"Wo be to thee, thou Murderer! cursed of the minstrel Powers! Or like a rattling death-gasp, in empty air exhaled!" - The Old Man hath pronounced it, to Heaven the curse hath flown; In place of fragrant gardens lie waste and dreary lands; S. C. E. ART. XIV. The Fifteenth Chapter of 1 Corinthians, with Notes. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. It appears, from ch. iii. ver. 6-10, of this Epistle, and from Acts xviii. 1-18; that St. Paul was the first who preached the gospel at Corinth. He went thither about A. D. 52, and remained there a year and a half, and indeed "a good while" longer, (Acts xviii. 11, 18,) laboring with his accustomed activity. In this way he gathered a church from among both the Jewish and Gentile inhabitants. After his departure, other teachers visited Corinth, some of whom became the occasion of schisms and contentions in that church, (ch. i. 11, 12; iii. 3-10, 22.) A sad state of things followed. Many scandalous disorders crept in, partly no doubt from the prevalent corruption of manners, as the city was famous throughout the world for its utter dissoluteness. St. Paul wrote the Christians, there, a monitory epistle, (ch. v. 9,) which has not been preserved. Their divisions and irregularities, however, still continued. Some of their teachers, it would seem, (ch. iv. 18, 19; ix. 1-3; xiv. 37,) openly discarded the authority of the apostle. Certain errors of doctrine, as well as of practice, had been introduced; among which was the denial, by one party at least, of the resurrection of mankind from the dead. At length, some of the church wrote a letter to St. Paul, asking advice on certain points, (ch. vii. 1,) and sent it, probably, by Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, (ch. xvi. 17,) to Ephesus, where the apostle was then tarrying. On receiving this, and learning more fully from the bearers the condition and practices of the Corinthian church, he wrote the present epistle. Its date is generally fixed at about A. D. 56 or 57; four or five years after he first entered Corinth, and two or three years after he left the city. REMARK. Concerning the party, in the church at Corinth, who denied the resurrection of the dead, we have no other notice, than what is contained in the chapter before us. It is therefore impossible to ascertain how they fell into this error, or whence they received it. We may conjecture that they were, originally, Jews of the Sadducean sect, who held no future existence whatsoever, and that they only retained their former disbelief on this point; or they may have been Gentile converts from the Epicurean multitude, which certainly abounded among the Greeks of Corinth; or, again, they may have received, on their conversion, the Christian doctrine of immortality, but have been afterwards misled by "evil communications which corrupt good manners." All, however, is uncertain. Nor can we determine whether they distinguished between the general idea of a future existence of some kind, and the particular one of a resurrection, so as to hold the former, while they rejected the latter; or whether they rejected both together. See, however, the Quare in the note on ver. 18. It should be distinctly observed, moreover, that the tenor of the apostle's argument, throughout the former part of the chapter, implies that they still acknowledged the resurrection of Christ, though they denied that of mankind. With these preliminary considerations in mind, we proceed to the text. CHAPTER XV. 1. Moreover, [literally, but,] brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also Ver. 1. Observe how abruptly the apostle passes from the topic of the preceding chapter, to another subject wholly dissimilar, and totally disconnected from it. Nothing marks ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2. by which also ye are saved, (if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you,) unless ye have believed in vain. 3. For I delivered unto you, first of all, [lit. among the first things,] that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, 4. and that he was buried, and that he rose again, the third day, ac the transition, except the Greek particle dè, (moreover, or rather, but.) This is characteristic of St. Paul's manner. See, for instance, 1 Thess. v. 1, where there is, perhaps, an equally abrupt transition, marked only by the same particle, in the original.—the gospel which I preached unto you,] when I was with you, gathering your church. 2. ye are saved;] i. e. brought into the true spiritual relation to God and his law; into a state of moral soundness, such as is analagous to that of bodily health. This is the idea of Christian salvation; (see Expositor, &c., Vol. IV., New Series, art. iii,) and this is effected within us by the gospel, when properly received. unless ye have believed in vain,] inconsiderately, idly. From their conduct and condition, he had reason to suspect that some of them, at least, received the gospel in so vague and indifferent a manner that it could have little influence upon them, especially those who denied our resurrection. 3. He proceeds to lay down the grounds of that doctrine. among the first things,] or leading facts of the gospel, were Christ's death and resurrection, as here stated, together with the proofs of his resurrection; and these were some of the principal things St. Paul had delivered to the Corinthians, when he preached in their city. died for our sins, according to the Scriptures,] namely, of the Old Testament; for instance, Isa. liii. 7-10, &c. The larger part of the New Testament had not been written, at this time; and none of it was, as yet, called by the technical title," the Scriptures." 4. rose again, according to the Scriptures ;] say Ps. xvi. 10, which St. Paul otherwhere refers to this subject; see Acts xiii. 35-37. Here, the clause "according to the Scriptures," probably relates only to the fact of Christ's resurrection, and not to the particular time, "the third day," which we think is not specified in any Old Testament prophecy of that event. cording to the Scriptures; 5. and that he was seen of Cephas; then, of the twelve. 6. After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7. After that, he was seen of James; then, of all the apostles. 8. And, last of all, he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time, [lit. as of an abortion.] (9. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not 5.-seen of Cephas,] called, also, Simon Peter. This appearance of Christ is probably the one referred to, in Luke xxiv. 34. St. Paul proceeds to give only a few of the instances in which Christ was seen after his resurrection, just enough to render his premises unassailable. The stress of his argument is not on this point; for it does not appear that the Corinthians denied the resurrection of Christ. then of the twelve,] or, the apostles, who were collectively called the twelve, whether all were present or not. On the occasion here referred to, Judas was dead; and even Thomas perhaps was absent, (see John xx. 1924,) for St. Paul afterwards (ver. 7) mentions another time when "all the apostles " saw the risen Saviour. 6.seen of above five hundred brethren at once;] probably in Galilee, where Christ had directed his disciples to meet him, and where he actually did appear to them, (see Matt. xxvi. 32; xxvii. 7, 10, 16; John xxi. 1.) It is uncertain whether all of these five hundred were known as disciples before Christ's death; some of them may have become established in the faith by this very appearance, are fallen asleep;] were dead when this epistle was written, about 23 or 24 years after the event they had witnessed. 7. The two appearances of Christ, mentioned in this verse, are not specified by the Evangelists. Observe, too, that as none of the four Gospels were written, at the date of this epistle, St. Paul must have known all the facts, here stated, on some other authority; doubtless, on the personal testimony of the witnesses. 8.seen of me also,] on the way to Damascus, some years after he appeared to the other apostles. as of an abortion:] merely a term of self-disparagement. In our current English version, there seems an allusion to the late period at which he was converted; but none in the original. The real idea is more clearly unfolded in the next meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10. But by the grace of God I am what I am; and his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, - yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me.) 11. Therefore, whether it were I, or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. 12. Now, if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13. But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen; 14. and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain; 15. yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be, that the dead rise not. 16. For if the dead rise not, then is Christ verse, where he makes a digression from the tenor of his argument, in order to dwell on the humiliating thought which his own case had suggested. was 10. am what I am] a modest circumlocution for am an apostle. I am, indeed, "not meet to be called an apostle;" still, the grace of God hath made me one. not in vain.] The grace of God which elected him to be an apostle, had been effectual; for it wrought within him so as to make him even more laborious in his ministry than any of the other apostles: a fact which the history of his life verifies. 11. Having finished the short digression in the last two verses, he now resumes the discourse at the end of verse 8. Whether it be the rest of the apostles, or I, who preach, we are all agreed in declaring this fact of Christ's resurrection; indeed, it is what you yourselves believed. It would seem, from the tenor of the argument, which follows, that the Corinthians had not yet rejected this fact. (Remark. Here, St. Paul ends his statement of the importance of Christ's resurrection, as lying at the foundation of the Christian faith. In the next verse he proceeds to point out the bearings of this fact on the question in dispute.) 12-16. Here we come to the argument, the amount of which is this: If Christ was raised from the dead, as you yourselves admit, then there is such a thing as the raising of dead persons. But if, as some of you contend, there can be no raising of dead persons, then, of course, Christ is not risen; and so our preaching, as well as your faith, is |