DIVISION IV. DISORDERS IN WORSHIP AND CHURCH LIFE, 11 14. The Ap.
returns to the internal affairs of the Church, which occupied him in
Div. I., dealing however not as at the outset with the relations of
the Cor [2013] Church to its ministry, but with the mutual relations
and behaviour of its members... [ Continue Reading ]
For the heading of the new topic, which runs on to the end of ch. 14.,
see note on 1 Corinthians 7:1. τῶν πνευματικῶν is
_neut_. “concerning spiritual things (gifts, powers),” as in 1
Corinthians 14:1 (_cf._ πνευμάτων, 1 Corinthians 12:12) and 1
Corinthians 8:1; not “spiritual persons” (1 Corinthian... [ Continue Reading ]
§ 39. THE VARIOUS CHARISMS OF THE ONE SPIRIT. In treating of the
questions of Church order discussed in this Div. of the Ep., the Ap.
penetrates from the outward and visible to that which is innermost and
divinest in the Christian Society: (1) the question of _the woman's
veil_, a matter of social d... [ Continue Reading ]
On the critical reading, οἴδατε ὅτι ὅτε ἔθνη
ἦτε … ὡς ἂν ἤγεσθε ἀπαγόμενοι, there are
two plausible constructions: (_a_) that of Bg [1815], Bm [1816] (pp.
383 f.), Ed [1817], who regard ὡς as a resumption of the ὅτι,
after the parenthetical ὅτε clause, and thus translate: “You
know that, when you we... [ Continue Reading ]
Their old experience of the spells of heathenism had not prepared the
Cor [1834] to understand the workings of God's Spirit and the notes of
His presence. On this subject they had asked (1), and P. now gives
instruction: “Wherefore I inform you”. They knew how men could be
“carried away” by supernat... [ Continue Reading ]
“But,” while the Spirit prompts in all Christians the simultaneous
confession _Jesus is Lord_, this unity of faith bears multiform fruit
in “distributions of grace-gifts, services, workings”. These are
not separate classes of πνευματικά, but varied designations
of the πνευματικὰ collectively a _trin... [ Continue Reading ]
ἑκάστῳ δὲ κ. τ. λ. distributive in contrast with the
collective τ. πᾶσιν of 1 Corinthians 12:6; _cf._ Ephesians 4:6
f., and the emphatic ἕκαστος of 1 Corinthians 3:5-13 : “But
to _each_ there is being given the manifestation of the Spirit with a
view to profiting”; _cf._ Ephesians 4:7-16, where the... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 12:8-10 exhibit by way of example (γάρ) _nine_ chief
manifestations in which the Holy Spirit was displayed: _word of
wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healings, powers, prophecy,
discernings of spirits, kinds of tongues, interpreting of tongues_.
The _fourth_ and _fifth_ are specially... [ Continue Reading ]
sums up the last par. (1 Corinthians 12:4-10), impressing on the Cor
[1869] with redoubled emphasis the _variety in unity_ of the
“gifts,” and vindicating the sanctity of each: “But all these
things worketh the one and the same Spirit” (_cf._ 1 Corinthians
12:9). In the qualifying clause, “dividing... [ Continue Reading ]
“The one Spirit,” the leading thought of § 39, suggests the
similitude of “the body” for the Church (called in ch. 3 the
_tillage, building, temple_ of God), since this is the seat of His
multifarious energies. In the Eph. and Col. Epp. τὸ σῶμα
becomes a fixed title for the Christian community, sett... [ Continue Reading ]
§ 40. THE ONE BODY, OF MANY MEMBERS. The manifold graces, ministries,
workings (1 Corinthians 12:4 ff.), that proceed from the action of the
Holy Spirit in the Christian community, stand not only in common
dependence upon Him (§ 39), but are mutually bound to each other. The
Church of Christ is “the... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ γὰρ ἐν ἑβὶ Πνεύματι κ. τ. λ.: “For
indeed in _one_ Spirit we _all_ into _one_ body were baptized whether
Jews or Greeks, whether bondmen or freemen and we _all_ of _one_
Spirit were made to drink,” _were drenched_ (Ev [1875]). An appeal
to experience (_cf._ Galatians 3:2 ff; Galatians 4:6; also... [ Continue Reading ]
recalls, under the analogy of the σῶμα, the reason given in 1
Corinthians 12:12 for the diversity of spiritual powers displayed in
the Church: it is not “one member,” but “many” that constitute
the “body”. This thesis the rest of the § illustrates.... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 12:15-16 represent with lively fancy the _foot_ and
_ear_ in turn organs of activity and intelligence as disclaiming their
part in the body, because they have not the powers of the _hand_ and
_eye_ : an image of jealous or discouraged Cor [1884] Christians,
emulous of the shining gifts... [ Continue Reading ]
expostulates in the vein of 1 Corinthians 12:15 f. with those who
exalt one order of gifts (either as possessing it themselves or
envying it in their neighbours) to the contempt of others; the
despised function is as needful as the admired to make up the body:
“If all the body (were) eye, where the... [ Continue Reading ]
“But now (argumentative νῦν, ‘as things are': see 1
Corinthians 5:11) God has appointed the members, each single one of
them, in the body as He willed.” It is _God's will_ that has ranged
the physical organs and by analogy the members of the Church in their
several places and offices (_cf._ 1 Corint... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 12:19-20 rehearse the doctrine of 1 Corinthians
12:12-14, now vividly illustrated by 1 Corinthians 12:15 ff., _viz_.,
that a _manifold variety of organs_ is indispensable for the existence
of the Church. First the principle is _suggested_ by a rhetorical
question, in the strain of 1 Co... [ Continue Reading ]
personifies again the physical members, in the fashion of 1
Corinthians 12:15 f.: there the inferior disparaged itself as though
it were no part of the body at all; here the superior disparages its
fellow, affecting independence. “The eye (might wish to say but)
cannot say to the hand, I have no nee... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 12:21-31 _a_. § 41. THE MUTUAL DEPENDENCE OF THE BODY'S
MEMBERS. Multiformity, it has been shown, is of the essence of organic
life. But the variously endowed members, being needful to the body,
are consequently _necessary to each other_ those that seem
“weaker” sometimes the more so ... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 12:22-24 _a_. “On the contrary” (ἀλλά), instead
of the more powerful and dignified (1 Corinthians 12:23) bodily parts
dispensing with the humbler (1 Corinthians 12:21), it is “much
more” the case that these latter “the weaker” or “less
honourable as they may seem to be” (τὰ δοκοῦντα …... [ Continue Reading ]
illustrates the unselfish solicitude of the bodily organs; the nervous
connexion makes it a veritable συμπάθεια
(συμπάσχει). Plato applies the same analogy to the State in a
striking passage in his _Politicus_, 462C;.see also Cm [1929], _ad
loc_ [1930] δοξάζεται (_glorificatur_, Cv [1931]; not
_glor... [ Continue Reading ]
The figure of _the body_, developed from 1 Corinthians 12:14-26 with
deliberation and completeness, is now applied in detail to the Church,
where the same solidarity of manifold parts and powers obtains (1
Corinthians 12:4 ff.): “Now you are (ὑμεῖς δέ ἐστε) a
_body_ of (in relation to) Christ, and m... [ Continue Reading ]
expounds the μέλη ἐκ μέρους. οὓς μὲν (_cf._ 8
ff.) should be followed by οὒς δέ; but πρῶτον intervening
suggests δεύτερον, τρίτον in the sequel “instead of a
mere enumeration P. prefers an arrangement in order of rank” (Wr
[1939], pp. 710 f.); and this mode of distinction in turn gives place
to ἔπει... [ Continue Reading ]
In this string of rhetorical questions P. recapitulates once more the
charisms, in the terms of 1 Corinthians 12:28. He adds now to the
γλώσσαις λαλεῖν its complementary
διερμηνεύειν (see 10, and 1 Corinthians 14:13, etc.:
διὰ in this vb [1942] imports _translation_); and omits
ἀντιλήμψεις and κυβερ... [ Continue Reading ]
_a_ corrects the inference which an indolent nature or weak judgment
might draw from 1 Corinthians 12:29 f., supposing that God's sovereign
ordination supersedes man's effort. Our striving has a part to play,
along with God's bestowment, in spiritual acquisitions; hence the
contrastive δέ. “But (for... [ Continue Reading ]