INI TheS "he New Testament GOODSPEED w® III l!l.» • HI THE LIBRARY • OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT 7n as^f The University of Chicago Publications in Religious Education EDITED BY ERNEST D. BURTON SHAILER MATHEWS THEODORE G. SOARES HANDBOOKS OF ETHICS AND RELIGION This series of Handbooks is intended to set forth in a readable form the results of the scientific study of religion and ethics. The various authors do not undertake to em- body in any detail the processes which lie back of their conclusions. Such technical treatment is more appropri- ate for works of a strictly scientific character than for those intended not only to be used as textbooks and collateral reading in colleges and theological seminaries, but also to be of help to general readers. The volumes all seek to con- serve the values of past religious experience. While each author is free to present his own conclusions, the entire series has the common characteristic of historical method. The editors have not prescribed any rigorous uniformity of treatment, but believe tliat the individuality of treatment will serve to stimulate thought and discussion. It is hoped that the series will help to show that the method of experiment and criticism contributes to stronger religious faith and moral idealism. — The Editors. THE STORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT THE UNIVERSITY OP CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO. ILLINOIS THE BAKER AND TAYLOR COMPANY mw TORS THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS IiOBDOl THE MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA toeto, osiii, iToro, fviuoia, siron THE MISSION BOOK COMPANY THE STORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT By EDGAR J. GOODSPEED Professor of Biblical and Patristic Greek in The University of Chicago THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Copyright 1916 By The University of Chicago All Rights Reserved Published May 191 6 Second Impression October 1916 Third Impression February 1918 Fourth Impression March 191 8 Fifth Impression October 1919 Sixth Impression June 19*1 Seventh Impression September 1922 Eighth Impression July 1923 Ninth Impression April 1924 Tenth Impression January 1925 Eleventh Impression April 192s Twelfth Impression November 1925 Compose! and Printed By The University of Chicago Press Chicago, Illinois. U.S.A. INTRODUCTION It must always be remembered that Christianity did not spring from the New Testament but the New Testament from Christianity. Christianity did not begin as a religion of books but as a religion of spirit. There was neither time nor need to write books when the Lord Jesus was at the very doors. Still less was there need of authoritative books to guide men whose dominant conviction was that they had the Mind of Christ, the very Spirit of God, guiding them constantly from within. But the ancient Christians did write. Situations arose that drew letters from them — letters of ac- knowledgment, thanks, criticism, recommendation, instruction, or advice. These letters, like our mod- ern letters, were written to serve an immediate and pressing need. Situations arose which even drew forth books from these early Christians — books to save people from perplexities or mistakes, or to comfort them in anxiety or peril ; but always books to serve some fairly definite circle, in a particular condition of stress or doubt. This practical and occasional character of the books of the New Testa- ment can hardly be overemphasized, for it is only in the light of the situations that called them forth that these books can be really understood. Only when we put ourselves into the situation of those vn 6452S viii Introduction for whom a given book of the New Testament was written do we begin to feel our oneness with them and to find the living worth in the book. It may be helpful to conceive the writings of the New Testament as grouped about four notable events or movements: the Greek mission, that is, the evangelization of the gentile world; the fall of Jerusalem; the persecution of Domitian; and the rise of the early sects. The New Testament shows us the church first deep in its missionary enterprise, then seeking a religious explanation of contemporary history, then bracing itself in the midst of persecution, then plunged into controversy over its own beliefs. The New Testament contains the bulk of that extraordinary literature precipitated by the Chris- tian movement in the most interesting period of its development. Christianity began its world- career as a hope of Jesus' messianic return; it very soon became a permanent and organized church. The books of the New Testament show us those first eschatological expectations gradually accom- modating themselves to conditions of permanent existence. The historical study of the New Testament seeks to trace this movement of life and thought that lies back of the several books, and to relate the books to this development. It has yielded certain very definite positive results which are both inter- Introduction ix esting and helpful. Through it these old books recover something of the power of speech, and begin to come to us with the accent and intona- tion which they had for the readers for whom they were originally written. The short chapters of this book are designed to present vividly and unconventionally the situa- tions which called forth the several books or letters, and the way in which each book or letter sought to meet the special situation to which it was addressed. These chapters naturally owe much to scholars like Burton, Bacon, Scott, McGiffert, Moffatt, and Harnack, who have done so much for the historical understanding of the New Testament. But it is hoped that a brief constructive presentation of the background of each book without technicality or elaboration may bring back particularly to intel- ligent laymen and young people the individuality and vital interest of the writings of the New Testament. The purpose of this work is threefold: (i) The book may be used as a basis for definite study of the New Testament individually or in classes. The Suggestions for Study are prepared for this purpose. General and special bibliographies for further reading will be found at the end of the book. The student is advised not to attempt a detailed investigation of specific parts of the vari- ous books, but to seek to get the large general aim x Introduction which controlled each individual writer. (2) It may be read as a continuous narrative, without regard to the Suggestions for Study at the close of each chapter. It will then afford exactly what its name implies, the story of the New Testament. The references to which the occasional superior numerals relate will be found at the beginning of the Suggestions for Study which follow each chap- ter. (3) After each chapter the corresponding book of the New Testament may be read, preferably at one sitting, and thus each piece of literature may make its own appeal on the basis of the introduc- tory interpretation. Edgar J. Goodspeed Chicago November 1, 1915 CONTENTS CHAPTER PACE I. The Letters to the Thessalonians . . i II. The Letter to the Galatians .... 8 III. The First Letter to the Cortnthians . 14 IV. The Second Letter to the Corinthians . 20 V. The Letter to the Romans 28 VI. The Letter to the Philippians ... 35 VII. The Letters to Philemon, to the Colos- SIANS, AND TO THE EPHESIANS .... 41 VHI. The Gospel According to Mark ... 49 LX. The Gospel According to Matthew . . 55 X. The Gospel According to Luke ... 63 XI. The Acts of the Apostles 70 XII. The Revelation of John 75 XIII. The Epistle to the Hebrews .... 85 XIV. The First Epistle of Peter 95 XV. The Epistle of James 100 XVI. The Letters of John 106 XVII. The Gospel According to John . . . 114 XVIII. The Letters to Timothy and to Titus . 125 XLX. The Epistle of Jude and the Second Epistle of Peter 132 XX. The Making of the New Testament . . 137 Bibliography 146 Index 149 CHAPTER I THE LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS About the middle of the first century, in the Greek city of Corinth, a man sat down and wrote a letter. He had just received some very cheering news from friends of his, away in the north, about whom he had been very anxious, and he wrote to tell them of his relief at this news. As he wrote or dictated, his feelings led him to review his whole acquaintance with them, to tell them about his anxiety and how it had been relieved, and to try to help them in some of their perplexities, and be- fore he closed he had written what we should call a long letter. And this is how our New Testament, and indeed all Christian literature, began. For the writer was Paul, and his friends were the people at Thessalonica whom he had interested in his doc- trine that Jesus of Nazareth, who had been put to death in Jerusalem twenty years before, was the divine Messiah, and was to come again to judge the world. Paul himself had believed this for a long time, and five or six years before he had set out to travel westward through the Roman Empire with this teaching. At first he had worked in Cyprus and Asia Minor, and it was only a few months before 2 The Story of the New Testament that he with two friends had crossed from Asia to Europe and reached the soil of Greece. Paul was a whole-hearted, loyal friend, and he doubtless made friends everywhere for himself and his teach- ing- but he never made quite such friends as those who had gathered around him in these first months in Greece. At Philippi, where he stopped first and tried to interest people in his gospel, his friends made him come and live with them; and they thought so much of him that then and for years afterward they sent him money so that he might not have to work at his trade all the time but might have more opportunity to teach and spread his message/ The Thessalonians too had become staunch friends of Paul's. Some of them had risked their lives for him when they had known him only a few weeks, and others were to stand by him all through his life and to go with him long afterward, when he was taken, as a prisoner, from Caesarca to Rome. That was the kind of people in whom Paul had become so interested, and to whom he now urote his letter. He had been wel- comed by them when he first came to Thessalonica and his very success among them had awakened jealousy and distrust on the part of others. At last Paul had been obliged to leave the city to pre- vent violence to himself and his friends. He had gone on westward along the Roman road to Beroea and later had turned south to Athens, but all the The Letters to the Thessalonians 3 ame he had been anxious about his friends at Thes- salonica. What had happened to them ? Had the opposition of their neighbors made them forget him and give up what he had taught them, or were they still loyal to him and his gospel ? To go back and find out would have been perilous to him and probably to them also. So Paul had decided to send his young friend Timothy to seek them out and learn how matters stood. At the same time Paul's other companion, Silvanus, an older, more experienced man, had been sent on a similar errand to the more distant city of Philippi, and Paul, left all alone, had waited anxiously, first at Athens and then at Corinth, for news to come. When at last it came, it was good news." The Thessalonians had not forgotten Paul. They still stood by him and his gospel, in spite of all that their neighbors were saying against him. They still held their faith in Jesus as the divine Messiah and were eagerly waiting for his return from heaven, to reward and avenge them; and they were eager to see Paul again. So Paul came to write his let- ter to them. He wanted to tell them of his relief and delight at their faithfulness and loyalty, which filled his heart with gratitude. He wished also to refute some charges against his own work and char- acter which people whom he had antagonized in Thessalonica had been making against him. 3 Then too Paul wished to tell his friends how much he 4 The Story o* the New TiiSrMam faul hoped to reach them, and how when this had ^randtw^ad^t come with his wel- return, and How Paul saw ^ rome news. But tms w _ ^ , portu nity to help ' ^ T f ^™ were troubl ed SW2Ti fS who would, they feared Ifrvlslhe joy and glory of meeting the Lord T n his re torn to the earth. Others were per- J ; 3 ' ed abtt to" time of Jesus' return, and needed »i..t the time was close at hand, borne neeucu that the tone w insistence on punty be : emm f fi hnL of We To aU thes, people Paul tt mfat o comtort, counsel, or encomage- SC ent aTtoeu- needs required. He was already 7 X "JsZ> work at Corinth, in some respects ^ e most alsoTbing and exacting he had ever done/ Sound ^e to keep in mind his Thes saloman Si and their problems, an t< > logout ^ ^em amid all his istrac ^Uons t ^r nth.^^ to those with whom he worked. The Letters to the Thessaloneans 5 We can imagine how eagerly the brethren at Thessalonica looked for Paul's letter and read and reread it when it came. They evidently put it away among their treasures, for that is probably how it came to be preserved to us. They certainly pondered over and discussed its contents; for be- fore many weeks had passed Paul had to write them again more definitely about some of these things. Something Paul had said or written to them, or something they had read in the Old Testament, had made some of them think that the Day of the Lord had already come. Some of them had given up work, and were content to live in religious contemplation while their richer or more industrious brethren supported them. In their idleness some of them fell into unworthy ways of life and became a nuisance and a scandal to the church. Paul was greatly stirred ' y this. He saw that it threatened the good name a;; d the very existence of the church, and he at once wrote them another letter, our Second Thessalonians. It was a popular Jewish idea that in the last days the forces of evil would find embodiment in an individual of the tribe of Dan, who would make an impious attack upon God and his people but w^uld fail and be destroyed by the Messiah. Paul in his letter ap- peals to this idea and points out that this great enemy has not yet appeared and so the Day of the 6 The Story of the New Testament Lord cannot have come. 5 There is therefore no excuse for giving up the ordinary industry of life. He reminds them of a precept he has given them before: If anyone will not work, give him nothing to eat. Those who refuse to obey this ultimatum are to be practically dropped from the Christian fellowship. With these two short letters Paul began Chris- tian literature. Before he ceased to teach the churches he wrote more than one-fourth of what is now included in the New Testament. But in these first letters we see the difficulties that already were besetting the small new groups of Christians, and the patience, skill, and boldness with which their founder looked after their development. SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY i. References: 'PbiiL 4:15; *I Thess. 3:6-8* 'I Thess. 2:1-12; *>Acts 18:1, 5; *II Thess. 2:1-3. 2. For an account of the founding of the church at Thessalonica read Acts 17:1-15. 3. Note the occasion of I Thess., 3:6-8, and the progress already made by the gospel, 1:7, 8; 2:1. 4. Picture the receipt of I Thessalonians by the Thes- salonian Christians, and read it aloud as they must have done in a meeting of the church. 5. Note Paul's review of his success among them, 1:2 — 2:1; his vigorous defense of his method? and motives as a missionary, 2:1-12; his account of his feelings and move- ments after leaving them, 2 : 17 — 3 : 10; his moral teachings, •o necessary for gentile converts, 4:1-10; 5:8-13; hia The Letters to the Thessalonians 7 commendation of labor and self-support, 4:10-12; the comfort he gives them about the Thessalonian dead, 4 : 13-18, and his reminder of the unexpectedness of the return of Jesus, 5:1-6. 6. Observe the prayerful and nobly moral tone of the letter, the intense personal affection Paul shows for his converts, 2:7-12, 17; 3:6-10, and the sanity of his practical advice, 4:11, 12; 5:12-14. 7. What facts about Jesus and what expectations about him does the letter reveal ? 1:10; 2:15,19; 4:14-17; 5:9, 10, 23. 8. Read II Thessalonians, noting its marked resemblance to I Thessalonians in many particulars: I Thess. 2:9 and II Thess. 3:8; I Thess. 3:11-13 and II Thess. 2:16, 17; I Thess. 1:1-7 and II Thess. 1:1-4; the sterner attitude toward the idlers, 3:6-15; the very Jewish argument in 2:1-10 that the Lawless One is not yet openly at work and therefore the Day of the Lord cannot have arrived; and the salutation written by Paul's own hand at the close, CHAPTER II THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS Upon returning to the shores of Syria after his long residence in Corinth, Paul had news that greatly disturbed him. An enemy had appeared in his rear. Among the people who had accepted his teaching about Jesus were many in the towns of central Asia Minor— Iconium, Derbe, Lystra, and Antioch. These places lay in what the Romans called Galatia, though that name included also an additional district lying farther north. They were in the region that has only recently been traversed by the new railway through Asia Minor. Their people had welcomed Paul as an apostle of Christ and had gladly accepted his message of faith, hope, and love. t , But there had now come among them Christian teachers of Jewish birth, who looked upon the Christianity Paul presented as spurious and dan- gerous. Who these men were we have no way of knowing, but their idea of Christianity can easily be made out. They believed Jesus to be the com- pleter of the agreement or covenant God had made with Abraham. In order to benefit by his gospel one must be an heir of Abraham, they held, and thus of God's agreement with him; that is, one t The Letter to the Gaiatians 9 must be born a Jew or become one by accepting the rite of circumcision and being adopted into the Jewish people. 1 There was certainly some reasonableness in this view. The men who held it were indignant that the Gaiatians should call themselves Christians without having first been circumcised and having thus acknowledged their adoption into the Jewish nation; and they considered Paul a wholly unau- thorized person and no apostle at all, since he was not one of the twelve whom Jesus had called about him in Galilee twenty years before, nor even a representative of theirs. It was evidently the feel- ing of these new arrivals that the twelve apostles were the sole genuine authorities on Christianity and what might be taught under its name. This claim also seemed reasonable, and it made the Galatian believers wonder what Paul's relation was to these authorized leaders of the church, and why he had given them so imperfect an idea of the gos- pel. They admitted the justice of the claims of the new missionaries and set about conforming to their demands in order that they might be as good Christians as they knew how to be. Where Paul first learned of this change in the beliefs of the Gaiatians is not certain, but very probably it was at Antioch in Syria, to which he returned from Corinth. He wished to proceed as soon as possible to Galatia to straighten matters io The Story of the New Testament out in person. For some reason he could not start at once, and so he wrote or dictated a letter in which he did his best to show the Galatian Chris- tians their mistake. This he sent off immediately, probably intending to follow it in person as soon as he could do so. The letter Paul wrote is the most vigorous and vehement that we have from his pen. It shows Paul to have been a powerful and original thinker, and is the more remarkable as it was written, not as a book or an essay, but simply as a personal letter, intended to save some of his friends from wrong views of religion. In opposition to the claims of the Jewish-Christian teachers from Palestine, he affirms with his very first words that he is an apostle, divinely commissioned, with an authority quite independent of that of the apostles at Jeru- salem. This authority Paul bases on his own re- ligious experience and convictions, in which he feels that the Spirit of God speaks to him; and this rightly seems to him the best, and indeed the only, kind of religious authority that really reaches the inner life. The demand of the newcomers in Galatia that the Christians there should undertake some of the practices of the Jewish law, such as circumcision and the religious observance of certain days,' Paul denounces as unreasonable and dangerous. It is dangerous because if acknowledged it will surely The Letter to the Galatians ii bring in after it the necessity of obeying all the rest of the Jewish law, and will reduce the religious life of the Galatians to the tedious observance of countless religious forms. 3 It is unreasonable be- cause, even in the case of Abraham, long before there was any Jewish law, faith, that is, an attitude of trust in God and obedience to his will, was the only thing that made men pleasing to God. 4 It was when the Galatians came into this attitude of trust and dependence upon God that they felt the presence of his spirit in their hearts as never before, and in this fact Paul rinds evidence of the genuine worth of the gospel of faith that he has preached to them. The Law and the life of reli- gious formalism which it brings with it can never bring this consciousness, as Paul knows, for he gave it a long trial before giving it up in despair and turning to the gospel of faith, hope, and love. In a word, the Law makes men slaves, the Gospel makes them free. This has been Paul's experience and it is his teaching. Galatians is in fact a charter of religious freedom. Its noble ideal of the religious life, so far from being outgrown, still beckons us forward, as it did those obscure townsfolk of the Galatian uplands long ago. Paul knew its dangers, but he knew its promise too, and saw that for those who would sincerely accept it, it opened possibilities of spiritual and moral de- velopment which could never be reached by the 12 The Story of the New Testament lower path. The Christian had received the very Spirit of God. By that he must regulate his life. If he did so, he would be in no danger of gross and vulgar sin, but would find freely springing up in his life the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. This is the ringing message that Paul sent in hot haste to the Galatians. He usually dictated his letters to one of his companions, such as Titus or Tertius, writing only a line or two himself at the end. And this he probably did in this case, but emphasized it all, with a touch of humor, by writ- ing his autograph lines in very large letters. 5 But some have thought that in his haste he wrote this entire letter with his own hand. It was carried by some trusty messenger away through the moun- tains to the nearest Galatian church and there read to the assembled brethren. Then they prob- ably sent it on to the next town where there was a band of believers, and so it passed from one church to another until all had heard it. Some perhaps had the foresight to copy it before it was sent on its way, and so helped to preserve to later times Paul's first great letter. SUGGESTIONS FOX STUDY i. References: *Gal. 5:2-8; 6:12; »Gal. 4:10; J GaL 5:3; «Gal. 3:6-9, 16, 17; «GaL6:u. The Letter to the Galatians 13 2. Read the account of the founding of the Galatian churches in Acts 13 : 13 — 14: 28. 3. Note that Paul calls himself an apostle in the first words of Galatians as he has not done in Thessalonians. Why? Notice the occasion of the letter, 1:6, 7; 3:1. 4. Read the letter through continuously, noting the autobiographical chapters, 1, 2, in which Paul shows his practical independence of the Jerusalem leaders; the variety of arguments, chaps. 3, 4, by which Paul shows the folly of seeking salvation through the observance of law; and the stirring call to Christian freedom and life by the spirit which concludes the letter, chaps. 5, 6. 5. Read the letter through again, noting what you con- sider the particularly fine passages in it. 6. What does Paul mean by the "marks of Jesus," Gal. 6:17? Can these be the scars of such an experience as that related in Acts 14:19, which befell Paul in Galatia, or that in Acts 16:22, 23, which occurred after Paul's second visit to Galatia and before he wrote this letter? Cf. II. Cor. 11:24, 25. The figure refers to the owner's marks which were branded upon slaves. CHAPTER m THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS Paul had received a letter. Doubtless he re- ceived many, but with all his letter-writing we know definitely of only one letter that came to him. He was settled at Ephesus, working at his trade, and very much absorbed in explaining the gospel to everyone whom he could reach in that city and its neighborhood. Ephesus was a thriving center of life and industry, and people from the other cities on the Aegean were constantly coming and going. Among them were many from Corinth, which lay almost directly across from Ephesus, only a few days' sail away. Some of the Corin- thian visitors to Ephesus were Christians, and others were acquainted with Paul's Christian friends at Corinth and brought him word of them. Their news was not encouraging. The Corin- thian believers, though they were probably few and humble in station, had divided into parties 1 . Some of them had begun to look down upon Paul as a man of inferior gifts, as compared with the eloquent Apollos, and of insignificant position in the Chris- tian movement as compared with Cephas, that is, Peter. They had perhaps been visited by Jewish- Christian teachers from Jerusalem, for they were 14 The First Letter to the Corinthians 15 beginning to doubt Paul's right to be called an apostle.* Business disputes among them had led to lawsuits between Christian brethren in the pagan courts. 3 Worst of all, immoral conduct in the Co- rinthian church was reported to Paul, for the Corinthians had not yet fully learned that the Christian faith meant a new life of righteousness and love. With all these abuses the very existence of the little church was being endangered. Paul was already troubled by these reports when three Greeks who had come over from Corinth sought out his lodgings and put into his hand a letter from the Christians of Corinth. 4 They had been Christians only a little while and had many things to learn. New situations were constantly coming up which they did not know how to meet. They had their social problems. What were they to do about marriage ? Should they marry or re- main single ? Should a woman whose husband had not been converted continue to live with him? When they were invited out to dinner they might have served to them meat that had first been offered in sacrifice in some pagan temple. Was it right to eat such meat, and must they inquire about it before they ate it ? Questions were arising about their public worship. What part were women to have in it, and how were they to behave and dress ? Even the Lord's Supper was leading to excesses in eating and drinking and bringing out inequalities 16 The Story of the New Testament and misunderstandings. The Corinthians were much interested in spiritual gifts and their com- parative worth. Some rated the ecstatic and unin- telligible utterance which they called "speaking with tongues" above prophesying or teaching. Moreover, the persons endowed with these gifts were so eager to be heard that the meetings were becoming confused and disorderly. On the whole the Corinthians were beset with difficulties on all sides, and they wrote to Paul for advice and instruction regarding their problems. He had already written them a short letter about some immoral practices that had appeared among them or had held over from their heathen days. 5 But that letter had not told them enough. They wanted to learn more about the matter it dealt with, and about a variety of other things. ^ So Paul came to write what we call First Co- rinthians. No wonder it is so varied and even miscellaneous. Paul has first to set right the bad practices that are creeping into the church-the factions, the lawsuits, the immoralities— and to defend himself against the criticisms that are bemg circulated at Corinth. He attacks these abuses with the utmost boldness. They must give up their factions. Christ must not be divided. If Paul preached to them a simple gospel, it is be- cause their immaturity required it. And it was such plain preaching, as they now consider it, that The First Letter to the Corinthians 17 converted them to a life of faith. The gross im- moralities which Paul has heard of among them ought to make them humble and ashamed instead of boastful. Their lawsuits against one another disclose their unscrupulousness and self-seeking. Unrighteous men, Paul reminds them, will never enter the Kingdom of God. From these painful matters Paul turns to the questions the Corinthians had asked in their let- ter. 6 Married people are not to separate, but the unmarried had better remain as they are. The offering of meat to idols is really meaningless and does the meat no harm, yet we have a duty to the consciences of others, and must not give them offense. When we are guests at a dinner, indeed, we should eat what is offered by our host without asking whether it has been offered to an idol. But in our freedom we are to remember to seek the good of one another. In church meetings good order and modest be- havior are to be the rule for both men and women. The Lord's Supper especially is to be observed in a serious and considerate way. More than any spir- itual gifts Paul recommends faith, hope, and love as abiding virtues, much to be preferred to the spectacular and temporary endowments in which the Corinthians are so absorbed. Some of the Corinthians had found difficulty with Paul's teaching about the resurrection, and 1 8 The Story of the New Testament perhaps a question about it had been raised in their letter to him. At all events, Paul comes last of all to the resurrection, and defends his belief in it in an impassioned argument, which rises at the end into a paean of triumph. So far has Paul brought his Corinthian corre- spondents — from their petty disputes about their favorite preachers to the serene heights of the lyric on love arid the vision of the resurrection. It is instructive to see how he has done it. For he has worked each of their principal difficulties through with them, not to any rule or statute, but to some great Christian principle which meets and solves it. Nowhere does Paul appear as a more patient and skilful teacher than in First Corin- thians. And nowhere does the early church with its faults and its problems rise before us so plainly and clearly as here. Someone has said that Paul's letters enable us to take the roof off the meeting- places of the early Christians and look inside. More than any other book of the New Testament it is First Corinthians that does this. SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY i. References: X I Cor. 1:10-12; *I Cor. 9:1, 2; 3 I Cor. 6:1-7; 4 I Cor. 7:1; 16:17; S I Cor. 5:9; 6 I Cor. 7:1. 2. Note that Paul had written to the Corinthians before, 5:9. Observe the sources of his information about matters in Corinth, 1:11; 7:1, and the occasion of the letter, 7:1. The First Letter to the Corinthians 19 3. Note the immaturity of the Corinthian Christians, as illustrated by the evils Paul tries to correct — factions, fornication, lawsuits, chaps. 1-6. The Corinthians' letter evidently asked about the further topics of the letter, marriage, meats offered to idols, the Lord's Supper, spiritual gifts, and the resurrection, chaps. 7-15. 4. Observe the extraordinary variety of the letter's con- tents, in contrast to the unity of Galatians. 5. Read chap. 13, the prose poem on love, and note that Paul commends love as superior to the spiritual en- dowments which the Corinthians so overprize. 6. Consider the faults and perils with which the letter deals, as typical of the experiences of a young gentile church. 7. Notice how Paul works through problems put before him by the Corinthians to great Christian principles of life, 8:13; 13:13; cf. 6:19. 8. Note the beginnings of dissatisfaction with Paul in Corinth, reflected in 1:12, 13; 2:1-5; 3-1-6, 18; 4:1-5, 8-15. CHAPTER IV THE SECOND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS First Corinthians was a failure. It has been so useful and popular in every other age of Christian history that it is hard to believe that it did not accomplish the main purpose for which it was written. The factions in the church at Corinth, so far from sinking their differences and blending har- moniously into a unified church life, shifted just enough to unite all who for any reason objected to Paul, and then faced him and each other more rancorously than ever. His letters, they told one another, might put things strongly, but after all he was, when you actually met him, a man of ineffectual speech and insignificant presence. 1 The old doubt of his right to call himself an apostle still prevailed at Corinth. What right had he to set up his authority against that of Peter and the apostles at Jerusalem, who had been personal fol- lowers of Jesus in Galilee ? If he were indeed the apostle he claimed to be, he would have expected the Corinthians to give him financial support during his stay among them. a His failure to do this sug- gested that he was none too sure of his ground. to The Second Letter to the Corinthians 21 While a few remained loyal to Paul, the majority of the Corinthians yielded to these views. News of this state of things was not long in traveling across the Aegean and reaching Paul, and stirred him profoundly. Perhaps he went so far as to visit Corinth and face his accusers in per- son. But if he did so, he was not successful in meeting their doubts of him and restoring their confidence, and he must have returned to his work at Ephesus in the deepest discouragement. Yet he was in no mood to give up in defeat or to rest under the slanders of his enemies, and he made one final effort in a letter to regain his lost leader- ship at Corinth. This letter is what we know as the last four chapters of Second Corinthians. The chief characteristic of Paul's letter is its boldness. So far from apologizing for himself, he boasts and glories in his authority, his endowments, and his achievements. In indignant resentment at their persistent misconstruing of his motives he fairly overwhelms them with a torrent of burning words. His authority, he declares, is quite equal to any demands they can put upon it ; as the recog- nized apostle to the Gentiles he can without stretching his authority exercise it over them, and disobedience to it will bring vengeance when mat- ters are settled up between them. Conscious that he is quite the equal of those "exceeding apostles," as he ironically calls them, whom the Corinthians 22 The Story of the New Testament quote against him, he warns the latter against the teaching of such apostolic emissaries. 5 His policy of self-support in Corinth was designed to save him from any suspicion of self-interest and to make the disinterestedness of his work perfectly unmis- takable. The false apostles whom they are now following would find still more fault with him had he let the Corinthian church pay his expenses. Foolish as boasting is, he will for once outboast his opponents. In purity of Jewish descent he is fully their equal, and in point of services, sufferings, and responsibilities as a missionary of Christ he is easily their superior. 4 More than this, in the mat- ter of those ecstatic spiritual experiences, visions and revelations, which the early church considered the very highest credentials, he can boast, though it is not well to do so, of extraordinary ecstasies that he has experienced. For all this foolish boasting they are responsible. They have forced him to it by their ingratitude. He has shown himself an apostle over and over again at Corinth, but they have not been satisfied with that. Now he is coming to them again, but not to live at their expense. He prefers to spend and to be spent for them; he and his messengers have asked nothing for themselves. He writes all this not for his own sake but for theirs. They must put aside their feuds and factions if they are to remain in Christ. Paul is coming again to Cor- The Second Letter to the Corinthians 2$ inth, and this time he will not spare offenders against the peace of the church, but will exert the authority they have denied. Paul dispatched this letter to Corinth by the hand of Titus. While waiting for news of its effect he busied himself with concluding his work at Ephesus. Days came and went, and it was time for Titus to return, but there was no news of him. Paul's thought went back again and again to the situation and the letter he had written in such dis- tress. Had it been a mistake ? He began to think so, and was sorry he had written it. s If it did not win the Corinthians, matters would not be the same as before ; they would be much worse. If the breach was not healed by the letter, it would be widened. Paul was still full of these anxious thoughts when the time came to leave Ephesus. He had planned to go next to Troas, and now ex- pected Titus to meet him there, but to his great disappointment Titus did not appear. 6 Conditions were favorable for undertaking missionary work in Troas, but Paul's anxiety would not let him stay, and he crossed the Aegean to Macedonia, still hoping to find Titus and learn the result of his mission to Corinth. There at length they met, and to his immense relief Paul learned of his messen- ger's success. 7 The Corinthians were convinced. Titus and the letter together had shown them their blunder. They realized that Paul was the apostle 24 The Story of the New Testament he claimed to be, and that his course toward them had been upright and honorable. In a powerful revulsion of feeling they were now directing their wrath against those who had led them to distrust and oppose Paul, and especially against one man who had been the leader of the opposition to him. They were eager to see Paul again in Corinth, to assure him of their renewed confidence and affec- tion, and were even a little piqued that he had not already come. Paul's relief and satisfaction found expression in another letter, the fourth and last of which we know that he wrote to Corinth. It constitutes the first nine chapters of Second Corinthians. He wishes to tell the Corinthians, now that they are ready to hear it, how much the controversy has cost him, and how great his relief is at the recon- ciliation. He acknowledges the extraordinary com- fort which Titus' news has given him, coming as it has after the crushing anxiety of those last days at Ephesus. He is satisfied with their new attitude, only he does not wish them to misunderstand his continued absence. He had intended to visit Cor- inth on his way to Macedonia, but their relations were then too painful for a personal meeting, and he had put it off. When he leaves Macedonia, however, it will be to come to Corinth. He refers in a touching way to the anguish and sorrow in which he wrote his last letter to them, and to his The Second Letter to the Corinthians 25 purpose in writing it. His chief opponent whom they are now so loud in condemning must not be too harshly dealt with. Paul is ready to join them in forgiving him.« Paul describes his anxious search for Titus and the relief he felt when at last he met him and heard his good news. He no longer needs to defend him- self to the Corinthians, but he does set forth again, in a conciliatory tone, his ideals and methods in his ministry. In every part of this letter Paul shows that warm affection for the Corinthians which made his difference with them so painful to him. Paul had been engaged for some time in organ- izing among his churches in Asia Minor and Greece the collection of money to be sent back to the Jerusalem Christians as a conciliatory token that the Greek churches felt indebted to them for the gospel. Such a gift Paul evidently hoped might help to reconcile the Jewish Christians of Jerusalem to the rapidly growing Greek wing of the church. In preparation for this the Mace- donians have now set a noble example of liberality, and Paul seeks to stimulate them further by his report that the district to which Corinth belongs has had its money ready for a year past. He wishes the Corinthians to show the Macedonians that he has not been mistaken.' It is natural to suppose that this painful chapter in Paul's correspondence with the Corin thi a n s was 26 The Story of the New Testament not put in circulation at once, perhaps not at aD while the men who were involved in it still lived. The Corinthians could hardly have wished to pub- lish the evidence of their own even temporary dis- loyalty to Paul, and visitors from other churches probably had little desire to take home copies of a correspondence so hotly personal. But toward the end of the first century a letter from Rome revealed to the Corinthians the high esteem which their earlier letter from Paul enjoyed in the Roman church, and this may have led them to collect and put in circulation the rest of their letters from him. In some such way, at any rate, these last letters to Corinth were given forth together, but with the letter of reconciliation first, to take the bitterness off and commend the writing to the reader by the fine note of comfort with which it begins. Second Corinthians has never rivaled First Corinthians in usefulness and influence, but no letter of Paul throws more light upon his character and motives. It is in these last letters to Corinth that we come nearest to Paul's autobiography. SUGGESTIONS FOE STUDY i. References: "II Cor. 10:10; , II Cor. 11:7-9; S H Cor. 11:5, 13; 47- Lord's Supper, 15, 16, 17. Luke, 64, 68, 71. Luke, Gospel of, 63. Lystra, 8. Marcion, 139. Mark, 49. 5°. S 1 - Mark, Gospel of, 49- Matthew, 57. Matthew, Gospel of, 55. Nero's persecution, 76, 85, 86. New Testament, 140. Onesimus, 41, 43> 47« Organization, 125. Parables, 66, 67, 117. Paul, 1, 2, 3, and often. Peter, 14, 49, S°, 5 1 - I Peter, 95. n Peter, 132. Peter literature, 134- Pharisees and Sadducees, 67. Philemon, 41, 42, 43. 47- Philemon, Letter to, 41. Philippi, 2, 3, 35. Philippians, 35. Phoebe, 33, 34- Pilate, 67, 75. Pliny, 98. Position of women, 126. Return of Jesus, 4. Revelation of John, 83, 126, 141. Righteousness, 31, 58. Romans, 28. Rome, 2, 28, 29, 31, 41. 49. 8 S- Samaritan, 68, 119. Sermons, ancient, 100, Sermon on the Mount, 58. Shepherd of Hennas, 143. Silvanus, 3. Spain, 28, 29, 30. Tertius, 12. Theophilus, 64. Thessalonians, x. Thessalonica, 1, 2, S- Timothy, 3, 9*- Timothy, Letters to, 126. Titus, 12, 23, 24, 25. Titus, Letter to, 126. Tychicus, 44. 47- "Word," 115. PRINTED IN TBK U.S.*. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. JAN I 7 1951 . I 1 RECO EB 2 3 Hfct MAY 2 1 1951 JUL 6 1951 1951 IL 2 1951 JUL 3 J5| a)G 3 1951 AN ? 5 1952 W 4 1953 j\jN 1 9 1953 AU( 0V 6 1953 5 B4 I 1954 * P 1955 mil 1955 kV-1957 FEB %5 k Sep 19 60 &IQV 23 '00 MAY 2 2 1962 • !VtJ ICO m L9-42m-8,'49(B5573)444 m * IHK I IRUADv I o o = PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THIS BOOK CARD J ^•LIBRARY^ nil iiini llll I cj < i %0JHV3J0^ University Research Library 'J3 miiro ■■*> a* XCILITY w illlll Lfl (A o o ■o > c -1 I o