1 Corinthians — Chapter 16

2. — For now we see through a glass in an enigma : but then face to face . We see, /.<?., God and heavenly things, by which we may be saved and be happy, as appears from what follows. You will say : If we see God here in a mirror, we see Him clearly and not in an enigma, for a mirror exhibits to the eyes, not an image of the object, as is commonly supposed, but the very object itself, I reply : It is true that a mirror exhibits to the eyes the object itself, yet it does so, not by a direct ray but reflected; and therefore it represents the object, not properly, clearly, distinctly, but as from a distance, obscure and confusedly. Such is the knowledge of God and of Divine things which we have in this life, but in heaven we shall see God as He is, face to face, directly, closely, clearly. Secondly, the Greek word denotes that which we look through as a means of seeing anything, such as the spectacles of old men, an eye-glass, or green glass which is placed over a writing, that it may help weak eyes in reading, nevertheless, it makes things look green, dark, and obscure. Such a glass, properly speaking, makes the letters to be seen, not in themselves immediately, but by an obscure medium and by a shadowy likeness, or, as the Apostle says, in an enigma. Such a glass may be meant here. THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY 333 Thirdly, some interpret the word, tl through a screen ; ” for, as merchants show their wares in their shops through glass screens to those who pass by, not close at hand and distinctly, but from a distance, in the mass and confusedly, so does God show Himself to us in this life. You will ask, What is this mirror by which we see God and Divine things here in an enigma? I reply, Firstly, the creatures which act as a mirror to represent their Creator. So S. Thomas teaches. Secondly, the phenomena of nature, which are the mirrors of realities. Thirdly, the humanity of Christ and its mysteries, which veil and set forth His Divinity. Again, the sacraments and other rites and ceremonies. So S. Theodoret says : “ In holy baptism we see a figure of the resurrection ; there we shall see the resurrec- tion itself Here we see the symbols of the Loris body t there the Lord Himself ; for so the words face to face imply . We shall see , however , not His Divine nature , which no eye can take in , but that which was assumed of us,” In these last words of Theodoret an error of his must be guarded against, for he seems to say that in heaven we shall see the humanity only of Christ, because he says the Divine nature cannot be seen. But the excuse can perhaps be made that he is speaking only of corporal vision, of which it is true to say, that with the eyes of the body we shall see the humanity only of Christ. But this is outside the mind of the Apostle, for he is treating of the beatific vision, especially of the Divinity. In an enigma , i.e, t according to Anselm, by an obscure speech thought, or imagination. For an enigma is a question which is pro- posed in involved terms. Then face to face. He alludes to Moses (Exod. xxxiii. 2 ; Num. xii. 8). “ Now I know in fart” (imperfectly, as I have said, ver. 9), “ but then shall I know even as also I am known,” That is, Then in heaven I shall perfectly know and see God, as He is in His essence, and all other mysteries of God and the faith, even as He knows me and sees what I am in my essence. So Anselm, Theophylact, Cajetan, Am- brose, and Theodoret. “I shall know? he says, “even as lam known? as a well-known and familiar friend clearly sees the face of his friend. 334 first EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIII. S. Augustine extends these words of the Apostle to a knowledge also of what takes place here on earth, and of what relates to the state of any saint Hence he proves from this place that the saints under- stand in heaven our affairs more perfectly than they once did on earth ; whence it follows that they hear the prayers with which we invoke them (de Civ. Dei, lib. xxii. c. $9). Chrysostom and (Ecum. understand it otherwise. Then, they say, shall I know what concerns action : I shall hasten to Him through love and righteousness, even as He prevented and went before me with His grace. Thirdly, others interpret it thus : Then shall I know with that degree of per* fection to which I was known and predestinated for eternity by God. But the first sense is the genuine one ; for he opposes knowledge, which is clear and full, to that which is in part, i.e., imperfect and enigmatical.

Follow after charity \ Pursue it eagerly so as to obtain it, just as a huntsman pursues a wild animal. Desire spiritual gifts . These are, S. Chrysostom says, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, not His graces, as, eg., the gift of tongues or of heal- ing, and the others referred to in chap. xi. S. Paul bids them desire these, try to obtain them, especially by prayer, not from any desire for superiority but from charity, that they may profit others and the Church at large by means of those gifts. But rather that ye may prophesy . Viz., that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit ye may teach, say, or sing such things as may stir up the devotion of others. This has just been seen to be the force of “ prophecy.”

I declare unto you, i.e., recall to your memory.

1. — Therefore whether it were I or they , so we preachy and so ye believed. So not only I, but all the Apostles, as was said in

Now concerning the collection for the saints. The saints here meant were the poor Christians living at Jerusalem. C£ ver. 3 and Rom. xv. 26. For the Christians at Jerusalem, as appears from Heb. x. 34, were robbed of their goods and grievously harassed by their fellow-countrymen, who were the most bitter foes of Christ Hence an injunction was given to S. Paul in the Council of Jeru- salem to be as mindful of the poor Jews as of the Gentiles (Gal ii. 10). He orders, therefore, that alms be regularly collected for them ; and this practice lasted till the time of Theodosius. Cf. 2 Cor. viii.

7. — Now ye are the body of Christy and members in particular. The Latin version gives 44 members of the member.” This is explained (1.) by S. Thomas: “You are members of the principal member, viz., Christ, for Christ is the head of the Church; (2.) by S. Anselm, 44 You are members of Christ through the agency of another member, viz., Paul, by whom you were united to Christ, the head, and to the Church, the body.” But (3.) the Greek gives 44 members in part,” and this is the rendering of some Latin Fathers, or 44 members of each other.” S. Ambrose seems to understand it so. The Latin version also means 44 fellow-members,” brethren in the same society, of the same mystical body, the Church. So too S. Chrysostom and Ephrem, whose meaning may be paraphrased : 44 Each one, in his part and place, is a member of the Church.” Notice here that, as in the body there is (1.) a unity and a union of soul and body ; (2.) diversity of members ; (3.) differences of func- tion between the several members ; (4.) an aptitude for its function given to each member ; (5.) a community of interests in the members, so that each is bound to work, not for itself only but for the others also, just because they are members of the one body; (6.) harmony, inasmuch as each member is content with its rank and duty, does not seek another post or envy a more honoured member, so that there is the most perfect union and concord, the same share in sorrow and joy : so is it in the Church. There each one has from Christ, as if He were his soul, his proper gift, his proper talent, his office and rank, his functions to be discharged for others’ good, not his own, his limits fixed by God. If any one disturbs this order and seeks after another post, he resists the ordinance and providence of God, and forgets that all his gifts have come from God S. Paul therefore says : 44 You, O Corinthians are members of the same body of Christ, the Church : let there not be then any divisions among you, let no one despise, envy, 314 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII. or grieve at another, but let him love him, help him, and rejoice with him. Let each be content with his place, his rank, and his duty, for so he will be a partaker, not only of his own good, but also of the good of others. Just as the foot walks for the benefit of the eye, the ear, the belly, so in their turn the eye sees, the ear hears, and the belly digests for the benefit of the foot. But if there is envy and unwilling- ness shown by the eye to see, by the ear to hear, and the belly to digest, then those members hurt themselves as much as any other ; and, as Chrysostom says, it is just as if one hand were to cut off the other, for that hand would be dishonoured and weakened through receiving no help from the other hand. Moreover, if nature is at such pains to preserve such perfect concord between the different members of the body, and so sternly forbids any seditious discord, how much greater concord between men’s minds will the grace of God through its greater power effect, how little will it endure that any member should stand aloof from and be at variance with another in the same body ! If the magistrate or the king severely punishes sedition in the state, what, think you, will Christ do to the schismatics who rend His Church?

Though I have all faith , so that I could remove mountains , and have not charity , I am nothing. Erasmus thinks that this is a hyperbolic fiction, as though he should say, “ Charity by far excels faith,” just as we say, “Virtue alone is the only nobility.” But this is far too cold ; for in the following verse, speaking of almsgiving and martyrdom if charity is wanting, he says, it profiteth me nothing . Therefore, I am nothing imports I am of no value, and have no grace in the presence of God ; and in truth, because the righteous man is of some account before God, the rest of men, being un- righteous, are, in the eyes and estimation of God, as nothing. In other words, without charity nothing profiteth, nothing makes friend- ship with God ; there is nothing which wins for a man righteousness and salvation, not even faith, though it be most great and most excellent, so that it can remove mountains, such as Gregory Thau- maturgus had, who, by his faith, moved a mount from its place, that he might make a place to build a church, as Eusebius narrates (Hist. lib. 7, c. 25). You will say, therefore, If a penitent exercises himself in good works before reconciliation, they profit him nothing. Some answer that they profit him, because the penitent, they say, has charity — not infused charity which makes righteous, but that charity which is a sincere love towards God, by which he longs for reconciliation. But this affection is not and cannot be called charity ; for Holy Scripture, here and elsewhere, calls charity that most eminent virtue, greater than faith and hope, which makes us friends of God. Secondly, because the affections of fear, hope, and faith dispose to righteousness, therefore they are something, even without the affection of that love. I reply, Good works profit the sinner who repents nothing, unless charity follow. For so, he says, almsgiving profits nothing, as will appear in ver. 3. For disposition by itself is useless and of no account unless there follow the form to which it disposes ; therefore works without charity are nothing, that is, they confer no righteousness or salvation ; and a rpan without charity is FAITH DEVOID OF CHARITY 321 nothing so far as the spiritual being is concerned, in which, by super- natural regeneration, he receives a supernatural and Divine being, and is made a new creature of God, a son and heir of God. Hence it follows that faith alone does not justify. Beza replies that here faith which works miracles alone is in question ; for justifying faith, which lays hold of the mercy of God in Christ, can be separated from charity indeed in thought, but not in reality, any more than light from fire. But on the other hand, since faith which works miracles includes and presupposes faith properly so called, which is the beginning of justification (nay, faith which works miracles is the most excellent faith, as the Apostle here signifies when he says : “ Though I have faith so that I could re- move mountains”), therefore, if faith which works miracles can exist without charity, it will also be able to be justifying faith. Secondly, the Apostle says “all faith,” which Beza dishonestly translates “whole faith : ” if all, therefore also justifying. Thirdly, the Apostle teaches us (vers. 8 and 13) that faith and hope, both theological and justifying, remain in this life only, while charity remains also in the future life ; therefore faith is separated from charity. So Chrysostom, Anselm, Theophylact, and others; and especially S. Augustine ( de Trin. lib. xv. c. 18) says: “Faith, accord- ing to the Apostle, can be without charity ; it cannot be profitable;” and in his sermon on the three virtues — faith, hope, and charity (tom. x.), he speaks of charity alone, “that it distinguishes between the children of God and the children of the devil, between the children of the Kingdom and the children of perdition ; ” and again {Lib. de Naturd ei Gratid , c. ult.) he says : “Charity begun is right- eousness begun ; charity increased is righteousness increased ; charity perfected is righteousness perfected.” See Bellarmine {de Justified • tionty lib. i. c. 15). What faith which works miracles is I have said (chap. xii. 9); why the operation of miracles is to be attributed to faith D. Thomas teaches {de Potentid, qu. 6, art 9).

He that speaheth in a tongue , &c. S. Augustine (de Gen. ad Litt. lib. xil), Primasius, and Cajetan read the nominative in the last clause of this verse, “Howbeit the Spirit speaketh mysteries.” The meaning then would be : The Holy Spirit speaks of hidden mysteries in the Holy Scriptures, which cannot be under- SUPERIORITY OF PROPHECY 34 3 stood, except some prophet or doctor interpret them. But this meaning is foreign to the context, and this reading is not supported by the Greek or Latin copies.

Let every one lay by him in store — the amount that he may wish to give at this collection on the Lord’s Day. The first day of the week was the day on which the faithful assembled in church and made their oblations, even as they do now ; for from this passage it is evident that, by Apostolic institution, a collection was wont to be made on the Lord’s Day. When this custom had been discontinued at Constantinople, S. Chrysostom had it restored, and delivered a remarkable sermon on almsgiving and collections at the time. Again, S. Chrysostom well remarks that it was well ordered that the collec- tion should take place on the Lord’s Day, for on it God created the world and re-created it when lost, when Christ rose on the first day of the week and sent His Holy Spirit on the same day ; and, there- fore, we should keep in mind the great mercy that we have received on that day, and be merciful and liberal ourselves to others who are in need. Moreover, it appears from this verse, that in the time of the Apostles the Sabbath had given way to the Lord’s Day, and that is evidently implied by S. John (Rev. i. 10), when He says: “I was 404 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XVI. in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” Moreover, it follows secondly, in opposition to the Protestants, that even unwritten traditions are to be observed, for Scripture nowhere orders the Lord’s Day to be kept instead of the Sabbath. S. Thomas and Cajetan think that each one of the faithful is here bidden to lay by at home, each Lord’s Day, his offering, and give it in the church, not on that day, but later on, when it was to be sent to the poor of Jerusalem, But the practice of the Church shows that the opposite is meant, viz., that the oblations should be offered at the altar each Lord’s Day, and the same thing is shown by the words that follow, “that there be no gatherings when I come.” He wishes, then, these offerings to be put by each Lord’s Day, before the supper and the agape, and then, when the Eucharist was celebrated in the church, to be collected as alms. Notice that “to lay by in store” is in Greek “to treasure up,” for he who treasures up for the poor lays up treasure for himself in heaven.

And though I bestow all my goods \ The Greek verb signifies to put into the mouths of children or the sick bread, or food, in crumbs as cut up, as I have said (Rom. xii. 20); vol. 1. x 322 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIII. here, however, it denotes to expend all one’s substance for such a purpose. Though I give my body to be burned, \ and have not charity, it pro- fiteth me nothing. You will say, Martyrdom, then, can be without grace and charity, with sin and damnation. Note firstly, as one can give alms, so one can hand over one’s body in different ways and from different motives, e.g., for one’s country, for one’s neighbour, for correction of the body, from vain glory, or again for the faith, for the love of Christ and of God — and then it is martyrdom. Secondly, martyrdom is an act springing from the virtue of fortitude, ordered often by charity ; still it can be ordered* not by charity, but by another virtue, as by religion or obedience ; e.g., if a man offer himself to martyrdom, that he may honour God or obey Him. These actions, however, flow from a general love of God. Thirdly, martyr- dom, from whatever virtue springing, confers justifying grace, even the first, from the mere fact of its being wrought, as theologians teach ; and consequently it confers charity, nor can it be separated from it as from its end. I say, then, firstly, that the Apostle speaks in general terms of any hahding over of the body to be burned : Whether any one does it for his country, as Mucius Scsevola did, who, wishing to kill King Porsena when he was besieging Rome, made a mistake, and fell into the power of his enemies ; then, to show how little he shrank from death for his country, he burnt his hand, “ In order that you may know,” he said to Porsena, “ how vile is the body in the eyes of us who look for glory ; ” or whether he do it for empty fame, as Peregrinus did, who, to obtain for himself an immortal name, threw himself at the Olympic games on a pyre to be consumed, as Lucian, an eyewitness, testified; or whether any one commit himself to fire for the faith of Christ, while at the same time keeping hatred of his neighbour, or a desire to commit mortal sin : which martyrdom is material, not formal ; for it is then without charity and profiteth nothing, as D. Thomas, Anselm, and Theodoret say. Hence, I say secondly, that the Apostle also speaks of giving the body in material and formal martyrdom, but hypothetically, i.e., if MARTYRDOM WITHOUT CHARITY 323 martyrdom could be without charity it would profit nothing. So S. Chrysostom and Theophylact Whence Theodoret and S. Basil (Efts. 75 ad Neoccesarienses) remark that there is here a hyperbole. But, if you wish, the Apostle speaks, not merely hypothetically, but absolutely. I say thirdly, martyrdom antecedently, whether from the mere fact of being wrought, in so far as its work is regarded in itself, or in so far as the merit of him who suffers martyrdom is regarded, can be without charity, e.g. % if one living in mortal sin is willing to die for the faith of Christ, when as yet he has not charity, martyrdom profits him nothing. Nevertheless, in consequence, from the mere fact of its being wrought, in his end martyrdom always brings charity; for, from the very fact that any one, even a sinner, is killed for the faith, charity and righteousness are infused into him as if from the very act itself, and in this way martyrdom eminently profits. In this way, therefore, the sense of the Apostle will be, Martyrdom profiteth nothing unless charity go before, follow after, or accompany it, whether as the source or the end and effect of martyrdom. So D. Thomas, Cajetan, and Francisco Suarez (p. 3, qu. 69, disp. 29, sec 2). Anselm says: “Without charity nothing profits, however ex- cellent ; with charity everything profits, however vile, and becomes golden and Divine.” It profiteth me nothing. I am not helped, I receive no benefit, i.e., towards justification and salvation. So Ephrem. “So great is charity that, if it be wanting, other things are reckoned vain ; if it be present, we possess all,” says S. Augustine (tom. iii. Sententia , 326).

But he that prophesieth speakcth unto men to . . . comfort This is what I said before, that to prophesy means here to speak words which edify, exhort, and comfort others. Hence, to prophesy is better than to speak in unknown tongues, which no one under- stands, and from which no one can receive instruction, edification, or comfort

How that Christ died for our sins . . . according to the scriptures . Hos. vi. 2 : “After two days will He revive us; in the third day He will raise us up,” i.e,, when He shall on the third day Himself rise from death to life ; for the resurrection of Christ 366 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. was the cause of our rising from the death of sm, and of our future resurrection from bodily death, so that we are to rise like Christ on the Judgment Day to everlasting life. See notes on Rom. iv. 25. So Anselm, Dorotheus, in the beginning of his Synopsis, and also the Jewish writers of old in Galatin . lib. viii. c. 22. Theophylact, following S. Chrysostom, says that it was prophesied under an alle- gory that Christ should rise again on the third day; for Jonah, brought from the whale’s belly on the third day, was a type of Christ brought back to life from death and hell on the third day. Isaac, too, typified the same event, in his being rescued from death when about to be sacrificed by his father, and restored to his mother alive and well on the third day. So Christ was given by His Father and sacrificed, and raised again on the third day. But these two instances are drawn from the allegorical sense, that of Hosea is from the literal.

preach and affirm as eye-witnesses, viz., that Christ died, and rose from the dead, and appeared to us. The Apostle returns here, as if after a long digression, to the point of the whole chapter, which is to prove, from the unanimous testimony of the Apostles, the resurrection of Christ, and of the rest who have died.

I will send your liberality to Jerusalem . (Ecumenius points out that he does not here speak of alms, as he might truly have done, because the name of alms is degrading and insulting to the saints who were to receive them, but he uses a more polite term — liberality, kindness, blessing. And if it be meet that I go also they shall go with me. S. Paul stirs up the Corinthians by these words to make a larger collection, one large enough to be fit for him to take.

Charity suffiereth long and is hind. Ambrose reads: “Charity is high-souled” (so also S. Cyprian and Tertullian, de Patien - //<$, c. 12, read), “ and is pleasing.” Note, charity is long-suffering, not formally, but in the way of cause, because it produces patience and kindness; because patience, as well as kindness, is an act not elicited but ordered by charity. Tertullian (de Patientid , c. 2) beautifully teaches that no virtue is perfect which has not patience as its com- panion, and so in all the beatitudes which Christ (in S. Matt, v.) enumerates, patience also must be understood. He teaches also (c. 12) that the treasures of charity are held in by the discipline of 324 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIII. patience, and that charity herself is taught by patience as her mistress; for, expounding these words of the Apostle, “charity suffereth long,” he says : Love, the great mystery of the faith, by whose training is she taught save by that of patience f Love? he, says, “ is high-souled , so she adopts patience ; she does good, so patience works no evil; envieth not — that also is the property of patience; savours nothing of wantonness — she has drawn her modesty from patience ; is not puffed up, behaves not unseemly — for that belongs not to patience. But what would he have left to impatience f Therefore he says , 4 Love beareth all things, endureth all things 9 that is, because she is patient? Hence S. Augustine (de Moribus Eccl. c. 15) then defines fortitude: “ Fortitude is love bearing easily all things for God's sake.” In like manner he defines by love the three other cardinal virtues, that they are different forms of love. “ We may say? he says, “ that temperance is love preserving itself pure and uncorrupt for God; that justice is love, serving God only , and for the same cause duly ordering other things which have been placed under man ; that prudence is love, rightly discerning between those things by which God is served, and by which His service is hindered? Again (c. xxiL) he says : “ That love which we must have towards God, inflamed with all holiness , is called temperate in things that ought not to be sought for, and brave in things which can be lost? And shortly afterwards : “ There is nothing so hard, so steely, which cannot be overcome by the fire of love. By love, when the soul hastens towards God, rising above the defilement of the flesh, it will fly, freely and wonderfully, on most beautiful and most chaste wings, by which pure love strives for the embrace of God? Every virtue therefore is love and charity, viz., an act of charity not elicited but ordered, because it is ordered, directed, formed, and perfected by charity. Add to this that virtue by itself is love of good. Such was the charity of Christ on the Cross towards His crucifiers, about which S. Bernard ( Sermon de Passione Domini ) says: 11 He was smitten with scourges, crowned with thorns, pierced with nails, fastened to the Cross, laden with reproaches ; yet, heedless of all pains, He cried, 4 Forgive them, for they know not what they do. 9 How ready art CHARITY THE FOUNDATION OF ALL VIRTUES 325 Thou to forgive , O Lord ! How great is the multitude of Thy sweet mercies l How far are Thy thoughts from our thoughts l How is Thy mercy established on the wicked / A wondrous thing t He cries, ‘ For- give;' the Jews \ 4 Crucify;' His words were softer than butter, and they are as darts. Oh, suffering charity, but also longsuffering, 4 Charity suffereth long * — it is enough; 4 charity is kind ' — it is the crowning-point. Because charity is kind \ she loves also those whom she tolerates , and loves them so ardently And a little lower : * O Jews, ye are stones, but ye strike a softer stone, from which is given back the sound of piety, from which pours forth the oil of charity. How, O Lord, wilt Thou give drink to those who thirst for Thee of the torrent of Thy joy, who so overwhelmest those who crucify Thee with the oil of Thy mercy l " Envieth not For, as S. Gregory says {Horn, v. in Evang,), u the good will which charity begets is one that fears others' misfortunes as its own, which rejoices in the prosperity of its neighbour as in its own , believes other f losses as its own, and reckons other s' gains as its own," The reason is, because charity does not regard my things and thine, but those which are God’s. For, as S. Gregory says (ibid), 44 whatever we desire in this world, we emy to our neighbour for we seem to lose what another gains. For this cause charity is cold where lust is bold. On the contrary, when brotherly love reigns, then lust lives an exile ; for, as S. Augustine says (de Doctr, Christ, lib. iii. c. 10), “the more the kingdom of lust is destroyed, the more charity is increased," Does nothing wrongly. Perversely, wantonly, maliciously. Some interpret the Greek, “does not chatter idly," “ Vatablus, “does not flatter;” Clement (Pcedag, c. il), “ does not paint her face or adorn her head overmuch.” “ For worship" says Clement, il is said to act unseemly which openly shows superfluity and usefulness ; for excessive striving after adornment is opposed to God, to reason, and to charity Cajetan interprets the word : “ is not inconstant ; ” Theophlact, “ is not head- strong, fickle, rash, stubborn ; " Ephrem, 44 is not riotous .” Theophy- lact again, 44 doth not exalt itself ," So also S. Basil seems to interpret it “ What," he asks, “ does this word (irtpirtpeverai) mean?" which the Latin translator of Basil renders : “ What do we mean by being 326 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIII. boastful and arrogant without cause He replies: “ That which is assumed \ not from necessity hut for the sake of superfluous adorn- ment, incurs the charge of unseemliness.” But from these words it is evident that the translator has not followed the mind of S. Basil, and that Basil did not mean boasting and foolish arrogance, but painting and excessive adornment, as did Clement of Alexandria in the place just cited. Best of all, Chrysostom understands it : " Charity is not forward or wanton , as is the carnal love of lascivious men, wanton women , and harlots .” Whence Tertullian (de Patientia , c. xil) says, “ Charity makes not wanton.”

Is not ambitious. Ephrem translates it : il Does not commit what is shameful” Clement ( Pcedag . lib. iii. c. 1) : (( Doth not behave itself unseemly.” Our translator, with Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theo- phylact, CEcumenius, takes it thus : Charity thinks that nothing is dishonouring or unbecoming to it, though it suffer or do what is vile, ignominious, or degrading. Or more shortly : Charity is not ashamed, because it is ambitious of nothing, and of no honour Our translator therefore has, from the effect, understood and ren- dered the cause — the cause why any one is not ashamed is, because he seeks for no honour or glory. Whence Chrysostom and Theophvlact think that this is said by Paul against the arrogant “ Charity ,” says Chrysostom, " knows not what dishonour and disgrace are ; she covers with her wings of gold the vices of all whom she em- braces.” So the love of Christ did not spurn or reject harlots, scourgings, or washing of men’s feet S. Basil understands it (in Regul. Brev. Reg . 246): " Charity doth not depart from her habit and form” But CEcumenius : u Charity doth not treat bitterly as a prisoner the man who is her enemy” Thinketh no evil \ ie., charity, if she is provoked by any one, does not reckon up the injury nor seek revenge, but conceals it, excuses it, forgives it For the Greek word, as Vatablus and the Greeks understand it, is, imputes not his evil to any one.

Was seen of Cephas . Paul puts this appearance of Christ first, and therefore implies that the first man that Christ appeared to was Peter. I say “ the first man,” for He appeared to the Magda- lene before S. Peter (S. Mark xvi. 9). Then of the eleven. On the Sunday after the resurrection, when Thomas was now present, Christ appeared to the eleven, for the twelfth, Judas, had by that time hanged himself, or better still, “ to the eleven,” /.<?., to the whole Apostolic College, which then had been reduced to eleven, Christ appeared on the day of His resurrec- tion, though Thomas was absent The Greek copies have, “ then of the twelve.” S. Augustine has the same reading (Quasi. Evangel. lib. i. qu. ri7), and he says there that, though Judas was dead, “ the twelve ” were still so called as by a corporate name. So the Decemvirs are said to assemble if only seven or eight are present. Chrysostom explains it otherwise. He says that Christ appeared to the twelfth, Matthias, after His ascension. But this is not recorded anywhere, and Paul is here naming the appearances of Christ before His ascension only.

Rejoiceth in the truth. In the truth, not so much of speech and mind as of life, i.e., of righteousness. In other words, charity, when it sees its neighbours living justly and rightly and making IN PRAISE OF CHARITY 327 advance, does not envy them, but rejoices and is glad, as though it were its own advance, as Anselm says from S. Gregory ; for truth here is opposed to iniquity. Therefore truth here is equity, upright- ness, righteousness. The Greeks understand it otherwise : Charity does not rejoice, but grieves when it sees an enemy suffering anything wrongly or unjustly ; and it rejoices in the truth if it sees his own given to him.

NoWy brethren, t if I come unto you speaking with tongues ... or by doctrine ? His tongues would profit them nothing unless he added to them a revelation , that is an explanation of the revelation given him; or knowledge , that is a declaration of what he knew, whether infused by God or acquired by study; or prophecy , that is a statement of what he knew, either by prophecy properly so called or improperly, in the way of explanation of hidden and difficult things, especially of Holy Scripture ; or doctrine^ that is an accommo- dation of his discourse to their capacity. Such is pretty nearly the explanation given by S. Thomas and Theophylact. To complete the sense of the verse we must supply : But I shall do nothing of this sort if I merely speak with tongues and do not interpret, so that you may understand me; therefore it is better to prophesy than to speak with tongues, unless some one interpret. But in the second place we can understand the Apostle’s meaning still better if we join knowledge with doctrine, and revelation with prophecy. For, as it was from their stores of knowledge that learned men drew the teaching that they gave others, so was it from revela- tion that they prophesied. Prophecy is distinguished from doctrine in that it is received by revelation, doctrine from knowledge ; for what we teach has been acquired by intellectual study. So Tolatus and Jansenius, in the place quoted above, say that S. Paul’s meaning is, “ Though I speak in unknown tongues, but do not teach you, whether by knowledge gained by study or by prophecy received by revelation, I shall profit you nothing.” Thirdly, Cassianus (Collate iv. 8) sees here the four senses of Holy 344 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIV. Scripture: in the doctrine the literal sense, in the revelation the allegorical, in the knowledge the tropological, in the prophecy the allegorical But this is a mystical and symbolic interpretation.

After that He was seen of above five hundred brethren. The Greek word for above means (a) “more than,” (b) “from heaven.” APPEARANCES OF CHRIST 367 Chrysostom and Theophylact take it here in the latter sense. For Christ appeared, they say, not walking on the ground, but above their heads, as though descending from the sky ; and He did this that He might show them that He had ascended as well as risen, and might confirm their faith in His ascension. Hence any one may gather that Chrysostom thought that this appearance of Christ took place after His Ascension; but still it is not true, nor is of necessity gathered from what Chrysostom says. This appearance of Christ, whether on a higher spot, as if from heaven, or in the air, evidently was prior to His ascension ; and this is the common opinion of doctors ; for we read nowhere of any public appearance after His ascension. Many suppose that this was the well-known appearance of Christ on a mountain in Galilee, which He had so many times promised. All His disciples met there, as He had bidden. This was not at His ascension, but before it; for Christ ascended into heaven, not from Galilee, but from the Mount of Olives. See S. Jerome (ad Hedibiam , qu. 7).

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal The gift given by the Holy Spirit, and by which He is manifested, is given for the benefit of the Church, not of the individual

Beareth all things. Like a beam which sustains an imposed weight, or rather, like a palm-tree, which does not yield under its own weight, but, like an arGh, is the more strong. Rightly says Augustine (in Sententiis , sec. 295) : “ The fortitude of the Gentiles comes from wordly lust , but the fortitude of the Christians from the love of God which was shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us, not by any determination of our own will” Believeth all things, i.e., charity is not suspicious, but readily gives credence to others where it can prudently believe without danger of error. Therefore Paul says, “ beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things .” That is to say, charity bears all evils and all injuries, believes and is persuaded of the best about its neighbour, hopes for ail good things for its neighbour, and 1 endures from him evil words and blows. So Chrysostom and the Greeks. Anselm, S. Thomas, and Lyra explain the words differently. Charity makes us believe what ought to be believed, hope for what we ought, and await it with patience; for otherwise in some cases that saying of Seneca is true, “ It is a vice to believe everything and a vice to believe nothing.” So also S. Augustine explains it ; and from these words of the Apostle he makes a chariot for charity, namely, of the four virtues of charity, faith, hope, patience, perseverance. In his sermon on the four virtues of charity he thus speaks: “ Every one who devoutly bears rightly believes, and every one who rightly believes hopes for somewhat, and he who hopes perseveres , lest he should lose hope ; n for the Apostle in this whole passage is treating of the offices of charity, not towards God, but towards our neigh- bour, and is showing how charity manifests itself in all cases to him. Chrysostom remarks (Horn, xxxiv.) that there are here sixteen 328 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIII. benefits and fruits of charity, which he sets up as remedies for the diseases of the Corinthians: " Charity , he says, "is patient , con - demning the quarrelsome ; kind \ condemning the factious and stealthy ; envies not , against those who are bitter against their superiors ; is not wanton — he lays hold of the dissolute; is not puffed up — the proud ; is not haughty , against those who will not abase themselves and serve their neighbour ; seeketh not her own , against those who despise others ; is not provoked — thinketh no evil against those who inflict insults ; rejoiceth not in iniquity , but rejoiceth in the truth, against the envious . Again , 4 beareth all things ,* is for a solace to those who are hemmed in by foes and down-trodden ; 1 hopeth all things l is for a solace to those who are rejected and despaired of; 1 endureth all things and never faileth' is against those who , for a slight cause , foster divisions S. Gregory thus describes these offices of charity (Morals, book x. c. 8) : " Charity is patient ; because it bears calmly all evils that may be inflicted ; is kind, because it bountifully repays good for evil ; envieth not, because, from the fact that it seeks for nothing in this present world, it knows not how to be envious at earthly successes ; is not puffed up, because, since it eagerly longs for the promised inward re- ward, it does not exalt itself on the score of outward advantages ; does nothing amiss, because it confines itself to the love of God and of its neighbour, and is ignorant of whatever departs from rectitude ; is not ambitious, because it ardently seeks within for its own perfection, and covets without no man's goods ; seeketh not its own, because it disregards, as though they were another's, all things which here for a brief time it possesses, since it recognises that nothing is its own save what abides permanently ; is not provoked, because, though stirred up by injuries, it is roused to no motions of revenge, since for great sufferings it expects hereafter greater rewards ; thinketh no evil, because purity stablishes a mind in love, while it plucks up all hatred by the roots, and cannot dwell in a soul which is defiled ; rejoiceth not in iniquity, for it yearns with love alone for all, and does not rejoice in the fall of its enemies ; but rejoiceth in the truth, because, loving others as itself, it rejoices in that which it sees good in others, as though it were an increase of its own perfection." IN PRAISE OF CHARITY 329 A soul on fire with charity is like the sky; for as the wide- spreading sky embraces the whole earth, and warms and fertilises it by the sun, and waters it by its showers, even places bristling with thorns, so such a soul embraces with its charity the inhabitants of the whole earth, though they be barbarians or foes, and does good to whom it can, and waters and cherishes with its sweetness those who bristle with the thorns of hatred and of vice.

And even things without life % &c. That tongues profit nothing unless they are understood can be seen, even from a com- ‘ parison drawn from inanimate things ; for a pipe or harp are of no use unless they give a distinct sound. Unless a man knows what is played he will take no pleasure in the sounds, nor will he be induced to dance to the music.

After that He was seen of James. The son of Alphaeus, first Bishop of Jerusalem, and styled brother of the Lord. There is a tradition mentioned by Jerome (Lib. de Scrip . Eccles. in Jacobo) that James had taken a vow not to eat anything till he should see Christ risen. S. Jerome, however, does not think the tradition of any value. Its falsity is seen, too, (1.) for it is evident, from this passage of S. Paul, that Christ appeared to him after appearing to the five hundred brethren, and therefore long after His resurrection, too long for S. James’s fast to have been prolonged naturally. (2.) All the Apostles, and therefore S. James, were confounded at Christ’s death, and did not believe in His resurrection. It is not likely then that James would take such a vow. (3.) S. Jerome says that he took this story from the “ Gospel according to the Hebrews,” which is apocryphal. It is also said there that Christ wore at the time a linen garment, and that He gave it to the servant of the priest, which also seems false; for the garments of Christ remained in the sepulchre (S. Matt xxviii.), and a glorified body, such as Christ’s 368 FIRST EPISTLE ’TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. was, is not clad with linen or any such garments, but with splendour and rays of light. Then of all the apostles , and the disciples as well, says S. Anselm, at the ascension.

To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom. The power of explaining wisdom, viz., the deepest mysteries of the Tri- nity, of the Incarnation, of predestination, &c. Cf. chap. xiii. vol. 1 . u 30 6 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII. To another the word of knowledge. The power of explaining the things pertaining to life and morals. S. Augustine distinguishes thus between wisdom and knowledge (de Trin. lib. xil c. 14 and 15), and the Apostle so takes knowledge in chap, viil Others under- stand by knowledge the power of explaining the things of faith by examples, comparisons, and human and philosophical reasonings.

Charity never faileth . It suffers no death ; it will never cease : other gifts will cease in the heavenly glory. Heretics infer from this that, if charity never faileth, he who has it cannot sin, and is assured of his salvation. I reply, I deny the consequence. For charity never faileth, viz., by itself ; for of its own accord it never de- serts a man, unless it be first through sin deserted by him. “ Charity ,” says Cassian ( Collat . iii. c. 7), “ is one who never suffers her follower to fall by sin supplanting her? So long, therefore, as you give yourself to charity and will to keep her, you will never sin ; but if you sin, it is not that charity in itself fails, but you yourself eject her by force. Whether there be prophecies they shall fail . Not so much because of their obscurity as because they were here given to meet the im- perfection of those who heard them, in order that they, being more Untaught, might be taught by prophecy and tongues. Thus in heaven faith shall cease, because it is imperfect through lack of evidence, and hope, because it is imperfect through the absence of the thing hoped for ; but charity has nothing of these, but is perfect in itself, and therefore will remain in heaven. Whether tongues they shall cease He does not say language shall cease but languages, because in heaven there will be no variety of tongues, but language there will be ; for we shall with one accord praise God, not only in mind but also with perceptible language. Haymo, Remigius, Cajetan here, Galatinus (de Arc. Fidei y lib. xii. c. 4), Viguerius (in lnstit. c. ix. ver. 8), where he treats of the gift of tongues, all teach that the one tongue which we shall all use in heaven will be Hebrew, which Adam used in his state of innocence, which all the patriarchs, prophets, and saints before Christ, nay, which the whole world used before its dispersion and confusion of 330 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIII. tongues at BabeL Henee in the Apocalypse, though written in Greek, it is said that the saints in heaven will sing in Hebrew “Amen, Alleluia.” For since in heaven all sin will have been banished, the confusion of tongues will be done away with ; and as we shall return to the primeval state of innocence, so shall we to its language, and to the one and first speech. Certainly, if any one of those tongues which we use on earth remain in heaven, I should think it would be Hebrew. But it is not plain that any will remain ; for the Apostle only says that tongues will cease, which may mean that all which are now in use among men are to cease. Never- theless, it is consistent with this that in heaven another sensible tongue may be infused anew into the blessed, a celestial tongue, one far more perfect than any we have here, one befitting their mouth and glorified body, and with this they will in a bodily manner praise God. Whether this be more true, a blessed experience will teach us. John Salas, (in i, 2, tom. i. qu. 5, art 5, tract 2 disp. 14, sect 14, n. 106) thinks that is more likely. His reason is that the Hebrew tongue is wanting in sweetness, fulness, and perspicuity, and there- fore it is not worthy to be retained after the General Resurrection. In heaven there will be an elect speech, as Wisdom says (cap. iii. 9), that is, a special tongue pre-eminently sweet, terse, and perspicuous, common to all nations, to be taught by God. Hence S. Bernard says (in Mtdit \ c. iv.) : “ The unwearied rejoicing of all will he with one tongue,” &c. There will not be in the peace of heaven any diversity of tongues, viz., for common use. Beyond this, however, they will speak, when they wish, with other tongues ; for all will have the gift of tongues, and will know all idioms by Divine revela- tion. Salmeron and others add that in heaven it is meet for God to be worshipped with all kinds of tongues ; for it seems to tend to the greater glory of God, that every tongue confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. And so all tongues will be one, for they will feel and proclaim the same thing, as Martial (Epigram i.), in flattery of Caesar, said — “ The voices of the nations sound unlike, yet they are one, For you are proclaimed by all, true father of your country.” CHARITY ETERNAL 331 Whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away . This knowledge, as Chrysostom, Thecdoret, Theophylact say, is that which is im- perfect, obscure, and enigmatical, as Paul calls it in ver. la, e f g., faith and all that depends on faith. Of this kind is our theological knowledge, which draws its conclusions from the principles of the faith : all this will cease in heaven. For theology there will be of a different appearance, being most clear, drawn from the vision of God and from the clearest principles. So say Cajetan, Molina, Vasquez, and others, in the beginning of the first part. Observe that the Apostle is speaking rather of the act of know- ledge than of its habit ; and therefore he adds : “ For we know in party and we prophesy in part ; ” and : “ When I was a child 1 thought as a child; ” and : “ Now I know in party then shall I know even as also I am known .* Still, from the cessation of the act he leaves it to be collected that the habit will cease; for the habit will be of no avail if there is no use for it ; fpr it will not issue in action. And this he signifies by the words “ shall fail ” and “ shall vanish away,” which imply that knowledge, prophecy, and tongues, simply, both as regards act and habit, are to perish. Secondly, Photius explains the passage not amiss thus : Knowledge, i.e . 9 teaching and learn- ing shall fail, for in heaven we shall neither teach nor learn. Thirdly, others say that knowledge here is science, or the use of scientific terms, by which the realities of faith are illustrated and explained, by means of natural sciences.

And last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. Born out of due time is, (i.) according to Theophylact and T’neodoret, contemptible and despised, because young that come too soon to the birth are generally imperfectly formed, thin, and undersized. (2.) According to Ambrose and Chrysostom it is untimely ; that is, after Christ had ascended into heaven, Paul was born in Christ, and received his Apostleship. (3.) According to Anselm he thus calls himself, because he was struck to the earth by Divine power, compelled, and violently bora again : untimely young are forced into the world by the violence of nature. (4.) Or, as S. Anselm again remarks, such births are of young half-dead, and they are often bora blind. So S. Paul was smitten with blindness at his conversion. (5.) S. Paul was expelled from the womb of his mother, the people of the Jews, and was sent, not to his fellow- countrymen, but to the Gentiles outside. (6.) Baronius ( Annals , a.d. 44) thinks that Paul was so called as an Apostle, because he was made an Apostle in addition to the twelve ; for the Senators at Rome, he says, were so called, when they were co-opted into the Senate, in addition to the fixed number ; but it cannot be said that S. Paul alludes to this, for he is writing in Greek to the Greeks, not to Romans. It appears from this verse that Christ appeared to Paul, not by an angel, as Haymo thinks {Comment, on Apocalypse, c. ii.), but in person ; not in a vision, as He appeared to him in Acts xxii. 18, nor in a trance, as is recorded in 2 Cor. xii. 2, but in the air in bodily form ; for it was in this way that Christ appeared to Cephas, James, and the other Apostles ; moreover, if it were any other kind of appearance it would be no proof of the resurrection of Christ. The appearance of Christ alluded to here is the one at Paul’s conversion (Acts ix. 3), when he saw Christ before the bright light blinded him. Hence it further appears that Christ then descended from heaven, THE GRACE OF HUMILITY 369 for, as S. Thomas and others say, S. Paul heard the voice of Christ speaking in the air. Whence it follows again that Christ was then in two places, in the empyrean and in our atmosphere, close to Paul; for, according to Acts iii. 21, Christ has never left the highest heaven to which He ascended. If Christ was then in two places, why cannot He be at once in heaven and in the Eucharist ? Hegesippus ( Excid . Hierosol. lib. iii. c. 2) and others say that Christ appeared in the same way to S. Peter at Rome, when He called him back as he was flying from martyrdom with the words, “ I go to be crucified again.”

1 will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost \ Viz., because at Ephesus was the famous temple of Diana, and because the chief men of Asia Minor lived there. Hence the Proconsul of Asia Minor resided at Ephesus, and, as Philostratus says ( Vita Apollonii \ lib. viii.), learning flourished there most; and, therefore, there was a greater harvest for S. Paul, and this was what determined him to stay so long there.

To another faith by the same Spirit 1. S. Paul does not mean here the theological faith which all Christians have, but that transcendent faith, including the theological, which is the mother of miracles. It consists above all things in a constant con- fidence in God for obtaining anything and for working miracles, e.g.j as Christ says, for removing mountains. This appears from chap, xiil 2. Cf. S. Chrysostom. 2. Ambrose understands faith here to be the gift of an intrepid confession and preaching of the faith. 3. But best of all faith here is a clear perception of the mysteries of the faith for the purposes of contemplation and explanation ; for in Rom. xii. 6, S. Paul says in the same way that prophets have the gift of prophecy, and ought to prophesy “ according to the proportion of faith, 1 ” i.e.y according to the measure of the understanding of the things of faith given them by God. Maldonatus (in Notis Manusc.) says that the Apostle here means that transcendent faith possessed by but few, and which enables its possessors to give a ready assent to Divine things ; for the faith which works miracles seems to be included in the “ working of powers” mentioned in the next verse, as Toletus, amongst others, rightly points out at Rom. xii. 6.

For we know in part and we prophesy in party i.e., im- perfectly. Ephrem turns it : M We know but little of much ; ” for the Apostle opposes what is little and imperfect, what we know partly by reason, partly by prophecy, to what is perfect (ver. 10), i.e., to the perfect vision and knowledge of God in himself, and of all things in God. It is certainly true that the whole being of God, and all His attributes and perfections, we do not know in this life, but all the blessed know them, and they alone. He proves this from the example of a boy, who grows both in age and knowledge. For the blessed are in knowledge as men, and we in it as boys. Again, our theological knowledge, though it is certain, is yet hidden 332 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIII. and obscure ; it leans on faith, and for that reason alone it is in part or imperfect. The blessed, however, know all things clearly and intuitively, nay, they see and behold face to face. Ver. n. — When I was a child> that is, one who is now beginning to say, think, plan, attempt, study, play, and do anything, as our children are wont to do. I spake as a child \ I understood as a child \ I thought as a child . I understood as a child, or felt as a child ; for children have not wisdom, but feeling. In other words, when a child I thought, and understood, and felt as a child, but when I became a man I thought and understood as a man does. So, when that which is perfect is corner i.e., perfect wisdom in heaven, partial and imperfect know- ledge, as we have it in this life, shall fail ; so that we who here are boys in knowledge are to be men in heaven. S. Paul leaves the remaining part of the likeness to be supplied from the verse before.

So likewise ye . . . how shall it be known what is spoken? For the tongue is the stamp, the image, the index, and messenger of the mind. As Aristotle says (Peri Hermen . lib. ii.), “ words are signs of the feelings which lie concealed in the soul.” Hence Socrates used to determine the mind and character of any one from his voice, and would say, “Speak, young man, that I may see you.” But this cannot be if the language of the speaker is unknown to the hearer.

For I am the least of the apostles , that am not meet to be called an apostle. Not only the least and unworthy because of my sins, but not fit for the apostleship ; for it is not meet that one who was a persecutor should be a leader and Apostle of the Church. Morally, see the humility of S. Paul in calling himself the least ; by so doing he was the greatest. S. Bernard ( Serm . xiir. on the Canticles) says well : “ A great and rare virtue surely is it that you , who work great things , do not know your own greatness ; that your holiness , which is evident to all \ escapes your own observation ; that you seem wonderful to others , despicable to yourself This f I think , is more wonderful than your very virtues \ You surely are a faithful servant ', if of the great glory of God ’ which passes through you rather than proceeds from you , you let none stick to your hands. Therefore you will hear the blessed words : * Well done , good and faithful servant ; because thou hast been faithful over a few things , I will make thee ruler over many things l ”

A great door ... is opened unto me. A great oppor- tunity of preaching the Gospel and of converting many. So Ambrose. PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS 405

To another the working of miracles . Literally, the “working of powers,” viz., those greater miracles which concern the soul, not those which belong to the body or its diseases. Of this kind are the raising the dead, casting out devils, punishing the un- believers and impious by a miracle, as S. Peter did Ananias and Sapphira. So say Chrysostom and Anselm. Thus the “working of powers” is distinguished from the “gift of healing.” To another discerning of spirits. That is of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and consequently of words and actions, whether GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT 307 they proceed from nature, or from the inspiration of God, or an angel or the devil. So Chrysostom, Ambrose, Anselm. S. Jerome, in his life of S. Hilarion, says that he had this gift, and S. Augus- tine says (conf. lib. iii. c. 2) that his mother Monica had ; so too had S. Vincent of Ferrara, and so have some now-a-days, especially those who have the direction of souls. It is a gift most useful to confessors, one to be sought for from God, in so far as a perfect knowledge and care of consciences require it To another the interpretation of tongues. Of obscure passages, especially of Holy Scripture. Hence there were formerly in the Church interpreters, whose duty was fourfold: (1.) there were those who, by the gift of tongues, prophesied or sung hymns in a foreign language ; (2.) those who, inspired by the Holy Spirit, spoke of obscure and deep mysteries ; (3.) those who publicly expounded the letters of S. Paul and of others sent to their people ; (4.) those who turned them into another language. In this way many think that S. Clement turned the letter to the Hebrews from Hebrew into Greek. It appears from this that Holy Scripture is not plain to every one; nor is it, as the heretics think, to be interpreted by the private ideas of any one, seeing that God has placed interpreters in His Church. But it should be noted that these interpreters have now been succeeded by professors of Hebrew, Greek, and Divinity. 1. From this chapter and the following, theologians have drawn the distinction between grace which perfects its subject and makes him pleasing to God, such as charity, chastity, piety, and other virtues, and grace gratuitously given, which is ordained for the perfecting of others. Although the Apostle names here nine only of the “graces gratuitously given,” yet there may be more. 2. It is very likely that of these nine five are permanent habits, viz., wisdom, knowledge, faith, different kinds of tongues and their interpretation, to which must sometimes be added the discerning of spirits. The remaining four are not habits but transient actions, viz., the gift of healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, and the discerning of spirits. Cf. Bellarmine ( de Gratih, lib. i. c. 10).

There are ) it may be , so many kinds of voices in the world \ and none of them is without signification . As a matter of fact, or for example, there are many different languages : no nation is with- out its language, no language without its meaning. Others, as (Ecumenius, refer the none to the instrument, and say that no pipe or harp but has its proper sound ; others, more generally, no object is without its voice. As Ausonius sings to Paulinus : — “No creature silent is, nor winged bird, Nor beast that walks the earth, nor hissing snake s The cymbals smitten sound, the stage when struck By dancers* feet, the drum its echo gives. ” The best meaning, however, is that no tongue is void of meaning.

I am what I am — an Apostle, and Teacher of the Gentiles. His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain . Not empty, barren, without results. S. Ambrose reads : “ His grace was not poor in me,” and then the meaning would be : “ Though I per- secuted the Church of Christ, yet I did not on that account receive a grace of apostleship that was poor and slight, and less than that of the other Apostles, but if anything greater.” But I laboured more abundantly than they all. S. Jerome (Ep. ad VOL. I. 2 A 3;0 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. Paulinum) says beautifully : “ A sudden increase of heat banishes a long-existing lukewarmness . Paul was changed into an Apostle instead of a persecutor ; was last in order, first in merits ; for though last he laboured more than all.” For, as Gregory says ( Pastor . p. 3, c. 29) : “A guilty life that has learnt to glow with love for God is often more pleasing to Him than a blameless life that has grown sluggish front long security.” Yet not /, but the grace of God which was with me. It plainly appears from this passage against Luther and Calvin that man has free-will, and that God alone does not work everything in us, but that our free-will co-operates with Him, even in supernatural works, for the Apostle says with me , not in me , and I laboured more abun- dantly than they all. Again, the verb to be supplied in this passage is properly laboured. Then it will run : u Yet it was not I that laboured, but the grace of God, which laboured with me.” S. Paul does not here exclude the co-operation of the will, but only attributes the praise due to the work to grace as its more worthy cause. But the sense will be the same if you read with the Greek Fathers and S. Jerome, “ was with me.” The meaning then is, “ which was with me to help me.” I laboured much of my own free endeavour, yet I did not so labour as to give myself all the praise and glory of my labour ; but it was the grace of God which aroused me, aided me, strengthened me for this labour; to it, therefore, I give the first and best praise of my labour.” S. Bernard (“On Grace and Free-will,” subfnem) says: iU Itwas not /, but the grace of God with me 9 implies that he was not only a mini- ster of the work by producing it , but in some way a companion of the worker by consenting to it. Elsewhere S. Paul says of himself 1 We are workers together with God 7 (1 Cor. iii. 9); hence we make bohl to say that we merit to receive the kingdom because we are joined to the Divine Will by the voluntary surrender of our own will.” See also Anselm, Chrysostom, Theodoret (in loco) ; also Jerome (contra Pelag. lib. ii.), Gregory ( Morals , xvi. c. 10), S. Augustine (de Liber. Arbit. c. 17, and Scrm. 13 de Verbis Apost.). He says there: “ If you were not a worker , God could not be a co-worker .” TIIE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD 371

Dividing to every man seierally as He will. Dividing 308 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII. to each one individually his own gifts and graces. C£ S. Jerome ( contra Pelag. dial. i). Origen understood “as He will” to refer to each several man. It refers, of course, to the Holy Spirit i. Hence, as Theophylact says, the Holy Spirit is Lord and God. He is not produced as an effect, but He effects all things equally with the Father, who worketh all in all (ver. 6). The working all in all assigned to the Father in ver. 6 is here assigned to the Spirit 2. It follows that the Holy Spirit, being God, has free-will and works freely. 3. Abelard, Wyclif, and Calvin may be refuted by this verse, in their teaching that God cannot do anything but what He actually does do. This is to rob God of His omnipotence, and to subject Him, like man, to fate, and therefore to transfer His Divinity to fate. For, if this were so, God would not work as He chose, but as fate willed, under whom He and all things would be placed.

I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian. As Ovid says: — “ A barbarian here am I, and understood by none.” The word “ barbarian ” is onomatopoetic, and was first applied by the Greeks to any one who spoke another language than Greek; then by the Romans to one who spoke neither Greek nor Latin ; afterwards THE GIFT OF TONGUES 345 it denoted any one who spoke any other tongue but that of his native country. Hence Anacharsis the Scythian, when ridiculed as a barbarian by the Athenians, well replied, M The Scythians are bar- barians to the Athenians, the Athenians just as much barbarians to the Scythians."

For as the body is one ... so also is Christ As an animal body is one, as a man has but one body, so also has Christ one body, the Church, the members of which are many, whose head He is. 1. But S. Augustine objects (de Peecat. Mentis , lib. L c. 31) that if the Apostle had meant this he would have said, “ So also is [the body] of Christ,” rather than, “ So also is Christ” In other words, he would have said that the body of Christ, the Church, has many members. 2. James Faber gathers from this that the body of Christ, being indivisibly united to the whole Godhead, locally fills heaven and earth, which are, as it were, its place and His body. As Plato said that God was the soul of the world, and consequently was in a sense the whole world, so the body of Christ, from its intimate conjunction with Deity, is, like the Divine Spirit, diffused through the whole world, its parts and members are the several divisions of space and the bodies contained in it But still in respect of the unity of the Deity, and of the body of Christ as its soul, they make up one body, viz., the universe. And hence it is that the Ubiquitarians are supposed to have obtained their false opinion that the body of Christ is everywhere. This absurd doctrine has been confuted by THE BODY OF CHRIST 300 many, but most clearly of all by Gregory of Valentia, in five books written against the heresy of the Ubiquitarians. 3. I say, then, with S. Augustine that the meaning of this passage is simply this : So also is Christ one body, i.e., the Church. For Christ is both head and body to the Church, inasmuch as He sus- tains all her members and works in them all, teaches by the doctor, baptizes by the minister, believes through faith, and repents in the penitent. For in this sense Christ is not locally but mystically, and by way of operation and effectually, the body, hypostasis, soul, and spirit of the whole Church. As the Church is the body of Christ, its head, so in turn is Christ the body of the Church, because, through the operation of His grace, He transfers Himself into all the members of the Church. So the Apostle often says that we are one in Christ, that through baptism we are incorporated into Christ and made one plant with Him. And Christ said to Paul, “Why persecutest thou Me?” that is, the Christians, My members (Acts ix. 4). So Paul says again: “To me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” Therefore S. Francis in his words, “ My God, my Love, my All,” was but echoing S. Paul.

Forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts. Since ye desire to have the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit enumerated in chap, xii, seek them from God abundantly, that ye may use them, not for ostentation, but for the perfecting of the Church.

How say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead ? Cerinthus with his followers are meant here. He was the first heresiarch after Simon Magus to deny, in S. Paul’s time, the resurrection. See Eusebius (Hist. lib. vii. c. 23, and lib. iii. c. 28) and Epiphanius (Hares. 28). Cerinthus was a champion of Juda- ism, and, founding his opinions on Jewish traditions, he referred all the prophecies about the Church and the Gospel law to an earthly kingdom, and to riches, and to bodily pleasures. In the same way he afterwards perverted the meaning of Rev. xx. 4, and became the parent of the Chiliasts, or the Miliennarian heretics. Some think from this that he was the author of the Apocalypse, and that it should therefore be rejected. S. Ignatius, in his epistle to the Churches of Smyrna and Tralles, censures this error and its author. Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Tim. ii. 17) also denied the resurrection.

For by one Spirit are we all baptized \ He proves that Christ is one body with many members from baptism, for by bap- tism we were regenerate, and incorporated into the one body of the Church, and therefore into Christ. In that body we live by the same Spirit, the Spirit of Christ ; and on the same food, the Eucharist, we are fed, whether we are Jews or Gentiles, bond or free. Notice the phrase “ into one body : ” this body is the Church, and conse- quently we are baptized into Christ, who, as I have said, is in a sense the body of the Church. And have been all made to drink into one Spirit In the Eucharistic chalice we have quaffed, together with Christ's blood, His Spirit. Hence some Greek copies read, “ We have all drunk of one draught” Cf. Clemens Alex. Pcedag. lib. i. c. 6. The meaning is that from it we all partake of one and the same Spirit of Christ, who, by abiding in all, quickens every member, and makes it perform duly its function. In other words, not only were we born and incorpo- 310 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII. rated into the said body, but we all partake of the same food, viz., Christ’s body and blood, in the Eucharist. For one species of the Eucharist leads easily to the other, and by “ the drink ” we may well understand “ the food ; ” just as on the other hand from the species of bread we understand that of wine in chap. x. 17. Cf. Chrysostom and Cajetan, whose comments here are noteworthy. It appears from this that all the baptized, whether good or bad, are the body of Christ, that is, are of the Church, and that they have been grafted into Him as members by baptism ; for the soul of this body, the Church, is the faith which all the faithful have, even though their life be evil. Cf. notes to Eph. v. 27.

Now abide faith , hope, charity, S. Paul in this chapter clearly teaches that faith, hope, and charity abide in this present life, but charity alone in our heavenly country. So the Fathers hold. See Gregory de Valentia, disp. qu. 5 de Subjecto Fidel \ part 2). You will say, Irenaeus (ii. c. 47), Tertullian {de Patientid , c. xii.) understand “now” of heaven; therefore in heaven there will be, and will abide, both faith and hope. I reply : These Fathers understand by fakh all sure knowledge, such as the vision of God ; by hope, a firm adherence to God, as the object of love, which is the enjoyment of God. For this is what Tertullian says : “ There abide faith, hope, love : faith which the patience of Christ had begotten ; hope which the patience of man waits for ; love which, with God as her teacher, patience accompanies .” But these are not to the purpose of the Apostle, as is evident. The greater of these is charity. Greater, ue., the greatest So Catullus : — “ O Hesperus , light more fair, which shinest in heaven .* that is, fairest star. Hence it is plain that faith is not the confidence of heretics in the remission of their sins; for that confidence is nothing else but a strong hope : if it is more it is properly called faith, by which you THE GREATEST OF THESE IS CHARITY 335 believe most firmly that you have been justified and saved, as you believe that God is; then hope is superfluous. For what you firmly believe you do not, nor can hope for, as, e.g ., you do not hope that God is, that Christ suffered for us. For hope which truly is hope is allied to fear and dread as its opposites ; there is nothing of this kind in faith. The Apostle just above distinguishes hope or confidence from faith, and requires in this life hope as well as faith ; therefore faith is not that confidence of which heretics make their boast. Lastly, it is plain that of all virtues charity is the greatest and most eminent; for, as fire among the elements, gold among the elements, the empyrean among the heavens, the sun among the planets, the seraphim among the angels, so shines charity as the queen among virtues. For charity is the celestial fire which kindles the souls of all around it : the most glittering gold with which we purchase our heavenly inheritance; the highest heaven in which God and the blessed dwell; the sun which illuminates, fertilises, quickens all ; the seraphic virtue which makes the seraphim glow. (See on Deut. vL 5.) Beroald says: “As is the helmsman in a ship, the ruler in a state, the sun in the world, so is love among mortals. Without a helmsman the ship is shattered, without a ruler the state is endangered, without the sun the world is darkened, and without love life is no life. Take love from men, you take the sun from the world.” Plautinus happily calls love a purifying God, that is, making all things pure and beautiful.

Let Mm that speaketh . . . pray that he may interpret S. Paul is here speaking of public prayer, in which one man, even though a layman, inspired by the Holy Spirit, would offer up prayer in an audible voice before all, the others listening, and joining their prayers to his. This is the meaning, as appears from the following verses. But Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Anselm explain it thus: Let him pray that he may receive the gift of the interpretation of tongues, so as to make his own prayer intelligible to others.

But if there be no resurrection of the dead , , then is Christ not risen. Not only because Christ was one of the dead, but also because the primary cause of Christ’s death and resurrection was the complete destruction of death, and the restoration of life. Moreover, the resurrection of Christ was a pattern of ours, *.*., of our resurrection to righteousness in this life, and to glory in the next. See S. Thomas (p. 3, qu. 53, art 1) for five other reasons why it was necessary for Christ to rise again.

For if I pray in an unknown tongue my spirit prayeth. (1.) My spirit is refreshed; (2.) according to S. Chrysostom, the gift of the Holy Spirit which is in me prayeth, makes me pray and utter my prayer in public. (3.) Theophylact and Erasmus, following S. Basil, understand breath by spirit ; in other words, My voice, pro- duced by the vital and vocal breath, prays ; but my mind is unfruitful, because it does not understand the meaning of the words uttered. Primasius, too, says that the word “ spirit ” here is to be understood of prayers uttered sometimes while the mind is thinking of some- thing else. But the first is the true sense, and best fits in with what follows. S. Thomas, commenting on this clause, gives three other meanings, but they are not those in the Apostle’s mind. But my understanding is unfruitful S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Ambrose, S. Thomas, and Cajetan think that the Apostle is speaking here of those who had received the gift of tongues, but who, like Balaam’s ass, did not understand what they said, or at all events did not enter into the mysteries contained in their words. S. Augustine says the same (de Gen . ad Litt '. lib. xii. c. 8 and 9), and it is gathered 346 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIV. from ver. 28. For these prayed without fruit in such tongues; for, though their spirit fed on God in pious devotion, yet their mind was not fed on any understanding of the words of the prayer. But I say that the Greek vovs here is the same as “ meaning.” It is so rendered in the Latin in ver. 19, and in chap. ii. 16, and in Rev. xvii. 9, where we read, “Here is the meaning ” (of the vision of the beast) u which hath wisdom.” S. Paul makes the same distinction between the tongue and the mind, or the letter and the spirit, which is so common amongst rhetoricians. “ Sense ” or meaning here is passive understanding, that by which I am understood by all — not active, by which I understand things. This “mind,” or significa- tion of tongues, is without fruit, because no one takes it in, and no one is aroused to devotion. This is the natural meaning, and S. Basil seems to hold it (in Reg, Brev . Interrog, 278). Secondly, (Ecumenius and Theodoret give an explanation which is not improbable: My mind, or my aim and object, is without fruit, not on the part of the speaker but the hearer, whom the speaker strives to excite to piety. It is certain, from vers. 14, 16, and 19, that S. Paul is speaking of fruit on the side of the hearers ; for he is speaking of the prayers and spiritual songs which some of the laity composed under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and uttered in public, or sang in the church at the time of their spiritual feasts, for the comfort, instruction, or exhortation of the people. He wishes them to be said in the vulgar tongue, so as to be understood by all ; otherwise, he says, they would be fruitless. You will perhaps say that the Mass and Canonical Hours ought then to be said now in the vulgar tongue. I deny that this follows, for the Apostle is speaking of the prayers which any lay person might compose for the edification or quickening of the people, not of the public Divine offices, which the clergy now perform with the appro- bation, not to say at the command, and in the name of the whole Church, to worship and praise God with a solemn and uniform majesty in Latin. For if the vernacular tongue were used, it would come to pass (1.) that the uneducated would not understand Divine mysteries, or rather they would misunderstand them, and accept PRAYER IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE 347 heretical opinions ; (2.) the language would have to vary with the countries, or even with the cities. Although all the Germans speak the same language, yet each province has a different idiom: the Westphalians have one, the Swiss another, the Hessians another, and so on. And so if the Divine office were said in the vernacular, in such a difference of dialects division would arise, and sacred things would be ridiculed and despised. You will urge, secondly, perhaps that the people do not understand Latin : what fruit then have they from the Latin Mass? I answer, (1.) They participate in the sacrifice and also the sacrament if they wish to ; (2.) in all the prayers which the priest offers for all men, and especially for those present ; (3.) they are inflamed by the decent rites and ceremonies to devotion and elevation of their souls to God in private prayer, especially since parish priests are bound, by the Council of Trent (sess. xxii. c. 8), to explain the service to the people in their sermons. See Bellarmine ( de Verbo . Dei. lib. ii. c. 16).

Let all your things be done with charity . This, ac- cording to some, is not supernatural charity, but the sincere affection which penitents or even unbelievers can possess. But this is not the charity which Scripture and S. Paul commend to the faithful, but merely such natural love as pagans have. The sense properly speaking is therefore: “Do all your works, O Corinthians, not from ambition, nor from contention or schism, as I told you in chaps, ii. and xiv., but in Christian charity, which is a Divine virtue infused into you by Christ” This is partly a precept, partly a counsel of perfection, as was pointed out in the notes to chap. x. 31.

I will pray with the spirit , and I will pray with the understanding also. I will pray with sense and meaning, intelligibly, so that others may understand me. S. Paul alludes to Ps. xlvii. 7, where the same double meaning of understanding on the part of speaker and hearer is found.

I beseech you, brethren t &c. Theophylact arranges this verse and the next in this way : I beseech you, brethren, that ye submit yourselves to Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaiacus, and to every one that works with them and labours ; for ye know their house (i.e.y houses or families), that they are the firstfruits of Achaia (viz., that they were the first in Achaia to believe on Christ), and that they have devoted themselves and all that they have to the ministering to the saints (/.*., in showing hospitality to needy Christians and to strangers, and especially those who labour in the Gospel). The submission enjoined here would consist in showing honour, and in following their exhortations and good example. The fellow-labourers are those who helped the men mentioned above in their Christian work.

Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit , &c. To bless here is to praise God with heart and mouth. S. Thomas under- stands it of the public blessing of the people ; so also do Primasius, Haymo, and Salmeron, the latter of whom strives by many arguments to prove that the Apostle is speaking here of the sacrifice of the Mass, in which the priest blesses God rather than the people ; for the two Greek words for “blessing” and “giving thanks,” used indifferently by the Evangelists and S. Paul in their accounts of the institution of the Eucharist, are used here, and seem to point to the Mass. It hence derives its names of the “ Blessing ” and the “ Eucha- rist,” or giving of thanks. Add to this that in all the liturgies of the Mass, including those of S. James, S. Clement, S. Basil, and S. Chrysostom, after the consecration of the bread and wine, the people are wont to answer “ Amen ! ” The Apostle, then, seems to 348 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIV. mean here that public blessings, prayers, and Masses should not be celebrated in the church in an utterly unknown tongue, but that among the Greeks Greek should be used, among the Hebrews Hebrew, and among the Latins Latin ; for these languages are for the most part understood by all who are of each race respectively. If it is impossible to use one language which is understood by all the different peoples who hear the same Mass, then one which is the best known should be selected, such as Latin among us, so that many “ in the room of the unlearned ” may answer “ Amen ! ” as the Apostle requires. But that the Apostle is not speaking of the solemn blessing in the Mass, but of any other uttered by some private member, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, in hymn or psalm or prayer, appears (i.) from the Greek particle (oi else, which, in its meaning of because , gives the cause of the preceding verse. The singular, used in “ thy giving of thanks,” points also to the private and personal devotion of each of the faithful. (2.) It appears from the drift of the whole chapter, and especially from the conclusion, stated in ver. 26, “ Let all things be done to edifying.” (3.) It appears again from ver. 31, where he says : “ Ye may all prophesy one by one ; ” and from ver. 29 : “ Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge ; ” but it was of any one’s fresh and private blessing or prophecy that they were to judge; for the common prayer and liturgy of the whole Church, having been approved of by the whole Church, ought not to be subjected to examination for judgment. All this will better appear from the next paragraph. The unlearned. Gagneius, following Severian, says the unlearned is the catechumen. Primasius says he is a neophyte. Chrysos- tom, Ephrem, Theophylact, S. Thomas, and others give the best meaning, viz., one untaught, unlettered, and with no knowledge of tongues. S. Thomas, Primasius, and Haymo take the “ unlearned” hereto be the minister who at Divine service says “ Amen 1” for the people at the end of the Collects. These Fathers say that S. Paul means that at all events the minister at the Mass and other sacred rites should PRAYER IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE 349 be able to understand the priest, or him who offers up prayer in public, in any other language than the vernacular, and should be able to respond, “ Amen ! ” This is good and fitting teaching, but not necessarily the one uppermost in the mind of the Apostle. But the " unlearned ” here denotes, not some minister of the sacred rites, but any one of the laity. The Greek gives us, “he who sits among the unlearned ” that is, is himself unlearned. Prophets and teachers used to sit in one place, the lay people in another. This is the explanation given by Chrysostom and Theophylact Justin {Apol. 2) says that the whole of the laity, and consequently any individual of it, was wont to answer “Amen ! ” Hence S. Jerome, to- wards the end of his commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, says that the people used to answer “ Amen ! ” with a noise like thunder. A minister now says it for the people, so as to prevent a confused murmuring. The Apostle is speaking here, we must notice once more, of the extempore prayer of the individual, uttered for the purpose of edify- ing, and which might possibly contain some doctrinal error, as is hinted in ver. 29. He directs that in such prayers the vulgar be used, so that the people may not answer “ Amen ! ” to a prayer in an unknown tongue which is meaningless, absurd, or heretical. He is not speaking of prayers approved by the Church, which for that very reason are free from error, to which a single minister makes reply, and to which the people can add private prayers of their own. Moreover, the Council of Trent orders that sometimes, instead of the sermon, these prayers be explained to the people. Again, it is lawful to pray in a language not understood by the person who prays, if you are certain that the prayers are good ones, as, eg, when nuns say the Canonical Hours in Latin. In the same way the laity, when the priest offers up prayers in Latin, can pray with him, and add the intention of seeking that the priest may ob- tain for himself and all the people what he asks in the name of the Church in the beautiful prayers provided. And even if they do not understand them, and get no nourishment for their understanding from the meaning of the prayers, yet they reap the fruit of devotion 3 SO FIRST EPISTLE TO TIIE CORINTHIANS, C. XIV. to God, and of reverence towards the prayers ; nay, they merit and obtain more than those who understand them if they pray with more humility, piety, and fervour. S. Jordanes, when asked whether such prayers as these of nuns were pleasing to God, well replied : “Just as a jewel in the hand of a peasant who knows not its value is worth as much as if it were in the hand of a goldsmith or jeweller who knew its value , so too prayers in the mouth of one who does not understand them are worth as much as if they were uttered by one who knew their meaning” A petition presented to a kin^- by an ignorant peasant would obtain as much consideration as one presented by a learned man ; for it is written : “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise;” and again, “If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out” (S. Matt xxi. 16 ; S. Lukexix. 40). In the same way, in the “ Lives of the Fathers,” Abbot Pastor is related to have said to one who complained to him, that though he prayed he felt no contrition, because he knew not the meaning of the words that he used : “ Do you none the less persevere in prayer , for like as a charmer sings words which the snake hears but understands not, and yet is subdued and tamed by them , so when we use words whose mean- ing we know not, the devils hear them and understand them, and are terrified and driven away” Cf. S. Thomas and Cajetan. The case is different with the Lord’s Prayer, which every one ought to learn and intelligently use in the vernacular, that he may know exactly what he should ask of God, as has been often laid down in synods. Cajetan, on the other hand, gathers from this pas- sage that it is better for organs, and musical instruments generally, to be excluded from church services, in order that the Hours and the Masses may be sung so as to be understood, and so that the people may be able to answer " Amen I ” But the practice of the Church is against this, which makes use of organs and other musical instru- ments in Divine service, as David did, to stir up the devotion of the people, who just as little understand the Latin language. The Church does this for three reasons : (1.) as we join in praising God, not only in spirit but also in body, so we should praise Him, not only PRAYER IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE 351 with the best music of the voice, but also of instruments ; for every spirit, every creature, every instrument ought to praise Him whose due never can be reached. (2.) To arouse the listeners, and especi- ally the uneducated, to religious fervour, as David and Elisha were enkindled by psalms and harps, and as Saul was stirred up by music to give God praise. (3.) That the beauty, solemnity, and majesty of Divine service may be the greater. Prudentius, in his Apotheosis , written against the Jews, and the Faculty of Paris, in its decree (tit xix. prop. 6), explain this verse thus : When St. Paul says that in the church he would rather speak five words with his understanding than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue, he is speaking of sermons addressed to the people, in which a flow of words void of thought is useless. He says nothing about Church canticles, which are governed by another law.” Nevertheless, we must in these matters guard against lightness, as the Council of Trent bids. Hence S. Augustine {Horn, in Ps. xxxiii.) says that pipes and organs used in theatres had been rejected by the Church, because the heathen used them then for lust in the theatres, and for banquets, and at their sacrifices. But, following the example and injunctions of David, we may use organs and other musical in- struments, if it be done with piety, soberness, and gravity (cf. Ps. cl.). S. John, too (Rev. v. 8, and xiv. 2), heard in heaven, where all are perfected, harps, though of course more solemn and Divine than ours on earth. Amen , . Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodoret have translated this faithfully or truly ; the Septuagint, so be it “Amen ” signifies truly or even firmly. It is not the expression of an oath, but of one who affirms or confirms. It is used as an affirmation when it is put at the beginning of a sentence, as, e.g, “Amen, Amen, I say unto you.” And in this sense S. Augustine (in Joan, Tract . 41) calls “ Amen ” the oath of Christ, because Christ’s oath was not strictly an oath but a simple affirmation. It is a mark of confirmation when put at the end of a prayer, or it signifies the consent of the hearer ; it sometimes marks an assertion and agreement, sometimes a wish. It stands for agreement in Deut xxvii., where the people are bidden to answer 352 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIV. “Amen” in token that they were willing to accept the blessings for keeping the law and the curses for breaking it. But in a prayer, as, e.g, in the Lord’s Prayer, it merely denotes a wish that what is sought for in the prayer may be obtained. The Rabbinical writers say that there are two “ Amens,” one perfect and the other imperfect in three ways : (i.) that of a pupil, when “Amen” is said, not as though the prayer is understood, but it is left to the direction of another to dictate it, as it were ; (2.) when the “ Amen ” is said before the end of the prayer it is called “surreptitious,” (3.) and “divided” when the answer is given by one who is not thinking of the prayer, because he is occupied with something else.

If Christ be not raised , your faith is vain ; ye are yet in your sins. It rightly follows that, if Christ has not risen, we are still in our sins; for 1. if Christ has not risen, therefore faith in a risen Christ, which is the basis of justification, is false ; but a false faith cannot be the beginning and foundation of remission of sins 372 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. and of true sanctification. 2. If Christ remained in death. He was overcome by it, and His death was ineffectual for the remission of sins ; for if by His resurrection He could not overcome death, then He could not overcome sin, for it is more difficult and a heavier task to overcome this than to overcome death. If this be so, sin is not fully abolished, if its penalty death is not. 3. The resurrection of Christ is the cause of our justification. (Rom. iv. 25). Now the cause being removed, the effect is removed. If, then, the resurrection of Christ is not a fact, neither is our justi- fication from sins, and consequently we are still in our former sins.

I am glad of the presence of Stephanas , and Fortunatus, and Achaiacus . (1.) According to Anselm this presence means the presence of these men with the Corinthians to supply, teach, and strengthen them in the faith. (2.) According to Theophylact it is the presence of these men with S. Paul, to supply him with what he needed for his ministry from their own resources, and so to help forward the cause of Christ. This is undoubtedly S. Paul’s meaning, and suits better with what follows.

I thank my God \ I speak with tongues more than ye all \ The Latin rendering is, " I speak with the tongues of you all,” which suggests the question, What could be S. Paul’s meaning in this, since there was but one tongue in Greece, and at Corinth in particular, viz., Greek ? Haymo’s answer is that he refers to the dif- ferent dialects of Greek. A better answer would be, that foreigners and merchants of all nations flocked to Corinth as a great emporium, just as to-day, at Antwerp, Venice, or Paris, we find the commerce and language of the French, Italians, and English, and other nations, and that S. Paul is therefore referring to the different languages to be heard in the streets of Corinth. But Ephrem, Chrysostom, Jerome {ad Hedibiam\ and others support the rendering of the text. All the tongues that you speak and more I speak : I do not extol, I do not condemn the gift of tongues, for I use it myself, but I do not use it, as you do, for ostentation, but to edification.

Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished , i.e. 9 who have died in faith, hope, and charity. If the body is not to rise again, but perishes outright at death, the soul too will perish: it cannot exist for ever without the body, for its nature is the “ form ” of the body. Unless, then, God take away by violence from the soul its nature and natural condition, He must restore to it its body.

For they have refreshed my spirit and yours . What re- freshes me refreshes you. Theophylact thinks that these men were so warmly commended to the Corinthians, to prevent them from 40 6 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XVI. being treated coldly or severely for having brought to S. Paul news of the divisions and backslidings of the Corinthians.

Yet in the church I had rather speaks &c. A very few words spoken so as to be understood are better than a multitude of foreign words not understood by the hearer. Notice (1.) that understanding is to be taken here passively, and denotes the meaning by which I and my speech are understood; hence he adds, “that I might teach others also.” For there is a contrast between the meaning, and the foreign tongue understood by no one. See note to ver. 14. But (2.) Anslem takes it of the active understanding, that by which I myself understand what I say, CHILDREN IN MALICE 353 and so can better explain it to others. (3.) Chrysostom says that it means with judgment — that he would rather speak and teach with tact and judgment, so that the hearers, no matter how rude and un- cultured they might be, might take in and retain what he said. But the first sense is the best, and most to the point.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ. 1. The word “hope” here signifies, not the act of hope, for this exists in this life only, but the object of hope or the thing hoped for. If our only hope in Christ is for the goods of this life, then are we the most miserable of men ; we are the most foolish also, because we rely on an empty hope of the resurrection, which is never to happen, and suffer fastings, mortifications, persecutions, and other hardships, and we resign the pleasure of the world and the flesh which others indulge in. Although, then, we are more happy than they, because of the good that is the fruit of the virtue of abstinence, of charity, and of an unclouded conscience, yet we are more miserable than they, so far as our hope in Christ is concerned, nay, we are fools for relying on a baseless hope. So Anselm and Chrysostom. The Apostle does not say “we are worse,” but “miserable;” for it is a miserable thing to afflict ourselves for virtue’s sake, and yet not obtain the prize ; but the prize of Christian virtue is the resurrection. It may be said that the soul can have its reward and be blessed without its body rising again. My answer to this is : God might CHRIST IS RISEN 373 have so arranged things that the soul alone should be rewarded with the Beatific Vision, but He did not so will it. As a matter of fact He willed that if the soul be beatified, so shall the body; if the body is not, neither will the soul ; otherwise Christ would not have completely overcome sin, which reigns by death over soul and body alike. 2. It was the opinion of men at that time that if the immor- tality of the soul be proved, the resurrection of the body must be at once admitted, because of the close connection between them. The soul has a natural longing after the body, and cannot exist without it unless by violence. Therefore the resurrection, so far as concerns the essence and the needs of human nature, is a natural process, though its mode of execution be supernatural. Nor can the soul when once separated be again united to the body by any created force, but only by the supernatural power of God. Paul, then, from the denial of the resurrection and happiness of the body, rightly infers, according to the common opinion of men, as well as the nature and truth of things, the denial of the immortality and bliss of the soul ; and so it is no wonder if Christians are not to rise again, that they should be of all men most miserable.

Brethren, be not children in understanding. Understand- ing here is not the same word in the Greek as in the preceding verse. It can, with Chrysostom and Ephrem, be rendered “ mind.* — Do not become children in mind, judgment, and reason, so as to display your gift of tongues as children might. Howbeit in malice be ye children . Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Ephrem render this: “Let malice be as unknown to you as to infants.” So, too, S. Augustine (qu. lxi. lib. 7 3) says : “ Be, like infants, free from malice.” As “infant” is derived from in, “not,” and fans, “ speaking,” and as a child who cannot speak knows still less of malice or anything else, so too the Christian is to be an infant in evil, not to know it nor to be able to speak of it, e.g., not to know what emulation, defilement, fornication are. So Theophylact, follow- ing S. Chrysostom. Tertullian ( contra Valent lib. ii.) beautifully says : “ The Apostle bids us after God be children again, that we may be infants in malice through our simplicity , and at last wise in under- standing .” Clement of Alexandria (Peed. lib. i. c. 5) has pointed out that “children” here is not synonymous with “fools.” The whole of his chapter, in which he points out how all Christians should be children-, may be studied with advantage.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept (i.) Christ was and is the first of those that rise again, both in order of dignity and of merit (2.) He was first in the Divine will and intention. (3.) First causally, for by Him we shall all rise again. (4.) Temporally, for Christ was the first in time to rise to everlasting life; for though some before Him were raised to life by Elijah and Elisha, yet they rose to this mortal life only, and again died ; but Christ was the first to rise to the eternal life of bliss and glory. So Chrysostom, Anselm, Ambrose, Theophylact, Theodoret, and others. The word for firstfruits properly signifies this, and implies others to follow. So is Christ called the “ first-begotten of the dead,” i.e., rising before all others, and, as it were, being bom again from the dead. It seems from this to be a point de fide that no one rose before Christ to everlasting life. Those, therefore, who at the death of 374 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. Christ are said to have arisen (S. Matt xxvii. 52), rose after Him in the way of nature, if not of time, for their resurrection depended on Christ’s as its cause. Francis Suarez points out this (p. 3. qu. 53. art. 3). The earliest fruit of the earth, which under the Old Law was to be offered to God, was called the “firstfruits so Christ, after His resurrection, was offered to God as the firstfruits of the earth, into which He had been cast as a corn of wheat, and from which He sprang forth again in the new birth of the resurrection.

In the law. Viz., Isa. xxviii. 1 1. As Chrysostom remarks, the law is sometimes used to denote, not merely the Pentateuch, but also the Prophets and the whole of the Old Testament. It is written , With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people . This is a difficult passage, and to understand it we must explain the passage in Isaiah cited by the Apostle. The pro- phet’s meaning in vers. 9 and 10 is, that God is wont to teach know- ledge and wisdom to those who have left childish delights and an ' immature age, and are men with the capacity for knowledge; but these Jews, who (ver. 7) take delight in the pleasures of wine and in VOL. i. z 354 first epistle to the corintiiians, c. xiv. drunkenness, are like children — do not take solid food — and are consequently unfitted for doctrine and true wisdom. Filled with wine, they scoff at me and at other prophets who denounce to them punishments from heaven for their drunkenness and other sins, and they say: “Precept must be upon precept, line upon line . . . here a little and there a little.” S. Jerome and Hay mo point out that in this passage there is an ironical play upon words. Isaiah and other prophets were often say- ing, “Thussaith,”or, “Thus ordereth the Lord.” Hence thejews,when drunken over their cups, would repeat in derision, “ Order and order again ” (precept upon precept), “ Expect and expect again” (line upon line). It was as if they had said : “The prophets are always dinning into our ears, ‘Thus saith the Lord/ and are always threatening or promising things which never come to pass, bidding us expect here a little and there a little, and nothing comes of it ail.” The same is oftentimes the experience of preachers, that the wicked ridicule, repeat, and sneer at their sermons and threatenings. Rabbi David, Rabbi Abraham, and after them Vatablus, Isidorus, Clarius, Pagninus, and Forterius give a very cold rendering to this verse (io) — “precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little.” The meaning then is : “ These Jews are taught roughly and gradually line upon line, just as boys are taught their alphabet.” But the following verses show that the prophet had in his mind scoffers and mockers, not untaught boys, for the punishments threatened are against scomers. S. Paul renders the sense of Isaiah and not the exact words : he applies the passage of Isaiah to the gift of tongues bestowed on the Apostles, who spoke with other tongues, not to scoff but to edify. The sense then is: God, speaking by Isaiah, says : “My exhortation to repentance, given by Isaiah and other prophets, seemed to you, O Jews, troublesome and ridiculous, just as if I had spoken to you with inarticulate sounds or in a foreign tongue ; hence you imitate what seem to you the meaningless sounds of the prophets, and you repeat in mockery their words. Wherefore, by the Chaldeans, who seem to you stammerers and lispers, will I punish you, that they, as the ministers of My righteousness, may restrain your unbelief by the TONGUES AS A SIGN 355 strange sounds of their foreign tongue, and may ridicule you as their captives, and in their language mock and condemn your Hebrew words ; and they shall serve as a type of the Apostles, whom in the time of Christ I will send to reprove your equal unbelief then, by the gift of unknown tongues, and they shall seem to you as men that lisp or speak indistinctly, and they shall be scoffed at by you and the wise of this world as foolish preachers of the Cross of Christ.” The literal meaning of Isaiah refers to his own time, and to the Chaldeans who were to overthrow Jerusalem; the allegorical refers to the gift of tongues given to the Apostles for a sign, not to the faithful, but to unbelievers, of the malediction with which God punishes the incredulous, not of the benediction with which He teaches His own servants. This verse of S. Paul shows the sense of Isaiah. Cf. S. Jerome and Cyril on Isa. xxviii.

For since by man came death. Adam brought death on all men, Christ resurrection. The word since gives the reason why Christ is called the firstfruits of them that rise, viz., because by Christ, as a leader of the first rank of God’s army and the subduer of death, the resurrection of the dead was brought into the world.

Nay, much more those members of the body , which seem to be more feeble , are necessary . S. Chrysostom and Theophylact think that this refers to the eyes, which are small and delicafe but yet most necessary. But as the eyes have been included in the preced- ihg verse amongst the nobler members which govern the body, it is better to refer it, as others do, to the internal parts of the body. For the belly is as the kitchen or the caterer for the whole of the body, and cooks and distributes the food for every part, and therefore is essential to the life of the body.

Wherefore tongues are for a sign . . . to them that believe not Viz,, to the unbelieving Jews, both here and in Isaiah xxviii, rather than to the Gentiles. This sign must therefore not be used by the faithful for vain glory. Prophesying serveth not for them that believe not , but for them which believe . The teaching of the word of God and exhortation are a sign of the blessing with which God trains up His servants, and stirs them up to every good work (see ver. 3). Sign here is not the same as “ miracle,” for the Chaldeans worked no miracle when in their own tongue they chided the Jews \ but sign stands for a symbol, and mark of reproof, teaching, and exhortation. But understand what has been said of the believing and unbelieving, as applying to them primarily and principally; for in a secondary sense tongues serve for a sign to the faithful, and prophecy to the unbelievers. Cf. vers. 23 and 25.

For as in Adam all die , even so in Christ shall all be made alive . The question may be asked whether even the wicked are to rise again and be endowed with life through Christ and His merits. S. Augustine (Ep. 28) says no, because their resurrection, being to condemnation, is better called death than life. S. Thomas also says that Christ is the efficient cause of resurrection to all men, but the meritorious cause to the good alone. But my answer is that Christ is the cause of the resurrection of all, even of the wicked : 1. Because Christ wished by His resurrection to abolish the power of death over the whole human race entirely, and therefore the wicked are included, not as wicked, but as men, abstracting their wickedness. See S. Ambrose (de Resurr. c. 21), and still more clearly S. Cyril (in Joann, lib. iv. c. 12). 2. Christ merited resurrection for the wicked, even as wicked, that He might inflict just punishment on His enemies, that His glory might be increased by the eternal punishment of His enemies. But these meanings are beside the scope of the passage. The Apostle is treating of the blessed resurrection of the saints, not of the resur- rection of the wicked to misery. We may here recapitulate the six methods by which the Apostle TESTIMONY TO THE RESURRECTION 375 has proved that Christ rose again, that so he might prove that we too should rise. 1. From the testimony of those who saw Him alive after He rose, viz., Peter, Paul, James, the other Apostles, and the five hundred brethren (ver. 5). 2. If Christ is not risen, then the preaching of the Apostles and the faith of Christians are alike vain (ver. 14). 3. If Christ is not risen, we are still in our sins. This is proved by the fact that faith that justifies and expiates our sins is the same by which we believe that Christ died and rose again for us (ver. 17). 4. If Christ is not risen, then have all perished who have fallen asleep in Christ, and have been destroyed both in body and soul ; for the soul cannot live for ever without the body (ver. 18). 5. If we serve Christ only in this short life, and under His law have no hope of resurrection, then are we of all men most miserable (ver. 19). 6. By Adam all die, therefore through Christ shall all rise again, and be quickened. For Christ has done us as much good as Adam did harm : He came, not only that He might repair all the falls and loss of Adam and his descendants, but that He might lift us up to a higher state (ver. 21).

If any man lerve not the Lord Jesus Christy let him he Anathema. “ Anathema ” denotes anything separated by a curse, thrown away, and destined for utter destruction. In the case of men it denotes, therefore, eternal damnation. These are not words of excommunication merely, but of cursing, and of denunci- ation of eternal damnation against unbelievers and all who love not Christ Cf. notes on Rom. ix. 3. Next to “anathema” was reckoned “katathema,” which was a term applied to those who allied themselves to persons under condemnation. Hence Justin (qu. 1 21) says: “ * Anathema’ denotes anything laid aside and set apart for God } and no longer put to common uses , or what has been cut off from God because of its idee or guilt. ‘ Katathema ’ is applied to those who consent to men under anathema , or who devote themselves to the gods belou Maran-aiha. This is properly two words. Erasmus thinks it is the same as “ anathema,” and he compares with its use here, “ Abba Father.” But he is mistaken: the words are Hebrew-Syriac, and signify, “The Lord has come.” The first part is still in common use among the Christian churches of India and Babylon, which look to S. Thomas as their founder, and is applied to their bishops, as Mar Simeon, Mar Joseph, &c. But what has the phrase, “ the Lord has come,” to do with the context here? Chrysostom and Theophylact say that S. Paul uses this word in order to point to Christ’s coming in our flesh, and His charity, to stimulate us to endeavour to come to every degree of virtue, and, as S. Jerome says, to hint that it is foolish to contend any longer by wanton hatred of one another against Him who, as every one knows, has now come. S. Chrysostom says, further, that the reason why S, Paul denounces anathema against those who love not Jesus is, that He has now come in His humility to save, so that there is now no excuse for not loving Him; for the Incarnation and Passion of Christ so win our love that the man who does not love Him is unworthy of pardon. MARAN-ATHA 407 But this explanation seems too forced. Notice, then, that “ Maran- atha” is a Syro-Hebraic phrase, which, with Amen, Hosanna, and Alleluia, has been transliterated into other languages. Cf. S. Jerome ( Ep . 137 ad Marcellani) and S. Augustine (. Ep . 178). And so S. Paul adds here, after “Anathema,” “ Maran-atha,” be- cause the Hebrews, when passing sentence on any one, were in the habit of invoking the Divine justice to confirm their own. Cf. Dan. xiii. 55 and 59 (Vulg.), and Ps. ix. 19. It is, then, a prayer : “May the Lord come as Judge to punish him who loves not Christ” Notice again that by a euphemism the Hebrews commonly let this punishment be understood. Their usual formula is, “ May God do so to me and more also,” without specifying the particular form of punishment that they wish to call down on themselves if they break their oath. They do this out of reverence for an oath, and from the fear that the curse, if openly expressed, may fall upon them in some way, just as among us now-a-days, when any one is enraged and falls to cursing, or calling down on his friend some dreadful disaster, he will by-and-bye add : “ God avert this 1 ” “God forbid it ! ” “God protect us!” Similarly, when it is here said, “The Lord is coming,” or, “May the Lord come,” supply “to judgment,” viz., to inflict everlasting punishment on unbelievers and the enemies of Christ. Anselm says: “ If any one love not the Lord Jesus Christ , as His first coming is of no use to him, so neither will His second coming to judgment be .” The explanation of Titelman is the same: “Let him be anathema in the coming of the Lord to judg- ment.” S. Clement, too, seems to interpret “ Maran-atha ” in the same way (Ep. 2 in Fine ), when, in allusion to this passage, he says : “ This, my brother James, have I heard enjoined by the mouth of S. Peter: * If any one keep not these precepts entire, let him be anathema till the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.' ” What else explains these last words but the “ Maran-atha ” of SS. Peter and Paul? S. Paul refers here to the last verse of the prophecy of Malachi, “lest I come and smite the earth with a curse,” and primarily to the 408 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XVI. Book of Enoch, quoted by S. Jude in his epistle (vers. 14 and 15) : “ Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to execute Judgment upon all, and to convince all that are un- godly,* &c.

And those members of the body . . . upon these we bestow more abundant honour . The “ less honourable ” members are the feet, say Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Ambrose. We are more careful to cover them with shoes, or to bestow ornament upon them, lest they be hurt in walking, or catch cold, or in some way convey illness to the stomach and head. " Honour ” here means either covering or the attention bestowed upon the feet in the way of decorated boots or leggings, such as many rich young men, and especially soldiers, wear. Homer, e.g., frequently speaks of the “ well-greaved Achaeans.” And our uncomely parts have more abundant honour . Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Theopylact refer these to the pudenda. These, says S. Augustine ( Retract . lib. ii. c. 7), are called uncomely, not because nature so made them, but because, since the Fall, lust reigns in them more than elsewhere, because lust is contrary to the law of reason, MANY MEMBERS 311 and therefore ought to be a cause of shame to man. For it puts man to shame when his member so casts off his authority. The more abundant honour that they receive is a more careful and comely covering, so that even if men anywhere discard clothing, they yet cover these parts, as Theophylact says. Moreover, these members are honoured in wedlock, as being necessary to the procreation of children and the perpetuation of the species, as Chrysostom says. Hence, under the Romans, any one who emasculated himself was severely punished, as an offender against the common good and a violent assailant of nature. Others think that the “ more feeble ” and “ less honourable ” members are identical, and are the belly and its subsidiary' organs. But the Apostle makes a distinction between them, and connects them as distinct entities by the conjunction “and.” His meaning then is, that as we care for those members of the body which are more feeble and ignoble when compared to the rest, and treat them as if they were more useful, so, too, in the Church those who seem to be of less account, such as the infirm, the unknown, and the despised, are for that very reason of more use and should be the more carefully helped. So say Chrysostom, Theophylact, Anselm. For the use of beggars in the Church, see S. Chrysostom ( Horn . 20 Moral \ and also contra Jnvid . Horn . 31). We have an illustration of this verse in the allegory of the belly deserted by the other members, by which Menenius Agrippa brought back the lower orders who had seceded from the senate of the Roman people, and settled on Mons Sacer (Livy, lib. ii. dec 1). Menenius said : “At that time when men's members were not so agreed as they are noiv , but each sought its own private ends , they say that the other parts of the body were indignant that the belly should get its wants supplied by their care , their toil ', and their ministry , and itself rest quietly in the midst \ and enjoy the pleasures they gave ; so they agreed that the hand would lift no food to the mouth, that the mouth would not admit it if it were offered, nor the teeth chew it Then while, as they thought, that they were reducing the belly by hunger, they found that each member and the whole body also were brought down to the 312 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII. last extremities . They saw then that the belly had \ too , its active service , and was not more nourished by them than they gained from it. They saw that the blood , re-invigorated by the food that had been eaten , was impartially distributed through the veins into every part of the body , giving each its life and energy . Then , by drawing a comparison between the civil war in the body and the angry action of the lower orders against the Fathers , Menenius induced them to return .”

If therefore the whole church, . . . he is judged of alt If all speak together confusedly and noisily, they will seem to be mad; but if all teach the faith from the Scriptures and other authorities, and preach of the way to lead a right life, the outsider will be convinced of, and reproved for, his unbelief and evil life, by all the teachers and preachers. 356 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIV.

But every man in his own order . 1. According to Chrysostom, Theodoret and Theophylact this is the just among the blessed, the wicked among the reprobate. 2. According to the commentary ascribed to S. Jerome, this means that each shall rise higher and more blessed as he has been more holy here. 3. CEcumenius and Primasius explain it in this way : All who are to be quickened in Christ shall rise again in this order — Christ the first in time and dignity; secondly, the just shall rise; thirdly shall come the end of the world. This is the Apostle’s meaning, as appears from the next words. Cf. 1 Thess. iv. 16.

For our comely parts have no need. The eyes, the face, and the hands, which are the more comely parts of the body, lack no ornament, but are comely enough in themselves. Having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked. That is more careful guard, more clothing and ornament Cf. ver. 22.

Then cometh the end. 1. The end of the whole dis- pensation of Christ for the salvation of the human race, and it will consequently be the end of the age then existing, of time, of all generations, and all corruptions, and of the universe. So Anselm. 376 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. For Christ is the end of the whole universe, and when those that He has chosen out of it are completed, then the universe will be ended also. 2. “The end” may, with Theodoret, be rendered “consumma- tion,” i.e.y the general resurrection of all, even of the wicked, when all things will come to an end. When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father . The kingdom is the Church of the faithful and congrega- tion of the elect ; not as though God did not now reign over it, for Christ says : “ The kingdom of God is within you ” (S. Luke xvii. 2 1), but because sin has somewhat of power over it, because the devil, death, and cares that attack mortals are found in it. In other words, Then cometh the end when Christ shall have presented, and as it were restored to His Father, the Church of the elect, which had been intrusted to His care and governance during the struggle of this life, that He might gloriously reign over it for ever. The Son shall as it were present it to His Father with the words : “ Father, Thou didst send Me into the world, and after I ascended to heaven to be with Thee I have ruled these continuously, and protected them from the power and assaults of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Lo, these that I bring are Thine. They are My possession, given Me by Thee ; they are the fruit of My labour, won by My sweat and blood. This is Thy kingdom as it is Mine, and is now free and pure from every sin, temptation, and trouble, that Thou mayst reign gloriously over it for ever.” Cf. S. Ambrose and S. Augustine (de Trinitate, lib. i. c. 8 and io). To God \ even the Father is a hendiadys, to signify that Christ as man will present His faithful ones to God, as Son to His Father. When He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power . When He shall have destroyed the power and dominion of the devils, so that they shall no longer be able to attack the Church, which is the kingdom of God. Cf. Eph. vi. 12, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theo- phylact, Ambrose, (Ecumenius. Principalities, Powers, and Dominions (the rule , and authority , and power of A V.) are names of three angelic choirs (cf. Eph. i. 21). THE END OF ALL THINGS 377 It hence appears that some of them fell and became devils, and kept the same names, just as each kept the same nature, the same order, rank, and power, especially in their attacks on the Church. S. Paul says then that, when Christ shall have destroyed all the rule of the devils, who are and are called Principalities and Dominions, so that they might no longer attack the Church, He will then hand over the Kingdom to His Father, and will be the end and consummation of all things. S. Augustine (de Trinitate , lib. i. c. 8) explains this passage of the good angels, and then the meaning will be : There will be no longer any necessity for the assistance of the angelic Principalities, Powers, and Dominions, and therefore their dispensation and guid- ance will be done away with in the Church. But the former meaning is truer, because the Apostle is speaking of the enemies of Christ, as is clear from the next verse.

My love be with you all in Christ Jesus . May the love that I bear you flow back to me and towards each other for Christ’s sake.* Amen. Think of eternity — Anathema Maran-atha ! 1 END OF VOL I. Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & Co. Edinburgh and London

That there should be no schism in the body ; but that the members should have the same care one for another. No schism, such as that related by Menenius, but that all should have the same care for the others as for themselves, or else it may mean that each mem- ber should be solicitous for the common good of the whole body.

And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest. Out of the gift of discerning of spirits, or because God directs the tongue of the prophet, i.e., the preacher, the most hidden sins of his heart will be described and reproved, and the man will think that the preacher speaks as a prophet to him in particular. It is evident from this that this was a common occurrence ; it is also evident that these teachers and preachers were, strictly speaking, real prophets. There is a parallel case in the life of S. Augustine by Possidonius (c, 15), where it is said that on one occasion S. Augustine left the subject that he had decided to speak on, and discoursed on Manichaeism. This led to the conversion of a certain Manichaean, who chanced to be present, as S. Augustine afterwards learnt He believed it to be due to the direct guidance of God. Hence (de Doci. Christ, lib. iv. c. 15) he says that prayer should always be offered to God before preaching, that He would direct the mind and tongue of the preacher suitably to the capacity and disposition of the audience. Others, however, understand “ the secrets of his heart ” to mean the sins which the unbeliever or unlearned has, but which he does not know to be sins, e.g., when he does not know that idolatry and fornication are sinful. He will learn this when he hears the prophet discoursing about them, and condemning them as sinful. But the first meaning is the best.

For He must reign , till He hath put all enemies under His feet J.e., Christ must rule the Church till God the Father puts all the devils and the wicked under Him. Till does not denote an end of His reign, for there is no doubt that when His enemies shall have been overcome Christ will reign more truly and for ever, though in another way and with other glory than now. Cf. S. Chrysostom. It signifies what may have been done before a certain event, not what was done afterwards. So Joseph (S. Matt i. 25) is said not to have known Mary his wife till she brought forth her Son, not as though he knew her afterwards, as the impure Helvidius insinuates, but that he did not know her before she conceived and gave birth ; for S. Matthew merely wished to record a wonderful event that was naturally incredible, viz., the conception and birth of Christ from a virgin without a father. So Paul says here that even now, while the Church is struggling with her enemies, Christ reigns over her. More- over, it follows from this that Christ will reign after the struggle and triumph, for S. Paul implies but does not state what is evident to all. S. Augustine (Sentences, n. 169) well says: “As long as we are struggling against sins there is no perfect peace ; for those that oppose us are crushed in dangerous fight, and those that have been overcome 378 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. are not yet triumphed owr in the peaceful land where care cannot come , but are still kept down by a power that must ever be on its guard ” The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death . That death which still reigns over the bodies of the saints will be altogether destroyed at the resurrection. The first enemy of Christ and His followers is the devil, who was conquered by Christ on the Cross. The second is sin, which, through the grace of Christ, is being conquered by Christians in this life. The third is death, which will be the last to be overcome, and that will be in the resurrection.

Whether one member suffer all the members suffer with it. “ They suffer together ” in such a way that the suffering member’s grief is lightened, “ not by communion in disaster, but by the solace afforded by charity,” says S. Augustine ( Ep . 133). Hence S. Basil (Reg. Brevior. 175) says that the outward proof of love is twofold: (1.) rejoicing in the good of one’s neighbour and labouring for it; (2.) in grief and sorrow for his misfortune or his sin. He who has not this loves not Doctors infer from this verse that souls in bliss, burning with love for us, help us by their prayers in our troubles and dangers ; and that we in our turn ought to help souls kept in purgatory, for they suffer the devouring flame, and therefore he must be cruel indeed who does not suffer with them, and do what he can to set them free. Or one member be honoured. Or, as Ambrose takes it, “be glorified,” or, according to Ephrem, “ whether one member rejoice.” Salmeron, after St Chrysostom, beautifully says : “ He who loves possesses what- ever is in the body , the Church : take away envy and what I have is thine . 19 S. Chrysostom says again : " Jf the eye suffer , all the member UNITY OF THE BODY 313 will grieve , all will cease to act : the feet will not go , the hands will not work) the belly will take no pleasure in its wonted food, although it is the eye only that is suffering . Why, O eye , do you trouble the belly t why chain the feet ? why bind the hands t Because all are knit together by nature , and suffer together in a mysterious manner”

How is it then , brethren ? . . . Let all things be done unto edifying. “ Every one of you ” is, of course, distributive. It is not meant that each one had all these things, but one had one thing, another another. Whoever of you has a psalm, or a doctrine, or a revelation, or an interpretation, or the gift of tongues, let him sing the praises cf God, or pour forth his prayers and other devotions. Hath a psalm. The grace of composing and singing psalms or hymns. So Pliny writes to Trajan that the Christians were wont to sing hymns before dawn to Christ as God. Hath a revelation . A revelation and exposition, either of some difficult passage of Holy Scripture, or of some future or unrevealed event. ORDER OF DIVINE SERVICE 357 We should notice from this passage that in the Primitive Church the rites and order of Divine Service, instituted by Paul and the other Apostles, were somewhat as follows : (i.) Psalms were sung by all ; (2.) the Holy Scriptures were read; (3.) the Bishop preached; (4.) then followed the Eucharist, which at that time consisted of simply the oblation, the consecration, communion, the canon and Lord’s Prayer, and some collect to which the people answered, “Amen.” (5.) All communicated ; (6.) some, inspired by the Holy Spirit, would utter or sing, in different tongues, psalms or hymns to the praise of God, others would prophesy; (7.) some, after the Jewish fashion, would interpret the Holy Scriptures or give an ex- hortation, and that by two or three, especially prophets or men full of the Spirit ; others would listen and then ask questions about what had been said. This was done even by the women, though this was an abuse corrected by S. Paul ; and when anything particularly good or pious was said, they would all exclaim together, " Amen, amen ! ” (8.) All was concluded with the agape, which was a common feast and a symbol of brotherly love, after which prayers and hymns again were used. Justin, in the passage quoted below, enumerates all these in order. He says: “In all the oblations which we offer we praise with thanksgiving ” (the first part) “the Maker of all , through His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit ; and on the day called Sunday there • is an assembly of all who live in town or country, and the commentaries of the Apostles or writings of the Prophets are read” (the second part). “ Then when the reader ceases , he who presides delivers a sermon , in which he instructs the people, or exhorts them to practise the good things they have heard ” (the third part). “ Upon this we all rise together and offer up prayers, and as I have said, when the prayers are finished, bread is offered with wine and water ; and the same president, as far as he can, offers up prayers and thanks- givings, and the people answer with acclamation, * Amen / * ” (the fourth part). “ Then there is made a distribution, and communication with thanksgiving to each one present, of the gifts, and the same is sent by means of the deacons to the absent ” (the fifth part) — Justin (Apol. ii. ad Ant.). The sixth, seventh, and eighth parts are described 358 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIV. indiscriminately by Tertullian ( Apol. xxxix.) : “ Our supper shows its nature by its name of agape , which denotes love. We do not sit down to it without first praying to God. Then follows washing of the hands , lights are brought in , and as each one is able from the Holy Scriptures or his own gifts , he utters praise aloud , and the feast is ended also with prayer” Philo (de Essceis) gives a similar account. We must notice, secondly, that these gifts and this fervour were of short continuance. Still, the Church has retained as far as possible the order and method then observed. Hence our present customs are the legitimate descendants of the eight mentioned above. 1. To the saying of psalms, &c., have succeeded the Hours of Mattins, Lauds, and Prime. 2. To the prophecies, readings with exposition and homilies, not only in the Hours, but also in the Mass, in the form of the Epistle and Gospel 3. After the Gospel comes the sermon. 4. Now as then we have the Mass, in which, at the end of the collect, a clerk says “ Amen 1 ” for the people. The fifth, as well as the sixth, seventh, and eighth, have fallen somewhat into abeyance, except that hymns and the Lesser Hours are sung after Mass, and that monks, in their assemblies for worship, are wont to discourse of spiritual things, as Cassian relates ( Collat . Fatrum).

If any man speak in an unknown tongue. ... let one interpret. This verse depends on the foregoing clause, “Let all things be done to edifying.” If any one sing, or teach, or speak with a tongue, let all be done to edifying, so that, eg., if tongues are used, then let only two, or at the most three, in each assembly speak, and that in their turns, so that there may be no confusion ; and let one interpret, so that the hearers may understand what is said.

He hath put all things under His feet God will in the resurrection put all men and angels, good and bad, under Christ. He speaks of the future as past, after the manner of the prophets. But when He saith . . . which did put all things under Him . S. Paul adds this lest any one should suppose that the Father has given everything to the Son in such a way as to deprive Himself of autho- rity over them, for so the Father would be less than the Son and subject to Him. Sometimes among men, when fathers are getting old, they make a gift of their goods and offices to their sons, but not so God.

And God hath set some in the churchy &c. Apostles as the rulers, prophets as the eyes, teachers as the tongue. From this it follows that the princes of this world are not, as Brentius thinks, the rulers and the head of the Church, but the Apostles and their suc- cessors, the Pope and the bishops ; “ for God,” says S. Paul, “ set the Apostles first.” After that come “powers,” /.<?., workers of miracles, who are as the hands of the Church ; then healers of diseases ; then helps, or those who help others and perform works of mercy towards the sick, the poor, the unhappy, guests, and foreigners ; then gover- nments, or men who rule and correct others, as parish priests, as S. Thomas says, or better still, with Theophylact and Cajetan, men who have the care of the temporal wealth which the faithful offer to the Church. These last are as the feet in the body of Christ, and of such were the deacons ordained by the Apostles to look after tables and the widows (Acts vi. 1-6). Notice the abstract here put for the concrete : “ powers ” for workers DIFFERENCE OF FUNCTION 315 of powers, “gifts of healing” for healers, “helps” for helpers, “governments” for governors, “diversities of tongues” for men skilled in different languages. S. Paul knits all these, as other members of the Church, to Apostles, prophets, and teachers.

Then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him, Some understand this of His Godhead, as though Christ as God will show Himself to have received everything, and His very Godhead, from His Father, and will so declare Himself to His Father. But this is too bold a statement ; for the Son is not subject to the Father, because He has all that He has from the Father, but He is equal to Him in majesty and honour. Hence others often take this passage of Christ according to His human nature. (1.) With Chrysostom, He will show His subjection, and so all will see how perfect were the obedience and subjection of Christ here. (2.) Better, with Anselm, Christ will be subject as man, t\e., He will subject Him- self and will offer Himself with His elect to the eternal praise of God, and to a participation in the Divine goodness, dominion, and glory. For this subjection of Christ is the same as is alluded to in ver. 24, where it is said that Christ shall hand over the kingdom to God the Father, that He may fully and g'oricus’y reign over Him and His SUBJECTION OF THE SON 379 elect. This subjection of Christ and the saints to God is not mean and servile, but blessed and glorious. For God holds them in heaven who are subject to Him as sons ; He rules over them, and blesses them, and makes them happy with the utmost height of glory. Well, then, is such subjection and service called reigning, and such service is much to be longed for with David (Ps. lxi. i, Vulg.) : “Shall not my soul be subject to God ? for of Him cometh my salvation." On the other hand the wicked, who will not submit themselves to God, will be by this very fact His enemies, and the most unhappy of all men. In this very word subject there seems to lurk a double application; and so Gregory of Nyssa says, in his sermon on these words : “ Subjection to God is a separation from evil that is perfect and absolute on every side. Christ shall be subject to His Father in the resurrection, because in it all the elect and faithful members of Christ will be clear from all evil, and will receive a chief part of what is good, and will be most closely united with Deity, and with its eternity, power, and bliss ; and then will God be all in all, since there will be no evil in those things that remain ; for God cannot be in what is evil, but must be in all that is good. Christ then will be subject to His Father when His Church shall be, and shall be so set free from all evil ; for the subjection of the Church is called the subjection of Christ." (3.) The words shall be may be understood to denote merely a continued action. In other words, Christ shall persevere for ever in the subjection which He now is under to His Father. Hilary wrote on this sentence of the Apostle’s against the Arians ( de Trin . lib. ii.), S. Jerome ( Ep . to Principia ), S. Augustine (de Trin . lib. i. c. 8), where he says : “ Christ , in so far as He is God with the Father , has us as His subjects ; in so far as He is a priest , He is subject even as we to His Father.” That God may be all in all. Viz., as Anselm says, that God may have all power over all things and may show that as God He is every- thing to His elect, or in place of everything else ; that He is our life, salvation, power, plenty, glory, honour, peace, and all things, and the end and satisfaction of our desires. So God will rule over all in all things, and will subject all things to Himself and His glory. 380 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. S. Augustine (de Civ . Dei. lib. xxii. c. 9) argues from this verse that the saints in heaven know our prayers and our state. S. Jerome (Ep ad Amandum ) appropriately says : “ What the Apostle means by saying that God shall be all in all is this : our Lord and Saviour is at present not all in all ’ but a part in each one , eg., He is wisdom in Solomon , goodness in David , patience in Job, knowledge of the future in Daniel , faith in Peter , zeal in Phinehas and Paul \ purity in John, and other things in other men . But when the end of all things comes , then He will be all in all \ that each one of the saints may have all virtues , and Christ may be wholly in each one and in all.” From this passage S. Augustine says (de Trin . lib. i. c. 8) that some Christians thought that the humanity of Christ would reign till the day of judgment, but would then be changed into His Godhead, and they thought that this change is the subjection to the Father, of which S. Paul here speaks. This is both foolish and impossible, according to the faith and to nature. Some who had given themselves up to the comtemplative life, and who aimed at an impossible closeness of union with God, and fanatics, have argued from this and similar passages of Scripture, that at the resurrection all men and all created things will return to their Divine archetype as it existed in eternity in God, and so would have to be changed into God ; that is to say, that then every crea- ture will have to disappear into the depths of the uncreated being, i.e.j into the Godhead. Gerson attacks this error at length, and accuses Ruisbrochius of holding it ; but the latter clears himself from it, and attacks it in his turn {de Verd Contempt \ c. 19, and ad Samuel , i. 4). But this passage of the Apostle’s lends no countenance to this error, but on the contrary opposes it. For if in the resurrection God will be all in all, all created things will be in existence stilL Other- wise God would not be all in all, but only all in none, or in nothing. Moreover, we can explain by similitudes how God will be all in all to the blessed. (1.) As a few drops of water poured into a large cask of very strong wine are at once swallowed up by the wine and incorporated with it, so the blessed, through love and the beatific GOD ALL IN ALL 381 vision, will as it were lose themselves in God, and seem swallowed up and incorporated by God as their greatest good, loved above all things. (2.) As the light of the sun fills all the air, so that it seems no longer to be air but light, in the same way God will so fill the blessed with the light of His glory that they will seem to be, not so much men as gods. (3.) As iron seems to be ignited by fire and to be changed into fire, so will the blessed be so kindled by their love and enjoyment of God, that they will seem transformed into God. (4.) As a large vessel of sugar or honey, when poured into a little porridge, makes it not only sweet as honey, but as if it were sugar or honey, so does God by His sweetness so inebriate and fill with sweetness the blessed that they seem to be very sweetness ; for God is a sea of sweetness and an ocean of joy and consolation. (5.) As most sweet strains of music fill the ears of all who hear them and ravish their minds, or as a diamond, ruby, or emerald fills and dazzles the eyes of all who look upon it, so does God ravish, delight, and fill the minds of all the blessed. (6.) As a mirror exhibits, re- presents, and contains the faces and appearance of everything placed before it, so that they all seem to exist, live, and move in the mirror, so do all the blessed live, move, and have their being in God ; for God is a most bright and glowing mirror of everything. Lastly, S. Bernard ( Serm . xi. in Cant.) devoutly and beautifully says : “ Who can understand how great sweetness is contained in the one short sayings 1 God shall be all in all ? 9 To say nothing of the body , I see in the soul three things — reason , willy and memory , and these three are the soul. How much of its integrity and perfection is lacking to each of these in this present life is known to every one who walks in the Spirit. Why is this , except that God is not yet all in all ? Hence is it that the reason is so often deceived in its judgmentSy and the will weakened by a fourfold disturbing cause, and the memory clouded over by manifold causes of forgetfulness. To this threefold vanity a noble creature has been made subjecty not willingly , but in hope. For He that filleth the desite of the soul with good things will Himself be to the reason fulness of light, to the will a multitude of peace, to the mem- ory eternal continuity . O Truth l O Level O Eternity l O Trinity, 382 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. blessed and blessing ■ to Thee does my miserable trinity , after a wonder- ful fashion , aspire , .f/Vk? i/'w a miserable exile apart from Thee . . . . Put thy trust in God ', for I will yet praise Him , when my reason knows no error , my will no grief and my memory no fear ; and when we enjoy that wondrous calm , that perfect sweetness , that eternal security which we hope for, God , as Truth, will give the first, as Charity the second, as Power the third, that He may be all in all, when the reason receives unclouded light , 7 vhen the will obtains unbroken peace, and the memory drinks for ever of an inexhaustible Fountain . May you see all this, and rightly attribute it, first to the Son, then to the Spirit, and lastly to the Father.”

Are all apostles l Certainly not Let each, therefore, be content with the position in which God has placed him in the Church, and with the grace that he has freely received from God, and thank God for all, and use the grace given him to God’s glory and the good of the Church.

Let the prophets speak two or three, viz., their prophecies or revealed truths, or intuitions or exhortations inspired into them by God. See what was said at the beginning of the chapter. And let the other judge . Let the other prophets, not the people, RULES FOR DIVINE SERVICE 359 judge by the gift they have whether what the prophet or teacher says is prophecy indeed, that is sound and wholesome doctrine, or not; for it does not belong to the laity to judge of the doctrines of religion, as heretics infer from this verse. It would be as absurd and foolish for the people to judge of prophecies, prophets, teachers, and pastors as for a scholar to judge his teacher, a sheep its shepherd, and a soldier his commander.

Else what shall they dot .. . why are they then baptized for the dead l 1. This baptism is metaphorical, the baptism of pain, afflictions, tears, and prayers, which they endure on behalf of the dead, in order to deliver them from the baptism of fire in purgatory. For even those Judaisers are baptized who deny the resurrection, like Cerinthus and others, or, at any rate, their fellow-religionists, the Jews, and this, according to the faith and custom of the Heb- rews, who are wont to pray for the dead, as appears from 2 Macc. xii. 43, and from their modern forms of prayer. This meaning best fits in with what follows. Baptism is in other places often used in this sense, (as S. Mark x. 58; S. Luke xii. 50; Ps. xxxii. 6). Throughout Scripture, waters and waves typify tribulations and afflictions. 2. “ Baptism” can also be understood of purification before the sacrifices which were offered for the dead. The Jews were in the habit of being purified before sacrifice, prayer, or any Divine service. Cf. S. Mark vii. 9; Heb. vL 12, and ix. 10. 3. The different interpretations of others are dealt with at length by Bellarmine (de Purgat . lib. i c. 4) and Suarez (p. 3, qu. 56, disp. 50, sect. 1), and they all are referred to literal baptism. (a) S. Thomas explains it to mean baptism for washing away sins, which are dead works. ( b ) T’neodoret thinks that “ for the dead ” is “like the dead,” when they rise from death, viz., when they are baptized, and emerge from BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD 383 the waters of baptism as from the tomb, they symbolise the resur- rection of the dead. (c) Epiphanius (Hares. 28) takes “for the dead” to mean when death is close at hand, and they are looked on as already dead. For then those who had deferred baptism wished to be baptized in hope and faith in eternal life and resurrection. Hence those to be bap- tized used to recite the Creed, in which is the Article, “I believe in the resurrection of the dead.” ( d ) Claud Guiliaud, a doctor of Paris, thinks that the phrase refers to the martyrs, who suffer for the faith and the article of the resur- rection of the dead. This meaning agrees well with the words that follow : “ Why stand we in jeopardy every hour ? ” (e) Others refer to a custom which the followers of Marcion after- wards observed, and suppose the meaning to be that some, in mistake and out of superstition, received baptism for the dead who had died without baptism. Cf. Ambrose and Irenaeus (Hares. 28), Tertullian (de Resurr . c. 24) and Chrysostom. (/) Chrysostom proffers and prefers another explanation, viz., that S. Paul's meaning is : Why do all receive baptism in hope of the resurrection of the dead, or to benefit their state when dead, that it may be well with them after death, if the dead do not rise ? Surely, then, in vain do they do this. But this is not credible, for the common faith of all the faithful is that they do rise, so much so, that many of them put off their baptism, even to the end of life, and are baptized on their death-bed, in the hope that, being purged by baptism from all pain and guilt, they may fly to heaven, and obtain a joyful resurrection. Hence we get the name “clinical baptism.” Many canons are extant ordering that such baptism be not refused to those who ask for it. This last meaning seems the simplest of all, and the one most on the surface, and is taken from the literal meaning of “ baptized.” Tertullian says that “for the dead” means, “ When the sacrament of baptism is performed over the body , the body is consecrated to immortality.”

Have all the gifts of healing f S. Augustine says (Ep. 137) that “ God, who divides to every man severally as He will, has not willed that miracles should be wrought in honour of every saint” It is not wonderful then that God should work miracles in this place, in this temple, at this or that image of the Holy Mother, or again that He should give one grace to one saint, another to another. Those, eg., who invoke S. Antony He sets free from the plague, those S. Apollonia from toothache, those S. Barbara from sudden death, and from dying without confession ; for, as the Apostle says, “ God divides to every man severally as He will.” So at the pool of • Bethesda, and not elsewhere, God miraculously healed the impo- tent folk (S. John v. 2-4). So by the rod of Aaron, and of no one else, He worked miracles (Num. xvii. 8). So by the image of the brazen serpent, and of nothing else, He set free the Jews from the plague of fiery serpents (Num. xxi. 9).

If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace . Let him rise and speak ; let the first cease and sit down. S. Ambrose says : “ This is a custom of the synagogue which S. Paul borrows and enjoins on us. The elders in dignity sit in their chairs while discoursing , those next to them sit on lower seats , the last on mats spread on the pavement. If anything happens to be revealed to these last, he bids that they be listened to : they are not to be despised , for they are members of the sa?ne body.”

And why stand we in jeopardy every hour l It is folly 384 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. for us to expose ourselves to so many dangers and persecutions, in hope of the resurrection, if there is none. This is a fresh reason, ^ or rather a fresh part of the reason joined to the preceding verse. That we all shall rise again is evident from the common belief and instinct of all the faithful, instilled into them both by grace and nature; for all long for baptism, because of this hope of the resurrection. Others again, and we especially, because of the same hope, boldly meet and even attack all dangers and sufferings. God, therefore, who by nature and grace has given us this feeling and this courage, through hope of the resurrection, plainly testifies by this very fact that we shall rise again.

But covet earnestly the best gifts. Seek from God, and exercise, if you have received them (cf. notes to ver. 8), the more use- ful gifts, such as apostleship, prophecy, wisdom, but not such as the gift of tongues, which you are in the habit of seeking after and of priding yourselves in. So Anselm. Others take the clause in- terrogatively, “Do you covet the best gifts? then I will show you a more excellent way still.” So Chrysostom, Theophylact, GEcumenius. And yet show I unto you a more excellent way, viz., the way of charity, which is the way to God, to life, and everlasting glory. The commentary ascribed to S. Jerome says here that the Apostle divides off charity from the gifts of the Spirit, because these latter are 31 6 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XII. gratuitously given by God, but charity is acquired by our own efforts and natural powers. This shows this commentary not to be S. Jerome’s, but the work of Pelagius or some Pelagian, as was said before. Primasius, who transcribed a good deal of this commentary, has shown the falsity of this remark. It appears too that charity is the gift of God from Rom. v. 5 : “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Hence S. Paul says here that he shows a more excellent way, meaning one that excels all others. If, then, the graces gratuitously given are of lower rank and are given by God, much more ought charity, which is exceedingly better and more excellent than them all, to be sought for and to be given from God The Apostle then fixes the destinc- tion between charity and the gifts of the Spirit in the fact that these latter are given for the good of the Church, not for the sanctification of him to whom they are given, while charity is given to make him who has it holy and pleasing to God “He,” says S. Augustine {de Laud. Char.), “ holds both what is patent and what is latent in God's sayings who holds charity in his daily life”

For ye may all prophesy . . . and all may be comforted. All the prophets can exhort in their turn, if only the method and order laid down above be observed, and so all can receive exhorta- tion and consolation. The word for “ may be comforted ” occurs again in 2 Cor. i. 6. Some take it as active, when the meaning be- comes, “that all may learn when they hear, and may teach when they speak and exhort”

1 die daily . /<?., I expose myself every day to danger of death, on behalf of the Gospel and the conversion of the Gentiles. By your rejoicing . That is, I die daily for the sake of the glory which awaits you in heaven, in order that I may win it for you ; or, better still, as your father and Apostle, I swear, and call God to witness, by your glory, i.e., by the glorying with which I glory over you as my children in Christ, that I die daily, and expose myself to death in hope of the resurrection. Hence S. Augustine ( Ep . 89) proves the lawfulness of oaihs. [Cornelius k Lapide follows the Latin Version, which gives glory where the A. V. has rejoicing.] Which I have in Christ This is, according to Anselm, the future glory which, in reliance on Christ, I hope that you will have, or, better, the glory or glorying which I have, i.e., with which I glory in Christ ; for I glory that by the merits of Christ I have obtained it. Gagneius and Photius explain the phrase differently, and make it a protestation rather than an oath, and read it, “ I die daily be- cause of your” (or, according to some Greek writers, “our”) “glory- ing ; ” i.e., that I am able to boast of you as having been converted and won to Christ by my efforts. Take notice that the Apostle here proves the resurrection of the body from the immortality of the soul alone, because these two things are naturally connected, and because men doubted then not so much the resurrection in itself as the immortality of the soul ; so ST. PAUL’S FIGHT WITH BEASTS 385 that if any one should prove to them the immortality of the soul, they would at once admit the resurrection. So S. Thomas.

And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. The prophets can, when they wish, restrain the spirit of prophecy, and keep silence, and give place to other prophets; they are not forced to speak by an irresistible impulse, like heathen fanatics ; for, as S. Thomas says, the spirit or gift of prophecy is not a habit, but is partly an inspiration, or impartation of light and truth, by which God illuminates the prophet’s mind in regard to facts that are future, hidden, or Divine; it is partly a force or impulse by which God touches the heart and impels it to prophesy, while preserving the freedom of the will. So Jonah and Jeremiah restrained themselves on occasion, as did Moses (Exod. iv. 30). S. Chrysostom’s explanation is different The gift of prophecy, he says, which the prophet has is subject to the judgment of the College of Prophets ; but the first 360 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIV. sense is more to the context ; for S. Paul is giving the reason why the prophets ought in turn to give way to each other and be silent, viz., because the prophetical spirit was under their control.

If after the manner of men, (1.) According to Photius, as far as man could; (2.) better, with human hope only, human courage, enterprise, love of glory, by which men are for the most part driven to face dangers. (3.) Others explain it as meaning, “I speak after the manner of men,” who readily dwell on their fights and conflicts. I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, Theophylact, Anselm, Primasius, and Baron ius think that “ beasts ” refers to Demetrius and his savage companions, wflo fought fiercely and like beasts against Paul in defence of Diana (Acts xix.). We may then translate it : “ If I have fought against a man who was as a beast.” So Paul calls Nero a lion (2 Tim. iv. 17). Such men too are called bulls (Ps. lxviii. 30); and S. Ignatius, in his epistle to the Romans, says: “I fight daily with beasts,” i.e. } with the soldiers guarding him. But Chrysostom, Ambrose, and others think that Paul was actually thrown to the beasts at Ephesus and fought with them ; for this is the strict meaning of the Greek, and, moreover, that contest with Demetrius at Ephesus took place after this Epistle was written ; for after that outbreak, Demetrius and his followers, by their violence, V forced Paul to leave Ephesus at once, so that he had no time to write this letter at Ephesus ; therefore it was written before. It is pretty certain, as Baronius holds, that it was about that time that this letter was written at Ephesus. The fight with beasts, here spoken of, was not the one with Demetrius, which had not yet taken place, but an earlier one. It may be said, it is remarkable that S. Luke should have said nothing in the Acts of so important an incident and so fearful a fight. But it is clear that S. Luke passed over things of no less moment, as, e.g.y those related by S. Paul himself in 2 Cor. xi. 25 : “Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck,” &c. Hence Nicephorus (Hist. lib. ii. c. 25) relates, on the authority of tradition apparently, that this fight of S. Paul’s was a literal fight with beasts. Gagneius says that the Greek means, not only to fight against vol. 1. 2 B 336 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. beasts, but to fight against them to extremities, even for life. He turns it : “ For the defence of the Gospel I was thrown to beasts, and fought with them to the last breath, and by the help of God I over- came them, and slew them not with weapons or fists but with faith and prayer, or I fled from them and escaped them.” Let us eat and drink ; for to-morrow we die, S. Paul is quoting Isa. xxii. 13. Those who deny the resurrection or who do not believe it are not far from the position of the wicked in Isaiah ; for if there is no resurrection it will be lawful to join with the Epicureans in saying, “ Eat, play, drink : there is no pleasure after death.”

For God is not the author of confusion . He does not compel these or those to prophesy at the same time, to make a noise and disturb each other, and so cause such a confusion as is commonly found in uproarious crowds.

Evil communications corrupt good manners. Viz., with atheists and unbelievers who deny the resurrection. This is an iambic senarius of Menander’s, as S. Jerome points out.

Let women keep silence in the churches *. Ambrose, and after him Anselm, say that even the prophetesses are to keep silence : (1.) Because it is against the order of nature and of the Law, in Gen. iii. 16, for women, who have been made subject to men, to speak in their presence. (2.) Because it is opposed to the modesty and humility which befits them. (3.) Because man is endowed with better judgment, reason, discursive power, and discretion than woman. (4. ) She is rightly bidden, says S. Anselm, to keep silence, because when she spoke it was to persuade man to sin (Gen. iii. 6). (5.) To curb her loquacity, for, as it is said, “ when two women quarrel it is like the beating of two cymbals or the clanging of two bells.” This might readily enough happen in the church if they were allowed to teach. About this silence enjoined on women, see notes on 1 Tim. ii. 9. How much is it then against the command of S. Paul, against all law, right, and seemliness, for a woman to be the head of a church ! Tropologically woman stands for passion and lust, man for reason. Let the first then be silent and obey the reason. Cf. S. Chrysostom (. Horn . 37 in Morali. ). Aristotle (de Nat . Animal lib. ix. c. 1) says : “ Woman is more pitiful and more inclined to tears than man ; also more envious , more ready to complain , to utter curses , and to revenge ; she is besides more anxious and desponding than man, more pert and untruthful \ and more easily deceived?

Awake to righteousness and sin not. Awake from sin to be righteous. The Greek copies give “ awake righteously ; ” Ephrem, “Stir up your hearts righteously.” Sin not, because some know not that God can call the dead to life. I speak this to your shame. It is a shame for a Christian to have any doubt about the resurrection or the power of God.

And if they will learn anything , let them ask their husbands at home . Hence Primasius says that men ought to be well taught enough to teach their wives in matters of faith. But what if they are themselves untaught, as is often the case ? Who, then, is to teach the woman ? Primasius answers that they have preachers, confessors, and teachers to instruct them. Again, it is better for THE SUBJECTION OF WOMEN 361 them to be ignorant of some things that are not essentials than to ask and learn about them in public, to their own shame and the scandal of the Church. You may say that it is recorded in S. Luke ii. 38 that Anna the prophetess spoke in the Temple to all concerning Christ. The answer is that she spoke to all in private, and one by one, not in a church assembly, nor in the Temple properly so called, for neither man nor woman, but the priests alone, were allowed to enter the Temple at Jerusalem. Anna, then, spoke to the women singly in the court of the women ; for, as Josephus says, the women had a court distinct from the men’s court. You may say again, “ Nuns sing in their churches.” I answer that theirs is not a church in the sense of being an assembly of the faithful, but merely a choir of nuns. The Apostle does not forbid women to speak or sing among women, but he forbids it in the common assembly only, where both men and women meet. In this Cajetan agrees. Moreover, S. Paul does not allude to such public speaking as is sanctioned by authority, but that particular and individual speech which consists in teaching, exhorting, and asking questions. Add to this that he is speaking of married women only, for he orders such to keep silence in the church and be subject to their husbands, and ask them at home what they want to know.

But some man will say , , . except it die. The Apostle strikes here at the root of their disease and the cause of their error, which was that some were despairing of and deny- ing the resurrection of the body, because they saw that it rotted in the ground, and they thought therefore it was incredible and im- possible for it to be raised again and refashioned. S. Paul here answers this objection by pointing to a grain of corn which is sown. It first rots and dies away in the earth, and then as it were is born again and springs up, and brings forth, not merely one grain, but many grains from the one. In this way the one grain which is sown is clothed and laden at the harvest with many ears and grains, so that it seems to rise with greater glory. In the same way our bodies will rot in the ground, and thence rise to greater glory.

What 1 came the word of God out from you ? This is a sarcasm, concluding what had been said in this chapter and the preceding. Did not the Churches of Judaea, Samaria, and Syria believe before you ? Look, then, at the order and custom of those Churches, whether they are so contentious about their gifts or make such boasting of their tongues as you do. So Ambrose and Anselm.

If any man think himself to be a prophet , &c. It is the Lord who commands this order to be observed in your assemblies, by my mouth, not directly by Himself. This verse is an authority for canons passed by the Popes, and for the laws of the Church. Melancthon replies that Bishops cannot make fresh canons, 362 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XIV. because, since the whole of the Holy Scripture has been now written, the Bishops have a full and sufficient guide in the word of God ; but he says the civil magistrate can pass new laws, because he has not the word of God to follow. But this is a frivolous answer. The magistrate has not only the law of nature, but a very full and complete code of laws in the statute- book. But if everything has not been provided for there, and the magistrate may add to the number of laws, why may not Bishops do the same ? For the word of God has not provided for everything, as may be seen in the additions made to it by the Canon Law. Moreover, S. Paul is here enacting human and ecclesiastical laws, not Divine ones ; and he had besides the word of God, not indeed written, but received by tradition or revelation from God (GaL L 12), and that much more fully than we have it If, therefore, it was lawful for him to add his laws to those given by God, it is also lawful for the Pope and the Bishops, who have succeeded Paul, to do the same.

Thou sowest not that body that shall be. When you sow . you do not sow the body which will rise from the seed, as, e.g., a tree or an ear, but bare seed of apple, or of wheat, &c., and yet God THE RESURRECTION BODY 387 gives to this seed sown, when it springs from the earth, not any other seed, but a complete and beautiful body, e.g., of a tree or of an ear, which is beautifully composed of its own stalk, beard, blossoms, and grains. Hence S. Augustine says (Ep. 146) that the Apostle implies, “ if God can add to the new seed something it had not before , much more can He at the resurrection restore man's body."

But if any man be ignorant , let him be ignorant . He who is not willing to acknowledge these laws and my power will be ignorant, or ignored or condemned by God, who will say to him, “ I know you not,” for “ he that heareth you heareth Me, and he that despiseth you despiseth Me.” Ambrose, Jerome, Ephrem, read the future, “ will be ignorant.” “ Let him be ignorant ” has a parallel in “He that is filthy, let him be filthy still;” or, as others render it, “ He that is ignorant, let him acknowledge himself ignorant, and behave accordingly, and not presume to pass judgment on other men, and on things of which he knows nothing, but let him rather follow others, as leaders in matters of prophecy and doc- trine.” But I prefer the first reading, that of the Latin Version, as the plainer, truer, and better supported reading.

But God giveth ... to every seed his own body. He gives to each seed the body that belongs to its own natural species, as, e.g ., to a grain of wheat He gives a body of wheat, and not of barley or of oats.

All flesh is not the same flesh. He goes on to prove what he has said, viz., that God gives to each seed its own body as He hath pleased and determined. He proves it by analogy. “ God,” he says, “gives one flesh to man — his own, another to beasts, another to fishes, another to birds. He gives one body to the heavens and the stars, and another to things on earth.” So, too, to the blessed in the resurrection, which will be a kind of regene- ration and new creation, will God give their own body, such as He sees fit to give, and such as is becoming to men beatified and glorified. He will give to each as he had deserved ; for there is a similitude and proportion between nature and merit. Such a nature demands such a body ; so such a degree of merit demands a corres- pondingly glorified body : the less the merit, the less glorified the body to be received ; the more the merit, the more the glory of the body.

Let all things be done decently and in order . Like S. Ignatius (Epp. ad Philipp . et Tars.), S. Paul had a great care for good order in the Church, especially in things indifferent, both because this order is beautiful and decent in itself, and because it prevents confusion and disturbance, and also because it greatly edifies others, even unbelievers. See notes on Col. ii. 5.

There is one glory of the sun y &c. Chrysostom, Theo- doret, Theophylact, Primasius, (Ecumenius, Bede, Augustine (de Sanct. Virg. c. 26), Jerome ( contra Jovinian. lib. ii.), prove from this that not only is the resurrection of the saints glorious, but that there is also an inequality of rewards in heaven, just as there is an inequality in the seeds of merits sown here.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. As there is one brightness of the sun, another of the moon, another of the stars, so will God give to each of the blessed the blessed and glorious body that belongs to him, and that is proportioned to his merits. 388 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. The saints and blessed are well compared to stars for reasons which I have given when commenting on Rom. iv. 18. Moreover, as one star outshines another, so does one saint in heaven excel another — as in grace and merits, so in the glory and' reward that he receives, and “the star of virginity shines among all as the moon among lesser lights.” So S. Dominic, while still a boy, appeared to a noble matron in a vision, wearing on his forehead a bright star which irradiated the whole world ( Vita, lib. i. c. i, and cap . ult .) ; and it is said of the high-priest Simon, son of Onias (Ecclus. 1 . 6): “As the morning star shines in the midst of a cloud, and as the full moon in her days, or as the noonday sun, so did he shine in the Temple of God.” Similar things are told us of other saints. Learned men and teachers of righteousness and holiness will call to mind the verse (Dan. xii. 3) : “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (Cf. Wisd. iii.) Hence Christ, too, says (Rev. xxii. 16): “lam the bright and morning star,” and in Rev. i. 20: “The seven stars are the angels” (i.e., the doctors and bishops) “of the seven churches;” and in Rev. xii. 1, the Church appeared to S. John like a woman having on her head a crown of twelve stars, that is of the twelve Apostles, who, like stars, shed their light over the Church, and that on the head, i.e., in the beginning of the Church, as Primasius, Aretas, Andrew Bishop of Caesarea, Bede, and others explain it. Lastly, in Rev. ii. 28, Christ says : “And he that overcometh, to him will I give the morning star,” i.e., glory and the beatific vision, which is called a star because of the brightness of its light and the clearness of the vision. It is called the morning star, both because it is given after the night of this world, and be- cause it is the beginning of the blessedness which will be completed at the resurrection of the body. Cf. Richard Victor, Primasius, and Aretas. It is sown in corruption ; it is raised in incorruption . 1. It is sown in creation, when the corruptible body is produced by the direct act of God, or from the seed of the father. So Anselm. AN INCORRUPTIBLE BODY 389 2. Better, it is sown a human body when it is buried, and thrown like seed into the ground to be eaten by worms and changed into dust; for so grain, when sown in the ground, is cast forth, buried, and corrupted. So Chrysostom, Ambrose, Anselm. Hence they have erred who supposed that the resurrection will take place through the powers of nature, and that we shall rise by natural strength ; as though in the ashes of the corpse were latent seminal powers, able to make it rise again. S. Thomas refers to these men. This is an error opposed to the faith and to true philosophy, both of which declare that the resurrection is above the powers of nature. The Apostle does not compare the body to seed sown in this respect, but he merely points to the fact that, as God has given to each seed its own body, so that, e.g., wheat springs from wheat and not barley, so to each of the blessed will He give a body corresponding to his work and merit That this is his meaning appears from the following verses. To bring this out more clearly, S. Paul adduced, in vers. 39 and 40, a similitude drawn from the difference existing in the flesh and bodies of different creatures. The seed dying and springing up again, and as it were rising from death, is a remarkable image and proof of the resurrection. Hence S. Augustine ( Serm . 34 de Verb . A post) says : “ The whole govern- ment of this world is a witness to the resurrection. We see the trees at the approach of winter stripped of their fruits and shorn of their foliage , and yet in the spring set forth a kind of resurrection ; for they first of all begin to shoot forth buds , then they are adorned with blossoms , clad with leaves , and laden with fruit J ask you who believe not in the resurrection , Where are those things hidden which God in His own good time brings forth 7 They are nowhere seen , yet God \ who is Almighty , and created them from nothings produces them by His secret power . Then look at the meadows and fields , which after summer are stripped of their grass and flowers, and remain nothing but a bare expanse of ground; yet in the spring they are again clad , and rejoice the heart of the husbandman when he sees the grass again springing up in newness of life . Truly, the grass which lived and died again lives from the seed; so , too, does our body live again from the dust.” 3QO FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV.

It is sown in dishonour . Man’s body, when it is buried and thrown like seed into the ground, is base, thick, heavy, opaque. It is raised in glory . It will rise glorious, clear, resplendent. The Apostle here strikes at another root of their error. There were some who at that time denied the resurrection of the body on the ground that the body, as being heavy and fleshy, was unfitted to be the home of the soul in bliss, and to enjoy the Divine life, as S. Dionysius testifies when refuting them ( Eccles . Hierarch, c. 7). The Apostle cuts this away by declaring that to the soul in glory a corresponding glorified body must be ‘given. It is sown in weakness. Is weak, slow, inert when it dies and is buried. It is raised in power. Powerful, quick, agile.

It is sown a natural body. It dies as it lived : its life was vegetative and sensitive, and needed for its support food and drink, like the life of other animals. So, too, it was solid, inert, unable to give place to other bodies, and impenetrable. Such was the body of Adam, even in Paradise. The natural body is one that eats, drinks, sleeps, digests, toils, suffers fatigue, is heavy, and offers resistance to other bodies. It is raised a spiritual body . 1. Not that the body is to be changed into a spirit or into an aerial body, as Origen and Euty- chius, Patriarch of Constantinople in the time of S. Gregory, thought (he was convinced by S. Gregory and abandoned his error), but spiritual in the sense of being wholly subject and conformed to the spirit, so that it no longer stands in need of food or drink, it toils not, and feels no weariness, but is, so to speak, heavenly and deified, and, as Tertullian says, is, as it were, changed into the angelic nature. So S. Augustine (de Hide et Symb. c. 6) says : “ It is called a spiritual body , not because it is changed into spirit , but because it is so subdued to the spirit that it is fitted for its heavenly dwellingfilace , when all weakness and earthly frailty have been taken away , and transformed into celestial strength ” Yet (c. 10) he seems to say that in the resurrection the body will not be of the flesh, but like that of angels. A SPIRITUAL BODY 39 1 He retracts this, however, afterwards (Retract, lib. i. c. 17), and more at length (de Civ . Dei \ lib. ult. c. 5 and 21). 2. Spiritual denotes subtilty, freedom from that heaviness and solidity that fills space, i.e., from that property of body by which it so fills space as to exclude all other bodies. The spiritual body will be subtle, as free from this property, and able, like spirit, to penetrate and fill all other bodies. Cf. Damascene (de Fide , lib. iv. c. 28) and Epiphanius (in Hceres . Orig.). For, as God can take from man his property, viz., the power of laughing, and can take from fire the heat which is the property of fire, so from body can He take away solidity, which is the property of natural bodily substance. This gift of subtilty, however, will not be a quality infused into the soul, for this seems an impossibility. It will be an assisting presence of Divine power, internal to the soul in bliss, so that the soul can, at its pleasure, lay aside the solidity by which it excludes other bodies, when it wishes to penetrate into them ; and can, on the other hand, retain it when it wishes to occupy space and exclude other bodies. And so this assisting presence of Divine power would appear to be a gift existing within the soul in bliss, just as the power of working miracles in Christ came from the presence of God, who thus lent His help to the humanity of Christ, to enable Him to work miracles at His pleasure. Cf. Suarez (pt. iii. qu. 54, art 3). From this place theologians have gathered the four gifts of the glorified body : (1.) impassibility, from the words, “ It is sown in cor- ruption; it is raised in incorruption ; ” (2.) brightness, from, “ It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory;” (3.) agility, from, “It is sown in weakness ; it is raised in power ; ” and (4.) subtilty, from, “ It is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body.” Suarez adds that the “agility” of the bodies of the blessed will be of such a kind that they will be able to travel in an instant from one place to another, without passing through the inter- mediate space; because, they say, it is probable that this is how angels naturally move. But others, and with greater reason, deny both. At all events, the mind of man can hardly conceive how 392 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. any one can pass from one point to another and yet not cross the intervening space. S. Bonaventura (iv. dist 49, part ii. art 2, qu. 1) thinks that these four gifts are alluded to in Wisdom iii. 7, where it is said: “The righteous shall shine, and shall run about like sparks in a bed of reeds.” For he says: “ In the shining we have brightness ; in the righteousness impassibility , because righteousness is everlasting and deathless; in the spark , subiilty ; in the running about , agility . Moreover , ihe number of these four gifts can be arrived at in a twofold way— from the formal cause and the material but specially the material \ (1.) From the formal : there is in our body a double nature and form — the elementary , which now holds sway , and the heavenly , which is of the nature of light, and will be the form\ and complement of our glori- fied body , and will hold sway in the resurrection . As, then , light, as it exists in the ray, has these four qualities — the brightness by which it gives light ; impassibility , which no corruption can touch; agility, from the rapidity of its flight ; subtilty , which enables it to pass through transparent bodies without injuring them — so also the glorious body , in which the nature of light is predominant , has the same four gifts. (2.) The number of the gifts is also gathered from the material cause . Our body is composed of four elements . Since those elements are im- perfect, it has from them a fourfold defect. From water, an element that is humid and easily stirred, it has its passibility and corruption ; from earth it has its opaqueness ; from fire, its animal nature— for a fire is ever burning within, and hence it neats a constant supply of food ; from air it has its weakness, for air is changed most easily of all, and yields to any force, however slight. Since, therefore, these four defects ought to be removed by the four perfections opposed to them, so as to make the body perfect, therefore the gifts are four: impassibility against corruption , brightness against opaqueness, agility against animal nature , subtilty or power against weakness ; and this second mode is the more convenient, for it has the support of authority and reason. Of authority, for the Apostle says: * It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incor- ruption 1 — there you have impassibility ; ‘ It is sown in dishonour ; it is raised in glory 1 — there you have brightness ; ‘ It is sown in weakness ; THE FIRST AND SECOND ADAM 393 it is raised in power' — there you have subtilty ; 1 It is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body ' — there you have agility . The Apostle therefore compares these four gifts to the four defects which they make good. Similarly , S. Augustine (de Civ . Dei) says; ‘ Our bodies will know no deformity , no slowness , no infirmity , no corruption. All deformity will be swalloivcd up in brightness , all slowness in agility , all weakness in subtilty , all corruption in impassibility.' "

As it is written. 1. These words are, of course, to be referred to the first part only of the following verse, not to the latter : “ The last Adam was made a quickening spirit” This last is nowhere else found in Scripture. S. Paul is merely proving from Scripture that the body is here sown a natural body, from the fact that Adam, the father of all men, was made a living soul, and consequently was an animal, and had an animal body both in death and in life. Hence by an hyperbaton common in S. Paul, we may read the passage : “ The first man Adam was made, as it is written, a living soul ” (Gen. ii. 7). 2. The words, “as it is written,” may be referred, as Theophylact refers them, to the whole of the following verse, and may be the explanation and proof of what has just gone before, viz., that if there is a natural body there is a spiritual body also ; for it is implied that it is requisite to the perfection of everything that all kinds of things suppose the existence of their opposites. Where Scripture, therefore, expressly speaks of a first Adam being made a living soul, it implies that the second Adam will be a quickening spirit. The first man Adam was made a living soul. Adam was made a soul, an animal, living a vegetative and sensitive life, and therefore nourished by food and drink, and needing to be preserved in this his animal life. S. Paul uses a synecdoche. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. In order that after His resurrection He might have a glorious soul to give life to His body and to make it spiritual, i.e ., glorious like a spirit, independent of food, impassible, and deathless. His body here, indeed, is ours as well as His own. S. Paul here again uses a synecdoche, and his 394 first epistle to the cor'inthians, c. xv. meaning is that Christ received a spirit or soul, able to quicken Himself and His members. Theophylact, Chrysostom, and Theodoret remark that S. Paul does not say a “living spirit,” but a*- “life-giving spirit;” for the soul or spirit of Christ does not merely enjoy life itself, but also gives life to others, and the life which He gives glorifies both our souls and bodies.

The first man is of the earthy earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven . The Vulgate reading here is “ the second man is of heaven, heavenly.” This was corrupted into “the second man is the Lord from heaven ” by Marcion, as Tertullian proves {contra Marcionem i lib. L c. 5). The Latin rendering, therefore, is the more genuine. Valentinus and the Gnostics gathered from this passage that Christ had not a material and human body, but that He brought from heaven a heavenly one, and passed through the Blessed Virgin, not as her child, but as rain-water passes through a pipe. This is a heresy long ago condemned, as S. Augustine testifies {Hares, n), and Irenaeus {lib. i. c. 5), and Tertullian {de Came Christie c. viii.). 1. Bede rightly says : “ Christ is called heavenly , because He led a heavenly life and was always without sin ; Adam is called earthy because he was subject to sin.” Hence there follows : “ As is the earthy,” &c. 2. Christ is called heavenly because He was conceived and bom of the Virgin by the heavenly power of the Holy Spirit, above the ordinary course of nature. S. Ambrose, S. Hilary {de Trin . lib. i.), S. Augustine {Dial, ad Orosium , qu. 4). 3. Christ is called heavenly by reason of His Divine and heavenly substance. In the same way He is called the Son of man, i.e., the Man who came down from heaven (S. John iii. 13). See Gregory of Nazianzen {Oral. 51) and Augustine {Ep. 57 ad Dardanum). 4. The most natural sense in which Christ is called “ heavenly ” is that He is glorious and incorruptible, like the inhabitants of heaven. This celestial glory Christ had substantially in His soul from the moment of His conception. He had it, too, in His body, because THE HEAVENLY BODY 395 it was His due, and was natural to His body ; but its manifestation was suspended and postponed, on account of His Passion, in order that He might assume it in His resurrection. Yet even before His death, Christ now and then assumed this glory, or the four gifts of the glorified body, viz., brightness in His transfiguration, agility when He walked on the sea, subtilty when He penetrated the womb of His mother, impassibility in the Eucharist. On the other hand, Adam is called “ earthy ” because he was formed from the earth, and hence and from sin contracted mortality, and the other qualities of an earthly, animal, mortal, and corruptible body. So S. Chrysostom, Augustine {de Civ . Dei, lib. xiii. c. 23), Tertullian {de Resurr. c. 49) ; for the Apostle is speaking here of the resurrection, and the glory of the bodies of the blessed, the pattern of which is the glorified body of Christ, and hence he calls Christ heavenly, and His body heavenly also.

As is the earthy , such are they that are earthy . As Adam was formed from the earth, was earthy, and died, and returned to the earth, so also all the earthy born from him shall return to the earth. As is the heavenly , such are they also that are heavenly. As Christ by His resurrection obtained a body that was heavenly, i.e., immortal and glorious, so too do the saints who are bom again of Him become heavenly, i.e., immortal and glorious.

As we have borne the image of the earthy we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. The Latin reading is, “let us bear.” If we adopt the future, “ we shall bear,” the reference will be to the resurrection, when we shall be fashioned like to Christ in His glorious body, as in this world we were made like Adam in having a life that needed food, sleep, &c., and that was subject to death. The Latin reading, “let us bear,” is in consonance with the practice of the Apostle, who frequently passes on to enforce a precept in this way. The meaning then is : As we sometime lived in unbelief and in sin, as earthly men, intent on the earth and living an animal life, like the brutes that perish, even as Adam did, who was of the earth and sinful, so, now that we have been bom again into Christ, and called by Him to a fellowship of immortal life and glory, let us endeavour with ail 396 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, c. XV. our might to attain it, and consequently let us bear the image of the heavenly Christ, that we may enter on this heavenly life here, viz., (i.) let us be, as He, impassible, i.e., undisturbed by prosperity or adversity, so that we can say with Socrates, “ I have climbed up into heaven in mind : this lower sun and soil I now despise (2.) let us be bright like Christ, that our good works may shine before all men ; (3.) let us be agile like Christ, apt to works of charity, of obedience, and of other virtues ; (4.) let us be subtle, as was Christ, i.e., let us cleave the skies by prayer and meditation, that having ascended from the earth to heaven and to God in heart and mind, we may be joined to the saints and united to God. S. Cyril ( de Fide ad T/ieodos.) interprets it a little differently. He says : “As we bear the image of the earthy , let us also bear the image of the heavenly . The image of the earthy is our propensity to sin and the death which follows it The image of the heavenly , i.e., of Christ is His constancy in holiness , and a return and renovation from death and corruption to life and immortality” S. Bernard beautifully explains these words of the Apostle ( Serm . 30 inter Parvos). He says : “ There are two men , the old and the new. Adam is the old man , Christ is the new . The one is earthy , the other heavenly. The image of the one is our former state , of the other our newness of life . Each of these is threefold. Our former corruption was in heart , in mouthy and in body , in which we sinned in three ways , in thought , word and deed . In the heart there are earned and worldly desires , the love of the flesh and the love of the world ; in the mouth is a double evil, boasting and detraction ; in the body degrading vices and disgraceful crimes. All these are the image of the old man , and all these are to be renewed in us. . . . Dwelling in the heart is wisdom, in the mouth is truth, in the body righteousness.”

Now this I say, brethren , that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. (1.) Origen and Euthymius explain this as follows, that in heaven the blessed will not have a body of flesh but an etherial body. But thi^is a manifest error, and opposed to ver. 53, as we shall see. (2.) Theophylact and Ambrose say that the flesh, or the works of the THE GENERAL RESURRECTION 397 flesh, will not inherit the kingdom of God. But (i.) The natural meaning is that natural and corruptible flesh and blood, such as the earthly Adam had and such as we have in this life, will not inherit the kingdom of God. What the Apostle, in vers. 46, 47, called natural and earthly, he here calls flesh and blood. He merely wishes to point out that in heaven the body will not be as here, natural and earthly, but spiritual and heavenly, in the sense that I have explained (ver. 47). This is why he adds, “neither doth corruption,” *.*., corruptible flesh, “ inherit incorruption.” Cf. Theodoret, Theophy- lact, Ambrose. (2.) The Apostle leaves it to be collected from t{iese words that in heaven there will be no carnal and animal life, con- sisting in the use of food and generation of children, such as the Jews and Mahometans look for at the resurrection. (3.) He implies that those who are striving for the kingdom of God ought not to live after the flesh, but after the Spirit of Christ, that so they may bear the image, not of the earthly and carnal Adam, but of the heavenly and spiritual Christ ; then they will merit to reign with Christ, and to live a life of bliss in heaven. “ Flesh ”often stands for the corruption of the flesh. Cf. Augustine { Ep . 146 ad Consentium).

Behold 9 I show you a mystery . Theophylact says that by these words the Apostle wishes to arouse the attention of his readers, and to point to some great, dreadful, and hidden fact about the resurrection. We shall all indeed rise again , but we shall not all be changed. There are three variant readings here, the first that of the Greek Fathers and of Ephrem, “ We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” This is adopted by Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, Origen {contra Celsum } lib. ii.), Theodoras, Heracleotes, Apollin- arius (quoted by S. Jerome, Ep. ad Minerium et Alexandrum ), Tertullian {de Resurr. Camis 9 c. 41 and 62), Augustine (qu. 3, ad Dulcitium), who think that all will not die, i.e. y that some who are alive at the end of the world will be caught up with Christ the Lord, and so will be glorified. For this change, Theophylact says, follow- ing Chrysostom, will be to them death ; for corruption will die in theitr by being changed into incorruption, 398 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. The second reading is, “ We shall all sleep, but we shall not all be changed. This appears in S. Augustine (de Civ . Dei y lib. xx. c. 20), and is approved by S. Jerome in the passage above quoted. The third reading is that of the text. S. Augustine prefers this to the others given above, and it is undoubtedly plainer, truer, and more certain, and more consistent with the context and with the other passages of S. Paul’s, in which he lays down that it is appointed unto all men once to die. C£ also ver. 22 : “As in Adam all die.” Though the first rendering does not appear to be true, yet, because of the authorities in favour of it, it is not to be condemned as rash or certainly false. Hence Franciscus Suarez and others say that the opinion that all men, without a single exception, will die and rise again is only more probable than its opposite.

In a moment We shall rise in an instant, in a point of time, so short as to be indivisible, as S. Jerome says. In the twinkling of an eye. The word for “twinkling” is derived from the hurling of a thunderbolt or a javelin. Others, with S. Jerome ( Ep . ad Menerium) y read another word, which denotes the instant fall of the balance when a heavier weight is placed in one scale. Cf. Wisd. xi. 23. Theodoret, (Ecumenius, Anselm, Gregory of Nyssa ( Oral '. de Resurr .), S. Jerome (in the passage just quoted), Augustine (Ep. 49, c. 1) gather from this that the resurrection will take place, not in a very short space of time, but instantaneously. This may be true of the formation, organisation, and re-vivification of the body when it rises, and indeed the Apostle says as much when he writes “ in a moment,” but it is very doubtful whether it refers to local motion, as to the coming together of the different parts of the body from different places. S. Augustine maintains, and Suarez (part iii. qu. 53, disp. 44, sect. 4) shows that it is possible that by the power of God these different parts of the body can pass from point to point without travelling over the intermediate space, and that so all can at once come to the same place, in a moment of time. But, as was pointed out at ver. 44, the nature of space and of motion does not seem to allow of that, but rather to force us to admit that nothing THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY 399 can pass from one place to another without crossing over the space between. Hence it seems to others more likely that by the power of God motion may take place in an instant from one point to another by a passage over the intervening space, as the sun uniformly pours his light in every direction over half the world in a single instant Why should it not be said that the body can in the same way, by the power of God, dart itself from one place to another? If one is instantaneous, why may not the other be ? But it may plausibly be answered that there is a great difference be- tween the nature of light and of material bodies ; for though the mode of travelling of both may seem the same, yet in the case of light it is not the same point of light that is carried continuously onward, but point succeeding point ; but in the case of a body it is the same identical body that in one instant has to leave one Space and pass through the next, and in the self-same instant leave that and pass through a third, and a fourth, fifth, and sixth, and so on, through all the intermediate spaces to the end. But this seems impossible; for if so, in the same instant the same body would be crossing through and leaving the same space, would be in this space and not be in it, nay, would be in all the intervening spaces and would not be in them. Hence S. Thomas and others are better advised in denying that this transference of the parts of the body to the same place will take place instantaneously, especially since it will be brought about by the ministry of angels, who move bodies, not instantaneously, but in a very brief space of time. The Apostle then is speaking here of the resurrection alone, not of the transference of the risen bodies, when he says that it will take place in the twinkling of an eye, even in a moment. At the last trump . From Rev. viii. and ix. it appears that, at the end of the world, the seven angels to whom the care of man has been wholly given will sound with seven trumpets, to announce the last calamities and punishments which are coming on the world, and as it were to call them forth and to bring them to pass. After them there will follow this last trumpet, calling 4C0 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, C. XV. out, “Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment” See notes to i Thess. iv. 1 6.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption. The word “this” declares, in opposition to Origen, that the resurrection body will be numerically the same as now. Cf. S. Jerome ( Ep . ad Pammachium).

Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written , Death is swallowed up in victory . This is either from Isa. xxv. 8, where S. Paul follows the Hebrew text rather than the Septuagint, or the sense and not the words of Hosca xiii. 14 is given. This seems preferable, as ver. 55 seems to be taken from the same place.

O death , where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory ? This question received its first answer when Christ rose and brought back from their limbus the souls of the saints, and so rescued this part of His spoil from Hades. Cf. Anselm and Origen (, Horn . xxii. in Evangl), and Augustine ( Sernu 137 de Tempore ). The final answer will be given at the resurrection of all, as the Apostle says here. S. Jerome, writing to Heliodorus about Nepotianus, lately dead, beautifully addresses Death, and exults over it with S. Paul. He says : “ By Hosea He formerly sternly threatened thee : 1 0 death , I will be thy plagues ; O grave , I will be thy destruction.' By His death thou now art dead; by His death we live . Thou hast devoured and been swallowed up, and when thou wast tempted with the bait of the body assumed by Christ, and thoughtest it a prey meet for thy greedy jaws, thou wast straightway pierced within by the barbed hook. We, Thy creation , give thanks to Thee, Christ our Saviour, that when Thou wast slain Thou didst slay this our powerful foe." Similarly, S. Francis, when suffering from the most grievous bodily pains, found no relief but in singing the praises of God and in hear- ing others singing them ; and, when he was reproved by Elias for devoting his last moments to joy instead of to repentance, he replied that it was not right for him to do otherwise when he knew that in a short time he should be with God. S. Reginald, one of the first companions of S. Dominic, when bidden prepare himself, according to custom, by extreme unction, for his contest with the devil, said : VICTORY OVER DEATH 401 "7 have little fear of that contest ; nay, rather, I joyfully look forward to it; for long ago was I anointed by the mother of mercy : in her I put my utmost confidence, and set out to her with eagerness 7 S. Bernard ( Serm. 26 in Cantica ), speaking of the death of his brother Gerard, who in his last moments had broken out in the words of the Psalmist, “ Praise the Lord of heaven ; praise Him in the height,” wrote as follows : " On thee, my brother, though it was still midnight, day was dawning; the night was as bright as the day . I was sum- moned to behold that marvel , to see a man rejoicing in death , taunting death: 1 0 death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory V There is no longer a sting, but a shout of victory. Man now dies sing- ing, and in singing dies”

The sting of death is sin. Theophylact says that the sting by which death chiefly hurts and pierces us is like the sting of the scorpion, which, though a tiny animal, slays by its sting. So death slays all by sin, and would be powerless without sin. Moreover, death stings and pierces us by sin and by knowledge of sin as his sting, saying to the soul, as it were : “ You die; you suffer deservedly, because you have sinned.” The strength of sin is the law. Sin gains its strength chiefly through the law. The prohibitions of the law are the occasions of sin, for we always strive after what is forbidden and long for what is denied us Cf. notes to Rom. viii. 8 and 13. Cf. also Theodoret, Theophylact, Ambrose, Anselm.

Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory. I.e., over death and sin.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable. Viz., in the belief of the resurrection, that ye may abound in good works well pleasing to God, stirring up yourselves to them by the hope of the resurrection and of the eternal reward, knowing that your labour will not be in vain, or without its reward with the Lord. This is the force of the phrase, “ in the Lord.” vol. 1 . 2 c