_Be ye followers of me, even as also I am of Christ._ This is a continuation of the preceding chapter. Imitate me, 0 Corinthians, in that, as I said, I do not seek my own advantage but that of many, that they may be saved; and in this I imitate the zeal of Christ, who sought not His own good but our... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 11 SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER The Apostle proceeds to deal with the third point put before him, that of the veiling of women; for the Corinthians had asked of S. Paul whether or no women ought to be veiled. He replies that they ought, and especially at the time of public prayer, and he suppor... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things._ He here passes on and paves the way for a fresh question. In the following verses he proceeds to censure the abuses of the Corinthians in suffering their women to go unveiled, and in approaching the Eucharist when full of wine and mutu... [ Continue Reading ]
_For a man indeed ought two to cover his head, inasmuch as he is the image and glory of God._ This is a hendiadys, for man is the image of the glory of God, or the glorious image of God, in whom the majesty and power of God shine forth most clearly. He is placed on the topmost step in nature, and is... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord._ This is to be referred to ver. 9, not to the words immediately preceding, which by some Bibles are rightly put in a parenthesis. Having said, in ver. 9, that the woman was created for the man, the Ap... [ Continue Reading ]
_As the woman is of the man_, &c. The first woman, Eve, was formed from, man; man is conceived, formed, born, propagated through woman: all is done, ordered, and disposed by God.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Doth not even nature itself teach you_? The Latin Version reads, "Neither doth nature itself teach you," _i.e._, Nature doth not teach that women should be veiled, but it does teach that if a man grow long hair, it is a disgrace to him; if a woman, it is her glory.... [ Continue Reading ]
_But if a woman have long hair it is a glory to her_. To let the hair grow long is contrary to what becomes man, is the mark of a weak and effeminate mind, unless it is done because of ill-health or intense cold. Hence S. Augustine reproves some monks who wore their hair down to their shoulders, to... [ Continue Reading ]
_But if any man seem to be contentious._ To be contentious is to contend for renown and victory, not for truth; and here it is to contend that Christian women should not be veiled when they pray in Church, but should be bareheaded, according to the ancient custom of the heathen.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now in this that I declare unto you, I praise you not_, &c. This is the fourth reason why women should be veiled, drawn from nature itself, which has given woman hair for a covering, to teach her that she ought to cover herself. The Apostle says, "In giving you this precept about the veiling of wom... [ Continue Reading ]
_For first of all._.. _I hear that there be divisions among you._ Observe the word "Church," which shows that, in the time of S. Paul, there were places set apart for worship. For the early form of churches, their paintings, use of the Cross, the separation of the sexes, &c., see Baronius in his com... [ Continue Reading ]
_When ye come together, therefore, into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper._ When you come together in this way to the Eucharist and the supper of the Lord, your supper is no longer that of the Lord, as it once was; and your eating is no longer an eating of the Lord's Supper. You do not... [ Continue Reading ]
_For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper_. (1.) S. Augustine (_Ep._ 118) understands this to mean that they took their supper before they came to the Eucharist, and that ver. 33 orders them to wait for one another at the supper before the Eucharist; because at the Eucharist itself... [ Continue Reading ]
_That which also I delivered unto you._ Not by writing, as I said before, but by word of mouth. This is one authority for the traditions which, orthodox divines teach, should be added to the written word of God. VERS. 23, 24. _That the Lord Jesus the same night_, &c. Five actions of Christ are here... [ Continue Reading ]