The Great Commentary (Mossman/Cobb English)

Have we not power to eat and to drink ? Viz., at your expense. This is the glory and defence of me and my apostleship, that it is gratuitous, unlike that of the false apostles. Notwithstanding I have the same right, the same power to look for means from you for my eating and drinking

Have we not power to lead about a sister , a wife , as well as other apostles ? The Greek is aScXfjnjv ywaiica, which the Latin version turns mulierem sororem ; and Beza, Peter Martyr, Vatablus, and Valla render sororem uxorem . They argue from this that Paul was married, urging that, though the Greek word stands both for woman and wife, yet here its meaning is fixed to the latter by the term “lead about.” Men do not, they say, lead about sisters but wives. They mistake: 1. Christ led about women, not as a husband might a wife, but as a teacher is accompanied by disciples and handmaidens, who see to his necessities. Cf. Luke viii. 3. 2. It would be absurd to call a sister a wife, and the term sister would be superfluous. 3. The definite article is wanting in the Greek, which would be required if a certain woman, as, e.g y a wife, were designated. 4. It is evident from 1 Cor. vii. 8 that Paul was unmarried. This passage is explained at length in the sense I have given by Augustine (de Opere Monach . c. iv.), Jerome {contra Jovin . lib. i.), Chrysostom, Ambrose, Theodoret, Theophylact in their comments on the verse, and by other Fathers generally, except by Clement of Alexandria {Strom, lib. iii.). S. Jerome indeed says that, among the Apostles, Peter was the only one that had a wife, and that only before his conversion. Tertullian's words {de Monogamies) are : “ I find that Peter alone was a husband.” I say, then, that the phrase here is literally H sister woman,” and denotes a Christian matron who ministered to Paul's necessities from her means. We have a similar phrase in Acts xiii. 26, “men brethren,” i.e y Christian men. S. Paul says then that he might, Digitized by v^,ooQle S. PAUL AS A CELIBATE 201 if he so saw fit, lead about a matron to support him, as much as Peter; but he does not do so, because it might be a cause of offence to the Gentiles, whose Apostle he was, and might only cause evil surmisings. So Ambrose, Chrysostom, Theodoret, CEcumenius, Anselm. It may be said that Ignatius, in his letter to the Philadelphians, classes Paul among the married. Baronius (a.d. 57, p. 518) and others well reply that Paurs name was inserted there by later Greek copyists, to serve as an excuse for themselves being married. The oldest and best copies of the Epistles of S. Ignatius, including that of the Vatican and of Sfort, have not S. Paul's name. It may be said again that Clement of Alexandria (Strom, lib. iiL) understands this passage of a wife of Paul. I reply, firstly, that that is true, but that he goes on to say that after he became an Apostle she was to him as a sister, not as a wife, which is against the heretics, and in the second place that all the Fathers are against Clement. And the brethren of the Lord. Brethren is a common Hebraism for kinsmen. James, John, and Judas are here meant. So Anselm. And Cephas. Nay, as well as Peter, the prince of the Apostles and of the Church

Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges ? Just as it is right for soldiers to be paid and to live on their pay; just as it is right for a vine-grower to eat of the fruit of his vine, for a shepherd of the milk of the flock that he feeds, so is it right for the preachers of the Gospel to live of the Gospel, of their vineyard the Church, and of their flock, the members of Christ. The Apostle is beginning here to prove in various ways his right to receive payment for his preaching, that all after him might know that this is owing to preachers of the Word of God, and that he may show how undeniable and how clear is the right that he has freely given up by refusing to receive payment out of regard to the Corinthians. He so acted in order that by this generosity of his he might draw them to Christ and help forward their salvation. I will summarise his reasons at ver. 12. Digitized by v^,ooQle 202 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE

Say I these things as a man t Do I prove or strengthen my arguments by human reasons merely, and by similitudes drawn from the life of the soldier, the vine-grower, the shepherd? By no means. Nay, rather I establish and fortify them from the law of God

If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather t The Apostle proves by six arguments that he and other ministers of the Word of God and the Church may receive their expenses from their flocks: (a) By the examples of the other Apostles (ver. 5); (b) by comparisons drawn from the practice of soldiers, shepherds, and agriculturists (ver. 7) ; (c) from the law of Moses (ver. 9); (d) from the example of the priests and Levites of the Old Testament, who lived on the sacrifices offered on the altar that they served (ver. 13); (e) from the ordinance of God and of Christ (ver. 14); (/) from the very nature of the case, from the positive command of God, as well as from the law of nature, which declares that, as payment is due to a workman, so is support to a minister of the Word, not as the price of sacred things, which would be dishonouring to them and simoniacal, but as what is necessary for them to fitly discharge their sacred functions for the people’s sake. Hence this support is owing to them as a matter of justice. So Chrysostom. Nevertheless we have not used this power t but suffer all things. We have not claimed our right to maintenance, but endure the utmost poverty, and undertake every kind of evil to relieve that poverty by working with our hands. Lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. He would not receive money for his support, lest he should give occasion to covetous or injudicious men to hinder the Gospel and bring obloquy upon it. That there was no cause of offence given here by the Apostle, but that it was received from others, and that it was in him a work of supererogation to refuse to receive payment, appears from what has gone before, and from ver. 15, where he says, “It were better for me to die than that any man should make my glorying void.”

Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple t The priests and Levites partake of the victims offered, and the tithes and firstfruits. The Greek for “minister” is “labour.” The office of the priests was to Digitized by v^,ooQle SUPPORT OF THE CLERGY 205 labour at killing, cutting up, skinning, boiling, and burning the victims, all of which are laborious, and under other circumstances would be the work of butchers. And they which wait at the altar. He does not say, says S. Chrysostom, the priests, but they which wait at the altar, that we may see that constant attendance on sacred things is required from the ministers of the temple of Christ, who partake of the good things of the Temple. On the other hand, now-a-days, none are less often at the altar than some who derive the greatest profit from the altar and from tithes. These are condemned by the Council of Trent

For it were better for me to die than that any man should make my glorying void. His glorying has for its subject the preaching of the Gospel without charge, or his work of liberality, free grace, and supererogation, as is evident from ver. 18. It appears from this that it is an Evangelical counsel to preach the Gospel without charge, as is now done by some apostolic and religious men. So Theophylact, Theodoret, and Anselm. Cf. also Chrysostom and Anselm. Observe that S. Paul does not speak of his glory but his glorying ; viz., that that he could make before God and before men, especially before the false apostles, who were held of great account and sumptuously maintained by the Corinthians. Cf 2 Cor. xi. 7, for similar “glorying.”

For if 1 do this thing willingly I have a reward. That is, as Chrysostom, Theophylact, CEcumenius, and Anselm say, if I Digitized by v^,ooQle 2C6 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE freely preach without charge, I have not merely the reward given to a work that has been enjoined on me, as other Apostles have, but the exceeding reward of abounding glory given to a work not enjoined, but heroically undertaken by a soul that is of its own accord generous towards God. But if against my will Compelled by a command of God, or under fear of punishment. Willingly here denotes the doing a thing of one’s own motion, one’s own accord, and free will; unwillingly , the doing it under order, being moved and forced by the will of another. A dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me . I shall not have that supreme glory I spoke of, but neither shall I sin, because I fulfil my duty, and do what I am ordered. For this commission of preaching the Gospel was intrusted to me. But though I do not sin, yet I act as a slave, or as a steward in matters intrusted to his care, not of his own accord, but merely doing what he ought to do, because compelled to it by his Lord’s command. Cf. S. Luke xvii. 8. So the Fathers cited understand this passage, and that this is the meaning appears also from the context. Some explain it differently in this way : If I preach the Gospel willingly I have merit and reward, because of my own free will I fulfil the command of Christ ; but if I do it unwillingly, I fail to attain merit and reward, because I act under compulsion. A dispensation of the Gospel is committed unto me, and so by me, though unwilling, Christ’s Gospel is propagated, and others profit, though I do not. This seems to be the simple meaning of the words by themselves. This explanation is favoured by S. Thomas, Lyranus, and the Ambrosian commentary ; but the context requires the former sense

What is my reward thent That glorious and supreme reward spoken of. Observe that reward is put by metonymy for merit, or for a heroic and meritorious work, that calls for a great reward. This work, he goes on to say, is to preach the Gospel without charge. From these words it is evident that not all good works are matters Digitized by v^,ooQle GRATUITOUS PREACHING 207 of precept, but that some are works of counsel and supererogation, and that such merit with God an illustrious crown of glory. So* S. Chrysostom, Ambrose, S. Augustine {de Opere Monach, . c. 5), and Bellarmine {de MonacJu lib. ii. c. 9). The other Apostles, being full of zeal for God, would as well as Paul have preached the Gospel freely, if they might thence have hoped for a greater harvest of souls, and greater glory before God. But this they might not hope for, for the faithful were generous to them, and the Jews devoted to them, and of their own accord they supplied their needs. Cf. Acts iv. 34. But Paul, as one outside the order and number of the twelve Apostles, called to the apostolate after the death of Christ, had to gain a recognition of his authority, and he judged it useful to that end that he should preach the Gospel without charge. Moreover, the Corinthians, though rich, were covetous; and, therefore, Paul preached freely to prevent them from supposing that he sought their goods instead of themselves ; but from the more generous Thessalonians and Philippians he accepted support. In short, Paul wished by this course of action to shut the mouth of the Jews, who hated him, and of the false Apostles. He says this indeed in 2 Cor. xi. 1 2. That I abuse not my power in the Gospel That I may not use my undoubted right and liberty to the detriment of the Gospel. Not that it really is an abuse to receive money for preaching the Gospel, but that it is the employment of a lesser good. Abuse is used here for use to the full as it is in chap. vii. 31. Cf a similar use of the word in S. Paulinus {Ep. ii.) It may be said that Ambrose here understands the word to mean literal abuse, which is sin, when he says : “They who use their right, when it is inexpedient to do so, or when another suffers loss, are guilty, and therefore sin." I reply that this is true when they can easily give up their right, and when others suffer great loss by their not yielding ; for charity then bids us give way. These conditions, the Ambrosian commentary seems to think, existed with Paul and the Corinthians. But the opposite is far more true. It was a very difficult matter Digitized by v^,ooQle 208 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE for the Apostle to yield his right of maintenance at the hands of the Corinthians, because by so yielding he had to spend nights without sleep, while he laboured with his hands to procure food for himself and his companions; while the Corinthians, who were numerous and rich, might easily have maintained him. Nor ought they to have taken offence at this, for the other Apostles were maintained by their flocks, and all law and reason say that he who labours for another should be maintained by him. The Apostle, therefore, wished to set a noble example of poverty, sincerity, and zeal, for the greater commendation and spread of the faith among those who were young in it, and the avaricious rich. But such a heroic work as this is not a precept, but a counsel of charity. Therefore, in the next verse, he says that in such matters he is free

For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all I humbled myself to all things, even to want and hunger ; I accommodated myself to the weaknesses of all, insomuch that, when I saw the Corinthians slow and niggardly in their support of the Apostles, I refused to accept any payment from them, that I might gain all by condescending to their infirmity

But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection. I keep under means, says S. Ambrose, “ I repress it by fastings ; ” “I wound it with stripes,” says S. Basil (de Virginitate) ; “ I starve it,” says Origen. S. Augustine (de Utilit. Jejun.) says 2 “ The devil often takes it upon him to protect the flesh against the soul, and to say, * Why do you thus fasti— you are laying up punishment in store for yourself, you are your own torturer and murderer? Answer him, ' I keep it under, lest this beast of burden throw me headlong? ” For our flesh is the devil’s instrument it is, says S. Bernard, “ the snare of the devil ” ( Serm . 8 in Ps. xci.). Erasmus, following Theophylact and Paulinus (Ep. 58 ad. Aug.), renders the Greek verb, “ I make it black and blue,” or “ I make the eyes of a black and bloody colour.” This last is, as Hesychius and Suidas say, the literal rendering of the word. But all others in general take the word to mean subdue, coerce, bruise. Castigate in the Latin, or “keep under,” as the text, suits Digitized by v^,ooQle 216 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE both renderings, but the second is better, as being at once plainer and more near to the Greek — taking to be synonymous with v7ro7rwfft). This keeping under or castigation of the body is effected by fastings, hair-shirts, humiliations, scourgings, and other mortifications of the flesh. Hence some think that Paul was in the habit of scourging his body. This is certainly the literal meaning of the Greek, which is rendered by Beza, Melancthon, Castalion, and Henry Stephen " bruise.” But a bruise is not caused except by a blow, whether from a stick, or a scourge, or some other instrument Moreover, fasting (which some, as, e.g. f Ambrose, Gregory, and Chrysostom, think was Paul’s discipline) is not so much a strife and contest as a preparation for them ; for of it he has already said, “ Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things .” Cf. also Jacob Gretser (de Discipl lib. i. c. 4). Moreover, as Anselm remarks, as well as Gregory, in a passage to be quoted directly, the Apostle, while he keeps under and scourges his body, at the same time scourges and wounds the devil, his antagonist, who is in alliance with our carnal concupiscence, and lies in hiding within the foul jungle of the flesh, and through it tempts and attacks us. Lest I myself should be a castaway . Lest I be a reprobate from God and excluded from heaven. Maldonatus (Note Alanusc.) learnedly says that, as the comparison is still with the arena, a castaway here is one who is conquered in the fight; and that S. Paul’s meaning is, “ Lest while I teach others to conquer I myself be conquered.” The Apostle is speaking not of eternal reprobation, which is in the mind of God, but of that temporal reprobation which is the execution of the eternal. He is referring to Jer. vi. 30 : “ Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.” 1. Hence it is clear that the Apostle is not speaking (as in 2 Cor. xiii. 7), as some think, of the reprobation of men, as if his meaning were, “ What I preach that I practise : I do not fare sumptuously, but I keep under my body, lest I be a castaway and reprobate Digitized by v^,ooQle SUBJECTION OF THE BODY 217 of men, and regarded as one not doing what he teaches.” For Jeremiah clearly speaks of God’s rejection, not men’s; and reprobation and reprobate always refer to this when they are spoken of absolutely, and not restricted* to men, as they are restricted in 2 Cor. xiii. 7. Hence appears the uncertainty to us of grace and predestination. Paul feared being condemned, and will you believe that your faith cannot but save you ? 2. It also follows that Paul had no revelation of his salvation. Cf. S. Gregory (lib. vi. Ep. 22, ad Gregoriam). 3. And that he was not so strong in grace but that he might fall from it. From this passage, it is evident that the Christian’s fight consists especially in bringing the body into subjection. For this foe is an inward foe, and one most hard to withstand, and therefore the snares of the flesh are to be dreaded more than all others. We ought also to get ourselves ready for this fight by the athlete’s training, that is, by temperance, and in this temperance we should begin the fight, and in it daily increase, grow strong, and come to perfection. The Christian, therefore, must begin with conquering gluttony. When that is done, it will be easier for him to conquer other vices, as Cassianus and others say. Hence it appears that the Christian fighter must keep under his body, lest its lusts make him a castaway ; and that, therefore, bodily mortification, by watchings, fastings, and other afflictions, is the right way to salvation, and is the most suitable instrument for perfecting virtue, and for the complete subdual of vices, if it be done with discretion, and in proportion to one’s strength and health. Cf. S. Thomas (ii. ii. qu. 188, art 7). But let us hear what the ancient doctors of the Church have to say on this head. Ambrose (Ep. ad Eccl Vercell.) says : “ I hear that there are men who say that there is no merit in fasting , ; and who scoff at those who mortify their fleshy that they may subdue it to the mind. This S. Paul would never have done or said if he had thought it folly ” (let our Protestant friends observe this); “ for he says, as though boasting, s I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest Digitized by v^,ooQle 218 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE that by any means , when I have preached to others , I myself shouLl be a castaway Therefore , who do not mortify their body , Z0&? to preach to others , themselves regarded as reprobates . school has sent forth these Epicureans to preach pleasure and advise luxury ? The Lord Jesus , wishing to strengthen us against the temptations of the devil fasted before He strove with him , that we might know that we cannot in any other way overcome the blandishments of the evil one . Let these men say why Christ fasted if it were not to give us an example to do likewise S. Gregory ( Morals , lib. xxx. c 26) says : “ JVebuzaradan, the chief of the cooks, destroyed the walls of Jerusalem as he destroys the virtues of the soul when the belly is not kept in check. Hence it is that Paul took away his power from the chief of the cooks , /. and ye be disposed to go ; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. 28 But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake : for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof : 29 Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other : for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience ? 30 For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks ? 31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God : 33 Even as I please all men in all things , not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER From speaking of the contest, in which those who deny themselves and strive lawfully are rewarded, and in which the slothful and self-indulgent are condemned and put to confusion, of which the Apostle treated at the end of the preceding chapter, he goes on to the manners of the Hebrews of old, their lusts and vices, especially idolatry, its punishment and condemnation, that by such examples he may teach the Corinthians how vices and temptations, and especially idolatry, are to be guarded against. Consequently, in ver. 18 he descends and returns to things offered to idols, and answers a question concerning them which had been broached in chapter viii. And — i. He lays down that it is not lawful for them to eat of things in so far as they are offered to idols ; for this would be to give consent to the sacrifice, and to profess idol worship. ii. In ver. 22 he points out that it is not lawful to eat of them when the weaker brethren are offended at it Hence in ver. 31 he recommends to the Corinthians edifying above everything, and bids them do everything to the glory of God and the salvation of their neighbours. Digitized by t^ooQle 224 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE Ver. i. — Moreover , brethren , I would not that ye should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud The particle for gives the cause of what was said at the end of the preceding chapter. He means, I have said that Christians must strive after baptism in their contest, lest they become reprobates and lose the prize, as the Hebrews, after their typical baptism and heavenly food, lost slothfully through their sins the land of promise, their prize, so that out of 600,000, Joshua and Caleb alone entered the Promised Land. So do you, O Corinthians, take care, lest, through your sloth, and a life out of harmony with your faith and baptism, you be excluded from heaven. So Chysostom and Anselm. The argument is from the type or figure to the thing prefigured. Our fathers , i.e. 9 the fathers of the Jews, of whom I am one, as many of you are, O Corinthians. Under the cloud. This cloud was the pillar which overshadowed the Hebrews in the daytime as a cloud, and shone at night as a fire, which led them for forty years through the wilderness, which settled over the ark and went before their camp, and protected them from the heat by spreading itself over the camp. Its mover and charioteer, so to speak, was an angel. See Exod. xiii. And all passed through the sea. The Red Sea, and dry shod, because Moses smote the waters with his rod, and divided them