minds of the Jews, by proving from the Scriptures the Messiahship of Jesus. (ver. 28.)

By the labours of these excellent men, a numerous and flourishing church was thus collected in the city of Corinth. Inspired teachers were set over them, endowed with the gifts of tongues and of prophecy, chap. xiv. and the ordinances of Christ were regularly observed, chap. xi. 2. Besides Crispus already mentioned, other persons of influence were received into the church. Among these, honourable mention is made of Gaius, an opulent individual, distinguished by his liberality to the whole church, and Erastus the recorder or chamberlain of the city, (Rom. xvi. 23.) who appears occasionally to have assisted the Apostle in preaching the Gospel. Among the earliest converts, the family of Stephanas stands conspicuous; several of its members devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints in their native city. (chap. xvi. 15.)

This happy state of things was not of long continuance. During Paul's residence in Ephesus, it would appear, that certain individuals came on a visit to Corinth, who began to trouble the disciples; who these persons were, it is impossible, at this distance of time, to discover. Some have thought they were Judaizing teachers, who taught the obligation of the Mosaic ritual as a part of Christianity; but it would rather appear, they were native Greeks who wanted to ingraft on the doctrines of Christ, the refinements of human philosophy. This led them to exalt the powers of reason, and to aim at illustrating the Christian system, by the speculations of the schools. It is well known to what an extent this method prevailed, during the dark ages. Strange as it may seem to us, the doctrines of Christ, instead of being explained from the Scriptures, were defended and enforced by appeals to the authority of Aristotle; and the presidents of the ancient Alexandrian school aimed at identifying the Christian faith with the tenets of Plato. It is not wonderful, that this leaven began to insinuate itself so early as in the age of the Apostles, and hence the exhortations of Paul to beware of being ensnared by philosophy and vain deceit. (Colos. ii. 8.) This method of philosophising was peculiarly suited to the taste of the Greeks; and perhaps there was no class of persons among whom it was more likely to succeed, than among the volatile inhabitants of Corinth. In order to secure its reception, the factious teachers pretended, that the

• Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, cent. 2. pt. 2. c. 1. § 4.

Apostle had given the Corinthians a very partial view of Christianity; he had, in fact, treated them as children rather than men, and had fed them with milk, not with strong meat. They even insinuated that he had but a very imperfect acquaintance with the Gospel himself, and that his claim to the Apostolic office was by no means sufficiently established. This opinion they endea voured to render more plausible, by underrating the talents of the Apostle as a public speaker. His appearance and manner, they pleaded, were far from being graceful. On the other hand, they cultivated all the graces of style, and all the arts of oratory-By this means, the confidence of the late converts in the authority of their spiritual father was greatly shaken. They had been accustomed to a refined and artificial manner of address, and they began to despise the elocution of the Apostle, as rude and unpolished. The factious leaders farther insinuated, that the circumstance of his having laboured with his own hands, while preaching at Corinth, instead of receiving maintenance from the church, like other Christian teachers, implied a consciousness, on his part, that his claim to the Apostolic office was at least doubtful. Nor were these the only tenets held by them. They pleaded for a licentious manner of life, under pretence of Christian liberty, which was a doctrine peculiarly dangerous in so corrupt a city as Corinth; they accordingly seem to have patronized the incestuous person mentioned in chap. v. Of a similar nature was their tenet respecting the lawfulness of attending the idolatrous feasts of the heathen deities.

In addition to these attempts of the philosophising teachers, there were other circumstances connected with the state of the Corinthian church, which called for redress. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper was in a great measure perverted from its original purpose, by the disorderly manner in which it was celebrated. (chap. xi.) The inspired teachers sacrificed the instruction of the church, and the conversion of unbelievers, to make way for the indiscreet use of the gift of tongues. (chap. xiv.) The momentous doctrine of the resurrection was explained away, as if a moral reformation were all that was intended. (chap. xv.) Doubts began to be started respecting the lawfulness of Christians continuing to live in their former situations in life-particularly when they happened to be connected in marriage with unbelievers. (chap. vii.) The more wealthy members of the church,

instead of referring their civil disputes with their poorer brethren, to the judgment of one or two of their fellow christians, brought them before the courts of law, (chap. vi.) and in fine, the church was fast declining from its original faith, purity, and love. Of these disorders the Apostle received information from some pious individuals of the household of Chloe, a member of the church. It would also appear that the Corinthians had addressed a letter to him, requesting advice as to some of the points of difference which existed among them; but it was far from giving a full detail of all the disorders that had arisen. The Apostle was greatly concerned at receiving this unwelcome intelligence; and without loss of time he wrote this Epistle, which is extremely valuable, both as illustrating many important points of christian doctrine, and as giving authentic information respecting the order and discipline of the primitive churches. He begins by expressing his favourable opinion of their religious character, notwithstanding their unhappy disputes-blames them for their undue preference for one teacher above another-shews them how little had been effected by the researches of philosophy, and explains his reasons for cultivating, in his preaching, great simplicity of style. He contrasts his own circumstances with those of the opulent leaders in the Corinthian church-directs them to excommunicate the incestuous person-blames them for going to law with their brethren, and warns them against the licentious principles of the factious teachers. He then proceeds to answer their enquiries respecting marriage-points out the impropriety of frequenting idolatrous festivals-assigns his reasons for not having made himself burdensome to them-reproves the female prophets for affecting the manner of the heathen priestesses, and directs them to the proper observance of the Lord's supper. He shews that the great end of spiritual gifts was to promote the edifying of the church in love, which leads him to discourse of the value and excellence of christian charity. After giving directions as to the exercise of their extraordinary gifts, he proves the certainty of a resurrection from the dead, and concludes with giving advice respecting their intended collection for the poor saints in Judea.

The inscription at the end of this Epistle bears that it was written while Paul was at Philippi; but from what he says, chap. xvi. 8. it would appear he was rather at Ephesus. This is con

firmed by the circumstance of his sending the salutation of the churches of Asia; of these the church of Ephesus was the most flourishing, but Philippi was the chief city of Macedonia. According to the inscription, Stephanas, Fortunatus, Achaicus, and Timothy, appear to have been the bearers of the Epistle; but it would rather seem that Timothy had gone before the others. With regard to the date of this letter, it is fixed by some to the year 57, by others to the year 60. Absolute certainty is not attainable on a point of this nature, nor is it of great importance. The Apostle would have visited Corinth in person, but he was now detained in Ephesus, where his preaching was attended with great success. In the mean time, he sent his brother Titus to rectify the existing abuses; and he hoped to spend the following winter in Corinth, previously to his departure for Jerusalem with the collections, (chap. xvi. 3.) This plan he was afterwards obliged to alter, as we shall have occasion to notice under the second Epistle.

CHAPTER I.

SECTION FIRST.-VERSE 1-9.

INTRODUCTION.

PAUL begins his Epistle by asserting that he had been " called to be an Apostle, by the will of God." lt had " pleased God, who had separated him to this office, from his mother's womb, and had called him by his grace, to reveal his Son to him, that he might preach him among the Gentiles.” Gal. i. 15, 16. In the words of Ananias, "the God of his fathers had chosen him that he should know his will, and see that Just One, and should hear the words of his mouth." (Acts xxii. 14.) He had neither assumed this office on himself, nor had he been appointed to it by the authority of man; and therefore, no one had a right to call his commission in question, nor could he be divested of it by any human power. Indeed, he could not ascribe his election to any other

source than to the sovereign grace of God. That grace had been "exceeding abundant" in selecting him to be an Apostle, "who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but for this cause he obtained mercy, that in him, the chief of sinners, Christ Jesus might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them who should afterwards believe on him to life everlasting," (1 Tim. i. 16.) To give his admonitions the greater weight with the Jewish brethren, he joins to his own name that of Sosthenes a brother. This appears to be the same person who had originally been a chief ruler in the Jewish synagogue: he had been converted to the Christian faith, and had devoted himself to the work of the ministry, and it is not improbable that he acted as Paul's amanuensis in writing this letter. As he was thus well known in Corinth, it was desirable that he should unite his testimony to that of the Apostle, in reproving the disorders that prevailed in the church; for they would not surely charge him with ignorance or prejudice.

2. He inscribes his Epistle "to the Church of God that is in Corinth, to the sanctified in, or by (1) Christ Jesus, called to be saints," (or rather called saints xλntois 'ayıois) Thus the Apostle recognizes them, notwithstanding their defects, to be genuine christians; they had been separated ('nyiduvos) from the world that lieth in wickedness, by the belief of the truth as it is in Jesus; they had been ingrafted into him who is the true vine, and were purified by his grace and Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of the word of truth; they had been called, according to the divine purpose, to be fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and though but partially renewed, they had turned from dumb idols to serve the living God, and to wait for his Son from heaven. Thus sanctified and united by the truth, they were constituted a church of God, a society of faithful persons statedly assembling for divine worship in obedience to his authority, and for the observance of christian ordinances. It is maintained by some, that such expressions as "sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints," &c. refer merely to the outward privileges enjoyed by professing christians, as distinguished from their heathen countrymen, and that the primitive disciples are called saints as opposed to the unrighteous, or idolaters, (Macknight, Essay 4. 48, 53.) On this plan Mr Belsham has lately published a new translation and commentary on the Epistles of