of those who are engaged, and distort the whole aspect of Christianity. Unity is the strength of the church. It is to be observed, however, that the Apostle speaks of groundless separations. To withdraw from unscriptural communions, where the laws of Christ are not observed, is not to be stigmatized with the name of schism, but is enjoined as a duty on the disciples of Christ, 2 Epistle vi. 17. 2 Thess. iii. 6.

2. It is to be regretted that so many party names prevail in the Christian world; may it not be said with greater reason now, "each of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos?" It is said of Luther, that he was much grieved that those who embraced his doctrine should call themselves by his name. This often occasions a blind deference for the authority of men.

3. The positive institutions of Christ should always be viewed as subservient to the great end of preaching the Gospel.

SECTION THIRD.-VERSES 17-25.

THE RECEPTION GIVEN TO THE GOSPEL BY DIFFERENT CLASSES.

THE Apostle had stated his reason for having baptized so few of the Corinthian converts, namely, lest any should say he baptized in his own name. He now adds another reason. He had been commissioned by Christ to preach the glad tidings of salvation, which to him was an object of far greater interest, than the administration of any external ceremony. 17. "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel." In executing this commission, he aimed at great simplicity of language, which some were ready to adduce as an argument against his apostolic authority. He had, however, a particular reason for this also, for he knew that the most simple and unadorned exhibition of the doctrines of the cross, would be the most successful. He preached, "not with the wisdom of speech, (λoyov) lest the cross of Christ should be rendered vain;" (xen, should be emptied or deprived of its effect.) Had the Apostle endeavoured to illustrate the mysteries of redemption, on the principles of natural reason or of human philosophy; or had he clothed his sentiments in the

studied language of the Grecian orators, the cross of Christ would have been deprived of its honour; and the effect would have been ascribed to the art of the speaker, rather than the merit of his doctrine. By the wisdom of man, so often alluded to in this Epistle, we are to understand the various systems of heathen philosophy then in repute, which pretended to explain the origin of things, the character and government of God, or the nature and obligations of virtue; consequently, the remarks of the inspired writer apply equally to all modern systems which affect to explain these subjects independently of revelation; but we are not to suppose that he would reprobate the discoveries of natural science, which have thrown so much light on the works of God. And though he disclaimed the meretricious ornaments of heathen oratory, he was no enemy to true eloquence, as many passages in his own writings abundantly prove-if by eloquence be understood the use of a pure and persuasive style of language.

It

may be said of the preaching of the cross, what the poet says of natural beauty, "It is, when unadorned, adorned the most.” Foreign ornaments, instead of improving it, only obscure its glory, and neutralise its power. This is beautifully expressed by Cowper, in these well-known lines:

"Ah! how unlike the complex works of man,
Heav'n's easy, artless, unencumber'd plan!
No meretricious graces to beguile,

No clust'ring ornaments to clog the pile:
From ostentation, as from weakness, free,
It stands, like the cerulean arch we see,
Majestic in its own simplicity:
Engraved above the portal from afar,
Conspicuous as the brightness of a star,

Legible only by the light they give,

Stand the soul-cheering words, Believe and Live!"

POEM ON TRUTH, V. 21.

The Apostle was quite aware that the subject of his preaching was a ground of offence to many; but there was no other doctrine that would be owned of God: 18. "For the preaching (070s the word) of the cross is to them that perish foolishness (uwgia), but

f

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to us who are saved it is the power of God." So when our Saviour taught the doctrine of salvation by his blood, the Jews exclaimed, "this is an hard saying, who can hear it?" And when Paul preached, to the polite Athenians, Jesus and the resurrection, they observed, "Thou bringest certain strange things to our ears." Even the noble Festus, forgetting the dignity of his office, interrupted the beautiful defence of the Apostle, and cried from the bench, “Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad." (Acts xvii. 20. xxvi. 24.) At this day, the refined inhabitants of France designate those who preach the pure doctrine of the cross, by the name of momiers or fools. There are many circumstances which might occasion the Gospel, when first propagated, to be esteemed foolishness,—the obscurity of our Saviour's rank in life, contrasted with the divine honours paid to him by his followers-the meanness of the instruments employed to publish it to the world, Jewish fishermen, tax-gatherers,,&c. -the mysterious nature of its doctrines, respecting the incarnation of Christ, the atonement, the necessity of divine influence, and the resurrection of the dead-its depreciating language as to the insufficiency of human reason to discover a way of salvation, and the inefficacy of human righteousness to procure acceptance with God-its doctrine of justification by faith-the selfdenial and separation from the world which it enjoins on those who believe-and especially the unadorned language of the first preachers. It is evident that many are still offended at the preaching of the cross on these accounts. But mark the situation of such persons; however admired for their wisdom, their learning, their eloquence, or other accomplishments, they perish; for they reject the only remedy provided for the spiritual maladies of man. To those, on the other hand, who receive the testimony of God as true, it bears the evident marks of divine power. Thus the Apostle, in another place, observes, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth," (Rom. i. 16.) Not only does the power of God appear in sustaining our Saviour under the load of his sufferings, and in raising him from the dead; but in turning men, by the word of the cross, from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God-in subduing the pride and obduracy of their hearts-in mortifying their evil passions—in raising them to spiritual life-preserving them amidst the temptations

that are in the world, delivering them from the fear of death, and inspiring them with a hope full of immortality. They can set to their seal that God is true; they have the witness in themselves of the truth of Christianity, in the fact of their own conversion, and in the joy and peace communicated to their minds. Thus the influence of the truth is to them "an evident token of salvation, and that of God." In a word, the Gospel comes to them, not in word only, but in power; and the agency of the Holy Spirit secures for it a cordial reception on the part of those who are saved.

It was the design of Providence to shew the inefficacy of human reason to arrive at the knowledge of divine things, in order to prove the necessity of a divine revelation. 19. "For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will set aside (arnow) the understanding of the prudent (UVITY)." This appears to be a quotation from Isaiah xxix. 14. where, in reproving the Jewish nation for their hypocrisy in drawing near to God with their mouth, while their heart was far from him, the Lord threatens to visit them with a spirit of judicial blindness, " for the wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." This was exemplified in the case of the Jewish scribes and rulers, when they were silenced and baffled by the illiterate fishermen of Galilee; and ever since that time the vail has been on their understanding, so that they cannot perceive the obvious reference of the Old Testament Scriptures to the person and work of the Lord Jesus. It is also illustrated by the superiority of the Gospel to all the boasted systems of philosophy. Christianity so far excels these, both with respect to the doctrines which it teaches and the precepts which it enjoins, that it appears as if the wisdom of the wise had been destroyed, and the understanding of the prudent set aside. They also stumble at the simplicity of the doctrines of Christ, which are thus "hid from the wise and prudent, and are revealed unto babes."

The Apostle now asks, in a triumphant manner, where were those venerated names that had attracted the admiration of mankind by their learning and talents? 20. "Where is the wise? (ropos) where is the scribe? (ygaμmarsus) where is the disputer (σvans) of this world? Hath not God made foolish (pgaver infatuated) the wisdom of this world?" Some have thought he here alludes to Isaiah xxxiii. 18. where the prophet, describing the peaceful state of the church after the destruction of the Assyrian army,

represents the people as looking round in search of the objects of their former terror, and triumphantly asking "Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?" But the expressions are so different from those here employed, both in the Hebrew text and in the LXX. that the apparent similarity appears to be merely accidental. But the Apostle might well ask, "where is the wise?" For it is well known that the researches of the heathen philosophers after divine truth, threw very little light on the most important subjects. They could arrive at no certainty as to the most simple truths of religion; they were ignorant of the true relation in which we stand to God as fallen creatures; they could not shew in what way sin could be pardoned, in consistency with the moral perfections of God; they could not come to any certain conclusion as to the immortality of the soul, and a future state. Even the "divine Plato" represents his great master, Socrates, in his Apology, (sect, 32.) as still in doubt whether or not the soul would survive the body. "Death," says he, "is one of two things; either the dead return to nothing, and lose all sensation, or they are transported (as it is said) into some other place." (dvair yag batigor sol6 TO brava, &c.) Cicero, the greatest of philosophers among the Romans, uses almost the same words when speaking of death: post mortem, quidem, sensus aut optandus aut nullus est. "After death there is either no sensation, or an agreeable one." (De Senect. § 20.) And Cæsar is represented by Sallust, as avowing a total disbelief of a future state; speaking of death, he says, eam cuncta mortalium mala dissolvere; ultra neque curæ, neque gaudio locum esse, "it puts an end to all the ills of mortals, neither beyond it is there room for grief or joy." (Catal. c. 51.)* Indeed, at the time when the Gospel was published, the learned men of antiquity seem generally to have sought refuge in an universal scepticism. And what had they done to enlighten or reform the world? They countenanced the reigning superstition as an useful engine of government, while they allowed the multitude to be enslaved by idolatry and vice. Nor were the Jewish scribes greatly superior, in some respects, to the heathen sages.

Thus the sentiment was understood by Cato; referring to what Cæsar had said, he observes, Falsa credo cxistumans quæ de inferis memorantur, &c. "thinking, I suppose, those things are false which are related of the shades below."