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ST. PAUL'S
ETHICAL TEACHING
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THE GIFT OF
ALFRED C. BARNES
1889
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St. Pauls ethical teaching / by , WijHarn
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ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING
ST. PAUL'S
ETHICAL TEACHING
BY
The Rev. WILLIAM MARTIN, B.D.
RECTOR OF BKINGTON, NORTHAMPTON
LONDON
ARTHUR L. HUMPHREYS
187 PICCADILLY, W.
1917
PREFACE.
' I V HIS short treatise was not written with a
view to publication ; but, at the instance of
several friends, I have ventured to offer it to the
public, deeply conscious that it only touches the
fringes of a most important subject. The War
has directed attention to many ethical questions,
which will be the subject of much discussion in
the future. The broad principles which underlie
Christian ethics are fully stated in St. Paul's
Epistles, and no apology is necessary for restating
them in these critical days of our national life.
I take this opportunity of expressing my grati-
tude to the tutors of Wolsey College, Oxford, for
the help they have given me in preparing the
work, and for their wise criticisms.
William Martin.
November^ 19 1 7.
SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS.
Preface
Bibliography
CHAPTER I.
Sources of St. Paul's Ethical Teaching . 1-23
I. Sources of Teaching . . I-I 5
(a) Gneco-Roman Influence . . 3-6
{b) Jewish Influences, especially the O. T. . 7-9
{c) Life and Teaching of Jesus . . . 9-12
(d) Working of St. Paul's own Mind 12-15
II. Documents . . . 16-23
CHAPTER II.
General Characteristics of St. Paul's Ethical
Teaching 24-36
(a) Emphasis on Passive Virtues 27-29
(b) Breadth . . . 29-32
{c) Symmetry and Balance . 3 2_ 34
(d) Centre in Christ . . . 34-36
CHAPTER III.
St. Paul's Psychology . . . 37-46
vii
SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
PAGES
Pagan Morality
47-66
Pre-Socratic
48-50
Post-Socratic .....
50-51
Pauline Scheme of Virtues compared with the Platonic
and Aristotelian
52-66
(a) i. Wisdom .
52-54
2. Courage
54-56
3. Temperance
56-58
4. Uprightness
5S-59
(6) Humility and Love
59-61
{c) Superiority of Christian Ethics
61-65
Present Need of Ethical Revival
65-66
CHAPTER V.
The Passive Virtues
67-75
I. Tcnrti votpporrvi'Tj
69-71
2. avrdpKtta
7i
3. V7T0fl0Vrj
72
4. (jaKpoBufiia ,
72-73
5. irgavrriQ
73
6. £7Tl€lKEia
73-74
7. xPf ff ™r*K
74
8. dv^tKaKO^
74
Forgiveness
74-75
CHAPTER VI.
The Pauline Ideal . . 76-79
CHAPTER VII.
Divergence of Pagan and Christian Ethics estab-
lished by the Christian Law of Forgiveness 80-83
9 6-
•109
96-98
9 8-
•101
IOI-
■104
104-
■105
106-
-109
SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
PAGES
The Intellectual Virtues . 84-95
Lecky's Charge against Christianity 84-86
(a) St. Paul as a Thinker . . . 86-91
(<5) Place of Intellectual Virtues in Church History 9i~93
(tr) Place in the Life of the Church To-day . 93 - 95
CHAPTER IX.
Ethics of Speech
St. Paul's List of Sins of the Tongue .
(a) Idle Words
(b) Evil Speaking
(c) Corrupt Speech
(d) Untruthfulness
CHAPTER X.
Ethics of Controversy 1 10-126
(a) Need for Controversy . . 110-117
{b) Dangers to the Controversialist 117-123
(c) St. Paul as a Controversialist 123-126
CHAPTER XL
Anger and the Self-assertive Virtues . 127-136
(a) The Passive Virtues must not be abused . 129-132
{b) Must not be omitted . . 132-135
(c) Warnings against Abuse._of ' A^ger' . . 135-136
CHAPTER XII.
Asceticism — True and False . . 137-154
(a) Asceticism of Dualism . -_, .---■ 141-146
{b) Asceticism of Self- discipline . . ■ 146-149
Its Subseqient History in the Church . 149-154
ix
SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIII.
Cases of Conscience
(a) St. Paul's Teaching to the Weak .
(b) St. Paul's Teaching to the Strong
(c) St. Paul's Teaching on 'Judging'
IS5-I65
158-160
160-163
163-165
CHAPTER XIV.
Ethics of Social Life .
(a) Social Order
(6) Benevolence
(c) Purity
(d) Marriage
(e) Relative Duties
The Christian Home
Parents and Children
Servants
Slavery .
166-198
166-168
168-177
177-183
183-191
191-198
191-194
194-195
i95- ! 97
197-198
CHAPTER XV.
St. Paul and Church Organization
Appointment and Duties of Elders, &c.
Qualifications of Church Officers
Commissions to Timothy and Titus .
199-208
199-203
203-205
205-208
CHAPTER XVI.
The Influence of St. Paul's Ethics in the
Post-apostolic Church . 209-222
In the sub-Apostolic Age .... 209-213
Ethics of Apologists of Second Century 213-215
Ethics of Early Greek Fathers . . . 215-216
Augustine and St. Paul . . . 217-218
Pauline Influence in Reformation Period , . 218-219
St. Paul's Ethics and the Present Age . . 219-222
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Bartlet
Bethune-Baker
Cambridge Biblical\
Essays
conybeare
Howson
Deissmann
Ellicott
Forsyth
Harnack
Hastings
Hatch
Hobhouse
Knight
Knowling
Lightfoot, Bp
Luthardt
McGiffert
Moffatt .
Oakesmith
Pfleiderer
The Apostolic Age.
Introduction to The Early Mislay of Chris-
tian Doctrine.
Art. Jesus and Paul.
Life and Epistles of St. Paul.
Bible Studies.
Ephesians, Pastorals.
The Work of Christ.
History of Dogma (especially vols. I. and II.).
Dictionary of the Bible (various articles).
Organization of the Early Christian Church.
The Church and the World.
Christian Ethics.
Testimony of St. Paul to Christ.
The Apostolic Fathers.
Galatians i Philippians.
History of Christian Ethics.
The Apostolic Age.
Paul and Paulinism.
The Religion of Plutarch.
Influence of the Apostle Paul on the Develop-
ment of Christianity (Hibbert Lectures
1885).
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Rackham .
Ramsay .
M
Renan
Sabatier
Sanday &
Headlam
>■ •
SlDGWICK .
Smyth
Stevens .
Stone
Strong
Weiss
Werule .
The Acts of the Apostles.
The Church in the Roman Empire.
St. Paul the Traveller and Roman Citizen.
Les Apdtres.
The Apostle Paul.
Romans.
History of Ethics.
Christian Ethics.
The Theology of the New Testament.
Outlines of Christian Dogma.
Christian Ethics.
Paid and Jesus.
The Beginnings of Christianity.
References to other sources are given in the footnotes.
xn
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
CHAPTER I.
SOURCES OF ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
' I "\HERE are two preliminary questions to be
considered in connection with the ethical
teaching of St. Paul : Whence did he derive this
teaching? In what documents has it been pre-
served ?
I. Sources of Teaching.
The first of these questions is important ;
because Pauline ethics, even more than Pauline
doctrine, stands in a certain lineal succession, and
bears the traces of its descent. The morality of
the New Testament was not an entirely new thing,
and although it would be wrong to regard it as a
mere development, yet it had a close connection
with the morality of the Old Testament and
Apocrypha. The late Dean Church in a well-
known work 1 has sketched the gradual unfolding
1 The Discipline of the Christian Character.
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
of the Christian character from its initial stages
to its culmination in Christ. The reader who
does not look back cannot understand the full
significance of the teaching of St. Paul. Our
information regarding the early life of the great
Apostle is meagre ; and this makes it more
difficult to measure the influences of the various
i forces which bore upon him. Three great civilisa-
! tions met in him : he was by descent a Jew ; was
born in a Greek city ; and was a Roman citizen.
His life, therefore, was influenced by streams of
thought issuing from Palestine, from Greece, and
from Rome. Each of them can be traced in his
teaching. It is necessary also to take into account
elements in his teaching which were due to his
r remarkable personality.
We may now proceed to examine the sources
of the Apostle's teaching under four heads :
(a) Grasco-Roman.
(d) Jewish, especially that of the Old Testa-
ment.
(<:) The life and words of Jesus Christ.
(d) The working of St. Paul's powerful mind
upon the morally fruitful idea of the
believer's union with Christ.
Our inquiry commences therefore at the cir-
cumference and works towards the centre.
SOURCES.
(a) Gr^co-Roman Influence.
The extent of this has been warmly disputed.
Sabatier can find no traces of it in St. Paul's
teaching ; on the other hand, Ramsay regards it as
constantly present in his words and writings. The
facts are clear.
(i) St. Paul was not a Palestinian Jew,
brought up in particularism, but a Hellenistic
Jew. He had the wider thought which came
from a knowledge of the Greek language, and
a consequent introduction to Greek literature, and
to Greek ideas. The result of the conquest of
the Eastern world by Alexander the Great had an
enormous effect upon Asia Minor and Syria.
' Even in Palestine itself/ says Canon Hicks,
' there were Hellenists, who not only read their
Scriptures in Greek, but who also prayed in
Greek/ 1 The Jews of the Diaspora might en-
deavour to train their children in strict adherence
to the Law, but they could not keep them apart
from the prevailing ideas of the peoples among
whom they dwelt. The Septuagint was the ' Bible '
of the Hellenistic Jews, not only in its birthplace
in Egypt, but also wherever the Jewish race had
spread. These Jews were also greatly influenced
by the works of Philo. The allegorical method
1 Studio. Biblica et Ecdesiastka. Vol. IV. : St. Paul and Hellenism*
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
of Old Testament exegesis adopted by this writer
is found in St. Paul's Epistles, e.g., in Gal. iv.
22-26, but is used sparingly. 1 Another influence
was the universalism taught by the Book of
Wisdom ; this influence can be clearly traced in
St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. 2
Although St. Paul must have been acquainted
with the Hebrew Bible, yet it is from the
Septuagint that most of his quotations are taken,
which shows that its text was the one most
familiar to him.
(2) Not only was St. Paul a Hellenistic Jew,
but he was a Jew of Tarsus. This city was in
his day famous as a centre of learning. 3 In its
University, which, Strabo says, rivalled in some
respects the sister Universities of Athens and
Alexandria, a long line of famous philosophers
taught their students the principles of the Stoic
Philosophy. Ramsay believes that St. Paul was at
one time a student in the University. Certainly
it was from a Stoic poet (Aratus, a Cilician) that
St. Paul quoted at Athens. We do not know at
what age the young Saul left Tarsus to receive
instruction from Gamaliel, but we do know that
2 See Jowett's Essay, St. Paul and Philo, Epistles to the Thessa-
lonians, Galatians, and Romans, vol. i., p. 382.
2 See Sanday and Headlam's Epistle to the Romans^ pp. 51, 52.
3 See Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, article ' Tarsus.'
SOURCES.
he spent at least ten years in that city after his
conversion. With his receptive mind he was not
likely to be uninfluenced by the prevailing tone of
his place of residence. The addresses of the
Apostle at Lystra and Athens show that he was
ready to acknowledge all that was good in
heathenism. His open mind made it possible for
him to gain the friendship of the Asiarchs at
Ephesus, and to secure the respect of Festus at
Csesarea.
(3) St. Paul, the Tarsian Jew, was also a
Roman citizen, and therefore occupied a position
superior to that held by the ordinary provincial.
His consciousness that he was a citizen of Imperial
Rome is manifest in the ease and dignity with
which he bore himself before Roman officials.
That he approved of the great ideas of the Roman
Imperial Government is witnessed by his adop-
tion of those ideas in his teaching. The welding
of the Empire into a unity under Roman law
and custom, 1 the introduction of the cult of the
1 * One of the most remarkable sides of the history of Rome is the
growth of ideals, which found their realisation and completion in the
Christian Empire. Universal citizenship, universal religion, a universal
Church, all were ideas the Empire was slowly working out, but which
it could not realise till it merged itself in Christianity. Paul from the
first directed his steps in the path the Church had to tread. He was
beyond doubt one of those great creative geniuses whose policy marks
out the lines on which history has to move for generations and even
centuries afterwards.' — Ramsay's Paul the Traveller^ pp. 138-9.
5
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Roman Imperial power, incarnate in the Emperor,
may have given St. Paul the ideas, of winning the
Roman world for Christ, and of uniting all the
Churches in one great unity, obedient to one
Head, and inspired by one Spirit.
While these facts must be taken into account
among the sources of St. Paul's ethical teaching,
their importance should not be exaggerated.
St. Paul himself regarded Jerusalem and Gamaliel
as the great formative influences of his younger
days. 1
It is upon these that he lays the greatest
emphasis ; but yet it cannot be denied that there
are striking ideas in St. Paul's ethics, which show
signs of having their sources in Greek philo-
sophical literature. Of all the Apostles with
whose works and writings we are acquainted,
St. Paul stands pre-eminent in his interpretation of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ as a message to the
whole world, and delivered that message freed
from the restrictions of Jewish particularism.
The seed from which sprang the wonderful moral
and spiritual teaching of St. Paul must be sought
elsewhere ; the soil, in which the seed grew to life
and beauty, was certainly Grasco -Roman.
* Acts xxi. 39, xxii. 3 ; Phil. iii. 5, 6 ; Gal. i. 17 ; Acts xxvi. 4, 5,
6
SOURCES.
(b) Jewish Influences, especially that
of the Old Testament.
No one who has studied St. Paul's career, as
recorded in the Acts and in his Epistles, can doubt
the enormous influence which Judaism exerted
upon him. Sabatier. who denies Graeco-Roman
influence, says: 'It is not the citizen of Tarsus,
but the Pharisee of Jerusalem, that accounts for
the Apostle of the Gentiles/ 1 No Jew in history-
valued his position as a Jew more than St. Paul.
^To the multitude in Jerusalem he said": 'I amr
verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a
city of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the
feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict ,
manner of the law of our fathers.' 2 \C He says on
another occasion : ' My manner of life from my ,
youth up, which was from the beginning among
my own nation and at Jerusalem, know all the
Jews .... how that, after the straitest sect of
our religion, I lived a Pharisee/ 3 In his Epistles,
he gives the same testimony : ' Are they Hebrews ?
so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they
the seed of Abraham? so am I. H To the Philip-
pians he writes : ' Circumcised the eighth day, of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a
1 Sabatier : Apostle Paul> p. 48.
2 Acts xxii. 3. 3 Acts xxvi. 4, 5. 4 2 Cor. xi. 22.
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Hebrew of the Hebrews ; as touching the law, a
Pharisee/ 1 These passages show that St. Paul
was proud of his Judaism, and recognised all that
he owed to it, in spite of his opposition to the
false interpretation placed upon * the Law ' by the
sect to which he belonged. Nothing diminished
his sense of the privilege he enjoyed as one of
the people to whom were entrusted 4 the oracles
of God.' His epistles show that he had deeply
studied the Old Testament, a right interpretation
of which could make the student * wise unto sal-
vation/ The wonderful array of texts he mar-
shals from the Old Testament numbers more than a
hundred and eighty. Every part of it, the Law, the
Psalms, and the Prophets, was evidently familiar to
him. The importance of what he calls c the Holy
Scriptures' 2 is manifest in his ethical teaching.
They brought him into close contact with the ethical
monotheism of later Judaism. He had learnt that
the God worshipped by Israel was ' exalted in
righteousness.' The lofty morality of the pro-
phets, the important place given to conscience in
the religion they taught, the devoutness of the
Psalms, were all impressed upon him. These are
not mere conjectures, they appear constantly in
his writings. It may be urged that St. Paul was
1 Phil. iii. 5. * 2 Tim. iii. 15.
SOURCES.
a Pharisee, and that the sect of the Pharisees
stands condemned in the Gospels, as exhibiting a
religion devoid of moral worth. Yet Nicodemus
and Gamaliel were both Pharisees, and shine out as
striking examples of exceptions to the general
hypocrisy of the sect. We cannot suppose that a
man, so sincere and upright as Saul of Tarsus,
ever descended to the moral baseness so severely
rebuked by our Lord.
(c) Life and Teaching of Jesus.
It has been asserted that St. Paul knew little
of the life and teaching of Jesus. It is admitted
that he was fully instructed regarding His cruci-
fixion, and His resurrection ; but it is denied that
he knew much about the historical life of Jesus, as
portrayed in the Gospels. It is true that St. Paul
does not present us with many parallels with the
Gospels, and seldom quotes words used by our
Lord. But it must be remembered that St. Paul's
Epistles were written to converts, who had already
been instructed in the main facts of the Christian
Gospel, and whose knowledge of these facts might
be assumed. When he appeals to them to re-
member ' the meekness and gentleness of Christ/
they must have known the general outline of our
Lord's ministry. Further, a close study of the
9
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Epistles proves that St. Paul, and his converts,
had a considerable knowledge of the historical
Christ. If St. Paul does not often quote the
words of his Master, yet he lived Christ, and
strove to imitate Him. It is unthinkable that he
should have been ignorant of the life and teaching
of the One whom he made the great example of his
life. Dr. Knowling has carefully gathered up details
from the Epistles, which prove an extensive ac-
quaintance with the character and teaching of our
Lord. It is impossible to give all the particular
points dwelt upon by Dr. Knowling. It must
suffice to illustrate briefly St. Paul's indebtedness,
as an ethical teacher, to the moral precepts and
example of our Lord.
( i ) In his address at Miletus to the Ephesian
elders, St. Paul says : ' Ye ought to remember the
words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said,
It is more blessed to give than to receive.' *
(2) In his teaching on marriage and divorce
(1 Cor. vii.) he distinguishes between a command-
ment (itTLTayrj) of Christ, and a judgment (yz'w/xTj)
of his own. ' Unto the married I give charge,
yet not I, but the Lord, that the wife depart not
from her husband (but and if she depart, let her
remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her
1 Acts xx. 35.
IO
SOURCES.
husband), and that the husband leave not his
wife/ 1 The allusion to our Lord's words regarding
divorce is unmistakable.
(3) Respecting the provision for the ministry,
St. Paul says: 'Even so hath the Lord ordained,
that they which preach the Gospel should live of
the Gospel/ 2
(4) In his statement about the Lord's Supper,
St. Paul quotes the words used by our Lord on
the night when He was betrayed. 3
(5) In his Epistle to Timothy he speaks of
4 wholesome words, even the words of the Lord
Jesus.' 4
(6) In other passages there is a striking paral-
lelism between the words of St. Paul and the
words of Christ.
Rom. xii. 14. Bless them that Matt. v. 44. Love your en-
persecute you, bless and curse not. emies and pray for them that
persecute you.
Rom. xiii. 7. Render to all Matt. xxii. 21. Render there-
their dues, tribute to whom tribute fore unto Caesar the things that
is due. are Caesar's, and unto God the
things that are God's.
Rom. xiii. 9. And if there be Matt. xxii. 39. And a se-
any other commandment, it is cond like unto it is this, Thou
summed up in the word, namely, shalt love thy neighbour as thy-
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as self,
thyself.
The most important passages, which bring out
1 1 Cor. vii. 10, 11. 2 1 Cor. ix. 14. 3 1 Cor. xi. 23. 4 1 Tim. vi. 3.
II
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
the dependence of St. Paul for his ethical teaching
upon Christ, refer to Him as an example. To
the Corinthians he says: c Be ye imitators of me,
even as I also am of Christ/ 1 To the Philippians
he writes : ' Let this mind be in you, which was
also in Christ Jesus/ 2 He prays that the Colos-
sians may ' walk worthily of the Lord.' 3 He
commends the Thessalonians, because they were
imitators both of him and of Christ. 4 These
passages indicate that before the eyes of St.
Paul there was an objective and historical
model, to which he was ever turning. When
he speaks of Him that ' knew no sin/ 5 when
he reminds his readers that Christ ' pleased not
himself/ 6 can we possibly doubt the store of
knowledge regarding our Lord which St. Paul had
gathered up and regarded as a most precious
possession? It was from this store that he drew
largely in his ethical teaching.
{d) The Working of St. Paul's own
Mind on the morally fruitful Idea of the
Believer's Union wtth Christ.
Hellenism, Hebraism, the life and example of
Jesus — all these, like the entwined strands of a
1 I Cor. xi. I. 3 Col. i. 10. 5 2 Cor. v. 21.
2 Phil. ii. 5. i l Thess. i. 6. 6 Rom. xv. 3.
12
SOURCES.
rope, are to be found in St. Paul's ethical teaching.
But there is still much more which cannot be
traced to this threefold source. When Prof.
Huxley declares that ' Christianity inherited a
good deal from Paganism and Judaism, and that,
if the Stoics and the Jews revoked their bequest,
the moral property of Christianity would realise
very little,' 1 he ignores the root of all New Testa-
ment morality — the believer's union with Christ,
and the rich fruit which has been manifest in the
moral ideas of the race, in consequence of that
union.
Huxley, and others like him, write as though
the whole question of the moral superiority of
Christianity can be determined by a table of parallel
columns. In one column, the chief tenets of
Judaism are entered ; in the second, those of the
Stoics ; in the third, those of the New Testament.
The tenets common to the third, and to each of
the others, are struck out, and what is left is the
measure of morality's debt to the New Testament.
It is very simple, but very misleading. Though,
as Bishop Lightfoot says : ( The Gospel is capable
of doctrinal exposition ; though it is eminently
fertile in moral results, yet its substance is neither
a dogmatic system, nor an ethical code, but a
1 Science and Morals, reprinted in Essays, Ethical and Political.
*3
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Person and a Life.' 1 And it is the omission of
this vital fact that makes all such comparisons as
those referred to absolutely worthless and vain.
Christianity stands apart from and above all other
systems of religion and philosophy, not by the
excellence of its moral precepts, great as it is, but
by the new fellowship with Christ which it pro-
claims. Such certainly was the Gospel, as it was
apprehended by St. Paul.
When we have stated the various outside influ-
ences which affected St. Paul's ethical teaching,
there yet remains much that is the outcome of his
own wonderful personality. Ramsay, who has
devoted most of his life to the study of St. Paul,
speaks of him as a man of transcendent genius,
standing in line with the greatest thinkers of the
world. We naturally expect to find in the teach-
ing of so great a man ideas worthy of his person-
ality. Nor do we seek in vain. In the foreground
of the Pauline Ethics is the revelation of a new life
of fellowship with Christ. He used no extravagant
language when he said : c It is no longer I that live,
it is Christ that liveth in me.' He had the mind
of Christ, and Christian morality was the applica-
tion of that mind to the necessities of the age in
which he lived.
1 Preface to first edition of Epistle to Philippians.
SOURCES.
As Sabatier well says : ' St. Paul and the other
Apostles did not think of the teaching of Jesus as a
collection of sayings, an external law, or written
letter, to be constantly quoted. Christ was to
them an immanent and fertile principle, producing
new fruit at each new season/ 1 We do not expect
that St. Paul will present us with a complete ethic,
to meet all the contingencies of life ; but he does
reveal the * spiritual' principle, working in himself,
and in every one who enters into the new fellow-
ship. c The imitation of Christ ' is the great
watchword of the Christian ethic, but the phrase
needs explanation. It does not mean a servile
following of Christ — an exact reproduction of His
life. Imitation in that sense is impossible. Social
conditions are entirely different to-day from what
they were in our Lord's time. The moral task of
the Christian to-day is, ' Not to copy after Him,
but to let His life take form in us, to receive His
spirit, and to make it effective.' 2 This St. Paul
understood. He taught that in Christ we find our
example ; in Christ, our new life. He Himself
gives the life which He reveals and demands. That
Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith ; it is in
the answer to that prayer that we find the root of
all true Christian morality.
1 Sabatier's Apostle Paul, p. Si. 2 Smyth's Christian Ethics, p. 78.
1 S
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
II. Documents.
Having shown the sources from which St. Paul
derived his ethical teaching, we have now to con-
sider the documents in which it is contained.
The principal documents are the Acts of the
Apostles and the thirteen Epistles alleged to be
written by him, included in the Canon of the New
Testament. If it is decided that these Epistles are
genuine, we are in possession of evidence regarding
Christianity commencing in or about the year
51 a.d. ; that is, little more than twenty years
after the Crucifixion. At that date many persons
were living who had known the Historic Christ,
and were in a position to correct any mis-state-
ments. As the Epistles were written by a man of
genius and integrity, not likely to be misled as to
his facts, we may be tolerably certain that he does
not present a false interpretation of those facts.
The consciousness of the importance of the Epistles,
as evidences for the truth of the Gospel, has led to
concentrated attacks upon them, with the object of
minimising their evidential value. After more
than seventy years of close criticism by thoroughly
competent scholars, the genuineness of most of the
Epistles has been established. The following is a
brief statement of the present attitude of the best-
known critics :
16
SOURCES.
Harnack accepts all the Pauline Epistles except
Ephesians and the Pastorals, but thinks that much
may be said in favour of the Pauline authorship of
Ephesians.
Jiilicher and Deissmann agree with Harnack.
Clemen accepts the same nine Epistles.
Wrede of Breslau accepts eight.
Weinel accepts six, but acknowledges that most
critics add two more, Colossians and Philemon.
The great conservative critics, such as Zahn
and B. Weiss, are positive that at least ten should
be accepted. Thus we find that the number of
Epistles admitted to be Pauline is more than double
the number accepted by the Tubingen school in
1 845. Among Continental scholars there is
practically a unanimity in rejecting the Pastorals
as legitimate sources for a knowledge of St. Paul's
teaching. The defence of these Epistles has been
very ably carried out by Dr. Knowling in his
valuable book on 'The Testimony of St. Paul to Christ.
He points out that certain admissions are now
made:
(1) They are based upon genuine Pauline
letters or fragments.
(2) Many of the phrases, even in the parts
alleged to be of later date, are Pauline
in style.
17 c
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
(3) The ecclesiastical organization, and the
heresies opposed, are not necessarily later
than St. Paul's time. 1
These are important admissions, and greatly
modify the attack upon the Pastoral Epistles. The
greatest difficulty arises from the impossibility of fit-
ting the historical statements into the period covered
by the Acts. Bartlet, in his work The Apostolic
Age, attempts to do this, and supposes that St. Paul
left Titus in Crete, when his ship was at Fair
Havens ; and that he wrote the Epistle soon after
he reached Rome, in reply to questions addressed
to him by Titus. He supposes that when St. Paul
visited Miletus, on the voyage to Jerusalem, he left
Trophimus there, and wrote 1 Timothy soon after,
when on board ship ; 2 Timothy being written
shortly before his death. He rejects the tradition
of a second imprisonment. This theory is not
satisfactory. There is no proof that Titus was
with St. Paul on his voyage to Rome, and Tro-
phimus was with St. Paul at Jerusalem. 2 The
rejection of a second imprisonment is opposed to
the general tradition of the early Church, and
contradicts the express testimony of Clement of
Rome, who says that St. Paul went to the boundary
of the West. It is also opposed to the testimony
1 Testimony of St. Paul to Christy p. 121. 2 Acts xxi. 29.
SOURCES.
of the Muratorian fragment, which states that
St. Paul went to Spain. It is also in conflict with
St. Paul's confident expectation of a speedy release,
expressed in Phil. ii. 24 and Philem. 22. If the
release of St. Paul is admitted, the historical diffi-
culties of the Pastorals disappear, for the events
referred to would belong to a period not covered
by the Acts.
The other objections to the Pastorals are as
follows : Harnack, while admitting Pauline frag-
ments, points to passages which he considers to be
interpolations, inserted about a.d. ioo, and adds
that these were worked over by a redactor about
a.d. 150 in the interests of ecclesiastical order.
He is inclined to favour the opinion of a release
after the captivity mentioned in Acts, because the
policy of Rome before a.d. 64 would not be adverse
to Christianity. Harnack's theory of interpola-
tions is too intricate to be reliable, and the same
may be said of other writers who adopt a com-
posite theory. Another objection is, that Marcion
excludes the Pastorals from his canon. But there
were good reasons for the exclusion. He held
definite doctrinal views, which led him to mutilate
St. Luke's Gospel and reject the other three. In
the Pastorals, the value set on the Old Testament
(2 Tim. iii. 16) ; the statement about the Incarna-
19
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
tion (i Tim. ii. 5) ; and the general attitude of
the Epistles against a false spiritualism, would all
be distasteful to Marcion. 1 Another objection is,
that the language of the Pastorals is not that used
by St. Paul in his other Epistles ; but the differ-
ence of language has been greatly exaggerated. It
is true that there are many a7raf Xeyo/xe^a in the
Pastorals ; but there are also many in each group
of St. Paul's letters. His residence in Rome would
account for the Latinisms found in the later
Epistles, and it is always to be expected that a new
environment will lead to new modes of expression.
The objections urged against the portions of the
Epistles dealing with heresies are gradually being
withdrawn, as it is becoming clear that the errors
opposed are mainly Jewish, the false teachers
being teachers of * the law ' ; * the endless genea-
logies,' 2 c old wives' fables/ 3 'genealogies and
fighting about the law/ 4 are an accurate summary
of The Book of Philo concerning Biblical Antiquities^
known as the Pseudo- Philo, which has lately been
republished ; and of the Book of Jubilees, which
magnifies the patriarchs by giving legendary pedi-
grees to them, the names and numbers being
entirely fanciful. In opposition to the criticism
1 See Pullan's New Testament, section on the Pastoral Epistles.
2 1 Tim. i. 4. 3 I Tim. iv. 7. 4 Titus iii. 9.
20
SOURCES.
of the Pastorals, much may be said for their
genuineness.
The external evidence is excellent, both i and
2 Timothy being quoted by Polycarp (a.d.
no).
The internal evidence is also strongly in favour
of a Pauline origin. The Pastorals are evidently
the writings of one who felt his responsibility for
men whom he had placed in high office in the
Church, and with whom he sympathised in their
difficulties. The known relations in which St.
Paul stood to Timothy and Titus exactly suit the
relations of the writer of these letters to the
recipients. They manifest a tender affection in
the writer for his children in the faith. They are
the kind of personal letters we should expect St.
Paul to write, under the special circumstances
indicated in the contents.
It is not possible in a short treatise to give in
detail all the internal evidence in favour of Pauline
authorship ; a full account is given in Dr.
Knowling's Testimony of St. Paul to Christ} A
careful study of the evidence, both external and
internal, will satisfy most minds that no apology is
needed for admitting the Pastorals as genuine
writings of the great Apostle. We therefore asso-
1 pp. 129-147.
21
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
date them with the other ten canonical epistles,
as sources of St. Paul's ethical teaching.
Before passing from the sources to the matter
of St. Paul's ethical teaching, it is worthy of notice
that the various influences which operated in St.
Paul made him a fitting vehicle for the teach-
ing of Christianity to the world, and enabled him
to do a work which could not have been done by
the older disciples, so far as we can judge of their
capacity from their speeches, writings, and actions
known to us. His Hellenic training made him
quick to recognise the liberal spirit of the Judaism
of the Diaspora, compared with the spirit which
prevailed in Palestine. This liberal spirit naturally
led to a more attentive hearing of the Gospel
message and to a more tolerant attitude towards
the missionaries of the new faith. But there were,
as we discover from the Acts, among the Jews of
the Diaspora, men who retained all the bigotry and
narrowness of orthodox Judaism ; and when the
work of St. Paul was hindered by the opposition
of the extremists, instead of giving way, as St.
Peter did at Antioch, St. Paul saw at once that if
Christianity was to be anything better than a sect
of Judaism he must appeal at once to the Gentile
world. He had not been wrong in offering salva-
tion through Christ to the Jew first, but when the
22
SOURCES.
Jew rejected the offer, he definitely turned his face
towards the Gentiles. This was no sudden step.
The Epistle to the Romans shows how deeply the
Apostle felt the pang of turning his back upon his
compatriots, and how he looked forward to the
ingathering of the Gentiles as a stage in the con-
version of the Jews.
There was much in Hellenic culture which
made it a promising field for the Gospel. Although
religion was at first largely ceremonial, yet the
teaching of the philosophers had purged away
much of the superstition and immorality which
stood for religion in the popular mind. The best
culture was reaching out towards a pure and lofty
morality. Stoic philosophy was obtaining a firm
hold on the Gr2eco-Roman world. Religious
mysteries, combined with the idea of moral purity,
could not effect the regeneration of man ; but they
prepared the way for the Gospel by showing that
the pure soul alone could hold communion with
the gods.
CHAPTER II.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ST. PAUL'S
ETHICAL TEACHING.
TT is often urged that St. Paul's ethical teaching
A is fragmentary, and does not seem to spring
from any definite system. The answer is, that the
extant writings of St. Paul are all Epistles or
letters, written in response c to some definite
impulse in the diversified experience of the young
Christian churches,' l or were written to personal
friends on account of particular circumstances.
There is no trace in his writings that St. Paul
thought of them as literature or of the place they
would occupy in universal history. ' No one/
says Deissmann, ' will hesitate to grant that the
letter to Philemon has the character of a letter.
It must be to a large extent a mere doctrinal want
of taste that could make any one describe this gem,
the preservation of which we owe to some for-
tunate accident, as an essay, say, " on the attitude
of Christianity to slavery." It is rather a letter
1 Deissmann's Bible Studies, p. 44.
24
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
full of a charming, unconscious naivete, full of
kindly human nature.' Probably Deissmann goes
too far in regarding all St, Paul's writings as letters,
intended to serve a merely temporary purpose.
The Epistle to the Romans, for example, is a
carefully prepared doctrinal treatise, written to the
Church in the Imperial City, and setting forth the
faith as St. Paul taught it. The question discussed
by Deissmann is one of deep interest, but is beyond
the scope of a treatise. It is sufficient to point to
the fact that the elements, which are purely local
and temporary in St. Paul's writings, are over-
shadowed by those elements which are universal
and abiding. That the early Church recognised
their value is proved by their admission into the
Canon of Scripture from the earliest date of its
formation, and from the practice of reading them,
as Scriptures, in the services of the Church.
Even when St. Paul treats of local matters, he
lays down principles of conduct which have served
as a guidance to every subsequent generation of
Christians. It will be seen, moreover, that it is
possible to gather together a considerable volume
of ethical teaching from the * fragments ' of his
teaching : teaching preserved to us, not merely by
the instinct of the early Christian Church, but also,
we believe, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
2 5
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
In the use of the material provided in St. Paul's
Epistles, each age must apply the principles of
conduct he laid down to its needs, keeping in mind
the wide differences of social and religious life
which result from the lapse of time. It would not
be wise, for example, to bind the hands of the
Church to-day by St. Paul's regulations concern-
ing the position of women in Christian assemblies.
At that time the position of women was entirely
different from what it is to-day. Also different
countries have their different customs. In Corea
it is regarded as ' indecent ' for a man to take off
his hat in public, hence men always keep on their
hats in church. In Japan, women never cover
their heads, hence their heads are also uncovered
in church. The Apostle's own disregard of the
decision of the Council of Jerusalem, regarding the
eating of meats offered to idols, should warn us not
to confuse injunctions which were temporary with
those that have lasting value. It further follows
from the epistolary character of St. Paul's
writings that he does not treat of some subjects
which Christian ethics must treat of to-day, but
concerning which he is silent. In spite of the
inevitable fragmentariness, and admitting that the
moral utterances of the Apostle ' do not spring
from any consciously developed system of moral
26
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
ideas,' 1 it is still possible to speak of St. Paul's
ethical teaching as a whole, and to lay down two or
three of its leading characteristics.
(a) Its Emphasis on the passive Virtues.
It has already been remarked that Professor
Huxley states that Christianity inherited a great
deal of its teaching from Paganism and Judaism,
and that if the Stoics and Jews revoked their be-
quests, the moral property of Christianity would
be very small. McGiffert also states that there is
comparatively little difference between the ethical
principles of the Christians, and the principles of
the best men in the pagan world. 2 It is strange
that both these writers should have failed to
recognise the entirely new element which Chris-
tianity brought into the moral life of the world.
The pagan philosophers held lofty views regarding
virtue, and subsequent ages have been eager to
honour them for their services to morality; but
Christianity, when it laid emphasis on the virtues
of humility, patience, forbearance, pity, and kind-
ness, struck a note which was entirely new to the
ears of men. 3 To the fierce, hard, Roman world
1 T. B. Strongs Christian Ethics, p. 77.
2 McGiffert's Apostolic Age, p. 506.
3 6 (iTnictov Trj 5ei$ diotterjcti tarta Taneivog, lorw SovXog, \viruffQi*i 9
tpQovEiTuif i\«*rw. Epictetus, Diss, in. 24, 43. With the Stoics tXeog
was reckoned as a defect or vice.
27
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
it proclaimed : ^Let all bitterness, and anger, and
clamour, and railing be put away from you, with
all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tender-
hearted, forgiving one another, even as God also
in Christ forgave you.' * M
The ancient world could value kindness among
friends, but it had no element of mercy for ene-
mies. Christianity, as interpreted by St. Paul,
taught : ' If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he
thirst, give him drink.' 2 Nothing illustrates more
clearly the contrast between pagan and Christian
ethics than the prominence given in the latter to
such virtues as humility and forgiveness. In St.
Paul's list of virtues, they rank as among the
highest ; to pagan philosophers, they were of little
or no account. The significance of this new ele-
ment in morals has been recognised by few writers
more clearly than by Mr. Lecky. He says : ' In
antiquity the virtues which were most admired
were almost exclusively those that were masculine.
Courage, self-assertion, magnanimity, and above
all, patriotism, were the leading features of the
ideal type ; and chastity, modesty, and charity, the
gentler and domestic virtues, were undervalued.' 3
But it is these latter that the New Testament
1 Eph. iv. 31, 32. 2 Rom. xii. 20.
3 History of European Morals^ vol. ii,, p. 36.
28
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
exalts and honours. Christianity has practically
reversed the order of pre-eminence among the
virtues, it has exalted humility and meekness above
courage, and even patriotism. Nevertheless we
must avoid the error of supposing that the New
Testament exalts one type of virtue at the ex-
pense of another. What is really done is to make
human character complete. It does not dethrone
courage.
St. Paul himself was the bravest of the brave :
no danger could daunt him. In the riot at
Ephesus, his friends had difficulty in restraining
him from rushing into the amphitheatre to face a
frantic mob ; but with his courage was associated
the tenderness and meekness which befitted the
bond-servant of Jesus Christ.
(b) Its Breadth.
No Jew in history was more profoundly
patriotic than St. Paul ; his heart's desire, and
supplication to God, was for the salvation of his
nation. 1 He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and
had associated himself with the strictest sect of his
religion, he lived a Pharisee. It had been his
earnest endeavour to find peace through ' the
Law/ the cherished possession of his people. Its
1 Rom. x. I.
29
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
convicting power had been fully realised : i I had
not known lust (en-tdv/na) except the Law had
said, Thou shalt not covet.' 1 The Law was to
him the revealer of sin. But he had found not
only its power, but its weakness. The most com-
plete obedience to its precepts could not relieve
his soul from the burden of sin, or give him peace
with God. A wonderful array of texts from the
Old Testament shows how he had searched the
Scriptures in order to find in them a pathway to
salvation, and yet he had searched in vain. He
had studied the fall of man, the lives of Abraham
and the other patriarchs. He had read the Pro-
phets and the Psalms, and had learnt that the
problems of life could not be solved by the inter-
pretations of Pharisaism. While never yielding
his patriotism, he had come to the conclusion that
Judaism could not be the permanent religion of
God's children, nor the Old Testament the final
revelation of God's will. When at last he found
in Christ the solution of all his difficulties, he was
ready to carry the good tidings of salvation, which
had penetrated his own soul, to the Jew first, and
also to the Gentile. The particularism of the
Pharisees was swept away and disappeared in the
universalism of Christianity, and the voices of the
1 Rom. vii. 7.
30
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
Prophets sounded in his ears as proclaiming the
Light to lighten the Gentiles, as well as heralding
the glory of his own people Israel.
Henceforward ' universalism ' becomes a cha-
racteristic in St. Paul's ethics. He taught that
the appeal of Christianity was to no exclusive race,
but to all men. i Admonishing every man, and
teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may
present every man perfect in Christ* — the emphatic
reiteration of * every man' being a designed protest
against any narrowing of the Gospel message. In
this protest we see, not only opposition to Pharisaic
particularism, but also to the intellectual exclu-
siveness of heathen philosophy. Heathen philo-
sophy had set forth two standards of conduct : a
high one for the rich and well-born ; a lower, for
the poor, who had no leisure for study or medita-
tion. The ethical teaching of St. Paul knows no
distinction ; never once, in his loftiest flights of
moral appeal, does it seem to occur to him that
he is mocking the slave and the outcast with
visions of the unattainable. Cicero, in his De
Officiis, drew a distinction between the ideal
morality of the wise man and the morality of the
common people. 1 The same temper meets us in
Philo. ' His Gospel,' says Jowett, c is not that of
1 Luthardt's History of Christian Ethics, p. 16.
3 1
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
humanity, but of philosophy and asceticism.' l
' The temper of Stoicism/ says Dr. Lightfoot,
1 was essentially aristocratic and exclusive in re-
ligion, as it was in politics. While professing the
law of comprehension, it was practically the
narrowest of all the philosophies.' 2 No such
limitations are found in St. Paul's ethics. He
speaks to all, because he has a message for all.
His whole conception of morals moves inwardly.
Instead of the ' provincial edicts ' with which pre-
Christian morality was so largely concerned, we
have now ' imperial laws ' which are meant to
govern the whole moral universe. 3 Even when
St. Paul treats of questions which seem to us
trivial, there is nothing trivial in his treatment of
them. His large-mindedness, his moral sanity,
his resolute appeal to the loftiest Christian prin-
ciples, bring even the matter discussed by him in
i Corinthians to the level of object-lessons for all
time in the delicate task of adjusting the rival
claims of Christian liberty and expediency.
(c) Its Symmetry and Balance.
A writer in the Spectator says : ' Since all
ethics are a delicate equipoise, it is possible to
1 Essay, Si* Paul and Philo, Epistles to Thessalonians, Galatians,
and Romans, vol. i., p. 429. 2 Epistle to Philippians, p. 322.
3 See Prof. Knight's Christian Ethics, p. 51.
32
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
incline the balance too far, and, in overdoing a
virtue, to make it first cousin to vice.' 1 Aristotle
had seen this clearly, and regarded virtue as a
mean between two extremes. Thrift is good, but
how often it degenerates into miserliness. Tender-
ness is a Christian virtue, but often becomes culp- ,
able weakness. Veracity is essential in the Chris-
tian character, but how often it is used to hurt i K* ,M
the feelings of others, because not accompanied by ,V5i^/$
love. In St. Paul's teaching we find tenderness
without weakness, strength without harshness,
meekness without cowardice, speaking the truth,
but in love. In the old conflict between culture
and restraint, between Greek and Hebrew ideals,
St. Paul holds the balance even. As a Hebrew,
he could not fail to see the value of self-restraint,
and even of asceticism ; but he is no preacher of
asceticism, as having value in itself. He says, ' I
buffet my body, and bring it into subjection/ 2 but
it was with a distinct purpose, for he adds, ' Lest
after that I have preached to others, I myself should
be rejected/
Self-renunciation is practised as a means for
self-development. What a wonderful ideal is set
before the Philippians in the words, ' Whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honourable,
1 July 23rd, 1904. • 1 Cor. ix. 27.
33 r>
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever
things are of good report, if there be any virtue,
if there be any praise, think on these things.* 1
(d) Its Centre in Christ.
St. Paul's ethics owes its greatest distinction to
the person in whom it centres. To those to
whom Christ is only a moral ideal, ' a brilliant and
primitive illustration of the religion which bears
His name,' a great part of St. Paul's teaching must
be unintelligible. The key to all that the Apostle
taught is to be found in his favourite expression,
c in Christ.' He had learnt that by faith in Christ
the moral consciousness is brought under the
power of a personal example. The life ' in
Christ ' was to St. Paul, a life controlled by
Christ. A life not subject to merely impersonal
laws, but responding to a spiritual principle ; a
life which, though hidden in the soul, yet mani-
fested itself in the restraint of all tendencies to-
wards sinful acts. To the Colossians he writes :
' Ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
. . . Mortify therefore your members, which are
upon earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil
desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry/ The
1 Phil. iv. 8.
34
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
old life lived ' in the flesh ' had passed away ; the
new life in Christ was to be marked by the de-
struction of all those evil practices, which would
hinder its development. Thus in St. Paul's teach-
ing Christ is the great inspiring force which
moulds the human character. He was to St. Paul
the great Ideal by following which men could
attain to the likeness of God ; and what He was
to St. Paul, he still is in the world. ' It was
reserved,' says Lecky, * for Christianity to present
to the world an ideal Character, which through all
the changes of eighteen centuries has filled the
hearts of men with an impassioned love, has
shown itself capable of acting on all ages, nations,
temperaments, conditions. Has been not only the
highest pattern of virtue, but the strongest in-
centive to its practice, and has exercised so deep an
influence that it may be truly said that the simple
record of three short years of active life has done
more to regenerate and soften mankind than all
the disquisitions of philosophers, and all the exhor-
tations of morality.' 1
That Christ remained the norm of the Christian
life, in the history of the Church, is thus stated by
Bishop Lightfoot : ' One might have thought it
impossible to study with common attention the
1 Lecky, History of European Morals, ii. 8.
35
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
records of the Apostles and martyrs of the first
ages, or of the saints and heroes of the later
Church, without seeing that the consciousness of
personal union with Him (Christ), the belief in
His abiding Presence was the mainspring of their
actions, and the fountain of all their strength.
This is not a preconceived theory of what should
have happened, but a bare statement of what
stands recorded on the pages of history. In all
ages, and under all circumstances, the Christian
life has ever radiated from this central fire.
Whether we take St. Paul or St. Peter, St. Francis
d'Assisi or John Wesley, whether Athanasius or
Augustine, Anselm or Luther, whether Boniface
or St. Francis Xavier, here has been the impulse
of their activity and the secret of their moral
power.' 1 This important truth still needs restate-
ment, because there is still an endeavour to mini-
mise the value of the spiritual principle introduced
into the world by Christianity, and to magnify the
results attained by heathen philosophers, as though
nothing could improve their moral scheme.
1 Epistle to Pkilippians, pp. 324-5.
36
CHAPTER III.
ST. PAUL'S PSYCHOLOGY.
\^/E do not expect to find in St. Paul's writings
a connected system of Psychology, any
more than v/e expect to find a definite system of
ethics. The character of the Pauline literature is
not such as would be likely to include scientific
discussions ; but yet we can gather that he had
received some training in the Jewish schools
regarding the nature of man.
The basis of his psychology is found in the
account of the creation of man, described in
Gen. ii. 7 : ' And the Lord God formed man from
the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living
soul/ the Hebrew word for soul (ttf'p?) is trans-
lated in the LXX., ^njyyj. Thus man is partly
earthy (^ot/cds) and partly sentient ; the two
elements constituting his personality. It is notice-
able that in the Hebrew account of man's creation
in Gen. ii., nothing is said about the spiritual part
of man, but we cannot deduce from this that the
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Hebrews did not recognise that man was possessed
of a spiritual nature, for that is implied in the
Creation narrative in Gen. i., in which man is
stated to have been created in the image of God.
That there was no very clear idea regarding man's
nature may be gathered from the words of Ecclesi-
astes regarding men and beasts, ' they have all one
breath (spirit)/ 1 'Who knoweth the spirit of man,
whether it goeth upward ; and the spirit of the
beast, whether it goeth downward to the earth?' 2
The uncertainty thus shown gave rise to different
theories in the various schools of Jewish thought,
some holding a bipartite, and some a tripartite
nature in man.
Discussion on such divisions ignores the main
idea of the Jews that the material part of man, and
the spiritual part, constitute thei/w^ (living soul).
This * soul ' is dissolved by death. The material
body returns to the earth, and the spirit returns to
God who gave it. 3 The soul is not regarded as a
separate substance, which is joined to the body at
birth, but is matter animated by God's spirit.
When Greek philosophy influenced Jewish thought,
we find the Platonic doctrine of the pre-existence
of souls expressed, as in the Book of Wisdom ; 4 and
1 Eccles. iii. 19. 2 Eccles. iii. 21. 3 Eccles. xii. 7.
4 Wisdom vii. 19, 20.
38
ST. PAUL'S PSYCHOLOGY.
it is thought that there is a reference to this
doctrine in the words addressed by the disciples to
Jesus concerning a man who was born blind :
' Rabbi, who did sin, this man or his parents, that
he should be born blind?' 1 But this doctrine
does not appear in St. Paul's psychology. Man is
considered by him to be a unity of matter and
spirit, thence, in the doctrine of the resurrection,
the body rises ; but it is no longer a natural
(y\sv^(iKov) body, it has undergone a change, which
makes it spiritual {irvevixariKov)} The spiritual
body being a body conformed to that of the Risen
Christ. The natural body was an inheritance from
Adam, the spiritual body is a result of union with
Christ, the Second Adam.
Two passages in St. Paul's writings suggest
that he held a threefold division in human nature.
The first is, i Thess. v: 23^ where spirit, soul, and
body are mentioned. The body : being the tem-
porary casket, 'the earthly house of our tabernacle.' 3
The soul : expressing man as endowed with affec-
tions, passions, reason, and moral sense, but con-
sidered apart from his relation to God. The
spirit: expressing the principle of the higher life
derived from a definite relation to God, realised
through union with Christ.
1 John ix. 2. 2 I Cor. xv. 44, 46. 3 2 Cor. t. i.
39
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
The other passage is Phil. i. 2 7> in which
there is the same distinction between soul and
spirit. But, in general, St. Paul speaks of man's
personality as c flesh ' and * spirit/
The ' flesh ' is not regarded as essentially evil,
for the Apostle says, ' The life which I now live in
the flesh, I live in faith/ 1 In many passages 2 * flesh '
is opposed to "spirit/ In this opposition the flesh
is regarded as the seat of sin. *The mind (<f>p6vy}fjia)
of the flesh is death ; the mind of the spirit is life
and peace ; because the mind of the flesh is enmity
against God/ 3 Also the ' works ' of the flesh are
contrasted with the fc fruit ' of the spirit.* Although
the flesh is usually the element in man's nature
which is affected by sin, yet St. Paul considers that
the spirit may also be defiled. 5 The opposition
between flesh and spirit is therefore not one which
follows psychological lines, but rather indicates
religious ideas. The flesh stands for the lower
nature of man, fallen through sin ; and the spirit
for the higher nature to which man rises when he
is redeemed, regenerated, and sanctified by union
with the Spirit of Christ. Christ in man brings
about the true glory to which humanity can attain ;
for, according to St. Paul, Christ adds to human
1 Gal. ii. 20. 2 No less than twenty- three. "' Rom. viii. 6, 7.
4 Gal. v. 19, 5 2 Cor. vii. 1.
40
ST. PAUL'S PSYCHOLOGY.
nature a new spiritual element. He is the start-
ing-point of a new humanity. By virtue of his
union with Him, man becomes ' a new creature.' 1
He is renewed in the spirit of his mind. He puts
on the new man, 'which after God hath been
created in righteousness and holiness of truth/ 2
Thus, regenerated man is capable of a higher moral
life than can be lived by the ' natural ' man.
Although this higher life is potentially divine, yet
it is subject to infirmity. It is still * a body of
death ' 3 ' The corruptible body presseth down the
soul/ 4 and hinders its full development. St. Paul
felt the pressure in himself, but looked forward to
deliverance from the body of death, and to the
complete triumph of his spiritual nature. His
idea is a progressive advance from a lower stage to
a higher : 'As we have borne the image of the
earthy, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly.' 5
Never, even in the closing years of a life of
complete surrender to Christ, was the great Apostle
satisfied with the progress he had attained. In
writing to the Philippians from Rome, he speaks
of his constant struggle towards the supremacy of
his higher nature. ' Not,' he says, * that I have
1 Gal. vi. 15. 2 Ephes. iv. 23, 24. 3 Rom. vii. 24.
4 Wisdom ix. iS. 5 1 Cor. xv. 46.
41
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
already obtained, or am already made perfect ; but
I press on if so be that I may apprehend that for
which also I was apprehended by Christ Jesus.' 1
Having considered the most important psycho-
logical terms used by St. Paul, body, soul, and
spirit, we can now consider other terms that
require explanation. The word ' heart ' (/ca/>8ta)
continually meets us in the Pauline writings, 2 and
is used to express the seat of w thought ' as well as
of fc feeling ' ; it covers the intellectual, emotional,
and volitional functions of the human life, but
never stands for the whole nature of man. 3
Another psychological word used by St. Paul
is vovs. He speaks of the mind (vovs) of Christ, 4
and adds, ' we have the mind of Christ.' It is
clear that he means ' intellectual activity ' in this
passage. In the first Epistle to the Corinthians, 5
he contrasts prayer and praise which is ecstatic,
with that which is intelligent. ' For if I pray in
a tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding
(vovs) is unfruitful. What is it then? I will
pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the
understanding also : I will sing with the spirit, and
I will sing with the understanding also.'
1 Phil. iii. 12. 2 Fifty-two times.
3 See Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, article on ' Psychology. '
4 I Cor. ii. 16. 5 I Cor. xiv. 14, 15.
42
ST. PAUL'S PSYCHOLOGY.
The only other psychological term which re-
quires explanation is ' Conscience ' {crvv€L8r}<TL<s).
It is invariably used by St. Paul for the Kantian
1 Practical Reason,' man's moral consciousness.
He speaks of the conscience of the heathen, as
a law operating in their lives, and judging their
actions. 1 In himself conscience was always active ;
he appealed to its witness when he wrote regarding
his love for his own people. 2 In his defence before
Felix he says, ' I also exercise myself to have a con-
science void of offence towards God and man
always.' 3 Even before his conversion, he had
followed the dictates of conscience. ' Brethren/
he says to the Sanhedrim, ' I have lived before
God in all good conscience until this day.' When
he recognised any course of conduct as right, he
followed it instinctively. The convictions on
which his conscience depended were not always
right, and led him to persecute the Church ; but
when, by faith in Christ, his conscience was
brought under the power of a personal example,
then it was obeyed, not as an impersonal law,
but as a new power given by Christ to direct his
life.
In his ethical teaching he requires men to
follow conscience, even when it was weak and 111—
1 Rom. ii. 15. 2 Rom. ix. 1. 3 Acts xxiv. 16.
43
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
instructed, 1 and speaks of the danger to the whole
moral and spiritual life when the conscience be-
comes insensitive or defiled. 2
It is evident that a Christian conscience was
to St. Paul a known and luminous power, of a
high and spiritual order. The importance he at-
tached to it is an instance of the Stoic teaching
which, Ramsay thinks, he received at the
University of Tarsus.
The distinction between the moral functions
of personality, as exhibited in conscience, and the
intellectual functions is the nearest approach we
have in St. Paul's writings to the modern science
of psychology.
Before passing from the Pauline psychology, a
ftw remarks may be made upon the distinction St.
Paul makes between his true self and the self of
sin. Every man is conscious that at times his
actions fall below his usual standard of conduct.
He may be carried away by strong feelings, which
overpower the resistance of his judgment. To a
man with strong religious yearnings, lapses into
sin cause intense distress, and he constantly strug-
gles to be delivered from the bondage of his lower
nature. St. Paul tells us that when he would do
good, evil was present with him ; and he ascribes
1 I Cor. viii. 10, 12. 2 i Tim. iv, 2 ; Titus i. 15.
44
ST. PAUL'S PSYCHOLOGY.
the evil to indwelling sin. Hence he is conscious
of a higher self, his true self (avrbs iyo>) ; and a
lower self, a self of sin. Again, he appears to
identify himself with the lower self when he says,
' It is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth
in me/ In this passage ' I J refers to the lower
self, the Pauline ' flesh ' ; while the new life is the
Christ-life in him. His true ' self was therefore
the * self created and controlled by Christ. The
old 'self which was carnal, and not spiritual,
although subdued, and kept under control, was
not slain, and continued to exert an influence over
his actions. The moral struggle he describes as
follows :— ' For that which I do (/carepya£o/Acu), 1
know not : for not what I would, that do I
practise (Trpdcro-o)) ; but what I hate, that I do
(iroieco).' 1 It should be noted that preceding his
account of the struggle, there is a strong sense of
the unworthiness of any action which is prompted
by the flesh (the self of sin), and a fuller deter-
mination to persevere in the higher life, which is
' in Christ.' He is conscious of being impelled in
two different directions. His higher self, the
inner man, the avros iy<o impels him towards the
good ; the lower self, the fleshly nature, draws him
towards the evil. He describes both the struggle
1 Rom. vii. 23.
45
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
and the victory : c O wretched man that I am !
Who shall deliver me out of the body of this
death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our
Lord/ 1
1 Rom. vii. 25.
46
CHAPTER IV.
PAGAN MORALITY.
T T is sometimes charged against Christian
teachers that they under-estimate the moral
ideas attained by the heathen, in the desire to base
morality upon a distinctly religious foundation ;
and there is some ground for the charge, for, by
many Christian teachers, it is overlooked that long
before Christianity was taught, and in places where
Jewish influences had little weight, a lofty morality
was evolved from the meditations of some of the
noblest thinkers of the human race. In the last
century the services rendered by these teachers
were regarded by some philosophers as superior
in moral value to the teaching of Christianity, and
an attempt was made to formulate a system of
education which excluded all that the world had
learnt from the teachers of Christ and His Apostles.
There is a well-known passage in John Stuart
Mill's Autobiography in which he describes the
education he received from his father. It was
47
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
that of a well-trained pagan. James Mill, his son
tells us, had framed his life on pagan ideals. In
his personal qualities, the Stoic predominated ; in
his moral standard he was Epicurean, although
scarcely any believer in 'pleasure.' John Stuart
Mill adds : c My father's convictions were wholly
dissevered from religion,' and 6 were very much
of the character of those of the Greek philosophers
. . . my father's moral inculcations were at all
times mainly those of the "Socratici viri"; justice,
temperance, veracity, perseverance, readiness to
encounter pain, and especially labour, regard for
the public good, estimation of persons according
to their merits, and of things according to their
intrinsic usefulness, a life of exertion in contradic-
tion to one of self-indulgent sloth.' 1 This is all
pure paganism, but it cannot be denied that it has
moral worth. The question is in what respect
was the Christian ethic superior to the pagan ?
Before considering St. Paul's teaching in rela-
tion to the morality of the heathen world before
his time, it may be well to consider the progress
which had been made through the moral reflection
of the great Greek teachers. There was no
abrupt commencement of ethical speculation. 2 In
early times, Homer held the place in Greek
1 Autobiography, pp. 46-48. 2 Sidgwick, History of Ethics, p. 12.
48
PAGAN MORALITY.
literature which the Scripture held among the
Jews ; but in Homer there is no blame attached to
men for actions which were regarded as defective.
If a man actedi wrongly, he was supposed to be
temporarily deranged, or under the malign
influence of some offended God ; yet in sketching
his characters Homer gave examples of human
excellence or defect, which challenged attention,
and drew forth liking or aversion from those who
read his poems. 1 The 'gnomic' poetry of the
seventh and sixth centuries b.c. gave wise precepts
for conduct, which are often referred to by later
writers. In like manner, the * seven sages ' of the
sixth century influenced ethical thought sufficiently
to make their maxims worthy of the attention of
Plato and Aristotle. The first of the original
thinkers before Socrates was Pythagoras, but in his
case it is difficult to distinguish between fact and
legend. Concerning his teaching, Sidgwick says 2 :
1 In his precepts of moderation, courage, loyalty
in friendship, obedience to law and government ;
in his recommendation of daily examination . . .
we may discern an effort, striking in its originality
and earnestness, to mould the lives of men as much
as possible into the likeness of God.' This
summary shows that at a very early period there
1 Sidgwick, History of Ethics ', p. 19. 2 Ibid.,, p. 13.
49 e
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
was a power of insight in man sufficient to mark
the distinction between right and wrong conduct,
and to point the path towards higher and purer
ideals.
The great work of Socrates cannot possibly be
told in a few sentences ; it was not so much con-
structive as destructive. He charged the Sophists
of his day with teaching justice, temperance, &c,
without understanding what these names meant.
Aristotle says that his chief service to philosophy
consisted in introducing inductions and definition.
To most people his value seems to be that he pre-
pared the ground for his great successors, Plato
and Aristotle, by drawing attention to the need of
knowledge in the attainment of virtue. 1 It seemed
to Socrates that if a man knew " the good ' he
could not possibly choose the evil ; and he gave an
impulse to the acquiring of knowledge, which bore
rich fruit in his pupils. To Plato, the disciple of
Socrates, we owe the first statement of the four
cardinal virtues : Wisdom or Prudence, Courage,
1 ' I hold that Socrates, as all are agreed, was the first whose voice
charmed away philosophy from the mysterious phenomena over which
Nature has cast a veil, and with which all philosophers before his time
busied themselves, and brought it face to face with social life, so as to
investigate virtue and vice, and the general distinction between good
and evil, and led it to pronounce its sentence, that the heavenly bodies
were either far removed from the sphere of our knowledge, or con-
tributed nothing to right living, however much the knowledge of them
might be attained.'— Cicero, Acad. Poster. , i. 4 (Reid's translation).
50
PAGAN MORALITY.
Temperance, and Justice. These virtues embody
an ideal which was constant in all subsequent Greek
ethical schools. ' A Greek was expected to de-
velop these virtues.' 1 However wide the diver-
gence between Greek theory and practice, the
' ideal ' remained as an abiding witness to the
power of the natural conscience of man.
From Plato we pass naturally to his greatest
pupil, Aristotle, who first made a scientific study
of ethics. His power was in analysis ; and he
discoursed in masterly fashion on virtues such as
liberality, high-mindedness, gentleness, truthful-
ness, &c. He strongly opposed the Socratic
maxim that virtue was knowledge of the good,
and held that it was the habit of right choosing.
' Virtue differed from skill, in involving a delibe-
rate choice of virtuous acts, for the sake of their
intrinsic moral beauty, and not for any end external
to the act.' 2 Of all the writers of antiquity none
has so powerfully influenced later Christian thought
than Aristotle. Dante saw in him ' the master of
the sapient throng/ 3 and Aquinas endeavoured to
combine the ethical teaching of Christianity with
the system laid down by the great Greek philo-
sopher.
1 T. B. Strong's Christian Ethics, p. 116.
2 See Sidgwick's History of Ethics, p. 59.
3 Inferno 9 iv. 12S (Cary's translation).
51
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
The Pauline Scheme of the Virtues compared
with the Platonic and Aristotelian.
(a) The four cardinal virtues of the Platonic
and Aristotelian scheme have already been stated ;
they are Wisdom (or Prudence), Courage, Tem-
perance, and Uprightness (or Justice). To these
were added Truthfulness and Honesty. Although
there is no list of cardinal virtues laid down in St.
Paul's writings, yet the virtues of Plato and
Aristotle are in different forms continually appear-
ing.
(i) Wisdom {<To$ia). St. Paul distinguishes
between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom
of God ; and charges upon the wisdom of the world
the defect, that the world through its wisdom had
been unable to attain a knowledge of God. 1
Owing to this defect the wisdom of the world
is foolishness with God, and the reasonings
(SiaXoyitr/Aot) of the wise are vain. 2 A wisdom
which could not even discover God had no attrac-
tions for St. Paul ; but he declares that there
is another wisdom, not of this world, nor of the
rulers of this world. This wisdom is the eternal
purpose of God to redeem the world through
Christ. 3 It is taught to men by the Holy Spirit,
1 i Cor. i. 20, 21. " i Cor. iii. 19, 20. 3 1 Cor. ii. 6-8.
S 2
PAGAN MORALITY.
operating in the Church, and is manifold, i.e., it
manifests itself in the various forms of the divine
purposes, which all co-operate towards a single
end — the salvation of all mankind. 1 It brings to
the Christian a true understanding of God and of
His redemptive purpose in Christ. It was the
prayer of St. Paul that this spirit of wisdom
might be given to the saints to enlighten their
heart, and to enable them to realise their calling. 2
From this we gather that the wisdom which
St. Paul teaches is entirely different from the
(ro(j)La of the Greeks. It was never * speculative
nor uncertain, but something definite, learnt in
the school of Christ, who was to him c God
manifest in the flesh.' Only once in his writings
does St. Paul mention <£iXocro</>ia, and this he
joins with " vain deceit/ 3 Ellicott does not think
that there is sufficient ground for thinking that
St. Paul referred to Greek philosophy in this
passage, but thinks that he was rebuking the
theosophy of Jewish birth and Oriental affinities,
which was so firmly rooted in Phrygia. 4 This
view is probably correct. The Apostle's silence
regarding Greek philosophy must not be construed
as the result of ignorance or indifference. His
1 Eph. iii. 10. 2 Eph. i. 17. 3 Col. ii. 8.
4 Ellicott, Epistle to Colossians, p. 152.
53
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
work at Athens is a proof that he was conversant
with the regular Socratic style of free discussion in
the Agora, and his speech before the Council of
the Areopagus shows that he was aware of the
efforts of the Greek philosophers to understand
the divine nature. Bartlet, describing his speech,
says : c He proceeds to utter, in lofty language,
the profoundest ideas of natural theology, pressing
into the service, not only the deeper intuitions of
the Stoics as to the immanent presence of the
Divine in and with the human, but even a fine, if
familiar, maxim of the Greek poets, " For even
His offspring are we.'" 1 But if his speech shows
that he was familiar with Greek philosophy, it also
shows that he knew its limitations. ' What, there-
fore, ye worship in ignorance, this set I forth unto
you/ 2 They with their philosophy had not found
God. St. Paul, through the wisdom given him
from Christ, was able to set forth the nature and
the will of Him after whom they had been seeking.
(2) Courage (avBpeia). This word is not found
in St. Paul's writings ; but the virtue is not
forgotten by the Apostle, for he enjoins the
Corinthians to be courageous (avSpitjecrde) and to
be strong (Kparatovcrde). 3 He reminds Timothy
1 Bartlet, Apostolic Age, p. 107.
2 Acts xvii. 23. 3 1 Cor. xvi. 13.
54
PAGAN MORALITY.
that God did not give us 'a spirit of cowardice.'
Also, St. Paul himself was a striking example of
personal courage. As already stated, in the great
riot at Ephesus 2 his friends had difficulty in
restraining him from rushing into the amphi-
theatre to face a furious mob. In Jerusalem,
although beaten by the people and threatened with
death, he asked and obtained leave to address the
multitude, and boldly professed his faith in the
Lord Jesus. When in danger of shipwreck, in the
midst of men who had lost all hope, the Apostle
stood forth with undaunted courage, and by his
example restored their failing hearts. 3 His whole
career manifests a spirit which he desired to see in
all Christians, a spirit bold to oppose all evil, and
to contend earnestly for the faith. The striking
figure of the Soldier of Christ given in the Epistle
to the Ephesians is preceded by the words, ' Be
strong in the Lord and in the strength of his
might/ i Further, St. Paul knew not only the
value of courage but its source ; he had learnt
through his weakness to find strength in God 5 —
not the avhpeia of Aristotle, which was confined
to courage in war, but a fortitude which bears
itself bravely in all the adverse circumstances of
1 2 Tim. i. 7. 2 Acts xix. 30, 31. 3 Acts xxvii. 36.
4 Eph. vi. 10. 5 2 Cor. xii. 10.
55
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
life, and refuses to despair. This spirit is often
expressed by viroixovrj ('patient endurance'), espe-
cially in persecution and tribulation, with a firm
attitude in combating every form of evil. It is
this Christian fc courage ' which has been so
remarkable in Great Britain and her Colonies in
the terrible War still being waged. From the
purely military standpoint, it seemed that our
intervention in the War would only involve us
in utter ruin. With an army insignificant in
numbers and deficient in munitions, it appeared
almost impossible, in the early stages of the War,
that the victorious hosts of Germany could be
arrested. Yet, with a heroism which faltered
before no difficulty, our little army took a noble
part in helping to hold the enemy at bay, while
the k courage ' of our nation rose to the highest
level of moral vigour, and from every town and
village in Britain, from every distant colony of the
British Empire, men poured forth without com-
pulsion with a fixed determination to right the
wrongs of devastated Belgium, and to affirm the
moral consciousness taught by our Christian faith
against the perversion of all morality, manifest in
the actions of the Great Power which aimed at
world domination and hesitated at no outrage to
attain its ends.
56
PAGAN MORALITY.
(3) Temperance (iyKpaTeia). This virtue occu-
pies a prominent place in St. Paul's teaching. It
was one of the subjects upon which he discoursed
before Felix at Csesarea, 1 and finds a place among
those virtues which are named as the c fruit of the
Spirit.' 2 The Christian im<rK07ro<; was not only to
be just and holy, he must also be c temperate'
{iyKparrji)? St. Paul's own life was marked by
this virtue. Although he claimed liberty to marry,
yet he abstained from marriage, in order that he
might be more free to preach the Gospel. He
preferred to labour with his own hands for the
supply of his bread, rather than enjoy the pro-
vision he might have claimed as an Apostle of
Christ. The Epistle to the Philippians shows that
he was often in need, yet he bore his afflictions
with contentment, and says, ' I can do all things
in him that strengtheneth me'; 4 and again, 'I
buffet my body and bring it into bondage lest
after I have preached to others I myself should
be rejected.' 5 \/This virtue, so needful in St. Paul's
time, is pressed upon the Christian at the present
day. Many of the evils from which the world is
suffering are the results of a lack of temperance.
Devotion to pleasure, extravagance in dress, excess
1 Acts xxiv, 25. 2 Gal. v. 23. 3 Titus i. S.
4 Phil. iv. 13. 5 1 Cor. ix. 27.
57
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
in eating and drinking, need to be exorcised from
our midst. One great hope, which cheers many-
hearts to-day, is, that the War may impress upon
the world the value of temperance in every de-
partment of human life ; and that the spirit of
self-denial manifest in the wonderful sacrifices
made by millions may survive when peace is re-
stored to the world.
(4) hiKaioavvr), the fourth Platonic virtue,
which Plato held to be the regulating principle
of all the virtues, and, though last in order, yet
first in importance, signified 4 moral uprightjtiess,'
to which Aristotle added the idea of Justice, both
reparative and distributive. In St. Paul's teach-
ing this word is constantly used, but has generally
a theological meaning. It stands for the whole
content of moral perfection, as found in those who
are ' in Christ.' It is the righteousness in which a
man is clothed who stands in a spiritual relation
to God as pardoned, and accepted, through Jesus
Christ. It is not attained by human effort, but is
a gift of Divine grace. St. Paul contrasts it with
the righteousness which might be attained through
human effort, and maintains its higher spiritual
value. His desire was to gain Christ, and to be
found in Him, 4 not/ he says, c having a righteous-
ness of my own, even that which is of the law,
58
PAGAN MORALITY.
but that which is through faith in Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith.' x
Su<aLo<Tvvr) is also used by St. Paul with an
ethical meaning, as expressing right conduct to-
wards men, 2 and includes the moral uprightness,
and scrupulous justice, which the Greek philo-
sophers taught. St. Paul's desire was to present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus, and perfection
involved the moral standard of the Platonic
St/ccuos, but much more, even the attainment of
the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ.
(b) To the pagan virtues already noted, St.
Paul added the specially Christian virtues of
humility and love. The importance attached to
humility will be considered under the * passive
virtues'; at present it will suffice to show its re-
lation to the virtue of love. Pride and arrogance
cannot exhibit Christian love ; a lowly estimate *-
of self is needful for the exhibition of this
supreme Christian virtue. The humble-minded
man is not severe in his judgments of his fellow-
men, for he knows his own failings, and he is
quick to see goodness in others, because he is
1 Phil. iii. 9.
2 This use of the word is common in contemporary literature.
otrtOTTjQ ptv Trpbg 0«6i>, dtieaioavvr} £t 7rpog dvOptinrovg SzuiptiTai. — Philo
de Abraham, vol ii., p. 30, ed. Mang.
59
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
striving to cultivate goodness in himself. Love
grows readily where the soil is a kindly sym-
pathetic view of others, and this was manifest in
St. Paul's own history. He had been drawn to a
richer life, not by his strict obedience to the law,
but by realising that Christ loved him, and had
given Himself for him. This Divine love pene-
trated his whole being, and influenced all his
relations towards his fellow-men. He never forgot
that he had * obtained mercy/ l and this thought
led him to desire to impart to others the love
which he had experienced, in order that they
might be partakers of its richness and fulness.
This love, when appropriated by the soul, radiates
out in love to God, and in love to all God's
creatures. It has and can have no limits, and
manifests itself in all the manifold modes set forth
so wonderfully in i Cor. xiii. It is the unifying
and regulating influence in every Christian life,
and on the other hand reaches out to all human
relations which are agreeable to the will of God. 2
To St. Paul, it was a possession which could not
be lost. He asks, 'Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? ' and, in a passage of match-
less beauty, cries, C I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
1 i Tim. i. 16. 2 Baunard, UAp&tre S.Jeattj p. 342.
60
PAGAN MORALITY.
things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other thing shall
be able to separate us from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' x
Thus in St. Paul's ethics ' love ' occupies the
supreme place. It is the source of all virtues,
and takes the position in his ethics which is
occupied by ZiKaioo-vvr} in the Platonic and
Aristotelian philosophies.
(c ) There are impressive differences to be noted
between the classification of the virtues by the
Greek teachers, and the ethical teaching of St. Paul.
One of these is the difference of aim. The Greek
philosophers did not attempt to give an exhaustive
list of all the virtues, but to provide a general )
scheme, by the aid of which a virtuous life might '
be built up. They directed their ethical teaching
towards good citizenship. The later Stoics ex-
panded the idea of citizenship beyond the limits of
the Greek state, and addressed their teaching to
men, as citizens of the world.
St. Paul's teaching regarding the Church, as
the body of Christ, a Church wide as the universe,
into which all men might enter, freed morality
still further from limitations, and broadened its
application to embrace every human being. He
1 Rom. viii. 38, 39.
61
ST. FAUL'b ETHICAL TEACHING.
laid down no such definite scheme of virtues as
the Aristotelian, but he taught the most important
elements of the adornment of a Christian life, and
gave a spiritual principle, which, if followed, would
provide for all men a means for reaching the
perfection which was the ideal of his Master.
It is in this loftiness and breadth of purpose, and
^through its spiritual principle, that St. Paul's ethics
rises above all pagan philosophies. The latter had
advanced far in teaching rightness of purpose, in
the choice of virtue for its own sake, in the control
of vicious tendencies, all of which were essential
points in Aristotle's scheme ; but no pagan philo-
sopher could conceive right conduct apart from
knowledge or wisdom, the heritage of the leisured
and independent class. Aristotle had * no beati-
tudes for the poor/ * Hence arose a two-fold
morality ; a higher one for the learned, a lower one
for the ignorant. St. Paul knew no such dis-
tinction ; 'love' and 'spirituality' were possible
for all men, and through these the loftiest heights
of moral excellence might be reached.
In maintaining the superiority of Christian
ethics to that of the heathen world, there is no
intention to belittle the advance which had been
made by the Greek philosophers towards a higher
1 Sidgwick, History of Ethics, p. 57.
62
PAGAN MORALITY.
morality. It was partly upon their foundation
that Christian teachers built, but they added what
was lacking in the ideas of paganism, and through
their additions, so profoundly modified the character
of the moral conceptions they took over from the
past as to make them practically new conceptions.
The new conceptions had henceforth to be defined
in relation to an environment of spiritual truth
and fact, which did not exist for pre-Christian
morality. Prof. Findlay says : ' The order and
proportion of the virtues was changed, the moral {
scenery of life was shifted.' x Strong remarks
how the four cardinal virtues were transformed,
when they were included in the ethical teaching
of Thomas Aquinas, and of the greater school-
men. 2
It may seem at times that St. Paul altogether
rejected the idea that Gentile morality had any
worth. In the Ephesian epistle he wrote : ' This
I say therefore and testify in the Lord that ye no
longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity
of their mind, being darkened in their under-
standing, alienated from the life of God, because of
the ignorance that is in them, because of the harden-
ing of their heart ; who being past feeling gave
1 Christian Doctrine and Morals, p. 107.
2 Christian Ethics, p. 141.
63
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all un-
cleanness with greediness.' 1 Nothing can present
to us a more lurid picture of Gentile degradation
than the tremendous philippic in Romans i. That
it is not an exaggeration can be abundantly proved
from contemporary writings. Lecky and Gibbon
both describe the condition of European morals
as being utterly debased in the time when St. Paul
wrote. But terrible as his indictment is, he did
not fail to recognise that there were counter
influences at work among the heathen. To these
he refers in Romans ii : ' For when Gentiles, which
have no law, do by nature the things of the
law, these, having no law, are a law unto them-
selves, in that they show the work of the law
^ written in their hearts, their conscience bearing
witness therewith, and their thoughts one with
another accusing or else excusing them.' 2 These
words show that St. Paul recognised that conscience
./was still alive in the heathen world. Also, in
rebuking the sin of the incestuous person, he
refers to it as ' not even among the Gentiles.* 3
Thus he notes that there was some standard of
conduct, some sense of moral duty directing or
restraining the Gentiles. It was to the ethical
standard of the time that St. Paul appeals when
1 Eph. iv. 17, 19. 2 Rom. ii. 14, 15. 3 1 Cor. v. 1.
64
PAGAN MORALITY.
he says, c Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honourable, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things
are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if
there be any praise, think on these things/ 1 The
inference to be drawn from all this is unmistak-
able. In St. Paul's mind, to live in conformity
with the Divine will meant, as McGiffert says, 2 to
live in conformity with the universal human
conscience. It meant of course much more than
this, but never less. If honesty, industry, temper-
ance, and justice were binding on a heathen, still
more were they upon a Christian, and no properly
instructed Christian could speak lightly of them.
In a word, natural morality was the foundation
which St. Paul assumed and on which he built.
( Suppose/ says Dr. Knight, ' a cultivated Athenian
youth to have embraced Christianity, the old virtues
he had learnt would not be uprooted. He would
still practise them, but they would be transformed ;
he would never despise them. The new Christian
ethics would not destroy, but fulfil them/ 3
In our own time there is a pressing necessity
for an ethical revival, a need of a higher morality
within the brotherhood of the Church. When
1 Phil. iv. 8. 2 See McGiffert's Apostolic Age, p. 507.
3 The Christian Ethic, p. 62.
65 F
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
^
Christians fall below the level of the irreligious
in their moral conduct, if they are less honest,
less truthful, less scrupulous, Christ is wounded
in the house of His friends. The worst symptom
of the decay of a Church is the weakening of its
moral fibre, the blurring of the moral vision of its
children. We need to remember that the firm
foundation of God has a two-fold seal : ( The Lord
knoweth them that are His,' and also, L Let every
one that nameth the name of the Lord depart
from unrighteousness.' *
1 2 Tim. if. 19.
66
CHAPTER V.
THE PASSIVE VIRTUES.
T T has been seen that natural morality had
reached a high point in the pagan philo-
sophies, and that the virtues enjoined found a place
in St. Paul's ethics ; but there is original teaching
in Christianity which brings us to a type of ethical
doctrine directly due to the influence of the life
and teaching of Christ. This type is illustrated
by a passage in the Epistle to the Colossians :
^Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved,
a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meek-
ness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, and
forgiving each other ; if any man have a complaint
against any, even as the Lord forgave you, so also
do ye.' 1 J It is this class of ethical teaching that is
now to be examined. We seek to find out what
St. Paul meant by these and similar precepts : how
a Christian must bear himself in adversity, and when
suffering wrong from another. The consideration
of the passive virtues has special interest in the
1 Col. iii. 12, 13.
67
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
present day, when the cry for reprisals in war comes
from so many lips. We are bound to ask our-
selves how would our Lord and His Apostles have
responded to the cry. Does the defiance of all
Christian morality on the part of enemies justify
the lowering of the standard established by the
moral consciousness of the Christian world, in
consequence of the ethical teaching of the New
Testament ? Are we to go back to the old
Jewish ethics, ' an eye for an eye and a tooth for
a tooth ? ' Our answer must surely be that the
inculcation of the passive virtues is not for one
time, but for all time ; they form part of the
essentials of the Christian character, and cannot
be set aside without peril to the whole of the ethics
of our faith.
St. Paul's Teaching.
The remarkable fulness with which St. Paul
deals with the passive virtues is significant.
Omitting for the present his precepts regarding
anger and resentment, we may group his teaching
around three great ethical maxims :
{a) c Doing nothing through faction or through
vainglory, but in lowliness of mind,
each counting other better than himself.' 1
1 Phil. ii. 3.
68
THE PASSIVE VIRTUES.
(J?) ' Love suffereth long and is kind.' *
(c) ' Even as the Lord forgave you, so also
do ye.' 2
Humility, meekness, forgiveness — these are
the root, the flower, and the fruit of the Christian
temper.
(i) TaireivofypocrvvY}. This word apparently
gave some trouble to the revisers of the New
Testament. It is rendered by 'humility,' 3 'low-
liness,' 4 and ' lowliness of mind/ 5 The classical
Greek raTreLvoTTjs had a sense of c meanness *
attached to it, but St. Paul uses Ta7reLvo<f>po<rvi>y),
as expressing a great Christian virtue, for through
it he teaches a wise and lowly estimate of ourselves.
The word stands before ' meekness ' and ' long-
suffering,' in the Epistles to the Ephesians and
to the Colossians, as though a right estimate of
self was a preliminary to a right estimate of what
is due to others. It describes the spirit of one
who has come to the knowledge of himself in his
relation to God. It is not so much a social as a
religious virtue ; it has, first of all, reference not
to man, but to God. This removes all idea of
* meanness,' associated in former times with
'humility.' It does not imply thinking about
ourselves worse than we deserve, nor does it
1 1 Cor. xiii. 4. a Col. iii. 13. 3 Col. iii. 12. 4 Eph. iv. 2. B Acts xx. 19.
69
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
imply that we are to be trampled upon by our
fellow-men at their pleasure. True humility sets
us in the right attitude towards God, and removes
all slavish fear of men. ' The first test of a truly
great man,' says Ruskin, ' is his humility. But/
he continues, 'I do not mean by humility doubt of his
own power or hesitation in speaking his opinions.
. . . All great men not only know their business,
but know that they know it, and are not only
right in their main opinions, but they usually
know that they are right in them ; only they do
not think much of themselves on that account,
and they do not expect their fellow-men therefore
to fall down and worship them. They have a curious
under-sense of powerlessness, feeling that the great-
ness is not in them, but through them, and they
could not do or be anything else than God made
them.' *
Humility, though it has reference primarily to
God, yet has immediate results in our bearing
towards others. Arrogance carries its head high
and refuses to surrender one jot or tittle of what
is due to it, but humility, remembering its past,
always conscious of the Divine forgiveness, will
v gladly bow its head. It is but natural that when
St. Paul enjoins humility, he joins with it meekness
1 Frondes AgresteS) p. 13.
70
THE PASSIVE VIRTUES.
and long-suffering. Yet these two words, 7rpavT7)s
and fAaKpodvfjLca, do not exhaust all that St. Paul
has to say concerning our duty in the presence of
suffering and wrong-doing, and some of the treasures
which he brings to light are worth examination.
(2) avTapKeia. The Stoics used this word to
express independence of external circumstances.
Socrates, when asked, ' Who is the wealthiest ? '
replied, 'He that is content with least, for avrdpKeia -
is nature's wealth.' x St. Paul declared, * I have
learned in whatsoever state I am, therein to be
content.' 2
Findlay says, c The Christian self-sufficiency is
relative, it is an independence of the world, through
dependence upon God/ The Stoic self-sufficiency
pretends to be absolute ; the one is the content-
ment of faith, the other of pride. Cato and Paul ■
both stand erect and fearless before a persecuting
world, one with a look of rigid and defiant scorn,
the other with a face lighted up with unutterable
joy in God, now cast down with sorrow, now wet
with tears for God's enemies. The Christian
martyr and the Stoic suicide are the final examples
of these two memorable and contemporaneous
protests against the evils of the world.' 3
1 Lightfoot, Epistle to Philippians, p. 161. 2 Phil. iv. 11.
3 Christian Doctrine and Morals, p. 34.
71
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
(3) vnofjiovT]} This word frequently occurs
in St. Paul's writings, and usually means ( patience/
or * patient enduring.' But while our word
4 patience ' is purely passive, in St. Paul's writings
it is also 'active.' It implies not only endurance,
but perseverance. It is the brave steadfastness
of the man who, undaunted by difficulties, steers
his course straight on towards his goal.
The previous words describe the Christian
temper under suffering. We turn now to a group of
words in which the 'suffering ' is inflicted by others.
(4) fjiaKpodvpia is the self-restraint which
qoes not hastily seek for retaliation. As
yXvKvdvfjLos means sweet-tempered, and d£v0vfjLos
sharp-tempered, so fiaKpodvfXLa is literally long-
temperedness. An attempt was made to introduce
the word ' longanimity ' into our language, but it
failed ; it would have exactly interpreted St. Paul's
fJLCLKpO0VflLa.
1 If we trace this word back to its place among the Platonic virtues,
it will correspond to dvSpeia. But in the pagan scheme this virtue was
almost entirely active. In the Christian Ethic, viro\iovi\ represents the
spirit which follows the complete surrender of the life to God, and
manifests itself in both doing and suffering. The pagan standpoint of
self-complacency and self-sufficiency naturally made the prominent idea
in divSpeia one of active conflict, and the passive element was sup-
pressed, but in the Christian mode of contemplation the passive element
is prominent, in connection with humility, surrender to God, and a
holy love. It is the leading principle of Christianity that the world is
overcome by suffering, even as Christ overcame.
72
THE PASSIVE VIRTUES.
(5) TTpavTT]*; 1 (meekness). This word opposes
all harshness or rudeness in our bearing towards
others. The meek man thinks as little of his
personal claims as the humble man of his personal -
merits. The slight difference between ixaKpodvjxia
and 7TpavT7)<; has been defined thus : the ' long-
minded * man does not get angry soon, the fc meek-
minded man ' does not get angry at all. But this
distinction is not tenable, for, with all its com-
mendations of meekness, the New Testament
commends no man for inability to be angry. In
translating TrpavT7)$ Bishop Lightfoot prefers
4 gentleness ' to * meekness,' and describes it as a
' characteristic of true spirituality.' 2
(6) eVieueeia. This beautiful word has been
a considerable trouble to our translators. In
Acts xxiv. 4 it is translated ' clemency ' ; in 2 Cor.
x. 1, ' gentleness* ; in Phil. iv. 5, the A.V.
translates to inteiices ' moderation/ and the R.V. q
' forbearance/ with ' gentleness ' in the margin, v
' Sweet-reasonableness ' is Matthew Arnold's well-
known equivalent. In Aristotle's Ethics^ the
iirieiiajs stands in contrast to the d/cp^SoSwcaios, as
being satisfied with less than his due.' 3 Bishop
1 1 Cor. iv. 21 ; 2 Cor. x. I ; Gal. v. 23, vi. 1 ; Eph. iv. 2 ;
Col. iii. 12 ; 2 Tim. ii. 15 ; Titus iii. 2.
2 Epistle to Galatzans, p. 212. 3 Eth. Nic. t v. 10.
73
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Lightfoot reminds us that the quality of emeuceia
was signally manifested in our Blessed Lord Him-
self (2 Cor. x. i.) 1 .
(7) xPV a " T ° T V' 5 - This word is rendered 'good'
(Rom. iii. 12); c goodness' (Rom. ii. 4, xi. 22),
but elsewhere 'kindness.' In Rom. xi. 22, it is
set in contrast with airorofLia (severity). Bishop
^Lightfoot says that the word is not * passive/ like
fjLaKpoOvfjLLa, but ' neutral/ ' a kindly disposition
towards one's neighbours, not necessarily taking a
practical form,' 2 but it certainly has a passive side.
Christ's yoke is ^3^0-705, as having nothing harsh
or galling about it ; yet it has to be borne.
(8) dve^LKaKos (patient of wrongs) is translated
in R.V. as 'forbearing,' and is joined with ^mos
(gentle) in the beautiful passage 2 Tim. ii. 24.
In addition to these special precepts, we find
frequent exhortations from St. Paul to his readers
to be at peace both among themselves and with all
men, 3 and to follow after things which make for
peace. 4
If humility is the foundation of Christian
, : moral conduct, forgiveness (d^ecrts) is the crown. 5
In our relations with our fellow-men, we cannot
1 Epistle to Pkilippians, p. 15S. 2 Epistle to Galatians, p. 209.
3 I Thess. v. 12 ; Rom. xii. 18. 4 Rom. xiv. 19.
5 On the difference between afeaig and TrapsatQ see Trench's
Synonyms.
74
THE PASSIVE VIRTUES.
avoid meeting with those who make it their
business to oppose us, and often are capable of
inflicting injuries upon us. One of the greatest
practical difficulties in the Christian faith is to
preserve the spirit of Christ in our dealings with
such persons. It is not sufficient to bear patiently
with them, not enough to refuse to retaliate ; no
negative position can suffice ; there must be positive
forgiveness. St. Paul's teaching is perfectly clear
on this point, and is in close agreement with the
doctrine of Christ. Evil must be faced and
overcome by good. The Corinthians, when
suffering from a grievous scandal, caused by an
evildoer in their church, are exhorted to forgive
the penitent sinner, lest such an one be swallowed
up by overmuch sorrow. 1 There is a fine ring
in the exhortations : ' Bless them that curse you,
bless and curse not.' ' If thine enemy hunger,
feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink.' 2 ** The
right attitude of the Christian man to his fellows
is well expressed in the words;** Be ye kind one to
another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, even
as God also in Christ forgave you.' 3 \ *
1 2 Cor ii. 7, 8. 2 Rom. xii. 14, 20. A Eph. iv. 32.
75
CHAPTER VI.
THE PAULINE IDEAL.
f^HE ethical doctrine thus sketched could not
fail to attract attention, especially from those
who had been educated in pagan surroundings.
The greatest and noblest Greek philosophers, who
discoursed so eloquently upon ' friendship,' had no
message of kindness for enemies. The thirst for
revenge is so strong in the natural man that a
voice proclaiming it sinful was at least sure of a
hearing. But the Pauline teaching was made a
thousandfold more impressive because what it
enjoined was also exhibited ; its ideal was there,
set forth in a perfect human life. St. Paul's ethics
was not constructed out of his own mind, but was
the inevitable result of his knowledge of the actual
life of Jesus. We have already noted that it has
been asserted by many writers that, beyond the
facts of the crucifixion and resurrection of our
Lord, St. Paul had little acquaintance with His
life and teaching. How untrue this statement is
may be further shown from St. Paul's Epistles.
76
THE PAULINE IDEAL.
He could say to the Philippians, ' Have this mind
in you, which was also in Christ Jesus/ l and ^
proceed to show the humility and obedience which
marked the life of our Lord. And, if St. Paul's
exhortations concerning patience, meekness, and
forgiveness, have weight with us to-day, it is because
he reflects perfectly the life and teaching of Him
who was meek and lowly of heart, ' Who, when
He was reviled, reviled not again ; when He
suffered, threatened not;' 2 and when He died,
prayed for His murderers, * Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do.' 3 This relation
between the Divine example and human duty is
continually present to the mind of St. Paul in his
reference to the passive virtues. The long-suffer-
ing (jjiaKpoOvfJiia) and kindness (XPV (TT ° T V <; ) which
we are to show in our dealings with others, are
abundantly made manifest in God's dealings with
us through His Son. 4 The forgiveness we receive
from Him is the true measure of the forgiveness
we must extend to others. St. Paul's method is,
he begins with God, manifest in the historic
Christ, the Incarnate Son, who stands in direct
relation to man, and to whom man is united by
faith in His redemption. From this relation St.
1 Phil. ii. 5. " 1 Pet. ii. 23. 3 Luke xxiii. 24.
* Rom. ii. 4, xi. 22.
77
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Paul deduces the character and measure of human
obligation. Take, for instance, the great passage
on the Incarnation, in Philippians ; there the self-
emptying and humiliation of our Lord are brought
before us, to lend emphasis to the exhortation to
be lowly-minded : * Have this mind in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus.' x In 2 Thess. the Apostle
prays, * The Lord direct your hearts into the love
of God, and into the patience of Christ/ 2 Again
he writes, ' I entreat you by the meekness and
gentleness of Christ.' 3 Here, once more, the
radiant figure of Christ seems to be present before
the Apostle as he pens his epistle to his beloved
Corinthians.
But it was in the Cross of Christ that St. Paul
found the supreme manifestation of the love which
suffereth long, and is kind. ' Being reviled, we
bless ; being persecuted, we endure ; being defamed,
we entreat.' 4 4- Where was this hard lesson learnt ? 4-
Surely at the foot of the Cross, where Incarnate
Love suffered and was yet undimmed.
Before we pass from St. Paul's teaching on the
passive virtues we may well pause to note once
more that these virtues were all exhibited in his own
life. He never ceased to be humbled by the thought
1 Phil. ii. 5-8. - 2 Thess. iii. 5. 3 2 Cor. a. i.
4 I Cor. iv. 12.
78
THE PAULINE IDEAL.
of God's infinite mercy, in revealing His Son in
him. 1 We may discern in his epistles the manner
in which his humility deepened, as he acquired a
richer knowledge of the Divine Love. He writes
to the Corinthians, ' I am not meet to be called an
apostle, because I persecuted the Church of
Christ/ 2
At a later period of his life, when a prisoner at
Rome, he writes, c Unto me, who am less than the
least of all saints ' 3 ; and, still later, to Timothy^
' Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief.' 4 'Unworthy to be an
apostle ' ; ' less than the least of all saints ' ; i chief
sinner/ Can we doubt the deep humility of the
great Apostle, who strove to be an imitator of Him
of whom he said, ( He humbled himself 7 ? 5
1 Gal. i. 16. 2 I Cor. xv. ix. 3 Eph. iii. 8.
4 i Tim. i. 15. 5 Phil. ii. 8.
79
CHAPTER VII.
DIVERGENCE OF PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN
ETHICS ESTABLISHED BY THE CHRISTIAN
LAW OF FORGIVENESS.
' I ''HERE can be no clearer indication of the
estimate put upon humility, in pre-Christian
times, than the fact already noted that the Greek
language had no word of good credit to represent
it. Bishop Lightfoot says, ' In heathen writers,
TairtivQS has always a bad meaning — grovelling,
abject. In Aristotle, for example, rcwreivos is
associated with av^pairohmhi)^ in Plato with
avekevdepos, in Arrian with ayevvrjs. ' It was one
great result of the life of Christ to raise
" humility " to its proper level, and if not freshly
coined for this purpose, the word raTreivo^poo-vvy]
J now first became current, through the influence of
Christian ethics.' * There is one occasion in the
New Testament when the word has not a praise-
worthy meaning.' 2 In this case St. Paul is quoting
1 Epistle to Philippians, note on ii, 3. 2 2 Cor. x. i.
80
PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
the sneers current in Corinth at his expense ; the
speakers knew the word only as one of contempt.
Twice in the Colossian Epistle l St. Paul uses the
word in disparagement. These are the only ex-
ceptions to the general rule.
No less sharp is the contrast between paganism
and Christianity in the case of forgiveness. There
are isolated cases of generosity towards enemies,
but these cannot efface the deep distinction between
pagan and Christian practice. Plutarch tells us
that the inscription on the tomb of Sulla was,
' No man did ever pass him, neither in doing good
to his friends nor in doing mischief to his enemies.'
The stern, hard, cold Roman, who knew no feeling
of pity for his enemies, and is continually appearing
in ancient history, was typical of the pagan attitude
towards those who had given offence, a type exactly
the opposite of the Christian as sketched by St.
Paul.
While praising the passive virtues, it is neces-
sary to bear in mind how easily they are counter-
feited ; there is a pride which apes humility. -
One of the most striking characters of Charles
Dickens was always professing his humility, while
acting in the most despicable way. Also meek-
ness does not mean tameness ; to be poor in spirit
1 Col. ii. 18, 23.
8l G
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
does not mean poor-spirited. The nature which
exercises self-restraint and avoids self-assertion has
nothing in common with the amiability which
merely strives to please. Nor does a forgiving
spirit imply complacency towards evil and an in-
ability to show anger. It is far from being true
that love and anger cannot dwell together in the
same mind. The truth is, that he who has lost
the power to be angry has lost much of his power
to love.
The various misconceptions of the passive
virtues usually spring from the idea that they are
all in some way or another associated with weak-
ness. Such is not St. Paul's conception. No one
was more passively virtuous than he was, yet no
one could flame out in righteous anger more
vehemently than he. On one memorable occasion
he withstood St. Peter to the face, because he
stood condemned. 1 St. Paul knew when to give
way and when to stand firm. His passivity of
soul never affected his moral energy, and we find
him not only enjoining all patience and long-
suffering, but praying that the Colossians may be
able to practise these virtues, by being strengthened
with all power, according to the might of His
glory. 2 Men never need more the strength
1 Gal. ii. II. 2 Col. i. n.
82
PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
which comes from God than when they are called
upon to forbear and to forgive. ' Stronger is he
that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.' r ~~
Although it is asserted that Christianity has
done little to make men forgiving, and the present
War presents a saddening spectacle to all who
love the teaching of Christ and His Apostles,
yet there is no need to despair. Many strong-
holds, in which evil seemed impregnable in heathen
times, have fallen before the assaults of Chris-
tianity. Revenge, it has been truly said, is J
the last stronghold of the natural man. It is the
last position he holds against the spirit of the
Gospel, and some day it will fall as other strong-
holds of evil have fallen. It must never be forgotten
that forgiveness is the peculiar characteristic of
Christianity, as the author of Ecce Homo points out,
and when a Christian spirit is spoken of, it is a for-
giving spirit which is usually meant. The pagan
in us all dies hard, but when from our hearts we
have learnt to forgive he receives his death-blow.
83
CHAPTER VIII.
THE INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES.
jf ECKY, in his History of European Morals,
^^ makes the serious charge against early
Christianity that the new faith made no appeal to
the intellectual virtues, and brought about a
' complete overthrow of intellectual freedom/ In
making this charge, which is practically a claim
for more freedom in religious thought, Lecky
overlooks the point that in the case of secular
knowledge there is no established * deposit of
truth,' variance from which involves sin, and there-
fore philosophers are at liberty to discuss such
themes to their hearts' content. But in Chris-
tianity there is a depositum fidei, disagreement from
which involves heresy and leads to schism, sins
which are condemned by St. Paul. Intellectual
activity is not denied to Christians, but the activity
must not run counter to the revelation of God in
8 4
THE INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES.
Jesus Christ ; it must be limited within bounds,
which include all the truths taught by our Lord
and His Apostles. 1
Not only does Lecky charge early Christianity
with a lack of intellectual freedom, but also he
places the period which followed the conversion of
Constantine as lower in intellectual virtues than
any other period in the history of mankind, and
says : ' The noble love of truth, the sublime and
scrupulous justice to opponents, which was the
glory of the ancient philosophers, was for centuries
after the destruction of philosophy almost unknown
in the world.' 2 The controversies of the early
Church reveal an intolerance of opposition and an
intensity of bigotry which left an evil example to
later ages, and still mar many characters which are,
in other spheres of conduct, conspicuous for their
virtue. The duty of thinking, the sacredness of
fact, the fearless love of truth, the obligation to
avoid passion and prejudice, have never received
from the general body of Christian men the full
and ungrudging recognition that is their due.
While this is admitted, it ought to be clearly
recognised that the failure is due to the manifesta-
tion of Christianity in history rather than 10 its
1 See I Tim i. 18-20 ; 1 Tim. vi. 3 ; 2 Tim. ii. 16-18.
2 Vol. I., pp. 176 (footnote), 428; Vol. II. , p. 15.
8;
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
original spirit, as revealed in the New Testament.
No fair-minded reader of St. Paul's Epistles could
charge their writer with either credulity or bigotry.
These remarkable documents, many of them
written long before the Gospels, constitute the
earliest and most authoritative exposition of the
mind of Christ in our possession, and are remark-
able for the reverent freedom and boldness with
which the Apostle allows his mind to play around
the solemn themes of which he writes. It is to
this general attitude that we turn, rather than
to specific texts (although these are not wanting)
in order to learn what may be called the ethics of
the intellect according to St. Paul.
(a) In the first place, St. Paul was a deep
thinker. ' He belongs/ says Sabatier, ' to the
family of powerful dialecticians ; he ranks with
Plato, with Augustine and Calvin, with Schlier-
macher, Spinoza, Hegel. An imperious necessity
compelled him to give his belief full dialectic
expression, and to raise it above contradictories.
Having affirmed it, he confronts it at once with its
opposite, and his faith is incomplete until it has
triumphed over this antithesis and reached a point
of a higher unity.' 1 Immediately after his con-
version he went into the solitude of the Arabian
1 The Apostle Paul, p. 89.
86
THE INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES.
desert, to think out the new revelation given to
him. 1
That St. Paul was in possession of all the main
elements of the Gospel, before he began to preach
it, is certain. His thoughts kept pace with his
missionary zeal. As he entered upon new fields
of thought, and gathered certainty in his new
faith, he pressed forward into new fields of service.
The powerful emotional appeals in the Pauline
Epistles have often obscured, to the reader, the
underlying intellectuality of his thought. The
Christian heart has been warmed by his glow,
but the Christian intellect has not always followed
his powerful dialectic. And not only was St.
Paul himself a thinker, but also he expected his
readers to be thinkers also. While it is probably
true, as recent writers like Ramsay and Dobschutz
have pointed out, that the early Christian Churches
were by no means so exclusively composed of the
poor and uncultured, as has been too hastily
gathered from the language of i Cor. i. 26, 27, yet
these classes were undoubtedly largely attracted
by the message of hope contained in the Gospel. 2
Dobschutz points out that though St. Paul says
1 Gal. i. 17.
2 Ramsay's Church in the Roman Empire, pp. 44, 147 ; St. Paul
the Traveller, p. 130.
87
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
' not many ' wise after the flesh, * not many '
mighty, ' not many ' noble are called, yet we
must distinguish between ' not many ' and ' not
any/ Occasionally St. Paul indicates that persons
of superior rank were among his converts. Law-
suits concerning property indicate a certain social
standing. Men like Stephanus, Erastus, and
Philemon must have been well to do. The
Apostle asked for a large contribution to the
Relief Fund from the Corinthians, 2 and although
he refused help for his own maintenance the reason
was a special one. It was not on account of the
poverty of the members of the Church. People
who discussed the superiority of the Alexandrian
allegorical style of teaching of Apollos could not
have been devoid of culture. Could illiterate
people have followed the arguments of the
Epistles to the Romans, and to the Ephesians?
Would the argument for the resurrection, in
i Cor. xv., be intelligible to uncultivated slaves?
Even in the present day there are comparatively
few persons who are able to understand and profit
by the acute dialectic of the Apostle. From these
considerations we may fairly conclude that large
numbers of educated and refined persons were in-
cluded among the earliest converts to Christianity.
1 i Cor. xvi. 2-5.
88
THE INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES.
Another charge against early Christianity is
made by Professor Knight, who speaks of the un-
reflective manner in which the first Christians
embraced the Christian religion : l They seized it
first of all,' he says, ' by intuition, by unsophisti-
cated feeling and the response of the heart/ while
reflection followed afterwards. 1 There is a certain
truth in this : Christianity was not preached as a
philosophy. When, at Athens, St. Paul attempted
to present it in philosophical language the result
was a failure : its appeal was to the felt needs of
man, and it first stirred the heart ; but this does
not prove that the mind remained dormant and
unreflective. Dr. Stalker is much nearer the
truth when he says : ' Christianity, as it went
through the cities of the world in St. Paul's person,
must have gone as a great intellectual awakening,
which taught men to use their minds, investigating
the profoundest problems of life.' 2 Can we sup-
pose that those who used curious arts at Ephesus
burnt their books out of a purely emotional feel-
ing ? Their dupes were doubtless stupid and
superstitious, but they themselves were probably
intellectual enough to make their calling profitable
to themselves.
As an illustration of St. Paul's intellectual
The Christian Ethic, pp. 9, 10. 2 The Preacher and his Models^ p. 244.
89
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
temper we may note his high regard for. truth,
in spite of his Rabbinical casuistry, which will be
discussed later. First, among the things which
were to be the subject of Christian meditation,
stand ' Whatsoever things are true.' 1 First, in the
Christian soldier's equipment, is the girdle of
truth. 2 To the Thessalonians he writes, ' Prove
all things, hold fast that which is good.' 3 His
converts are not to be as children tossed to
and fro by every wind of doctrine, but to be
'followers of the truth in love.' 4 Christianity,
according to St. Paul, has a message of truth to
the world. ' Our exhortation/ he writes to the
Thessalonians, ' is not of error, nor of unclean-
ness, nor in guile/ 5 He is confident that his
doctrines are true, as his own motives were pure.
He does not corrupt the word of God, nor handle
it deceitfully, but commends himself to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. 6 He urges
Titus in his teaching to show ' uncorruptness ' ;
and exhorts Timothy to prove himself a workman
that needed not to be ashamed, handling aright the
word of truth. 7 It is significant that each epistle
of the captivity, with the exception of the short
letter to Philemon, contains a prayer that its
1 Phil. iv. 8. 3 I Thess. \. 21. 5 t Thess. ii. 3. 7 2 Tim. ii. 15.
Eph. vi. 14. i Eph. iv. 15. c 2 Cor. ii. 17.
90
THE INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES.
readers may be led into a fuller understanding of
the Gospel they had received. ^ I cease not to give
thanks for you, making mention of you in my
prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of
wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of-.
Him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened. U*
The great aim of the Apostle was that his converts
should grow in all the virtues of the intellect,
should be perfectly truthful, and filled with wisdom
and understanding. \
(b) Their Place in the subsequent
History of the Church.
When we pass from the New Testament period
to the subsequent history of the Church, we are con-
scious of a rapid descent. The intellectual virtues
seem to suffer immediate and disastrous collapse.
Forgeries and pious frauds abound. Through long
ages it seems as though there was no such thing as an
ethic of intellect, as if mental morality had ceased to
exist. The picture is not quite so black as Mr. Lecky
would have us believe, and the faults were not
peculiar to early Christianity ; they were the faults
of the general intellectual character of the time.
Christians, as Mr. Lecky admits, in numberless
1 Eph. i. 16-18 ; see also Phil. i. 9, 10 ; Col. i. 9-11.
9 1
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
cases refused to act a lie, and comply with heathen
forms of worship, even to save their lives. They
stood forward as representatives of a moral prin-
ciple utterly unknown, even amongst the most
truth-loving philosophers of the Pagan world.
Even Marcus Aurelius failed to understand their
inflexibility in maintaining what they held to be
true, and ascribed their conduct to obstinacy.
Although Christians may well be proud of the
martyr-spirit, which was so conspicuous in the
early centuries of the Church, yet we cannot but
deplore the endless number of forged documents,
which, as Mr. Lecky says, ' is one of the most
disgraceful features of the Church history of the
first few centuries.' x Milman says, * Christian
gratitude and reverence soon began to be discon-
tented with the silence of the authentic writings as
to the fate of the twelve chosen companions of
Christ. It began first with some modest respect
for truth, but soon with bold defiance of pro-
bability to lighten their obscure course, till each
might be traced, by the blaze of miracle, into
remote regions of the world, where it is clear
that, if they had penetrated, no record of their
existence was likely to survive.' 2 On the ground
1 History of Etiropean Morals % vol. i., p. 34 (footnote).
2 History of Christianity, vol. ii., p. 13.
92
THE INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES.
of a supposed correspondence with St. Paul, Seneca
was claimed by Jerome as 'one of us/ 1 The
Acts of Paul and Thecla was the composition of
a presbyter who, when he was convicted, confessed
that he had written it out of love to St. Paul.
The Ignatian epistles were largely interpolated, at
an early period, in the interests of the monarch-
ical episcopate. The Sibylline oracles were most
amazing pious frauds, which put into the lips of
ancient heathens predictions of the Messiah and
His sufferings, and of the overthrow of the Roman
power. In the Jewish ' Testament of the Twelve
Patriarchs/ there are notorious Christian interpola-
tions. 2 It was a credulous age, and Christian
morality suffered in the general low respect for
truth. Bitter taunts, like that of a famous Ger-
man historian, who classes Christian veracity with
( Punic faith/ owe their sting to the ignoble
methods of men, who thought they could serve
the kingdom of God by a lie.
(<:) The Place of the Intellectual Vir-
tues in the Life of the Church To-day.
If we inquire, whether in the Church's life
to-day the great Pauline tradition is being main-
l Adv. Jov. i. 49 ; * Scripserunt Aristoteles et Plutarchus et noster Seneca.'
2 So also in Esdras iv.
93
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
tained, the answer must be 'yes' and c no.'
We have moved far from the time when the
deliberate falsification of documents was con-
doned in the interests of the Church; so far,
that we are perhaps inclined to be too severe
in our judgments of those whose moral standards
were not and could not be ours ; yet, even now,
the place of intellect in religion is very imper-
fectly recognised. By most Christians it is re-
garded with suspicion, and many are satisfied to
preach what is considered to be ' orthodox religion/
without much intellectual interest in the contents
of the Christian revelation. The unspeakably
foolish depreciation of theology, the wide gulf
which often separates the Christian evangelist
from the Christian scholar ; the tendency to exalt
1 feeling ' in religion ; the sheer intellectual lazi-
ness of many congregations, lulled to indifference
by the ' intellectual laziness of many clergymen':
all witness to the fact that there is a very feeble
recognition of the value of intellect in our present-
day religion. We ought to see that this is fraught
with peril to the future of the Church. Every
day men drift away into unbelief, because they
find out, as they grow older, that they have never
grasped religion as an intellectual truth. Their
general intellectual outlook has been slowly widen-
94
THE INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES.
ing, while their religious outlook has remained
unchanged. Then, when they have failed to find
the reconciling point between the faith of child-
hood and the larger knowledge of mature intel-
ligence, they drift into scepticism. The only hope
lies in the recognition that the Gospel has its
definite message, which can edify the souls of the
simple without affronting the intelligence of the
wise ; in the realisation that the true evangel is
one in which zeal and culture, religion and theo-
logy, the heart and the intellect, are yoked
together in a common service.
95
CHAPTER IX.
THE ETHICS OF SPEECH.
T N his ethical teaching, it was impossible for
A St. Paul to overlook sins of the tongue. The
Greeks were especially prone to these sins, as we
may learn from many passages in their literature.
Athens is described by pagan dramatists and
satirists as a city full of scandal. St. Luke de-
scribes the Athenians of his day as caring for
nothing, except speaking and hearing some new
thing. If St. James, writing to the more serious
Hebrews, found it necessary to emphasise the
danger to religion from a want of restraint in
language, we should expect that St. Paul would
not be silent regarding it, in giving advice to the
more quick-witted Greeks. Although his writings
contain no such definite statements of the danger
of the misuse of language, as we find in St. James's
Epistle, 1 there is a remarkable list of sins of speech
named by him, especially in his later Epistles ;
when the care of all the Churches weighed heavily
1 James i. 19, iii. 2-12.
96
THE ETHICS OF SPEECH.
on his mind during his captivity at Rome. The
list, with the English equivalent adopted by the
R.V., is as follows :
alorxpokoyta . shameful speaking. 1
fiXacrtfryjiJLia . . railing. 2
(f3\d(r<l>7}fios . . railer or blasphemer. 3 )
The verb fikacrfyriiieiv frequently occurs.
ivrpomekia . . jesting. 4
KarakaKid . . backbiting. 5
(KardXakos . . backbiter. 6 )
Kpavyij . . . clamour. 7
\6yos (Tempos . corrupt speech. 8
fjuaraioXoyia . . vain talking. 9
(p,aTaio\6yos . . vain-talker. 10 )
fimpokoyia . . foolish talking. 11
iridavoXoyia . . persuasiveness of speech. 12
iriKpia .... bitterness. 13
xfjevSos . . . falsehood u (i/fewmys,
xjsevBokoyos).
\jji0vpto-fi6s . . whispering. 15
(\jjL0vpta-Tyjs . . whisperer. 16 )
This long list of sins of speech would lead us
1 Col. iii. 8. 2 Eph. iv. 31 ; Col. iii. 8 ; 1 Tim. vi. 4.
3 1 Tim. i. 13 ; 2 Tim. iii. z.. a - Eph. v. 4. 5 2 Cor. xii. 2a
6 Rom. i. 30. 7 Eph. iv. 31. 8 Eph. iv. 29.
10 Titus i. 10. n Eph. v. 4.
13 Rom. iii. 14 ; Eph. iv. 31. u Eph. iv. 25.
16 Rom. 1.30.
9 1 Tim. i. 6.
12 Col. ii. 4.
15 2 Cor. xii. 20.
97
H
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
to expect a full treatment of the ethics of speech,
but no formal discussion is found in the Epistles.
Warning is given against careless folly in conver-
sation, while definite sins of speech are sternly
rebuked, as being unfitting in those who were
called to be saints. The great point to be noted
is, that St. Paul regards the Christian life as one
which ought to stand out as an example to the
heathen world, and exhibit restraint from language,
not necessarily evil, but marking frivolity of mind.
Christians were to be filled with the Spirit. Speak-
ing to each other (or in themselves) * in psalms,
and hymns, and spiritual songs ; singing and
making melody in your heart to the Lord.' 1
It may seem that this is a hard saying, which
few could heed; but St. Paul had a high standard,
and was bound to set it before his readers as
worthy of their attainment. The following divi-
sions may help us to bring out in some connected
form the ethical teaching of St. Paul on this
subject.
(a) Idle Words.
Bishop Butler warns against the disposition
* to be talking/ — ' abstracted from the considera-
tion of what has to be said, with very little or no
1 Eph. v. 19.
98
THE ETHICS OF SPEECH.
regard to, or thought of doing harm or good/
To this category belong the passages i Tim. v. 1 3,
* withal they (the younger widows) learn also to
be idle, going about from house to house ; and not
only idle, but tattlers ((frXvapot,) also, and busy-
bodies, speaking things they ought not/ <j>Xvapos,
Ellicott says, indicates one who indulges in a bab-
bling, profluent way of talking. 1 In Eph. v. 4
foolish talking ( fjLcjpoXoyia) is one of the things
named as unbefitting saints. The word denotes a
random way of talking, which often passes into
sin. It is that talk which is ' foolishness and sin
together/ 2 Eph. iv. 29, 'Let no corrupt speech
proceed out of your mouth/ It may perhaps be
thought that this belongs to another category, but
<ra7rp6<5 is used not only of that which is ' corrupt,'
but of that which is "worthless/ 3 Corrupt speech
is condemned in the following chapter ; here it is
against inept useless talk that St. Paul warns his
readers.
Talkativeness is one of those bad habits which
few people take seriously ; the satire of Horace
scathes the talkative man, and brands him as a bore,
and modern judgment rarely goes further. How
far this is from the tremendous saying of Jesus, * I
1 Ellicott's Pastoral Epistles, note on I Tim. v. 13.
2 Trench's Synonyms, p. 121. 3 Matt. xii. 33, xiii. 48.
99
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
say unto you, that every idle word that men shall
speak, they shall give account thereof in the
day of judgment.' With these words ringing in
our ears, we may need to ask, what is the sin in
idle words ? This question was answered by
Bishop Butler in his sermon f On the government
of the tongue.' He admits that speech was given
to man not only to minister to his needs, but also
for his enjoyment, and that this secondary use is
in every respect allowable and right. If men will
avoid forbidden paths 3 then their conversation may
be as free and unreserved as they please. But
great talkers, people who delight in talking for talk-
ing s sake, are always on the edge of saying more
than they know, and, as St. Paul says about tattlers
and busybodies, of speaking things they ought
not. This unrestrained wantonness of speech is
productive of much evil. It begets resentment in
him who is the subject of it ; sows the seeds of
strife and dissension among others ; influences little
disgusts and offences, which if left alone would
wear away of themselves. It has often as bad an
effect upon the good name of others as deep envy
and malice, and it certainly destroys and perverts
a certain equity of the utmost importance to
society to be observed, viz., that praise and dis-
praise of a good or bad character should always be
IOO
THE ETHICS OF SPEECH.
bestowed according to desert. The tongue used
in a licentious manner is like a sword in the
hands of a madman, it is employed at random, it
can scarcely do any good, it often does harm.
Wherefore let no worthless and good-for-nothing
speech proceed out of your mouth. 1
(b) Evil Speaking.
From much speaking to evil speaking the
transition is easy. On this subject a small group
of precepts may be found in St. Paul's writings.
Twice in the Pastoral Epistles he warns women
against degenerating into ' slanderers ' (Sia/?oAot).
There is no temper of mind so entirely unchristian,
none that deserves so well the strongest censure,
as that shown by the slanderer. Tennyson
emphasises this in the lines :
* Slander, meanest spawn of Hell,
And women's slander is the worst.'
What St. Paul warns against is not the kind
of slander against which the law of libel provides
a remedy; but those slanders which are too subtle
for the law to deal with, and which are yet capable
of inflicting grave injury upon the slandered.
The shrug of the shoulder when a person is men-
] On the subject of Talkativeness, see Plutarch's De Garrulitate.
IOl
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
tioned ; the lifting of the eyebrow ; nay, even a
marked silence, is sufficient to do the mischief. It
is against these subtle forms of slander that the
Christian must be on his guard, resolved neither
by word nor by gesture to give a false impression
of a fellow-man. 1 The Apostle says, ' Put them
in mind to speak evil of no man.' 2 And ' Let all
railing (/3Xaor</>?7/xia) be put away from you,' 3 and
4 all shameful speaking (ai<r)(p6koyia) out of your
mouth/ 4 alcr)(po\oyia has a double meaning,
either * filthy communication,' such as manifests
an impure mind; or, more generally, foul-mouthed
abusiveness. In this passage the more general
meaning is to be preferred. Evil-speaking has been
reprobated by morality in every age. The Son of
Sirach says, ' A backbiting tongue has disquieted
many, . . . strong cities hath it pulled down, and
overturned the houses of great men/ 5 It is still
an evil in every community ; and persons, who
shrink from physical violence, have no hesitation
in taking away the good name of another. Three
things are needful to stay this plague of evil-
speaking :
(i) Butler's warning against talking for talk-
1 On this subject see Robertson's sermon on * The Tongue
{Sermons, 3rd series).
2 Titus iii. 2. 3 Eph. iv. 31. * Col. iii. 8. 5 Ecclus. xxviii. 14.
102
THE ETHICS OF SPEECH.
ing's sake ; for when other topics are exhausted, it
is easy to turn to defamation and scandal.
(2) To avoid talking of the concerns and be-
haviour of our neighbours. This does not mean
that all talk about persons is to be banished from
our talks and firesides, for persons must always be
to us the chief interest of life. The pity of it is
that we turn our attention more to the failings of
others than to their virtues. We are quick to
recognise their faults, and free in our discussion of
them. It is only the spirit of love which can keep
us within the limits of safety in conversation about
others. Herbert Spencer says, ' If you want to
estimate any one's mental calibre, you cannot do
better than by observing the ratio of generalities
to personalities in his talk — how the simple truths
about individuals are replaced by truths abstracted
from numerous experiences of men and things/ l
There is a certain truth in these words, but it
overlooks the fact that most of the interest of our
lives is derived from those with whom we come in
contact, and it is no sign of deficiency of intellect
to discuss them in a kindly and friendly spirit.
Epictetus also goes too far when he says, ' Let
silence be your general rule, or say only that
which is necessary, and in a few words . . .
1 Study oj Sociology ', p. 32.
103
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
above all, avoid speaking of persons, either in
the way of praise, or blame, or comparison.'
(3) As we utter no slander, so we must not
listen to it. The dealer in slander seeks a market
for his wares. If men refused to listen, his
wretched business would soon come to an end.
No man cares to talk without an audience. When
our ears are closed to the voice of the slanderer,
his mouth will soon be stopped.
(c) Corrupt Speech.
Corrupt speech may or may not be the correct
translation of \6yos a-cmpo?, which St. Paul for-
bids in Ephesians. 1 If it is ' corrupt,' there is an
interesting parallel in Colossians, ' Let your speech
be always with grace, seasoned with salt/ 2 That
is, let your speech be always wholesome and un-
tainted, alcrxpokoyia, as we have seen, has the
meanings of both * abusive ' and l foul ' speech.
aioxpoTTfs 3 is 'filthiness/ whether of word, gesture,
or deed ; it includes all indecent talk. The word
translated jesting {evrpa7rekia\ which is joined to
ai<rxp6T7)$, and declared to be ' unfitting/ does not
forbid pure and wholesome mirth. Bright flashes
of wit, pleasant gleams of kindly humour, are
amongst the joys which light up the dulness of our
1 iv. 29. 2 Col. iv. 6. 3 Eph. v, 4.
104
THE ETHICS OF SPEECH.
lives. tvTpaTrekia had at first a harmless meaning.
As its derivation implies, its original meaning was
' versatility ' in manner or speech. But gradually
the word took a darker ethical meaning, and
degenerated into low jesting ; the kind of wit
which has a savour of impurity. Dr. Dale says :
' The jesting which St. Paul describes as " not
befitting " is the kind of conversation that reaches
its perfection in a civilised, luxurious, and brilliant
society, which has no faith in God, no reverence
for moral law, no sense of the grandeur of human
life, no awe in the presence of the mystery of death.
In such a society, to which the world is the scene
of a pleasant comedy, in which all men are actors,
a polished insincerity, and a versatility which is
never arrested by strong and immovable convic-
tions, are the objects of universal admiration.
The foulest indecencies are applauded, if they are
conveyed under the thin disguise of a graceful
phrase, a remote allusion, an ingenious ambiguity.
There is a refinement to which, not vice itself, but
the coarseness of vice, is distasteful, and which
regards with equal resentment the ruggedness of
virtue. This is the kind of jesting that St. Paul
so sternly condemns/ 1
1 Lectures on EphesianS) p. 331. See also Ellicott on Ephesians,
p. 114, and Trench's Synonyms^ p. 121.
I05
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
(d} Untruthfulness.
With regard to this vice St. Paul is emphatic.
' Lie not one to another' 1 ; * Putting away false-
hood, speak ye truth each one with his neigh-
bour/ 2 He warns the Colossians not to be led
away by ' persuasiveness of speech ' {TtiQavokoyia)?
Deacons must not be ' double-tongued/ 4 In his
own dealings with his converts, St. Paul repudiates
any suspicion of fickleness in his conduct. 5 In his
list of law-breakers, when he mentions men guilty
of most atrocious crimes, he adds liars and false-
swearers. 6 St. Paul does not refer to those ques-
tions of casuistry, which are so often discussed by
moralists. There are cases when it is possible to
deviate from strict truth without immorality. In
medicine, in war, in diplomacy, it has been always
recognised that latitude is permissible. It is not
regarded as sinful for a lonely woman, when faced
with possible violence, to pretend she has a pro-
tector near at hand ; but such cases are seldom
met with in life, and do not affect the general
principle of truthfulness in our relations with
others.
In the consideration of St. Paul's precepts, it is
hardly necessary to speak of the grosser forms of
1 Col. iii. 9. 2 Eph. iv. 25. a Col. ii. 4. * 1 Tim. iii. 8.
5 2 Cor. i. 17. 6 1 Tim. i. 10.
106
THE ETHICS OF SPEECH.
falsehood, which are universally condemned by the
Christian conscience ; but there are forms of un-
truth which are not so readily recognised.
(i) Butler reminds us that there is such a
thing as plain falseness, and insincerity, in men
with regard to themselves. We wish to stand
well with ourselves, and this self-interest often
blinds us to the truth. There is no more subtle
foe than self-deceit. St. Paul warns every man
' not to think, of himself more highly than he
ought to think.' 1 A sober judgment of self would
lead to the abandonment of many affectations in
our life. Smyth, speaking of this tendency of
men to endeavour to present themselves in an
unduly favourable light to others, says : c No one
can wear repeatedly the habit of affectation before
others except at the cost of his own integrity. Let
this habit of untruthfulness in little social things,
and daily affectations of manner continue, and a
wholly unnatural type of character, eaten out with
insincerities, may be the result.' 2
(2) One of the commonest of these unregarded
forms of truth springs from simple inattention and
carelessness. How seldom a simple narrative is
repeated in the same form as that it originally had.
There are persons who have an ' unveracious
1 Rom. xii. 3. 2 Christian Ethics^ p. 387-
107
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
mind, 5 they are careless about the exact truth of
what they say. The fact is, it requires some
trouble to be truthful. ' Speaking truth/ says
Ruskin, ' is like writing fair, and comes only by
practice, it is less a matter of will than of habit/
What is needed is to ' make conscience ' of all we
say. To remember the words of our Lord, ' By
thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy
words thou shalt be condemned.' 1
(3) Closely allied to the fault just noted is the
habit of * exaggeration.' It is so easy to add a
little to a story to make it more impressive. There
is no intention to hurt any one by the addition,
and we forget that we are hurting ourselves.
When we deliberately swerve from the strict truth,
however little, we are undermining the sacredness
of the chief corner-stone of every true and worthy
life, and this must result in irreparable injury to
our character.
Grieve not the Holy Spirit.
It is a very tender and solemn entreaty, and
should move us the more as we note the connec-
tion in which it stands.
St. Paul has just been warning the Ephesians
against idle speech, and passes directly to the
1 Matt. xii. 37.
108
THE ETHICS OF SPEECH.
exhortation. When we offend with our tongue,
we injure not only our own character, not only our
fellow-men, but we grieve the Holy Spirit of God.
After the deification of the Roman Emperors it
was considered impious to use any coarse language
before their statues, and ought not we Christian men
and women so to keep the door of our lips that we
speak no word unworthy of that Presence, from
which we can never pass ?
109
CHAPTER X.
ETHICS OF CONTROVERSY.
ipHE very form in which a large part of the
New Testament has come down to us is due
to the controversies in which St. Paul was called
upon to take a leading part, and our Lord Himr
self was constantly engaged in strife with those
who opposed His claims. Yet the need and temper
of controversy are questions which have received
small consideration in ethical text-books.
In a survey of St. Paul's ethical teaching it is
impossible to ignore St. Paul the controversialist ;
and from the ethics of the intellect we turn there-
fore to the ethics of controversy.
(a) The Need for Controversy.
In Muller's Holy and Profane States f the Con-
troversial Divine ' has a place by the side of ' the
Good Judge,' c the Good Physician,' 'the Faithful
Minister.' In the present day controversy is
regarded with impatience, and often with con-
tempt. The long controversies on Christological
I IO
ETHICS OF CONTROVERSY.
questions in the fourth and fifth centuries ; the
renewal of strife after the Reformation, and the
bitter spirit which has so often marked the con-
troversialists have led many people to turn away
from controversy as though it were altogether
opposed to the spirituality of religion. It is not
difficult to see how this has come about. When
we remember the pettiness and triviality of many
of the questions for which men have fought, the
fierce and undying animosities which controversy
has kindled, the barrenness of the results in most
cases ; is it a marvel that to many controversy
has had no more value than the cawing of rooks
and bickering of jackdaws? Other reasons have
contributed to the same end. The love of ease,
the craven fear of conflict ; the ■ laissez faire ' of
modern life ; the weakened regard for the sacred-
ness of truth ; the scepticism which doubts even
whether truth can be attained ; the moral cynicism
which cries shamelessly, ' Nothing is certain, and
nothing matters ' ; all these have contributed
towards an aversion from controversy.
It is forgotten that there are questions worth
striving for. There are false theories which must
be controverted. Professor Gwatkin has taught us
what great questions were at issue in the Arian
controversy. It was not, as some impatient writers
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
have asserted, whether a word in the Christian
creed should be spelt with an ' o/ or an c 01/ but
whether Christ was ' true God/ or * little better
than a heathen demi-god. 1 Who will deny that
this was a question worth even centuries of strife ;
and that we are indebted to men like Athanasius
in the East, and Hilary in the West, who fought
the battle for the faith, and helped to draw up the
creed, which for nearly sixteen centuries has ex-
pressed the faith of practically the whole of the
Christian Church ? In his account of the closing
days of Carlyle's life Froude says : ' In speaking
of Gibbon's work to me he made one remark,
which is worth recording. In earlier years he
had spoken contemptuously of the Athanasian
controversy. . , . He told me now that he perceived
Christianity itself to have been at stake. If the
Arians had won, it would have dwindled away
into a legend.' 2
Or, take the history of the Reformation.
Every one knows with what strife of tongue, with
what tumult and bloodshed, that great change
was accomplished. But if Erasmus, Luther, and
Calvin had made no protest, if they had cried,
' peace, peace, when there was no peace,' where
1 The Avian Controversy^ p. 166.
2 Carlyle's Life in London^ vol. ii. , p. 494.
112
ETHICS OF CONTROVERSY.
would have been the great inheritance of freedom
upon which, at no price of tears or blood of ours,
we have entered. Our present strife with Ger-
many for freedom of a different kind may help us
to appreciate the services rendered to religion by
the great reformers.
It cannot be denied that Scotland has been
plagued with controversies which she might and
ought to have been spared ; but does any one
suppose that Knox and Melville, the Covenanters,
and the leaders of the Disruption, were only stern
and obstinate men, possessed by an evil spirit of ;
contradiction ; and not rather champions of great
principles, on which hung mighty issues for them-
selves, for their country, and for the world.
But it is in the New Testament that we find
the most striking evidence of our indebtedness to
past controversies. So far as concerns the life
of Christ, it may be sufficient to mention that in
Dr. Stalker's well-known volume, Imago Christi,
he tells us that if it had been possible to print in
full the evidence from the Gospel for the conduct
of Jesus in the different departments of life, of
which his book treats, the bulkiest of all these
bodies of evidence would have been the appendix
to the chapter, ' Christ as a Controversialist/ 1 The
1 Imago Chrzsti, p. 285.
113 I
V
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Apostle St. John is not usually associated in
men's minds with controversy ; yet his exhorta-
tions to brotherly love are not more frequent and
emphatic than is his condemnation of the false
teachers ; over against whose doctrine he sets
forth the truth as it had been revealed to him, by
and concerning Jesus Christ. The same is true
of St. Paul. He says, * Certain men came down
from Judea, and taught the brethren, saying,
Except ye be circumcised, after the manner of
Moses, ye cannot be saved. And when Paul and
Barnabas had no small dissension and questioning
with them, the brethren appointed that Paul and
Barnabas and certain others of them should go
up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about
this question.' 1 Here was the beginning of a
controversy from which for many years St. Paul
had no respite. The battle of spiritual freedom
had to be fought, not only in Jerusalem, but
in the mission field, and in the newly formed
Churches. Some of his letters, especially that to
the Galatians, are keen controversial documents.
And what perhaps went home to St. Paul's heart
more than anything, he was compelled to turn his
sword against his own comrades-in-arms. 2 In all
essential points, St. Paul's Gospel would doubtless
1 Acts xv. i, 2. 2 Gal. ii. 11-13.
114
ETHICS OF CONTROVERSY.
have been given to the world under any circum-
stances as we have received it, but the particular
form it assumed was largely determined by the
controversy into which he was driven. We can be
certain that Christianity would have been strangled
in its cradle if the Judaistic party had won the day.
Facts like these have their significance for us
to-day. If the faith ' once delivered unto the
saints ' is to be kept, it must be fought for.
When the walls of Jerusalem were being built
Nehemiah tells us that ' Every one with one of
his hands wrought in the work, and with the
other held his weapon ; and the builders, every one
had his sword girded by his side and so builded.' 1
The sword, as well as the trowel, is still needed to
build up the Church of Christ. It is a mistaken
idea that the kingdom of heaven means first, a
quiet life and the cultivation of friendly feeling
all round. 2 The kingdom of God is righteousness,
and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ; but it is
righteousness that stands first, and the price of
righteousness, in a world like ours, is 'conflict.'
The Christian Church is more than a Sister of
Charity ; she is not merely to comfort the sick
and sorrowful ; not merely to act as peacemaker
1 Nehem. iv. 17, 18.
2 See Forsyth's Rome, Reform, and Reaction^ p. 15.
"5
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
in strife ; she has to be the * soldier ' as well as the
' servant ' of Christ, and to take her part in the
eternal warfare between good and evil, between
truth and falsehood. Like her Lord, she must
often bring, not peace, but a sword. There is, as
we know well, a zeal which is not tempered by
knowledge, and still less by charity ; a zeal which
does not love peace, as peace should always be
loved, whose hand flies all too readily to the sword-
hilt. But there is a spirit still more to be feared,
the spirit which sacrifices principle for the sake of
brotherhood ; a moral indifferentism, which is too
careless to distinguish truth from error, right from
wrong, and will tolerate anything so long as it is
left in selfish peace.
By all means let us seek peace, but let us not
forget, as Ruskin has told us, peace may be sought
in two ways : ' one way is as Gideon sought it
when he built his altar in Ophrah, naming it " God
send peace " ; yet sought this peace that he loved
as he was ordered to seek it, and the peace was
sent in God's way: "the land had rest forty
years in the days of Gideon/' 1 And the other
way of seeking peace is as Menahem sought it,
when he gave the king of Assyria a thousand
talents of silver, " that his hand might be with
1 Judges viii. 28.
Il6
ETHICS OF CONTROVERSY.
him." 1 That is, you may either win your peace or
buy it ; win it, by resistance to evil — buy it, by
compromise with evil. You may buy your peace
with silenced consciences ; you may buy it with
broken vows ; buy it with lying words ; buy it
with base connivances ; buy it with the blood of
the slain, and the cry of the captive, and the
silence of lost souls.' 2 And that is not peace: it
it death.
(b) Dangers that beset the Controver-
sialist.
As controversy cannot be avoided so long as
sin disturbs, there is urgent need for those who
are compelled to take part in it, to take heed what
manner of controversialists Christians ought to be.
We turn then to note, still under the guidance of
St. Paul, some of the perils which beset the con-
troversial temper.
First among these is the unlovely spirit of con-
tentiousness, which delights in strife, not for the
truth's sake, but only for its own sake. This is
pure pugilism, and is no more deserving of respect
than the spirit of the professional prize-fighter.
Every child knows Gulliver's story of the Big-
Endians and the Small-Endians, and their barren
1 2 Kings xv. 19. 2 The Two Paths ; p. 244,
117
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
strife ; and the pity of it is that these noisy dis-
putants have found their way into the Church and
fill it with their clamour.
' Disputandi pruritus fit Ecclesiarum scabies/ x
The caustic saying of a college don, that the dis-
cussion whether the planets are inhabited was one
eminently suited for theology, because no evidence
was available on either side of the question, was
not an undeserved satire on the tendency of many
Christians to waste their strength and learning
/upon foolish questions, which gender strife, but
which, because they are remote from fact and life,
do nothing else.
No one knew this better than St. Paul ; he
wrote to the Corinthians, ' If any man seemeth
contentious (<£t\oz>ewcos), we have no such custom,
neither the churches of God/ 2 A bishop, he
writes to Timothy, must be a^a^os (not con-
tentious), 3 and in the letter to Titus, this is
extended to all sorts and conditions of men. 4
Again, to Timothy, he speaks of those who are
puffed up, knowing nothing, but doting about
questionings and disputes of words, whereof cometh
envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, wranglings of
1 From the inscription which Sir Henry Wotton directed to be
placed on the slab which marked his grave.
2 i Cor. xi. 16. 3 I Tim. iii. 3. 4 Titus iii. 2.
Il8
ETHICS OF CONTROVERSY.
men corrupt in mind, and bereft of the truth/ l
In his last letter he bids Timothy charge them
over whom he is set in the Lord, 'that they strive
not about words, to no profit, to the subverting of
them that hear,' and then warns him to ' shun
profane babblings,' and to refuse c foolish and
ignorant questionings/ because they gender strifes ;
and he adds, * The servant of the Lord must not
strive.' 2
We may be sure that such detailed injunctions
were not unneeded, and that St. Paul felt deeply
that both clergy and people were in danger of
falling into a spirit of contentiousness entirely alien \
to the spirit of the Gospel. This danger is still
with us, and is often accompanied by even worse
evils — the loss of temper, misrepresentation, im-
putation of evil motives — all of which are sins to
which controversialists are exposed.
St. Paul himself suffered from the well-
developed contentiousness of the Corinthians. 3
In his second Epistle he complains of the treatment v
meted out to him by his Judaising opponents.
When he changed his plans they called him a
1 I Tim. vi. 4, 5. On the striking phrase vocwi> trepl ^rjTrjffBig see
Grimm's Lexicon, sub voaku>. 2 2 Tim. ii. 14, 16, 23, 24.
3 ' The disputatiousness of the Corinthians ran into everything — a
woman's shawl, the merits of the Arch-apostles.' — Findlay, Exposition
G.T.,p. 876.
119
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
yea-and-nay man, 1 who said now one thing and
now the opposite, and charged him with fickleness.
Then they became abusive. His speech, they said,
is rude, and his bodily presence weak ; he might
use big swelling words at a distance, but let him
come among them, and they would find him meek
enough. 2 They even charged him with mercenary
motives, and suggested that he was making a good
thing out of the collection he was making for
the poor saints in Jerusalem. Then, with the
versatility of malignity, they turned round and
interpreted his refusal to accept support from the
Corinthian Church as an acknowledgment that
he was an interloper, whose uneasy conscience
would not let him claim the maintenance, which
was every true apostle's right. 3
Church history shows us that the controversial
spirit of the Corinthians was inherited by later
generations, and spread as a disease over the whole
Church,
Even good men show no bounds of decency
in their language when once they have let loose
the controversial spirit. Tertullian denounces
those who differ from him on baptism as vipers
and monsters.* Jerome uses such virulence in his
1 2 Cor. i. 18, 19. 2 2 Cor. x. 10, xi. 6. 8 2 Cor. vii. 7-9.
4 Farrar's Lives of the Fathers, vol. i., p. 169.
120
ETHICS OF CONTROVERSY.
controversy with Rufinus, that Newman says one
would hesitate to call him a saint if the title had
not been given to him by the universal verdict of
the Church. In later times, Samuel Rutherford,
Richard Baxter, and the author of c Rock of Ages,'
all used violent language to their opponents in
religious controversy. There is no need to dwell
on these unsavoury facts. The moral is plain :
controversy is necessary, but not all men are
fitted by their temperaments to be contro-
versialists. Many are consumed by a passionate
hatred of what they have come to regard as an
evil. They forget that evil cannot be overcome
by intolerance and invective ; hence they spend
their strength in denunciation instead of striving
to combat the evil they hate, by setting forth
the good which should replace it. Writing of
an agitator in the great Corn Law controversy,
Carlyle says, ' We could truly wish to see such
a mind as his engaged rather in considering what,
in his own sphere, could be "done," than what,
in his own or other spheres, ought to be destroyed,
rather in producing the True, than in mangling
and slashing asunder the False/ *
Prefixed to one of John Wesley's early con-
troversial publications is a brief address, which
1 Review of Elliott ', the Com- Law Rhymer,
121
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
sums up in an admirable manner the right spirit
of the Christian controversialist. He says, c This
is the first time I have appeared in controversy,
properly so called. I now tread an unknown
path with fear and trembling ; fear, not of my
adversary, but of myself. I fear my own spirit,
lest I fall, where many mightier men have been
slain. I never knew one man (or but one) write
controversy with what I thought a right spirit.
Every disputant seems to think (as every soldier)
that he may hurt his opponent as much as he can;
nay, that he ought to do his worst to him, or he
cannot make the best of his own cause. But
ought these things to be? Ought we not to
love our neighbour as ourselves? And does a
man cease to be our neighbour because he is of
a different opinion ; nay, and declares himself so
to be ? Ought we not, for all this, to do to him
as we would he should do to us ? But do we
ourselves love to be exposed, or set in the worst
light ? Would we willingly be treated with con-
tempt ? If not, why do we treat others thus ?
And yet, who scruples it ? Who does not hit every
blow he can, however foreign to the merits of the
cause? Who, in controversy, casts a mantle of
love over the nakedness of his brother ? Who
keeps steadily and uniformly to the question
122
ETHICS OF CONTROVERSY.
without ever striking at the person ? Who shows,
in every sentence, that he loves his brother only
less than truth ? I have made a little faint essay
towards this. I have a brother who is as my own
soul. My desire is in every word I say to look
upon Mr. as in his place, and to speak no
tittle concerning the one in any other spirit than
I would speak concerning the other/ 1
When a man has this spirit he may safely
plunge into controversy. Such a man will fight
only with clean weapons. Is it too much to hope
that the time may come when, as Dean Church
says, £ even our most serious controversies, even
our great and apparently hopeless controversy
with Rome, may be carried on as if in the presence,
and under the full knowledge and judgment of the
Lord of truth and charity ? ; 2
(<:) St. Paul as a Controversialist.
The question has been raised whether St. Paul
can be considered to be a safe guide in con-
troversy. Two objections are made to his argu-
ments : one from his use of the Old Testament,
the other from his denunciations against his oppo-
nents. Both of these must be considered. With
regard to the use of the Old Testament, it is
objected that he uses texts without any regard
1 Wesley's Works, vol. viii., p. 359. 2 Life and Letters, p. 301.
12^
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
to their contexts, and also heaps up proof-texts
in a manner which no modern controversialist
would adopt. 1 Are we to conclude that he wilfully
adopted interpretations to suit his arguments,
without any regard to whether they were correct
or not ? Our reply is that St. Paul was a Pharisee,
trained in Rabbinical schools, in which certain
interpretations of Scripture were taught. These
interpretations were not the result of a scientific
exegesis of Scripture, but were traditional and
held to be absolutely true. We cannot expect
that, in the first century, the interpretation of the
Old Testament would be on the same lines as it
is in the twentieth century. The Apostle's general
character ought to be sufficient to assure us that
he believed firmly that his use of the Old Testament
was a right one. Further, it must be remembered
that the objection can be urged only against a few
texts out of a vast number.
In the use of allegory, which was in full vigour
at Alexandria in St. Paul's time, the Apostle shows
a wise reticence, the only exception of importance
being that already alluded to. 3 As a whole, St.
Paul's use of the Old Testament was a triumphant
vindication of Christianity, for he grasped the true
1 See Rom. iii. 10-18 ; and note on St. Paul's use of the Old Testa-
ment in Sanday and Headlam's Romans, p. 302.
2 Gal. iv. 22 seq.
124
ETHICS OF CONTROVERSY.
spiritual significance of the Hebrew Scriptures.
' Ye search the Scriptures . . . and ye will not
come unto Me/ was the tragedy of Judaism, and
is the reason why it still wanders in the desert.
These are they, the Apostle saw and said, which
bear witness of Him, and so seeing and saying,
entered into the Promised Land.
When St. Paul is charged with intellectual in-
tolerance, it is generally because he uttered ana-
themas against those who preached * another
Gospel.' 1 But it is surely unfair to brand the
Apostle with intolerance on such scanty material.
When we remember how unwilling he was to
lord it over his converts' faith, 2 his deference in
giving his opinion on a difficult matter, 3 his
generous recognition of the ministry of men,
whose names were used as a rallying cry against
himself/ .his sincere rejoicing that Christ was
preached, 'even of envy and strife,' 5 we must allow
that, even if St. Paul's intellectual temperament
was intolerant, as Sabatier says, 6 grace had wrought
a wondrous change. Concerning the anathemas,
two things should be kept in mind. In the first
place, the Apostle is not defending his own opinions,
but writes in the full consciousness that he was the
1 Gal. i. 8, 9 ; confer also Rom. xvi. 17, 1 Tim. i. 3, vi. 3.
2 2 Cor. i. 24, 3 1 Cor. vii. 12, 25, 40. i 1 Cor. iii. 22.
5 Phil. i. 15-18. 6 The Apostle Paul, p. 54.
125
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
guardian of God's revelation. Secondly, St. Paul
was not one of those who regarded it as a first duty
to keep an open mind. Certain things were to
him final, and could not be reopened.
We all have convictions that admit of no
question, which it would be treason to our deepest
selves even to discuss. Dr. Denney has an admir-
able note on Gal. i. 8, 9, in which he says,
'I cannot agree with those who disparage this or
affect to forgive it, as the unhappy beginning of
religious intolerance. Neither the Old Testament
nor the New Testament has any conception of a
religion without this intolerance. The first com-
mandment is ' Thou shalt have none other gods
besides Me/ and that is the foundation of all true
religion. As there is only one God, so there
can be only one Gospel. If God has really done
something in Christ on which the salvation of the
world depends, or if He has made it known, then
it is a Christian duty to be intolerant of everything
which ignores, denies, or explains it away. The
man who perverts it is the worst enemy of God
and men, and it is not bad temper or narrow-
mindedness in St. Paul which explains this
vehement language ; it is jealousy for God, which
has kindled in a soul redeemed by the death of
Christ, a corresponding jealousy for the Saviour.' x
1 The Death of Christ, p. no.
126
CHAPTER XL
ANGER AND THE SELF-ASSERTIVE VIRTUES.
CT. PAUL lays special stress on the humbler
virtues, but he does not regard these as the
only duty of the Christian, in the face of wrong-
doing. To resent and to resist may be a more
sacred duty than to submit. In order, therefore,
to maintain ' the delicate equipoise ' in which all
moral conduct stands, it is necessary to balance the
passive virtues with what may be called the self-
assertive virtues.
St. Paul plainly teaches that there are occa-
sions on which a Christian ought to feel and show
resentment towards evil-doing. The passages in
which this teaching is given are few in number,
compared with those which warn against all excess
and abuse of anger. This lack of emphasis does
not imply one-sidedness in Christian morality. As
John Stuart Mill has truly said, ' The Gospel
127
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
always refers to a pre-existing morality, and
confines its precepts to the particulars in which
that morality was to be corrected or superseded by
a higher or wider/ 1
When we find early Christian teachers eloquent
with regard to humility and forbearance, and silent
about resentment, we must remember how little
need there was to place emphasis on the latter,
and how much the former were needed. With
regard to St. Paul's teaching, we must also
remember that he was himself a man of quick,
ardent, and even impetuous character. We see
in the Epistle to the Galatians how his whole
nature blazed with indignation when he learnt of
the evil wrought in the Church by false teachers.
He was not himself ' slow to wrath, slow to speak,'
and in his teaching we have evidence that the people
or his age needed little instruction on the duty of
self-assertion.
Scanty as our material is, yet enough may be
gathered from St. Paul's own actions, as revealed
in the Acts, and from his language in his Epistles,
to show that, both by example and precept, he
taught a via media between a too tame subservience
on the one hand and an undue self-assertion on the
other.
1 On Liberty, Popular Edition, p. 28.
128
THE SELF-ASSERTIVE VIRTUES.
(a) The Passive Virtues must not be
abused.
The account of St. Paul's life given in the
Acts of the Apostles clearly shows us that his im-
pressive teaching regarding the passive virtues was
balanced by an active opposition to wrong-doing, j
when opposition was needful. The impression we
carry away from St. Luke's narrative is that St.
Paul was a man full of tact, sympathy, and tender-
ness ; yet firm, self-reliant, bold in upholding the
truth, strenuous in demanding justice for himself. '"
With what dignity he asserted his rights as a
Roman citizen at Philippi, and forced the bustling
* prastors ' to a sense of their duty. * They have
beaten us publicly, uncondemned, 1 men that are
Romans, and have cast us into prison, and do they l
now cast us out privily ? Nay, verily ; but let
them come themselves, and bring us out.' 2 Or
take that momentous scene at Paphos, when
Christianity faced Oriental paganism, the Christian
preacher opposing the Magian, and hear the words
which poured like lava from the lips of St. Paul :
* O, full of all guile and all vilJany, thou son of the s
devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou
not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord ? ' 3
1 Ramsay regards the word aKaraicpiTovg as equivalent to k re
incognita ' in Roman Law. 2 Acts xvi. 37. 3 Acts xiii. 10.
I29 K
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Or, again, in the Council Chamber in Jerusalem,
when Ananias bade those that stood by to smite
St. Paul on the mouth, and immediately the words
flashed out : ' God shall smite thee, thou whited
wall. And sittest thou to judge me according to
the law, and commandest me to be smitten con-
trary to the law? '* It is clear that the Apostle,
usually so pliant and tender, could, when occasion
demanded, be firm as adamant. When principle
was involved, he could stand inflexible, even when,
as in the quarrel with Barnabas, firmness lost him
the companionship of a loved brother. 2
The same ardent nature glows also in the
Epistles. There is the same impatience under
injustice, the same burning indignation against
evil-doers. With the Judaisers, the men who
sought to make the Cross of Christ of none effect,
he would make peace on no terms : they were
' dogs/ 3 ' anathema from Christ/ 4 ' There is/
says Mr. R. N. Hutton, 4 something positively
grim in the Eastern ferocity of the wish expressed
1 Acts xxiii. 1-3.
2 ' Anger is the satellite of reason, the vindicator of desire. For
when we long after anything and are opposed in our desire by some
one, we are angered at that person, as though we had been wronged :
and reason evidently deems that there are just grounds for displeasure
in what has happened, in the case of those who, like us, have in the
natural course of things to guard our own position. ' — John of Damascus,
Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, chap. xvi.
3 Phil. iii. 2. 4 Gal. i. 8, 9.
130
THE SELF-ASSERTIVE VIRTUES.
in the Epistle to the Galatians (v. 12) against
the false brethren who troubled the Church by-
insisting on the strict Jewish circumcision.' * The
stern rebuke given to St. Peter was public and con-
vincing : ' If thou, being a Jew, live as do the
Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, how compellest
thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews ? ' 2
Even the last letters we have from his pen show
that the old fires were still burning : ' Alexander
the coppersmith did me much evil ; the Lord will
render to him according to his works/ 3
The texts which support the personal attitude
of the Apostle are exceedingly meagre. The most
important one contains the injunction, * Be angry
and sin not/ 4 which certainly implies that anger
is permissible in a Christian, if duly guarded.
Also, when St. Paul says that an iiriaKOTros must
not be opyiXo? 5 — that is, he must not be c soon
angry' — he suggests that there are occasions when
an overseer of the Church may righteously show
anger, although he must be careful not to be hasty
in doing so. The impressive manner in which
St. Paul speaks of the wrath of God, and the
solemn manner in which he warns men not to
provoke it, indicates that he regarded ' anger * as
1 Theological Essays, p. 33. 2 Gal. ii. 14.
3 2 Tim. iv. 14. 4 Eph. iv. 26. 5 Titus i. 7.
131
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
justifiable under certain circumstances. His pre-
ference is undoubtedly for a careful control over
all feelings of enmity or resentment, and for leaving
offenders to the judgment of God.
(F) In the present day there is a tendency
to bring into a right prominence the love of
God, and to press home to every human heart,
not only that God loves, but that 'God is love.'
The all- important fact to us is, that God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son to
redeem it ; that " God commendeth His love to us,
in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us.' 1 But our deepening sense of His infinite love
ought not to obscure the complementary truth
that there is such a thing as the c wrath of God/
'the wrath of the Lamb.' We read in the Gospels
how the meek and lowly Son of Man was l moved
to indignation ; ' 2 how He looked round ' with
anger ; ' 3 how He entered the Temple, and over-
threw the tables of the money-changers and the
seats of them that sold doves. 4 It is plain, there-
fore, that, according to New Testament morality,
there are occasions when a righteous man's whole
]/ duty does not lie in turning his cheek to the
smiter, and suffering whatsoever evil is pleased
and able to inflict.
1 Rom. v. 8. " Mark x, 14. 3 Mark iii. v. 4 Matt. xxi. 12.
132
THE SELF-ASSERTIVE VIRTUES.
The author of Ecce Homo says that the first
impulse, at the sight of vice, is the impulse of
hostility and opposition ; ' to convict it, to detect
it, to contend with it, to put it down, is the first
and indispensable thing ... it is not mercy, but
treason against injustice, to relent towards vice, so
long as it is triumphant and insolent/ 1 ' Anger/
says Fuller, ' is one of the sin ews of the soul ; he
that wants it hath a maimed mind/ John Morley
even goes so far as to say that active hatred of
cruelty, injustice, and oppression is perhaps the
main difference between a good man and a bad
one. 2 Bishop Paget says of Dean Church :
* Patient as he was, he could be angry when need
came ; angry with a quiet and self-possessed
intensity, which made his anger very memorable.
The sight of injustice, of strength or wea lth
presuming on its advantages, of insolence (a word
that came from his lips with a peculiar ring and
emphasis), called out in him something like the
passion which has made men patriots when their
people were oppressed : something of that temper
which will always make tyranny insecure and per-
secution hazardous. One felt that many years of
quiet self-control must lie behind the power of
wielding rightly such a weapon as anger/ It is
1 Popular Edition, p. 245. 2 Life of Gladstone, vol. i. p. 196.
*33
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
clear that Dean Church had learnt the admonition,
4 Be ye angry and sin not.'
On this point a direct conflict emerges between
the ethical teaching of Seneca and that of St. Paul.
The idea of the Stoic was airaOeia (passion-
lessness). Anger in his eyes was not a wild plant
to be carefully trained, but a poisonous weed to be
rooted out. Nothing could be permitted which
disturbed the serenity of life. Seneca repudiates
the very notion that a wise man should be angry
and indignant against moral evil. 1 The gods
dwelt in everlasting calm : what higher thing
could man desire than to imitate them ? This was
not St. Paul's idea ; his whole life and teaching
repudiates such a conception of God, or such
conduct on the part of man. In these days of
war, when the whole strength of our nation has
been roused against the ambition, the cruelty,
and the insolent militarism of Germany, we can
see more clearly than in times of peace that there
are occasions when it is right to be angry ; nay,
more than that, we feel that, as Christian men, we
should be wrong if we did not make a firm stand
• against the spirit which claims that the powerful
alone have rights, and that weak nations must
submit to wrong and injustice. We feel it
1 F. W. Farrar's Seekers after God.
1 34
THE SELF-ASSERTIVE VIRTUES.
would be wrong to allow the moral conscious-
ness of the Christian world to be destroyed, and
the cruelties and abominations of paganism to
triumph over civilisation. There is no shame to
our Christianity that we have drawn the sword
against the evil which has so long been festering
in one of the great nations of the world. Rather
than feeling shame, we glory in the uprising of our
people, and of those allied with us, to aj jghtepus
anger against those who have set at nought the
teachings of our Lord and His Apostles.
(c) Warnings against Abuse of 'Anger.' 1
As there are occasions when it is right to be
angry, there is need to carefully guide and guard
it against abuse. 'Be ye angry and sin not.'
Gladstone's biographer says of him that ' in native
capacity for righteous anger he abounded. The
flame soon kindled, and it was no fire of straw, but
it did not master him/ 2 This is the Christian
ideal : anger is a good servant, but a bad master. .
Kept well in hand, it may serve many noble ends ;
1 "Three kinds of anger were distinguished among the Greeks.
When anger begins to be roused, it is called %o\ri or x°^°€' Wrath
implies that the memory of the wrong abides, and is represented by
firjvic, which is derived from ftkvetv. Rancour, this implies watching a
suitable moment for revenge, the Greek word for it is icorog from Keitr9ai.'
— John of Damascus, Exposition of the Orthodox Faitk^ chap. xvi.
2 Morley's Life, vol. i., p. 189.
*35
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
allowed to master the mind, it assumes forms
of sin at once. Hatred, deadly and implacable ;
enmity, blind and unforgiving ; malice, cunning
and hurtful ; revenge, unscrupulous and merciless :
all these are the children of undisciplined anger.
Earnestly St. Paul warns against these evils.
Among the works of the flesh he places ' enmities,
strife, jealousies, wrath, factions.' 1 He bids the
Colossians put off anger, wrath, malice, and urges
them to put on, as God's elect, * a heart of com-
passion, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffer-
ing/ 2 So, likewise, in his teaching regarding
relative duties, he urges fathers not to provoke
their children to wrath. 3 In dealing with slaves,
masters are to forbear threatening. 4 Continually
St. Paul and other Christian teachers remind a
Christian that he must be on his guard against
giving an ' occasion for stumbling.' He is to put
no temptation, no evil example, before his fellow-
men. In his public life, and in his home life, he
must be equally on the watch, remembering Him,
who, in the words of St. Peter, ' when He was
reviled, reviled not again ; when He suffered, He
threatened not, but committed Himself to Him
that judgeth righteously/ 5
1 Gal. v. 20. 2 Col. iii. 8-12. 3 Eph. vi. 4; Col. Hi. 21.
4 Eph. vi. 9. 5 1 Pet. ii. 23.
136
CHAPTER XII.
ASCETICISM— TRUE AND FALSE.
\ SCETICISM holds an important place in the
XjL development of historical Christianity, but
was not a peculiarly Christian movement.
Although there is a truth in asceticism which
is in line with the moral teaching of the Gospel,
yet much of the asceticism which asserted itself
within the Church came from without.
There have always been persons who have
admired, if they have not imitated, men like
John the Baptist, who came neither eating nor
drinking ; men who from conscientious motives
have foregone the innocent pleasures and refine-
ments of social life, and who have found it easier to
serve God by suppressing lawful human affections
and appetites. At the beginning of the Christian
era the Essenes in Palestine attracted considerable
attention, as we learn from Josephus and Philo.
They represented ' righteousness by works,' in the
negative and ascetic sense, by retiring into the
monastic life on the shores of the Dead Sea.
i37
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Luthardt says * : * They formed a closed order
(rccy/Aa), with strictly regulated conditions of
admission and of the order of life. They observed
community of goods, abstinence from all luxury
and pleasure, and mostly from marriage. They
busied themselves with agriculture and peaceful
arts, but they kept away from extensive commerce
and similar occupations directed to the acquisition
of money, and rejected war as well as slavery.
Their morality consisted in reverence towards
God ; the practice of justice and mercy, and, above
all, truthfulness and strict obedience to superiors.
The course of their day was filled up with
prayer, labour, ablutions, and religious meals.
They prayed at dawn of day with their faces
towards the sun/ 2 While there is much to
admire in Essenism, as thus sketched, its negative
morality was at the same time a withdrawal from
public life, and without influence upon it. The
individual life became all-important, and the moral
life took the form of the external practice of
religion. It involved a passing from the life of
the world into monasticism. The influence of
Essenism was felt among the Jews of the Diaspora,
and some of the errors combated by St. Paul in
the Epistle of the Colossians can be traced to it.
1 History of Christian Ethics, p. 64. 2 Luthardt, p. 65.
138
ASCETICISM.
In the East generally, asceticism had from an
early time exerted a powerful fascination over the
minds of men. In Phrygia, it was associated with
theosophy, and had many followers, who enthu-
siastically adopted stringent rules for the ordering
of human life.
In Alexandria, asceticism was an inheritance
from the old Egyptian mysticism, and appeared
among the Jewish community in that city through
the teaching of Philo, who resolved morality into
spirituality, and consequently resolved the moral
ideal into the religious practice of an ascetic
negation of nature. 1 With so many sources of
ascetic teaching pouring their contents into the
provinces of the Roman Empire, it was natural
that sooner or later St. Paul and other teachers of
Christianity would be compelled to define the
relation in which the Gospel stood to this powerful
and omnipresent rival. The claim of asceticism
to be the guide of human life could not be ignored, '
and the Epistles of St. Paul show that he boldly
faced the issue.
It could not be expected that in the frag-
mentary and occasional character of his writings
a full exposition of the subject would be found ;
yet, brief as the references are, they show the
1 Luthardt, p. 70.
139
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
masterly power with which the Apostle handled a
large and complex ethical subject.
As a preliminary to the examination of St.
Paul's teaching it should be clearly understood in
what sense the word * asceticism ' is employed.
In common speech the term covers a wide variety
of faith and practice, and this must be kept in
view to avoid confusion. When, for example, one
Christian teacher tells us that asceticism is a mis-
apprehension of the genius of Christianity, and
another that the Christian view of life is, in the
best sense of the word, an ascetic one, it is evident
that they are not attaching the same meaning to
asceticism. The fact is that the term has two
meanings. There is an asceticism which has its
root in the necessities of our sinful human nature,
and this the New Testament both honours and
enjoins.
There is also an asceticism which has its origin
in the Eastern idea of the inherent sinfulness of
matter, and the consequent necessity for the
spiritual man to annihilate it : to this kind of
asceticism the New Testament is entirely opposed.
From these definitions we gather that there are two
forms of asceticism :
(a) The asceticism of dualism, which St. Paul
strenuously opposed.
140
ASCETICISM.
(b) The asceticism of self-discipline, which
he enjoins. 1
(a) The Asceticism of Dualism.
This is opposed by St. Paul in his Epistle to
the Colossians and in the Pastoral Epistles. The
most important passages are : " If ye died to Christ
from the rudiments of the world, why, as though
living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to
ordinances, Handle not, nor taste, nor touch, (all
which things are to perish in the using), after the
precepts and doctrines of men? Which things
have indeed a show of wisdom in will- worship, but
are not of any value against the indulgence of the
flesh/ 2
' The Spirit saith expressly that in later times
some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed
to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, through
the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in
their own consciences as with a hot iron, for- ./
bidding to marry, and commanding to abstain
from meats, which God created to be received
with thanksgiving by them that believe and
acknowledge the truth. For every creature of
God is good, and nothing to be rejected, if it be
1 The phrases are Lightfoot's {Colossians, p. 105, footnote).
2 Col. ii. 20-23.
141
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
received with thanksgiving ; for it is sanctified
through the word of God and prayer/ x
It is impossible within the limits of this work
to dissect all the debatable questions raised by these
passages.
Lightfoot regards the heresy condemned as
' incipient gnosticism,' but later scholars are not
unanimous on this point. ' There can be/ says
Bartlet, c little question that the Colossian errors
were in the main due to ideas already at work
in the local Judaism, and were not at all what is
usually styled gnostic in origin.' 2 He traces them
to two sources — one Jewish, the other pagan ; the
Jewish being partly Essenism, partly Therapeutic
doctrine, and partly the type of thought found in
the Testament of Solomon. It is clear that the
Colossians were swayed in the direction of an
ascetic motive, bound up with a conception of
Salvation, which was devoid of any idea of the
necessity for moral effort in human life. Life was
to be directed by petty prohibitions : * Handle
not, nor taste, nor touch,' and both marriage
and the use of meat were forbidden. The con-
demnation of St. Paul is almost startling in its
severity ; but he does more than denounce — he
shows the false root from which this asceticism
1 i Tim. iv. 1-5, see also Titus i. 13, 14. 2 Apostolic Age, p. 186.
142
ASCETICISM.
sprang ; and in both the Colossian Epistle and in
the Pastorals states the grounds upon which
to-day, no less than in the first century, a false
asceticism stands condemned.
(i) He speaks with scorn of the prohibitions
with regard to food. All these perish, as they are
used. They are not the chief concern of the
Christian ; the free man in Christ cannot be under
the yoke of a system whose supreme concern is
with eating and drinking.
(2) In 1 Tim. St. Paul meets the advocates of
asceticism on their own ground, and overthrows
the theory that matter is evil in itself, by claiming
that every creature of God is good, and nothing
to be rejected ; but adds the religious spirit in
which God's gifts are to be received by man : they
are to be received l with thanksgiving,' they are
sanctified to God's service through the word of
God and prayer. As Bishop South says, in his
sermon on 1 Tim. i v . 4 , 5 , there should be
' grace ' before meat and ' grace ' after meat. It
need hardly be said that St. Paul's language does
not permit licence when he advocates liberty.
Elsewhere he lays down limitations, which should
be remembered. All God's gifts are good, though
some men constantly abuse them : others, for the
sake of example, may abstain from using them.
i43
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
The point to be borne in mind is, that abstention
is not a merit in itself; its value depends upon the
Tightness of the motive in abstaining. The
terrible prevalence of drunkenness in one country-
may make abstinence from alcoholic drink a duty ;
in another country, wholly sober, the demand to
abstain might merit the rebuke from St. Paul :
' Drink will not commend us to God : neither, if
we drink, are we the worse : nor, if we drink not,
are we the better.' The Apostle's advice to
Timothy, * to be no longer a drinker of water/
was possibly as much a protest against false
asceticism of this kind as a counsel for the benefit
of his health. 1 The spirit of true asceticism is
expressed in the words : ' It is good neither to eat
flesh, nor to desire wine, nor to do anything
whereby thy brother stumbleth.' 2 Beyond this, it
is not safe to advance.
(3) The asceticism of dualism is not only
philosophically false, it is practically useless. * It
is not of any value against the indulgence of the
flesh.' 3 Elsewhere St. Paul does indeed allow
4 bodily exercise/ meaning physical asceticisms,
such as are referred to in the preceding verses, but
1 1 Tim. v. 23. " 2 Rom. xiv. 21.
3 The rendering of the R.V. : this is disputed by many scholars.
Hort suspects an early corruption of the text.
144
ASCETICISM.
he adds, 'is profitable for a little/ This slight
concession leaves his general judgment unaltered.
Tried by results, asceticism is a failure ; it makes
a ' show of wisdom ' in its severity to the body,
but it is powerless to subdue the lusts of the flesh.
If this is thought to be too severe a judgment, it
is sufficient to point to the history of monasticism,
which has many dark pages. It should, however,
be remembered that when St. Paul speaks of the
* flesh ' he means not merely the body, but the
whole unregenerate personality — the entire un-
reserved self that thinks, feels, wills, and desires,
apart from God ; and his words declare the
impotence of any ordinances of men to keep that
self in subjection. Asceticism may remove the
opportunity for gratifying some particular sensual
desire, but it does not change the sinful heart.
Uncleanness or drunkenness may be cast out, but
pride and uncharitableness may fill the vacant place,
and the last state of the man is no better — perhaps
it may be even worse.
(4) Finally, asceticism in its spirit and method
is alien to the genius of Christianity. ' If/ says St.
Paul, <[ye died to Christ from the rudiments of the
world, why, as living in the world, do ye subject
yourselves to ordinances T^ From the Christian
1 Col. ii. 20.
*45 l
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
point of view there is a distinct loss in asceticism,
even as there was a loss to the Galatians, when,
after they had known God as revealed in Christ,
they turned from a spiritual service to the weak
and beggarly elements, from which they had been
delivered, and desired to be in bondage again. 1
Christianity works from within outwards ; it reforms
the life by renewing the heart ; it overcomes
the world, not by flying from it, but through the
new life of the Holy Spirit. It makes men par-
takers of the life of Christ and to be sharers in His
victory over sin. ' Handle not, nor taste, nor
touch/ says asceticism. * Walk by the Spirit, and
ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh,' says
Christianity. History must judge between them.
(b) The Asceticism of Self-discipline.
While a false asceticism stands condemned,
there is yet a true asceticism which finds a place in
the Christian life. Both our Lord and His
apostles appeal for self-denial, and even for self-
mortification, on the part of believers. Their
appeals are often a stumbling-block to men of
earnestness and integrity, who think that the goal
of perfection may be reached by the self-develop-
ment of man ; and who do not see the necessity
1 Gal. iv. 9.
146
ASCETICISM.
for restrictions, which might retard or prevent
self-development.
It is urged that consecration to a definite end
is sufficient without renunciation. This sounds
attractive, but as stated, implies that there is an
opposition between the two, whereas they are
complementary ; consecration involves self-denial,
and the goal of perfection cannot be reached by
the path of self-development alone. Such an idea
ignores the fact of sin, and this fact changes the
whole character of the problem. ' The self, which
we seek to develop here and now, is a sinful self,
and incapable, therefore, till its sin is overcome, of
any true development at all.' 1 Development is
still necessary to reach the goal of perfection, but
stern experience tells us that it is attainable only
by the way of discipline and rigorous self-control.
In self-control (iyKpareia) St. Paul sees a
characteristic of ' the fruit of the Spirit.' 2 This
word, as used by St. Paul, is said by Findlay fc to
cover the whole range of moral discipline, and
concerns every sin and passion of our nature/
The c temperate ' man of the New Testament is he
who, not only abstains from excess in the use of
strong drink (he does that of course), but holds
himself well in hand, and keeps all the steeds that
1 Illingworth's Christian Character^ p. 45. 2 Gal. v. 23.
147
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
are yoked to the chariot of life well bridled and
well bitted. The tongue, the hand, the foot, the
eye, the temper, the tastes, the affections, are all
made to feel the curb of self-control. In the
Epistle in which St. Paul proclaims the vanity of a
false asceticism, he says, ' Mortify therefore your
members which are upon the earth, fornication,
uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness,
the which is idolatry/ 1 To the Romans, he writes,
* If by the spirit ye mortify the deeds of the body,
ye shall live.' 2 To the Galatians, 'They that are
of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the
passions and lusts thereof.' 3
These words imply the gravity of the problem
which sin has created. They contain nothing that
is unreal, they are not merely rhetorical, but owe
their origin to a resolute facing of the facts of
human life. They do not discourage the attempts
of men to lead a full life, but they point the
necessary path to it. No man ever yearned for
perfection more earnestly than St. Paul did, but he
never forgot that only with - toil of heart and
knees and hands ' can the fc path upward ' be won
and the ' toppling crags ' scaled. When he said,
' 1 buffet my body and bring it into bondage,' 4 he
1 Col. iii. 5. 2 Rom. viii. 13. 3 Q a j v 2 ^
4 I Cor. ix. 27.
148
ASCETICISM.
did not imply that he did this because he delighted
in austerity for its own sake, but lest, after he had
preached to others, he himself might be rejected.
True Christianity welcomes all self-discipline, but
recognises no ' merit ' in austerity.
ITS SUBSEQUENT HISTORY IN THE CHURCH.
Having considered true and false asceticism, it
may be instructive to glance very briefly at the
historic development of the ascetic element in the
Christian Church. The Shepherd of Hermas is the
first distinctly Christian work to manifest an
ascetic tendency in its ethics. In it, the moral
element in the Christian life is strongly emphasised,
and the exhortations given have a c legal ' and even
an ascetic character. 1 Abstinence is one of the four
principal virtues. Continence in marriage is en-
joined, and blessings are promised to the continent,
and to the bodies of virgins. 2 In the whole work
there is ' the first unconscious divergence from the
strict line of the Pauline doctrine of justification.' 3
This movement was strengthened by the influence
of Alexandrian Judaism, based upon the Apocry-
pha ; and by heathen influences, springing from
1 Luthardt's History of Christian Ethics ; p. 126,
2 Acta, 5, 6. 3 Luthardt, p. 127.
149
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
the moral philosophy of the time. A further
cause of the rise of asceticism is given in Dr.
Oakesmith's Religion of Plutarch ; he says, 1 ' Any
sanction which imaginative piety, or legendary
authority can lend to Virtue is credited, not
because it makes Virtue natural, intelligible, and
human, but because it places it on a pedestal
beyond the reach of unaided mortal effort, and
thus compels a still more determined recourse to
emotional and supernatural sanctions, in order to
ensure her fruitful cultivation. . . . Hence that
conception, of saintliness which the world owes to
Catholic Christianity, a type of character which,
while maintaining a marvellous purity of life, is
devoid of that robust intelligence without which
purity runs into asceticism ; which carries virtue
to such an extravagant pitch that its result may be
more disastrous than vice, inasmuch as the latter
may serve morality by demonstrating the re-
pulsiveness of iniquity, while the former tends to
evil by exhibiting the impossibility of goodness/
All these influences being at work in the Church,
it is no wonder that asceticism made rapid
progress.
The ancient Egyptian monasticism found many
imitators, and spread in all directions. The Cap-
1 Pages 2, 3.
l 5o
ASCETICISM.
padocian Fathers introduced the monastic system
into Asia, and from their time onwards, the
movement grew with the growth, and strengthened
with the strength of Christianity. Of the austeri-
ties practised by the votaries of asceticism, in order
to commend themselves to God, it is needless to
speak. The story can be read, in all its repulsive-
ness, in the pages of Gibbon and Lecky.
How are we further to explain the sudden, and
all but universal, lapse of the Church from the
simplicity of its early faith ?
How came the religion taught by our Lord
and by His Apostles to be changed into the
extravagance of the pillar-saints of the fifth
century ?
A great impulse came doubtless from the truth
that self-restraint is necessary in any human life,
which is being perfected for God. The early
apostles realised that in a world of sin and filled
with temptations, there was a call for renunciation.
They strove to respond with all seriousness to the
call of Jesus to take up His cross and follow Him.
The bias given to their minds was strengthened
by the awful laxity and immorality of the times
in which they lived. It has been said that the
world was never so ingeniously and exhaustively
wicked as it was in the first century of the Christian
*5 l
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
era. It is no wonder that face to face with extra-
vagance of sin, good men fell into extravagance ot
rigid life ; and asked themselves whether they
would not keep closer to God by withdrawing
themselves from the world. To reinforce their
thoughts was the cherished expectation of the
coming of the Lord ; what were home and plea-
sure, and business, when at any moment the Judge
might be at the door.
' Hora novissima, tempora pessima sunt ; vigilemus
Ecce minaciter, imminet arbiter, ille supremus.' 1
These words must have expressed the thought
of many minds, before the monk of Clugny poured
out his deathless song.
Finally, a movement towards asceticism, Eastern
in its origin but almost world-wide in its reach,
lent its aid from without. ' The contest of
Christianity,' says Milman, * with the Eastern
religions must be traced in their reaction upon the
new religion of the West. By their treacherous
alliance, they probably operated more extensively
to the detriment of the Evangelic religion than
Paganism by its open opposition. Asiatic influ-
ences have worked more completely into the body
1 ' The world is very evil — The times are waxing late —
Be sober and keep vigil — The Judge is at the gate.'
i5 2
ASCETICISM.
and essence ot Christianity than any other foreign
elements ; and it is by no means improbable that
tenets, which had their origin in India, have for
many centuries predominated in, or materially
affected, the Christianity of the Western world/ 1
The ascetic movement has been variously
judged. Gibbon and Lecky both regard it as a
hideous excrescence on the body of Christianity.
Other writers, like Dean Church, while admitting
that there was much in it that repels, refuse to
regard it as wholly evil. Dean Church says,
' When we remember what were the enormous,
blind, intractable forces on the other side, in the
days when it arose, of fierce, endless, unrestrained
sensuality ; it seems as if nothing but such an
enthusiasm, as inconsiderate and unmeasured,
could balance or swing back, on a scale necessary
for the progress of the world, the tremendous,
ever-renewed, and accumulating pressure in favour
of self-indulgence. The severity of the early
Church was a rebound, and strong medicine,
against the ruinous dissoluteness of the decaying
Empire, which no remedy, but an heroic one,
could stay. . . . All these histories of monks,
which lend themselves so easily to our sarcasm,
and seem to us almost as disgusting as immorality
1 History of Christianity ', vol. ii., p. 31.
'53
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
itself, may be viewed in another way, as the crude,
clumsy, distorted, absurd sketches of beginners,
who yet have the heart and boldness to try to
copy a great and difficult model. ' Yet Dean
Church admits that the ascetic movement ended
in failure. It failed, because it was based on a
false philosophy ; it failed, because it ignored and
defied the facts of human nature ; it failed, because
it never comprehended God. Healthy human
nature protests against a doctrine which teaches
self-denial for its own sake, and pronounces
misery to be more acceptable in God's sight than
happiness.
*54
CHAPTER XIII.
CASES OF CONSCIENCE.
WHEN our Lord prayed for His disciples,
* I pray not that thou shouldest take them
from the world, but that thou shouldest keep
them from the evil/ 1 He looked forward to the
time when His followers would live in association
with other men, and be exposed to temptations as
other men. They would be transformed from
bondage to liberty, from darkness to light, from
death to life, but" would necessarily be affected by
the social conditions in which they lived. As the
Gospel spread, the new converts would be exposed
to similar experiences. They would live their
lives under the new conditions of discipleship, but
surrounded by the customs and temptations with
which they had been familiar in the past. The
mingling of the new life with the old brought
about important questions. ' How ought a
Christian slave to behave towards a heathen
master ? ' If a dispute arose between Christian
1 John xvii. 15.
155
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
men, how was it to be settled? Was it necessary
to carry the case to the heathen courts of justice ?
If a wife became a Christian, must she separate
from her heathen husband? What course must
be taken when at a social feast a Christian was
offered meat which had been sacrificed to an idol ?
These were not questions of right or wrong, but
of moral expediency. Different opinions might
be conscientiously held regarding the answers to
them, and differences of opinion might involve
dissensions in the Christian brotherhood. It was
of inestimable value to the early Church to have
the guidance of the master-mind of St. Paul, not
merely to lay down rules for special cases, but to
indicate the spirit in which all cases of conscience
should be met. As an exhibition of the spirit by
which men should be guided, we may take as
examples questions which arose at Rome and
Corinth.
In Rome there were some Church members
who judged it right to mark certain days by special
observances, 1 and others who abstained wholly
from flesh meat and wine. 2 Others had no such
scruples : they had faith to eat all things, they
deemed every day alike. Thus there were the
materials for division into two parties, the strong
1 Rom. xiv. 5- 2 Rom. xiv. 2, 21.
156
CASES OF CONSCIENCE.
and the weak. Had they been contented to carry
out their convictions, and to exercise mutual for-
bearance, no injury would have been caused to the
Church. But when the strong despised the weak,
and the weak passed judgment on the strong ; or,
against their conscience, did things they held wrong
in order to avoid contempt : then there was danger
to the unity of the brotherhood.
At Corinth, the question, though similar in
principle, was different in origin. The opposing
parties — the weak and the strong — were divided
on the question of eating meat which had been
offered to an idol. To the weak, the eating of
such meat was an act of idolatry ; the strong
replied, l An idol is nothing : why then should we
not eat ? ' l In Corinth, as in Rome, the liberty of
the strong was in danger of becoming a stumbling-
block to the weak, the brethren for whose sake
Christ died. St. Paul deals vigorously with each
case ; and in such a way as to elevate the purely
local and temporal difficulty into a position from
which universal and abiding principles may be
learnt.
1 i Cor. viii. 4; 1 Cor. x. 19.
157
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
(a) St. Paul's Teaching to the Weak.
He tells them their scruples are a mistake ;
but nevertheless, until their consciences are en-
lightened, they must respect their decisions. His
judgment is wholly on the side of the strong.
When he says, ' We that are strong,' x he asso-
ciates himself with them. c We know/ he says,
' that no idol is anything in the world, and that
there is no God but one, 2 and therefore all things
are clean.' 3 ' I know, and am persuaded in the
Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself. 4 'Meat
will not commend us to God ; neither if we eat
not, are we the worse ; nor if we eat, are we the
better.' 5 He maintained that the root of the weak-
ness with regard to eating was a weak faith. It
was a failure to recognise that the soul, which
has committed itself to Christ, is free from all
laws, except those which are involved in responsi-
bility to Him. 6
Nevertheless, though a man be wrong, his con-
science must be obeyed. Enlightenment cannot
follow disobedience.
From the treatment of the weak by St. Paul
two moral principles of great value may be evolved :
1 Rom. xv. i. - i Cor. viii. 4. 3 Rom. xiv. 20. 4 Rom. xiv. 14.
5 1 Cor. viii. 8. 6 Denney, Expositors G.T. t vol. ii., p. 700.
158
CASES OF CONSCIENCE.
(a) Over-scrupulousness, so far from being a
virtue, is a weakness to be got rid of ; it is a sign
of defective faith, and of imperfect knowledge. It
shows a narrow outlook, and may become a
disease. * Fatty degeneration of the conscience,' as
it has been wittily called, 1 is an ailment to which
a certain 'type of religious person is peculiarly
liable. So long as they regard their super-sensi-
tiveness with Pharisaic self-complacency, there is
small hope of their recovery.
(&) Yet St. Paul asserts unhesitatingly the
supremacy even of a weak conscience ; it ought to
be enlightened, but until it is it must be obeyed.
i May we not,' says Newman, ' look for a blessing
through obedience, even to an erroneous system,
and a guidance, even by means of it, out of it ?
... I have always contended that obedience even
to an erring conscience was the way to gain light,
and that it mattered not where a man began,
so that he began on what came to hand, and in
faith.' 2 Such also was St. Paul's belief. He is
sure that the weak are wrong, but he is equally
sure that they must follow their conscience.
This view is justified by experience. * A wounded
1 This expression occurs in Isabel Carnaby, but is used by a writer
in the Spectator several years before (December 26th, 1891).
2 Apologia, p. 206.
J 59
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
conscience/ says Fuller, c can unparadise Paradise
itself/ ' Others persuaded,' writes Laud in his
diary, * but my own conscience loudly forbade me.
. . . Ah, how much better had I suffered martyr-
dom with Thy protomartyr upon his commemora-
tion day, than done the pleasure of two faithless,
careless friends. ... I am not stoned for my sins,
but stoned by them.' 1 ' Conscience, conscience/
said Juba ; * yes, certainly, once I had a conscience.
Yes, and once I had a bad chill, and went about
chattering and shivering ; and once I had a game
leg, and then I went limping ; and so, you see,
I once on a time had a conscience. O yes, I have
had many consciences before now — -white, black,
yellow, and green ; they were all bad, but they
are all gone, and now I have none.' That is the
result of treating conscience as a bad adviser, to
be silenced, and got rid of as quickly as possible.
(b) St. Paul's Teaching to the Strong.
It has already been shown that St. Paul's sym-
pathies were with the strong. They were in the
right. He had himself taught, * All things are
lawful for me/ but he had expressly limited the
1 Mozley's Essays, Historical and Theological ', vol. i., p. 146. The
sin to which the extract refers was the celebration of a marriage of
a, divorced woman by Laud soon after his ordination.
160
CASES OF CONSCIENCE.
practical application of this principle of Christian
freedom, ' but not all things are expedient.' The
law of Christian love must be allowed to be heard,
and expediency must be carefully considered.
This expediency is of two kinds :
(i) Expediency in our own interests: 'All
things are lawful for me ; but I will not be brought
under the power of any.' 1
(2) Expediency in the interests of others : 'All
things are lawful, but all things edify not.' 2
The first represents the common-sense view of
expediency. Liberty is not to be so used that it
changes into bondage. The moment any indulg-
ence gains the upper hand, however innocent it
may be, it is time to make a stand against it, and
to say plainly, ' I will not be brought into bondage
by it.' An example of this is seen in cigarette
smoking. It is innocent in itself, but how quickly
it may develop into a pernicious habit, and become
a bondage. No man should allow himself to be-
come a slave to any habit. He ought to be able,
if necessary, to throw it aside. This was St. Paul's
own practice, ' all things are lawful, but I will not
be brought under the power of any/ 3
1 1 Cor. vi. 12. 2 I Cor. x. 23.
3 The whole subject of liberty and expediency is treated by Findlay
in the Monthly Interpreter, vol. i. 3 p. 292.
l6l M
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Of expediency in the interests of others, St.
Paul has many things to say. Liberty is great,
but love is greater. The burden of his message,
whether to Rome, or Corinth, is, c Take heed lest
this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to
the weak.' 1 These words show St. Paul's practical
moral sanity. He recognises that the strong must
live, side by side, with those who have neither
their strength nor their insight. The true, strong
man in Christ must think of others. He is not
to be a stumbling-block, or occasion of falling to
his fellow-men. His actions are to make for
peace, and for the edification of others. So far
does St. Paul press this principle, that he teaches
that liberty must be sacrificed if need be : c If
because of meat thy brother is grieved, thou
walkest no longer in love ... it is good not to eat
flesh, nor to drink wine, nor to do anything
whereby thy brother stumbleth.' 2 He lays no
yoke that he will not gladly bear himself. ( If
meat make my brother to stumble, I will eat no
flesh for evermore, that I make not my brother to
stumble.' 3 Does this bear too heavily on the
strong ? Would it not be better to stand up
boldly and show that the weak are wrong ? Cer-
tainly this would be right in some cases. But
1 I Cor. viii. 9. 2 Rom. xiv. 15, 21. 3 1 Cor. viii. 13.
162
CASES OF CONSCIENCE.
each case must be dealt with as it occurs, with a
clear view of what is at stake. The threefold
motive which influenced St. Paul's action muse
have weight with every Christian man : the peace
of the Church, the claims of brotherhood, and the
readiness to sacrifice self for others. We are
members one of another, each individual life is a
part of the whole life of the community to which
we belong. We must follow after things whereby
we may edify one another. 1 The tie of obligation
is strengthened, when the Apostle reminds the
strong of their brotherhood with the weak. They
may be ignorant and foolish, but they have this
claim at least, they are of the same household of
faith. The spirit to sacrifice self for others must
also influence our attitude. ' We that are strong
ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not
to please ourselves ... for Christ also pleased
not Himself/ 2 This is the supreme motive, and
for every man whose heart lies open to its appeal,
it is the conclusion of the whole matter.
(c) St. Paul's Teaching on 'Judging.'
This is addressed to both weak and strong.
To the weak he writes : ' But thou, why dost thou
judge thy brother ? ' 3 Then turning to the strong,
1 Rom. xiv. 19. 2 Rom. xv. 1-3. :< Rom. xiv. 10.
163
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
' Thou again, why dost thou set at nought thy
brother, for we shall all stand before the judgment-
seat of God. For it is written, As I live, saith
the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, and every
tongue shall confess to God. So then each one
of us shall give account of himself to God. Let
us not therefore judge one another any more/ 1
The question naturally arises, What does St.
Paul mean by 'judging ' ? ' To think is to com-
pare,' says Prof. Hoffding, in his Elementary Logic,
but comparison involves judgment. If this be
so, we cannot think of others, without judging
others. To think of others is no sin, since it is im-
possible not to do so ; what, then, is the boundary-
line, where judgment, which is merely an integral
element of thought, passes from a purely psycho-
logical phenomenon into sin? What element in
the judgment is it which constitutes sin? The
answer to these questions can be gathered from
St. Paul's words. The 'judging/ which he con-
demns, is not the thought we give to others in the
spirit of brotherly love ; but thought which is
marked by censoriousness in the weak, as they
judge the strong ; and by contemptuousness in
the strong, as they judge the weak. In both cases
there is a breach of charity. The exercise of a
1 Rom. xiv. 10-13 * see a ^ s0 verses 3 and 4.
164
CASES OF CONSCIENCE.
larger liberty provokes the condemnation of men,
whose principles are strict while their outlook is
narrow ; and on the other hand, men are tempted
to regard with scorn the prejudices of the over-
scrupulous.
How much of the bitterness which separates
Christian men might be avoided, if we could
always bear in mind that we, each one, have a
Master, to whom we must give account. How
much sweeter life would be if we could grasp the
important truth, that the chief thing is, not what
we think of each other, but what Christ thinks of
us. Often in our judgments upon others we
forget that He said : ' Judge not, that ye be not
judged.' 1 Are we not also taking the judgment
out of His hands when we judge each other
in a spirit of either censoriousness or contemptu-
ousness ?
1 Matt. vii. i.
165
CHAPTER XIV.
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
(a) Social Order.
QT. PAUL, as a Roman citizen, upheld the
^ great principle of Roman Law, viz., social
order. His language is strong and clear in his
advice : 4 Let every soul be subject to the higher
powers, for there is no power but of God. He
that resisteth the power withstandeth the ordi-
nance of God, and they that withstand shall receive
to themselves judgment/ l
In writing to Timothy, 1 1 exhort/ he says,
' first of all that supplications, prayers, interces-
sions, thanksgivings be made for all men : for
kings and all that are in high place, that we
may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness
and gravity.' 2 It must have required the courage
which springs from strong convictions to write as
St. Paul did to the Roman Church, which con-
tained a large Jewish element. Obedience to the
higher powers must have been exceedingly difficult,
1 Rom. xiii. t 9 2, 21. " 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2.
166
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
and St. Paul does not ask for it ; but he does ask
for subjection or submission on the ground that
all lawful authority has its source in God. His
words open too large a subject for discussion in
these pages. Numberless questions arise from
them, such as, Is it never permissible to rebel?
How can it be right to submit to a tyrannical
or irreligious ruler? How can the authority of
such a ruler be described as an ordinance of God?
It is not necessary to discuss these questions; they
have been in the past the subjects of vehement
controversy, and might find a place in ' cases of
conscience.' There may be occasions when sub-
mission to an earthly authority involves rebellion
against God, and in such cases the higher authority
of God claims submission first ; this was an old
Apostolic rule. 1 But such cases are only occa-
sional, and are not covered by St. Paul's advice.
What he desires to impress upon his readers is
the spirit which yields ready submission to lawful
authority. The Jews were always noted for a
rebellious spirit against pagan Rome, and in St.
Paul's days were constantly raising tumults against
their rulers. It is this spirit he deprecates when
he teaches submission. There was a better way
than rebellion, and this is indicated in the pas-
1 Acts iv. 19, v. 29.
167
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
sage quoted from i Tim. Christians must pray
for their rulers. ' Prayers,' says Bishop Bilson,
' must .be made for kings and all that are in
authority, in order that they may discharge their
duties according to God's ordinance, which is,
that their subjects by their help and means may
lead an honest, godly, and quiet life ; godliness
and honesty being the chiefest ends of our prayers,
and effects of their powers.' 1
There can be no doubt of the wisdom of St.
Paul's precepts, in the best interests of the infant
Church. He had himself been the subject of
persecution for alleged rebellion against Caesar, 2
and knew how easily the Roman power could
be aroused to hostility when civil order was
threatened.
(b) Benevolence.
A distinction was made by Kant between
duties of perfect obligation and duties of imper-
fect obligation. The former are duties obligatory
at all times, and under all circumstances ; such,
for example, as the Ten Commandments. The
latter are duties which cannot be exactly formu-
lated, but yet they are duties which every good
man is expected to perform. Christianity does
1 On Christian Subjection, p. 339. 2 Acts xvii. 7.
168
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
not make any such distinction . It does not
attempt to regulate specific acts of life, but says,
c Be ye perfect.* Specific acts and abstentions are
not so important as 'the spiritual principle' which
influences conduct. What a man c is ' is more
important than what a man * does.' This makes
the spiritual principle, which is prominent in St.
Paul's ethics, of supreme importance. Where
there is union with Christ, the whole conduct is
influenced in a moral direction, and all actions
have a higher ethical value than they have if done
in obedience to a code of laws, however exhaustive.
When St. Paul teaches almsgiving, it is not be-
cause it was regarded as a virtue in the Old
Testament, but because it was a natural fruit of
Christ's presence in the Christian life. His
chief aim was to form character in his converts
by teaching them to be imitators of Christ. They
were to be dominated by the Christ spirit until
Christ was formed in them. 1 The sorrow which
St. Paul often expresses in his Epistles was chiefly
caused by actions which showed that his converts
had fallen short of the high standard expected of
those who were 'in Christ.' His expectation was
that all virtues would blossom more abundantly in
lives that were uplifted by union with Christ ; and
1 Gal. iv. 19.
169
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
all duties would be more cheerfully performed.
Tne working of the Spirit would not only make
lives purer, but would promote an outflowing of
kindly feeling and generosity towards all in need.
Much space is given in St. Paul's Epistles to
the duty of benevolence, as one might expect from
one who had the mind of Christ.
It was no new duty to Jewish converts, for
later Judaism had given an important place to
almsgiving in the life of a pious Jew. The
Deuteronomic code enjoined, £Thou shalt surely
open thine hand unto thy brother, to thy needy,
and to thy poor/ x ^ The later priest code made
special provision for the needy. 2 In the Apocrypha,
almsgiving is exalted to such a position that alms
combined with fasting is regarded as a means for
obtaining forgiveness of sins. 3 The precepts were
excellent, but the motives were not always as
worthy. Good deeds were to be done to obtain
favour, with God or with man, and were not
closely connected with the sanctification of the
disposition. The custom of giving alms in public
provoked a stern rebuke from our Lord. 4 He
taught that almsgiving was a matter between man
and God, and not a matter for public display in
1 Dent. xv. n. 2 Lev. xix. 9, 10. 3 Tobit iv. 11, 12.
4 Matt. vi. 2, 4.
170
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
order to gain popular applause. His whole life
was the manifestation of the spirit from which
true benevolence naturally flows. That St. Paul
had caught the spirit of his Master we may gather
from his address to the Ephesian elders, in which
he quotes words of Jesus not recorded in the
Gospels : ' It is more blessed to give than to
receive/ *
* The importance attached to benevolence by
St. Paul is illustrated not merely by specific
commands, such as the charge to the Roman
Christians to ' communicate to the necessities of
the saints/ 2 but by his activity in promoting works
of charity.
In the Acts, we are told that, when a famine
was impending, the disciples at Antioch determined
to send relief to their Judasan brethren, and
selected Barnabas and Saul to convey their gifts
to the elders. 3 In the Epistle to the Galatians
St. Paul relates the decision of the older Apostles
to send him and Barnabas on a mission to the
Gentiles, and adds, ' only they would that we
should remember the poor ; which very thing I
was also zealous to do/ 4 This zeal had important
results, for it led St. Paul to organize a relief
fund for the poor saints at Jerusalem in the pro-
1 Acts xx. 35. ° Rom. xii. 13. ! Acts xi. 29, 30. 4 Gal. ii. 10.
171
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
vinces which he had visited, and in which he had
founded Churches. It is in connection with this
effort that we have most of the Apostle's teaching
upon benevolence, teaching which has influenced
all future generations of Christians.
It must first be noted that St. Paul does not lay
down any rules as to the scale of Christian giving.
There is no mention of a tithe, as we might
expect from one brought up in Jewish customs.
The principle he lays down is : ' Let each man
do according as he hath purposed in his heart,
not grudgingly, or of necessity ; for God loveth
a cheerful giver/ M At the same time, he enjoins
regular giving ; for he gave orders to the Churches
of Galatia and Corinth as follows : ' Upon the
first day of the week let each one of you lay by
him in store, as he may prosper/ 2 This order
was given in order to avoid a special effort when
he was present, which would be merely spasmodic
generosity, or a tribute to the Apostle's personal
influence. Amongst all the Churches, St. Paul
singled out those of Macedonia as examples to be
followed by others. The root from which their
benevolence grew was a strong one. ' First they
gave their own selves to the Lord.' 3 Following
up their personal dedication, they gave < Accord -
1 2 Cor. ix. 7. 2 I Cor. xvi. 2. s 2 Cor. viii. 5.
172
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
ing to their power, yea, and beyond their power,
they gave of their own accord.' 1 They were in
material things poor, but ' their deep poverty
abounded unto the riches of their liberality.' 2
The whole passage is a splendid tribute to the
power of Christ to lift the benevolence in the
natural man to a higher level, as a manifestation
of Christian life ; and St. Paul goes on to show
that a generous spirit, manifest in deeds of kind-
ness, shows thanksgiving to God and gives Him
glory. It is a proof of holy obedience to the
spirit of the Gospel. It draws closely the bonds
of love uniting Christian brethren. These pur-
poses were doubtless in St. Paul's mind when he
organized his great relief scheme. All Christians
were to be united in one body : all the other
members of the body must help, if one member
suffered. This strong clear teaching of St. Paul
had much influence upon the future conduct of
Christians, and contributed greatly towards the
union of all the Churches in one Holy Catholic
Apostolic Church. When much of St. Paul's
dogmatic teaching was lost sight of in the contro-
versies of succeeding ages, the sense of brotherhood
remained, and saved the Church from falling into
unconnected fragments.
1 2 Cor. viii, 3. 2 2 Cor. viii. 2.
*73
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
St. Paul's teaching of benevolence was not
confined to care for the poor saints. From his
own position of personal independence he was
able to lay down the duties of the members of
a church to maintain their ministers, without
exposing himself to the charge of self-seeking.
In writing to the Galatians he says : ' Let him
that is taught in the Word communicate unto him
that teacheth in all good things.' x The import-
ance of this duty is impressed in very marked
language. If it is neglected, God is mocked.
c Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap/ l Although St. Paul refused help from some
Churches, yet he gladly accepted it from the
Philippian Church, and he speaks in warm terms
of their generosity. ' Not/ he says, ' that I seek
for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increaseth
to your account.' 2 How many a minister of
Christ in the present day seeks for fruit of his
ministry in the generosity of his people, and
seeks in vain. It is a remarkable feature in the
Christianity of to-day, that, while large sums can
be collected for organs, stained-glass windows, and
decorations, yet there is the greatest difficulty in
raising funds for the ministry, and often even for
the necessary expenses of maintaining the ordinary
1 Gal. vi. 6, 7. -* Phil. iv. 17.
174
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
services of the church. People who have no
hesitation in spending large sums on luxuries and
pleasures, when they attend church, seem to become
suddenly poor, and can only find the smallest coin
to contribute to the offering, which is presented to
the Lord for the service of His Church. Although
there are splendid exceptions, many Churchmen
excuse their meagre offerings on the ground that
the Church is rich, and does not need help. This
plea is persisted in, although it has been shown
that a large percentage of benefices have endow-
ments quite inadequate to maintain an incumbent,
and often the word ' living ' is a mere mockery.
In any case, ought the generosity of our ancestors to
be pleaded as a reason for setting aside the teach-
ing of our Lord and of St. Paul, that the mainte-
nance of the ministry is one of the duties of a
Christian? Not only does the special duty of
generosity towards the ministry need restatement,
but also the whole subject of Christian benevolence,
on the principle laid down by St. Paul, that it is
the natural expression of Christian love. He does
not advocate community of goods. The com-
munism, which is described in the early chapters
of the Acts, does not appear in his writings, and,
so far as we know, did not spread beyond
Jerusalem. He is satisfied by stating, ' In all
i75
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
things I gave you an example, how that so labour-
ing ye ought to help the weak/ 1
In the present day, the poor laws have made
provision for those in destitute circumstances ; and
frequently, contributions towards the rates are
pleaded as a reason for withholding charity. It
cannot be impressed too often that such contribu-
tions are not v charity.' They cannot take the
place of the benevolence which St, Paul preached
and practised. What we are compelled to give is
not the measure of what we ought to l will ' to give.
Christ's poor are always with us, and Christ's
spirit must ever give form to our benevolence.
Although St. Paul's teaching is so impressive
regarding almsgiving, yet he carefully guarded
against indiscriminate benevolence. He com-
manded that children and even grandchildren
should undertake the care of widows ; by so doing
they would show piety in their own family and
requite their parents. Failure to provide for
the wants of indigent members of a family is
declared to be a denial of the faith, and proves a
man to be worse than an unbeliever. 2 Minute
directions are laid down for the guidance of those
who ministered to the widows supported by the
Church. None are to be inscribed on the roll
1 Acts xx. 35. a 1 Tim. v. 8.
176
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
until they have passed threescore years, having
been the wife of one man, well-reported for good
works, hospitality, and service. The Church was
not to be burdened by supporting young widows,
or those who had relatives capable of maintaining
them. * The principles laid down by St. Paul can
readily be applied in the present day ; not to limit
benevolence, but to secure that it is applied where
it is most likely to have value.
(c) Purity.
The low moral tone of the Graeco-Roman
world in St. Paul's time is illustrated abundantly
in the Epistles. Contact with the East had led to
deplorable immorality, which was eating like a
disease into both Roman and Provincial life. The
Epistles to the Romans and the Corinthians prove
how keenly St. Paul realised the impurities which
stained the lives of the people of Rome and Corinth.
The latter city had * an unenviable fame for its
licentiousness, fostered by the local cult of Aphro-
dite, which was not only on an enormous scale,
but also on Oriental rather than on Greek lines,
making vice part of the religious life/ 2 In writ-
ing to the Ephesians, St. Paul mentions certain
1 I Tim v. 3-16. 2 Bartlet's The Apostolic Age, p. 130.
177 N
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
classes of evildoers, who were excluded from the
kingdom of Christ and God ; and says : ' Have
no fellowship with the unfruitful works of dark-
ness, but rather even reprove them ; for the things
which are done by them in secret it is a shame
even to speak of/ l In like manner he bids the
Colossians mortify their lusts, in which they had
walked aforetime, when they lived in these things. 2
On another occasion he states that if Chris-
tians ■ were to avoid the companionship of forni-
cators, they would have to go out of the world. 3
With such an evil environment, it must have
been exceedingly difficult for the converts from
heathenism to maintain the high moral standard
required by their new faith. There was need of
plain speaking, and of clear leading, and both
of these they found in St. Paul. He was himself
a man of remarkably pure life ; but wonderfully
alive to the dangers which beset the new converts.
The sins which he condemns most severely are
those which are generally described as ' the sins of
the flesh ; ' they form a dark list in St. Paul's
writings.
iropveia (fornication) stands first among the
works of the flesh. It was especially condemned
for the following reasons : —
1 Eph. w ii, 12. 2 Col. Hi. 5-7. 3 1 Cor. v. 10.
178
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
(a) It was a profanation that any one should
take the members of Christ, and make
them the members of a harlot. x
(&) It is a sin against a man's own body.
' Every sin,' he says, * that a man doeth is
without the body ; but he that committeth
fornication sinneth against his own body.' 2
/Aot^eia (adultery), the word is not found in
St. Paul's epistles, but the noun /x,oixo9 3 and the
verb fjioiyeveiv * both occur.
OLKadoLpa-ia (uncleanness), is found in close
proximity to iropveia.
acrekyeta (lasciviousness). 5 Both Lightfoot
and Ellicott translate this word * wantonness.'
1 A man may be aicdOapTos and hide his own sin ;
he does not become dcreXyqs, until he shocks
public decency.' 6 In classical Greek, the word
was associated with insolent or violent conduct.
In the New Testament, the prominent idea is
sensuality.
Trddos (passion), means lustfulness, and implies
a disposition towards lust, morbum libidinis?
Still darker forms of impurity are expressed in
1 i Cor. vi. 15. 2 1 Cor. vi. 18. 3 I Cor. vi. 9.
4 Rom. ii. 22, xiii. 9. 5 Rom. xiii. 13; Gal. v. 19 ; Eph. iv. 19.
6 Lightfoot, Galatians, p. 207. 7 Bengel.
179
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
the words //.aXctKos and ap<r&/oKoinq^ which show
the utmost depths of depravity. 1
All these sins spring from ' evil desire/ and
were dealt with unsparingly. Christians are to
mortify them. They are to remember that such
sins close the door of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Another class of sins, which are branded as
breaches of Christian purity, were closely associated
with the social life of the Greeks in St. Paul's
time, they are : —
fjb€07j — drunkenness, R.V. (Gal. v. 21).
dcr&ma — riot, R.V. (Eph. v. 18). Frequently
an accompaniment of fiedr}.
Ktofjioi 2 — revellings, R.V. (Gal. vi. 21).
But St. Paul was not content with denounc-
ing the sins of impurity. He gives positive
reasons why purity should be manifest in every
Christian life.
(a) All Christians are called to be 'saints.' 3
They must walk worthily of their calling.
(6) They are united to Christ. ' The body
is not for fornication, but for the Lord ; and the
Lord for the body. Know ye not that your
1 On the prevalence of these sins in the highly civilised cities of the
Roman world see Rom. i. 27, in Scripture ; and Horace's Satires, in
profane literature.
2 Hesychius explains kuj/joi : to. acekyrj ko.1 wopviKa acjuarn :
GVfiirocria. 3 I Cor. i. 2.
180
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
bodies are members of Christ/ 1 The Christian
must keep before him the holy figure of his Lord;
and bear in mind that he is a member of Him,
who was spotless in His purity.
(c) The bodies of Christians are temples of
the Holy Ghost. 2 This figure would appeal most
strongly to the Jewish members of the Church.
The Temple was to the Jew the one place entirely
dedicated to God's service, and was the special
place where God manifested His presence. Thus,
St. Paul taught, it is with our bodies. In them,
God, the Holy Spirit, dwells ; through them, He
manifests Himself to the world, and Christian
lives become the media, through which all men
can learn the character of God.
(d) Christians are bought with a price, they
are a redeemed people, and belong to God.
Therefore they are bound to glorify God in
their body. 3 When our bodies are disciplined, and
purified, and fitted for His habitation, then God
is glorified in them. He is dishonoured when our
bodies become the instruments for sin ; when they
are despised, or neglected, or indulged, or impure.
(e) The consecration of the body to God's
service occupies an important place in the Epistle
to the Romans. St. Paul had stated his doctrine
1 I Cor. vi. 13-15. 2 1 Cor. vi. 19. 3 1 Cor. vi. 20.
xSi
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
of grace, and had dwelt upon the divine mercy.
He had broken out into one of his magnificent
rhapsodies : * O the depth of the riches both of
the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how
unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways
past tracing out ! ... of Him, and through Him,
and unto Him, are all things/ 1 Then comes his
appeal : ' I beseech you therefore by the mercies
of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable
service/ 2 These v/ords express the entire sacrifice
of the life to God. The Thought of self is merged
in the thought of God. We might have expected
that this would have been expressed by some
such words as * present your souls, 5 but St. Paul
deliberately says fc present your bodies J In so
saying he corrects those who think that if the
spirit is right, the actions do not matter. This
was the error at Colosse. It is the root-thought
of all antinomianism ; it is entirely Anti-Christian.
It ignores the great mystery of the Incarnation,
when the Son of God took to Himself a human
body, and the Word became flesh. 3
By these arguments St. Paul sets forth the
positive duty of purity ; they have special value
in our own day. Modern civilisation addresses
1 Rom. xi. 33-36. 2 Rom. 12. i. 3 John i. 14.
182
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
appeals ever more powerful to our bodies. Every
craving of the human appetite is provided for, in
a manner which is attractive and enticing. Little
thought is given as to whether an indulgence of
the body is right or wrong as long as it appears
desirable. ' Keep thyself pure ' l should be the
motto of those who stand ever in the presence of
Him, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.
(d) St. Paul's Teaching regarding
Marriage.
Although the Apostle was by choice a celibate,
he did not adopt an ascetic view of marriage.
There is no taint of Essenism in his discussion of
the question, nor did he give his adherence to
those schools of Oriental philosophy which derided
all natural inclinations, and looked upon marriage
only on one side, regarding it as carnal and
sensual.
St. Paul's advice to the Corinthian Church was
dictated by the critical character of the times, and
by the expectation of a speedy " Parousia.' He
says, * I think therefore that this is good by reason
of the present distress, namely, that it is good for
a man to be as he is. Art thou bound unto a
wife ? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed
1 i Tim. v. 22.
183
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
frcm a wife? seek not a wife. But and if thou
marry, thou hast not sinned ; and if a virgin
marry, she hath not sinned. Yet such shall have
tribulation in the flesh : and I would spare you.' l
He ascribes no intrinsic merit either to marriage
or to celibacy; both states are allowable. Even
second marriages are permitted with the proviso
that they are 'In the Lord.' 2
Although the personal opinion of the Apostle
is that a widow will secure her own happiness
better by avoiding remarriage, yet it appears that,
later in life, he revised his opinion, for he says, * 1
desire therefore that the younger widows (or
women) marry, bear children, rule the household.' 3
St. Paul, although guarded in his advice, realised
the blessedness of a marriage based upon true love,
and uses it as a type of the union between Christ
and His Church. He followed the teaching of our
Lord in regarding it as indissoluble : * Art thou
bound unto a wife ? seek not to be loosed/ 4 4 I
give charge . . . that the wife depart not from her
husband . . . and that the husband leave not his
wife.' 5 In the event of a wife separating from her
husband, she is commanded to remain unmarried,
or else to be reconciled to her husband. And the
1 i Cor. vii. 26-28. 2 1 Cor. vii. 39. " 1 Tim. *\ 14.
4 1 Cor. vii. 27. 5 I Cor. vii. io, 11.
184
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
whole passage is rendered more impressive by the
clause, which makes the command, not an opinion
of the Apostle, but a judgment ofUte-Lord. 1
The relative duties of the husband and wife
are clearly laid down. The husband is the head
of the wife, and is to love his wife, as Christ loved
the Church. 2 As a man loves his own body, so
he is to love his wife. 3
The Apostle regards marriage as effecting a
perfect unity between husband and wife ; and to
emphasise the unity he quotes the Old Testament
precept, reinforced by our Lord, * A man shall
leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to
his wife, and the twain shall become one flesh.' 4
He presents us with an attractive picture of a
Christian home, where there is headship in the
husband, and subordination in the wife, 5 yet both
joined together in the bond of their mutual love.
1 I Cor. vii. 10-12. ° Eph. v. 25. 3 Eph. \. 28.
Note. — On the indissolubility of the marriage tie, F. \Y. Robertson
says, in his sermon on Christian casuistry : ( Marriage is of all earthly
unions, almost the only one permitting no change, but that of death.
It is that engagement, in which man exerts his most awful and solemn
power — the power of responsibility, which belongs to him as one that
shall give account — the power of abnegating the right to change — the
power of parting with his freedom — the power of doing that which can
never be reversed. And yet it is perhaps the relationship which is
spoken of most frivolously, and entered into most carelessly and wan-
tonly.' — Sermons, third series, p. 180.
4 Gen. ii. 24 ; Mark x. 7 ; Eph. v. 31. 5 Eph. \. 24.
185
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
No bitterness 1 mars the union, no hatred dissolves
it. 2 This high, pure standard of marriage is one
of the fairest fruits of Christian moral teaching,
and has elevated the position of women, from the
low position they occupied in Jewish and Greek
civilisations, to their present position as true help-
meets of their husbands. The tendency of modern
legislation is in favour of accentuating the inde-
pendence of married women. It was necessary to
protect them from the covetousness or rapacity of
their husbands, and the much-needed ' Married
Women's Property Act ' has given married women
control over their own property, as the Common
Law protects their persons. The danger is, that
the independence gained may degenerate into a
separation of interests and pursuits. The safe-
guard lies in St. Paul's teaching. In it the head-
ship of the husband is clearlv laid down ; and the
spirit in which that headship is to be exercised is
th e spirit of love. Where there is true lov e
between husband and wife, a recognition that their
unity is a real one, there can be no * meum
and tuum ' ; all things are held in common as
a trust from God, to whom account must be
given.
St. Paul had not merely to lay down general
1 Col. Hi, iq. 2 Eph. v. 29.
186
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
rules for the married, but also to consider the
special cases where one of the parties was a
Christian, and the other an unbeliever. These
cases he contemplated as arising out of the past.
He does not regard them as possible in the future,
for he contemplates future marriages of Christians
as being 'In the Lord,' and doubtless included
marriage in the command, ' Be not unequally
yoked with unbelievers/ l In the first stages of
the Christian Church there must, however, have
been many instances of a husband or wife be-
coming a Christian and the partner remaining a
heathen. To meet such cases the Apostle says,
with the sanction of the Lord : ' If any brother
hath an unbelieving wife, and she is content to
dwell with him, let him not leave her. And the
woman, which hath an unbelieving husband, an.l
he is content to dwell with her, let her not leave
her husband." 2 The rule is enforced by the state-
ment, that the unbelieving partner is sanctified by
the believing one, and the sanctity of the children
is secured. To make the rule more acceptable,
the Apostle breaks forth into one of his wonder-
fully touching appeals. ' How knowest thou, O
wife, whether thou wilt save thy husband? or how
knowest thou, O husband, whether thou wilt save
1 2 Cor. vi. 14. 1 Cor. vii. 12, 13
187
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
thy wife ? ' l What comfort and support this
teaching of St. Paul has given in all ages to men
and women who have found the unity of their
married life threatened by differences of religious
belief. It is this high spiritual tone that makes
St. Paul's ethical teaching an example to every
generation of Christian teachers.
But St. Paul teaches that marriage is not only
a social bond, it is also a fAvo-TTJpLov. He says,
' This mystery is great : but I speak in regard of
Christ and of the Church.' 2 /jLvar^piot/ is used by
St. Paul to signify something which cannot be
fully comprehended by human reason until assisted
by Divine help ; or something hidden from men,
and afterwards made known by revelation. 3 Bishop
Ellicott says, 4 c It is needless to observe that the
words cannot be urged in favour of the sacra-
mental nature of marriage (Concil. Trid. w.,
init.), but it may fairly be said that the very fact
of the comparison (see Olshausen) does place mar-
riage on a far holier and higher basis than modern
theories are disposed to admit/
It is this religious side of marriage that the
Church is bound to emphasise, and must resist all
1 i Cor. vii. 16. " Eph. v. 32.
3 1 Cor. ii. I ; Eph. i. 9, iii. 3 ; Col. i. 26, et passim. It is used
in St. Paul's Epistles nineteen times.
4 In his commentary on Ephesians, p. 136.
188
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
attempts to reduce it to a mere civil contract,
easily made and easily dissolved.
In discussing the relations of married people,
St. Paul is not merely general in his teaching.
He does not hesitate to lay down rules on the
delicate subject of marital relations. He contem-
plates that these relations may be interrupted for
the purpose of entire surrender to prayer ; but
enjoins that the interruption should be, (a) by
mutual consent, (b) only temporary, 1 lest a con-
tinued interruption should lead to the sin of
incontinency.
With regard to the celibacy of the clergy, St.
Paul's writings show that neither he nor the other
Apostles regarded this as a religious duty. He
claims the right to lead about a wife, even as the
rest of the Apostles, and the brethren of the
Lord, and Cephas. 2 A bishop 3 (or overseer),
elders, 4 and deacons 3 must be the husbands of one
wife. The meaning of the expression, ' husband
of one wife/ has been much discussed. The
meaning may be gathered by comparing it with
the language of i Tim. v. 9, where a widow,
in order to be eligible for inscription on the roll
of the Church, must have been l the wife of
1 1 Cor vii. 5. 2 1 Cor. ix. 5. 3 1 Tim. iii. 2.
4 Titus i. 6. 5 1 Tim. iii. 12.
189
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
one man/ This evidently implies that she must
not have contracted a second marriage ; and we
may fairly conclude that the requirement that
bishops, elders, and deacons must be the husbands
of one wife means that they must have been mar-
ried only once. In the Eastern Church it was the
rule that bishops should not be allowed to marry, 1
but the lower orders of the clergy might marry,
but not remarry in the event of the death of
their wives.
In the Western Church, the direction of St.
Paul regarding the marriage of clergy was not
regarded as being a precept of perpetual and
universal obligation. Second marriages were for-
bidden, 2 but the whole question was regarded as
disciplinary, and in the Philosophumena, by Hip-
polytus, it is stated that at the beginning of the
third century persons who had been married twice,
or even thrice, were admitted to be deacons,
priests, and bishops.
In giving his injunctions, St. Paul may have
had in view the custom among pagans, that their
priests should marry only once, 3 and thought it
advisable that the Christian Church should not be
1 Concil. Trull., c. 48.
2 Tertullian, Ad uxorem, c. 7 ; 4th Council of Carthage, c. 69.
Jerome, AdJovi?iian. i 6 Digamus in clerum eligi non potest.'
3 See Jerome, Ad Agerughiam.
190
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
less strict than the heathen. The adoption of
celibacy by the clergy in the Western Church
is a question which belongs to ecclesiastical
history, and strong opinions will always be held
as to whether it has been a good or an evil.
Some of the most splendid Christian characters
were formed in monasteries, where celibacy was
the rule. Some of the most profligate men in
Church history have been professed celibates.
Which state is preferable for the clergy will
always be a matter of individual opinion. It is
sufficient for the purpose of this work to make
it clear that St. Paul is not on the side of enforced
celibacy.
(e) Relative Duties.
Following upon the subject of marriage, we
come to the Christian home, and the social duties
of its members in their relations to each other.
That St. Paul attached great importance to
the home life of Christians we gather from the
following points :
(i) He refers to houses as Church centres.
c Salute Priscilla and Aquila . . . and the Church
that is in their house/ * Again, writing to Phile-
1 Rom. xvi. 3-5 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 19.
I 9 I
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
mon, he sends greeting to the Church in his
house.
(2) He regarded the home as a sphere for
acquiring the capacity to preside over the public
worship of the Church. The bishop must be one
that ruleth well his own house ; and he particu-
larly adds, l If a man knoweth not how to rule
his own house, how shall he take care of the
Church of God ? ' 1
(3) He taught that the home is a place where
piety (evo-efieta) may be practised. 2
In St. Paul's view, all human relations were
raised by Christianity to new power and influence
over the life. Christian homes were capable of
being Churches in themselves, centres where the
members of the family, and brethren from with-
out, could meet and enjoy the fellowship of wor-
ship. 'Here/ as Bartlet says, 'about the family
board, where brethren of the household of faith
were welcomed with sacred joy, the fellowship to
which baptism admitted received its crown. Here
the house-father, reverently taking the creatures
of the Heavenly Father's bounty, blessed with
words of thanksgiving, and distributed among the
company, in remembrance of Him whose return
was at first daily expected. Then did hearts
1 I Tim. iii. 4, 5. 2 1 Tim. v. 4.
192
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
burn, and eyes filled with tears of love and
What an informing picture this presents to us
of the home where Christ is loved and honoured.
Although we now have in every crowded town,
and in every remote village, a place where Chris-
tians meet for worship, yet the religion of the
home should not be neglected, as it is so often in
these later days. Family prayer, if wisely con-
ducted, is a splendid preparation for the duties of
the day. A wise control exercised within the
family circle may, as St. Paul suggests, train men
for wider service. Piety may find a field for
growth, in deeds of kindness, which are possible
in the home life.
In the present day there is a loud appeal from
young members of families for greater liberty of
action. On all sides it is noted that children are
passing out of the control of parents. May not
one cause be, the lack of home religion ? and
another, the failure of parents to realise their
responsibility for the instruction of their children
in religion? Religious instruction has in most
cases passed from the home to the Church and
School. When attendance at these is no longer
enforced, the young break away from what they
1 Bartlet's Apostolic Age, p. 465.
193 O
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
regard as the restraints of religion, and claim to
live their own lives in the manner which most
appeals to them.
Closely connected with the home life are the
precepts which St. Paul gives regarding relative
duties. These may be summarised as follows : —
(a) Duties of husbands to wives, and wives to
husbands. These have already been considered,
and we may pass to
(J?) Duties of parents to children, and children
to parents. These duties are set forth in the
following passages, Q Children, obey your parents
in the Lord : for this is right. Honour thy
father and mother (which is the first commands-
ment with promise), that it may be well with thee,
and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye
fathers, provoke not your children to wrath : but
nurture them in the chastening and admonition of
the Lord. j
* Children, obey your parents in all things, for
this is well pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, pro-
voke not your children, lest they be discouraged.' 2
Simple rules, and yet how little they are
observed. Obedience and respect, on the part of
children. Self-control in all the vexatious cir-
cumstances of daily intercourse, 3 and wise guidance
1 Eph. vi. 1-4. 2 CoI. iii. 20, 21. 3 See Alford's Greek Testament in loco.
194
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
of young souls that are to be trained for Christ, on
the part of parents. How often these are replaced
by weak complaisance which overlooks faults, or
by harsh severity which genders bitterness and
even enmity.
(c) Duties of masters to servants, and servants
to masters. In St. Paul's time slavery was uni-
versal in the Grseco-Roman world. As Christianity
attracted to itself many members of the slave class,
it was necessary to give advice to Christian masters
in their attitude to their bondservants ; and also
to instruct slaves in their duties to their masters.
The principal duties of slaves are expressed
positively and negatively. They are to honour
their masters, 1 and to render obedience to them.
They are to be solicitous and honest in the faithful
performance of their duties, and single-hearted in
their service. 2 These are the positive duties.
The negative are : they must not act with eye
service, merely to please their masters, but to act as
the bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God
from the heart. They must not despise their
masters, because they are heathen ; but manifest
trustworthiness, that they may adorn the doctrine
of our Saviour God in all things.
Masters are exhorted to act in a kindly manner
1 I Tim. vi. i. 2 Eph. vi. 5-8 ; Col. iii. 22 ; Titus ii. 9, 10.
!95
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
towards their servants, and to forbear threatening ;
they are also commanded to render to their ser-
vants that which is just and equal, keeping before
their minds that they have a Master in heaven.
The conditions of social life in the present day
are entirely different from what they were when
these precepts were given, and it may be thought
unnecessary to repeat them ; but, as we have seen
in all St. Paul's treatment of questions of an
occasional character, he lays down principles of
conduct which are applicable to all time. Kindli-
ness in a master and faithfulness in a servant are
never out of date ; and the Christian spirit which
breathes in St. Paul's advice is the spirit in which
all labour questions should be approached. In the
reconstruction of our national life after the war,
questions affecting the relations of masters and
servants will need all the moderation and grace
which St. Paul teaches, if they are to be settled
without endangering the very existence of society.
One point, that must ever be kept in the fore-
ground in all questions arising between masters
and servants, is fundamental in Christian ethics,
viz. : No man has the right to regard another
man simply as fc a means ' ; he is bound to look
upon him as one who has a definite personality,
with the right to make the best of his own
196
ETHICS OF SOCIAL LIFE.
life, and not as a machine to be used merely to
promote the comfort, or to increase the wealth
of another.
Before passing from the subject of St. Paul's
teaching on the relative duties of masters and
servants, a few words must be said with regard to
St. Paul's attitude towards slavery. It has been
asserted that his teaching tended to rivet the
fetters of the slave, because he advised Christian
slaves not to seek freedom but to use their condi-
tion of bondage to the best advantage. ' Wast
thou called being a bondservant ? care not for it :
but if thou canst become free, use it rather.' 1
In reply to this criticism, it may be noted that
a gospel which taught the value of the individual
soul, and declared that there was neither bond nor
free in God's sight, must have attracted large
numbers of the slave class, and St. Paul saw
clearly the possibility that men, excited by the
thought of Christian equality, might be tempted
to throw off the yoke by violence. This would
have resulted in social disorder, and would have
drawn upon the Christian Churches the full
weight of the Roman power. St. Paul showed
true wisdom in leaving existing institutions alone ;
1 i Cor. vii. 21. The interpretation of fxaWov xpf}™ 1 has been
much disputed. For the authorities see Alford's note on the passage.
197
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
while at the same time he stated principles of
brotherhood in Christ, which were bound to act
as leaven upon society, and to result in the removal
of the curse of slavery from every Christian
country. The touching letter to Philemon is in
itself a sufficient answer to St. Paul's critics.
Onesimus was no longer a servant, but more than
a servant, a brother beloved, when he returned as
a Christian to his old home. 1 This new relation-
ship involved the charter of freedom to the
Christian slave.
1 Philem. 16.
198
CHAPTER XV.
ST. PAUL AND CHURCH ORGANIZATION.
TT was part of St. Paul's work, as the Apostle
-* to the Gentiles, to make provision for the
control and instruction of the converts who formed
the various Churches. The first step was the
appointment of elders by St. Paul and Barnabas in
the cities of Galatia. 1 Many of the converts,
being Jews, would readily fall in with an arrange-
ment to which they were accustomed. We learn
from the Talmud that in every town and village
where there was a synagogue, there was also a
local court controlled by the elders of the com-
munity. The duties of the court were partly
administrative and partly disciplinary, but it had
no direct control over the worship or teaching of
the assembly. When the Gospel spread to places
where a large proportion of the Church members
were Gentiles, the appointment of elders would
harmonise with the Greek custom of local councils,
which, in St. Paul's time, were still called yepov<riai i
1 Acts xiv. 23.
199
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
although they were not confined to the elder
members of the fiovXrj. The exact functions of
the 'elders' 1 in the Christian Churches are not
defined in the New Testament, but they were
certainly not limited to matters of discipline and
administration, for the elders at Ephesus were
exhorted to take heed to themselves and to the
flock, and ' to feed the Church of the Lord, which
He purchased with His own blood.' 2 In St. Paul's
address, from which these words are taken, the
4 elders ' are called iTrlaKoiroi ; they were to watch
over the flock, and also to labour to support the
weak. The title indicates the exercise of over-
sight. From the whole passage we gather that
the Ephesian elders exercised two functions. They
were the rulers of the Church, and they also exer-
cised the pastoral office. A division of these
functions is suggested in the later Epistles.
Philippians is addressed to the saints, together with
1 Note on TrpEfffivrepot. * There is no reason for deeming this
technical term a peculiarity of the Jewish idiom. . . . The inscriptions
of Asia Minor prove beyond doubt that TrpzaflvTipoi was the technical
term, in the most diverse localities, for the members of a Corporation.
... It can be demonstrated that in some islands and in many towns
in Asia Minor there was besides the Boule\ also a Gerousia, which
possessed the privileges of a corporation, and as it appears, usually
consisted of Bouleutes, who were delegated to it, its members were
called ykpovrtg, ytpovaiaarai, Trpecfivrepoi, ytpatoi.' — Deissmann, Bible
Studies, p. 156.
2 Acts xx. 28.
200
CHURCH ORGANIZATION.
the bishops and deacons. 1 The bishops probably
being the rulers or administrators, and the deacons
exercising the ministerial offices. In i Tim.
* elders' who rule well (ol ko\5)s irpoeoT&res) are
declared to be worthy of double honour. 2 In the
same Epistles we shall see that different qualifica-
tions are required for bishops and for deacons.
Two interesting lists of Church officers are supplied
to us in St. Paul's writings. These lists are re-
markable for
(a) The officers mentioned ;
(b) The differences in the two lists ;
(c) The omissions in both.
The first list in point of time is that contained
in i Cor. 3 In this, a recognised order of prece-
dence is emphasised. First apostles, secondly
prophets, thirdly teachers. Following these,
certain spiritual gifts are enumerated, which
apparently might be the possession of any member
of the Church. The second list is in the Ephesian
Epistle; 4 in this we find apostles, prophets, evan-
gelists, pastors, and teachers. These officers were
apparently differentiated in their functions, and the
longer list indicates that in the Churches to which
the Epistle was written, Church organization was
more highly developed than it was when the
1 Phil. i. I. - t Tim. v. 17. 3 xii. 28. * Eph. iv. 11.
201
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Corinthian Epistle was written. The preaching
of the Gospel to the heathen would probably be
the work of the c evangelists,' and the pastoral
work of the Church would be the duty of the
* pastors/ The omission of bishops, elders, and
deacons from these two lists does not imply that
they did not exist in the Churches of Corinth and
Proconsular Asia, but rather that the duties of
these officials were fulfilled by persons bearing
other titles.
We know from the Epistle of Clement to the
Corinthians that there were presbyters, exercising
important functions at Corinth, at the end of the
first century. The Epistles of Polycarp and
Ignatius prove that bishops held a pre-eminent
position in Asia in the first decades of the second
century.
St. Paul had taught for long periods in both
Corinth and Ephesus, 1 and must have laid the
foundation of the ecclesiastical organization in
those important centres. Our concern, in this
work, is not with the future development of the
organization, but to show the teaching of St. Paul
regarding the character of the men to whom were
entrusted the important duties of building up the
1 Although the Ephcsian Epistle was an encyclical letter, yet a.
copy would probably be delivered at Ephesus.
202
CHURCH ORGANIZATION.
Body of Christ in the various Churches. This
information is given in detail in the Pastoral
Epistles addressed to Timothy and Titus.
The qualifications or a bishop (enrur/coTros) 1 are
carefully elaborated ; they may be classified as
spiritual, moral, intellectual, and social, and show
that only men of high character were to be admitted
to the office.
The qualifications are as follows : A bishop
must be
(a) Blameless (a^emX^7rTos), i.e., free from the
faults he was to reprove in others ;
(b) The husband of one wife (/uas yvvaiKos
avrjp) — this probably means, one who
had not contracted a second marriage ;
(c) Temperate (yr)<j>a\Lo<s) ;
(d) Sober-minded (o-d><f>pa)v) ;
(<?) Orderly (/cooyuos) ;
(f) Given to hospitality (<j>Lko£evos) ;
(g) Apt to teach (StSa/crt/cos) ;
1 ' Of this word as an official title Cremer, p. 889, following Pape,
gives only one example outside the N.T. "In Athens the name was-
applied in particular to able men in the subject states who conducted
the affairs of the same." But we find t7riffK07rot, as communal officers,
in Rhodes, thus in IMAe 49^ ff (2nd-ist Cent. B.C.) there is named a
council of five t7ri<7K07roi ; in 50 34 ff (1st Cent. B.C.) three 67n'<7K07roi are
enumerated. Neither inscription gives any information as to their func-
tions. . It is perhaps a more important fact that likewise in Rhodes
67rt<7«:o7roc was a technical term for the holder of a "religious" office/
— Deissmann, Bible Studies., p. 230.
203
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
(h) No brawler ((jltj -rrapoivos) — according to
Hesychius irapoivia is rj 4k tov olvov
(i) No striker (fir/ ttXtJkttjs;) ; l
(j) Gentle (imeuaqs) ;
(£) Not contentious (a^a^os) ;
(/) No lover of money (d<£t\apyu/>os).
In addition, St. Paul required that an into-KOTros
should rule well his own house, so that he might
be able to take care of the Church of God. He
must not be a novice (veocjyvros), 2 that is, not a
new convert, inexperienced in the Christian faith.
He must also be of good repute among those
outside the Church. These minute instructions
show the anxiety of St. Paul that those called
to office in the Church should be men of scrupulous
life, qualified both intellectually and morally to
exercise their duties, and to be an example to the
flock committed to their care.
Further instructions are given regarding
* deacons/ who were probably closely connected
with the bishops and assisted them in their duties,
with special attention to the ministerial functions,
as distinguished from those of ruling.
1 Tertullian, DeMonogam., c. 12 : ' Non manu promptus ad cseden-
dum et pugnax.'
2 LXX. Ps. i27 J : vs6<pvTa k\atu>v. The word is applied in papyri
to newly planted palm-trees.
204
CHURCH ORGANIZATION.
They were to be
Grave (cre^oi) ;
Not double-tongued (^7) Sikoyot) ;
Not give nto much wine (fxrj otvco ttoXKS
7Tpocr€)(ovTe^) ;
Not greedy of filthy lucre (/xt) aio-poKepBets) ;
They were also to hold ' the mystery of faith
in a pure conscience.' x
The qualifications of an ' elder ' laid down in
the Epistle to Titus are almost identical with
those of a 'bishop' in 1 Timothy. There is one
important addition ; they must be able ' to exhort
in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gain-
sayers.' 2 This clearly implies that their duties
included teaching and discipline.
In the Church officers named in the Pastorals
high moral character was an essential. Joined
with this, they were to possess definite spiritual
and intellectual gifts ; giving them boldness in the
faith and aptitude for teaching. Bishops and
elders should be sympathetic and gentle, like their
Lord and Master. In the sub-apostolic age great
emphasis was laid upon the necessity of Church
officers performing their duties in a tender and
loving manner. ' Elders ' were to be compassionate,
merciful to all, turning back the erring, visiting
1 1 Tim. iii. 10. 2 Titus i. 9.
205
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
the sick, providing for widows, orphans, and poor. 1
In these injunctions we can recognise the spirit of
St. Paul's ethical teaching regarding the qualifica-
tions of an officer in the great army of Christ.
In the earlier period of St. Paul's ministry
it appears that he personally superintended the
Churches which he had founded. He alludes to
his anxiety for all the Churches, which was pressing
daily upon him. When he knew that his active
ministry must soon terminate, we find him appoint-
ing Timothy to a special charge in the Church at
Ephesus. This charge involved the exercise of
discipline in respect of strange or erroneous doc-
trine. 2 It also included the oversight of the
* elders ' and the hearing of complaints against
them. His advice to Timothy in regard to
accusations is marked by his usual wisdom :
* Against an elder receive not an accusation except
at the mouth of two or three witnesses.' 3 Timothy
is exhorted thus : ' Preach the word ; be instant
in season, out of season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort,
with all long-suffering and teaching.'
The Lord's bondservant, in dealing with all
questions coming before him, is to be marked by
the absence of the spirit of strife. He must be
1 See Polycarp, Ad Phil. , ^. 6. 2 2 Cor. xi. 28.
3 1 Tim. v. 19.
206
CHURCH ORGANIZATION.
gentle towards all, apt to teach, forbearing, in
meekness correcting them that oppose them-
selves. 1 In his conduct, he must flee youthful
lusts and follow after righteousness, faith, love,
and peace. 2
The impressive exhortations addressed to
Timothy in the first Epistle have lasting value
for all the chief pastors of the Church, and close
with the solemn words : ' O Timothy, guard that
which is committed to thee.' 3 He had received
the ' depositum fidei, to be sacredly guarded by his
diligence and efficiency. If he failed to exercise
his authority rightly, and placed in positions of
responsibility in the Church men who were unfit ;
if, in St. Paul's words, he laid hands hastily —
i.e., without due examination — upon men ; then
he would be a partaker of their sins, and would
be responsible for their failure. In the first
Collect for Ember Days the Church of England
prays that this tradition may be observed by those
responsible for admission to Holy Orders.
A similar commission was given to Titus,
another of St. Paul's faithful companions. In the
Churches in the island of Crete there were dis-
orders which called for direct oversight, and the
work was entrusted to Titus. He was to set in
1 2 Tim. ii. 24, 25. 2 2 Tim. ii. 22. 3 I Tim. vi. 20.
207
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
order the things that were wanting, and to
appoint elders in every city. 1 He was to speak,,
and exhort, and reprove, with all authority. 2 In
these commissions we seem to have the beginnings
of what in later times developed into the monarchical
episcopacy ; but it would be an anachronism to
assert that it actually existed in St. Paul's time.
He might delegate authority to Timothy and Titus
under special circumstances, but he maintained to
the end his authority as an Apostle to rule over the
Churches he had founded. He laid the founda-
tion, others built upon it ; the Pastorals were
reminders to those who followed him to take heed
how they builded.
1 Titus i. 5. 2 Titus ii. 15.
208
CHAPTER XVI.
THE INFLUENCE OF ST. PAUL'S ETHICS IN
THE POST-APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
TN the primitive post-apostolic Church, the
lofty tone of Pauline ethics, as exhibiting a
spiritual principle, upon which the Christian life
could be built, became dulled. There was a dis-
tinct tendency to assimilate the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus to the law of Moses ; by setting forth
the Christian ethic as a body of definite precepts^
instead of as a spiritual life lived under the direc-
tion of the Holy Spirit. These precepts were
often stated in a negative form. 1 They were
right in themselves ; and in their high teaching
of purity, and brotherliness, show the influence of
our Lord's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.
Their defect lay in their religious motive. More
attention was given to man's moral attitude and
conduct, than to the ' spiritual ' relation of man to
God through faith in Christ. 2
1 See Didache : the two Ways.
2 See Luthardt, History of Christian Ethics, p. 109.
209 p
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
In later Judaism, moral precepts took the form
of a demand on the part of God, and obedience on
the part of man. The Divine * Code ' filled the
mind's eye, and the call was for self-discipline, which
should merit favour and reward, at the hands of
the Divine Lawgiver of Israel, and avert the judg-
ments threatened to disobedience. Love for God was
not excluded, but it held a less prominent place.
In St. Paul's teaching, the foreground is filled
with the figure of Christ, who stands in personal
relations to man, and can become the model for all
man s relations with his fellows. He teaches that
in every Christian life the Spirit of Christ is the
energising force. The love of Christ shapes all
deeds and all thoughts, and the aim St. Paul has
in all his teaching is, that he may present every
man perfect in Christ. 1 We recognise that a high
spiritual aim is at once the standard, and the motive
of the Pauline ethic ; and the practical issue of this
more spiritual attitude must be a higher type of
conduct than that which springs from a mere legal
attitude.
Jewish influences were strong in certain parts of
the Church, notably in Syria and Alexandria.
( i ) In Syria, the reversion to ' legalism ' is seen
in the Didache. The * way of life ' is summed up
1 Col. i. 28.
210
THE POST-APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
in the two commandments, * Thou shalt love
the God that made thee/ and * thy neighbour as
thyself : whatsoever things thou wouldest not have
done to thyself, do not thou to another/
(2) In Alexandria, legalistic influences operated
through the Old Testament Apocrypha, and led to
stress being placed on the doctrine of * works.' In
' Barnabas/ alms, fasting, prayer, and the expiatory
value of almsgiving are all set forth, and un-
doubtedly show Jewish influence. 1 At the same
time the high value placed on intellect, as well as
* works/ coincided with the contact of Greek
philosophy with Christianity. It is clear that
there was a decided falling away from the richer
spiritual teaching of St. Paul.
(3) The post-apostolic Church was very largely
composed of Gentiles ; and they were even less
conscious than the Jews of the inherent * weakness '
of the law as * law ' ; for they had even less than the
Jews sounded the depths which St. Paul knew so
well, and felt so acutely.
With these different elements in the Church,
it is no marvel that the second generation
of Christians should have failed to grasp the
spiritual principle of Pauline ethics, and forgot the
admonition, ' Walk by the spirit, and ye shall not
1 Confer Tobit iv. 10, xii. 9.
211
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
fulfil the lusts of the flesh.' 1 The question was
not one of piety and zeal, it was one of
spiritual experience. Various other explanations
are given for what Luthardt calls c The ob-
scuration of the Pauline notion.' 2 The Tubingen
school sought to explain this phenomenon by-
tracing it to a supposed struggle between Judaic
and Gentile Christianity in the post-apostolic
Church, and the gradual adjustment of the
struggle. But this argument breaks down from
the fact that the post-apostolic Church was
essentially a Gentile Christian Church. Ritschl
in his Origin of the Catholic Church derives
the dulling of Paulinism, and the rise of a new
'legalism,' from the inability of the Gentiles to
grasp the Jewish Old Testament ' presuppositions '
which underlay St. Paul's ethical teaching. They
naturally brought into the Church the heathen
ideas with which they were familiar, and especially
heathen moral philosophy. Luthardt 2 agrees with
Thiersch in explaining the falling away from
Pauline ethics as due to the necessity of opposing
Gnostic antinomianism. Definite laws for conduct
were used to repel the Gnostic claim for licence in
morals, which claim was based on a false interpre-
tation of St. Paul's teaching regarding spiritual
1 Gal. v. 16. 2 Luthardt, p. 109.
212
THE POST-APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
liberty. St. Paul had taught that justification by
faith brought a man into right relations with God,
and that those relations influenced his whole moral
life. When this spiritual attitude was lost sight of,
moral conduct gradually assumed the character of
'legality.' Attention was directed more to man's
moral conduct than to the religious relationship in
which man stands to God ; and even the religious
relationship to Christ Himself came to be appre-
hended as merely the recognition of a rule of faith,
and the fufilment of its law.
The Apologists of the second century brought
into prominence the insistence of Christianity
upon inward purity, and upon the extension of
love even to enemies. Justin Martyr showed how
lives were completely changed by Christian teach-
ing, and wrote, c We, who formerly found pleasure
in lust, now find pleasure in moral temperance
(aoxf)po(rvv7}) ; we, who once followed sorcery,
have now consecrated ourselves to the good and
Unbegotten God ; we, who once loved gain
above all things, now give up what we have to the
common property ; and share it with all who need/
He endeavoured to identify this morality (a) with
the universal reason of Stoicism, which he asserted
was, in germ, 1 in every man; (£) with the legalism
1 <T7T£pjua, hence he derives his doctrine of \6yog tnrepfiariKOQ.
213
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
of the Jew, who knew as ' Law,' that which by the
heathen was called ' Reason.'
In this manner Justin, like other early Apolo-
gists, sought to commend Christianity to the
heathen world, by showing that it was identical
with the primitive truth, which preceded both
heathenism and Judaism. Thus in Justin's
writings Christianity is represented on the one
side as a revelation of the Divine reason, in and
through Christ (6 Xoyos), and * faith ' as recogni-
tion of this truth ; on the other side, it is repre-
sented as * Law ' (6 /caivo? v6fjLos)> which Law was
really a restatement of the Law of Creation. It
was therefore a law teaching a morality of universal
reason. Justin argues that the original truth had
been obscured and corrupted by both heathen and
Jews, but was now revived in Christ, and was
available for the whole human race. It must be
carefully noted, that man's relationship to God is
not based by Justin upon his spiritual union with
Him through Christ (the prominent thought in St.
Paul's writings), but depends upon conduct, based
upon knowledge ; and, consequently, faith becomes
merely an act of obedience. Justin, however,
agrees with St. Paul in laying down the necessity
of repentance, and baptism ; the latter bringing
about a regeneration by the Holy Spirit, together
214
THE POST-APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
with an enlightenment (^kutlo-ju-o?) which leads to
a new and higher mode of moral conduct.
Justin's purpose was, as we have remarked, to
conciliate heathen opponents to Christianity ; and,
with this end in view, he attempted to show
that Christianity was in agreement with heathen
philosophy, in trying to find the path to a higher
morality by ' knowledge.' In his endeavour, the
revelation of God in Christ was regarded as a
* means ' of attaining the higher morality, instead
of being regarded as the very " essence ' and * goal '
of Christianity.
When we pass from the Apologists to the
Greek Fathers, we find that their ethical teaching
is for the most part unsystematic and occasional.
But on one point they are strictly in line with St.
Paul's ethics. No one can read his Epistles with-
out being struck by his strong advocacy of
* brotherhood. ' It is not merely expressed in
specific texts, such as : * In brotherly love be
kindly afFectioned one to another,' * ' Concerning
brotherly love, ye have no need that I write unto
you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love
one another ; ' 2 but is manifest in the tender
warmth of his feeling towards his brethren and
sisters in Christ expressed in almost every page
1 Rom. xii. 10. 2 I Thess. iv. 9.
215
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
of his writings. The sense of brotherhood sur-
vived in the Church, when it had lost much of
the spiritual ethic taught by St. Paul, and the
word <f)Lka8ek<f>La is writ large in the Christian life
of this period. Its sway is at once the proof and
the measure of the hold which the twin truths
of Fatherliness in God, and of the value of
the human person as related to Him, had really
gained upon Christians, however meagre their
theoretic insight might be. It involved a revolu-
tion in moral ideals. Sympathy took the first
place. Service rendered by man to men, benevo-
lence to all in need, became the essence of
worship. Kindly actions were the marks of a
Christian. The one supremacy in morals was that
of conspicuous service in word or deed. An
example of this is found in a letter from Dionysius
of Corinth (c. 1 70) to the Roman Church 1 : ' From
the first, it has been your practice to do good to
all the brethren, and to send sustenance to many
Churches, even to those in every city. Thus ye
relieve the wants of the needy, and minister to the
brethren condemned to the mines/ From this
letter it is clear that the Roman Church maintained
the spirit of benevolence taught by St. Paul in his
Epistle to the Romans. 2
1 Eusebius, iv. 23. 2 Rom. xii. 13 ; see also Rom. xv. 27.
216
THE POST-APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
After the long struggle against Arianism,.
during which the attention of the Christian world
was directed more to theological than to moral
questions, we find in the writings of St. Augustine
a return to the Pauline ethic. The four cardinal
virtues he sets out as follows : * temperantia/ in
opposition to the love of the world ; ' fortitudo/
as the overcoming of suffering and pain by love ;
'justitia/ as service to God; and * prudential as
the right distinction between what is to be avoided
and what is to be chosen. In these, he taught, lie
moral perfection, and they become virtues in so
far as they are manifestations of love to God. 1
Emphasis is laid by Augustine on the inward-
ness of the disposition towards God, as the all-
important factor, on which a true morality is
built ; and the imitation of Christ had far more
significance to him than it had to the Greek
theologians. The moral teaching of the great
Latin Father was, however, vitiated by the fact that
he did not turn back sufficiently to the central
point of the Pauline conception. His interest
was not pre-eminently in the personal relationship
of the redeemed man to Christ, but rather in a.
striving after sanctification by the operation of
grace conveyed through the Sacraments of the.
1 De Moribus^ i. 25, 15.
217
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
Church. In Augustine, as in so many of the
early Fathers, the failure to realise a right relation-
ship to God resulted in a failure to find a right
relationship to the world. It is not until the
time of the Reformation that we find a full recog-
nition of the Pauline starting-point for the universal
and absolute imperativeness of all Christian duties.
The original antithesis between Christianity and
Jewish legalism was revived ; and it was main-
tained that the inwardness of faith was the sole
means of attaining eternal life, in contrast to the
outwardness of works. All the positive duties of
the Christian man remained unchanged, but they
did not rest on ' Evangelical counsels/ They
found their starting-point in a realised union with
Christ, and their inspiration in the working of the
Holy Spirit in the regenerated soul. The moral
life of the Christian was no longer dependent upon
rules of conduct enforced by ecclesiastical authority.
Duties were to be performed because of the rela-
tion in which man stood to God through Christ ;
and the moral ideal was no longer the monastic
life, with its ascetic rules, but a life of obedience to
the revealed will of God, manifested in the perfect
life of His Son. Unfortunately, the bitter theo-
logical discussions, which followed the Reformation,
the rise of antinomianism, springing once more
218
THE POST-APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
from a false interpretation of St. Paul's writings,
the divisions into which the Church was rent,
forced spiritual ethics into the background, and
the Reformed Churches followed with little change
the ethical teaching of the pre- Reformation period.
St. Paul's Ethics and the Present Age.
In the present day there is a strong call upon
all Christians to combine for the regeneration and
perfecting of society. The utter breakdown of
morality, on the part of some of the great nations
of the Christian world, is a proof that they have
lost sight of all the moral progress achieved since
Christ taught men humility and love. The ma-
terial and scientific developments of our age have
absorbed the attention, and prompted the ambitions
of great numbers of professing Christians. They
have been the real objects of devotion, and God
has been forgotten. The result is seen in the
great War. The knowledge and resources which
might have effected so many beneficent improve-
ments in human life have been applied to destruc-
tion. So terrible have been the calamities that to
many aching hearts it has seemed as though God had
abandoned the world He created. The Christian
knows that such an abandonment is impossible,
219
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
that His purposes of love can never change, and
sees in the present crisis a call to deeper faith in
Christ, who alone can redeem humanity.
This faith means to us what it meant to St.
Paul : an entire trust and surrender of our life
to Christ ; a real union with Him. We have
seen that when this relationship is established,
there is not only a fuller sense of man's filial re-
lationship to God, but also an inspiration to new
services of love to our fellow-men ; services which
embrace all human interests. Too many Christians
are content to rest upon the joy of their personal
relation to Christ, without realising that they
should not only receive the things of God, but
also set them forth for the benefit of all God's
creatures. Those who long to be ' perfect ' in
Christ, are bound to help in perfecting others.
Hence the Church, using the word in a wide sense
as embracing all who love and serve Christ, should
set forth clearly that the 'perfection,' which is the
goal of its members, means not only fellowship
with God, but also the perfecting of all human
life. In this work St. Paul's ethical teaching will
be of the utmost value. An endeavour has been
made in this work to show that the great Apostle
rightly interpreted the teaching of our Lord, and
that he had the mind of Christ ; we can therefore
220
THE POST-APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
follow his teaching without any fear of being
misled.
When he taught that full - humanity can only
be realised ' in Christ/ and that a return to Him
must precede a return to God, he did not rest at
that point, but went on to call upon his converts
to be ' fellow-workers with God. 1
This is the call which sounds in our ears to-
day. Obedience will be met by opposition from
within, for the flesh will still war against the
•spirit. From without there will be difficulties
to overcome, as there were in St. Paul's day.
But victory will be won if faith remains un-
changed, immovable, undimmed. Nothing could
be worse for the world than that the Church
should stand aloof from the problems of the
future. Such abstention would result in the re-
organization of the forces of materialism, in order
to assure the triumph of evil, and the calamities
of to-day would recur in the future.
If, however, we cling to the belief that the
.■solution of all human problems lies in the follow-
ing of Christ's teaching ; then it is the manifest
duty of all who have found their true self in Him
to unite in a great effort to reconstruct society on a
spiritual basis, and to further the future progress
of the world towards spiritual ends. If the work
221
ST. PAUL'S ETHICAL TEACHING.
seem too great, we may be encouraged by remem-
bering that the message delivered by St. Paul was
given under circumstances far more difficult than
those of the present age. He spoke to heathen
converts brought up in all the superstitions and
abominations of heathenism ; yet his words raised
them to an entirely different life, and inspired
in them new and eternal hopes. Conscious of
their union with Christ, they found in a life
directed by His Spirit, an antidote to all evil,
a source of deep and abiding peace, and a sphere
of service, ever more and more fruitful. Is it
too much to hope that in the present day, after
centuries of Christian teaching, the same message
may be powerful enough to redress the evils that
press so heavily upon us ; and raise Christian
morality to even higher power than was reached
when St. Paul wrote, ' Beloved, let us cleanse our-
selves from all defilement, of flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God.' 1
1 2 Cor. vii. i.
LONDON : STRANGE WAV'S, PRINTERS.
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