security,
they will have sure certainty that their good will never fail them, for
they will know that of their own accord they will not lose it, and that
God, who loves them, will not take it against their will from them
that love Him." From all which Gregory (Ilom. 32 in Evang.}
rightly infers that "no one can come to great rewards but by great
labours. Hence that excellent preacher, Paul, said that no one is
crowned except he strive lawfully. Let, then, the mind be delighted at
the greatness of the prize, but not terrified by the laborious conflict. 1
The present time, as one of the Saints says, is a time of penitence
and toil ; the future will be a time of rest and gladness.
Ver. 1 8. The things wliich are seen are temporal ; but the things
which are not seen are eternal. S. Augustine (Sentent. No. 270)
says well : " There is this difference between things temporal and things
eternal, that the former are loved more before they are obtained, but
seem worthless when they arrive. Nothing satisfies the mind but a
true and certain eternity of incorruptible joy. But eternal joy is more
ardently loved when obtained than when longed for. No one can
value it above its true worth, so that when he attains it it seems vile
in his eyes throiigh having been too ardently longed for. But so
great is the excellency of heaven that charity will obtain far more than
faith has believed or hope desired.^ See also S. Gregory, Horn. 36
in Evang., where he draws out at length this distinction between
carnal and spiritual pleasures.
CHAPTER V
I That in his assured hope of immortal glory, 9 and in expectance of it, and of
the general judgment, he laboureth to keep a good conscience, 12 not that he
may herein boast of himself, 14 but as one that, having received life from
Christ, endeavoureth to live as a new creature to Christ only, 18 and by his
ministry of reconciliation to reconcile others also in Christ to God.
FOR we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,
we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house
which is from heaven,
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened : not for that
we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed
up of life.
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also hath
given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the
body, we are absent from the Lord :
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight :)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and
to be present with the Lord.
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted
of him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ ; that every one
may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad.
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men ; but we are
made manifest unto God ; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
12 For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to
glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in
appearance, and not in heart.
n For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God : or whether we be sober,
J
it is for your cause.
14 For the love of Christ constraineth us ; because we thus judge, that if one
died for all, then were all dead :
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live
unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh : yea, though we have
known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
61
62 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. V.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away ; behold, all things are become new.
1 8 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus
Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation ;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not
imputing their trespasses unto them ; and hath committed unto us the word of
reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you
by us : we prayjjw* in Christ s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. The Apostle goes on to remind the Corinthians of the glories of heaven,
saying that in exile here and in the tabernacle of the flesh he longs
for them, and wishes to be absent from the body and present with the
Lord.
ii. He shows (ver. 9) that it is his endeavour to please not men but Christ
alone, who shall come to judgment.
iii. He declares (ver. 14) that he is constrained to do this by the love of
Christ, who has reconciled us by His death ; and therefore that he
no longer knows any one according to the flesh, but only him who is
a new creature in Christ.
iv. He professes himself (ver. 18) to be a minister and ambassador of
Christ, and he prays them to be reconciled to God for Christ s
sake.
Ver. i. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle
were dissolved. If this mortal body, which is as it were a tent in which
we tarry for a brief space while travelling here, be dissolved, we
have a firm and lasting house in the glory of the soul and eternal
life. This is the interpretation of Photius, Anselm, S. Thomas,
Lyranus, and it is supported by vers. 6 and 8. From this and
the explanation of the Fathers, and especially from ver. 8, we gather,
against Tertullian, the Greeks, Armenians, Luther, and Calvin, that
souls immediately at death are beatified, and do not sleep under the
altar till the resurrection.
Secondly and more fitly we may say that this house is the body
glorified by the resurrection, and this body we have, i.e., shall surely
have at the resurrection. And this meaning is more in harmony
with ver. 4 and the last chapter ; for the Apostle is urging them to
THE BODY OF OUR GLORY 63
endure, in hope of the resurrection when we shall receive our
glorified body, bodily mortification and suffering. So, in i Cor.
xv. 43, he says that the body is sown in dishonour, it is raised in
glory, i.e., glorified. Such a body is properly the home of a beatified
soul, as a mortal body is the home of a soul living and suffering
here. So S. Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, Ambrose.
It may be said that the glory itself into which the beatified soul
enters is the house of the soul, even as Christ says : " Enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord." I answer that "enter into joy" does
not mean that that joy is a house into which the soul enters, as
some seem to think, but by metonymy the place of joy is called joy,
and the meaning is: "Enter into the heavenly nuptials, enter into
heaven, where is the place of the most perfect joy for ever." It is
less accurate to speak of that glory or joy as a house into which the
Blessed shall enter.
Chrysostom (Horn. 5 in Ep. ad Heb.} says that "we ought to
put off our body with as much ease as we should a coat, or as
Joseph left his cloak with the Egyptian woman;" and Aloysius
Gonzaga, on his death-bed, spoke of his death as a mere change
from one house to another.
Ver. 2. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon
with our house which is from heaven. That is, (i.) we long to be
free, as the Syriac takes it, from the earthly house of our natural
body, and receive the heavenly home of our glorified body. (2.)
But a better meaning is : We groan because of the death which
must intervene between this life and the life of eternity ; for death is
a violence done to nature. We should wish to be clothed upon with
glory, not to be deprived of life, as appears from ver. 4. S. Gregory
(Morals, lib. xxxi. c. 26) says: " Lo ! Paul longs to die and yet
shrinks from death. Why is this ? Because, though victory is for
ever joyous, yet pain for the present is grievous. For, as a brave man
who is girt ready for battle with one that is close at hand is both
nervous and ardent, trembling and resolute ; as his pallor bewrays
his fears, while his wrath urges him forward ; so is a holy man,
when he sees his su/ering near, both distressed by the weakness of his
64 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. V.
nature and strengthened by the certainty of his hope : he trembles at
the prospect of a speedy death, and yet rejoices that by dying he will
more truly live. No one, however, can enter the Kingdom but through
death, and, therefore, in all, confidence is mingled with wavering, and
wavering with confidence ; joy with fear, and fear with joy"
It may be asked how the metaphor of a house and tabernacle
agrees with that of a garment which is put over all. I answer that
the Apostle uses here two metaphors, one taken from a house, one
from a garment. The Hebrews are wont, and in this they are here
copied by S. Paul, to mingle many metaphors at once. We may
see this repeatedly in the Prophecies and the Psalms, and also in
the parables of Christ.
Ver. 3. If so that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
Instead of clothed, some read unclothed, through a difference of a
letter in the Greek compound verb. This reading is followed by
Augustine and Bede, Ambrose, Tertullian, and Paulinus; and
Augustine thus gives the sense : " We shall be clothed upon with
heavenly glory, when once we are stripped of this body and clothed
with Christ."
We should observe that the Apostle here distinguishes three things,
(i.) the being unclothed and naked, (2.) the being clothed, (3.) the
being clothed upon. As in the last verse he called our heavenly
glory a house, so here by another metaphor he calls it a robe.
Now some explain this passage thus : We long to be clothed upon
with our heavenly home, the heavenly and incorruptible body, in
such a way, however, that we may be gifted with immortality and
glory, and be found not bare, but clothed with glory. For, as the
Apostle says in i Cor. xv. 51 : " We shall all rise indeed to immor
tality, but we shall not all be changed into glory." But this is true
of the reprobate alone. Although they will have an immortal body,
yet it cannot be said that they will have a celestial body ; this will
be the endowment of the Blessed only. A celestial body, then, is
one that is both immortal and glorious, and consequently they that
have this are necessarily clothed and not found naked. This is the
distinction pointed out here by the Apostle in the conditional
" CLOTHED UPON " 65
statement, " If so be that, being clothed, we shall not be found
naked."
Secondly, S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Theodoret, Ambrose
explain the passage differently. They say: This house, i.e., this
celestial glory will be our portion if we be found worthy of it. and
are placed among the elect and not the reprobate : in other words, if
we are found clothed with grace, charity, and good works, and not
naked without them. This is the sentence of S. Paulinus (Ep. 8 ad
Sever. Sulpit.\ He says : " If, when you are stripped of your body,
you be not found naked of good works." If we be clothed with
them, then God will super-clothe us with the new robe of eternal
glory. But since in the next verse he explains this nakedness to
be the separation of the soul from the body, in the words not for
that we would be unclothed, i.e., of the body, so that the soul alone
be beatified in nakedness, but clothed upon, it seems better, with
Tertullian (re Resurr. Carnis. c. 42), to say that we are called
naked and unclothed when we are dead, and when the soul has lost
the body; and consequently that we are clothed when the soul
regains the body, and puts it on as her robe, and are clothed upon
when the body is clad and adorned with heavenly glory as its robe.
As the soul s dress will be the body, so the body s will be glory ;
and thus the soul will be clothed with the body, and clothed upon
with glory. Therefore, we long to be clothed upon with it, " if so
be that, being clothed, we shall not be found naked."
We should notice again that the word z/" points to something that
is peculiar and not common to all the elect, but proper to those
only who shall be found at the end of the world alive and clothed
with the body, and who so live, or so die, as quickly to rise again,
and seem to be not dead but alive, clothed upon with immortality.
As Cajetan rightly points out, the sense therefore is : It will not
be our lot to be dissolved in death, from which we naturally shrink,
and on account of which we groan, but to be clothed upon with
glory, which we so ardently long for ; that is to say, if at the end
of the world we be found remaining and not yet dead, but clad
with the body, and so not be made naked ; or if so, at all events
VOL. II E
66 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. V.
for so short a time that we may be said to pass from this life
to eternity.
Ver. 4. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being
burdened. Being burdened, as the Syriac takes it, through the
weight and load of the body. Yet we may say with S. Gregory
Nazianzen : " Take from me, O Lord, this heavy robe " (this earthly,
burdensome, and troublesome body), "but give me another, one
that is lighter."
Not for that we would be unclothed but clothed upon. We would
not be deprived of the body, but we would be clothed upon with
glory, if nevertheless being clothed with a body of flesh we be
not found stripped of it by death. The Apostle is in the habit
of speaking of the resurrection and the day of judgment as if they
were close at hand, and as if he with the others then alive would
behold them. Cf. i Thess. iv. 17. Since the Apostle says that
we would not be stripped of our body, Plato was wrong in identi
fying crw/za and o-??/m, as though the body were a tomb. In this he
was followed by Origen, who supposed souls to be enclosed in
bodies as in prisons in punishment of their sins. But the soul
does not long to be set free from the body, as it would if this
theory were true. The body is therefore the friend, companion,
and colleague of the soul, and the soul demands its body as form
requires matter, and vice versa. The Apostle would seem to be
here condemning this error of Plato and his followers, which was
commonly taught in the schools of Corinth.
That mortality might be swallowed up of life. Mortality by
immortality.
Ver. 5. J\ 7 ow He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God.
He that wrought, perfected, and formed us, i.e., (i.) He that created
us for this eternal life of bliss, is God. (2.) He who by His eternal
decree prepared and predestinated us for this same bliss, is God.
(3.) Best of all, He who by His grace so forms and prepares the
will and understanding of man and his whole nature, and who
makes him so live as to be worthy of being beatified with this
immortality, is God.
THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT 67
Who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. I.e., as
Ambrose says, the Spirit Himself. God has not given us a pledge
of gold or of silver, i.e., gold or silver as a pledge, but He has given
us His Holy Spirit, inasmuch as He has infused into us His charity,
and the virtues of the Spirit of holiness, whereby as sons we cry
"Abba, Father," in full trust in God as our Father. For this Spirit
is a pledge of our heavenly inheritance of glory laid up for us,
and God has given us this Spirit to assure us through Him, as a
pledge and earnest, that we shall attain our future inheritance if
only we imitate our Father, and call upon Him as sons, and obey
Him, and retain inviolate His Spirit as a pledge.
Ver. 6. Therefore we are always confident. We confidently and
boldly endure, nay, long for dangers and death for the sake of Christ
and His Gospel. So Theophylact. The word, therefore, points to
this daring confidence as the result of hope for this eternal inherit
ance, and of the possession of a pledge of it in the Holy Spirit.
Knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent
from the Lord. As long as we are in the body here, so long are we
absent in banishment from the sight of the Lord God, our Father,
and from our inheritance ; we are living like foreigners in a strange
land, as long as we are in this mortal body. Because we are
enrolled as citizens of heaven and heirs of God, we are pilgrims
here; therefore we hasten to be free from this pilgrimage and to
attain our heavenly country, to enter into the inheritance of God,
our Father. Therefore we boldly meet dangers and death, and enter
upon them as the road to heaven. S. Bernard (de Prcecep. et Dispens.
c. xxvii.) says : " What is all care for the body but absence from the
Lord ? And what is absence but exile ? Therefore ive are in exile
away from the Lord, and live in exile in the body, while our endeavour
after God is hampered by the burdens laid upon it by the body, and
while charity is wearied with its cares."
Ver. 7. For we walk by faith, not by sight. For we do not yet
behold the nature and beauty of God face to face. So Chrysostom,
Theodoret, Theophylact, and (Ecumenius. Therefore they are wrong,
whoever they be, that say that the Blessed see God, not directly in
68 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. V.
His Essence, but by means of some appearance which represents His
Essence, in the same way that the appearance of colour received
on the retina represents to the eye the colour of the wall. It is no
such kind of sight that the Apostle here means, but that by which
an object is plainly seen in itself. For faith is opposed to sight ;
but by faith we do not see, but darkly believe what is future and
absent.
Ver. 8. Willing rather to be absent from the body. "Having a
good will" (the Latin version); "greatly desiring" (the Syriac) ;
" wishing with all our heart " (Chrysostom). We choose rather to
be absent from the body, that we may come to appear before the
presence of God and enjoy the sight of His countenance.
Hence it is proved that souls behold God immediately after
death ; for the reason given for preferring to be absent from the
body is that we may be present with the Lord, or, as Erasmus and
Vatablus rightly translate the words, " that we may be at home with
the Lord." But if we shall be still exiles when separated from the
body, and do not at once reach the home of our Father, but must
still linger on the way and live still in exile, then we should not
desire to be absent from the body, nay, we should prefer to spend
our exile in it, as the natural abode of our soul, rather than in some
unknown place.
Ver. 9. Wherefore we labour. We vie with each other in our
zeal, our ministry, our endeavours to please God ; we strive not to
be surpassed by any one in this contest.
Whether present or absent These are mutually opposed. If we are
absent from God we are present with the body, and vice versa.
We should notice that the Greek word here used strictly means
to live at home amongst one s own people ; and the opposite de
notes living out of one s country and in exile. Hence Erasmus
and Vatablus translate, " whether present at home, or living in exile
abroad." But the Apostle seems to use the words in a more
extended sense ; for he applies the words which we have translated
"present or absent" to life in the body and also to life with God.
But we cannot properly speaking be said both to be at home in the
PRESENT WITH THE LORD 69
body, and, when separated from the body, with God; and, again, we
cannot be said both to be in exile both in the body and with God ;
and, therefore, we take the meaning to be to dwell or to be present,
and in the other case, to leave, to be absent. For as long as we
live in this body we are absent from the Lord ; and, on the other
hand, as long as we inhabit heaven we are present with the Lord
and absent from the body. But still there is no reason why the
Apostle should not mean to be at home and to be in exile.
Observe that the Apostle said in ver. i, that we have two houses,
one earthly and the other heavenly, and that in both we are at
home ; for the body is our natural home, and heaven our super
natural. Consequently, our exile is two-fold. While in the body
we are exiles from heaven, and, when separated by death from the
body, we pass to another land and are exiles from the body. The
Apostle s meaning then is : In whatever state we may be, whether
absent from God and present with the body, or vice versa, we
endeavour to please God, that we may be able to appear before
His presence and enjoy the light of His countenance. For unless
we please God, neither shall we be able, while present in the body
and absent from the Lord, to come into His presence, nor while
absent from the body and present with the Lord, shall we be able to
abide in His presence and enjoy it in bliss. We strive, then, while
here to attain both ; we endeavour both to come into His presence,
and to merit to remain in it for ever. " He who pleases God
here," say Ambrose and Anselm, "will not be displeasing to Him
there."
Others take the clause to mean, " whether living here or depart
ing from the body to go to the Lord," &c. In other words, we do
all that we can to please God down to the very last breath of life,
when the soul leaves the body. This is adopted by Tertullian (de
Resurr. Carnis, c. xliii.) ; but since these words of the Apostle, as I
have said, have a more extended meaning, the former sense is more
probable. This last restricts them too closely to the body.
Ver. 10. For we must all appear. The particle for gives the
reason of what has just been said. We strive to please the Lord in
70 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. V.
all our works, in order that, at the tribunal of Christ, before which
we all must stand, we may be gifted with a glorious body, and with
the blissful presence of God and the Beatific Vision. We would
not be deprived of it with those who, by their evil works, have dis
pleased God.
Before the judgment seat of Christ. We must all be made mani
fest to Christ the Judge and to all men before the dread tribunal,
that each may see the good and evil deeds of every one. Hence it
follows that Paul and the other Apostles must also be judged, but in
such a way that at the same time they may be judges of others, and
condemn those who have refused to believe (S. Matt. xix. 28).
That every one may receive the things done in his body, &c. Glory
or punishment will be awarded in proportion to each one s merits
or demerits. Observe i. that the deeds of the body are also
deeds of the soul ; for the soul in this life does nothing and can
do nothing without the body; so much so, that for thought itself it
needs the help of images drawn from corporeal things. In this way
what the soul does by the instrumentality of the body is done by
the body.
2. Chrysostom points out that each one s own deeds are here
spoken of, because the merits of others, as, e.g., of our parents,
will not avail us before the judgment-seat of Christ. Cf. Ezek. xiv.
14, 20. If we would think of this tribunal when we are tempted
by our companions, by lust, by pride, by gluttony, we should easily
overcome them all, and should not suffer ourselves to be drawn
away by fear or lust from obedience to the law of God. Cf. Chry
sostom (Horn. 10 Moral?).
The Pelagians inferred from this verse that infants have no sin,
and that there is no such thing as original sin ; for it is said here
that Christ, when He comes to judgment, will only call into ques
tion the sins that each has committed in his body. But infants
have done nothing, nor could do anything of their own ; and, there
fore, they conclude that they have no sin on which Christ can pass
judgment.
S. Augustine (Ep. 107) answers that this sentence of the Apostle s
UNIVERSAL JUDGMENT /I
reaches even to infants ; for, he says, original sin as a habit is
theirs individually and inheres in them, but the actual sin of Adam,
viz., the eating of the forbidden fruit, which was his own and physi
cally inherent in him, from which original sin as a habit was derived
to every one born from him, may be said to morally belong to each
infant, and be regarded as its own proper act; and in this sense
they committed this sin, not directly but in Adam ; for the will of
Adam was regarded as the will of all his descendants, including even
children.
But a better answer can be given, and one more in harmony with
the Apostle s meaning, viz., that the Apostle is not speaking of
infants but of adults. For he is exhorting them to do all that they
can to please God in all things, that each may receive a reward from
God proportioned to their deeds. Infants, though they will have to
appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, yet will not need to have
their works examined nor their demerits, but will receive the pun
ishment due to original sin, as S. Augustine says (Serm. de Omnibus
Sanct.\ and also Nazianzen (Orat. 60).
Ver. ii. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord. Knowing
what I have just said of Christ s judgment-seat, when each will
receive the reward of his deeds ; or, knowing that the Lord is to be
feared as a Judge and Avenger, we therefore persuade men to fear
Him also.
Fear has a twofold meaning (i.) actively of the fear we feel
because of the Lord ; (2.) passively of that which the Lord is, viz.,
a terrible Judge. Jacob, e.g., calls God " the fear of his father
Isaac," or the Object that Isaac feared (Gen. xxxi. 42). So here
fear is put for the object of fear a fearful thing, a terror. The
meaning, therefore, is : Knowing that God is to be feared, we persuade
men. Cf. Isa. viii. 13.
But we are made manifest unto God. God knows that I sincerely
fear Him, and try to make others fear Him also. Paul, by speaking
of this fear and desire of pleasing God, might seem to some, and
especially to his rivals the false apostles, who were only too glad to
find an occasion of reproach against him, to be praising himself as
72 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. V.
holy ; hence by these words and what follows he clears himself from
any charge of vain-glory and love of praise.
Ver. 12. That ye may have somewhat. Some occasion of glory
ing about me, some answer to give to my opponents.
Which glory in appearance and not in heart. Who boast of their
piety, but know in their conscience that they are hypocrites and
false apostles.
Ver. 13. For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or
whether we be sober, it is for your cause. The Greek verb translated
beside ourselves denotes a rapt state, when the mind is carried out of
itself, whether by some strong influence of nature, of disease, of mel
ancholy, or of apprehension of new and unwonted objects ; or when
God throws it into deep contemplation and ecstasy, or when frenzy
and insanity drive it into delirious folly. All these senses are
applicable here; nay, the Syriac, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Vata-
blus, and Erasmus render it " whether we be mad." S. Paul opposes
" whether we be beside ourselves " to " whether we be sober," as if he
meant whether we be foolish or wise. The same contrast is found
in Acts xxvi. 25. The same word is applied by His relations to
Christ in S. Mark iii. 21.
Again, this rapture and folly may be understood either of self-
praise or of the love and contemplation of God. The Apostle
seems to be speaking primarily of self-praise, according to Ambrose
and Chrysostom, and this is supported by what has just gone before.
But since this praise has for its object the excellence of the ministry
of the New Testament, and the height of love and clear knowledge
of God attained under it, the word may be equally well referred to
this latter. He seems indeed to be alluding to the vision of Moses,
when he saw the glory of God on Mount Sinai at the reception of
the law. Cf. 2 Cor. iii. 7, 18, where a comparison is drawn
between Moses and S. Paul. Hence, in chaps, iv. and v., S. Paul
praises himself for the tribulations and labours he had undergone
for the sake of the Gospel, by which he was striving after the
glorious presence of God.
The meaning, therefore, is (i.) If, forgetful of ourselves, we are
FOOLS FOR GOD S SAKE 73
carried away by the vehemence of our zeal, which the world regards
as folly, so that, like fools, we give way to praising our ministry 5
and speak of ourselves too highly and too boastfully (for to praise
one s self, as S. Ambrose says, is pride, and boasting, and folly),
it is to God s glory that we do it. If we are sober in our words
and praises of ourselves, it is to teach you modesty. Hence
(2.) follows the explanation of S. Augustine, Anselm, Theophylact,
and others. If we are hurried into excess or ecstasy of love,
knowledge, and speech of God, as, e.g., in iii. 18, v. 8, 9, so that we
seem to boast and sing our own praises, or, as Chrysostom renders
it, if we seem drunken and foolish with love and contemplation
(as in Acts ii. 13 ; xxvi. 24), it is to God s glory that we do it.
Plato in Pha;drus says that frenzy or folly is fourfold that of
poets, of mystics, of seers, of lovers and that the fourth is the best
and most blessed. " Of Divine frenzy or madness there are," he
says, "four kinds laid down, over which as many gods preside. The
inspiration of the seer is attributed to Apollo, of the mystic to Liber,
of the poet to the Muses, while the frenzy of lovers comes from Venus
and Cupid. We hold that the last of these is the best and most
excellent." Theophylact says that this last kind of frenzy was
S. Paul s, inasmuch as he was one who lived not in himself, but
was carried out of himself and lost in Christ, his Beloved, and
wished to be anathema from Christ for his brethren s sake. The
soul of one who loves is not where it lives but where it loves.
Theophylact says : " If we are beside ourselves because of God, it is
that we may bring you to Him. So S. Paul loved God with a lover s
frenzy, and lived for Him alone, and by Him he loved was carried
out of himself and wholly given to God. The life that he lived was
not his own but the life of Him that he loved, beloved and precious for
His sake only."
But S. Augustine, Bede, and Anselm understand this verse, not
of frenzy, but of S. Paul s being carried up to the third heaven, and
their explanation is this : " What is that whether we be beside our
selves, it is to God, but seeing things which it is not lawful for a man
to utter ? What is that whether we be sober, it is for your cause,
74 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. V.
but what he says elsewhere, I determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified ? " S. Augustine
again (Enarr. in Ps. civ.) says : " What is meant by whether we
be beside ourselves, it is to God] but leaving all carnal things, and
being unable to speak of ivhat we have seen ? What is meant by
whether we be sober, it is for your cause, but we speak so as you can
understand ? For Christ by His birth and Passion made Himself
such that men might be able to speak of Him."
The being out of one s mind is, says S. Anselm, the having it
fixed on things above, so that things below slip from the memory.
In this state were all the Saints to whom the secrets of God that
pass this world s understanding were revealed. So here the Apostle,
being mentally set free from all human frailty and from all the
perishing and changeable things of this world, lived in heart in an
ineffable contemplation of those things, of which he says that he had
heard unspeakable things which it was not lawful for a man to utter.
But for the sake of others he descends, and says : " Whether we be
sober, it is for your cause " although we may contemplate high
things, yet we speak soberly of them, that you may be able to take
them in. This is Anselm s explanation.
S. Bernard (de Nat. et Dignit. Amoris, c. iii.) describes beautifully
this frenzy of S. Paul s. He says: "Hear this holy frenzy:
1 Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: whether we be sober, it
is for your cause. 1 Do you wish to hear further frenzy ? Yet now
if thou wilt forgive their sin and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out
of Thy Book of Life. Do you wish for more ? Listen to the Apostle
himself: I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my
brethren. Does not this sound like the ivholesome frenzy of a mind
well affected, viz., that he is firmly affected to what cannot possibly be
effected, viz., to be anathema from Christ for Christ s sake ? This
was the drunkenness of the Apostles at the coming of the Holy Ghost ;
this was the madness of Paul when Festus said to him : Paul, thou
art beside thyself. The reason follows : Was it wonderful that he
should be pronounced mad, who, when in danger of death, was
endeavouring to convert to Christ his judges, by whom he was being
CONSTRAINING LOVE 75
judged for Christ s sake ? It was not much learning that gave this
madness, as the king said, concealing the truth that he perceived ; but,
as was said, it was the Holy Spirit, with which he was drunken,
who made him wish to make those who were judging him like himself
in all things. And, to pass over all other instances, what greater
madness could be conceived than that a man who had left the world
from an ardent desire to cling closely to Christ should again lay hold
of the world at the call of obedience and brotherly love, and descend
from the sky to the sty 1 I speak of our young friend, Benjamin, who
in his madness thinks nothing of himself, but only of Him who has
made him wholly beside himself. With this same madness were the
martyrs afflicted who smiled amid their tortures. So do we delight
to be beside ourselves."
Again (Serm. 85 in Cantic.} he says : " Perchance one may ask me
what it is to enjoy the Word. Hear one who has had that experience,
as he says, Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, or whether
we be sober, it is for your cause. 1 By the mere will of God my rela
tions with Him are one thing, my relations with you another. It was
allowed me to experience that ecstasy but not to speak of it ; in my
soberness I so condescend to you that you may be able to understand
what I say. Whoever thou art that art anxious to know what enjoy
ment of the Word is, prepare for It thy mind and not thy ear. It is
taught by grace and not by the tongue. It is hidden from the wise and
prudent, and revealed unto babes."
Ver. 14. For the love of Christ constraineth us. This love of
Christ by which He loved us, and gave Himself for us, compels us
to follow His example, and give ourselves for all men to save them
from death. And hence, as occasion requires, we are at one time
beside ourselves, at another, sober. It is better to understand the
love of Christ objectively, rather than subjectively.
That if one died for all then were all dead. The bearing of this
verse is explained by the next, which also gives its connection with
the preceding. So great was the love of Christ that He died for
all. Hence it follows that we were dead ; for He died to set us
free (by taking it on Himself) from death, bodily and spiritual,
76 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. V.
which sin had brought on us. Hence plainly appears Christ s
compassion and love ; and they constrain us to love Christ in
return, and to work in every way for the salvation of our neighbour ;
to exclude no one, but to labour for all, whether rich or poor, even
as Christ did. S. Thomas explains it otherwise : " All ought to be
dead to the old life, and account themselves dead, that they may
live, not to themselves, but to Christ." But this is somewhat ob
scure and far fetched, and is identical with what is said in the next
verse, which yet is distinct from this.
Were all dead. Except, says S. Anselm, the Blessed Virgin, who
never incurred original sin and spiritual death. Secondly and
better, all died in Adam because in him all came under the neces
sity of sin and of death, even the Mother of God herself, so that
she and all others without exception needed to be redeemed by the
death of Christ. In Adam, therefore, the Blessed Virgin sinned
and died, but in herself she incurred neither sin nor spiritual death,
because she was kept from them by God s prevenient grace, as was
said in the notes to Rom. v. 12.
Ver. 15. And that He died for all, &c. We judge also that He
died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live for their
own glory, or pleasure, or their desires, but for Christ, who by right
of redemption has made us His servants ; and as a servant does not
labour and live for himself but for his lord, so should each of us be
able to say : "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;" and, "My
soul shall live to Him." Anselm says : " The soul of man should
fail in itself to avail in Christ, who died that we should die to our
sins, and who rose that we should rise to works of righteousness.
What else is living not for themselves but for Him but living not
according to the flesh in the hope of earthly vanities, but according to
the Spirit, in hope of the resurrection which has already taken place in
themselves in Christ ? "
Ver. 1 6. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh.
Because the love of Christ for us is so great, and constrains us,
therefore we regard carnal things, that is things external and
temporal, such as fame, health, friendships, kindred, of no account
A NEW CREATURE 77
out of Christ. So Chrysostom takes no one to stand for "nothing,"
as does Vatablus ; and S. Augustine (contra Faust, lib. ix. c. 7)
takes it in the same way. But by \\\z flesh he understands the cor
ruption and mortality of the flesh to be meant; and the sense then
would be : We no longer know this carnal and mortal life, be
cause, filled with a sure hope, we meditate on and seek for a future
life, that blissful spiritual life awaiting us after the resurrection, in
which Christ is even now preparing us a place. This meaning is
suitable but somewhat far-fetched, for the Apostle is here setting in
opposition to the flesh, or the carnal man, the new creature which
is in this life, and which lives through faith and grace in Christ ;
therefore he adds : "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature."
In the third place, then, we may more simply and properly explain
the verse thus : We henceforth know none of those outward relation
ships of kindred, friendship, nationality, rank, breeding, or learning,
for we are dead to these natural affections, and having been regene
rated in Christ, we live to Him alone, and love Him alone, and all
others in Him, according to the spirit of charity, and not according
to the flesh. In other words, we seek not to please men, or the praise
and glory of men, but of God only. S. Paul s rivals, the Judaising
false apostles, as we shall see in chap, xi., were wont to boast that they
were Hebrews and of the seed of Abraham, and this boasting he
calls, in xi. 18, "glorying after the flesh." Hence this verse is a tacit
rebuke to them, where he says that he knows no one in the way of
earthly love or boasting, or because of relationship and friendship
according to the flesh, not even in Abraham himself. Similarly, in
Phil. iii. 3, he says, "We rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no con
fidence in the flesh ; " i.e., we once rejoiced that we were Hebrews
and nobly born according to the flesh, but now we are dead to those
affections, for all our praise and rejoicing is Christ. So Gagneius.
Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh. If at any time
we, whether I, Paul, myself, or the other Apostles, regarded and saw
Christ present with us in a mortal body and subject, like us, to bodily
sufferings, such as hunger and thirst and cold, now we know Him not
save as immortal and passible. So Chrysostcm, Theodore:, and the
78 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. V.
Seventh General Synod. This interpretation too is supported by
what follows.
Secondly, and better, Gagneius takes the meaning to be : If we
formerly knew, i.e., thought of great account, and made our boast of
Christ after the flesh, that Christ by birth was a Jew and of our nation,
so that we Hebrews were relations of Christ after the flesh, as the
false apostles boast ; and if we were proud of having lived with Christ
on terms of intimacy, then are we now dead to all such feelings, and,
being re-created by Christ, we think more highly of Him, and now
know Him only according to the Spirit, i.e., as the God-man, the
Redeemer of the world, our Teacher, the Author of grace and salva
tion ; and as we live and labour for such an one, so do we preach Him
throughout the whole world.
Thirdly, others with great probability think that Paul is referring
to that time in his own life when he was a persecutor of Christ.
Although once, he would seem to say, I had an unworthy opinion of
Christ, thinking that He was to be a mere temporal king, such as
the Jews expect the Messiah to be, yet I no longer know Him or
regard Him as such.
Hence, fourthly, we may see the error of Faustus the Manichean,
in explaining S. Paul to mean that in the beginning he thought Christ
to have had a real body, but afterwards saw his error, and that he
means the same in Phil. ii. 7, when he says that Christ was made
in the likeness of men, as if He had a fantastical and apparent body,
but not one that was real and substantial. Eutyches again twisted
this passage to suit his heresy. He said that " we know not Christ ac
cording to the flesh " means that, by the Incarnation the flesh and
human nature of Christ were swallowed up by His Divinity ; and he
laid down that in Christ was one nature as well as one person, and
that that one was Divine.
We may see here how heretics twist and wrest aside the Scripture
to suit their own fancies, just as if it were a nose of wax. So did the
Iconoclasts of olden times, and lately Calvin (de Reliquiis) twist these
words of the Apostle against the veneration of relics and of images
of Christ and the Saints ; just as though the Apostle had said : Now
ALL THINGS ARE MADE NEW 79
after the resurrection we know not Christ after the flesh ; whatever
in Him was carnal must be consigned to oblivion and sent about its
business, that we may devote all our energies to seeking Him and
possessing Him according to the spirit. But it is most evident that
this is not the Apostle s meaning ; for if it were, he would have us
forget the flesh, the death, and Passion of Christ, and be unmindful
of it and unthankful for it, the very opposite of which Christ com
manded when He instituted the Eucharist as the perpetual memorial
of His death. Whence S. Paul himself says (i Cor. xi. 26): "As
often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do show the Lord s
death till He come." Therefore the Apostle s meaning here is not
Calvin s, but the one I have given above. Cf. Second Council of
Nice, act 6, following Epiphanius and Cyril.
Ver. 17. Therefore if any man be in Christ , he is a new creature.
If any one is with me regenerate in Christ, and re-created and
changed, as it were, into a new creature, even as I am not what
I was, Saul being changed into Paul, then the old rites of Judaism,
the old former affections and judgments, such as knowing any one
according to the flesh, have all passed away. In such an one all
is made new : he has new affections, new thoughts about the realities
and hopes of Christianity, a new life, a new hope of the resurrection,
new grace, sanctification, and justification. On this newness, cf.
S. Anselm and S. Augustine (de Cantic. Novo. vol. ix.).
S. Bernard (de Assumpt. B. Maries) assigns its cause. He says :
" All things are made new, i.e., the old fortress is overturned, a
new one raised. Lust having been banished, the heart expands with
a mighty longing ; and after its arrival the mind yearns far more
for heavenly things than it had ever before longed for earthly. Now
is the wall of continence raised up, the bulwark of patience. But
this work rises on the foundation of faith, and grows by love of ones
neighbour till it reaches even to the lore of God"
Ver. 1 8. And all things are of God. All these new things were
created and given by the gift and grace of God, who hath reconciled
us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of
reconciliation, in order that through our preaching we may persuade
So SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. V.
men to repent and receive the faith of Christ, that so we may
reconcile them to God.
Ver. i<). God was in Christ. I.e., as the Son by oneness of
Essence. So Ambrose and Primasius. Hence S. Ambrose (de Fide
ad Gratian, lib. iii. c. 5) says that God, i.e., everlasting Divinity,
was in Christ, and Christ reconciled the world because He was
God. Secondly and better: "God was in Christ," i.e., through
Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. Thirdly, Cajetan takes it :
God reconciled to Himself the world in Christ, or the world that
believes in Christ. But this seems forced and harsh.
Not imputing their trespasses unto them. Not imputing but
freely forgiving their trespasses, not by imputation of the righteous
ness of Christ, as the heretics think, but by a real infusion of it.
So Chrysostom and Anselm.
Observe the Hebraism, (i.) When the Scripture says that God
imputes or does not impute sin, it does not mean that He acts
against the reality of things, for so would God be false, but rather,
since the judgment of God is most pure, He regards things and sins
as they truly are. (2.) The same appears from the fact that the whole
law, and consequently every sin against the law, depends on the judg
ment of God, i.e., on the eternal law which is in the Mind of God.
(3.) And the chief reason is that all remission of sins depends on
the forgiveness of God : but to forgive is not to impute ; for sin,
belonging to the sphere of morals as an offence against God, is
removed by forgiveness, which equally belongs to the moral world.
But the generous goodness of God infuses, together with this forgive
ness, grace, charity, and all virtues, that we may be adorned with
them as real gifts of God, may be justified and become worthy of
the friendship of God.
And hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. He hath
given us the duty of preaching the word of God, by which we are
to reconcile men to God, as was said at the last verse. By meto
nymy, word may be put for the reality as sign for the thing signi
fied. In this way the word of reconciliation would be reconciliation
itself, or the power and ministry of reconciling men to God.
CHRIST MADE SIN FOR US 8 1
Ver. 20. We pray you in Chrisfs stead, be ye reconciled to God.
As Christ s ambassadors, even as if Christ were entreating you by
us, we implore you to give up your wills to be reconciled to God.
See what diligence, what energy, what zeal the Apostle displays in
his endeavours to convert the Corinthians.
Ver. 2i. Him who knew no sin. Experimentally, says S.
Thomas, Christ knew no sin, though by simple knowledge He
did, for He did no sin.
Hath made Him to be sin for us. For us, says Illyricus, who
were sin ; because, he says, sin is the substance and form of our
soul. But to say this of ourselves is folly, of Christ blasphemy.
(r.) The meaning is that God made Christ to be the victim offered
for our sin, to prevent us from atoning for our sins by eternal
death and fire. The Apostle plays on the word sin, for when he
?ays, "Him who knew no sin," he means sin strictly speaking;
but when he says, " He made Him to be sin for us," he employs
a metonymy. So Ambrose, Theophylact, and Anselm. In Ps.
xl. 12, Christ calls our sins His. (2.) Sin here denotes, says S.
Thomas, the likeness of sinful flesh which He took, that He might
be passible, just as sinners who are descended from Adam are
liable to suffering. (3.) Sin, in the sense of being regarded by
men as a noteworthy sinner, and being crucified as a malefactor. So
the Greek Fathers.
Of these three interpretations the first is the more full, signifi
cant, and vigorous, and the one more consonant with the usage of
Scripture, which frequently speaks of an expiatory victim as sin.
Cf. Hosea iv. 8; Lev. iv. 24 and 21 ; Ezek. xliv. 29. The reason
of this metonymy is that all the punishment and guilt of the sin
were transferred to the expiatory victim, and so the sin itself might
seem to be also transferred to it. In token of this the priest
was accustomed to lay his hands on the victim, and call down
on it the sins of the people ; for by the hands are signified sinful
actions, which are for the most part executed by the hands, as
Theodoret says in his notes on Leviticus i. Therefore the laying
of hands on the victim was both a symbol of oblation and I
VOL. II.
82 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. V.
testimony of the transference of guilt to the victim, showing that
it was expiatory, and that it bore the sin itself, with all its burden
of guilt and punishment In this way the high-priest on the
great Day of Atonement turned a goat into the wilderness, having
imprecated on it the sins of the whole people. Cf. Lev. xvi. 20.
That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. (i.) That
we might be made righteous before God, with the righteousness
infused by God through the merits of Christ. So Chrysostom.
He says righteousness and not righteous, says Theophylact, to
signify the excellency of the grace, which effects that in the
righteous there is no deformity, no stain of sin, but that there is
complete grace and righteousness throughout. (2.) The righteous
ness of God was Christ made, in order that its effects, or the
likeness of the uncreated righteousness of God, might be com
municated to us by His created and infused righteousness. So
Cyril (Thesaur. lib. xii. c. 3). (3.) Christ is so called because God
owes not to us, but to Christ and His merits, the infusion of
righteousness and the remission of our sins. Cf. Augustine
(Enchirid. c. 41). Cf. also i Cor. i. 30. Heretics raise the objection
that Christ was made for us sin, in the sense that our sin was
imputed to Him and was punished in Him; therefore we are
made the righteousness of God, because it is imputed to us. I
answer that the two things are not parallel; for Christ could not
really be a sinner as we can really be righteous, nor does the
Apostle press the analogy. He only says that Christ bore our
sins, that we through Him might be justified. Moreover, Christ
actually was made sin, i.e., a victim for sin (this is the meaning
of "sin" here), and therefore we truly become the righteousness
of God. So easily and completely can we turn the tables on
these Protestant objectors.
CHAPTER VI
I That he hath approved himself a faithful minister of Christ, both by his exhorta.
tions, 3 and by integrity of life, 4 and by patient enduring all kinds of afflic
tion and disgraces for the gospel. 10 Of which he speaketh the more boldly
amongst them, because his heart is open to them, 13 and he expecteth the like
affection from them again, 14 exhorting to flee the society and pollutions of
idolaters, as being themselves temples of the living God.
~\ ~\7"E- then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not
the grace of God in vain.
2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salva
tion have I succoured thee : behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the
day of salvation.)
3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed :
4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience,
in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in
fastings ;
6 By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy
Ghost, by love unfeigned,
7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness
on the right hand and on the left,
8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report : as deceivers, and
yet true ;
9 As unknown, and yet well known ; as dying, and, behold, we live ; as chastened,
and not killed ;
10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as
having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
11 O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.
12 Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own
bowels.
13 Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye
also enlarged.
14 Be yet not unequally yoked together with unbelievers : for what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? and what communion hath light with
darkness ?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols ? for ye are the
temple of the living God ; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in
them ; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
83
84 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VI.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord,
and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith
the Lord Almighty.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. He exhorts them not to neglect the proffered grace of reconciliation
spoken of at the end of the last chapter.
ii. He points out (ver. 4) the qualities required in ministers, especially in
Apostles and preachers of the Gospel.
iii. He declares (ver. n) how his heart was filled with love of the Corin
thians, and he strives to stir them up to like love.
iv. He warns them (ver. 14) by many contrasts carefully to avoid holding
intercourse or intermarrying with unbelievers.
Ver. i. We then, as workers together with Him. We, as workers
together with God, beseech you to accept this proffered reconcilia
tion, spoken of in vers. 18, 19, and 20, of the preceding chapter.
Beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. He
receives grace into a vacuum, says Anselm, who does not work
with it, who does not give it his heart, and who, through sloth,
makes that grace ineffectual, by not doing all that he can to express
it in good works. In other words, do not suppose that faith alone
is reconciliation, for a good life and good works are also indis-
pensable. So Theophylact, following Chrysostom.
Observe that the Apostle applies the word grace to the general
benefit of reconciliation of the world through Christ s redemption ;
for it was of this that he had just been treating. Nevertheless,
under that he comprehends that particular grace which Christ has
merited for each one, and which God gives to each one, to enable
each one to become a partaker of the general redemption wrought
by Christ.
Ver. 2. For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted
(Isa. xlix. 8). The Apostle proves that now is the time of grace and
reconciliation, in order that we may not receive this grace in vain,
from the fact that Isaiah had foretold that this would be the time
of grace. He is anticipating an objection which might be raised.
It might be said by some one : " It is not in my power to receive
THE ACCEPTABLE TIME 85
the grace of God; for to give it or not to give it depends on the
will of God. How, then, can you exhort me to receive it?" Paul
replies : Now is the time accepted, now is the time of salvation, now
is the time of grace, when, as Isaiah foretold, God offers His grace
to all, and hears the desires and petitions of all.
In a time accepted. This time is the period of the law of grace,
or the present life of Christians, during which they have the
opportunity of doing good works and obtaining merit. But after
this life it is not called "a time accepted;" for in this time only
has God been pleased to offer to all men, through Christ, His
grace of reconciliation, loving-kindness, and salvation. It is called
accepted and acceptable, i.e., most welcome, and worthy of being
received with the greatest possible rejoicing and praise, since it
brings salvation to the world through Christ.
These words are addressed by the Father to the Son. / have
heard, i.e., since the prophetic eye sees the future as already present,
/ will hear Thee, My Son, making request for Thy members, and
in Thy faithful members, and asking for help, and grace, and
salvation. And in the day of salvation, in the time of grace, when
I will call all men to eternal salvation by Thee, O Christ, have I
succoured Thee, i.e., I will succour Thee, so that you shall obtain in
Christians, as Thy members, the salvation that is offered them by
Thee. So Ambrose, Chrysostom, Anselm. Cf. Isa. Ixi. 2, where
Christ says that He is sent to preach the acceptable year of the
Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that
mourn. This acceptable year was typified by the year of Jubilee.
The whole time, therefore, that Christ preached, and after that the
whole time of the New Law, was, and is, to them that obey Christ
and accept His free gift, a year of jubilee, of mercy, peace, forgive
ness, salvation, and freedom. In this year, after the long-standing
wrath of God against us, we are restored to His grace, good-will, to
our glorious inheritance, and all the original good things which we
had in the state of innocence in Paradise. The same time, the same
year, was the day of vengeance on our foes, when God avenged the
human race on its enemies by delivering them from their tyranny.
86 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VI.
Ver. 3. Giving no offence in anything. When we speak of the
day on which all are called by Christ to be saved, let us be careful
that we put no stumbling-block in any one s way, and by our self-
indulgence, or gloominess, or cowardice cause him to refuse to
accept, or advance in the way of, salvation ; else we Apostles, who
do all that we can by our preaching and living to induce all to
accept salvation, will be blamed.
Ver. 4. Approving ourselves. " Commending ourselves " (Eras
mus), "declaring ourselves," as others render it; but "showing our
selves " (Syriac) is the best. The Latin version, however, takes it in
the Optative, "let us show ourselves." Paul is here again defending
himself and praising himself because of his rivals, the false apostles ;
and he exhorts all Christians, and especially all preachers of the
Gospel, of whom there were many at Corinth, to live up to the
Evangelical and Apostolical life. At the same time he tacitly
describes his own life, his sufferings, fortitude, and virtues, that
others may imitate him, and may in their own lives offer a contrast
to the pride, self-indulgence, cowardice, and other vices of the false
apostles. As we shall see in chap, xi., he is forced in this Epistle to
praise himself in self-defence.
S. Paul here puts forward a living picture of a true and genuine
Apostle and preacher of the Gospel, by which any one may examine
teachers whose faith and uprightness are suspected. This picture
is also a model for all teachers and pastors to copy. S. Paul wishes
the Corinthians to see the injustice of preferring their false apostles
and blatant demagogues before himself and his fellow-Apostles, in
whom all the marks of a true Apostle will easily be found. These
marks he now proceeds to enumerate.
As the ministers of God in much patience. The exhibition of
suffering endured not once but often is a plain proof of apostleship.
The word "patience " is to be referred to what follows. Let us show
ourselves, says S. Paul, as ministers of God, by suffering many tri
bulations, necessities, distresses, stripes, and other afflictions. For
men admire this patience as a higher philosophy, they themselves
being accustomed when they are injured to be angry, indignant, and
THE MARKS OF AN APOSTLE 8/
to avenge themselves by blows and angry words, and thus they are
led to infer the truth of Christian doctrine and to recognise the
Spirit of God. For example, S. Xavier and his companion Juan
Fernandez made no progress in Japan until a man one day spat in
the face of one of them ; whereupon the Saint gently wiped his face
and proceeded with his sermon as though he had suffered nothing,
and bore with most exemplary patience their scoffs and insults.
The keen-witted Japanese so admired this fortitude that they at
once proceeded to honour them as men descended from heaven,
and to vie with each other in embracing the faith they taught. The
heathen Epictetus also saw the power of constancy and long-suffering,
and taught his followers to show the wisdom he had taught them, not
so much by words as by deeds of endurance. In his Enchiridion
(c. 29), he says : "Be not in a hurry to utter thy words to the un
skilful ; but rather let thy words act as fuel to the flames of thy deeds ;
for sheep do not ask us to prove by reasonings how much they may
have eaten, but they quietly digest their food, and show its results in
wool and milk. " So Christ (S. Matt. vii. 16) says of false prophets,
"by their fruits ye shall know them;" and again, in S. Luke viii.
15, speaking of the seed of the Gospel which falls into good ground,
He says " these are they which in an honest and good heart having
heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience."
In necessities. In want of food, drink, and clothing. Theophylact
takes the word in a more general sense, as denoting the intensity
and seventy of his tribulations, when they become so overwhelming
that escape seems impossible, and drive a man into extreme neces
sity, and as it were stifle him.
Ver. 5. In tumults. Being constantly hunted from one city to
another, so that I have no place to abide in, but am forced to
be always going hither and thither. The word may, however, also
denote popular outbreaks or tumults, as in S. Luke xxi. 9.
Ver. 6. By pureness. Being pure in all things, not only inasmuch
as Paul was guiltless of bribery, and forbade his disciples to yield to
it, but also because he preached not at others expense, as Theophy
lact says. The Latin version gives the word a narrower meaning, as
SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VI.
denoting pure and perfect chastity, abstinence from every lustful
action, the cultivation of angelic purity, such as was seen in Paul
and the other Apostles. Every infidel and heretic looks upon this
as a token that a man is a true minister of God ; and he rightly
thinks that chastity with himself is impossible. It is possible among
Catholics alone, inasmuch as they are sharers in the true faith and
in the grace of God. Hence you will not find among heretics
virgins or houses of virgins, or monks or monasteries, no, nor even
celibate priests. These are to be found in every age in the Roman
Catholic Church alone, which has followed, and taught her members
to follow, Paul and the other Apostles as her guides and teachers.
By knowledge. Let us see that we do not appear to some to
be unskilled and untaught as to what things Christians are to do
and avoid. Let us rather show that we know such things, by
teaching others the good they are to do, and the evil that they are
to avoid, that so they may attain salvation, and that all may know
us to be God s ministers, preachers, and Apostles. So Ambrose.
Anselm, not amiss, thinks that knowledge here denotes acquaintance
with the Holy Scriptures.
By kindness. Let us not be rancorously bitter against those
who trouble us, but let us be gentle and kindly disposed to them,
in thought, word, and deed, that all may say that we are God s
ministers. It is evidently a sign of adamantine fortitude, says
Theophylact, when any one, being harassed and attacked on
every side, is not only long-suffering, but also gentle and kind.
It is superhuman, Christ-like, God-like.
Such was S. Athanasius, of whom Nazianzen says in his oration
in his praise : "Athanasius was in his life high and lifted up, in his
mind filled with humility; of such urbanity that all might easily
approach him; forgiving, free from all anger, compassionate, pleasant
in speech, pleasanter still in his life, in shape like an angel, in mind
still more angelic, calm when rebuking others, able to instruct when
he gave praise, as far removed from easy-going carelessness as from
harsh severity ; in short, he was adamant to those that struck against
him, a magnet to those that stood apart from him."
THE MARKS OF AN APOSTLE 89
By the Holy Ghost. By the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and by the
works we do by His help and guidance. Let us do everything
with so pious, kind, sincere, and fervent spirit, that it may be
apparent that we are not moved by vanity or pride, but by the
Holy Spirit. So Anselm, Theophylact, Chrysostom.
Ver. 7. By the word of truth. By purely and sincerely preaching
Gospel truth, let us show ourselves ministers of God.
By the power of God. By working miracles, or rather, with
Chrysostom, by Christian constancy and fortitude displaying itself
in so many adversities, so many labours, such vehemence of word,
and so effectual preaching. All such things come to us through
the power of God, and prove us to be powerful ministers of Him,
worthy of all admiration.
By the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.
Both in prosperity and adversity let us take as our arms works of
righteousness, i.e., of virtuous deeds springing from a righteous and
holy life, that we may neither be lifted up by prosperity nor cast
down by adversity. So Anselm. But Chrysostom and Theophylact
say that the left hand denotes adversity, and the right prosperity,
which two things, by alternate action, fortify the servants of God
like armour, so that they are neither exalted to pride nor cast
down into despondency.
Ver. 8. By honour and dishonour. Whether we are honoured
and praised, or dishonoured and abused, as, e.g., when the Lycao-
nians wished to worship Paul as God, and directly afterwards to
stone him as an impostor. The preposition by is here equivalent to
in. See note to i Tim. ii. 15.
By evil report and good report. Whether we are spoken evil of,
or are in great repute.
As deceivers. Regarded as such, says Ambrose, when yet we
are true.
As unknown, and yet well known. Looked upon by unbelievers
and heretics as unknown and obscure, but yet well known to God
and our own consciences (Ambrose).
Ver. 9. As dying. We may seem to be always dying through
90 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VI.
our daily dangers, persecutions, and trials, but God preserves us
alive and unharmed.
As chastened and not killed. Let us show ourselves as ministers
of God (ver. 4), by being chastened and not killed.
Ver. 10. As poor, yet making many rich. By enriching them
with earthly goods as well as with things Divine and heavenly. S.
Paul was collecting alms for the poor Saints, and especially those of
Jerusalem.
As having nothing, and yet possessing all things, (i.) I have all
things necessary, and I want no more ; nay, what is more, I despise
them as vile and beneath me, whence I am as though I possessed
all things. (2.) Though we Apostles are poor, yet are we the head
of the faithful, the richest of whom bring all their goods and lay
them at our feet (Ambrose and Anselm). Cf. Chrysostom here and
Homily (in Moral.). (3.) Possessing all things may also be under
stood to mean, having books, garments, and all other necessary
things, all meaning "some out of all," and being "distributed"
according to classes of individuals, and not according to the indi
viduals of classes. Others say that all things refers to God, and
they who possess Him possess all things. But this last sense is
mystical and symbolical.
Anselm remarks that as though is here prefixed to what is painful,
but not to what is joyful, because all the sadness of the Saints is but
apparent. It is short-lived, and passes away as a dream, and seems
but a shadow, and is not sorrow, but a mere semblance of it. . The
joy of the Saints, however, has no as though, because it is founded
on the sure and certain hope of eternal bliss. On the other hand,
the joy of the wicked has here the prefix as though, because it is
brief and shadowy as a dream, while their sorrow will have no as,
because it will be eternally bitter.
Observe the nature of the life of Paul and the other Apostles.
It was such a life as is led by religious, whose fathers were the
Apostles. Nazianzen (Or at. i de Pace}, in describing this life, says :
" Their life is one of wealth in the midst of need, of great possessions
while but pilgrims, of glory amid scorn, patience in weakness, a noble
THE MARKS OF AN APOSTLE gi
offspring in celibacy : instead of riches they have contempt of riches ;
for the kingdom of heaven s sake they embrace humility ; they have
nothing in the world, and yet they are superior to the world ; they are
in the flesh, and yet live out of the flesh ; they have God for their
portion ; their hope of the Kingdom makes them labour in want, and
through want they reign." Such was the life of Bishops and apos
tolic men. Sulpitius praises S. Martin for fulfilling the dignified
duties of a Bishop without abandoning his purpose as a monk.
Posidonius relates of S. Augustine that he lived so frugally as to be
content with bread and vegetables, seldom providing flesh except for
his guests ; he says also that when he was at the point of death he
left no will, because, as he said, Christ s poor had nothing to leave.
Still he was able to refute Arians, Manichees, Donatists, and Pela
gians, and became one of the first columns and doctors of the
Churches. Of Exuperius, Bishop of Toulouse, S. Jerome says:
"When hungry himself he fed others, and showed by his face,
wasted and wan with constant fasting, that he was consumed by
hunger after other things."
This, therefore, is the norm and form of the apostolic life pre
scribed by S. Paul to all who are desirous of perfection and the
salvation of their souls. From this was drawn the short rule of the
Institute of our Order, a printed copy of which each of us is wont
to carry about with him, and to apply to it his eyes and mind,
regarding it as his private monitor, and a keen spur to zeal for
virtue, nay, as a living mirror of our vocation and profession. It
says as follows : " The nature of our life demands that we be men
crucified to the world, and to whom the world itself is crucified ; new men,
who have put off their affections to put on Christ ; dead to themselves,
to live to righteousness ; men who, as S. Paul says, show themselves to
be ministers of Christ in labours, in watchings, in fastings, in pureness,
in knowledge, hi long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Ghost, in love
unfeigned, in the word of truth ; men who by the armour of righteous
ness on the right hand and on the left, by honoiir and dishonour, by
evil report and good report, in prosperity and adversity, are themselves
hastening by forced marches to their heavenly country, and with all
92 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VI.
zealous labour compelling others also, always aiming at the greatest
glory of God. This is the summary, this one tiling the aim and object
of our constitutions, viz., Jesus."
Ver. ii. -O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you. My
mouth is open, it longs to say more to you, and to express all my
affection for you, and it cannot. No matter what and how much
I may say, it is less than my affection. The Apostle says this to
show that what he had said of his patience, tribulations, and virtues
was not from self-love, but from friendship, trust, and love towards
the Corinthians. Friends are in the habit of interchanging their
O O
secret joys and sorrows, and thus showing their love for each other.
When this is great they more and more try to express it, but find
themselves unable to do justice to their feelings. This is what Paul
does here.
The two ideas of "straitening" and "enlarging" are frequently
contrasted by the Hebrews, to denote on the one hand sadness,
timidity, suspicion, and avarice, and on the other joyfulness and
generosity of heart As sadness and .avarice contract the heart, the
brow, and the hands, so joy, cheerfulness, and charity expand them.
Cf. Ps. cxix. 32, and i Kings iv. 29.
Ver. 12. Ye are not straitened in us. You dwell fully and
spaciously in my heart as in your home. My love builds for you
a spacious house.
Ye are straitened in your own bowels. The love of your hearts
for me is so small that it contracts them, and barely gives me place
there. Your love and good-will do not equal mine. The Corinthians
would seem to have been alienated from Paul by the calumnies of
the false apostles ; he, therefore, declares the greatness of his love
for them, that he may kindle theirs in return.
Moreover, Paul seemed to have in his First Epistle straitened the
Corinthians by prohibiting them from idolatry, from going to law
before unbelieving judges, from their love-feasts and sumptuous
banquets; and in ver. 14 he is about to straiten them by for
bidding a believer to marry with an unbeliever. He here paves the
way by urging them to receive, with the large-hearted love of
UNEQUAL MARRIAGES 93
Christ, his apparently straitening precepts, which are not his but
Christ s.
Ver. 13. Now for a recompence in the same . . . be ye also
enlarged. S. Paul is speaking of a return of love, and not, as
some think, of the heavenly reward. These latter take the meaning
to be, that since the Corinthians were to have the same reward in
heaven, they should enlarge their love for S. Paul. But the sense
clearly is that they should repay S. Paul s for them with an equal
measure of love on their part.
Ver. 14. Be ye not unequally yoked together ivith itnbelievers.
Do not have so close fellowship with them in matters of religion
as to be gradually led away to share in their unbelief, as, e.g., in
marriage. Separate yourselves from the unbelievers assemblies,
temples, sacrifices, feasts ; do not intermarry with them, for all
commerce with them is either wicked and unrighteous in itself,
or is dangerous to those who hold it, and a cause of offence to
others. Do not imitate the Jews, whose laxity is recorded in
Ps. cvi. 35 (Chrysostom, Ambrose, Theophylact). S. Jerome
(contra Jovin. lib. i.) understands S. Paul to warn against inter
marriage with unbelievers. There seems to be an allusion to Ps.
cvi. 28, "They joined themselves unto Baal-peor," which refers
to the fornication committed by the Israelites in honour of Baal-
peor. So, whoever marries with an unbeliever may be said to
join himself to Baal-peor, i.e., the devil, the ruler of unbelievers.
Anselm again supposes that by " unbelievers " is meant the Juda-
ising false apostles, who were attempting to eviscerate the faith of
Christ by making the ceremonies of the law of Moses binding on
Christians. Such men are more dangerous to Christians, and more to
be shunned than unbelieving Gentiles, and therefore S. Paul warns his
readers against them. This sense is good but defective, for the Apostle
wishes the fellowship of all unbelievers whatsoever to be avoided.
The Apostle is here passing on, as is usual in letters, to discuss
another point of importance just then to the Corinthians, viz., the
duty of avoiding unbelievers. It is in vain, therefore, for any one
to seek for connecting links with what has gone before.
94 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VI.
Erasmus observes that the Latin version is happy in its transla
tion here; it renders the passage : " Do not be joined in the same
yoke with unbelievers." For if a Christian marry a heathen wife,
or a Christian magistrate have a Gentile as colleague, he is called
frepogvyuv. Marriages of this kind S. Jerome calls unequal.
Observe upon this that ere/so? signifies sometimes one of two, some
times an object that is diverse, whether from some one other or from
several others. Thus the word occurs in a compound word, to denote
one who lacks an eye, and again to denote one who is of a different
opinion (erepo^^aA/ios and erepoSo^os). And hence it is uncertain
whether S. Paul here means one who bears one-half of a yoke, or one
who bears a yoke in company with one of a different condition.
Budseus takes the former of these two, and understands S. Paul
to exhort the Corinthians not to bear one part of a yoke with
unbelievers, just as in Campania two oxen bear the same yoke,
one on each side.
Others more properly take the latter meaning, and understand
the warning to be against such an alliance as that of an ox and an
ass would be in the same yoke (Deut. xxii. 10). This interpretation
is rendered more probable from the words that follow "what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?"
Theophylact again thinks that the warning is against accommodat
ing one s principles to those of our partner in wedlock. He says that
the allusion here is not to a yoke but to the beam of a balance, and
one especially that is unequally weighted, so that one side is lower
than the other. We are not to be like such a balance, and lean
towards an unrighteous or unbelieving partner.
For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? The
unjust with the unjust, believers with unbelievers.
It was hard for the Corinthians, while Christians were so few, to
be forbidden to have commerce and intermarriage with unbelievers.
Many amongst them would find a difficulty in obtaining partners of
equal rank, or wealth, or position ; and hence they would either
be obliged to abstain from marriage, or else marry an inferior.
Moreover, by natural and Divine law there was nothing simply and
UNEQUAL MARRIAGES 95
absolutely to prohibit them from allying themselves with unbelievers ;
still such alliance would be unbecoming and full of danger, and
hence it is forbidden by the Apostle. But to reconcile them to so
severe a precept he puts before them five contrasts drawn from the
inherent opposition between Christianity and heathenism.
(i.) Unequal wedlock is a heavy yoke, burdensome to both parties,
even as it would be if a horse and an ox were yoked together. (2.)
Light and darkness cannot cohere in the same subject or be in the
same place at once ; therefore one of the faithful, who has the light of
faith, cannot well enter into the same yoke with one who is full of
the darkness of unbelief. (3.) There is no concord between Christ
and Belial : believers belong to Christ, unbelievers to Belial ; there
fore they cannot agree. (4.) The believer has no part or communion
with the unbeliever, but differs from him as widely as belief from
unbelief, heaven from hell ; therefore they cannot be joined together.
(5.) The temple of God cannot be associated with the idols and
temples of devils; neither, therefore, can a believer with an un
believer. For each of the faithful is a temple of God, and the
unbeliever is a temple and image of the devil.
Ver. 15. What concord hath Christ with Beliall What har
mony can there be between Him who is the Author of all
knowledge, obedience, and righteousness and the devil with his
followers ?
The Hebrew Belial denotes (i.) disobedience, rebellion, ungodli
ness; (2.) those who have these qualities; and (3.) the devil,
as the first apostate, the first to shake off the yoke of obedience
to God and His law. Hence apostates are called " sons of Belial,"
i.e., children of the devil, or children of disobedience, rebellion
ungodliness.
What part hath he that believeth with an infidel? What is there
common to both, to be shared by both? So, in i Kings xii. 16, we
find : " What portion have we in David ? neither have we inheritance
in the son of Jesse." This antithesis explains the three preceding
ones. It is not right for a believer to be joined with an unbe
liever, even as it is not possible for righteousness to be joined to
96 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VI.
ununrighteousness, light to darkness, Christ to Belial, the temple of
God with idols.
Ver. 1 6. Ye are the temple of the living God. Fy faith, grace,
and holiness. S. Cyprian (de Orat. Doming says beautifully : " Let us
show ourselves in our lives as the temples of God., that all may see that
God indwells within us, so that we ivho have begun to be heavenly
and spiritual, may think and do nothing but what is spiritual and
heavenly." The Hebrew word for "temple" connotes power and
majesty. Hence Chrysostom (Horn. 17 in Ep. ad Heb.} says that
God ordered Solomon s Temple to be made exceeding magnifical,
that the Jews, who were naturally attracted by outward things,
might be led to know something of the majesty of God. Why, then,
should not Christians ornament their temples, as the houses of God,
and show honour to God, and especially to the body of Christ
present with them, and so excite others to reverence and love God ?
Such a temple, such a royal, nay, such a Divine palace, is the Church
allegorically, and each faithful soul tropologically, as the Apostle
here declares. In this temple God shows His great glory and
majesty, by His exceeding great grace, by magnificent and glorious
works of virtue, and by the power of His sacraments.
Villalpando (in Ezek. vol. ii. p. 256) sees a furiher reference in
the Hebrew word for temple to motion or walking. The tabernacle
was a movable temple in which God dwelt and walked with the
Hebrews through the wilderness into their promised land. It is
to this that S. Paul alludes in the words that follow.
I will walk in them. I will be their guardian, and will spiritually
walk in them through the powers and virtues of the soul.
Anselm .points out that S. Paul quotes Ezek. xxxvii. 27 literally,
and Lev. xxvi. 12 tropologically. What is said in the latter pas
sage of the literal tabernacle of witness is to be understood of God s
protecting presence in each one of the faithful.
Allegorically this tabernacle signified the Church of Christ, as is
explained in Ezek. xxvii. 27, and tropologically each holy soul, which
is a temple of God moving through the wilderness of this world to
its resting-place in heaven.
GOD IN MAN 97
(i.) God walks in the soul as in His tabernacle when, through
acts of faith, hope, and charity, He passes from the memory to the
understanding, and thence to the will. For the faithful soul is as
the temple of heaven : its sun is the understanding, or zeal for
righteousness ; its moon is faith and continence ; its stars the other
virtues, as S. Bernard says (Serin. 27 in Cantic.}. (2.) God walks in
the soul, inasmuch as He makes it by His grace go from virtue to
virtue (Anselm and Theophylact). In the same way that in the
tabernacle the way to the Holy of Holies through the Holy Place
was by the altar of incense, the table of shew-bread, and the candle
stick, does God enable us to pass into heaven through holiness of life
by prayer, almsgiving, chastity, and purity of soul. The altar of in
cense was a symbol of prayer, the table of almsgiving, the candle
stick of purity and brightness of life. (3.) God walks in the soul by
way of contemplation. He causes us to follow in our minds His
temples, as He passed from the temple of heaven to that of the
Virgin s womb, thence to that of Calvary, thence to hell, and finally
back again to heaven. (4.) God walks in us corporally, says
S. Ambrose, for the Word was made flesh and dwelt and walked
amongst us, and daily by Holy Communion He dwells in us and
walks with us.
Ver. 17. Come out from among them. Isa. lii. n, which is
here quoted, taken literally ordered the Apostles and the faithful
generally to come out, not from the unbelieving and unclean city of
Babylon, but from Jerusalem, to be laid waste by Titus. But the
Apostle, either tropologically or by parity of reasoning, applies it
as an injunction to the faithful to avoid too great intimacy with
unbelievers, and not to touch the unclean thing, that is unclean
unbelievers ; not to live with them, lest they stain themselves with
their uncleannesses, such as drunkenness, lust, pride, ungodli
ness, and unrighteousness (Jerome, Cyril in Isa. lii., Chrysostom,
Ambrose, Anselm),
VOL. II.
CHAPTER VII
I He proceedeth in exhorting them to purity of life, 2 and to bear him like affec
tion as he doth to them. 3 Whereof lest he might seem to doubt, he declnreth
what comfort he took in his afflictions, by the report which Titus gave of their
godly sorrow, which his former epistle had wrought in them, 13 and of their
lovingkindness and obedience towards Titus, answerable to his former boastings
of them.
TTAVING therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of
God.
2 Receive us ; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have
defrauded no man.
3 I speak not this to condemn you : for I have said before, that ye are in our
hearts to die and live with you.
4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you : I
am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were
troubled on every side ; without were fightings, within were fears.
6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by
the coming of Titus ;
7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was com
forted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent
mind toward me ; so that I rejoiced the more.
8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did
repent : for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were
but for a season.
9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to re
pentance : for ye were made sorry, after a godly manner, that ye might receive
damage by us in nothing.
10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of :
but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
1 1 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what
carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indig
nation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what
revenge ! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, / did it not for his cause that had
done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you
in the sight of God might appear unto you.
13 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the
more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.
98
PERFECTING HOLINESS 99
14 For if I have boasted anything to him of you, I am not ashamed ; but as
we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which / made before
Titus, is found a truth.
15 And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remem-
bereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.
16 I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. He declares his love, sincerity, and his confidence in the Corinthians,
ii. He declares (ver. 6) his joy at their repentance and amendment,
iii. He states (ver. 10) the signs and acts of true repentance,
iv. He names (ver. 13) Titus as his witness for the repentance, love, and
obedience of the Corinthians.
Ver. i. Having tJierefore these promises. The promises that
Christians should be the temples of God, should be His sons and
daughters, and should have God dwelling in them and walking in
them.
Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.
From this passage theologians draw the division of sin into that
which is fleshly and that which is spiritual. The first has to do with
a carnal object, and makes man like a beast, as, e.g., gluttony, lust,
and drunkenness. The second has to do with a spiritual object,
and makes man like a devil, as, e.g., anger, pride, envy.
S. Basil (Reg. 53) says appropriately that "filthiness of the flesh
denotes carnal actions, and filthiness of the spirit is having inter
course with them that do such things, as, e.g., the Corinthians
had with the fornicator whom the Apostle bade them wholly to
avoid."
Perfecting holiness. So that the mind, purged from all filthiness
of flesh and spirit, may be perfectly holy and pure, given in the fear
of God to good works. The fear of God is both the beginning
and perfecting of true wisdom and holiness (Ecclus i. 16, 19, and
v. 1 8). The more the fear of God increases, the more does holiness
increase, and so the perfect fear of God is perfect holiness. S. Basil
(Reg. 53) says beautifully: "Holiness consists in being dedicated to
God, and thenceforward wholly clinging to Him, in eagerly seeking
100 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VII.
after and earnestly maintaining such tilings as are pleasing to Him.
Even in things offered to God as gifts those are rejected as unp leasing
to Him which are maimed or defective ; and to resume for human uses
ivhat has been once dedicated as a gift to God is infamous and accursed. "
Ver. 2. Receive us. Embrace us with the arms of love, as with
all our heart we do you (Theophylact). Cf. vi. 11-13. Strictly, the
Greek denotes "make a place for us"- a large place in your hearts.
Maldonatus (Not. Manusc.} renders the words : " Bear with me if I
have praised myself over-much."
We have defrauded no man. We have obtained no man s goods,
either by violence or fraud. Cf. ii. n.
Ver. 3. I speak not this to condemn you. I do not mean to accuse
you of suspecting me of such things.
Ye are in our hearts to die and live with you. So great is my
love for you that with you and for you I am ready both to die and
to live. How this harmonises with the preceding will be seen in
ver. 4. S. Paul alludes to lovers, whose love is commonly so
ardent as to make them of one life, to hold all things in common,
and to involve one in the death of the other. Cf. Nilus and
Euryalus in Virgil, Ai,n. ix. 427-445 ; the Soldurii, mentioned by
Caesar in lib. iii. de Bella Gallico, and the sacred cohort of the
Thebans, described by Plutarch. Erasmus and others add that
the Apostle is referring to that ancient kind of friendship in
which on the death of one friend the other also killed himself,
as Csesar records that the Soldurii were in the habit of doing.
Such was the friendship Horace says that he had with Maecenas
In Peru and Mexico wives and the better-loved servants, when the
husband or master dies, throw themselves upon the funeral pyre,
or are buried alive with the dead body. In Japan, too, when
noblemen are condemned to death, they in company with their
nearest friends inflict death on themselves by ripping themselves up.
Such suicide the Apostle condemns, but praises and embraces the
friendship. He seems to say : " As they love each other even to
death, so do I, O Corinthians, love you, and long to live with you
and die with you ; but I do not, as they, long to inflict on myself
PERFECT FRIENDSHIP IOI
death." But there is no need to suppose that the Apostle finds a
model for his love in illicit and parricidal friendships. They chiefly
manifested themselves in simultaneous death and self-murder, and
were, therefore, wickednesses, and deserving blame rather than praise
Ver. 4. Great is my boldness of speech toward you. My boldness
is great because my love is so great. Hence comes my " glorying
of you " (Theophylact and Ambrose). Paul says all this to banish
all suspicion of his good faith, and to gain credence to his declara
tion, " We have wronged no roan," &c. " I have not said this," he
seems to say, "out of any distrust of your good opinion of me, but
out of the boldness engendered by my great love for you ; hence
it is that I am wont to glory of you." Let superiors learn of S.
Paul, to beware lest those under them distrust them, from a belief
that their superiors do not believe them, do not trust in them, and
do not therefore confidently entrust themselves and their goods to
their superior ; let them rather endeavour to deal openly with them,
and let them know that they are loved; let them show that they
have a good opinion of their inferiors, and by so doing they will
bind their hearts to themselves, and turn them wherever they please.
/ am exceeding joyftil in all our tribulation. Viz., because you
have corrected what in my First Epistle I condemned. You have
so comforted me that I not only am filled with comfort, but more
than filled. This exuberance of joy drowns all feeling of my afflic
tions, even as floods of water put out a small fire.
Observe here that friendship produces four affections in the souls
of friends. The first affection is one of trust, of which Paul says :
"Great is my confidence in you;" the second is one of glorying,
of which he says : " Great is my glorying of you ; " the third is one
of comfort, of which he says : " I am filled with comfort ; " the fourth
is one of superabundant joy, of which he says : " I am exceeding
joyful in all our tribulation."
Ver. 5. Without ivere fightings. Unbelievers were openly hostile.
Within were fears. I was inwardly anxious, both because of false
brethren and of weak Christians, lest they should be led to fall away
through our persecutions (Anselm and Ambrose).
102 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VII.
Ver. 7. When he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your
fervent mind toward me ; so that I rejoiced the more. I was before
saddened through your divisions and other sins, but when I saw
and heard of your desire to amend, your penitence for your sins,
and your zeal to protect me against all detractors, I rejoiced.
Ver. 8. For though I made you sorry with a letter. Although in
my First Epistle I made you sorry by rebuking your vices, never
theless it was good for us, and it stirred you to repentance, which
brought you at once peace and joy.
Though it were but for a season. My Epistle saddened you but
for a short time, and it led you to repentance; therefore I rejoice
both over my letter and your repentance.
Ver. 9. Ye sorrowed to repentance. This sorrow led you to
repentance, to mourning (ver. 7), to indignation and revenge
(ver. u). Repentance, therefore, is not merely a coming to one s
self again, as I will show directly by several proofs.
Ver. 10. For godly sorrow worketh repentance. Observe i. that
the Apostle here distinguishes two kinds of sorrow, one according
to God, and one of the world. The sorrow of the world, or carnal
sorrow, is that which springs from loss of excessively loved worldly
goods as when wealth or pleasures are lost, when friends or great
men are offended. This sorrow often works death to the soul, by
bidding us recover our goods and offend God. Not unseldom it
even works diseases and death to the body, for many pine away
and die through excessive grief. " Sorrow slays many," says Ecclus.
xxx. 25, "and there is no use in it." But godly or Divine sorrow
is that which follows on the thought of having offended God, and
is called contrition ; it produces penance, or self-punishment ; so
leading to salvation, it is firm, sure, and not to be repented of.
Hence Chrysostom and Erasmus refer not to be repented of to
penance, not to salvation.
2. The Apostle distinguishes this sorrow from penance as the
cause from the effect ; for sorrow, that is contrition, works penance,
that is self-punishment. Hence it is evident that this sorrow and
this penance are not merely a return to one s sense and a new life,
ATTRITION AND CONTRITION 103
as heretics think ; nor mere leaving off one s past sins, as Erasmus
says, but are contrition and self-discipline. It is evident in the
second place that sinners are justified and attain salvation, not by
faith alone, but also by penance; and thirdly, that repentance
includes this contrition, confession, and satisfaction, and that these
are the three parts of repentance. So in ver. 1 1 the Apostle, ex
plaining repentance, says that it works carefulness, i.e., to appease
and satisfy God, revenge, &c.
Here we should take note of the golden saying of S. Chrysostom
(Horn. 5 ad Pop. \ on the use, end, and fruit of sorrow. He says :
" Sorrow zvas given us, not that we should mourn over death or other
ills, but to blot out sin, and to be a remedy against it. Just as the
remedy for blear eyes takes away that particular disease and no
others, so does sorrow banish sin, but not other ailments. For
example, a man loses his money he grieves, but does not mend his
case ; one loses his son he grieves, but does not thereby raise the dead.
He meets with scorn and contempt he grieves, but the insult remains ;
he falls sick he grieves, but does not thereby banish his sickness, nay,
he makes it worse. But when a man sins and grieves for it, he blots
out his sin, for godly sorrow works repentance powerful for salvation.
Sorrow, therefore, was made because of sin alone, and from it takes
its birth, and, like a moth, eats it up and destroys it."
Cassian, following his master S. Chrysostom, thus describes
(lib. ix. c. i o) godly sorrow : " Sorrow can be said to be useful to us
only when it is enkindled within us by repentance for our sins, or by
a longing after perfection, springing from the contemplation of our
future bliss. . . . This sorrow, which worketh repentance powerful
to salvation, is obedient, affable, Jmmble, meek, tender, and long-suffer
ing, as descending from the love of God, and unweariedly extending
itself through its longing after perfection to all bodily mortification,
and to complete spiritual contrition. It is at times joyful, and feeds
itself on hope of progress ; it retains all the pleasantness of affability
and long-suffering, having in it all the fruits of the Holy Spirit love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temper
ance." He proceeds to give the marks of worldly sorrow: "// is
IO4 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VII.
harsh, impatient, hard, full of bitterness and unfruitful grief, and
guilty despair. It breaks off from diligence and saving grief any
one that it may have laid hold of; it is void of reason, and not only
hinders prayer from being efficacious, but destroys all the aforesaid
fruits of the Spirit conferred by godly sorrow."
Ver. it. For behold this self-same thing, &c. The Apostle here,
as Calvin admits, names seven effects of godly sorrow and true
repentance, (i.) Carefulness to expiate the offence against God
and to regain His favour. (2.) Defence (rendered by Ambrose,
"excusing;" by Erasmus, "satisfaction;" by Maldonatus, "clearing
of the accusation"), not by words but by deeds by a good life.
Here the defence may be the defence of S. Paul against his
detractors and the false apostles. (3.) Indignation that now,
recognising your divisions, your passing over the act of incest and
the other sins rebuked in my First Epistle, you were grieved
and penitent, you were indignant with yourselves. (4.) Fear, not
only of man, but fear of offending God. (5.) Desire to correct se 1 ^
and to satisfy man and still more God. (6.) Zeal to honour God
and to cast the notorious sinner out of the Church (Anselm and
Chrysostom). (7.) Revenge, or purpose to punish sin by grief and
tears, by bodily and spiritual mortification (Theodoret, Theophylact,
Ambrose, S. Thomas). Calvin himself says (Tnst. lib. iii. c. 13,
1 6) : " Last of all is revenge. The more severe we are against our
selves, the keener our condemnation of our sins, the more hope ought we
to have that God will be propitious and merciful to us. And surely
the soul that is smitten with fear of God s judgment cannot but antici
pate part of His punishment by inflicting punishment on itself."
In these seven effects and fruits of repentance there is a grada
tion ; for the Apostle rises by steps from the less to the greater, as
is expressed by the repeated, "yea, what." This sorrow for having
offended God has not only brought on carefulness to be reconciled
to Him, but also defence of me, Paul ; not only that, but indignation
against sin, holy fear of guarding against sin for the future, desire of
making satisfaction, zeal against sinners, and, lastly, revenge on sin,
which is the last step and fruit of repentance.
THE NATURE OF REPENTANCE 1 05
This passage plainly shows us, therefore, that repentance is not
merely a change of life and a purpose of better living, but is also
detestation of the old life, mortification, and satisfaction. Hence
the Council of Trent (sess. xiv. c. 8), following the ancient usage of
the Church, bids confessors, in enjoining satisfaction, to regard not
only the needs of the new life, but also the revenge due to the sin
committed, although its guilt by absolution is remitted.
Tertullian, one of the earliest of the Fathers, says the same (de
Penit. c. ix.). His words are : " Public confession is a discipline
which lays low and humiliates man, and acts as an allurement to
mercy. As to dress and food, it bids us lie in sackcloth and ashes,
defile the body with sordid clothing, tame the mind with sorrow, with
stern treatment change what is sinful, to use food and drink for the
sake of the life only, not for the pleasure of the belly, to cherish prayer
by fastings, to weep and cry to God day and night, to attend ChurcJi
services, and to kneel with those that are pleasing to God, to add
supplications to those of all the bretJiren."
Climacus, too (de Penit. Gradu. 5), says: "Repentance is thought
condemning itself, a perpetual repudiation of bodily delight, a "vol
untary endurance of all afflictions, a constant deviser of sufferings
for itself, a severe mortifier of the pleasures of appetite, a condemner
of the physical life also in its keenest sensual delight, an abyss of
humility."
How different is all this from the easy system of Luther and Calvin,
who enjoin no other penance than faith for every sin, no matter
how frequent or how heinous. I believe, say they, that God has
pardoned thee thy sins through the merits of Christ, and therefore
He will pardon thee all thy punishment and guilt. In other words,
believe yourself to be in the Elysian Fields, believe yourself a king,
and straightway you are such ; at all events, if not really, certainly
in imagination. Surely all this is but like the fond dreams of lovers.
Let him believe this who lacks, not so much faith, as brains and
sound sense, and who, at his own risk, desires and intends to enter
on the broad way of the many, which leads to perdition, and not the
narrow way of the few, which leads to life. As the Sibyl said to
106 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VII.
^Eneas : " Easy is the descent to Avernus, but to retrace one s steps,
and to emerge into the upper air this is labour, this is toil; the
few God-born ones, beloved by Jupiter, or raised by their virtues to
the heavens, have alone availed to do it."
Let the Protestants listen to S. Jerome, or the author of the
Epistle to Susanna after lapsing, (whoever he may be, he is certainly
of weight and of early times, nay, Erasmus and Marianus think from
the style that he is S. Augustine himself). Prescribing to her or any
other penitent the form of lamentation and repentance, he says :
" Who shall comfort thee, O virgin-daughter of Zion, for thy contri
tion is made vast as the sea ? Pour out thy heart as water before the
face of the Lord, raise to Him thy hands as a remedy against thy sins.
Take thy lamentation, and chiefly on no day omit to say the $\st
Psalm, which is always used for this purpose, and with groaning and
tears go through each verse, as far as that one, A broken and contrite
heart, O God, shalt Thou not despise? Moreover, pour out this lament,
not without compunction of heart, in the sight of God, thy Judge.
Who will give water to my head and a fount of tears to my eyes, that I
may bewail the wounds of my soul 1 } Woe is me ! for I am become as
Sodom, and am burnt even as Gomorrha. Who will have pity on my
ashes ? I have sinned worse than Sodom, for she sinned in ignorance
of the law, but I have received grace and sinned. If a man sin against
a man there will be one to plead for him, but I have sinned against
the Lord, and whom shall I find to atone for me ? How bitter is
the fruit of concupiscence more bitter than gall, more cruel than the
sword! How am I become desolate I Suddenly have I fallen away
and perished through my iniquity, like as a dream when one awaketh.
Therefore has my image become vile in the city of the Lord, my name
has been blotted out. Cursed be the day when the womb bare me, and
the cruel light saw me. Better for me if I had not been born than
become thus a proverb amongst the Gentiles. Through me confusion
and reproach have come on the servants of the Lord, and on them that
worthily worship Him. Mourn for me, ye mountains and rivers, for
J am the daughter of weeping. My sin and my iniquity are not like
to the offences of men. This wickedness is horrible, to pollute with flesh
SELF-CHASTISEMENT IO7
a virgin who has professed chastity. I have lied against the Lord
Most High, but still I will call to the Lord: Lord, rebuke me not in
Thy anger, neither chasten me in Thy heavy displeasure. 1 " S. Ambrose
gives the same directions to a lapsed virgin. Cf. Cyprian (Serm. de
Lapsis), Chrysostom (Horn. 41 ad Prop. ).
Climacus, in the passage already cited, relating examples and
describing the disposition of penitents, has the following remarks,
which may worthily act as goads of compunction to the sinner :
" When I came to the monastery of penitents, nay, to the religion of
them that flee from sin, I saw and heard things which may well take
God by storm. I saw some of those guilty ones standing and watch
ing through whole nights till daybreak, standing motionless, resisting
sleep, applying force to nature, giving themselves no rest, but chiding
themselves. Others I saw in prayer, with their hands bound behind
their backs after the fashion of criminals, turning their sorrowful faces
to the earth, saying that they were unworthy to see the heavens, asking
for nothing, but offering to God a mind silent and mute and filled with
confusion. Some I saw sitting on the ground that was strewn with
sackcloth and ashes, covering their faces with their knees, and bruising
their foreheads against the earth. Others were smiting their breasts,
and with deep sighs recalling their past life ; others were weeping, and
others lamenting their inability to do the like. I saw some as though
turned into stone by grief, and insensible to everything. Oihers, with
looks fixed on the ground, were constantly moving their heads and roar
ing like lions. . . . I saw too some with their thirsty tongues protruding
from their month as dogs. Some of these tortured themselves under
the heat of a burning sun, others submitted to the most bitter cold ;
some drank a little water, that they might not be altogether parched
with thirst, and so gained relief. Some would eat a little bread and
then throw away the rest, as if they were unworthy of it. What
place was there among them for laughter, for gossip, for anger, for
enjoyment of wine or fruits ? They all alike cried to God, and nought
was heard save the voice of prayer." If any one desire more he will
find much of the same kind, and enough to make him dumb. He
ends by saying : "7 saw them, and I counted them who so mourn after
IOS SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VII.
falling Jiafpier than they who have never fatten, and do not so bewail
themselves."
Lastly, listen to the repentance and sorrow of S. Paula for some
slight sins, as recorded by S. Jerome : " She had not, even when
stricken with violent fever, any soft bed-clothing, but lay on sackcloth,
spread on the bare hard ground, and so took her rest, if that is to be
called rest which mingled night and day with never-ceasing prayers,
according to the words of the Psalmist, Every night will I wash my
bed, and water my couch with my tears. You might suppose that in
her were fountains of tears, so bitterly did she bewail the slightest sins ;
and you might have thought her guilty of the most heinous crimes.
When she was bidden by us, as often was the case, to spare her eyes, and
save them for reading the Gospel, she would say, Defiled must that
face be which, against the commandment of God, I have often painted
with red dyes, and antimony, and different cosmetics. Afflicted nmst
be the body which has been devoted to many delights. Long laughter
must be atoned for by long mourning. Soft clothing and dainty silks
must be exchanged for rough sackcloth. I, who once lived for my hus
band and the world, now desire to please Christ."
In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
Free from the sin of the fornicator. Although at first you neglected
to punish it, yet you have shown your detestation of it by punishing
it, and by your repentance (Anselm and Theophylact).
Ver. 12. Though I wrote unto you, I did it not, &c. He who
suffered wrong was the father whose wife the incestuous man had
taken to himself. Hence it is evident that the father was alive. The
Apostle says in effect : In the former Epistle I wrote somewhat
sharply, but I did not mean to avenge the private injuries done by
the incestuous person and suffered by the father ; but I wished to
show the care that I have for the common salvation of your Church,
by expelling from it this public scandal.
Ver. 13. Therefore we were comforted. By your repentance, zeal,
&c., as was said (vers. 6, 7, 9, n). The Latin version points this
verse as follows : " Before God, therefore, we were comforted. But
in our comfort we joyed the more," &c. If with some Greek copies
MOURNING FOR SIN I0p
we read "in your comfort," S. Paul refers to the good news that
he had heard of their repentance. " The tears of penitents," says
S. Bernard, "are the wine of angels," nay, they are the wine of peni
tents, for nothing so makes glad the heart as compunction. How
sweet to the penitent is it with the Magdalene to weep at the feet
of Jesus, to bathe them with tears, to wipe them, to kiss them, and
then to hear : " Thy sins are forgiven thee." None but one who has
tried it knows this sweetness.
Ver. 14. Even so our boasting which I made before Titus is found
a truth. I am accustomed to boast to him of you as good disciples,
and you have proved my boasting true.
Ver. 1 6. I have confidence in you in all things. I dare to speak
and act boldly with you, whether in the way of praise or blame.
You are always obedient to me, and, therefore, I am bold, and am
able to boast of you and think well of you (Chrysostom, Theophy*
lact, Ambrose). Anselm remarks on the prudence of Paul, as of a
physician, in curing with the pleasant medicines of consolation and
praise the wounds now nearly healed, so that the burning inflicted
by his former rebuke might be wholly healed.
CHAPTER VIII
I He stirreth them up to a liberal contribution for the poor saints at Jerusalem,
by the example of the Macedonians, 7 by commendation of their former for
wardness, 9 by the example of Christ, 14 and by the spiritual profit that shall
redound to themselves thereby : 16 commending to thejn the integrity and willing
ness of Tittis, and those other brethren, who upon his request, exhortation, and
commendation, -were purposely come to them for this business,
MOREOVER, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on
the churches of Macedonia ;
2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep
poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were
willing of themselves ;
4 Praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon
us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the
Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
6 Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also
finish in you the same grace also.
7 Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and know
ledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this
grace also.
8 I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others,
and to prove the sincerity of your love.
9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet
for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
10 And herein I give my advice : for this is expedient for you, who have begun
before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.
1 1 Now therefore perform the doing of it ; that as there "was a readiness to will,
so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.
12 For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man
hath, and not according to that he hath not.
13 For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened :
14 But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply
for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want : that
there may be equality :
15 As it is written, He that had gathered much, had nothing over ; and he that
had gathered little had no lack.
1 6 But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of
Titus for you.
no
THE DUTY OF ALMSGIVING III
17 For indeed he accepted the exhortation ; but being more forward, of his own
accord he went unto you.
18 And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel
throughout all the churches ;
19 And not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with
us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord,
and declaration 0/"your ready mind :
20 Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is
administered by us :
21 Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the
sight of men.
22 And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved
diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, upon the great confidence
which I have in you.
23 Whether any do inqtiire of Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper con
cerning you : or our brethren be inquired of, they are the messengers of the churches,
and the glory of Christ.
24 Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love,
and of our boasting on your behalf.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. He exhorts the Corinthians to imitate the generosity of the Macedonian
Christians in sending alms to the poor at Jerusalem.
ii. He points (ver. 9) to the example of Christ, who for our sakes was
made poor, that through His poverty we might be rich.
iii. He urges them (ver. 10) to fulfil their purpose and half-promise, and
bids each one give according to his means.
iv. He says (ver. 13) that by so doing rich and poor will be equalised,
through the former giving their temporal goods in return for spiritual
benefits.
v. He reminds them (ver. 16) that he had sent Titus and other Apostles
to make this collection, and warns them that if they put His mes
sengers to shame they themselves will also be put to shame before
them.
The first example of the almsgiving referred to in this and the
next chapters is related by S. Luke (Acts xi. 28). This famine
under Claudius is referred by many to his fourth year, by Baronius
to his second, i.e., A.D. 44. From S. Luke s narrative it appears
that the Christians of Antioch zealously met the famine beforehand
by sending alms by the hands of Barnabas and Paul. Many years
afterwards, in A.D. 58, the collection spoken of in this chapter was
made in Corinth and the neighbouring places. Further, a greater
and more lasting cause of the poverty of the Christians of Jerusalem
112 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VIII.
was the constant persecution suffered by them at the hands of the
Jews since the death of Stephen, frequently taking the form of
banishment and confiscation of their goods (Acts viii. i, and Heb.
x. 34). From that time forward the Jews were sworn foes to Christ,
and bitterly persecuted the Christians ; and since the Church of
Jerusalem was the mother of all others, the custom prevailed
amongst Christians in all parts of the world of sending help to
the poor of that Church. When Vigilantius found fault with this
custom in the time of Theodosius, S. Jerome, writing against him,
testifies to its prevalence with approbation. He says : " This custom
down to the present time remains, not only among us, but also among
the Jews, that they who meditate in the law of the Lord day and
night, and have no lot in the earth save God only, be supported by
the ministry of the synagogues, and of the whole earth."
In this chapter, then, the Apostle is urging the Corinthians, as
being rich, to the duty of almsgiving. Corinth was the most frequented
emporium of Greece, and in it were many wealthy merchants.
Ver. i. Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God.
God has given to the Macedonian Christians great patience, libera
lity, and pity for others.
y er< 2 . How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of
their joy. When greatly tried by sundry tribulations, they were very
joyful.
And their deep poverty abounded. Having sounded the depths
of poverty, the Macedonians, as it were, broke out into plentiful
and abundant kindness and almsgiving.
Liberality is given in the Latin version simplicity, and denotes
a pure, liberal, and ready will to give. Liberality is measured not
by the greatness of the gift, but by the promptitude of the mind,
as Chrysostom and Theophylact say. " Simplicity," says Ambrose
(Ep. 10), "weighs not pros and cons, has no mean suspicions or dis
honest thoughts, but overflows with pure affection." Cf. Rom. xii. 8.
Ver. 3. For to their power . . . thy were willing. Of their
own free will, without being solicited, they came forward and con
tributed as much as and more than they were able to afford.
THE DUTY OF ALMSGIVING 113
Ver. 4. Praying us. Begging us to undertake the gracious work
of collection, and take our part in it. The Apostle often applies
the- word x< ts (gift) to what is gratuitous and munificent. Here
he applies it to the work of collection. In ver. 7 and elsewhere he
applies it to the alms itself.
Ver. 5. Not as we hoped. They gave much more than we
expected.
But first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us. They
first surrendered themselves to the will of God and then to ours,
to do and give whatever I wished.
Observe here that they who give alms ought, if they are to do
it properly, first to give their hearts to God, and in token that they
have so surrendered themselves to Him, they ought then to give
alms, as tribute paid to Him.
By the will of God. God wishes people to follow our directions,
and regard our wish as His, and us as the interpreters of His will,
so what we will God also wills to be done by those under us. He
Himself says: "He that heareth. you heareth Me" (Anselm and
Theophylact).
Ver. 6. Insomuch that we desired Titus. We asked Titus to col
lect these alms, just as we had collected them in Macedonia. We
doubted not for a moment that the liberality of the rich Corinthians
would not be outshone in readiness and amount by the poverty of
the Macedonians. This is to stimulate the Corinthians to liberality
by the example of the Macedonians.
Ver. 7. See that ye abound in this grace also. See that, as ye
abound in faith, care, and love towards me, so ye abound in alms
giving to the poor (Anselm).
Ver. 8. By occasion of the forwardness of others. I do not com
mand, but seek to move you by the example of the Macedonians,
who were so anxious to help the poor.
And to prove the sincerity of your love. I say this to make test of
your love, sincerity, and goodness, and to stimulate you by others
example. The Latin ingenium, which is the rendering of the Greek
does not here denote the good disposition of charity, as
VOL. II. H
114 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VIII.
Anselm thinks, in which case the meaning would be : I say this, not
to test and show that your charity has a good disposition, by its
suggesting, dictating, and advising that you do this good deed without
any order from me ; but yv/jo-ioi/ denotes, not ingenium, but ingenuum,
or an innate disposition. Again, the word for prove has the double
idea of testing and then demonstrating. Maldonatus, indeed (Nota
Manusc.), renders it, "longing to prove to others;" for, as he says,
the Greek verb here denotes not the effect but the affection.
Ver. 9. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This
is a fresh stimulus to almsgiving. Christ, the King of kings, for
your sakes became poor when He was born in the stable, because
there was no room for Him in the inn. Instead of His royal throne
He had a manger ; for bedding, hay ; for fire, the breath of ox and
ass ; for curtains, spiders webs ; for sweet perfumes, stable ordure ; for
purple, filthy rags ; for His stud, ox and ass ; for a crowd of nobles,
Joseph and Mary. So, too, His whole after-life was stamped with
poverty, or, as Erasmus renders the Greek here, with beggary. From
this it appears that Christ was not merely poor, but was also an
actual beggar.
That ye through His poverty might be rich. Rich with spiritual
riches, with lessons of godliness, with forgiveness of sins, righteous
ness, holiness, and other virtues. The Corinthians are tacitly bidden,
if they wish to imitate Christ closely, to enrich the poor with their
alms, to impoverish themselves so as to enrich others. Cf. Anselm
on the riches and poverty of Christ, and Chrysostom (Horn. 17),
who points out how the Christian should not be ashamed of or
shrink from poverty.
S. Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. i in Pascha) beautifully contrasts
our benefits and Christ s loving-kindness. He says : " Christ was
made poor that we through His poverty might be rich. He took the
form of a servant that we might regain liberty. He descended that
we might be exalted. He was tempted that we might overcome. He
was despised that He might fill us with glory. He died that we
might be saved. He ascended , to draw to Himself those lying prostrate
on the ground through sin s stumblingblock." S. Augustine again
CHRIST S POVERTY 115
says beautifully : " What will His riches do if His poverty made
us rich ? " Lastly, from these words of the Apostle, Bede infers :
" All good faithful souls are rich : let none despise himself. The
poor in his cell, being rich in his conscience, sleeps more quietly on the
hard ground than he that is rich in gold sleeps in purple."
Ver. 10. And herein I give my advice. Bede takes this : "Herein
I give my opinion," but wrongly ; for advice is here contrasted
with precept.
Not only to do but also to be forward. Or " to be willing," i.e.,
of your own accord, no one forcing you. This, as S. Paul hints,
is more than to do it when asked (Anselm). Gregory (Horn, 18
in Ezek.} says : " This very exhortation contains a reproach. A
year agff, he says. They did well, then, but slowly. Their teacher,
therefore, while he praises, chides. He is a physician who applies
to the wound a remedy which both soothes what has been already
cleansed, and bites the parts that are found unsound."
Ver. n. So there may be a performance. Lucian s lines are
well known :
" Sweeter is grace that is prompt ;
If slow is the hand that bestows,
Its grace becomes empty and vain
And title to grace must resign."
And again :
" He double gives who promptly gives."
Ver. 12. // is accepted according to that a man hath. In other
words, " Give what you can " (Ambrose, Chrysostom, Anselm). Ob
serve here i. that the perfection and merit of almsgiving and of every
virtue consists in the readiness of the will and not in the greatness
or the number of the gifts ; and, therefore, before God, when this
readiness is greater then the virtue is greater, even if, on account
of poverty or some other cause, the wish is unable to issue in the
external act of giving. Hence S. Paul says that the willing mind
is accepted, not the gift. Cf. S. Mark xii. 43.
2. Notwithstanding, in order that this readiness be accepted
before God, says S. Thomas, as true, earnest, and efficacious, it
must issue in act according to what it has, i.e., give of what it
Il6 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VIII.
has according to its power ; otherwise it would be merely a wish,
not an earnest and ready will. It is not expected to give what
it has not, as S. Paul says. " Let him who has," says Theophylact,
" carry out his work ; he who has not has already carried out his
work by willing it." S. Leo (Serm. 4 de Jej. Dec. Mensis] says :
" Unequal expenditure may give equal merits ; for the intention
may be the same, though the incomes be widely different \ " and
Anselm says : " Here all, whether poor or rich, give equally, if each
gives in proportion to what he has."
3. It follows that amongst those who are equally rich or
equally poor that one is the more liberal and has more merit
who gives more. Amongst those, however, whose wealth is un
equal, that one merits more who gives the more in proportion
to his means, although absolutely he may give less than his
richer neighbour. Cf. Tob. iv. 9. S. Augustine (Enarr. in Ps.
civ.) says: " If you can give, give. If you cannot, give courtesy.
God crowns the goodness within when He finds not means with
out. Let no one say, I have not. Charity is not paid from the
pocket."
Ver. 13. For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye
burdened. I do not enjoin on you such liberal almsgiving as to
enable the poor to live in luxury and you in need, but I wish
every one to think of the necessities of others according to his
power, without neglecting his own (Theophylact). S. Paul does
not enjoin this, but he counsels it. It is, say S. Thomas and
Anselm, an evangelical counsel, and, therefore, a sign of greater
perfection, to give all your goods to the poor and become wholly
poor yourself. " If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast
and give to the poor," said Christ (S. Matt. xix. 21). This can
be done not only by those who are going to devote themselves
to the religious life, but even by those who remain in the world,
as, e.g., by the poor widow (S. Mark xii. 43). Do not mistake
me : any one may do this provided he do not bring himself into
extreme necessity, and if he has no family, for whom he is bound
to provide. Theophylact adds that in the next verse the Apostle
RULE OF ALMSGIVING II?
exhorts the Corinthians to give beyond their strength, when he
says "that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for
their want," meaning : If you wish for a great reward, give liberally ;
if for the whole reward, give your all. He takes abundance to
mean profuse almsgiving, abounding beyond their strength, such
as S. Paul praised in the Macedonians. The reason is this, that
such an act is one of supreme, heroic almsgiving, poverty, fortitude,
and hope in God.
We have a striking example of this in S. Paulinus, Bishop of
Nola, who, after spending all his goods on the poor, at last gave
himself up to the Vandals to be enslaved in the place of the son of a
widow. His self-abnegation is praised by S. Augustine (de Civ. Dei,
lib. i. c. 10). The event showed that his action was pleasing to
God, for, when he was living as a slave, he was recognised by the
Vandals under the inspiration of God, and was honourably treated
and sent back home. S. Paula, again, was so liberal to the poor
that her frequent prayer was heard, and, according to her wish, she
had to be buried at the expense of others, and in another s garments.
S. Jerome, in his Life of her, praises her warmly for this. S. Martin,
S. John the Almoner, and many others are examples of the same
liberality. But abundance in this verse more properly denotes the
abundant wealth of the Corinthians; for S. Paul contrasts it with
the poverty of the Christians of Jerusalem, and desires that one may
relieve the other.
Ver. 14. But by an equality. I do not command so large alms
giving that your homes be pauperised while the poor have ample,
but of your superfluity, which supplies the proper matter of alms
giving, I beg you to communicate with the poor, and supply their
want, so that you may both have the necessities of life, and may
each hold the mean between the two extremes of poverty and
abundance. Let there be nothing superfluous in the means of
them that give, and nothing deficient in the way of the necessaries
of life to them that receive (Theophylact).
That their abundance also may be a supply for your want. So
their abundant supply of faith and hope and all graces will, by their
IlS SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VIII.
prayers and merits before God, assist your spiritual poverty in this
life, and in the other life they will, when you die, receive you into
everlasting habitations. The kingdom of heaven is the possession
of Christ s poor (Anselm).
That there may be equality. By an interchange of spiritual goods
as well as temporal.
Ver. i$.As if is written. Exod. xvi. 18. Paul applies what is
said of the gathering and eating of manna, to show that God wishes
men to strive after equality in communion of goods.
He that had gathered much. He that gathered much had no
more than he that gathered little, and -vice versa. The passage
quoted from Exodus declares that by a continuous miracle God
rained down manna for forty years in the wilderness on so many
hundreds of thousands of Jews, in such a way that the greedy who
gathered much, and the idle who gathered little, both found, when
they returned home and measured what they had got, that they
had but an homer full, or enough for a day s food for each. If
they collected either more or less, God or an angel subtracted
from it or added to it invisibly, to bring all to an equality. So,
then, an homer was the measure for men, women, and children,
and it contained as much only as a man would ordinarily eat in
a day (Nyssen, de Vita Moysis, Chrysostom, Anselm, Vatablus,
Theophylact).
The reason for this was (i.) that God would in this way restrain
the greediness and gluttony of the Jews, and their excessive love of
earthly things (Chrysostom and Theophylact). (2.) By this con
tinuous miracle God would remind us that in all our necessity we
should look to His Providence, and recollect that He provides for
each all that is needful for his life ; therefore, as we sit at table, let
us regard God as raining down manna upon us from heaven. So
now God supplies, not only to the rich but the poor also, and
those that have bad health or are burdened with a large family, their
daily portion, which is enough to maintain the life of all. This will
seem to any one who considers the matter, and compares the small
gain made with the great expenditure of so many heads of families,
GOD S PROVIDENCE 1 19
a wonderful and incredible thing ; and by this test alone any one
may see God s sweet and wondrous care for all. Let not the poor,
therefore, bewail their lot, nor desire great riches ; " For since we
all" says S. Chrysostom, " have but one belly to fill, and one time to
live in, and one body to cover, the rich man has no more from his
abundance, nor the poor man less from his poverty ; but both have food
and clothing, and in this they are equal. "
Observe, again, the beautiful application S. Paul makes of the
symbolic manna. As God gave of it an equal measure to all, so
is it right that Christians should cultivate an equality : those who
have abundant wealth should distribute to the poor, and make
them equal to themselves, so far as the necessaries of life go, that
all may be content, and, having what is necessary, live equally
(Theophylact and Chrysostom). Observe, however, that as the
rich, by giving of their superfluous wealth to the poor, make them
equal to themselves, so too do the poor, by a fellowship of merits,
make the rich equal to them, not altogether absolutely, but by way
of proportion, in such a way that neither has any lack of either
kind of benefits, or has an excessive supply when compared with
others; for otherwise the rich would not by giving to the poor
make them as rich as themselves, nor would the poor by giving in
return his prayers and other spiritual goods give an equal gift, but
rather a far more valuable gift than he received. Nor again does
he give of his spiritual goods as much as he has (S. Thomas).
Analogically, S. Chrysostom and Anselm refer this passage to
the glory of heaven, which all will share equally. But this must be
understood of the objective bliss; for all will see the same God,
and in Him will be satisfied and blessed ; but in this vision, and
consequently in joy and glory, there will be degrees, and a disparity
proportioned to merit. It was so in the case of the manna : an
equal share was given to each, satisfying all equally, yet it tasted
differently to different people.
Ver. 1 6. Biit thanks be to God. For having made Titus anxious
for you and for your spiritual progress and gain, whereby he was
led to exhort you to liberality towards the poor. " The same earnest
120 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. VIII.
care " refers to the fact that S. Paul as well as Titus was exhorting
them to this liberality.
Ver. 17. For indeed he accepted the exhortation. The duty of
exhorting you to almsgiving (Anselm).
Of his own accord. Without being bidden by me, he took on
himself this task of exhorting you to this pious work.
Ver. 1 8. And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is
in the Gospel. Barnabas, whose praise is in the preaching of the
Gospel. He was ordained as S. Paul s companion (Acts xiii. 3)
(Theodoret, Chrysostom, CEcumenius) ; but since Barnabas and
Paul were now separated, and Silas had taken S. Barnabas place
at S. Paul s side (Acts xv. 40), it is better with Baronius to take
the reference as being to Silas, or, with Anselm and Jerome, to
Luke. S. Paul calls him brotlier, not Apostle, and this applies
better to S. Luke, who wrote a Gospel, and was the inseparable
companion of S. Paul. S. Ignatius, writing to the Ephesians,
assigned this eulogy to Luke in the words: "As Luke testifies,
whose praise is in the Gospel."
Ver. 19. But who was also chosen of the churches. For this work
of grace of collecting the alms of the Church. The word rendered
here chosen is x^oTovT^ei?, i.e., ordained by imposition of hands-
consecrated either deacon or priest. It was the deacon s office to
have care of the poor, and to distribute the alms to them ; but the
priest s to help the Apostle on his journeys in preaching and
administration of the sacraments. The sacrament of Order is
called by the Greeks x ei P OTOV ^ a , from the imposition of the Bishop s
hands on the ordinands. Cf. i Tim. iv. 14; v. 22 ; Acts xiv. 22.
From this it is evident that to lay hands on presbyters is to ordain
them, and by ordaining to make them presbyters.
Which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord. The
Latin version reads, in the last clause of this verse, "to our destined
mind;" the meaning of this is, to show the readiness of our mind in
this pious service to God and the poor. The Greek is irpodv^ia.
" Destined," therefore, as S. Thomas remarks, does not here mean
"predestinated by God," but ready, prompt, and cheerful. But the
THE MODE OF COLLECTION 121
Greek MSS. give your, not our. We have received, says S. Paul,
this grace, this ministry of almsgiving, to glorify God by it, and to
make you more ready for it by the exhortations of Titus and Luke
(Theophylact).
Ver. 20. Avoiding this. I have sent Titus and Luke to collect
such large alms that no one may suspect me of collecting for my
own private use (Anselm). The possession of large sums of money
is wont to expose a man to suspicion of fraud, because it is easy to
abstract a little secretly from a large amount without any one being
aware of it.
Ver. 21. Providing for honest things. I endeavour to act honour
ably, not only before God but also before men, lest suspicious persons
should have some occasion for suspecting me of some wrongdoing.
Wherefore, to show that I administer this collection honestly, I
make Titus and Luke my witnesses, I make them the treasurers of
it, and refrain from handling it myself. Hence learn this practical
rule: We owe a good conscience to God, a good report to our
neighbour : he who neglects good report acts cruelly towards his
neighbour s salvation (Anselm).
Ver. 22. And we have sent with them our brother. Who this is
is uncertain. Some, says Anselm, think that it is Apollos; but they
suspect only, for S. Paul neither names him nor describes him, but
leaves the Corinthians to their personal knowledge of him.
Upon the great confidence which I have in you. Having great
confidence and hope that, as is right, they will be received honour
ably and lovingly by you, and also partly out of love and respect for
Titus, who is my companion and fellow-helper. Hence Titus was
now at Corinth, having been sent there by S. Paul to collect these
alms and to transact other business.
Maldonatus supplies the verb show, and makes the sentence
run : " Upon the great confidence that whatever love you show to
Titus you will show to me, for he is my partner." But there is
no need to supply anything the sense given above is clear enough
without it.
Ver. 23. Or our brethren. I trust that you will, as is right,
122 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. VIII.
receive them worthily, partly because of the brethren sent with Titus,
and partly because of Titus himself.
The glory of Christ. The Apostles are the glory of Christ, inasmuch
as they spread and make known His glory. " Whether, therefore,"
says Chrysostom, "you will receive them as brethren, or as the
Apostles of the Churches, or as those who promote the glory of
Christ, you will have many reasons for showing them kindness."
By metonymy, glory is put for the cause and care of Christ s glory.
Ver. 24. Wherefore shew ye to them. Show to Titus and his
companions that signal love which becomes you and your generous
love, as well as my boasting of you.
CHAPTER IX
I He yieldeth the reason why, though he knew their forwardness, yet he sent Titus
and his brethren beforehand. 6 And he proceedeth in stirring them tip to a.
bountiful alms, as being but a kind of sowing of seed, 10 which shall rettcrn a
great increase to them, 13 and occasion a great sacrcifice of thanksgivings unto
God.
FOR as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write
to you :
2 For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them
of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago ; and your zeal hath provoked
very many.
3 Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this
behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready :
4 Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared,
we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.
5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go
before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice
before, that the same might be ready, as a matter 0/ bounty, and not as of
covetousness.
6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he
which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; net
grudgingly, or of necessity : for God loveth a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you ; that ye, always
having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work :
9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad ; he hath given to the poor : his
righteousness remaineth for ever.
10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for
your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your
righteousness ;)
11 Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through
us thanksgiving to God.
12 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the
saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God ;
13 Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your pro
fessed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto
them, and unto all men ;
14 And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of
God in you.
15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
123
124 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IX.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. He proceeds to stimulate the Corinthians to almsgiving by motives of
human shame and praise ; he bids them not to be put to shame before
the liberality of the Macedonians.
ii. He dwells (ver. 6) on the fruits of almsgiving, how it enriches those
that give with good things, now and hereafter,
iii. He points (ver. Ii) to the thanksgiving that flows from it to God, and
the joy of the poor Christians, who are the recipients, and who will
pray for their benefactors the Corinthians.
Ver. i. For as touching the ministering to the saints. At the
end of the last chapter, Paul had commended to them Titus and
his companions, but not their errand of collecting alms ; for, as he
says, it was superfluous for him to write about this, since they were
of their own accord ready for it (Anselm). It is a politic device on
the part of those that ask for alms to praise the liberality of ihe givers.
Public beggars in the streets and churches are experts at this.
Ver. 2. Achaia -was ready a year ago. I boast to the Mace
donians that you, O Corinthians, and the rest of Achaia, have been
long ready for this almsgiving ; and this zeal of yours, being pro
claimed by me, has stimulated others. See, then, by your action
that my boasting of you be not in vain, lest we both be put to
confusion.
Ver. 5. As a matter of bounty. As a blessing (Latin version).
That your beneficence may seem spontaneous and generous, not
extorted from greedy persons (Anselm, Theophylact, Chrysostom).
Why bounty is called a blessing is explained in the note to ver. 6.
The Greek, evAoyi a, denotes both blessing and a good and fruitful
contribution or almsgiving (Erasmus). In i Cor. xvi. i, the Apostle
called these contributions or collections evAoyioi. Both meanings
have place here. S. Paul is urging the Corinthians to spontaneous
and cheerful (denoted by blessing), as well as to fruitful and liberal,
contribution. He is engaged in describing the spirit that should
animate the giver, viz., one ready and cheerful, unforced, uncon
strained, unstained by covetousness or meanness.
Ver. 6. He which sowdh bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
SOWING AND REAPING 12$
Literally, he which soweth in blessings, /.<?., liberally scatters, as it
were, seeds among the poor, shall reap of them again. For God,
who reckons that to be done to Himself which is done to the
poor, does not suffer Himself to be surpassed in liberality, but to
the liberal is far more liberal, and repays them in greater abund
ance, both corporal and spiritual gifts. For parallel expressions, cf.
Josh. xv. 19; i Sam. xxv. 27; Gen. xlix. 25. In this last passage,
Jacob hints at the reason why the Hebrew calls beneficence blessing.
It is because, by a pious form of speech, they wish to point out that
the beneficence of God, which is the fount and origin of all ours,
flows from His benediction. With God to bless is to do, and is the
same as to benefit, and therefore God by His word alone bestows on
us all good things. (2.) Another reason is that the Patriarchs and
early Christians, such as the hermits and other Saints of the New
Testament, were wont to distribute the gifts with solemn prayer and
blessing, and for this reason to call them by the name of euAoyta.
(3.) A third reason is that it is pleasanter, both to giver and receiver,
to call the gift an act of benediction rather than of beneficence.
Hence poor honest men, when asking for alms, call them benedic
tions, extenuating their importance, and rich givers in their turn do
the same. Theophylact adds that S. Paul by this word stimulates
them to cheerful giving, reminding them by it that what they give
is a blessing to him that gives and him that takes. No one is
saddened by giving such a blessing, but cheerfully imparts it. Cf.
also Prov. xxii. 9 ; Eccles. xi. 1-3.
Notice also the use of the words " sow " and " reap." Almsgiving,
like other good works, is a seed which produces a harvest of grace,
and even of temporal good things, as is explained in vers. 8 and 10.
Hence you may infer against Calvin that good works effect and
merit a reward, for seed, by its natural powers, produces its proper
fruit at harvest-time ; therefore almsgiving produces truly its reward,
not physically, as is evident, but meritoriously.
Ver. 7. Not grudgingly or of necessity. Avarice makes reluctance,
and regard for one s reputation induces constraint. Let each man
give what he likes, not influenced or compelled by my authority or
126 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IX.
that of Titus, and not because regard for his honour makes him
ashamed of giving less than others.
For God loveth a cheerful giver. Quoted from Prov. xxii. 9, LXX.
On cheerfulness in giving, see Rom. xii. 8. S. Augustine (Enarr.
in Ps. xliii.) says beautifully : " If you give your bread grudgingly, you
lose both your bread and your reward." And again (Serm. 45) : "If
good works are good seeds, why are they sown in tears ? " S. Chrysostom
(Horn, on i Cor. xi. 19) says : " If we give cheerfully, our reward will
be twofold, one for giving and one for giving cheerfully." S. Gregory
(Morals, 2 1, c. 1 1, on Job xxxi. 16) says : "fob thus acted that he might
increase his merits, not only by giving but also by the promptitude with
which he gave his good things." Cf. Prov. iii. 28; Ecclus. xxxv. n.
Alms then should be given with cheerful mind, not sadly, reluctantly,
and tardily. Thus shall we imitate God, who cheerfully distributes
His gifts.
The heathen depict the Graces as three sisters, embracing one
another but looking in different directions. They meant by this to
signify how gifts should be distributed. The first, named Aglaia,
denotes generosity, it being better to give than to receive. "For
he who receives a kindness sells his freedom," says the jester of
P. Syrus. The second is called Thalia, i.e., flourishing in the midst of
the course. The third is called Euphrosyne, or joy ; for both he
that gives and he that receives rejoice in the kindness done God
loveth a cheerful giver. Cf. Seneca (de Beneficiis).
Ver. 8. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you.
This is an answer to an objection : You will say to me, If I give
much, I shall become poor, I shall be unable for the future to help
my servants and others who are in more need (Theophylact). To
this the Apostle answers: Do not be afraid of that; believe and
hope in God, who is able to make all grace (or beneficence Syriac)
abound toward you, so that you shall always have a sufficiency of
goods, out of which you may abound in every good work. God can
and does enrich those that give alms, so that they have always means
to spend, and so can abound in works of charity.
God is able denotes not only the power but also the act of
CHEERFUL GIVING I2/
God. The phrase is a meiosis. Similarly, a king might say to his
commander-in-chief : "Go, end the war, spare no expense: I am
able to bear it, and to enrich you as well."
In the Greek there is a beautiful use of the word all, which is
three times repeated in the last clause of this verse, " always having
all sufficiency in all things." Not in some particular necessity, but
in all ; not at one time, but always ; not some sufficiency but all
sufficiency will God give you, to enable you to succour others.
Again, S. Paul does not here speak of abundance, says Theo-
phylact, but sufficiency, enough for one s self and one s own. Perhaps
he means to imply that he who is content with his lot, and has
enough for himself and his familv, desires no more. God alone is
O ^ *
properly said to be self-sufficient, being One who has no need of any
one, and rests wholly in Himself. An almsgiver partakes of the same
character. An avaricious man, on the other hand, is never satisfied
" the more that waters are drunk the more are they thirsted for ; "
and so it is with riches. Hence the avaricious man is always in need.
But self-sufficiency, as Clement (Pczdag. lib. ii. c. 12) says, is a virtue
which makes us contented ; or it is a habit of mind that is content
with such things as are needful, and which by itself acquires those
things which belong to the life of bliss. Hippias (Suidas, sub Verbo
Hippias) made self-sufficency or a contented mind the end of all
good. Moreover, Epicurus used to say that " sufficiency is the richest
possession" (Clement, Strom, lib. vi.). In the same sense Cicero
said {Paradox i) that "to live happily, contentment was virtue
enough." Socrates, too (apud Plat. Dial 3 de Legibus\ thus prays :
"Let me have as much gold as a temperate man can bear." For
further notes on this subject, cf. i Tim. vi. 6, and Phil. iv. n.
Ver. 9. As it is written. He hath dispersed abroad (Ps. cxii. 9).
In all necessities, in all places, and at all times, a merciful man,
such as S. Laurence, of whom the Church sings, distributes his goods
and his alms ; in the same way he who sows scatters his seed. The
Apostle wishes to prove that God makes all grace to abound to
wards almsgivers, and gives them full sufficiency for that grace
(beneficence). He proves this from the fact that the giver of alms
128 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IX.
of his sufficiency distributes his alms, disperses them as seed on
every side, not among his boon-companions or free-lovers, but
among the poor. GEcumenius says that the word "dispersed" denotes
the largeness of the alms given. It also implies that these alms are
not wasted or thrown away.
His righteousness remaineth for ever. Remains in God s memory
and in its eternal reward, as in its harvest. So, too, when the
husbandman scatters his seed he does not lose it, but entrusts it to
the ground, that he may receive a hundred-fold in return. Alms
giving, therefore, is everlasting, and blesses the giver with everlasting
glory. Hence the Psalmist also says : " The righteous shall be in
everlasting remembrance ; he shall not be afraid of evil tidings ; his
horn" (his dignity, strength, and, as Theodoret says, his power)
" shall be exalted with honour ; " in other words, it shall daily in
crease until it be exalted in the highest in celestial glory.
His righteousness or his beneficence does not perish, but remains
before God to be rewarded here and hereafter. S. Chrysostom
(Horn 9 de Ptznit.} says: "Heaven is to be gained by merchandise
and trafficking. Give bread and you will receive paradise ; give a
little and gain much ; give what is mortal and you will receive what
is immortal."
Observe that in Scripture almsgiving, which is an act of mercy, is
called righteousness, both because it forms a large part of right
eousness in general, which embraces all virtues, as also because it
is a mark of righteousness and holiness. The Saints are merciful,
"but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel" (Prov. xii. 10).
A third reason is that it disposes to righteousness, and merits it,
firstly, de congruo, and secondly, de condigno, as increasing righteous
ness. Hence, it is to the merciful alone that Christ gives the crown
of righteousness (S. Matt. xxv. 35). Hence, too, those that are
hardened in evil must be exhorted as a last remedy to give alms,
as Daniel did Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. iv. 24).
Ver. 10. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower. This again is
an answer to an objection which might be urged from the Psalm
quoted. It might be said: You prove clearly enough, Paul, that
GOD S HUSBANDMEN 1 29
alms remain in their heavenly reward, but I do not yet see how you
prove from that that we ought not to impoverish ourselves. You have,
therefore, given no answer to my first objection that if, I give alms
liberally I shall make myself poor, and be unable for the future to
give help to others. S. Paul s answer to this is, that the contrary is
implied in the verse of the Psalm he has just quoted. As a master
who supplies his husbandman with seed to sow his field, provides
him also with bread to eat, and multiplies his seed, that is the grain
sown, at harvest times, so that for one bushel he receives three,
which he can sow again, and receives still more at the next harvest,
and so on from year to year so much more shall God, who gives
to almsgivers goods to disperse to the poor, give them bread and
all other necessaries of life ; nay, more, He shall multiply their seed
or goods to sow again and disperse to the poor. For God is our
Master ; we are His husbandmen : His field is the poor, and alms are
the seed. God, then, wishes us as His husbandmen, to scatter His
seed (alms) over His field (the poor). Much more, if we do that, will
He give us nourishment and a harvest of goods to sow again. Let
rich men remember that their riches are given them as seed to dis
perse to the poor, not to store up in their coffers or to be spent on
costly clothing or luxurious living. " It is," says Cicero, " a work
of liberality to sow seeds of kindness, so as to be able to reap a
harvest from them."
Gregory of Tours (Hist. Gallic, lib. v. c. 38) highly praises the
Christian Emperor Tiberius for his almsgiving, and says that he
uttered the following words, worthy of an emperor : " There will be
no deficiency in our treasury so long as the poor receive alms, and cap
tives are redeemed. For if we do these things, great will be our treasure,
according to the words of the Lord, Lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven. Let us then lay up in store in heaven by the hands of the
poor from what God has given us, that the Lord may vouchsafe to in
crease our goods on earth." No wonder that God increased his wealth.
He saw one day a cross engraved on the pavement, and when, out of
veneration for it, he ordered the stone to be taken up, he found under
it a vast treasure, containing more than 100,000 pieces of gold. Then,
VOL. II. !
130 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IX.
when, according to his wont, he distributed of it largely to the poor,
God gave him another treasure already amassed for him by Narsetes,
Duke of Italy. This was found in a cistern, in which, when they
opened it, they found so much gold and silver that it took several
days to carry it away. Cf. Baronius (Annals, A.D. 582).
Both minister. The Latin version with the Syriac gives the future,
shall minister, instead of the optative. Theophylact, Erasmus, and
Vatablus read the optative. The future is better, because, as I said,
Paul is endeavouring to banish from their minds all fear of poverty.
But this is not to be done by wishing, but by making assertions and
promising bread, seed, and fruits.
Multiply your seed sown. Your temporal goods. S. Basil (Horn. 13
de Eleemos?) says : " As seed cast into the ground brings forth fruit an
hundredfold, so do alms given to the poor. If you have then but
one loaf, and it be asked for at the door, take it and lift up your hands
to heaven and say, Of my little I give to my brother, and do Thou, O
Lord, supply my want. Then doubt not that the bread given out of your
poverty will abundantly minister you seed for sowing." And again,
commenting on S. Luke xii. 18, he says: "As wells that are con
tinuously drawn from send forth a sweeter and more copious supply
of water, while if neglected and undisturbed they soon grow foul, so
are riches when stored up useless, but when transferred to the poor they
bring forth fruit" Clement of Alexandria (Pcedag. lib. iii. c. 7) uses
this same simile of a well, and adds another. He says: "As milk
commonly flows into those breasts that are sucked, so does wealth flow
to those who spend it." S. Cyprian says the same (Tract, de Of ere et
Eleemos.}, and adds that the best inheritance that parents can leave
their children is alms given, and the more children there are the
more liberal should the almsgiving be. He proves this by the ex
ample of the widow of Sarepta (i Kings xvii.) and from Tob. iv. 7.
Cf. Prov. xxviii. 27, and Ps. xxxvii. 26.
Very many remarkable examples are given by Leontius, in his "Life
of John the Almoner," who, like the Emperor Titus, bewailed that he
had lost a day because he had given no alms. " Even if the world,"
he said, " were to come into Alexandria, it would not narrow my
THE FRUITFULNESS OF ALMSGIVING 131
liberality and wealth." This he learnt from a vision he saw of a
certain virgin named Mercy, who, standing before God, seemed to
obtain from Him all that she asked for. Hence this holy man John,
when he had nothing to spend, would frequently, in his love of alms
giving, change miraculously tin or honey into gold. The more he gave
the more was brought to him to spend ; and so he seemed to strive
with God and God with him which should be the most bountiful.
When he at length died, he had half a piece of money left, and he
ordered this to be given to his brethren and masters, the poor, that
all he had might be restored to Christ.
Sophronius, in his Pratum Spirituale, a work mentioned with
approval by the Second Council of Nice (Gen. Act. iv. c. 185), narrates
that a wife gave to her husband, who wished to increase his wealth,
the advice to sell what he had and give it to the poor, and he would
find that he would receive it again with interest. He did so, and dis
tributed his whole estate to the poor, and for fifty he received three
hundred.
Sophronius has a still more beautiful example (c. 195) in the
philosopher Evagrius, who, having heard in church that almsgiving
was rewarded a hundredfold in heaven, gave 60 to the Bishop,
Synesius, to be distributed among the poor, and received from him
a written promise that for each he should receive a hundred in
heaven. When he was dying, he ordered his sons to place this
writing in his hand when he was buried. This having been done,
Evagrius, on the third day after death, appeared to the Bishop in a
dream, and said : " Go to my tomb and take back your handwriting,
for I have received a hundredfold what I gave, according to Christ s
promise and yours." In the morning the Bishop went with his clergy
to the tomb, and took from the hand of Evagrius a letter, of which
this was the tenor : " Evagrius the philosopher to his Bishop. I
am unwilling for you, my father, to be ignorant that I have received
according to your promise the money that I gave you in my life
time, and received for it a hundredfold ; therefore you are not bound
to me by any debt."
Similar examples are found in the life of S. Liduina and
132 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IX.
other Saints. Hence Chrysostom says that "alms have the name
of seed, because they are not so much expended as returned."
S. Deusdedit well understood this, for, as the Roman Martyro-
logy records (Aug. loth), although he was a poor man yet he gave
to the poor every Saturday all that he had earned during the week,
looking only to obtain the heavenly reward.
" If you have any care for your children, leave them a written deed
in which you have God as your debtor," says S. Chrysostom, refer
ring to money left for the poor by will. A famous example of this
occurs in Sophronius (c. 201), in the case of a nobleman of Con
stantinople, who, when dying, left all his goods to the poor and his
son to the care of Christ. Nor was he disappointed of his hope ;
for Christ gave his son a wife, who was at once noble, rich, and
pious. S. Chrysostom wrote at the head of his Thirty-third Homily
to the people, " that almsgiving is the most profitable of all occupa
tions." Cf. Prov. xix. 17.
And increase the fruits of your righteousness. God will increase
the outgoings of your righteousness and charity, i.e., He will give an
increase of grace here and of glory hereafter (Theophylact). " By
fruits" says Anselm, " he means God s eternal reward." The
Apostle seems here to speak of three fruits of almsgiving : (i.)
when he says, "Shall minister seed to the sower;" (2.) when he
says, "And multiply your seed sown ;" (3.) when he says, "And
increase the fruits of your righteousness." In this sense S. Anselm,
as related by Edinerus in his Life, when he entered Canterbury on a
visit to Archbishop Lanfranc and was honourably and lovingly re
ceived by the citizens, said, when he was explaining to them the
glory and merit of charity, that "those who do works of charity have
something greater than those who are the recipients of charity. For the
one receives a temporal benefit only, but the other spiritual ; and they
look besides for eternal thanks from God." Christ said the same thing
in His paradox on the rich of this world : " It is more blessed to give
than to receive " (Acts xx. 35).
Anselm again understands this passage to refer simply to the fruits
of temporal goods. God will make your fruits and riches to increase,
FRUITFULNESS OF ALMSGIVING 133
that you may have ever more and more to give in alms, and He will
increase the fruits of your righteousness. In other words, He will
give much more abundant increase to those fruits of yours which your
righteousness gains for you ; for it is only just that, since God
gives to man all that he has, man should from it give to him who is
in need. If we do this, our fruits will be increased by God. Hence
almsgiving is rightly called seed, because he who sows once will reap
twice, once in earth and once in heaven. This is Anselm s comment,
and he seems to be right; for the Apostle is explaining the words,
"shall multiply your seed," and is impressing on the Corinthians
that alms do not impoverish but enrich the giver, that so he may
remove from their minds and from the minds of all Christians all
fear of poverty, which so frequently deters men from almsgiving, and
which is given as an objection so often to the admonitions of those
who urge the duty.
Nevertheless, it is simpler to understand fruits of your righteous
ness of the wealth which God gives to the beneficent as a harvest
for what they have sown. The increase of these fruits is nothing
else but the harvest that follows on the seed. Since, therefore, it
is evident that when the Apostle said, "shall multiply your seed
sown," he meant by seed the money spent on the poor, it is
also evident that here he means the same thing. As is the seed,
so is the harvest. The one is correlative with the other, as
are merit and reward. This, then, seems to be the drift of the
Apostle s words.
Lastly, we should observe that he alludes to the fields and estates
of the rich. Beneficence, he says, is like a field, or a very fertile
farm, which brings forth to the almsgiver plentiful and never-fail
ing fruits from the seed of his alms (i.) It gives bread or food.
(2.) It multiplies his seed, or money to be dispersed again among the
poor. (3.) It also increases his fruits, and enriches his family. These
three things a temporal lord gives to his husbandman if he is faithful
and diligent ; much more will God do the same.
Ver. ii. To all bountifulness. Or simplicity, or liberality. This
simplicity or liberality of yours brings it to pass that I and all my
134 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. IX.
companions, nay, all Christians amongst whom I speak of it, give
thanks to God for having instilled into you such feelings of piety
and mercy.
Ver. 12. For the administration of this service not only supplieth
the want of the saints. C H Sia/covia -ny? Xetrovpytas, literally, " the
ministry of this liturgy." In this collection of alms there is, as
it were, a liturgy, a mystic sacrifice of the Mass, in which the
Corinthians, as offering the victim of alms, are the priests ; the poor
make the altar ; the sacrifice is the alms. Paul may be the deacon,
the minister exhorting, collecting, and distributing the alms, through
whom the poor who receive and the rich who give, seeing and
rejoicing at the grace of Christ, are stirred up to give thanks unto
the Lord. S. Cyprian says (Tract, de Of ere et Eleemos.}: "Since
thanksgiving is directed to God in the prayers of the poor for our
alms and good deeds, the total is increased by the reward given by God,
who ivorks in us." S. Chrysostom (Horn. 20) says : " When you
see a poor man, think that you see the body of Christ, the altar of
Christ, and do reverence, and offer the sacrifice of alms, that from it
there may ascend, like incense, to God glory and thanksgiving." Thus
almsgiving is an Eucharist or thanksgiving, and an Eucharistic
sacrifice, not properly, but metaphorically speaking. So, too, in
Rom. xv. 1 6, the preaching of the Gospel and the conversion of
the Gentiles are called a sacrifice. Nazianzen says beautifully (Orat.
de Cura Paup.} : " Out of all things none so honours God as mercy ;
for nothing is so peculiar to God as this is, before whose Face go
mercy and truth. . . . Nothing is so Divine in a man as to do good.
Learn, then, to open your heart to the needy. If you have nothing
else to give, give your tears readily. Pity is a great solace to the
afflicted."
Ver. 13. By the experiment of this ministration. This alms
giving of yours will induce men to glorify God in Christ, and to
give thanks to Him for the law of grace which has stirred you up to
this liberality. They will glorify Him first for your obedience to
the Gospel, and then that you so obey its precepts as to show such
charity and mercy.
ALMSGIVING GLORIFIES GOD 135
Ver. 14. And by their prayer for you. The poor Saints of
Jerusalem who receive your alms, while praying for you, will also
glorify God. This clause is to be connected with "they glorify
God."
Ver. 15. Thanks be unto God for His tinspeakable gift. For
the gift of your charity and almsgiving, from which flow so many
good things and so many praises of God, that it may be well called
unspeakable.
CHAPTER X
Against the false apostles, -who disgraced the weakness of his pirson and bodily
presence, he setteth out the spiritual might and authority, with which he is armed
against all adversary powers, 7 assuring them that at his coming he will be
found as mighty in word, as he is now in writing being absent, 12 and withal
taxing them for reaching out themselves beyond their compass, and vaunting
themselves into other men s labours.
"\^ OW I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ,
who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you :
2 But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that
confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we
walked according to the flesh.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh :
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to
the pulling down of strong holds ;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against
the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ ;
6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience
is fulfilled.
7 Do ye look on things after the outward appearance ? If any man trust
to himself that he is Christ s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is
Christ s, even so are we Christ s.
8 For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord
hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be
ashamed :
9 That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.
10 For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful ; but his bodily presence
is weak, and his speech contemptible.
1 1 Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we
are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.
12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with
some that commend themselves : but they measuring themselves by themselves,
and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
13 But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the
measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even
unto you.
14 For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not
unto you : for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ :
15 Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men s labours ;
136
THE FALSE APOSTLES 137
but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you
according to our rule abundantly,
16 To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another
man s line of things made ready to our hand.
17 But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
1 8 For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord
commendeth.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. In this and the two next chapters Paul defends his apostleship against
the false apostles, who held him up to contempt as vile and de
spicable, and accused him of over-harshness, audacity, and insolence.
Paul here points out that his arms are not carnal but spiritual, and
therefore all the more powerful, because it is theirs to cast down all
the strongholds, counsels, and wisdom of the world, as well as to
inflict punishment on all disobedience.
ii. He contrasts (ver. 12) the boast of the false apostles of the provinces
traversed and converted by them with the actual journeyings and
conversions wrought by himself.
(
Observe that these false apostles envied the glory of Paul, and
wished to destroy it by their own eloquence, boasting, and calum
nies. It appears, from xi. 22, that they were Jews, and were greedy
of gain and glory, braggarts, and self-assertive. From xi. 4 it also
appears that they preached Christ in appearance, but were en
deavouring to gradually subvert the Gospel by Judaism and its
errors (xi. 3 ; xii. 13). Of this class were Cerinthus, Ebion, and
other Judaisers, who bitterly persecuted S. Paul as an apostate from
their law. i Cor. xv. was an exposition of the resurrection against
the teaching of Cerinthus.
Ver. i. Now I Paid myself beseech you. Hitherto I have pleaded
the cause of others, the poor ; now I am going to speak for myself.
I beseech you to observe my admonitions and the precepts which, as
your Apostle, I have given you concerning a true Christian life.
By the gentleness of Christ. He beseeches them, says Theophylact,
by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, that reverencing them
they may lovingly hear, receive, and obey the entreaty of Paul. In
the second place, he does it to signify that he imitates the meekness
of Christ, not His severity. I do not order you, he seems to say,
although by virtue of my apostleship I might, but I beseech you by
138 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. X.
the gentleness of Christ, which I imitate and ever keep before
me. For Christ in rebuking, teaching, and guiding men, showed
wondrous patience, kindness, and gentleness, as when He received
into grace Matthew, the Magdalene, and other sinners, and most
lovingly forgave them all their guilt and punishment without harsh
words or blows.
In presence am base among you. When I am with you, I seem in
outward appearance mean and base (cf. ver. 10); but when away
from you, I am bold and confident. He speaks ironically ; for, as the
next verse tells us, the false apostles, who held him up to execration,
used to say : " Why do you make so much of Paul ? He is a base
and worthless fellow. Apollos and others have far more grace and
eloquence ; there is no comparison between them. By the side of
them he is ignorant and unpolished. Why, then, does he take upon
himself, why does he presume, when away from you, to send you
such threatening letters, rebuking you, ordering, scolding, excom
municating you ? " S. Paul imitates the false apostles, and repeats
their words, as much as to say : " I am not the domineering, inso
lent, severe, threatening man, when absent, that my detractors make
me, but I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ."
Cf. vers. 9, 10 (Chrysostom).
Ver. 2. But I beseech you that I may not be bold. I beseech you
to lovingly receive my admonitions, lest when I come to you and
see your disobedience, rebellion, and contumacy, I use my boldness
and power to inflict excommunication and other spiritual punish
ment, which I am thought to have already inflicted arbitrarily
(Anselm). The Latin version reads the passive, / am thought, but
Theophylact takes it actively I think, I propose to boldly punish
some evil-disposed persons.
Which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. As
though we lived a carnal life, or better, as though we used carnal
means, such as fleshly, human, and political wisdom, in doing by
letter what I dare not do in person.
The Apostle says that they walk, fight, and glory according to the
flesh, who, after the manner of carnal and crafty men, walk and boast
CARNAL WEAPONS 139
in outward gifts, such as birth, prudence, eloquence, good looks,
sagacity, and by means of these seek to gain the applause of men,
and so win them to their side and overthrow their enemies. That
this is his meaning is evident from the contrast drawn between
these arms and spiritual arms in ver. 4. So, in xt. 18, he says that
the false apostles boast according to the flesh, i.e., of external gifts.
In v. 15, 1 6, again, he says that he knows no one, not even Christ,
according to the flesh. In 2 Cor. i., he contrasts the natural and
carnal wisdom of philosophers and orators with the spiritual wisdom
of Christians, and especially of Apostles. Cf. also Gal. iii. 3.
Ver. 4. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Carnal
weapons are such as serve for carnal and bodily warfare and life, as
the honours, pleasures, and power of this world. This the Apostles
did not use in their task of subduing the world to Christ. Or
rather, as said above, carnal weapons are human arts, sciences,
reasonings, systems, eloquence, flatteries, boasting, hypocrisies,
affected gravity and prudence, all of which are used by men of the
world to gain influence and respect ; while true and solid autho
rity, such as Paul and the other Apostles had, is the gift of God, and
is not to be obtained by external gifts or by assumed gravity, but
rather by the display of virtue, wisdom, and holiness.
But mighty through God. Or, are the power of God. Through
them God works powerfully in the minds of the hearers converts
them to the faith, makes them accept our preaching, brings them
under subjection to Christ, so that we gain credence to what we say,
and obtain what we want. These weapons are, says Anselm, (i.)
Vehement spiritual zeal; (2.) Efficacious preaching, through God
seeming to lend weight and force to our words ; (3.) Wisdom ;
(4.) Courtesy; (5.) Holiness; (6.) Miracles; (7.) Frequent prayer;
(8.) Purity of intention; (9.) Patience; (10.) Charity. When they
see us men of the most blameless life, seeking not their wealth or
honours, but their salvation only, and that by many labours, sacri
fices, afflictions, daily death and martyrdom, and preaching to
them with such zeal and ardour that all acknowledge Christ, and
glorify Him and His Father by all these things, as though by a
I4O SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. X.
most powerful dart, they are struck and wounded in their con
sciences, they yield, and believe our words and our doctrines. By
these weapons do we Apostles destroy the vices and storm the
kingdom of the devil, even the whole world. Hence apostleship
and preaching of the Gospel are rightly called a warfare. Cf.
i Tim. i. 1 8.
To the pulling down of strong holds. All reasonings, syllogisms,
sophisms, eloquence, philosophic virtues, worldly power, grace,
friendship, and all that the Gentiles and devils opposed to the
preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles (Chrysostom and
Anselm).
Ver. 5. Casting down imaginations. Or, with Theophylact
reasonings. The Syriac and Erasmus give imaginations ; the Latin
version, counsels. By our weapons we destroy all the counsels of
the prudent of this world, by which they strive to overthrow the
Gospel, to strengthen against it their heathenism, and to put their
philosophers before Christ and us.
And every high thing. Every height, both of human and philo
sophic wisdom, as well as of diabolic magic, such as of Simon Magus
and others, and of royal and imperial power. Imaginations and
heights were the two towers set up by the Gentiles against the
Apostles, one of which seemed impregnable through its intricate
wiles, and the other by its height and strength. Yet both yielded
to the weapons of the Apostles.
Thai exalteth itself against the knowledge of God. That knowledge
of God given to us by Christ, and which we, His Apostles, teach
throughout the world ; faith, that is, in the Three in One, in the
Son of God, in His Incarnation and death, in the Cross and its
Redemption.
And bringing into captivity. Every thought, every intellect, how
ever full of resources, however exalted in wisdom, must surrender
as a conquered foe, and obey the Gospel of Christ.
When S. Paul says " every thought " or " every intellect," he does
not mean to imply that all the philosophers and mighty men of the
world who heard the Gospel preached were converted, but that the
THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL 141
weapons of the Apostles were so powerful that they were able to
subdue to the faith of Christ any thoughts and reasonings of the
human intellect, however full of wiles, however highly exalted. As
a matter of fact, they did subdue these powers in those who took
these weapons, and admitted them into their soul, and so were
converted. Many of all classes of philosophers and orators, illus
trious for their learning and wisdom, were subdued by the wea
pons of the Apostles, and brought to believe in Christ. Such were
Dionysius the Areopagite, Clement of Rome, Paul the proconsul,
Justin the philosopher, Athenagoras, and others.
Ver. 6. And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience.
Paul had said that his weapons were powerful to subdue any Gen
tiles or heathen wise men. He now goes on to say that this same
power is able to punish all disobedience on the part of the faithful,
or amongst heretics. I am ready, he says, and it is easy for me, to
punish the disobedience of the false Apostles who depreciate me,
by excommunicating them.
When your obedience is fulfilled. For I am unwilling to involve
you in the same punishment. I would rather that you yourselves
correct what needs correction, and I am waiting until you fulfil what
you have been ordered. Then when you have done that, I will un
sheathe the sword of excommunication against those contumacious
detractors. From this doctors lay down that this sword should not
be drawn except against the disobedient, and those who, after having
been warned, are still rebellious and obstinate.
Ver. 7. Do ye look on things after the outward appearance ? The
Latin version takes this in the indicative. Ye see how openly and
manifestly the truth has been set before your eyes, that I am not
only a disciple of Christ, but also an Apostle endowed with such
spiritual power as you see with your own eyes (Anselm).
Ver. 8. Of our authority , which the Lord hath given us for edifica
tion. The Council of Trent (sess. xxv. c. 3) lays down from these
words that the sword of excommunication should be soberly
and cautiously drawn for edification; otherwise we see that it is
rather despised than dreaded, and produces ruin rather than salva-
142 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. X.
tion, not only to the excommunicated, but also to the whole
Church.
Ver. 10. For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful. My
detractors, the false apostles, say that my letters are hard and bitter,
severe and threatening, but my appearance is mean, contemptible,
and puny. Nicephorus (lib. ii. c. 37) thus describes the stature and
form of S. Paul from tradition and early representations : " Paul
was small of stature, spare inform, round-shouldered, and somewhat
inclined to stoop. His face was pale, and shoivcd the marks of years.
His head was small, and his eyes shone with a pleasant light. He had
bushy eyebrows, a nose beautifully curved and somewhat long, and a
thick and long beard, which, like his hair, was plentifully interspersed
with white." S. Chrysostom (Horn, de Princip. Apost^) says that
"Paul was but three cubits high, and yet he touched the heavens.
Lucian again, in his Philopater, laughs at Paul for having a head bald
in front.
And his speech contemptible. Unlearned, inelegant, unadorned.
Cf. i Cor. ii. i, 2.
Ver. 12. For we dare not make ourselves of the number. I do
not, like the false Apostles, boast of what I do not possess. I
measure myself by my own foot, by the gifts of God, and by the
things God s grace has done for me, says Photius, and so I do not
arrogate to myself more than God has given me.
Paul speaks ironically. The false Apostles were in the habit of
disparaging Paul s words and deeds, as though in him there was
nothing great but his letters, which were high-flown enough, but
were not borne out by his presence, than which nothing was more
despicable. They would boast that in this they far excelled him.
Therefore, says Paul, in scorn of their pride, I, a mere dwarf, do not
dare to class myself with these giants, or to compare myself with
them. None the less their boast of their greatness is baseless ;
while whatever I declare is true, and I measure myself by my own
greatness, the grace I have received, and the things that I have
really done.
The Latin version omits the last clause, "are not wise." The
FALSE APOSTLES RIDICULED 143
Syriac, Vatablus and others apply it to the false apostles, not to
Paul. They commend themselves, but they do not see that they
measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves among
themselves. They do foolishly in thus exalting themselves and
making themselves giants. They act like a man who should mea
sure his height by himself, instead of by a yard-measure, like a
pigmy who boasts of his gigantic size : they have no other cause for
their boasting than their self-delusion. Photius supplies after "they
do not understand," that they are ridiculous to all, or, as S. Augus
tine says, in Ps. xxxv., they do not understand what they say and
what they boast of.
Ver. 13. But we will not boast of things without our measure.
This is the second charge brought by S. Paul against the false
Apostles. They boast so largely that one would think they have
preached the Gospel in every part of the world (Theophylact). I,
however, boast not falsely, or beyond my measure ; I measure myself
by the true measure of the gifts and provinces that God has marked
out for me. This measure reaches from Judasa through the inter
vening countries to Corinth. Just as kings glory in having extended
their realms far and wide, so do I, as a doctor sent by Christ, glory
in having extended His sway, and I hope to extend it still further.
Rule here denotes the measuring-line used by surveyors to fix
the boundaries of fields and other grounds (cf. ver. 16). Measure
denotes (i.) that by which anything is measured, as a yard-measure
or a foot-measure; (2.) it denotes the quantity of the measuring-line ;
and (3.) the act of measuring ; (4.) it stands for the thing measured,
a bushel of wheat or an acre of land; i.e., corn to the amount of
a bushel, land to the amount of an acre. In any of these last three
senses the word may be used here, but best of all in the second.
Ver. 14. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure. This
is his third scornful charge against the false apostles. They stretch
out themselves and more than that by their boastful words, but let
us see what good as a matter of fact they do. Whom have they
converted ? What cities or countries have they visited ? They have
never left their own home. Did they bring you into the Church ?
144 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. X.
Ye are not their work, but mine in the Lord. It is I who have taken
you and subdued you : you are my lot, the possession assigned me
by the Lord. I can triumph over you and other provinces reaching
to Judaea that I have subdued. And just as P. Scipio was called
Africanus, and L. Scipio, Asiaticus, from the provinces they con
quered, so might S. Paul have the agnomen of Corinthiacus, Achaicus,
Macedonicus, Thracicus, Asiaticus, &c.
Ver. 15. Without our measure. The provinces not assigned us
by God. This is again a blow aimed at the false apostles, who
were in the habit of boasting groundlessly of the many regions they
had visited and converted.
Not boasting . . . of other men s labours. A fourth charge against
the false apostles, who had entered into his labours at Corinth, where
he had laid the foundations of the faith (Chrysostom). Doctors
remark that heretics never go to unbelievers from zeal for the
Gospel and for martyrdom, and convert them first of all to Chris
tianity, but content themselves with endeavouring to attract the
faithful. It may be said : Surely the Emperor Valens, when the
Goths were anxious to be converted to Christianity, sent Arian
Bishops, who made them Arians (Freculfhus, lib. iv. c. 20). I
reply : This is true ; but the Arians did not themselves take the
initiative and go to the barbarous Goths from zeal for the faith,
to plant among them the true faith, after the Apostolic manner,
in hunger, thirst, persecutions, and deaths. The Goths invited them,
and Valens consented. There is no difficulty in instilling poison
into those who wish for it. Moreover, most of the Goths had
previously been of the orthodox faith ; but Ulphilas their Apostle,
having been deceived by the Arians, deceived them in his turn
and made them Arians, as Theodoret expressly says (Hist. lib. iv.
cap. ulf.}.
But having hope when your faith is increased. I hope that when
your faith is increased you will have no need of me ; then I
shall be able to go on to other nations to preach the Gospel
(Chrysostom).
That we shall be enlarged by you. Or magnified in you. (i.) I
SPIRITUAL JURISDICTION 145
hope that in those more distant regions I shall preach and bring
back great glory. The teacher, says Theophylact, is magnified
when his disciples grow in wisdom. (2.) It is better to refer the
words magnified in you to what follows according to our ride
abundantly. I hope, as you increase in the faith, to be magnified
through you according to our rule, i.e., to extend our rule, the
bounds of my apostolate, to the regions beyond you, so that they,
seeing your faith, holiness, and grace, may be provoked by your
example, and eagerly await me and receive the Gospel.
As the Holy Land was divided by lot among the twelve tribes
by fixed boundaries (Ps. Ixxviii. 54), so was the whole earth divided
as by a measuring-line among their antitypes, the twelve Apostles,
that they might bring it under subjection to Christ. Thomas, e.g.,
evangelised India ; Andrew, Achaia ; John, Asia.
Abundantly. That my lot may be increased and spread further
and further. I have not yet fixed any certain bounds to my pro
vince, nor has God, but I am always looking for and striving after
its extension.
Ver. 1 6. Not to boast in another man s line. I do not meddle
with the bounds, the provinces, and districts measured out and
assigned, or occupied by other Apostles, so as to enter into things
got ready by others, and to boast of other men s labours as if they
were mine. He calls " made ready to his hand " those regions which
had already received the Gospel from others ; he refuses to
seize upon the tilled fields of others, but rather chooses to be the
first to plant the faith in any place he goes to. Cf. Rom. xv. 20.
The Greek /cavwv denotes the measuring-line of surveyors. Here
the Apostle calls all those regions measured out to him, as it were,
by God his rule. This "rule" he was daily extending, from his
desire to preach everywhere; "as though," says Chrysostom, "he
had come into possession of the earth and a fat inheritance." " Paul
was," says Theophylact, " like a builder of the world, measuring it
by his rule and building accordingly." The Greek KO.VWV stands also
for the builder s measuring-rod, but seems by S. Paul to be referred
rather to the surveyor s.
VOL. II. K
146 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. X.
Ver. 17. But he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. Let
him glory in truth as before the Lord. Secondly, and better, to
glory in the Lord is to glory with the glory given by the Lord, which
alone commends a man, and vouches for him by the wonders which
it works through him. This is the genuine meaning, for S. Paul
contrasts glorying in one s self with glorying in the Lord. To glory
in self is to commend self; to glory in the Lord is to be commended
by the Lord, and to glory in that commendation. Still it follows
from this, thirdly, that he who truly glories should glory not in
himself but in the Lord, by referring all that has been received to
Him, whose gifts they are, by giving to Him all the glory, and direct
ing everything to His praise and glory (Chrysostom).
By these words the Apostle shows where, when, and in what we
should glory, and at the same time clears himself of all charge of
ostentation and desire of vain-glory. He says implicitly: These
great and fine things I say about myself, not because I wish to glory
in myself, but because I wish to give the praise to the Lord, from
whom I have received all my glory, and the ground of my glorying.
Cf. i Cor. i. 31, note.
Learn from this that true praise and glory come from God alone,
and far excel all human glory; for, (i.) man s praise is but small
and poor, men being but worms of earth; but God s glory is, as
He is, boundless. (2.) Man s glory is outward and apparent only
within it is empty and ready to vanish away; but God s glory
is inward and substantial; hence it fills and satisfies the soul.
(3.) Man s glory is untrustworthy, feigned, and hypocritical many
laugh at you behind your back while praising you to your face;
but God s glory is faithful and true. (4.) Man s glory is unstable,
and, like a reed, is shaken by the slightest breath of rumour they
who praise you to-day will rail at you to-morrow ; but God s glory
is stable and constant. (5.) Man s glory is short-lived: mortals
to die to-morrow praise you, and your praise will die with them.
Where now are the praises of Caesar, Pompey, Augustus ? They
have passed away they are gone like smoke; but the praise of
God is eternal. God will praise thee for ever before the angels
THE WORTH OF MEN S PRAISE 147
and blessed ones, because thou didst despise the world s glory, and
sought for that true glory which lasts for ever with God. (6.) Man s
glory is imperfect, maimed, and alloyed ; a man is praised by some,
blamed by others ; as many men as there are, so many opinions
and judgments are there. God s glory is entire and perfect, for
whoever God praises is praised also by the inhabitants of heaven.
(7.) Man s glory is erroneous and groundless. Men glorify the
high-born, the rich, the powerful, even if they be villains, crime-
stained, and tyrants. God s glory is most true and most certain,
for He praises none but those endowed with virtue and true wisdom.
Again, men glory in themselves, in their sagacity, virtue, fortitude
all things of naught ; and therefore they glory in what is false, in
nothing, in what is not. God s glory is to glory in God, of whom
is all good and from whom flow all things to us, and to say, " Not
unto us, not unto us, O Lord, but unto Thy name give the praise."
(8.) Man s glory stands in the mouth of them that praise, confers
no benefit on thee, impresses on thee no good. Therefore it is
not in thee, but in Him that glorifies thee ; just as honour is not
in him that is honoured, but in him that confers it. But God s
glory is both in God and in thee, for it is efficacious and fruitful.
God does not merely beatify thee in thy soul with the light of
glory, and in thy body with glorious gifts, but He communicates
to the Blessed His own very Divine and uncreated glory, to be
possessed and enjoyed. Oh, blind and insensate children of Adam,
by nature greedy of praise, created and born to glory ! Why do ye
not seek after glory instead of its smoke and shadows ? Why strive
for what is false and fallacious and leave the true ? Why seek for
glory where it is not ? You seek it on earth : it is not there, but
in heaven. You seek it among men : it dwells among the angels
and before God. You seek it in time : it is found in eternity.
Thou, then, O Lord, art my glory; Thou art the joy of my heart.
In thee will I glory and exalt all the day long. For myself I will
glory in nothing save my infirmities. Let Jews, let worldly men
seek glory from one another. I will require that which is from God
alone. All human glory, all worldly honour, all temporal heights,
148 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. X.
when compared with Thy eternal glory are but vanity, foolish
ness, and reproach. O my Truth, my Mercy, my Glory, my God,
O Blessed Trinity, to Thee alone be praise, honour, and glory;
to Thee alone be blessing, wisdom, and thanksgiving ; to Thee, our
God, be honour, virtue, and strength for ever and ever. Amen.
Ver. 1 8. For not he that commendeth himself is approved. How is
it, then, that Saints have sometimes commended themselves, as, e.g.,
Hezekiah, in Isa. xxxviii. 3, and S. Paul in the next chapter, and in
2 Tim. iv. ? I answer, They do indeed commend themselves, but at
the same time they tacitly refer all their praise to God s grace as
its first cause, and say : " By the grace of God I am what I am."
Again, this self-commendation came not from themselves, but was
inspired into them by the Holy Spirit, who spoke by their mouth.
The Holy Spirit suggested to each writer of the Holy Scriptures
what he should write.
CHAPTER XI
I Out of his jealousy over the Corinthians, ivho seemed to make more account of the
false apostles than of him, he enter eth into a forced commendation of himself,
5 of his equality -with the chief apostles, 7 of his preaching the gospel to them
freely, and without any their charge, 13 shewing that he was not inferior to
those deceitful workers in any legal prerogative, 23 and in the service of Christ,
and in all kind of sufferings for his ministry, far superior.
\ ~\ 7OULD to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly : and indeed bear
with me.
2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy : for I have espoused you to
one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his
subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached,
or z/"ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel,
which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
5 For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.
6 But though / be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge ; but we have been
thoroughly made manifest among you in all things.
7 Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted,
because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely ?
8 I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.
9 And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man :
for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia
supplied : and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you
and so will I keep myself.
10 As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the
regions of Achaia.
1 1 Wherefore ? because I love you not ? God knoweth.
12 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which
desire occasion ; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into
the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel ; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the
ministers of righteousness ; whose end shall be according to their works.
1 6 I say again, Let no man think me a fool ; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive
me, that I may boast myself a little.
17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly,
in this confidence of boasting.
149
150 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XL
18 Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also.
19 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.
20 For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a
man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.
21 I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit
whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.
22 Are they Hebrews ? so am I. Are they Israelites ? so am I. Are they the
seed of Abraham ? so am I.
23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours
more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered ship
wreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep-;
26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by
mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in
the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren ;
27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in
fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily,
the care of all the churches.
29 Who is weak, and I am not weak ? who is offended, and I burn not ?
30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine in
firmities.
31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for ever
more, knoweth that I lie not.
32 In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the
Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me :
33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped
his hands.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. After declaring his love for the Corinthians, he proceeds (ver. 4) to
defend his apostleship against the false apostles, pointing out that
they had bestowed no more of the Spirit, nor given more Christian
doctrine than S. Paul.
ii. He says, moreover (ver. 7), that they preached the Gospel for the sake
of gain, but he freely.
iii. He insists (ver. 22) on his being equally with them a Hebrew, and
what they were not, a minister of Christ. He then enumerates the
marks of his apostleship, his labours for Christ, his persecutions,
scourgings, sufferings, anxieties, and the care of all the Churches, and
in them all he glories.
Ver. i. Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly. In
my boasting, which sounds like folly. It is, however, a mark of the
highest wisdom on my part, for I do it out of zeal to protect the faith
s. PAUL S GLORYING 151
of the Gospel against the false apostles (Chrysostom and Anselm).
S. Paul anticipates an objection : he is about to praise himself, and
he meets beforehand any charge of vain-glory or self-seeking. The
last clause, "and indeed bear with me," may be also indicative, and
then it is a correction to his request for forbearance : " I need hardly
make such a request : you do indeed bear with me."
At the commencement of his self-praise he thrice excuses himself:
(i.) by saying, "Would ye could bear with me ;" (2.) by calling him
self foolish ; (3.) when he says : " I am jealous over you" he takes
such pains to excuse himself that the Corinthians may see the violence
he does to his feelings when he descends to self-praise. Chrysostom
says : "Just as a horse, when about to leap some deep and precipitous
ravine, collects its strength, as though it would cross it at a bound, but
when it looks down on the yawning gulf refuses the leap ; then, under
the spur of the rider, approaches again and admits its ability to leap
and the necessity of it by standing still for a time, till at last it takes
courage, and of its own accord boldly makes the attempt ; so too S. Paul,
like one about to throw himself over a precipice, when going to sing his
own praises, retreats once, twice, and thrice, and at length falls to the
task of praising himself"
Ver. 2. For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. I cannot
endure any rivals, such as these false apostles, who seek to seduce
you. Paul calls his great and unbounded love "jealousy," implying
that he seeks to be first in the affections of the Corinthians. S.
Chrysostom remarks on this jealousy being a jealousy of God, which
implies that Paul does not seek the bride for himself but for Christ
and God not for his own glory, pleasure, or gain. Christ is the
Bridegroom ; he is but the paranymph.
For I have espoused you to one husband. " I have fitted you "
(Augustine, contra Manich. lib. ii.); "I have prepared you" (Am
brose) ; " I have united you" (Theophylact). The Greek verb may
well bear the three meanings of, " I have invited you," " I have be
trothed you," " I have united you in wedlock." The three duties
of the paranymph are : (i.) to gain the maiden s affections for the
bridegroom, and to do all he can to get her to be the wife of his friend ;
I$2 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XL
(2.) to see that she is espoused to him; and, (3.) when betrothed, to
unite them in marriage. S. Paul says in effect : I, as the paranymph
of a spiritual marriage, have by my preaching betrothed you to one
husband, Christ, and by betrothing you I have persuaded you to
present yourselves to Christ as His espoused bride. Or better still,
with Anselm and Theophylact : I have now espoused you to Christ
through baptizing you into the Christian faith, that I may show you,
or present you in the day of judgment, as virgins, i.e., pure in faith,
hope, and charity, fitted for the nuptial couch of the glory of Christ.
Chrysostom remarks that the betrothal takes place in this life, the
union in the next, when the espoused Church, i.e., all the elect, shall
be brought to the marriage of the Lamb and the eternal kingdom
(Rev. xxi. 2).
The Church of Corinth is described by S. Paul as the virgin spouse
of Christ, whose paranymph he is. Then he transfers to himself the
jealous love of the Bridegroom, and protests against Christ s bride
being stolen by false apostles, and handed over to the tender mercies
of heretics. Just as true Apostles and preachers are paranymphs of
Christ and His Church (S. John. iii. 29), so, on the other hand, false
preachers are Satan s panders.
This passage of the espousal of the Church and each faithful soul is
famous and full of consolation. It has been commented on beautifully
by most of the Fathers, and still is frequently treated in pulpits and
elsewhere. That it may be clearly and fully understood, let us then
dwell on it a little more at length.
Observe, then, firstly, that this espousal takes place by faith and
hope and other virtues. For, as S. Augustine says (Tract, xiii. in
Johan.}, " the mind s virginity consists in perfect faith, well-grounded
hope, and unfeigned love: On the other hand, the soul becomes an
adulteress or prostitute when she consents to unbelief, to sin, to the
suggestions and wiles of the devil. " If, therefore," says Origen (Horn.
12 in Lev. ii.), "you have admitted an adulterous devil into the cham
ber of your soul, then your soul has committed fornication with the
devil. If there has entered there the spirit of anger, envy, pride, un-
deanness, and you have welcomed it, and listened to its words, and
SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE 153
taken pleasure in its suggestions, then you have committed fornication
with him"
Secondly, this betrothal makes the goods of each common to
both, and therefore endows the Church and each faithful soul with
the abundant riches of Christ. Hence, since the Bridegroom is a
King, He makes His bride, even if she be a slave, however lowly
and poor she be, a queen. S. Basil (de Vita Virgin.} says, quoting
Ps. xlv. 9 : "Upon thy right hand did stand the queen, in a vesture
of gold wrong /it about with divers colours. Wherefore, she who now
is counted vile for her sordid dress and servile habit, is ennobled by
her station at the King s hand, and found in the kingdom of heaven
to be a queen. Let her, then, despise all visible things, and with open
face beholding her Spouse, let her be filled with His love, and make
all her faculties His handmaidens. In no respect should a virgin be
an adulteress, not i?i tongue, in ears, eyes, or any other sense, no, nor
yet in thought ; but let her keep her body as a temple, or bride chamber
ready for her Spouse. No unfaithfulness can escape the eye of Him
of whom it is said, He that planted the ear, shall He not hear ; or He
that made the eye, shall He not see ? "
S. Bernard (Serm. 2, Domin. i, post Epiph.) thus describes the
election, dignity, and glory of this bride : " For the sake of that
Ethiopian woman, the Son of God came from afar to espouse her to
Himself. Moses, indeed, married an Ethiopian wife, but her colour
he could not change ; but Christ, loving the Church, who till then was
contemptible and foul, presented her to Himself, not having spot or
wrinkle, or any such thing. Whence, O human soul, whence conies
this to thee ? Whence is the inestimable glory of meriting to be Ills
spouse on whom the angels desire to gaze ? Whence is it to thee that
thou art the spouse of Him, whose beauty sun and moon wonder at,
at whose will all things are changed? . . . What reward, then, will
you give unto the Lord for all the benefits that He hath done unto
you, in making you a sharer of His table, of His Kingdom, of His
chamber ? See with what arms of love should He be in turn lovingly
embraced, who has thought so much of you, and made you so great.
Leave all carnal affections, forget all worldly ways, undo all evil
154 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XI.
habits. For what thinkest thou ? Does not the angel of the Lord
stand ready to cut thee asunder, if perchance, which may He prevent,
thou admittest any other lover V Then he goes on to describe the
nuptial feast : " Now thou art espoused to Him, now the wedding feast
is being celebrated, for the banquet is prepared in heaven. There the
wine will not fail, for we shall be inebriated with the fulness of the house
of God, and shall drink of the torrent of His pleasure. For that
marriage, truly, there is got ready a river of wine, which maketh glad
the heart, an impetuous stream, which maketh glad the city of God."
Thirdly, be it observed that from this betrothal and union of
the soul to God, the fairest offspring are born. Origen (Horn. 20
in Num. xxv.) thus describes them : " When the soul, therefore,
clings to her Spouse, and listens to His voice, and embraces Him, she
doubtless receives from Him seed, even as He said: Of Thy fear,
O Lord, have I conceived in the womb, and brought forth, and caused
on the earth the spirit of Thy salvation. Thence will proceed a noble
offspring thence will be born chastity, righteousness, patience, meekness,
and charity, and a fair family of all the virtues. . . . But if the
unhappy soul forsakes the chaste embraces of the Divine Word, and
surrenders herself to the devil s adulterous endearments, without a
doubt she will bring forth children, but they will be such as those of
whom it is written : The adulterous children shall be imperfect, and
the seed of the wicked bed shall be destroyed. All sins, therefore, are
children of adultery and fornication."
Fourthly, although this espousal is brought about by any virtues,
yel the chief agent among them is charity. Charity carries with it
towards God all the powers and affections of the soul, so much so
that the more charity increases in a soul, the more closely is that
soul united to God. Hence those whose souls are on fire with
charity, and who are ever exercising themselves in it, enjoy the bliss
of betrothal to God and the possession of His nuptial gifts of Divine
joys. For charity is a marriage-union, the welding of two wills, the
Divine and human, into one, whereby God and man mutually agree
in all things. Hence springs familiar intercourse between the soul
and God, hence spring peace and a wondrous delight of the soul.
SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE 155
So great becomes the thirst for the Divine love that all other affections
of the soul are absorbed in it and lost in God. S. Bernard (Serm. 38
in Cantic.} says : " Such conformity weds the soul to the Word, that,
though naturally like Him, she none the less exhibits that likeness in
the will, by loving as she has been loved. If, then, she loves perfectly,
she is wedded to Him. What is more pleasant than this conformity ?
what more to be longed for than this charity ? By it it comes to pass
that you are not content, O my soul, to rest on human teaching, but you
boldly approach the Word, and cling closely to Him, hang lovingly on
His lips, and consult Him on everything. You are as bold in your
longings as your understanding ivill allow. Surely this is a holy and
spiritual wedding contract. Contract, do I say ? nay, it is an embrace ;
for where the same will to have or not have is, where one spirit is
made out of tivo, there there must have been an embrace. Nor need
we fear that the disparity of the persons can make this union of wills
imperfect, for love knows no fear. Love is self-sufficient : wherever he
comes he draws to himself and makes prisoners all the other affections.
Therefore she loves what he loves, and knows nought else. There is a
bride and there is a bridegroom. What other relation or connection do
you seek between them that are wedded than that of loving and being
loved ?"
If you say that the soul is so far inferior to God in its nature and
love as to make it impossible for friendship to exist between them,
and much less betrothal and marriage union, all of which can only
be between equals, then S. Bernard replies : "77 is true that there is
not the same copious Jlow in the soul that Loves as in Love Himself, in
the soul as in the Word, and in the bride as in the Bridegroom, in the
creature as in the Creator, any more than there is the same in him
that is athirst and the spring that quenches his thirst. But what of
that ? Are we therefore to lose and see destroyed utterly the devotion
of her that is about to wed, the desire of the longing soul the eagerness
of the lover, the confidence of one that boldly draws near just because a
dwarf cannot r:m on equal terms with a giant, because sweetness
cannot rival honey, gentleness cannot compare with a lamb, white
ness with the lily, brightness with the sun, charity with Him who is
156 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XI.
charity ? No, for though the creature s love is less because it is itself
less, yet if it loves with all its might, it withholds nothing, and its love
is entire. Therefore have 1 said, So to lore is to be wedded already,
unless any one doubt that the soul is first loved and more loved by the
Word. But truly He prevents and surpasses the soul in love. Happy
the soul that has merited to be prevented with the blessings of goodness."
Fifthly, it follows that this espousal is most perfectly brought about
by virginity and vows of chastity and religion. S. Augustine (Tract.
9 in Johan.} says : " They who vow to Gcd virginity, although they
may hold a higher position of honour and dignity in the Church, yet
are they not without nuptials ; for they belong to those nuptials in
which the whole Church is united to Christ as her Bridegroom."
And the reason is, that as a bride gives her heart and all her goods to
her husband, so does a virgin, or a religious, consecrate herself and
all that she has to Christ. Hence religion is called and is a state of
perfection, or of perfect charity. Moreover, as a bride in contract
ing matrimony says : " I take thee for mine," so does a religious
say : " I vow to God poverty, chastity, obedience," and by these
she is bound to Christ as a wife to her husband. Hence Tertullian
(de Veland. Virgin, c. 16) says: " Thou hast been wedded to
Christ, thou hast committed to Him thy body ; thou hast betrothed
to Him the bloom of thy life ; walk, therefore, according to the will
of thy Spouse." For this reason S. Jerome (Ep. 27) dared to call
the mother of a virgin consecrated to God, " God s mother-in-law,"
and for this he was found fault with hypercritically by Ruffinus. A
ring used to be given to virgins, in token that by it they were
betrothed to Christ. " He gave me a ring," says S. Agnes (Ambrose,
Serm. 90), "as an earnest of my betrothal to His faith." For this
virgins were given veils, even as those who are married to husbands,
and that solemnly, by priests, on appointed days alone, as Gelasius
says (ad Episc. Lucanitz, c. 14), and Optatus Milevit. (lib. 6). He
says : " Spiritual ivedlock is of this kind. In will and profession they
had already come to be betrothed to their spouse ; and to show that they
had abjured all secular nuptials, they had cut off their hair for their spiri
tual Bridegroom, and had already celebrated their heavenly nuptials."
SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE 157
Ambrose (ad Virg. Lapsam} says: She who has betrothed herself
to Christ, and received the sacred veil, is already wedded, is already
united to an immortal husband ; and if she noiv wishes to marry under
the common law, she commits adultery, and is made the handmaiden of
death." S. Cyprian too (Ep. 62) calls such lapsed virgins adulteresses.
From all this it is evident, whatever Marloratus may say, that the
Church applies this passage of the Apostle to virgins, and reads it as
the Epistle in the Mass of Holy Virgins.
Let these virgins ponder this, and recognise their dignity, so as
to religiously keep these nuptials pure, and give themselves wholly
to their one Bridegroom, Christ. S. Jerome says to Eustochius :
"Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear ; forget also
thine own people and thy fathers house, and then shall the King take
pleasure in thy beauty. It is not enough for thee to leave thy land,
unless thou also forget thy own people and thy father s house, and,
despising the flesh, yield thyself to the embraces of thy spouse. You
will say perhaps : / have gone from the house of my shame ; I have
forgotten the house of my father ; I am born again in Christ. What
reward for this am I to receive ? It tells you : So shall the King
have pleasure in thy beauty? This then is a great sacrament : there
fore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cling to his
wife, and they twain shall be not one flesh but one spirit. Thy Spouse
is not haughty ; He has married an Ethiopian woman. As soon as
you desire to hear the wisdom of the true Solomon and come to Him,
He will tell you all that He knows ; He will as a King lead you
into His chamber, and thy colour being wondrously changed, the words
will apply to you, Who is this that cometh up all white ? . . . The bride
of Christ is, like the Ark of the Covenant, covered within and without
with gold, the guardian of the law of the Lord. As in it there was
nothing save the tables of the law, so in thee let there be no other
thought. Over this mercy-seat, as upon the cherubim, the Lord wills
to sit. The Lord wishes to set you free from earthly cares, that leaving
the bricks and straw of Egypt, you may follow Moses in the wilderness
and enter the Promised Land. Whenever in your virgin breast there
rages anxiety about earthly business, immediately the veil of the temple
158 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XI.
is rent in twain, your Bridegroom rises in ivrath and says : Your
house is left unto you desolate. . . . Do thou once for all cast aside
every burden of the world, sit at the feet of thy Lord, and say : I
have found Him in whom my soul delighteth ; I have held Him fast ;
I will not let Him go He will answer : My dove, my undefiled, is
but one Let the secret places of thy chamber ever keep thee, let thy
Spouse ever play with thee within. When thou prayest thou speakest
to thy Spouse. When thou readest He speaks to thee ; and when
sleep oppresses thee, He will come behind the wall ; and when thou
art awakened thou wilt say : / am sick with love, and in return thou
wilt hear Him say : A garden enclosed is My sister, My spouse.
That I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. There is
something strange in such a marriage. " In the world," says
Theophylact after Chrysostom, " brides do not remain virgins after
marriage. But Christ s brides, as before marriage they were not
virgins, so after marriage they become virgins most pure in faith,
whole, and uncorrupt in life. So is the whole Church a virgin."
" The virginity of the flesh" says S. Augustine (in Senten. 79), "is an
undefiled body ; the virginity of the soul is uncorruptcd faith."
S. Paul converted to Christ at Iconium that most illustrious
virgin Thecla : he drew her from marriage and espoused her to
Christ. S. Gregory of Nyssa is our authority for this. He says
(Horn. 4 in Cantic.}: "Such myrrh did Paul once pour from his
mouth, mingled with the pure lily of chastity, into the ears of a holy
virgin. That virgin was Thecla, who, as the drops fell from the lily
into her soul, to her salvation put to death the outward man and
quenched the heat of lust within S. Epiphanius too (Hares. 78)
says : " Thecla fell in with S. Paul, and was by him set free from
wedlock, though she had a husband at once surpassingly handsome,
rich, nobly-born, and famous." S. Augustine (contra Faustum, lib.
xxx. c. 4) says : " This Saint in her lifetime despised all earthly
things, that she might gain possession of things heavenly, and, though
bound in wedlock, she was kindled by the eloquence of S. Paul with
love of life-long virginity." Through this Thecla overcame fire,
lions, bulls, and serpents, and when thrown for her virginity into
PREACHERS OF ANOTHER GOSPEL 159
the midst of flames, she, like asbestos, remained unharmed. So
did S. Paul arm the harlot Poppasa and virgins against the blandish
ments of Nero, to despise his embraces and dedicate themselves
to Christ. For this he was condemned by Nero to the sword, and
obtained the martyr s and virgin s crown, and therefore from his
neck there flowed, when his head was cut off, a stream of white
milk instead of red blood.
Ver. 3. But I fear lest by any means . . . your minds should be
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Beware of the false
apostles, who are panders of Satan, adulterers of the genuine doctrine
of Christ, and therefore of the Church and of your souls.
Ver. 4. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus. Christ is
here put for Christianity and its perfection. If the false apostles
should preach any other doctrine concerning Christ than that which
I have preached, as though my preaching were insufficient for salva
tion and Christian perfection, then, &c. He speaks a few words
further on of the same thing as another Gospel. But, in Gal. i. 8,
he orders that any one who should preach another Gospel was not
only not to be tolerated, but was even not to be listened to, and was
to be anathematised. Hence by the phrase here another Gospel, he
means a clear and more spiritual explanation of the Gospel.
Or if ye receive another Spirit. If you should receive other gifts
of the Holy Spirit from the false apostles besides those that you
received from me, you might well suffer them. He is censuring the
pride of the false apostles, who boasted that they had more to give
than S. Paul (Theophylact). Where, he asks, is that other Spirit, or
those other gifts of which they boast? They do not appear. I call
you then to -witness that you have received from them nothing but
empty words.
Ver. 5. For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chief est
Apostles. Beza says : If Paul was in no way inferior to the chiefest
Apostles, therefore Peter was not his superior in power and authority,
and consequently he is not the Prince of the Apostles and of the
Church." I answer that Paul yielded to none in any of the things
just mentioned, such as in preaching Christ, in the gifts of the Spirit,
160 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XI.
in the genuineness of his Gospel, in the labours he bore, and in
apostolical gifts in general. The question of power and primacy,
therefore has no place here. Were he here to claim it for himself, it
would be a sign of the most foolish ambition. Moreover, although
by the phrase the very chiefest Apostles, Chrysostom, Theopylact,
(Ecumenius, understand Peterjames, and John, and this interpreta
tion seems more simple and true, yet very many later writers under
stand it to refer to the false apostles, who boasted of their greatness.
In this case S. Paul is speaking ironically.
Ver. 6. Rude in speech. Unskilled in the polished and rhetorical
eloquence of the Greeks, such as we find in Isocrates, Demosthenes,
Lucian. Hence we find in S. Paul so many sudden transitions,
ellipses, and solecisms (Chrysostom and Theophylact). S. Jerome
(Ef. 151 ad Algas. qu. 10) says: " I have frequently said and I repeat
it now, that when S. Paul spoke of himself as being rude in speech
yet not in knowledge] he was not merely using the language of humility,
but was speaking from a consciousness of the truth. For in his writ
ings there are many profound passages unexplained in words, dealing
with truths evident enough to himself, but incapable of being conveyed to
others" He says the same in his epistle to Hedibia, where he adds
that for this reason Paul kept Titus by him, who was a Greek scholar,
just as S. Peter had S. Mark. Cf. i Cor. ii. i, 4, notes. On the
other hand, S. Augustine (de Doct. Christ, lib. iv. c. 7) thinks that
Paul calls himself here rude in speech, not as giving his own opinion
but that of his detractors. S. Augustine there dwells at length on
the eloquence of the Apostle, and shows that he has his own lively
and nervous style, and an orderly arrangement of his materials.
This is true. The Apostle s rhetoric was not mere wordiness, but
was earnest, persuasive, manly, Divine, and therefore he was " rude,"
not so much in rhetoric as in grammatical niceties. It was evident
to all that the Apostle by his eloquence stirred the hearts of all who
heard him, smote them with the fear of God, and with wonderful
skill almost drove them to faith, godliness, and mercy, and whereso
ever he wished to lead them.
S. Augustine (Senten. No. 266) says beautifully : " It is an evident
S. PAUL S DISINTERESTEDNESS l6l
token of a good disposition when the truth contained in the words of
controversialists is loved, and not the mere words themselves. For what
is the use of a golden key if it cannot accomplish our desire and open
the door, or why should we think less of a key because it is of wood 1
All that -we want is to have that opened which was shut"
Ver. 7. Have I committed an offence ? Do you find fault with
that very thing which is a cause of glory to me and an instance
of large-heartedness, that I humiliated myself to the manual labour
of tent-making to support myself and not be a burden to you?
(Anselm). This is the language of sarcasm. He charges the
Corinthians to their face with ingratitude, in that while he might
have claimed from them the means to support himself, he did not
do so, but, while preaching and working at Corinth, preferred to be
supported by poorer churches. In spite of this, however, as he
says, the Corinthians undervalued the kindness of S. Paul, and lent
an ear more readily to his rivals, the false apostles, who drained
their purses.
Ver. 8. / robbed other churches. He uses a strong expression,
in order to make a strong impression on them. You see my con
tinence and charity. I have, as it were, despoiled other churches
that were poor, in order to spare you and to enrich you, that you
might not think, as rich merchants like you Corinthians are apt to
think, that I was seeking yours instead of you, and also that I
might shut the mouths of the false apostles. Acknowledge me, then,
as your true and genuine Apostle.
Ver. 9. I was chargeable to no man. The Greek word for charge
able is derived from a word denoting torpor and inactivity, which
are apt to be burdensome to others. The ray-fish called torpedo
derived its Greek name from the same word. S. Paul says that he
did not by his inactivity depend on another for support, but he
worked hard with his hands without neglecting his duty of preaching.
He gave himself to the work of teaching, warning, and advising, just
as diligently as if he were under no necessity of supporting himself.
Ver. 10. As the truth of Christ is in me. I speak in the truth
of Christ ; I call His truth to witness ; I swear to you in truth and
VOL. II. L
1 62 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS C. XI.
holiness by Christ ("under the testimony of Christ," Ambrose) that I
will take nothing from you for my support (Theophylact).
No man shall stop me of this boasting. Or, this boasting shall not
be stopped in me. This liberty and liberality of mine shall not be
stopped, nor therefore my boasting of it. It is a metaphor, taken
from springs and rivers, which no barriers can stop.
Secondly, it is better to suppose that S. Paul, following a Hebrew
usage, employs the simple verb denoting to seal up for the compound
verb unseal (0<$pay for dvao-<paytw). " I have determined," he
then would say, " to receive nothing from you ; and I have so con
firmed that determination by the strong seal of my oath, that I shall
not open this seal, or break my purpose, whatever need or necessity
may lay upon me."
Ver. 12. Which desire occasion. Of finding fault with me for
not bringing anything peculiar to myself more than others.
That wherein they glory they may be found even as we. They
boast that in their preaching they are equal to me, when they are
inferior ; for I preach freely, they for the sake of gain. Cf. ver. 2 1
(Anselm, Chrysostom, Theophylact).
Ver. 13. Transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ.
From this it appears that these detractors of Paul were not believers
who were impelled by mere vanity or by envy of Paul, but were
heretics; for, in ver. 15, he calls them false apostles and ministers
of Satan.
Secondly, he censures their hypocrisy in that, in order that they
might impose on the Christians, they took to themselves the ap
pearance and name of the Apostles of Christ, as though they were
of Christ, and preachers of the Christian faith. The Calvinists of
the present day are of the same kind, for they deform and profane
everything sacred our rites, sacraments, churches, monasteries,
sanctuaries, altars, all true worship, religion, and godliness and yet
wish to be looked upon and spoken of as reformers.
Ver. 14. For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
He says of light, because good angels, being blessed, are wont, when
they show themselves to men, to appear full of light and glory.
AN ANGEL OF LIGHT 163
Secondly, of light refers to the light of truth, righteousness, and
godliness. Satan assumes these virtues, promises them to those
men before whose eyes he appears in visible form, or into whose
imagination he insinuates himself and his counsels, when really he
is an angel of darkness, inasmuch as he suggests nothing but what
is sinful, erroneous, and false. To unmask him and recognise his
wiles there is nothing better, as the Fathers, and holy men, and expe
rience itself teach, than to disclose your thoughts and suggestions to
some prudent, pious, and learned man, preferably your Superior or
Confessor, and to follow his advice. But Satan hates the light, and
therefore dissuades and prevents his followers from doing this.
From neglecting this counsel many, even hermits, have been by
him most terribly deceived. In the lives of the Fathers there are
extant many sad instances of this, e.g., in the case of that monk
whom the devil persuaded to throw himself headlong into a well, by
declaring that he would find that God, for his merits, would most
gloriously deliver him. S. Epiphanius, Irenasus, and Augustine
tell us the dreadful and abominable delusions instilled by the
devil into such heretics as the Ophites, the Artotyritse, and the
Circumcelliones.
Under the form of a good angel the devil attempted to deceive
the hermit S. Abraham, as S. Ephrem records in his Life. While
he was singing psalms at midnight, a light like that of the sun
suddenly shone in his cell, and a voice was heard saying : " Blessed
art thou, Abraham : none is like thee in fulfilling all my will." But
the humility of the Saint recognised the fraud of the devil, and
exclaimed : " Thy darkness perish with thee, thou full of all fraud
and falsehood; for I am a sinful man; but the name of my
Lord, Jesus Christ, whom I have loved and do love, is a wall to
me, and in it I rebuke thee, thou unclean dog." And then the
devil vanished from his sight as smoke.
Similarly, the devil appeared in splendour, with horses of fire and
a chariot of fire, near the column on which was S. Symeon Stylites,
and said to him : " The Lord hath sent me, His angel, to carry thee
off as I carried Elijah. Ascend, therefore, with me into the chariot,
164 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. XI.
and let us go into heaven. The holy angels, the Apostles, martyrs,
and prophets, and Mary the Mother of the Lord long to see thee."
When S. Symeon was lifting his right foot to get into the chariot he
made the sign of the Cross, on which the devil disappeared. This
is recorded by Antony, his disciple, in his Life.
Another, on hearing from the devil, " I am Christ," shut his eyes
and said : " I would not see Christ in this life but in the next."
Hence the Fathers used to warn people, saying : " Even if an angel
really appear to you, do not readily receive him, but humble your
self and say : I am not worthy, while I live in my sins, to see an
angel. "
S. John, who foretold to the Emperor Theodosius his victory
over the tyrants, saw devils like an army and chariots of fire, say
ing to him : " In all things, O man, you have borne yourself well.
Now worship me, and I will take you up like Elias." John an
swered : " God is my Lord and King : Him I ever worship ; thou
art not my King." Then the devil vanished. Palladius gives this
(Lausiac. c. 46).
The devil appeared to Pachomius in the form of Christ, saying :
" Pachomius, I am Christ, and I come to thee, my faithful friend."
Pachomius knew by Divine inspiration the fraud, and thought within
himself: "The coming of Christ gives tranquillity; but I am now
fiercely assailed by conflicting thoughts." Then, making the sign
of the Cross, and breathing on him, he said : " Depart from me, O
devil, for accursed art thou with thy vision and treacherous wiles ;
there is no place for you among the servants of God." Then, leaving
a horrible stench, he departed, saying : " I should have gained thee,
had not the surpassing power of Christ hindered me. Neverthe
less, so far as I can, I will not cease to trouble thee." Cf. Dionysius,
in Vita PachomiL
The monk Valens was frequently deceived by the devil under the
form of an angel. From this Valens became swollen with pride,
because of his intimacy with angels. At length the devil appeared
to him, feigning that he was Christ, accompanied by a thousand
angels holding lights and a fiery wheel. One of them said to him :
WILES OF THE DEVIL 165
" Christ has loved thy free and confident life, and has come to see
thee; come out, therefore, and worship Him." Then he went out
and worshipped the devil as Christ. This so unhinged his mind
that he went into the church and said : " I have no need of com
munion. I have seen Christ to-day." The Fathers, therefore,
bound him and threw him into fetters. Cf. Palladius, c. 31
Ver. 1 6. If otherwise, yet as a fool receive me. If I can obtain
from you nothing else, then receive me as a fool, only that I may
have license to glory somewhat. As Cato says : " Neither praise
nor blame thyself; leave this to fools, whom empty glory vexes."
Notice how S. Paul hesitates, and paves the way for self-praise, to
show how unwillingly he was driven to it (Chrysostom).
Ver. 17. That which I speak. The praises of myself, that I
propose to utter directly.
I speak it not after the Lord. If regarded by itself. But it will
be after God if charity and necessity be taken into account, the
necessity, that is, of preventing you from despising me, and glorify
ing the false apostles.
In this confidence of boasting. In this substance (Latin version).
In this subject-matter of boasting, i.e., my works, of which I am
now going to speak.
Ver. 1 8. Seeing- that many glory after the flesh. In things
merely outward and carnal, as, e.g., in birth, riches, wisdom, cir
cumcision, having Hebrew parents of all which these false
apostles boast. Hence I too will glory in them (Chrysostom).
Cf. x. 2, note.
Ver. 19. For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.
Irony. You have foolishly suffered the boastings of these vain
glorious false apostles ; I hope that you will suffer me to glory wisely
and usefully among them that are wise. Theophylact, however, and
Anselm think that this is said seriously, in the way of exaggerated
rebuke. Since you are wise in Christ, you ought to have exploded
the folly of the false apostles. Why, then, do you gladly suffer
them?
Ver. 20. For ye suffer if a man bring you into bondage. This is
l66 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XL
aimed at the insatiable arrogance, avarice, and tyranny of the false
apostles. You suffer false apostles, who imperiously treat you as
slaves, who devour you by extorting from you your goods, who are
exalted by their self-praise, who smite you in the face, not with the
palms of their hands, but with insults. Hence he adds : " I speak as
concerning reproach." These words, therefore, contain a sharp
rebuke. These men squander your money, take away your freedom
and honour, load you with taunts, as though you were slaves ; but
I have borne myself humbly, have lived at my own expense, have
wished to put upon you the easy yoke of Christ. Yet you prefer
them to me, as though, when compared with these, your imperious
lords, nay, tyrants, I was not sufficiently well-born, or powerful, or
eloquent. S. Bernard (de Consid. lib. i. c. 3) says : " When you may
be free there is no virtue in the patience which lets you become a slave.
Do not conceal the slavery into which you are being daily led, while
you know it not. It is the mark of a dull and heavy heart not to fed
its own continual trouble. Trouble gives to the hearing understanding,
provided it be not excessive. If it is, it gives not understanding, but
carelessness."
Let superiors and prelates console themselves by the example of
S. Paul, when they duly do their duty, and are despised by those
under them, and see others preferred before them. It has ever
been the custom of the world, and ever will be till the end, as
Salmeron notices here, to obstinately resist the servants of God, to
murmur, and, meeting rebuke, on the least occasion, to complain of
even moderate severity ; to spurn all discipline ; to submit servilely
to impostors, libertines, and false apostles; to entrust everything
to them ; to bear patiently whatever burden they may choose to
impose. The Israelites, e.g., despised the holy and gentle Samuel,
and preferred to bear the yoke of a self-willed and tyrannical king
(i Sam. viii.).
Ver. 21. / speak as concerning reproach This belongs to the
preceding. The "smiting on the face" spoken of is here ex
plained to be mental, not physical consisting in the ignominy and
revilings cast, as it were, in their faces by the false apostles. This
s. PAUL S LABOURS 167
" smiting " is no less wrong than if they had been beaten like slaves.
Others, however, interpret these words to mean : " I say this to your
shame." This, however, would require TT/DOS instead of Kara.
As though we had been weak Refer this to the words, ye suffer.
You suffer these bold and imperious false apostles ; me you do not,
but rather despise me as weak and timid, as though I could not
have acted more imperiously than I have done. I could, indeed,
have done so, but I would not, through humility, modesty, and
abounding charity (Chrysostom).
Whereinsoever any is bold. If any one ventures to boast foolishly,
I too can do the same.
Ver. 22. Are they Hebrews } so am I. The word Hebrew is
derived either (i.) from a Hebrew word denoting "across the
stream," in allusion to their descent from Abraham, who crossed the
Euphrates from Chaldasa to dwell in Palestine. Hebrews in this
sense would mean (to coin a word) transamnine, as we speak of
transmarine or transalpine. Abraham, after crossing the Euphrates,
is the first to be called Hebrew (Gen. xiv. 13). The LXX and
Aquila render the word there "crosser ; " S. Augustine (qu. 29 in Gen.}
renders it " transfluvial." So Chrysostom, Origen, Theodoret under
stand the word. (2.) Or the Jews were called Hebrews as being
descended from Heber, Abraham s forefather, the only man who
with his family, after the confusion of tongues at Babel, retained the
primeval Hebrew tongue, together with true faith, religion, and
piety. (Cf. Gen. x. 21, and xi. i, et seq.} Those, then, are wrong
who suppose that Hebraei is derived from Abrahasi. S. Augustine, it
is true, at one time held this opinion (de Consens. Evang. lib. i. c. 14),
but in his Retractations (lib. ii. c. 14) he gave it up. The meaning
of the Apostle, at all events, is this : These false apostles glory in
their birth in their being, as Hebrews, descendants of Heber,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; in their possession of the holy religion
of their ancestors, and the primeval tongue. But I also am a
Hebrew and descendant of Abraham like him in stock, tongue,
faith, and religion.
Ver. 23. Are they ministers of Christ ? The Latin version takes
168 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XL
this in the indicative, and supposes S. Paul to concede, for the sake
of argument, that the false apostles were ministers of Christ. Be it
so, but I am much more truly such than they.
In labours more abundant. Let prelates and doctors take notice
from this, that they should base their influence, as S. Paul did, not
on external show, but on labours and mode of life. The Fourth
Council of Carthage (c. 5) says : "Let a bishop have a sordid dress,
a scanty table, and poor living, and let him seek to have his high office
revered through his faith and the merits of his life. "
S. Bernard, quoting this passage in his work, De Consideration, ad
dressed to Pope Eugenius, says, (lib. ii. c. 6) : " How excellent a ministry
is this ! What king holds a more glorious office ? If you must needs
glory, the life of the Saints is put before your eyes, the glorying of the
Apostles is set forth. Seems that to you a little matter ? Would that
one would give to me to be like the Saints in their glorying! The
Apostle exclaims : God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Recognise thy heritage in the cross of Christ,
in abundant labours. Happy the man who could say : / have
laboured more than they all. This is glorying indeed, but there is
nothing in it empty, slothful, or effeminate. Jf labour terrifies, the
reward beckons us onward. Though he laboured more than all, yet
he did not elaborate the whole work, and yet there is room. Go into
the field of thy Lord, and notice carefully how the ancient curse holds
sway in an abundant crop of thorns and thistles. Go forth, I say, into
the world ; for the field is the world, and it has been entrusted to you.
Go into it, not as a lord but as a steward, who will one day be called
on to give an account"
In stripes above measure. More than can be told or believed.
In deaths oft. In dangers of death, when my companions, or
others, were wounded or slain, as, e.g., by robbers, or in popular out
breaks. Cf. 2 Cor. i. 10, and i Cor. xv. 31.
Ver. 24. Forty stripes save one. The Lord had ordered, in Deut.
xxv. 3, that the number of stripes should not exceed forty. The
Jews, to make sure of obedience to this precept, used to inflict on
criminals one less.
s. PAUL S LABOURS 169
Ver. 25. / have been in the deep. The Greek word for the deep
may refer to a well or a prison, as well as the sea. Hence (i.) some
think, says Theophylact, that that well is meant in which Paul is
said to have lain concealed after escaping from the attack made on
him by the people of Lystra (Acts xiv. 18). (2.) Baronius (Annals,
A.D. 58), following Bede and Theodoret, thinks that the Cyzicenum,
that deep and loathsome dungeon, like the Barathrum at Athens
and the Tullianum at Rome, into which Paul was thrown, is here
meant. (3.) It is better to understand the deep to be the sea, and to
be an explanation of the hardships of his shipwreck : " A night and a
day I have been in the deep." In other words, he says : I was tossed
about by so violent a tempest that I seemed to be days and nights
in the depths of the sea (Maldonatus Not. Manusc.}. Or it may be
that he means to say that after his shipwreck he spent a day and
a night tossed by the waves, not in a boat or on a raft, but swim
ming in the deep, i.e., on the open sea (Theophylact, Ambrose,
S. Thomas). Haymo says that this latter explanation of S. Paul s
rescue alive from the belly of the deep, like another Jonah, is the
tradition of the Fathers.
Of these scourgings and this shipwreck there is no record in the
Acts of the Apostles. The shipwreck at Melita, narrated in Acts
xxvii., happened long after this, when Paul was sent a prisoner to
Rome. Only one scourging is mentioned, that in Acts xvi., and
only one stoning, that in Acts xiv. S. Luke, it is evident, therefore,
is silent on many details of S. Paul s life.
Ver. 26. In perils by my own countrymen. Through the plots
that the Jews often entered into against him (Anselm).
In painfulness. sErumna (Latin version), which, says Cicero,
is laborious toil, as, e.g., when one that is tired out is forced, for the
sake of rest, to undertake fresh toils.
The things in which the Apostle glories are those that not only
many Christians now-a-days but many clergy would be ashamed of,
as S. Bernard laments when commenting on the words, "Lo, we
have left all." Whither have we drifted ? Where has the apostolic
Spirit gone? Whither are fled the humility, labours, sufferings, and
SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XI.
zeal of the primitive Church? The Apostles, the princes of the
Church, Christ s lieutenants, do not rejoice in their palaces, their
carriages, their silken robes, in an attending crowd of noblemen,
domestics, soldiers, horses, and hounds ; in banquets and dinners ; in
fat benefices; in an effeminate, luxurious, and sumptuous life; but
they exult and glory in hunger, thirst, painfulness, and weariness ;
cold and nakedness ; in continual journeying to barbarous nations ;
in persecution, preaching, scourgings, beatings, stonings, death,
martyrdom, fatigues by day and night ; they are made all things to
all men ; they scorn no one ; they are fathers of the poor and the
afflicted ; those that are barbarous, ignorant, and poor they teach :
they preach to them the Gospel, comfort them, give them alms.
This was the calling of the Apostles ; this was the high dignity of
the princes of the Church, of which Paul here boasts ; this was the
spirit of the early Christians, both clergy and people. Nor has this
spirit, God be thanked, died out in this age. Our age has had, and
still has its Borrome o, Pius, Xavier, Menesius, Caspar, Hosius, and
others like minded.
Be not ashamed then, O Bishop, or prior, or doctor, or pastor,
to imitate these men to visit the poor after their example, to enter
hospitals and prisons, to hear the confessions of peasants, to give
counsel to the unhappy, to instruct the simple and ignorant, to
be made all things to all men, to zealously seek the salvation of
all In these works do not shrink from toil, fatigue, and sorrow,
even unto death; in this cause be pleased and delighted to suffer
scoffs and even blows. So Christ did and suffered, so did S.
Paul, so did the Apostles in general. In this consisted their virtue,
holiness, and apostleship. In that last day of the world, when
the Chief Shepherd and great Doctor shall sit as Judge, to examine
the deeds of each one and to pass on each one sentence of an
eternity of bliss or an eternity of woe, He will not ask you how
many benefices, what wealth, or servants, or knowledge you had,
but how you used them how many by them you converted, how
many poor you fed or gave drink to, how many you visited in
prison, how far you spread His Gospel and extended His glory;
APOSTOLIC DEVOTION 171
what labours, dangers, ridicule, and persecutions you bore for Him ;
what hunger, and thirst, and weariness. These things God has
done ; and, while we have time, let us think on these things, let
us do these things, that we may stir up in ourselves and in all
men the spirit of the primitive Church and of the Apostles, that
we may follow Christ our Leader, and the Apostles His princes,
and so by our zeal and burning charity, set on fire a world now
growing old and stiffening with cold. Then shall we in due time
hear with the Apostles : " Verily I say unto you, that ye who have
followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit
on the throne of His glory, then shall ye also sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
Listen to what S. Chrysostom has to say of these sufferings
and victories, and the courage of S. Paul (Horn. 25, 26): "Paul,
as a champion athlete, against the world contends in every kind of
contest, and conquers in all. This -was his apostolic character, and
by these contests he spread the Gospel. Just as a flame of inex
tinguishable fire, if it falls into the ocean and is swallowed by the
waves, emerges again as bright as ever so too S. Paul, though pressed
on all sides, was not oppressed ; not knowing how to yield. Suffering
but left him the more glorious victor and martyr a thousand times
over."
S. Chrysostom (Horn. 2) says again : " Paul, through the abun
dance of his devotion, somehow did not feel the sufferings that he
underwent in the cause of virtue ; nay, he thought virtue itself its
own reward. Daily, he rose higher and more ardent ; in erery
attack he rejoiced and gained the victory ; when suffering under
blows and injuries he counted it triumph. He sought death before
life, poverty before riches ; he longed for toil more than others
rest ; he counted cities, nations, provinces, and power as of as little
account as the sand. He regarded nothing bitter and nothing sweet,
as men commonly regard things. He looked on tyrants as moths ;
on death, tortures, a thousand sufferings as mere child s play, provided
that he might endure something for Christ. He was as adamant,
nay. harder and stronger than adamant. Like a bird he flew over
172 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XI.
the ivhole world to teach it, and, as though hampered by no body, he
despised all sufferings and dangers. So thoroughly did he despise
all earthly things that heaven might seem already his."
Ver. 28. Beside those things that are without, that which comet h
upon me daily. The weight of business that daily presses upon
me. The Greek word here used denotes, says Budseus, to collect
a band, to call together a meeting, as, e.g., when the mob assembles
and makes an attack on the aristocracy and the magistrates. So
the Apostle here uses the word to denote those manifold cares
which, as it were, formed a band and rushed upon him from
every side, and almost overwhelmed him, and this not once only
but continuously. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Ephrem under
stand it to mean that factious conspiracies, seditions, tumults,
popular outbreaks, and plots were being always set in motion
against him. This is, indeed, the literal meaning of the Greek ;
but S. Paul has already mentioned those troubles in ver. 26. The
former meaning is, therefore, the better. Then next clause, "the
care of all the churches," is explanatory of this. Anselm and
Theophylact say beautifully: "Everywhere Paul teaches, but he
also suffers greatly. He endures his own sufferings, and at the
same time bears the sufferings of others. He bears the infirmities
of individuals, and at the same time is anxious about the salvation
of all."
S. Chrysostom here (Horn. 18) teaches us beautifully, by his ex
ample, that nothing is sweeter than this anxiety, thought, labour,
and grief of a good pastor for the Church. " A mother too," he says,
"/# the midst of deep grief for her child has pleasure ; in the midst of
anxiety she has joy. Though her anxiety be a source of bitterness,
yet her devotion gives her great happiness" Let great men, and
those that are ministers of Christ, desire to be ever in motion as
the heart is, or like the heavens, and, as Suetonius says of Vespasian,
to die standing. Pacatus says, in his Panegyric of Theodosius :
"Divine things delight in continual motion, and at the same time
eternity feeds itself on movement, and your nature delights too in
what we men call labour. As the heavens revolve with unfailing
APOSTOLIC SYMPATHY 173
rotation, and the waves of the sea are ever in motion, and the sun
never stands still, so are you, Emperor, always engaged in matters
of business that seem to return in a regular cycle."
Ver. 29. Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is weak,
or grieves, or is afflicted, and I am not with him weak, grieved, or
afflicted ? Who is offended and I am not on fire, both with grief,
because the evil that my neighbour suffers when he is scandalised
is mine, and with zeal also, to remedy his trouble and remove the
cause of offence ?
S. Gregory (Horn. 12 in Ezek. iv. 3), on the words, "Take thou
unto thee an iron pan," thinks that by the pan is meant the mind of
Ezekiel, who, on seeing the overthrow of Jerusalem, was, as it were,
roasted in a pan with compassion. Of this God puts him in mind
by ordering him to place a pan between himself and the city. Such,
too, was S. Paul when he said : "Who is offended and I burn not?"
"Paul had set on fire his heart" says S. Gregory, "with zeal for
souls, a ?id so had made it a pan in which, from love of virtue, he flamed
against vice."
Ver. 30. Of the things which concern mine infirmities. I will
glory of the afflictions, blows, persecutions, and sufferings that I
have borne for Christ. Through them I seem weak, i.e., despicable,
mean, and worthless (Chrysostom). Observe that Paul glories
not in his miracles but his infirmities, because in them there
shines forth the effectual power of God s grace, and also because
in these he surpassed the false apostles, and thirdly, because they
are the tokens of real virtue and of an Apostle.
Ver. 32. The governor under Aretas the king. This satrap of
King Aretas was, says Theophylact, the father-in-law of Herod.
Josephus says that Herod Antipas, who put to death John the
Baptist, married the daughter of Aretas.
Ver. 33. And through a -window in a basket was I let down.
This escape of S. Paul from Damascus happened in the year 39 (Acts
ix. 25), when, as Josephus says, Aretas, King of Arabia and of the
country near Damascus, waged war against Herod, because Herod
had repudiated his wife, the daughter of Aretas, for the purpose of
1/4 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XI.
marrying Herodias. In this war Herod was worsted, and slain by
Aretas. This brought on Aretas the vengeance of Tiberius Caesar,
who sent Vitellius, governor of Syria, to take or slay Aretas (Josephus,
Ant. lib. x. c. 7). Using the opportunity, the Jews, enraged with
S. Paul, seem to have accused him before the prefect of Aretas of
disturbing the people under a pretext of preaching the Gospel, and
so drawing them away from heathenism, and consequently from
Aretas. They wished to show that this would end in his betraying
Damascus to the Jews and to Vitellius. Hence the prefect sought
to take Paul, but he, being warned, escaped by being let down by the
wall in a basket. Of. Baronius (Annals, vol. i. p. 34>.
CHAPTER XII
1 For commending of his apostleship, though he might glory of his wonderful
revelations, 9 yet he rather chooseth to glory of his infirmities, 1 1 blaming
them for forcing him to this -vain boasting. 14 He promiseth to come to them
again: but yet altogether in the affection of a father, 20 although hefeareth he
shall to his grief find many offenders, and public disorders there.
T T is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and reve-
lations of the Lord.
2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I
cannot tell ; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell : God knoweth ;) such an
one caught up to the third heaven.
3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot
tell : God knoweth ;)
4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words,
which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
5 Of such an one will I glory : yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine in
firmities.
6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool ; for I will say the
truth : but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he
seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.
7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan
to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee : for my strength is
made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my in
firmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in
persecutions, in distresses for Christ s sake : for when I am weak, then am I
strong.
Ill am become a fool in glorying ; ye have compelled me : for I ought to
have been commended of you : for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest
apostles, though I be nothing.
12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in
signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.
13 For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that
I myself was not burdensome to you ? forgive me this wrong.
14 Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you ; and I will not be
burdensome to you : for I seek not yours, but you : for the children ought not to
lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
175
i;6 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII.
15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more
abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
1 6 But be it so, I did not burden you : nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you
with guile.
1 7 Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you ?
1 8 I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother, Did Titus make a gain of
you ? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?
19 Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God
in Christ : but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.
20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and
that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not : lest there be debates, envy-
ings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults :
21 And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and
that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of
the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. That the Corinthians may esteem him above the false apostles, he
describes his being carried up into the third heaven.
ii. He goes on to say (ver. 7) that to prevent his being puffed up a thorn
in the flesh was given him ; for strength is made perfect in weakness.
iii. He clears himself (ver. n) from any charge of self-love, by pointing
out that it was they who had compelled him to praise himself, instead
of commending him, as they ought to have done, for his long-suffering,
miracles, preaching without charge, charity, and care for them.
iv. He refutes the calumny (ver. 17) brought against him, that he collected
money from them craftily, not personally, but by means of Titus.
v. He expresses a fear (ver. 21) lest, when he should come to them, he
might find some of them involved in dissensions and other sins ; and
thus he tacitly warns them that he may with grief be compelled to
castigate them.
Ver. 2. / knew a man in Christ. A Christian. He thus
describes him, says Theophylact, that it may be clear that Paul
was taken up by the grace of Christ, and not, like Simon Magus, by
the power of the devil.
Above fourteen years ago. Hence we conclude that this rapture
of S. Paul took place about nine years after his conversion, which
took place A.D. 36 ; Paul, therefore, was taken up A.D. 44, which
was the ninth year from his conversion. It was in this year that,
by the direction of the Holy Spirit, he was ordained, with Barnabas,
Apostle and Doctor of the Gentiles (Acts xiii. 2), that is to say, a
S. PAUL S ECSTASY 1/7
little before he began this apostleship. This is evident, because,
as I said at the beginning of this Epistle, S. Paul wrote this A.D.
58, in the second year of Nero. This rapture of S. Paul did
not take place, therefore, in the year of his conversion (Acts ix.
12), i.e., A.D. 36, though some join S. Thomas in assigning it to
that year.
Theophylact remarks on the modesty of the Apostle in having
kept this silent for fourteen years. Secondly, he points out that
Paul, fourteen years before, was privileged to contemplate such
deep things, how much more did he merit it now, after the labours
of so many years ?
Whether in the body I cannot tell. Although the Apostle says
that he knows nothing for certain about this rapture, yet S. Thomas
(ii. ii. qu. 175, art. 5), and others think it probable that his soul
remained united to his body as its form, otherwise Paul would have
died and then risen again. Moreover, it does not beseem God, when
He throws men into an ecstasy, to kill them ; nay, such a process
would not be one of rapture and ecstasy, but a putting to death.
This, too, would involve the multiplication of many miracles. But
it is a principle that we should not multiply miracles; therefore
it is easier and more natural to suppose that, like other Saints, Paul
was carried up while remaining in the body.
Caught up. " To be caught up is" says S. Thomas, "to be raised
from what is natural to what is supernatural by the power of the
higher nature." Hence angels and the Blessed are not caught up
when they see God. Although they are raised above nature, yet
they are not cut off from nature, i.e., from the power man has of
naturally having consciousness of objects by means of his bodily
senses and his re-presentative powers. But when " caught up," the
soul is deprived of the use of its senses and imagination, and Paul,
therefore, was so deprived, or he would have known that he was in
the body. Moreover, such abstraction, as S. Thomas says, may
take place under the influence of disease, as when a man is
delirious, or even by the power of devils, as when they carry off a
man. It is not, however, called rapture or ecstasy, unless wrought
VOL. II. M
178 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII.
by Divine power, which withdraws the mind from the senses, and
lifts it up to the contemplation of things supernatural.
To the third heaven. What is this heaven? i. S. Basil (Horn. i.
in Jfexem.) infers from this that there is not merely one heaven, as
Chrysostom thought, nor two, as Theophylact held, but at least
three. Some add that there are three only, and that the third is
the highest. But all the astronomers of olden times will dispute
this, for they reckoned eight at least, as will moderns, who count
at least eleven.
2. S. Thomas says (ii. ii. qu. 175, art. 3, ad. 4): "By the third
heaven may be understood any supernatural vision, and in three ways
it may be called the third heaven. First, with relation to man s
cognitive powers. Then the first heaven will be any supernatural,
corporal vision, seen by the bodily eye, such as that of the handwriting
on the wall, described in Daniel v. The second heaven will be any
vision presented to the imagination, such as that of Isaiah, and of
S. John in the Apocalypse. The third heaven will be any intellectual
vision, such as is explained by S. Augustine (super Gen. ad Lift. 12).
" Secondly, the distinction may be made according to the different
orders of the objects of consciousness. Then the first heaven will be
the knowledge of celestial bodies ; the second, the knowledge of celestial
spirits ; the third, the knowledge of God Himself.
" Thirdly, the three heavens may be the different steps of the knowledge
by which God is seen. The first will then belong to the angels of the
lowest hierarchy ; the second to the angels of the middle hierarchy ; the
third to the angels of the highest." According to this test, S. Paul
would have been caught up to the third and highest hierarchy of
angels, and standing there with the seraphim, have seen most clearly
the essence of God, and from thence have been enkindled with that
burning fire of charity with which he afterwards set on fire the whole
world.
But I should say that the third heaven is the highest, or the
empyrean, where the Blessed dwell. Hence, in ver. 4, it is called
Paradise. It is called the third by a Hebraism. The number
three denotes completion, being the first number to which the word
THE THIRD HEAVEN 179
all may be applied. We do not speak of " all two," but we may
and do say "all three." Hence the poet says : "Oh, thrice and four
times blessed they," &c., i.e., completely blessed. Again (in Amos
i. 3) we read, " for three transgressions of Damascus, " meaning, for
all. In ver. 8 of this chapter again, we have, "I besought the Lord
thrice," or, very often, till I could ask no more, until the answer
came : " My grace is sufficient for thee."
3. It is simplest of all to say with S. Thomas, in the passage
above quoted, that " the first heaven is the sidereal, the second the
crystalline, the third the empyrean ; " or, rather, that " the first is the
aerial, the second the sidereal, the third the empyrean," as Theophy-
lact gives them. With him agree Julian Pomerius, and Damascene
(de Fide, lib. ii. c. 6), and many others. " The air " in Scripture is
commonly called " the heaven ; " hence we get " the birds of heaven."
The air, therefore, is the first heaven, and is called the aerial one.
All the heavenly orbs are the second heaven, or the etherial, and
the third is the empyrean. Hence Cajetan is wrong in rejecting
the empyrean, in which the Blessed dwell, and supposing that the
third is the crystalline. In this latter are the waters which, in
Gen. i. and elsewhere, are said to be above the firmament.
Mystically, S. Bernard says that the three heavens are the Three
Persons of the Holy Trinity, and also the three virtues and gifts
by which we ascend to them and to the highest pinnacle of
grace and glory, viz., humility, charity, and perfect union. He says
(Tract, de Grad. Humil.) : " Those whom, by His word and example,
the Son has first taught humility, on whom the Holy Spirit has then
poured the gift of charity, these the Father at length receives in glory.
The Son makes them disciples, the Paraclete comforts them as friends,
the Father exalts them as sons. Firstly, He instructs them as a
Master; secondly, He comforts them as a Friend or a Brother ;
thirdly, He embraces them as sons. From the first union of the
Word and reason is born humility ; from the second union of the
Spirit of God with the will of man comes charity ; then at last the
Father unites to Himself His glorious bride. And thus reason is not
suffered to think of itself or of the will of its neighbour, but the beatified
180 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII.
soul delights to say this alone : The King hath brought me into His
chamber: These steps were not surpassed by S. Paul, who declares
that he was caught up to the third heaven"
A second question arises : Was Paul truly and really caught up
into the empyrean, so as to be in it as in a place, or was he there
only by way of imagination or of understanding, so that he seemed
to himself in his imagination to be in heaven, and saw what was
being done there, while his body and soul remained on earth?
Some think with probability that he was not caught up actually and
truly, but only imaginarily, because he includes this rapture in vers.
i and 7, under the head of visions and revelations of the Lord.
God can bring it to pass that I in Belgium can see what is going on
in India, and even what is passing in heaven. This may be brought
about either through the imagination or the understanding, or even
by the eyes of the body ; for God can so raise these above them
selves, so co-operate with them above nature, so strengthen and
extend the visual powers as to make them reach even to heaven.
If that power may be increased beyond what is natural by spectacles
or medicaments, why may not God extend this power yet further
and further? Thus it happened to S. Anselm, that he was able to
see through a wall what was going on on the other side, by God
imprinting the proper images on his retina. So Bede says that
S. Diethelmus and others saw in imagination the pains of purgatory.
Why, then, should not Paul have seen in the Same way the empyrean,
and what was passing in it ?
Others, with perhaps greater probability on their side, think that
he was actually and truly caught up into the empyrean. They give
as their reasons : (i.) That the Greek verb used is not the technical
term for casting into an ecstasy, but a word which denotes an actual
rapture (^777). (2.) That Paul is doubtful whether his soul was
caught up with his body or without his body ; therefore he pre
supposes that his soul was truly and really caught up ; for in a
vision that is merely imaginary there is no doubt that the soul alone
and not the body is caught up by the imagination. (3.) That there
he actually heard mysterious words, so that, as the destined teacher
S. PAUL IN PARADISE l8l
of the world, he seemed to go forth from heaven, and to com
municate to men what he had there seen and heard as God
willed him, and so brought to men as from heaven heavenly
wisdom. Cf. ver. 4, note.
Now if the soul was really caught up, and yet remained united
to the body (as I said in the opening note on this verse), then the
body of Paul seems to have been caught up into paradise; and
indeed this is as easy with God as taking up the soul only. This
would be fitting to S. Paul s office, who was to be the teacher and
Apostle, not, like Moses, of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles,
and so should wholly come forth, like another Moses, from inter
course with God in heaven.
Ver. 3. Whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell. S.
Athanasius (Serm. 4 contra Arian.) thinks that Paul knew the mode
in which he was caught up, yet says : " I do not know," or, " I cannot
tell ; " because he could not reveal it to others, in the same way that
Christ, in S. Mark xiii. 32, says that He did not know the day of
judgment. For though in himself he knew, yet as far as others
were concerned he did not know, for he could not explain it. But
others do better in understanding him simply to mean: "I do not
know," and his simple recital of the event seems to require this.
Ver. 4. Into paradise. Ambrose, CEcumenius, Haymo, Anselm,
and Theophylact think that Paul was twice caught up : (i.) into the
third heaven, and (2.) then higher still into paradise. If so, the
third heaven would be the heaven of sun, moon, and stars ; but what
would Paul have done there? Hence others hold that the events
are one and the same, and that the third heaven and paradise are
identical.
It may be asked : Why, after saying that he was caught up into
the third heaven, does Paul say that he was caught up into paradise,
as though it were a place higher still ? I reply that of the vast em
pyrean paradise is one particular part where the Blessed are, and
a more glorious part than the rest. S. Paul would imply that not
only did he see deepest mysteries by his understanding, but also in
his will drank in ineffable happiness. He signifies this by the term
1 82 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII.
paradise, which, both in Greek and Latin, denotes a place of
happiness.
Paradise is not a Greek word meaning, as Suidas thinks, a well-
watered garden, nor yet a herb-garden, as others suppose, but, as
Pollux says, it is a Persian word, or rather Hebrew, denoting a garden
planted with pleasant trees and fruits. Cf. Eccles. ii. 5 ; Neh. ii. 8 ;
Cant. iv. ii. It is derived from two Hebrew words, denoting to
bring forth myrtles. Then, because myrtle is of a pleasant smell,
and does best in gardens, the name has been transferred to plea
sure-gardens, plantations, and glades, and then again to any pleasant
place. Here the third heaven is called paradise.
Did Paul see there the Divine Essence? S. Augustine (Ep. 112,
c. 13), Clement (Stromata, c. 5), Anselm, and S. Thomas (ii. ii.
qu. 175, art. 5) say that he did, and their opinion is probable; for
he was for this purpose caught up into paradise, or the place where
the Blessed see God. Again, he heard secret things of which it
is not lawful for man to speak : but men may speak of everything
except the Divine Essence.
It may be objected that in that case he ought to have said that he
saw things, not heard words. I reply that, by a common Hebraism,
" to hear words " means " to see things " (Theodoret) ; as, e.g., with
the prophets vision and hearing are the same, so is it in the minds
of the Blessed.
But the contrary seems more probable, (i.) For even with a
separated soul, to hear does not mean to behold a thing clearly, but
to take in the words of God, or of an angel, or of man ; otherwise
he would have said without ambiguity, I saw ineffable things, even
God Himself. (2.) S. Paul says, in i Tim. vi. 16, speaking of God,
"Whom no man hath seen." (3.) If he saw God he must have
seen also his own state, whether he was in the body or not. But he
says that he did not. (4.) But he gives a scanty account of his
visions here, and says that, cut of humility, he passes over greater
things. Cf. Gregory (Morals, lib. xviii. c. 5), Jerome, Cyril, Chry-
sostom, and the Fathers and Schoolmen in general, and also Lud.
Molina (pt. i. qu. xii. art. n, disp. 2). (5.) Scripture says more
THE VISION OF GOD 183
plainly of Moses that he saw the Essence of God, and yet I have
shown clearly enough, in the notes to Exod. xxxiii., that Moses did
not seek to see the Essence of God, and would not have obtained
such a request if he had made it. In Exod. xxxiii. 20 the Lord dis
tinctly replies to him in the negative : " Thou canst not see My face,
for no man shall see Me and live." It was only conceded to him
that he should see the back parts of God, that is, the back of the
body assumed by the Angel who represented God. Moses, how
ever, sought that God, or the angel, who behind a cloud stood in the
place of God, and spoke with him from the cloud, should unfold
Himself, that he might see Him clearly and converse with Him face
to face. The angel answered him that the eyes of man cannot see
His face, but only His back ; because the face assumed by the
angel was so shining and so gloriously bright and majestic that it
shone to a certain extent with the glory of God. It surpassed,
therefore, the splendour of the sun, which man cannot look on
directly with unveiled eyes, nay, rather man is blinded by the
splendour. If follows from this that much less could this far more
splendid face of the angel be seen by Moses ; nay, he would have
been blinded by it. But in the back of the body that the angel had
assumed the light was so toned down that Moses could look upon
it Moses looking upon this was so covered as it were with light
that his face shone, and seemed to emit two horns of rays of light.
This vision of Moses was a bodily vision, for with the eyes of his
body he saw the back of the angel s body. He was, therefore, far from
seeing the Divine Essence ; and if he did not see it, much less did
S. Paul, who speaks more obscurely and more humbly of his vision.
And heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man
to utter. What were these mysteries that Paul heard or saw in
paradise ? They are related indeed in the book which is styled " the
Apocalypse of S. Paul," but this book is not genuine, and is full
of mythical stories, and is scouted by S. Augustine (Tract. 98 in
Johan.}, Bede, Theophylact. Epiphanius attributes it to the sect of
Cainites. I should reply that no certain answer can be given where
Paul kept silence. Still it is natural to suppose that Paul saw and
1 84 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII.
heard wonderful things of the nature, gifts, grace, glory, and orders
of the angels, as S. Gregory says (in Ezech., Horn. 4). Hence S.
Dionysius, in his " Celestial Hierarchy," so describes the orders of
the angels from what he heard from S. Paul, that you might think he
saw them with his eyes. Again, he may have heard wondrous things
about some Divine attributes not known to us here ; he may have
seen too the glory of Christ, for he was taught the Gospel by Christ
(Gal. i. 12). He was caught up that he might receive authority, and
not be inferior to the other Apostles, who had seen Christ in the flesh
and been taught thoroughly by Him (Chrysostom). Theodoret adds
that he saw the beauty of paradise, the choirs and joys of the Saints,
and heard the tuneful harmony of the heavenly hymns. This caused
his exclamation of admiration : " Eye hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither have entered into heart of man the things which God hath
prepared for them that love Him."
Secondly, it is better to suppose that he heard the mysteries of
the reason, mode, and order of the Divine reprobation and pre
destination, and the call of men, especially of the heathen pro
vinces to be converted by himself. Of this mystery Paul frequently
expresses his admiration, as in Rom. xi. 33, and it had special refer
ence to his mission (Baronius).
Thirdly, he may have heard mysteries concerning the Gospel
of our redemption by Christ; for he says (Gal. i. 12) that he had
received this Gospel by revelation, viz., when he was caught up.
Lastly, he heard, as it might seem, mysteries of the government
and progress of the Church in his time and afterwards. This,
too, would affect his office, as he had already been singled out
as the Church s teacher and guide. He calls them " unspeakable
words," both because he was forbidden to utter them, and also
because we are unable either to speak of them or to understand
them.
Ver. 4. Of such an one will 1 glory ; yet of myself I will not
glory. He speaks of himself when caught up and in his ordinary
state as two different persons, so as not to be thought vain-glorious
(CEcumenius).
SELF-PRAISE 185
But in mine infirmities. My calamities, my sufferings. By a
common Hebrew metonymy - infirmity" is here put for "grief."
They are related as cause and effect or effect and cause. Cf.
ver. 9; Micah iv. 10. In Isa. liii. 3, we read of Christ that He
should be "a Man of sorrows and acquainted with infirmity"
(Vulg.). Cf. also Ps. xvi. 4 (Vulg.).
Ver. 6. But now I forbear lest any man should think of me
above that which he seeth me to be. Lest he should think me an
angel or some god, as the Lycaonians did (Acts xiv. 10). He
could have related more wonderful things about himself, but
modesty and humility cause him to conceal them. "All the
Saints," says Anselm, " not only do not seek at all for glory above
their measure, but they even shrink from that which they have
merited." S. Bernard says beautifully (Ep. 18 ad Pet.}: " We
praise others hypocritically, and delight in vanity ourselves ; and thus
they who are praised are vain, and those who praise are false.
Some flatter and are crafty ; others praise as they think and are
false ; others glory in the words of both and are vain. He alone
is wise who says with the Apostle, I forbear, lest any man should
think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth
of me?"
Ver. 7. And lest I should be exalted above measure. From
this it appears that Paul, as the heavenly teacher of the world, had
many great revelations, and was accustomed to them, and, as it
were, at home among them. Some of these are narrated by S.
Luke. Cf. Acts ix. 3; xviii. 9; xxii. 17; xxvii. 23. S. Augustine
(Enarr. in Ps. Ixxviii. 68, Vulg.), on the words, " Benjamin in the
excess of his mind," understands S. Paul to be referred to as being
of the tribe of Benjamin.
There was given me a thorn in the flesh. Not by the devil, but
by God. Not that God is the author of temptation, but He
allowed the devil, who was ready beforehand, to tempt Paul, and
that only in appearance, and in the matter of lust to humble
him. Cf. Augustine (de Nat. et Graf. c. 27). " This monitor," says
Jerome (P.p. 25 ad Faulam, on the death of Blesilla), * was given
1 86 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII.
to Paul to repress pride, just as in the car of the victor, as he
enjoys his triumph, there stands a monitor whispering to him,
Recollect that you are a man. 1 So, too, at the installation of a
Pontiff, tow is lighted and extinguished, while the words are sung :
" Holy Father, thus passes the glory of the world." Hence the
best preservative against the temptations of the flesh is humility.
If you are rooted and grounded so deeply in that as God exalts
you by His gifts and graces, there will be no need for Him to
apply this thorn to keep you humble. Cf. Rom. i. 24, note.
What was this thorn, and how did it buffet S. Paul? How was
it a messenger of Satan? Augustine (de Nat et Graf. c. 16) replies
that he does not know what it was. But two things are certain :
(i.) that he was vexed by Satan, and (2.) that this vexation was like
a thorn fixed in his flesh, and continually paining him.
But it is not certain what its particular nature was. Anselm,
Bede, Sedulius, and Jerome (in Gal. iv. 13) think it was bodily
illness, as constant headache (S. Jerome), or colic (S. Thomas), or
costiveness, or gout (Nicetas, commenting on Orat. 30 of S. Gregory
Nazianzen), or some internal disorder. S. Basil (in Reg. cap. ult.)
and S. Augustine (in Ps. cxxxi.) think that this goad was some disease
sent upon Paul, just as on Job, by the devil. The Apostle, however,
nowhere else complains of any diseases. Moreover, they would have
been a great hindrance to him in the preaching of the Gospel.
Secondly, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Theodoret, CEcumenius,
Ambrose, Erasmus think that this thorn refers to the persecutions
Paul endured from his adversaries, and of which he speaks in ver. 10.
But these were external goads, not thorns in the flesh, and of these
he is wont to boast, not complain.
Thirdly, others, with more probability, think that this thorn in the
flesh consisted in blows and beatings, often given to Paul by Satan,
as to Antony and others, so that pain remained in his body, as
a thorn, from the blows he had received. This is the literal mean
ing of the words used no doubt ; but if this be so, Paul would surely
have said more plainly: "There was given me the messenger of
Satan to buffet me." Nor would the generous mind of S. Paul
THE THORN IN THE FLESH 1 87
have complained of this : he was but raised higher by the attacks
of devils and men, and found in them matter for glorying.
Fourthly, others think, therefore, that this thorn in the flesh was
the motions of concupiscence and the temptations of lust. This con
cupiscence, like a thorn or a dart, is so deeply fixed in the flesh that
while life lasts it cannot be taken out. Hence it is called in Greek,
o-KoAoi/ , a stake, a sharpened stick, a thorn, a javelin, or sting.
It may be asked : " Why, then, does he call this thorn the
messenger of Satan, or the minister of Lucifer?" I reply that he
means by the messenger of Satan, Satan himself, as the exciting cause
of this thorn of concupiscence ; or even he calls the thorn sent by
Satan, the adversary of his chastity, by the name of Satan. This
would be a metonymy, where the cause is put for the effect, the agent
for his work. For the devil, by stirring up the humours, by kindling
the blood, by inflaming the feelings that subserve generation, by put
ting foul images before S. Paul s mind, gave life to that concupis
cence which had been as it were put to sleep, and mortified by
his numerous labours, fastings, and troubles. Thus he stirred up
S. Paul to obey the foul motions of lust.
Secondly, it is proved, from Rom. vii., that this concupiscence
was in S. Paul, for there he bewails it more than he does here.
Hence, too, as he said i (Cor. ix. 27), he was in the habit of casti
gating his body.
Thirdly, had it been anything else he would have said so clearly ;
but as it is, modesty and shame bid him conceal it, and call it meta
phorically a thorn.
Fourthly, this thorn was given him to humiliate him. But noth
ing so humiliates those who are chaste and lovers of virtue, as this
temptation of the flesh, and nothing is so great a check on them,
and makes them so work out their own salvation with fear and trem
bling. Through the frailty of their flesh they are always in fear of
lapsing in the midst of temptations so dangerous and well calcu
lated to make them yield consent. And, therefore, they rather glory
in illness, blows, persecutions, and other evils, especially if, like
S. Paul, they suffer for Christ and His faith.
1 88 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII.
Fifthly, these temptations of the flesh, properly speaking, do not
hurt the Saints, but buffet them, that is strike them with shame and
sorrow. A man, when struck by his friend, is suffused with shame
rather than overcome with pain.
Sixthly, Paul prays repeatedly and earnestly to be set free from
this thorn ; in other things he would have sought not liberation,
but fortitude and constancy. But concupiscence is overcome, not
so much by courageous endurance as by instant flight. He asks,
therefore, to be set free from it, and hears, " My grace is suffi
cient for thee." It is this grace which in this case is especially
necessary, and should be always sought for by those that are tempted,
that they may resist and overcome this civil foe lurking within and
always striving to stir up war.
Lastly, this is the opinion of S. Augustine (Enarr. 2 in Ps. lix.),
S. Jerome (ad Eustoch. de Custod. Virgin?), Salvianus (Serm. de
Circumas., wrongly attributed to Cyprian), Haymo, Theophylact,
Anselm, Bede, S. Thomas, Lyranus, and others. It seems, too, the
common belief of the faithful, who from this passage speak of the
temptation of lust as a thorn in the flesh. The voice of the people
is the voice of God.
But, what Cardinal Hugo adds, viz., that this temptation found a
place in Paul, owing to his familiar converse with a beautiful virgin,
S. Thecla, whom he had baptized, and afterwards kept with him
in his journeyings, is false, and merely conjecture. Paul took no
woman about with him, as he says in i Cor. ix. 5. And even if he
had, he would have been bound, under penalty of incurring guilt,
to send her away if he found her to be an occasion of so much
troublous temptation. Moreover, what need would there have been
for S. Paul to pray to God so instantly that this thorn might be
taken from him, when he might easily have got rid of it himself?
Add to this that this story is taken from a book entitled, "The
Journeys of Paul and Thecla," which is rejected as apocryphal by
S. Jerome, Tertullian, and Gelasius.
Erasmus and Faber object to this, firstly, that the thorn of lust
was unbecoming and unworthy of so great an Apostle, and he now
THE THORN IN THE FLESH 189
an old man. I answer that in our lapsed state it is not only not
unworthy, but is also beneficial. See S. Gregory (Moral, lib. xix.,
c. 5 and 6) and Anselm, who point out how useful it is to the
Elect to be now caught up into ecstasy, and now depressed by weak
ness, so that they may never be puffed up with pride or cast down
into despair, but may always keep the narrow way that lies midway
between the two, and which leads to heaven. Rom. vii. 23 shows
that this concupiscence existed in S. Paul, and experience tells us
that it has been, and now is, in the Saints, even when they are old
men. S. Gregory Nazianzen, for instance, often complains of the
evils of his flesh, as in Ep. 96, and in his hymn on his flesh
and the burden of his soul. Moreover, Paul was not an old man,
for he was a young man when converted perhaps twenty-five or
twenty-seven (Acts vii. 58). This Epistle was written twenty-two
years after his conversion, when he would, therefore, be about fifty
years old.
Secondly, the objection is raised that the Apostle immediately
adds : "Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities."
But we may not glory in concupiscence, and therefore he must
mean some other infirmity and thorn. To this I reply that the
Apostle is not referring in these words to the thorn in the flesh
that he had just mentioned, but also, and more properly, to all
the sufferings that he had borne for the faith, and which he had
recounted in the last chapter. In them, he says, he glories always.
He uses the word infirmity in its widest meaning, and plays on it,
as I will point out at ver. 10. Moreover, it is lawful to glory in
this temptation of the flesh, not in itself, so far as it excites to evil,
but as it is an affliction put upon us by the devil, and as in it the
strength of Christ is made perfect. In this way Julius Csesar used
to glory, and desire most powerful foes, that he might show against
them his power and warlike courage. So, too, many Saints have
prayed to God, and asked to have temptations, and have gloried in
them. Hence, S. James says (i. 2) : " My brethren, count it all joy
when ye fall into divers temptations." Cf. also S. James i. 12.
Morally, it should be observed that temptation is not to the
IQO SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII.
righteous a cause of falling, but a spur to virtue. For, as high-
spirited horses, when urged by the spur, quicken their pace, and
show their spirit more, so are Saints spurred on by temptation to
walk more diligently in virtue, lest they give way and perish.
Hence, some of the Saints of great earnestness were not saddened,
but gladdened, by temptations. In the "Lives of the Fathers"
(lib. iii. c. 8) we read of an aged man who, on seeing one of his
disciples grievously tempted to commit fornication, said to him :
" If you wish it, my son, I will pray the Lord to remove this attack
from you." The disciple replied : " / see, my father, that I am
undergoing a laborious task, yet I feel that it will bring forth in me
good fruit ; because, through this temptation I fast the more, and spend
more time in vigils and prayers. But I beseech you to pray God of
His mercy to give me strength, that I may be able to bear it, and fight
lawfully" Then the old man rejoined: " Now I perceive, my son,
that you faithfully understand that this spiritual struggle may, through
patience, help on your soul towards eternal salvation. For so said
the Apostle, / have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I
have kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness. 1 "
S. Dorotheus relates of a certain holy monk that he grieved at
being freed from temptation, and exclaimed : " Am I not then
worthy, O Lord, of suffering, and being a little afflicted for Thy
love?" Climacus (Grad. 29) relates of S. Ephrem, that seeing him
self possessed of deep peace and tranquillity, which he himself calls
impassibility, and an earthly heaven, he besought God to restore
to him his former temptations and struggles, so that he might not
lose the material for meriting and adding to his crown. Palladius
relates that Abbot Pastor, on some one saying to him, "I have
prayed to God, and He has set me free from all temptation," replied :
" Pray God to restore you your temptations, lest you become sloth
ful and careless."
Ver. 8. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice . . . and He said
unto me. Three is the number symbolic of multitude and universality.
The answer meant that though he was weak in himself, yet in God
STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS 19 1
be might be strong enough to overcome this temptation. It, hence
appears that Paul was not heard, and was not freed from his thorn.
S. Augustine gives the reason (Enarr. in Ps. cxxxi.). He says :
" As when some disagreeable medicine is brought to one that is sick,
and he asks the physician to take it away ; whereupon the physician
comforts him and urges him to have patience, because he knows
that the medicine is good for him, so does God here deal with
Paul." As a physician from vipers flesh makes a conserve against
vipers poison, so does God, out of our weakness, form a medicine
against weakness, and makes one lust of the flesh a remedy against
another, as, e.g., this thorn of the flesh was a preservative against
pride.
Ver. 9. for my strength is made perfect in weakness. This is
a general proposition, a moral axiom applying to any weakness, but
properly and primarily to that thorn of concupiscence just mentioned.
These are the words of God in answer to the prayers of S. Paul.
The greater the temptation of the flesh is, the greater is the strength
supplied by Christ. This explains the paradox that follows : " When
I am weak then am I strong."
The strength is both Paul s and God s Paul s as the receiver,
God s as the Giver. Therefore, the Divine power is best manifested
in weakness when, (i.) in those that are weak it works fortitude,
patience, and other superhuman works. (2.) When he by whom
anything is done, conscious of his own weakness, claims nothing
for himself, but gives all the praise to God. Observe here the
difference between the power of God and the power of the world.
One is seen in force and violence, the other in endurance. (3.) In
firmity is the object of patience, fortitude, and temperance, in the
same way that those who are infirm are more sober when they
are ill. (4.) Infirm people keep the most careful watch over them
selves, and prudently refuse whatever is noxious, and so become more
self-controlled by habit (S. Thomas). Certainly, virtue feeds on
opposition, and, therefore, by temptation, chastity becomes constant,
and every virtue more robust, as we see in the lives of Joseph,
Susannah, Paul, and others. (5.) S. Augustine says mystically (de
IQ2 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII.
Gratia Christ, c. 12), as does Anselm : "Fortitude is a true know
ledge and humble confession of our infirmity." And S. Jerome
says, writing to Ctesiphon : " The one perfection to be found in this
life is to recognise our imperfection." By this you learn not to
trust to your own strength, but to cast yourself wholly with perfect
confidence on the power of God, who strengthens the humble and
those that hope in Him, and makes them as it were almighty, as S.
Bernard says (Serm. 85 in Cantic.}, able to pass unscathed through
all temptations, labours, and dangers.
S. Augustine gives us an instance of this in his own life (cf. lib.
viii. c. n). He says: " When habit that seemed to me irresistible
said to me, Can you live withotit them ? " (the concubines that he
had been accustomed to have), " there appeared to me in the direction
to which I had turned my face, while shrinking from setting out that
way, the pure dignity of continence, with dignified mien, inviting me to
come without hesitation, holding out, to welcome and embrace me, holy
hands filled with hosts of good examples. There were multitudes of
boys and girls, and many a youth ; all ages were there, sober widows
and aged virgins. She smiled encouragingly upon me, as much as to
say, Can you not do what these men and women have done ? They
did it not in their own strength, but in the Lord their God. He
gave me to them. Why do you stand in yourself and fall 1 Cast
yourself upon Him ; fear not. He will not withdraw and cause you to
fall. Boldly trust yourself to Him : He will receive you and will
heal you."
Lastly, virtue is made perfect in weakness, because, as S. Bernard
(Ep. 254) says, in a robust and vigorous body the mind lies effemi
nate and lukewarm, and again in a weak and sickly body the spirit
grows stronger and more vigilant. As one to whom nature has
denied strength excels in intellect, so where God withholds health
He gives robustness and vigour of mind, so that the mind afflicted
with a feeble body sighs after its resurrection and after heaven;
spurns whatever is transient, troubled, and exposed to decay; lives
for the future life, not the present ; thinks with Plato that this life is
death s mediator ; in short, gives itself wholly to God and heavenly
THE DISCIPLINE OF SUFFERING 193
things. " The mind that is allied to disease is close to God," says
Nazianzen. Listen to what a famous old man said to one of his
disciples who enjoyed bad health ( Vita Patrum, lib. iii. n. 157) : " Be
not sad, my son, at your sickness and bodily ills. It is the highest
duty of religion to give God thanks in weakness, ff you are iron you
lose your rust by fire ; if you are gold you are tried by the fire and
proceed from great to greater. Be not distressed, then, my brother.
If God wishes you to be tormented in the body, who are you that you
should be angry with Him ? Bear up, then, and ask Him to give
you what He sees Jit."
S. Theophanes, Abbot of Sigrianum, a man who never had good
health, A.D. 816, gave the following answer to the iconoclastic
emperor, Leo the Armenian, who threatened him with dreadful
tortures if he did not condemn the worship of images : " If you
hope to terrify me with your threatenings, a man already worn out
with disease and old age, as teachers threaten with a beating boys of
no generous spirit, then let the pyre be kindled, let the instruments of
torture be got ready, together with every engine of malicious cruelty,
that you may know most clearly that the strength of Christ is made
perfect in my weaknesses. I, who cannot walk on the ground, shall
find my weakness changed into strength, and will leap upon the fire."
And he was as good as his word ; for after many temptations he was
shut up in prison, and all access to him was forbidden; and so,
being gradually weakened by hunger, filth, and disease, he offered up
his soul in two years time to God, as a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and
after his death became illustrious for his miracles. The Church
commemorates him on March i2th. Cf. Baronius {Annals, A.D. 816).
Cf. also S. Thomas and S. Chrysostom (Horn. 26), on the benefit of
infirmities and tribulations.
Lastly, S. Bernard (Tract, de Grad. Humil.} says : " Virtue is made
perfect in weakness? What virtue 1 Let the Apostle tell us : Gladly
will I glory in my infirmities, that the virtue of Christ may rest upon
me} But perhaps you do not yet understand what special virtue he
meant, since Christ had all virtues. But though all were found in
Him, yet one in particular shone above all, viz., humility. This He
VOL. II. N
194 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII.
commended to us in the words, Learn of Me, for T am meek and
lowly of heart: Gladly, then, O Lord Jesu, will I glory if I can in
my infirmity, in my bodily illness, that Thy virtue, humility, may be
made perfect in me ; for when my virtue fails, Thy grace avails:
Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the
power of Christ may rest upon me. Humility makes him glory not
in his strength but in his infirmity; and so he calls upon Christ
to give him strength, and tacitly says that he throws himself upon
Him. Hence, by infirmity he means every kind of suffering, tribu
lation, temptation, humiliation, as is explained in the next verse.
Infirmity, then, is a generic term, including anything that causes pain
to mind or body. Hence (i.) it may embrace sicknesses, which,
S. Basil says, formed Paul s thorn in the flesh ; (2.) labours, such
as are described in the preceding chapter; (3.) temptations of the
flesh (ver. 7), or any other temptations; (4.) watchings, fastings,
and other acts of mortification of the body, by which the body is
weakened and made subject to the spirit; (5.) insults, persecutions,
dangers, blows, and all afflictions borne for the sake of the faith of
the Gospel.
Let them that are infirm console themselves amidst their infirmi
ties by the thought that the power of Christ tabernacles in them as
in its proper home. The power of God shows itself most where
there is most need for it, and gives the greatest help when necessity
is greatest. "To Thee," says the prophet, "the poor is left : Thou
wilt be a helper of the fatherless." For although naturally "bodily
weakness involves also mental," as S. Jerome says (Pref. lib. ii.
Comment, in Amos}, and " the body which is corrupted weighs down
the soul" (Wisd. ix. 15), yet supernaturally it is otherwise; for the
soul that is strengthened with grace strengthens also the body. S.
Francis, for instance, increased in mental vigour as his body grew
more feeble, so much so that in giving thanks to God he prayed
that his sicknesses might be increased a hundredfold. To fulfil
Thy will, O Lord," he said, " is my exceeding comfort." See his
Life by S. Bonaventura.
S. Bernard (Serm. 34 in Cantic.) says: " ffe does not say that he
THE DISCIPLINE OF SUFFERING 195
bears his infirmities patiently, but that he glories in them, and glories
in them most gladly, proving that it was good for him to be humbled ;
for God loveth a cheerful giver. Humility alone which is joyous and
unconstrained merits the grace which it receives." Again, in Sermon 25,
he says : " We should wish for infirmity, which is supplemented by the
power of Christ. Would that / might be not only weak, but destitute,
and wholly wanting in anything of my own, that I might be strengthened
by the might of the Lord of might ; for strength is made perfect in
weakness. And since this is the case, the bride beautifully turns it to
her glory that she is held tip to scorn by her rivals, and she glories, not
only that she is comely but also that she is black. She thinks nothing
more glorious than to bear the reproach of Christ. The ignominy of
the Cross is pleasing to him who is not unflleasing to the Crucified"
Ver. 10. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities. Not because
they are desirable in themselves, but in so far as through them the
power of Christ is perfected. He then goes on, as I said before, to
mention what is included under the generic term infirmity.
For when I am weak then am I strong. When I am afflicted then
do I gain strength by the power of God s grace, long-suffering, forti
tude, humility, and hope, which virtues are then implanted by God
(Chrysostom). QEcumenius thinks, however, that he means that he
then becomes strong to work miracles, S. Basil too (in Ps. xxxiii.)
says, that "great bodily power is an impediment to the salvation of
the soul." S, Bernard says beautifully and truly (Serm. 29 in Cantic.} :
" Do you see that the weakness of the flesh adds strength to the spirit ?
so, on the other hand, be assured that the strength of the flesh works
spiritual weakness. What wonder is it if you become stronger when
the enemy is weakened ? unless perchance you are insane enough to
suppose that the flesh, which is always lusting against the spirit, is your
friend. . . . The saint who prudently keeps his eye fixed on his salva
tion prays to be shot at and attacked. Pierce my heart with Thy fear.
That fear is the best of arrows, for it pierces and slays the lusts of the
flesh, that the spirit may be saved. But does not he that castigates his
body and brings it into subjection seem to you to himself help the hand
of him that fights against him ?
196 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII.
Ver. ii. / am become a fool in glorying. I seem to have done
foolishly in praising myself, but you, who had of me a lower opinion
than you ought, and who gave more credence to the false apostles
than to me, have compelled me to recover my influence over you by
thus praising myself.
Though I be nothing. That I am an Apostle is not my doing, it
is of the grace of Christ (Anselm). Cf. xi. 5, note.
Ver. 12. Truly the signs of an apostle. The genuine tokens of
an Apostle were : (i.) patience under contempt, poverty, persecutions,
dangers (Anselm). (2.) Miracles. He calls these signs of the true
faith, of heavenly doctrine, or signs given by God working super-
naturally and ail-powerfully, and consequently bearing witness to
the truth of Paul s doctrine and to his Divine mission. He calls
them also wonders, from the effect they were calculated to produce
on the mind, and also mighty deeds or works of God s omnipotence,
of which he was the instrument.
It was incumbent on the Apostles, as the bearers of a new
Gospel to the world, to prove their doctrine and apostleship by
miracles, otherwise they would have exacted a credulous assent,
and could not have been distinguished from impostors, like the false
apostles. This should be observed by Protestants and their new
apostles, Calvin and Luther, who are bringing in a reformed
doctrine : this, being new, demands to be supported by miracles.
Since they do not produce these credentials unless they think it
to be a miracle that when they promise to raise a dead man they
put to death a living one (but from such miracles and such apostles,
good Lord, deliver us) they practically confess that they are no
apostles, but impostors.
Ver. 13. For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches !
I.e., other churches founded by me and other Apostles. I was no
burden to you, but worked day and night to support myself. Then
he ironically adds : " Forgive me this wrong." For this notable and
generous act of beneficence, the Apostle should have been more
highly esteemed and loved, not reckoned as one that had inflicted
an injury.
s. PAUL S GUILE 197
Ver. 14. Behold the third time. The first visit was when he
converted them ; the second time he was ready to start, but post
poned his visit for good reasons ; the third occasion was at the time
of his writing, and took place actually afterwards (S. Thomas and
Lyranus).
For the children ought not to lay up for the parents. A euphemism.
Earthly parents lay up treasure for their children ; spiritual fathers, on
the other hand, should be supported by their children, i.e., by the
catechumens and the faithful. I am to you, says S. Paul, such a
spiritual father, that I wish to be also an earthly one, and expend
upon you myself and all that I have. He thus gently chides them,
that they may see how great an Apostle he is, how high-minded, of
how great charity, and be confounded for not returning his love, and
for preferring the false apostles, who thought only of themselves and
their own gain.
Ver. 15. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. I will
spend all my goods, and then gladly give for you my blood, my
spirit, my life (Anselm).
Ver. 1 6. Being crafty , I caught you with guile. S. Thomas (ii.
ii. qu. 55, art. 4, ad. i) thinks that craftiness and guile are here
used in a good sense, as much as to say, with cunning, skill, and
prudent caution did I convert you from heathenism to Christianity.
But I should say that these are words used by his detractors, and
appropriated by S. Paul. They carp at me, saying that Paul does
not directly ask for anything for his support, but he catches you with
guile, by sending Titus and others to drain your purses (Chrysostom).
S. Paul then goes on to answer this charge.
Ver. 17. Did I make a gain of you ? Did I defraud you, and
extort your money from you ? Or, with Vatablus, Did I fleece you ?
Or, with Ambrose, Was I covetous towards you?
Ver. 19. Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you ? For
again the Latin version has "of old time." There are some among you
who have for a long time thought that I have said so much as I have
said as an excuse for my avarice and double-dealing, or that I craftily
excuse myself and refuse your gifts, to induce you to give more.
198 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII.
We speak before God in Christ. We speak sincerely, truly, and
without any reservation, as it is right for one to speak who professes
to be in Christ, i.e., to be His disciple and member. Or "in Christ "
may mean, with Christian sincerity, Christ being put for His attri
butes, the concrete for the abstract. Or, again, the sentence may
mean : Before God we sincerely speak the truth, and I call Christ as
my witness to my truth. As we say when taking an oath, " By God,"
or, " By Christ," so do the Hebrews say, " In God," or, " In Christ."
So Vatablus takes it. Cf. also Rom. ix. i. Anselm, however, under
stands " We speak in Christ " to mean, " According to Christ and
His doctrine," which bids us speak with sincerity and truth. Or,
" in Christ " may mean " by Christ, who speaks in me and through
me ; " but the first meaning is the simplest and best.
Ver. 20. I fear . . . lest there be -wraths. Qvpk is with the Greeks
that part of the mind which is called the irascible faculty, placed
by Plato in the heart, and opposed to reason, which has for its seat
the brain. Thence the word is applied to angry quarrellings, auda
cious arrogance, irascible conduct, when a man will not give up
his opinion, but clings to it obstinately, and hotly opposes others, to
show his spirit. Such actions spring from the irascible faculty when
it is unchecked.
Whisperings. Secret and hidden attacks made by the malevolent
on those they wish to bring into odium, or when they wish to sever
friendships. Such a "whisperer" was Antipater, the son of Herod,
who, that he might succeed his father, tried to make his elder
brothers suspected by their father, that he might put them to death ;
but a just Nemesis overtook him, for he was himself put to death
by Herod, as Josephus relates at length.
Swellings. Pride and arrogance, which, as it were, puff up those
they take possession of.
Ver. 21. Lest my God will humble me among you. Lest He
sadden me, and cause me to sorrowfully punish many of you, viz.,
those who persist in their sins. The Apostle s words point to the
public penance inflicted on those who were strictly called penitents.
Cf. Augustine (p. ad Salvinam, 108).
WARNING TO EVIL-DOERS 199
Just as the Apostle and every preacher rejoice chiefly in the
progress of their disciples, and to be able to say, "Ye are my joy
and crown," so do they mourn most to see them fall away into sin,
and make no return for all their exhortations and labour. Again,
such an one is forced to punish against his will and with grief.
The words of Nero at the beginning of his rule are well known :
when obliged to sign a sentence of capital punishment against some
criminals, he exclaimed : " Would that I knew not letters."
And have not repented of the undeanness. Of their effeminacy
and other lusts, which make them sin against nature, and subject
her to violence. The Apostle draws a distinction between unclean-
ness and fornication.
Lasciviousness. Wanton delight in lustful kissing and touch.
CHAPTER XIII
r He threateneth severity, and the poiver of his apostleship against obstinate
sinners. 5 And advising them to a trial of their faith, 7 and to a reforma
tion of their sins before his coming, II he concludeth his epistle with a general
exhortation and a prayer.
"PHIS is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three
witnesses shall every word be established.
2 I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time ; and
being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other,
that, if I come again, I will not spare :
3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not
weak, but is mighty in you.
4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power
of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of
God toward you.
5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith ; prove your own selves. Know
ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.
7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil ; not that we should appear approved,
but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong : and this also we
wish, even your perfection.
10 Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use
sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification,
and not to destruction.
11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind,
live in peace ; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
12 Greet one another with an holy kiss.
13 All the saints salute you.
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the com
munion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. There were some at Corinth who had abandoned themselves to impurity,
others who were proud and contentious (xi. 20, 21), others given to
other sins, and disposed to regard S. Paul s admonitions cheaply.
He threatens such in this chapter, that he may provoke them to
repentance.
200
THE LAW OF EVIDENCE 2OI
ii. He bids them (ver. 3) keep in mind and reverence the effectual grace
given him by Christ, and the wonderful works it had enabled him
to perform,
iii. He beseeches them (ver. 7) to do no evil, lest he be forced to use
against them his power to punish,
iv. He exhorts them (ver. n) to perfection, to love one another, to live
at peace, to greet one another, and sends them his own salutation.
Ver. i. This is the third time I am coming to you. Or the third
that I have purposed to come; and when I come it will be to
punish those who are convicted, on the testimony of two or three
witnesses, of having sinned, and of not having done penance.
In the mouth of two or three witnesses. Every accusation, every
cause shall be settled on the deposition of two or three witnesses,
so that the guilt that I shall punish may be sufficiently established.
Others explain this to mean that the two or three witnesses are his
three visits to Corinth, and they point to the reference to his three
visits which immediately precedes this clause. I am one, he would
then say; but coming to you a third time (xii. 14, note), I shall have
the authority of two or three witnesses (Maldonatus, JVotce, MSS.}.
But this interpretation is too jejune. The lofty mind of the Apostle
has in view something wider and higher than this ; moreover, it
seems foreign to his drift. He is quoting Deut. xix. 15, the plain
meaning of which, as applied here, is that when he comes to judge,
each accused person shall be condemned or acquitted on the evi
dence of two or three witnesses.
Although this law, in so far as it is part of the judicial law of the
Old Testament, has been abrogated by Christ, yet in so far as it is
part of the law of nature, it is still in force, and has been admitted
by both Civil and Canon Law; for common-sense has taught all
nations that it is only fair and fitting that no one should be con
demned but on the testimony of two or three witnesses at least.
One witness may easily be suborned or be deceived, but not so well
two. S. Paul then accepts and follows this law in its literal mean
ing, as does Christ in S. Matt, xviii. 16.
Ver. 2. I told you before, and foretell you, as if 1 were present, . . .
and being absent. As I declared when I was present with you, so
202 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIII.
do I still say when absent. The Greek copies add after present,
the second time, but the meaning is unaltered. His writing from a
distance is, as it were, a second personal address.
Ver. 3. Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me. Do you
mean to disregard my injunctions, in order to see whether I dare
and have power to punish the disobedient by the power given me
by Christ? So may a teacher say to his rebellious pupil, " Do you
wish to feel the weight of my arm, and to try the birch?"
Which to you-ward is not weak. Christ has already shown Him
self not weak but powerful, by powerfully working through me so
many wonderful miracles, and by so recently punishing the forni-
cator by my excommunication, and handing him over to Satan as
his tormentor. He refers principally to this power of punishing
possessed by him.
Ver. 4. For though He was crucified. Through the weakness
of His humanity, yet by the power of His Godhead He rose and
lives.
For we also are weak in Him. With Him and for Him we are
weak, we suffer, and are afflicted. According to this the for denotes
not cause but likeness, and is put for so, by a usual Hebrew usage,
which expresses similitude by doubling the conjunction.
We shall live with Him by the power of God toward you. Through
Him and with Him we will show the power of Christ, i.e., the
spiritual vigour of the Gospel, and in particular the power of punish
ing the contumacious amongst you (Theophylact). Anselm and
Theodoret explain it : We with you shall rise by the power of God
to eternal bliss. But the first sense is more in harmony with the
context. This is supported by the phrase toward you (not merely
in you\ as well as by the fact that he is concerned with showing
the power of Christ lodged in himself, to punish the contumacious.
His argument is : As Christ, though weak in Himself, yet rose with
power to a life of unending bliss, so equally does He work in us
Apostles, and by us, weak though we be, and will continue to work
powerfully in producing unearthly virtue?, conversions, miracles, and
punishments.
SELF-EXAMINATION 203
Ver. 5. Examine yourselves ivhether ye be in the faith. A stern
rebuke. See, O Corinthians, that ye do not foolishly put faith in the
false apostles, and so be out of the faith. Try yourselves, and see
whether you believe or not. If you hold fast the faith, and continue
in it, you will believe, nay, you will see Christ to be powerful in you,
and also in me, by the mighty works He does through me, and thus
you will be led to acknowledge my apostleship and evangelical
truth.
Theophylact and Gagneius take it otherwise : Make trial of your
selves, and see if you are powerful through Christ indwelling within
you, so that through Him you work miracles. In the primitive
Church the faithful laity even had the power of working miracles.
These two writers, therefore, understand S. Paul here to refer to that
faith which works miracles united to the gift of prophecy and of
tongues, which faith is a sign of the indwelling of Christ in that
congregation in which it flourishes.
Others, thirdly, explain it thus : Try yourselves, and see if you
have faith which worketh by love, whether you have the love of
Christ abiding in you. But the first meaning is the true one, and
the one that suits best the context.
Observe here that this precept shows that the faithful do not
know for certain, and therefore should not, and cannot, believe that
they have faith, and consequently cannot be assured of their
righteousness.
It may be retorted that S. Paul adds : "Know ye not your own selves,
how that Jesus Christ is in you ? " I answer that he does not mean
that Christ was in their hearts, or in their faith which justified them,
or in them individually, but in them collectively as a church. The
proof of this was that they saw so many miracles, so many gifts and
graces conferred upon their church, that they had no doubt about
the presence and working of Christ among them. His conclusion
is that the Corinthians ought to hold fast to this Church and to
Christ by faith, and therefore to Paul as His vicar (Theophylact).
This appears, secondly, from the fact that the object of faith is
not " that I am just," but that " Christ Jesus is among us," i.e. t in our
204 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIII.
Church, and working powerfully in it through the Apostles; con
sequently we are the true Church of Christ, and the Apostles and
their descendants are true teachers.
It may be urged here that S. Augustine (de Trin. lib. iii. c. i) and
S. Thomas here say that we may have certain knowledge that we
possess faith. I answer : We know certainly that we believe and
cling to Christ, but whether we do this by Divine or human faith,
whether so earnestly, firmly, divinely as our righteousness and salva
tion require, we know not, but can only conjecture.
Except ye be reprobates. "A reprobate" says Anselm, " is one who
either knows not, or has deserted the upright faith and honest heart
that he received in his baptism" Theophylact hence says that
S. Paul hints that the Corinthians were corrupt in life and character.
You do not, he seems to say, recognise that Christ is in you, because
you are wicked and of evil life. Evil living is the beginning and the
cause of apostasy and heresy. It was lust and pride that caused
Luther, Calvin, Bucer, Ochino, and all the Protestant leaders,
whether priests or monks, to throw off the habit of the Catholic
faith and the Roman Church, and to throw themselves into for
bidden nuptials, apostasies, and heresies.
Secondly, it is better to take reprobates, as in ver. 7, in the
sense of despicable. From the signs of grace and of the miracles
wrought among you by Christ, you know that Christ is in you, unless
perchance you have been rejected by Christ, and deprived of the
light He gives, and so reduced to your former darkness and abject
state. Hence I said : " Examine yourselves whether ye be in the
faith ; " see if your faith is honest : if it is, you know that Christ
is in you; if you do not know, it is a sign that your faith is
useless, that you have been rejected by Christ, and are no longer
believers.
Ver. 6. But I trust that ye shall know that we are not repro
bates. Not rejected by Christ, and deprived of His grace, and
so mean and inglorious. You see indeed the opposite : you see
Christ working powerfully in me, converting the Gentiles, punishing
the rebellious, approving all that I do, co-operating with me, and
REPROBATES 2O5
giving me a successful issue in all things, so making me well known
through all Achaia, nay through all the world.
Ver. 7. Now I pray to God that ye do no evil. S. Augustine
from this lays down, in opposition to the Pelagians, that grace is
required not only to do good works, but to abstain from evil, to
resist temptations, to keep ourselves unspotted from the world and
the flesh. To overcome the more grievous temptations is impossible
for nature unassisted by the grace of God.
Not that we should appear approved. I am not labouring to have
my fame and power approved by you, and to manifest to you the
power I have to effectually punish those among you who do wrong :
for all this I care little. One thing I do care for, and that is, that
ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
Reprobates may mean, as Gagneius thinks, "esteemed wicked."
Or better still, it means regarded as rejected, as abjects deprived
of power, inglorious, without authority to punish. If they were
obedient, this authority would not be exercised, and so might, by
those so disposed, be denied. It is clear, therefore, that reprobate
is not here used as the opposite of predestinated, or of devout or
holy, but of approved and highly thought of (Theophylact and
Anselm). Cf. i Sam. xv. 9; Ps. cxviii. 22.
Ver. 8. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the
truth. Truth, not mental or verbal, but that truth of life which is
righteousness and equity. We cannot, he says, do anything against
those who live as Christians righteously, against those who do what
is good ; we cannot show against them our power to punish. But,
on behalf of truth or righteousness, we can both punish those who
violate it, and praise and reward those who follow after it.
Secondly, Theophylact explains it to mean : We cannot pass any
sentence against the truth, so as to punish a man who does not
merit punishment ; but we can, and ought to pass sentence for the
truth, and punish the guilty. This meaning follows from the first,
and is plainer and easier.
Others take the passage thus : As we cannot pass it over if you
do anything against the truth, i.e., against righteousness and your
206 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIII.
Christian calling ; so, if you act according to righteousness, we
cannot punish you, because we can do nothing against the truth.
All our power is to be jealously guarded, and used on behalf of
truth and righteousness.
Ver. 9. For we are glad when we are weak. I rejoice to be
looked upon as weak, owing to my not being called upon to display
my power to punish you, through your abounding grace and virtues,
and freedom from guilt (Theodoret, Theophylact, Anselm).
The innocent are called, and are, strong, as here, because they
have no reason to fear Apostle, or devil, or angel, or death, or hell,
or anything in the word. The Latin Version reads " because " for
when we are glad because we are weak. The meaning is the
same. S. Paul is speaking conditionally : he does not say that he
actually is weak and they strong, but that if it is so, if at any time
it so happen, then he is glad.
Ver. ii. Be perfect. The Greek word used here denotes to
mend a torn garment. S. Paul is alluding to the vices, evil habits,
and especially the lukewarmness of the Corinthians. He says in
effect : Make yourselves whole again, correct your old faults, curb
the license of your lives, re-knit your severed friendship, union, and
concord, so that you may have nothing to correct, nothing calling
for punishment at my hands. Or, again, the word used is one
bidding them agree amongst themselves and with their head, even
as members in a body agree with each other under a common head.
Cf. i Cor. xii. 16, note.
Be of good comfort. Exhort one another to better things (Latin
version). Have consolation in mutual agreement (Vatablus).
Be of one mind. Have the same convictions, the same will : be
of one mind and one soul.
Live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
God is the author and giver of peace, and is well pleased with peace :
as its guardian, He will be with you (Anselm). Ediner, in his Life
of Anselm, relates that he was wont to say that those who in this
life conform their wills to the will of others, so far as righteousness
allows, merit at God s hands to have Him conform Himself after this
THE KISS OF PEACE 207
life to their will, and live at peace with them. On the other, those
who quarrel here with the wills of others will hereafter find no one
to conform his will to theirs. It is the just rule of God s justice,
that with whatever measure we mete it shall be measured to us
again. God acts in the same way in rewarding other virtues and
punishing other sins.
Ver. 12. Greet one another with an holy kiss. What was this
kiss? Xenophon (Cyropredia, lib. i.) and Herodotus (Clio) testify
that it was a heathen custom to salute one another with a kiss at
meeting, in token of friendship. Suetonius says that Tiberius tried
in vain to put an end to the practice. The Jews had the same
custom. Cf. 2 Sam. xx. 9. Judas, too, was but conforming to
what was usual when he beirayed Christ with a kiss. It was a still
more solemn and common custom with the early Christians, both
on other occasions, and especially when they met for Holy Com
munion, to salute one another with a kiss, or other familiar salutation,
saying, "Peace be with you." This was a symbol of goodwill
towards those about to communicate, of the forgiveness of all injury,
and of pure charity. Cf. Cyril (Cat. Myst. 5). Tertullian (de Orat.}
calls this kiss " the symbol of prayer."
S. Chrysostom gives the mystical meaning to be, that through our
mouth enters the body of Christ. We, therefore, kiss it, just as the
early Christians, out of reverence for the sacred building, used to
kiss the doors of the church. He gives directions how to guard
this mouth against all that defiles, and to consecrate it to the praises
of God. In some churches, even now, it is the custom for the
canons to give this kiss before the Holy Communion. When some
men, though the sexes sat apart, secretly crept in among the women
and kissed them, the kissing the tablet of peace, as it is called, took
the place of the kiss of peace.
A holy kiss, therefore, is not one that is heathen, carnal, fraudu
lent, but one that is devout, pure, and sincere, as a Christian s should
be (Chrysostom). Cf. S. Augustine (Serm. 83 de Diversis} and
Baronius (Annals, A.D. 45). The author of the work " on Friendship,"
included among the writings of S. Augustine, gives four reasons why
208 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIII.
this holy kiss is given : (i.) as a sign of reconciliation between those
who have been enemies; (2.) in sign of peace, as in the sacrifice of
the Mass ; (3.) in sign of joy and of renewed love, as when a friend
returns after a long absence; (4.) in sign of Catholic communion,
as when a guest is welcomed with a kiss. But in all such matters
the custom of the place is to be followed, and care must be taken
that this kiss do not degenerate into a merely sensual delight.
Ver. 13. The grace of the Lord, &c. Chrysostom, Ambrose, and
Theodoret point out that this passage proves that the Holy Trinity
is consubstantial, or of the same nature, power, and operation,
especially in the work of our redemption, which is more particularly
in the Apostle s mind. Ambrose says : " In the Trinity there is a
unity of power, perfecting the whole of our salvation. For the love of
God sent His Son to save us, by whose grace we are saved ; and that
we might possess this saving grace, He makes us sharers of His Holy
Spirit."
Observe i. that by the phrase " the love of God," the name of
God is appropriated to the Father. For the Father is the fount of
Godhead, and the Origin of the other Persons of the Blessed
Trinity.
2. Love is fitly attributed to the Father, grace to the Son, and
fellowship to the Holy Spirit : for from the Father and His love our
redemption took its rise. " The Father so loved the world that He
gave His Only-Begotten Son " to die for us. By the Son came
grace, inasmuch as, when we merited nothing but evil, He redeemed
us by His death, and merited all grace for us. By the Holy Spirit
we are made partakers of grace and of the gifts of grace. Anselm
explains "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" to mean that our sins
are freely forgiven, and salvation given us ; " the love of God " to
be the love of the Father in freely giving His Son for us ; " the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit " to be the co-operation of the Holy
Spirit with the Father and the Son in the work of man s salvation.
3. Fellowship may be taken actively or passively. Passively,
it is identical with participation, and the meaning would then be :
May the Holy Spirit be given to you, that you may be partakers
GRACE, LOVE, FELLOWSHIP 2Op
of His grace and its gifts, may be changed into the Holy Spirit
not essentially but participatively (Theophylact). Actively^ the
meaning is : May the Holy Spirit, who has fellowship with the
Father and the Son in essence, in love, in power, and working, also
have fellowship with them in communicating to you His gracious
love, and the gifts attached to it. Especially may He cause you
to lay aside all divisions, and be joined together in mutual love,
inasmuch as He is the bond of union between the Father and the
Son, and therefore between all the faithful, who partake of the same
Spirit and are united in His love. S. Paul, therefore, wishes for
them the gift of fellowship, to take away all divisions.
4. Grace, love, fellowship may be either created or uncreated.
Grace and love uncreate are the loving-kindness of the Father and
the Son towards us. Thus we are said to find grace, i.e., goodwill,
favour, in the eyes of God. -E.g., in Titus ii. 1 1, we read : " The grace
of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared," viz., when out of His
love for us He condescended to assume flesh for us. Similarly, the
uncreated fellowship of the Holy Spirit is that communion or fellow
ship which He has with the Father and the Son, or that partici
pation of Godhead, and of all the Divine attributes which the Father
and the Son communicate to the Holy Spirit, and He in him to
us. Created grace is that which is infused into us to make us
pleasing to God ; created charity is that by which we love God ;
created fellowship of the Holy Spirit is the participation of His gifts
given to us.
If, then, firstly we take this verse of uncreated grace, love, and
fellowship of the Holy Ghost, the sense is this : May the grace, or
the loving-kindness of Christ, and the love that the Father has for
us, and the fellowship, or that bond of love by which the Holy
Spirit shares all the Divine attributes with the Father and the Son,
and then communicates them to us, be and remain with you, to give
you, and ever give you, fellowship in that love and all other good
gifts of God.
If, secondly, we take it of created grace, love, and fellowship of
the Holy Spirit, all of which flow from their uncreated originals, then
VOL. II. O
210 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIII.
the sense will be : May the grace which Christ gives, and the love
bestowed by the Father, and the gifts communicated by the Holy
Spirit be and remain always with you ; and especially that mutual
and brotherly love, which of all things is the brightest, the most
pleasing to God, and the most necessary to you, O Corinthians, viz.,
the fellowship of the Holy Ghost. Similarly, in Rom. v. 5 love has
both meanings.
Give us ever Thy grace, O Jesu Christ, our Redeemer ; give us
ever thy love, O Father, our Creator and Glorifier; give us ever
fellowship with Thee, O Holy Ghost, our Justifier; that in time
and eternity we may love Thee and glorify Thee, God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, One God, Divine Trinity,
Triune Eternity. What have I in heaven but Thee, and what is
there that I can desire on earth in comparison of Thee ? God is
the Strength of my heart and my Portion for ever.
THE EPISTLE TO THE
GALATIANS
THE EPISTLE TO THE
GALATIANS
CHAPTER I
6 He wondereth that they have so soon left him and the gospel, 8 and accurseth
those that preach any other gospel than he did. 1 1 He learned the gospel not
of men, but of God: 14 and shewetfi -what he was before his calling, 17 and
ivhat he did presently after it.
PAUL, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God
the Father, who raised him from the dead ;)
2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia :
3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus
Christ,
4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil
world, according to the will of God and our Father :
5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace
of Christ unto another gospel :
7 Which is not another ; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert
the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you
than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel
unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if
I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
1 1 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not
after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revela
tion of Jesus Christ.
13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews religion,
how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it :
14 And profited in the Jews religion above many my equals in mine own
nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother s womb, and
called me by his grace,
213
214 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS, c. I.
16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen ;
immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood :
17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me;
but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
1 8 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with
him fifteen days.
19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord s brother.
20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.
21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ :
23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now
preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.
24 And they glorified God in me.
CONTENTS
The Galatians were Gentiles who emigrated from Gaul into Greece, and so were
called Gallo-Greeks. Suidas thinks that these Gauls were Sennonians, who,
under the leadership of Brennus, invaded Rome, but being repulsed by
Camillus, crossed over into Greece, and were there overthrown by a storm
of rain and hail while they were attempting to plunder Delphi the few, he
says, who escaped were called Gallo-Greeks or Galatians. However, Justin
(lib. 25), S. Jerome, and others give a different account of them. The Gala
tians were bounded by Cappadocia on the east, Bithynia on the west, Pam-
phylia on the south, and the Black Sea on the north. According to Pliny
(lib. v. c. ?<//.), their chief cities were Tanium, Pessinuntis, and Ancyra. Of
their language, S. Jerome, in his commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians
(Proem, lib. 2, in fine], says : "Apart from the Greek used by the whole of
the East, their proper language is the same as that of the Treviri " that is,
German. Since, then, the Galatians derived their tongue together with their
origin from the Gauls, some think that German was the language of these
latter, and they add that the Franks proceeded from German Franconia and
thence obtained their name. Moreover, Clovis, the first Christian king of
the Prankish Gauls, is styled Sicambrian. So did S. Remigius address him
when coming to be baptized: "Meekly bow thy neck, O Sicambrian;
adore what once thou didst burn ; burn what thou once didst adore " (Greg.
Tur. de Gestis Franc, lib. 31). Now it is certain that the Sicambrians
were Germans. In short, S. Jerome, Josephus, and Isidore lay down that
the Galatians were descendants of Gomer, sprung from the Gomari or Cimbri,
who were either Germans, or else closely akin to the Germans.
These Galatians some converted Jews had induced to accept a Judaised Gospel,
by quoting the example of Peter and other Apostles, who observed the
Mosaic Law. Accordingly, S. Paul sharply rebukes them, and calls them
back, pointing out that Christians are free from the Old Law, and cannot be
subjected to it. Although, he says, the Jews might keep it for a time, so
as to give it an honourable burial, yet Gentiles and such the Galatians were
had not this reason, or any other, for embracing the law of Moses. If,
CONTENTS 215
therefore, they had embraced it, they must be supposed to have done so under
the belief inculcated by the Judaising Christians, that the law as well as the
Gospel was necessary to salvation. This error the Apostle condemns^ by his
declaration, that the profession of Judaism is the overthrowing of Christianity ;
for the Christian religion holds that Judaism has been done away, and that
there is room for no religion save that of Christ, which alone is necessary
and sufficient for salvation. This is the error that the Apostle so sharply
condemns.
The argument of this Epistle, accordingly, is the same as that of the Epistle to
the Romans, of which this may be considered an epitome, and with which it
has many ideas and expressions in common, as is pointed out by Jerome,
Anselm, Theophylact, and Chrysostom. There is, however, this difference
between the two, that in the Epistle to the Romans he opposes both Jews
and Gentiles, here Jews only ; there he rejects the works of the law as well
as the works of nature, here those of the law only, that he may establish the
faith of Christ and the works of faith. This, then, occupies the first part of
the Epistle, viz., chap. i. to v. 12 ; chap. v. 13 to the end is concerned with
moral instruction.
Ephrem Syrus, Jerome, Athanasius, Theodoret, and others think that the Epistle
was written at Rome ; but Chrysostom and Baronius reject this opinion, on
the ground that mention of his imprisonment, customary in his other letters
from Rome, is wanting in this. They think, therefore, that it was written
before the Epistle to the Romans, and at Ephesus, or some other city of
Greece. But the time and place of writing can be determined neither from
the Epistle itself nor from any external authority ; and in this respect it is
the most obscure of all S. Paul s Epistles. S. Jerome and Augustine wrote
elaborate commentaries on it, which are still extant.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
i. He chides the Galatians for suffering themselves to be seduced to
Judaism, from the Gospel preached by him, by innovators and false
teachers, against whom he pronounces an anathema.
ii. He shows (ver. 11) the certitude of his Gospel, from the fact that he
received it directly from Christ.
iii. He describes (ver. 13) how, from the Judaism which he was vigorously
defending, he was converted to Christ, and set apart for the preach
ing of the Gospel, and how he traversed Arabia, Damascus, Syria, and
Cilicia.
y en L Paul, an apostle, not of men. That is, because the other
Apostles were sent by Christ while still mortal, Paul by Christ
when wholly deified, and therefore in every way immortal So says
S. Augustine. But the simpler explanation is to take not of men
to mean, not of mere men, but of Christ, man and God.
2l6 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS, C. I.
There is a fourfold mission, says S. Jerome. Some are sent by
God alone, as Paul; some by God through man s instrumentality,
as Joshua was through Moses ; some by man alone, as those who
are promoted by their friends to be abbot, dean, or bishop ; some
by themselves, as heretics. The preposition "of" (al>) therefore,
used here, denotes the principal cause, while "by" (per) denotes the
instrumental; for the meaning is that he was not called by man,
nor by God by means of man, but immediately by God Himself.
Ver. 4. Who gave Himself- to be an expiatory victim for an
atonement, and to the death of the Cross, that He might pay the
price of our redemption.
for our sins. "Righteousness Himself" says S. Jerome, "gave
Himself, that He might destroy the unrighteousness in us ; Wisdom
gave Himself to undo our foolishness ; Holiness and Fortitude offered
Himself, that He might blot out our unclcanness and weakness."
From this present evil world. Why does he call the world evil?
The Manichasans reply : Because the world is material, it is evil
and the creation of the devil. But this is a foolish reply. The
evil world is worldly and carnal life and conversation, such as this
world lives, and such as it invites us to ; and worldly men are such
as by hook or by crook hunt after the goods of this world only-
riches, honour?, and pleasures. The figure of speech here is a
metonymy; the world is put for those who are in, or who are
coming into the world. " The whole world lieth in wickedness. Not
that the world itself is evil, but that things in the world become evil
through men. So says the Apostle himself: Redeeming the time,
because the days are evil. Sylvan glades become of evil report when
they are filled with gins ; not that the soil and the trees sin, but
because the very places gain notoriety for murder. So the world
(seculum, i.e., a period of time, in itself neither good nor evil) is called
good or evil through the actions of those who are in if" (S. Jerome
in i John v. 19).
Note that the word here rendered evil in the Greek, Trovrjpov, is
rendered by S. Jerome bad, by Augustine great, by Erasmus crafty
or miserable or full of toils, by Vatablus wearisome, especially on
THE EVIL WORLD 2 1/
account of sins committed in this present life, which affords so many
occasions of sin ; whereas the future world, to which Christ is leading
us, is free from sin and is altogether pure. Valentinus evolved from
his own consciousness his own aeons or worlds, declaring them
to be animated beings, and the parents by quadrads, ogdoads,
decads, and dodecads, of as many worlds as the son of ^Eneas had
pigs (S. Jerome).
Ver. 6. / marvel that ye are so soon removed from Christianity
to Judaism, from the liberty of the Gospel to the slavery of legal
ceremonies, from the church to the synagogue. "The allusion,"
says S. Jerome, " is to the Hebrew ??$, to roll, " and hints that, " You
Galatians are as easily moved as a globe or a wheel, since you suffer
yourselves to be so quickly transferred from the Gospel of Christ to
the law of Moses." Elsewhere, however, S. Jerome sees an allusion
to ya\a, " milk," and supposes that the Galatians were so called from
the whiteness of their skin.
From Him that called you. You are apostates from the Gospel,
nay, from God and Christ Jesus, and that to the greatest injury
and contempt of God and Christ, who called you, without any
merits of your own, nay, against your demerits, out of His abounding
love, into grace, reconciliation, friendship with God, and salvation.
S. Jerome reads, by the grace of Christ, instead of into the grace of
Christ, and so gets a more forcible rendering : I marvel that ye are
so soon removed unto another Gospel from Christ, who called you
by His grace, i.e., out of pure love and unmerited good-will towards
you ; I marvel that ye are so readily become apostates from God and
from Christ, who hath called you so graciously and lovingly that ye
are so ungrateful, so heedless of His love, that ye trample on it.
Unto another gospel. Unto another doctrine about salvation,
and your Saviour Christ, as though mine and Christ s were not
sufficient, as though Moses must be taken into partnership with
Christ, and the ceremonial law wedded to the Gospel. For even
if these Judaisers preach that the Gospel is to be embraced
together with the Mosaic law, yet they thereby preach another
Gospel, and destroy the true Gospel preached by Paul. For, accord-
2l8 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS, C. I.
ing lo him, the true Gospel of Christ is this : The law of Christ is
necessary and sufficient to salvation, nor can any other be admitted.
Whoever introduces or allows to be introduced any other, is injurious
to Christ and His law, as implying that it is insufficient, and he,
therefore, robs Christ, his only Redeemer, of His glory, and brings
in another Saviour. This is what the Judaisers did. They declared
the insufficiency of the law of Christ by adding to it the law of
Moses as requisite for salvation and bliss. Hence they overturned
the Gospel by introducing another, nay, a contrary Gospel. There
fore the Apostle proceeds,
Ver. 7. Which is not another. S. Jerome and Ephrem omit
another, and interpret the clause: "You transfer yourselves to
another Gospel, which indeed is no Gospel." The meaning of the
received text is "You transfer yourselves to another Gospel,
which still is not another ; for there is no other true Gospel save
that which I have preached unto you." To which Ephrem adds :
" But as they are, so is it." As their teachers are apostates, Judaisers,
deceitful liars, so is their Gospel heretical, Judaising, deceitful, and
false. If the Judaisers, who left the Gospel and teaching of Paul
and the Church intact, overturned the Gospel and the Church of
Christ, much more do the Protestants overturn it by introducing
new dogmas contrary to the Catholic Church.
Unless there are some. This depends on I marvel. I marvel
that ye so soon fall away from the Gospel, unless it be that there
are some who are troubling you. And when I think this I partly
cease to marvel, and I impute your defection to them rather than
to you ; for you would not have fallen away, if you had not been
enticed and deceived.
That trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. To
pervert is to subvert, according to Chrysostom. Properly, however, it
is to invert, or to turn, as when the outside of a garment is turned
inside because it is worn, and the less worn inside becomes the
outside. Or, as Jerome says, when what is in front is put behind,
and vice versa. So the Church is like a garment of which the part
in front or outside, and now somewhat worn thread-bare, was the
THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL 2 19
old Church or the synagogue, with its Mosaic law, while the aftei
part, or inner and sounder, is the new Church with Christ s Gospel.
This Christ so changed round that He substituted the inward for the
worn outward side, so making the after or the inner part, viz., the
Gospel, the front or the outer, and putting it before all, to be known
and adopted as the robe of righteousness and salvation. These self-
appointed teachers wished to turn again this garment inside out,
and to put the law first, and to subordinate to it the Gospel in short,
to exchange the spirit of piety breathed forth by the Gospel for
Jewish ceremonies. So the Judaisers perverted, i.e., inverted the
Gospel of Christ by substituting for it the law of Moses, and
setting that before the Gospel (S. Jerome).
Ver. 8. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him
be accursed. Understand : If that can be done ; for, as a matter of
fact, it is impossible, for the angels are established as in bliss so in
all truth. It is an hyperbole, like that in i Cor. xiii. i : " Though I
speak with the tongues of men and of angels" S. Jerome quotes here
a happy remark of Tertullian directed against Apelles and his
virgin Philumena, which latter was filled by some perverse angel
with an evil spirit, to the effect that this was an angel who, long
before Apelles was born, was described as accursed by the Holy
Spirit, speaking through the Apostle. Such was the angel who
taught Luther, and instructed Zwingli on the Eucharist, and about
whom the latter writes, that he did not know whether it was black
or white. But it is certain that it was a black angel, and that
against it was directed the Apostle s anathema, as against one
introducing a new Gospel, a new faith, and new dogmas, contrary to
the accepted creed.
Observe how great is the certainty of the faith preached by the
Apostles, confirmed by God by so many signs and miracles, and
transmitted to us by the continuous tradition of so many centuries,
and reflect how firm and constant in it we should be. So much so
that we may better deny the evidence of our senses, of our reason,
of the authority of all men and angels even if they should work
220 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS, C. I.
miracles as proof, impossible though this really is than deny the
teaching of faith. For faith rests on the original revelation of God,
who is the First and Incommutable Truth; all else may deceive
and be deceived. Nay, to state an impossibility, if God were to
reveal a faith contrary to that which we have received, and which
He originally revealed Himself, we should be bound to believe the
first, and not the second. For if He should reveal one contrary, He
would be changed and would cease to be God, and the First and
Infallible Truth ; but since this is impossible, it follows that God
cannot give a contrary revelation, and hence that those who teach
contrary doctrine get it not from God but from their own heads, or
else by revelation from devils.
We have here, then, a canon of faith given us by the Apostle, to
this effect : If a new dogma arise anywhere, let it be examined to
see whether it agree with the ancient, received faith of the Catholic
Church, first preached by Paul and the Apostles; if it be found
discordant, let it be regarded as heretical and accursed. This is a
canon followed by all the Fathers.
" If any dispute arise says Irenseus, "about any, even a small
question, will it not be otir duty to have recourse to the oldest churches,
and to gather from them, what is clear and certain with reference to
the question in dispute?" (Adv. Hcer. lib. iii. c. x.).
So Tertullian : " I will lay it down as a canon that what the Apostles
preached, what Christ revealed, ought not to be proved except by the
same churches which the Apostles themselves founded. Jf this is so,
it is clear that all doctrine which agrees with those Apostolic churches,
being the very wombs and originals of the faith, must be put down as
true, and all the rest condemned as false, without further examination "
(de Frees, xxi.).
And again : " What is earlier in tradition is shown by its very date
io be the Lord s and to be true ; what has come in later is an importa
tion and false " (Ibid. c. xxxi.). So Origen : " Every one is to be counted
a heretic who, while professing to believe in Christ, believes in a mailer
of faith otherwise than the traditional definition of the Church declares"
(Horn, in S. Matt/i. 19).
THE APPEAL TO ANTIQUITY 221
This same rule is supported by Vincent of Lerins in his golden
treatise on Prescription, against the impious novelties of heretics :
"Antiquity is to be followed, novelty spurned. When certain innovators
were going throughout provinces and cities, offering their errors for
sale, and had arrived among the Galatians ; and when the Galatians
ha tt given them a hearing, and were taken with a distaste for the truth,
so much so that they, as it were, vomited the manna of apostolic and
Catholic teaching, and were delighted with the filth of heretical novelty,
then the authority of the apostolic power made itself heard in these
stern words : Though we or an angel from heaven preach any other
Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed." What is this thathesaith : Though we ? why not, rather,
Though 1 ? He means : Though Peter, though Andrew, though
John indeed, though the whole college of Apostles preach unto you any
thing beside what we have preached, let them be accursed} An awful
pronouncement ! It is but a little thing to spare neither himself nor the
other Apostles, so as to secure the firm continuance of the faith first
preached. But he adds : Though an angel from heaven preach any
other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let
him be accursed! It was not enough to bind men to preserve the faith
delivered them he must also bind angels. Though we, he says, or
an angel from heaven. J\ ot that the holy and heavenly angels can
sin ; but supposing it were possible that they should, if any one of them
were to attempt to change the faith once delivered, let him be accursed"
(lib. i. c. 12).
So S. John Damascene, who, like a roaring lion, attacked the ico
noclastic Emperor Leo the Isaurian : " Hearken, ye peoples, tribes,
tongues men, women, boys, old men, young men, infants, the whole
army of Christian saints : Though any one preach unto you any
thing beside that which the Catholic Church has received from the Holy
Apostles, from the Fathers and Councils, and has preserved to this day,
hear him not, nor follow the counsel of the serpent, as Eve did, who
thereby drew upon herself death. Though an angel, though a king
preach unto you anything beside what you have received, stop your ears.
For Ifear lest the warning of Paul be fulfilled, Let him be accursed "
222 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS, C. I.
(Orat. 2 de Imaging. He ends thus because he knew that it was the
prerogative of Bishops, not of monks, of whom he was one, to pro
nounce anathema, as Baronius acutely notes (Ann. A.D. 730, in fine).
So S. Augustine : " / do not accept what the Blessed Cyprian held on
the baptism of heretics, because the Church, for whom Cyprian shed his
blood, does not accept it" (contra Cresconium, lib. ii. c. 31, 32). And
the other Fathers follow him, and the reason they do so is clear.
It is because the Church is the pillar and ground of the truth
(i Tim. iii. 15). Whoever, therefore, following his own imaginations,
teaches any new thing against her mind and doctrines, errs and
strays from the home of truth and from truth itself, as S. Augustine
urges in a fine dilemma. " Answer" he says "Did the Church come to
an end or not?" (i.e., when Donatus arose). K Choose which you like. Jf
she had come to an end, who was the mother who bore Donatus ? If, on
the other hand, she could not have come to an end while so many had
been gathered into her without your baptism, tell me, I pray you, what
madness was it which induced the followers of Donatus to withdraw
themselves from her, as if they were so avoiding communion with the
wicked" (contra Gaudentium, lib. ii. c. 8).
In the same way I will now conclude as follows : On the rise of
Luther, Calvin, Menno, and other Protestants, either the Church and
the true faith came to an end or they did not. For these two the
true Church and the true faith are necessarily connected, so much
so that if in a single point, say the Invocation of Saints, the Church
were to leave the track of the true faith, she must become heretical,
and the Church, not of God but of Satan ; just as any individual
who maintains a single heresy, even though he be otherwise
orthodox, is a heretic. I repeat, therefore, when Calvin arose,
either the Church came to an end or she did not ; if she did, and
had not existed since the time of Gregory the Great, as the
Protestants say, then the Church had been extinct for 900 years,
that is to say, the world for 900 years was without true faith, true
religion, sacraments, Church, and salvation ; therefore for 900 years
Christ deserted His Bride ; therefore the Eternal Kingdom of Christ
had fallen, for Christ reigns in His Church ; therefore the gates of
THE APPEAL TO ANTIQUITY 223
hell had prevailed against His Church ; therefore Calvin was born
outside the Church, was no member of the Church, but an
unbeliever, a heretic, or a pagan ; therefore he had not claim to be
received by the people, by the world, and listened to as one of the
faithful, but he should have been despised and rejected as an
unbeliever not belonging to the Church. If, however, the Church
had not come to an end, and Calvin was born, baptized, educated,
and brought up in the true Church then, since he was born,
baptized, educated, and brought up in the Catholic, Apostolic,
Roman Church, that Church was clearly a true Church, holding the
true faith. Therefore, when he withdrew from her, and shut himself
up in his new dogmas, he separated himself from the true faith
and from the Church, and became an apostate. Therefore, when
he established another and a reformed Church, it was not a true,
apostolic, but an apostate, schismatical, heretical Church that he
founded a mistress and school, not of the faith, but of new doctrines
and heresies. Let a fair-minded reader, who sincerely seeks in
ignorance the true faith, outside which no one can be saved,
consider and weigh the force of this dilemma, and ask himself
whether there is any escape from its conclusions, whether the rule
here given is not a touchstone of what is true in doctrine and in
faith.
Any other gospel than that which we have preached unto you, let
him be accursed. The Protestants hence conclude : Therefore the
decrees of councils and the canons of pontiffs are accursed, because
they contain many things not in the Gospel, and are consequently a
Gospel other than that preached.
I reply : Other (j>r<zterquam) is here what is contrary to the
accepted faith, such as are the doctrines of heretics.
i. This appears, firstly, because Paul is writing against the
Judaisers, who were trying to introduce Judaism beside (prater],
that is, against the Gospel. It was just as if any one were to try to
add Calvinism or Mohammedanism to Christianity. He would be
introducing a new law and society beside, i.e., against Christianity.
Accordingly, in ver. 6, he calls this another Gospel, and in ver. 7 he
224 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS, C. I.
says that the preachers of it prevert, or, as Chrysostom styles it,
overturn the Gospel of Christ.
2. It is clear and certain that not only an angel but Paul himself
knew more, and consequently might have preached more truths than
he did (2 Cor. xii. i and 6).
3. Paul constantly orders, as Christ did, the commands of Apostles
and superiors to be obeyed (Acts xvi. 4; Heb. xiii. 17).
4. Moreover, Jerome, Augustine, Ambrose, Chrysostom, CEcu-
menius explain the phrase as I have done. In i Cor. ii. the Apostle
uses Trapa (prater) in the sense of against, when he writes : " Other
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ /"
for he would set up another Christ, just as one who makes another
Pope sets up an anti-Pope, or he who invites another king into
a kingdom sets up an enemy of the true king and a tyrant. Simi
larly, in Rom xi. 24: " If thou wert graffed contrary to nature
into a good olive-tree" contrary to nature is Trapa. <ixrii/ (prater
naturain). Even in Latin we often use the same meiosis. For ex
ample, Terence (Anaria) says, " Prater civium morem atque legem,"
i.e., against law and custom. So, too, in Greek, as, e.g., Aristotle (de
Ccelo, lib. i. c. i) says Trapa. (frvcriv, beside, i.e., against nature; Trapa.
vo//,ov, beside, i.e., against law.
With this compare Deut. iv. 2 : " Ye shall not add unto the word
which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it." Ye
shall not add to the precepts which I shall give you anything
contradictory of them, especially, ye shall not add the worship of
some new deity, for this the whole chapter, and indeed the whole
Book of Deuteronomy, intends to forbid. Nor shall ye add, in
the sense of saying that your words are mine ; for to no one is it
allowed to put forth his own writings or commands, as the com
mands of God or as the Holy Scriptures.
There is a similar phrase in Rev. xxii. 18 : "/ testify unto every
man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any
man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues
that are written in this book" As a matter of fact, prophets and
Apostles have added many things to this Scripture. Nay, Moses,
THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL 22$
in Deut. iv. 2, would contradict himself in Deut. xvii. 12, where
he orders the words of the priest to be obeyed. Accordingly
S. Augustine excellently explains this passage : " The Apostle does not
say, More than you have received] but, Beside that which you have
received. For if he had used the former phrase, he would condemn
himself for saying that he wished to come to the Thessalonians to
supply what was wanting to their faith. But he who supplies what
is lacking merely adds, he does not take away what is already there.
He, however, who oversteps the rule of faith does not approach the
goal in the road, but departs from the road" (Tract, in Joan. 99).
You will say perhaps: "Why, then, did the Apostle not say
against instead of beside ? " Chrysostom s answer is that he wanted
to make it clear that any is accursed who even indirectly under
mines the least important doctrine of the Gospel. But there is
another reason, and that is, the Judaisers, against whom this
passage is primarily directed, were introducing their Judaism beside
the Gospel, i.e., their Jewish rites and sacraments, which by this
very attempt became contrary to the Gospel and the New Law of
Christ, as I said before.
We preach. I.e., by word or by writing. He does not, therefore,
exclude, but rather includes traditions given by word of mouth only,
for these he expressly orders to be observed in 2 Thess. ii. 14.
Accursed. Heb. cherem. See comment on this word under
Rom. ix. 3.
Ver. 10. Do I now persuade men, or God? Theophylact,
Vatablus, and Erasmus explain this to mean : " Am I now per
suading you to human things or to Divine ? " as though the Apostle
were showing, not the persons he was addressing, but his subject-
matter, i.e., what he is putting forward to be believed. For the
Judaisers were boasting that they followed Peter, John, James, who,
by their example, seemed to teach the observance of the Old Law.
In contrast to them Paul exclaims that he follows not men, or the
doctrine of men, but God and His doctrine, and persuades others
to do the same. It is from God that I have received what I have
preached, and therefore I preach not human things, but Divine.
VOL. n. P
226 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS, C. I.
There is a second interpretation, which is not amiss, whatever
Beza may say, which has S. Chrysostom s support : " Am I pleading
a cause before men or before God?" For the word persuade (TreiOeiv)
is a forensic term, and implies a cause pleaded before judges.
Hence S. Augustine interprets it here to mean, " / desire to render
myself approved" and S. Ambrose renders it by I satisfy. When this
Greek term is used in the sense of persuade, it is, as Beza admits,
followed by an accusative of the person. Persuade is then here
used in the sense of an inchoate act, " I try to persuade," according
to my canon 32.
That this sense is the more apt appears: (i.) Because to per
suade God and men is a phrase referring rather to the men per
suaded than to the subject-matter this last interpretation would
make the sentence obscure and involved. (2.) Because the next
clause illustrates this when it says, " Or do I seek to please men?"
which implies that as he does not seek to please men, so he does
not seek to persuade them. So S. Jerome says that "any one is
said to persuade when he tries to instil into others what he has
himself imbibed and still keeps."
The sense then is this : I, Paul, speak so boldly and sincerely,
and denounce a curse on Jadaisers and all who preach another
Gospel, because, although I once contended vigorously against the
Gospel on behalf of Jews and their religion, yet now, illuminated by
the Gospel-light, it is not to men, least of all to Jews, that I do my
best to approve myself and my Gospel, but to God, whom alone I
seek to please, that I may give a true and good account before His
tribunal. In other words, I do not care what the Jews or others
think of me, as being too bigoted, or an enemy of my country and
its religion, for I seek to please God alone. Formerly I pleased
them but displeased Him ; and if I wished now to please them, I
should again displease Him, for I should be establishing the law
of Moses and destroying the grace of Christ.
If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ, S.
Jerome and Anselm remark that the desire to please men is a vice
whereby a man so yields to others, so seeks their favour and good-
S. PAUL S MISSION 227
will, that he is prepared to break the law of God and offend Him.
But whoever seeks to please men, in such a way and with such
an end in view as to lead them to God and His service, seeks
not so much to please men as God. S. Augustine says : " A man
does not please others to any useful end, save when he is pleasing for
God s sake; i.e., when it is God in him that pleases and is glorified,
as when it is His gifts in a man that are regarded, or that are
received through Man s instrumentality. For when a man is pleasing
in this way, it is not now man that is pleasing but God." So S. Paul
says, in i Cor. ix. 19-22, that he is made all things to all men, that
he might gain all to Christ. S. Chrysostom, in his Horn. 29 in
Epist. 2 ad Corin., remarks how useless and contemptible are the
favour and good report of this world; and S. Jerome devoutly
and stoutly wrote to Asella, that he thanked God for being worthy
of the world s hatred.
Ver. ii. The Gospel which was preached of me. is not after man.
It is not a human but a Divine Gospel ; it is not man s but God s,
or, as Ephrem puts it, it is not from man, i.e., it does not spring from
man s opinions or from man s invention, but from God. Hence
he adds :
Ver. 12. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it,
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Viz., when I was carried by
Him into the third heaven (2 Cor. xii. i).
Ver. 13. I persecuted the Church of God and wasted it. That
is, I did my best to storm it and overturn it. Cf. Ps. cxxix. i, 2.
The word translated waste here comes, as some think, from a word
denoting the burning of a town by an enemy, or else, as Erasmus
held, from one denoting the surrounding of it. Either way Paul s
meaning is clear. He says this to remove from himself all suspicion
of hatred of the Jews. Though they inveigh against me, he says, as
their foe, yet my past life is sufficient answer. For I am myself a
Jew, and fought more vigorously for Judaism than they, before God,
by His call, changed my heart and enlightened it by faith in Christ.
Ver. 14. In mine own nation being more exceedingly zealous. A
more eager lover and follower; or better still, a more jealous
228 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS, C. I.
lover of it, on behalf of the national institution, handed down to
me from my ancestors ; a zealot of the law though through ignorance.
So much more when he knew the truth was he zealous for the
Gospel, so expiating his former evil zeal. From this it seems that
Paul s eager zeal was greater than that of his contemporaries, and
acted as a handmaid and whetstone of virtue to him. For an
eager nature does not creep along the ground, but, like a fare, leaps
upwards and attempts to overcome all difficulties. On this, S.
Augustine has some excellent remarks: "Souls that are capable of
virtue and expansive often give birth to -vices first, by which they shoiv
the virtue they are most adapted to produce, when they have been
carefully disciplined. For instance, the hasty feeling which prompted
Moses to revenge the wrong done to his brother in Egypt by a cruel
Egyptian was indeed vicious, inasmuch as it overstepped the bounds
of aicthority, but yet it gave great promise for the future. So in the
case of Saul, when he was persecuting the Church, when God called
to him out of heaven, smote him to the ground, lifted him up, drew
him into the Church, he was as it were cut down, pruned, sown in
the ground, and fertilised ; for his very fierceness in persecuting the
Gospel out of jealousy for the traditions of his fathers, thereby thinking
that he was doing God service, was, like a vicious woodland growth,
but a sign of great power" (contra Faustum, lib. xxii. c. 70).
Ver. 15. But when it pleased God. Vatablus has, " When it seemed
good to God," which is too weak a rendering of evSomjow, a word
that denotes the free call of God s love to grace and salvation.
Who separated me from my mother s womb. Of His loving-kind
ness He separated me from my mother s womb, and caused me to
be born into this world with this object in view, viz., to reveal
His Son in me. Before all merit, and when not yet born, He pre
destined me ; and when predestined, separated me from the womb,
and caused me to be born ; and when born He called me that He
might bring me to the knowledge of Christ and His Gospel, and so
to the apostleship, that I might preach Christ to the Gentiles.
S. Jerome remarks that the same thing is said of Jeremiah in
Jer. i. 5 : "Before I found thee in the belly I knew thee ; and before
GOD S PREDESTINATION 229
thou earnest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained
thee a prophet unto the nations." Paul here alludes to this, for
Jeremiah was a type of Paul. The Hebrew for sanctified denotes
both sanctified and separated; for that is called sacred which is
separated from father, mother, and all earthly things to be dedicated
and consecrated to God. So Paul was separated by God s pre
destination from his mother s womb, and consecrated to the Gospel,
to be a prophet and teacher of the Gentiles.
Mystically, says S. Anselra, from my mother s womb denotes
"from the darkness of the synagogue to see the light of the Gospel."
Observe that segregates, "separated," denotes one selected (egrege]
out of the flock, as the predestinate are selected by God out of the
flock of men. So much more is an Apostle and Herald of the word
of God separated from the many ; and, as S. Chrysostom says, he
ought to excel the many as a shepherd excels his flock. It was
for this reason that the prophet exclaims, in Isa. vi. 5 : " Woe is me I
for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips" Woe is me ! for I am nothing better than others,
who are merely unholy themselves. See the comment on Rom. i. i.
Ver. 1 6. To reveal His Son in me. In my soul. The phrase
is a Hebraism. He says in me rather than to me, to denote that
he had received no bare revelation by ear or eye, but that in his
inmost heart he had so entirely drunk in Christ and His teaching
and Spirit that Christ was in him and spoke by him (Theophylact).
Secondly, Jerome and Vatablus understand it, " To reveal His Son
through me." Thirdly, Jerome has another interpretation more
subtle than literal: "He does not say to me but in me, because
Christ was already in Paul. For there were in him the principle
of all virtues and of God, and the seeds of faith. These, however,
he did not recognise, nor believe in them till God revealed them in
him as being in his heart."
I conferred not with flesh and blood. I joined myself to no one;
I conferred with no one about my vocation, or the revelation, or the
way to act on it ; I called into counsel no relations or any one else ;
but, knowing of a certainty that I had been called and taught by
Yuen/
230 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS, C. I.
God, I followed God as my only teacher and leader. The word
rendered confer denotes, says Budseus, to communicate secrets
and counsels, to go to one s friends as counsellors and upright
judges, that they may approve or disapprove, advise or dissuade, as
they see fit.
Flesh and blood denotes, by synecdoche, the whole man con
sisting of these two elements. Cf. S. Matt. xvi. 17. I was not
taught the Gospel, says S. Paul, by any man, for I conferred with
none, but by revelation from God alone. See, then, O Galatians,
how by rejecting it, and tainting it with an admixture of Judaism,
you are tainting and rejecting the word of God, and even God
Himself, who revealed it to me, that I might go and preach it.
It may be said : Why, then, did Paul afterwards go to Jerusalem
to see Peter (ver. 18), and what is more, confer with him about the
Gospel ? I reply : He did not confer with him as though in doubt
or imperfectly instructed, but that the faithful whom he taught might
know him to be in communion with Peter and the other Apostles,
to hold the same faith as they, that so they might give more credence
to his preaching of the Gospel.
Jerome, however, refers the word immediately to the preceding
clause, thus : " To reveal him immediately in the Gentiles I conferred
not with flesh and blood." " Since I was ordered by God immediately
to preach to the Gentiles, I immediately obeyed, so that I took no
counsel with any man. Afterwards, however, I did confer with Peter,
James, and John." The first explanation, however, is better. Or
it may be rendered : I did not see, I did not cling to my earthly
parents and relations, but, loving them, I followed the call of God
(Augustine and QEcumenius).
Morally, he follows S. Paul s example who is called by God to
the apostleship, to religion, to evangelical perfection, to heroic
works, and does not yield to flesh and blood, but at once departs to
gain that to which he feels himself called. S. Jerome writes to
Heliodorus : " O delicate soldier, what do you in your father s house?
Where is the rampart, the fosse, the winter spent under tents ? Call
to mind the day of your enlistment, when you were buried with Christ
FORSAKING THE WORLD 231
in baptism, when you took your military oath that for His name you
would spare neither father nor mother. Lo ! the adversary is trying
to slay Christ in your breast. Lo ! the camp of the enemy is thirsting
for the donative which you received when you started on your warfare.
What, though a little grandson hang on your neck ; though your mother,
with dishevelled hair and garments rent, bare the breasts which suckled
you; though your father lie on the threshold: go forth, trampling on
his body, and with dry eyes hasten to the banner of the Cross. Filial
piety demands that in this you be cruel. . . . The love of God and the
fear of hell will easily break your fetters. If they believe in Christ, let
them assist me who am about to fight for His name. If they do not,
let the dead bury their dead."
Again, he writes to that noble widow, Furia : " The father will be
sorrowful, but Christ will rejoice ; the family will mourn, but there will
be joy among the angels. Let your father do what he will with your
goods. It is not he for whom you were born, but Christ, for whom you
have been born again, who has redeemed you at a great price, even His
own blood, of whom you have to think. Beware of nurses and bearers
and venomous animals of that sort, who seek to fill their bellies with
your husks. They advise not zvhat is for your good but their own."
S. Bernard too, preaching on the text, " Lo, we have left all," says :
"How many does the accursed wisdom of the world overcome, and ex
tinguish the fire kindled in them, which the Lord had wished to see
burn fiercely ! Do nothing, it says, in a hur 
