n John 12. 26.

& 14. 3.

& 17. 24.

Acts 1. 9.

Rev. 11. 12.

(2 Thess. i. 7). He shall be revealed with His mighty Angels, and so Enoch prophesied, 'The Lord cometh with ten thousands of His Saints to execute Judgment' (Jude 14, and cp. Rev. xiv. 14).

ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου-ἐν σάλπιγγι Θεοῦ] with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet of God. See Zech. ix. 14, ὁ Κύριος ἐν σάλπιγγι σαλπιεῖ, and 1 Cor. xv. 52. The circumstances of the Second Advent, and of the Last Judgment, appear to have been prefigured by those of the Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai; Men will be judged according to their works, of which the Law of God is the Rule: and therefore the future Great Assize in which men will be rewarded or punished according to their Deeds, to be then judged by the standard of the Divine Law, was fitly typified by the promulgation of that Law. Compare the words of Moses describing the delivery of the Law (Exod. xix. 16) with the language used by the Apostle here describing the last Judgment: Εγένοντο φωναὶ καὶ ἀστραπαὶ, φωνὴ τῆς σάλπιγγος ἠχεῖ μέγα, καὶ ἐπτοήθη πᾶς ὁ λαὸς, καὶ ἐξήγαγε Μωϋσῆς τὸν λαὸν εἰς συνάντησιν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ παρέστησαν ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τὸ ὄρος ἐκαπνίζετο ὅλον, διὰ τὸ καταβεβηκέναι ET' AUTÒ TOY Oedv ev πuρí (cp. 2 Thess. i. 8). èyívovτo dè ai φωναὶ τῆς σάλπιγγος ἰσχυρότεραι σφόδρα παραβαίνουσαι.

There is also mention made by Moses of the vepéλn, v. 13. Cp. here v. 17.

Also the Law was given with the ministry of Angels (Acts vii. 53. Gal. iii. 19), and Angels will come with the Lord to Judgment. See above note on KEλEVσμATI.

The Trumpet here seems to be no other than that of the Seventh Angel in the Apocalypse (xi. 15-18).

Whether you eat or drink, or wake or sleep, let that Trumpet be ever sounding in your ears with this call," Arise, ye dead; come ye to the Judgment" (S. Jerome, ap. A Lapide).

-

oi veкpol ev Xpior] the dead in Christ shall rise first. See preceding note. The words have been supposed by some learned interpreters to signify the dead generally shall rise first, and some take the words in Christ' as following they shall rise; but this does not appear to be a correct exposition.

The dead in Christ are they who having been incorporated into the body of Christ, remain living members of Christ, and die in Christ, and though asleep in peace (KEкоμημévo) as to their bodies, yet remain members of the Communion of Saints in Him Who lives for ever, and is the source of undying life to those who are in Him.

Thus they who live in Christ communicate with the dead in Christ: "Communionem cum illis sanctis, qui in hâc quam suscepimus fide defuncti sunt, societate et spei communione tenemur." Augustine (Serm. 181). See below, Heb. xii. 23.

The Saints of God living in the Church of Christ are in communion with all the Saints departed out of this life, and admitted to the presence of God. The mystical union between Christ and His Church, the spiritual conjunction of the members to the Head, is the true foundation of that communion which one member had with another, all the members living and increasing by the same influence which they receive from Him. But Death, which is nothing else but the separation of the soul from the body, maketh no separation in the mystical union, no breach of the spiritual conjunction, and consequently there must continue the same communion, because there remaineth the same foundation. And since the true and unfeigned holiness of man wrought by the powerful influence of the Spirit of God, not only remaineth, but also is improved after death, and since the correspondence of the internal holiness was the Communion between their persons in their life, they cannot be said to be divided by death, which had no power over that sanctity by which they were first conjoined. Bp. Pearson (on the Creed), Art. ix. p. 664, 665. 17. nueis of Cartes oi TepiλeimóμeVOL K.T.λ.] We the living (as distinguished from the dead) being left behind (present participle) by the departure of others who die from time to time, shall not anticipate those who have fallen asleep; or, as Tertullian says (de Resurrect. 24), "nos qui remanemus in adventum Domini non præveniemus eos qui dormierunt."

This passage has given rise to three questions:

Consequently, some Expositors were led to interpret Cŵrres as equivalent to spiritually alive, and quickened by a lively faith; and others supposed that all would first die, and then revive and be raised for Judgment.

These differences of opinion are recapitulated by S. Jerome, Epist. ad Minervium, iv. p. 216; S. Augustine, de octo Dulcitii quæstionibus, Vol. vi. p. 223; and Epist. ad Mercator. 193; and de Civ. Dei, xx. 20; and in Enchirid. c. 54; de Fide et Symb. c. 8; S. Chrys. and Theophyl. in 2 Tim. iv. 1; and by Isidorus Pelusiot. Epist. 222; and, in later times, by Bp. Pearson on the Creed, Art. vii. p. 561-563.

S. Augustine, although not enabled to ascertain the true reading in 1 Cor. xv. 51 as fully as it has since been determined, declared the true meaning of the passage in the following language:

If no other meaning can be attached to the words of the Apostle, and if it be evident that he designed that the meaning which they manifestly proclaim should be assigned to them, namely, that at the end of the World, and at the Lord's Second Coming, there will be some who will not be unclothed of their bodies, but be clothed upon with immortality, and this mortal will be swallowed up by life (2 Cor. v. 4), doubtless with this meaning will accord that which we profess in the Rule of Faith, namely, that He will come again to Judge the Quick and Dead ;' so that we are not here to understand by the word quick, the just, and by the word dead, the unjust, although it be true that the Just and the Unjust will be judged; but by the word quick in the Creed we are to understand those whom Christ's Second Coming will find not yet departed from the body; and by dead, those who have departed from it. And those other texts (1 Cor. xv. 36. 51) must be so expounded as to agree with this interpretation. (Augustine.)

However, even till the sixteenth century, many Expositors were of the opinion that all who were alive at Christ's coming would first die, and then revive and be judged. So Aquinas, Anselm, and A Lapide here.

But now that the reading of 1 Cor. xv. 51 has been established, by the collation of MSS. and Versions derived from all parts of Christendom, there can be no longer any doubt that the interpretation propounded by S. Augustine is the true one; and it may suffice to remind the reader of the words of the learned English Expositor of the Creed on this subject; He shall judge the quick, that is, those which shall be then alive when He cometh; and He shall judge the dead, that is, those which at the same time shall be raised from the dead;

The only doubt in this interpretation is, whether those that shall be found alive when our Saviour cometh shall still so continue till they come to judgment, or upon His first appearance they shall die, and after their death revive; and so together with all those which rise out of their graves appear before the judgment seat. The consideration of our mortality, and the cause thereof (that it is appointed unto all men once to die, in that death hath passed upon all, Heb. ix. 27. Rom. v. 12), might persuade us that the last generation of mankind should taste of death, as well as all the rest that went before it; and therefore it hath been thought, especially of late, that those, whom Christ at His coming finds alive, shall immediately die; and after a sudden and universal expiration shall be restored to life again, and joined with

2. Whether, inasmuch as all men are from Adam, and since it is said in Holy Scripture that by Adam death passed upon all, and that in Adam all die (Rom. v. 12. 14. 1 Cor. xv. 22), and it is appointed unto men to die, and after that the Judgment (Heb. ix. 27), they who are alive on the earth when Christ comes

of the Resurrection;

But the Apostle's description of the Last Day mentioneth no such kind of death, yea, rather excludeth it: For we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the

a

b

a

b Matt. 24. 42, 43.

Mark 13. 34.

C

trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we be ever with the Lord. (1 Thess. iv. 15-17.)

In which words, they which remain unto the coming of the Lord, are not said to die or to rise from the dead, but are distinguished from those which are asleep and rise first; yea, being alive, are caught up together with them, having not tasted death;

The same is further confirmed by the Apostle, saying, Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed (1 Cor. xv. 51), which, being added to the former, putteth this doctrine out of question; for the living, which remain at the coming of Christ, are opposed to them which are asleep; and the opposition consists in this, that they shall not sleep, which sleep is not opposed to a long death, but to death itself, as it followeth, the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we (which shall not sleep) shall be changed; so that their mutation shall be unto them as a Resurrection. And collation of these two Scriptures maketh up this conclusion so manifestly, that I 'conceive no man had ever doubted or questioned the truth of it, had they not first differed in the reading of the text. (Bp. Pearson on the Creed, Art. vii. p. 563.)

3. As to the third question, we may say

It was not revealed by Almighty God to St. Paul, nor has it ever been revealed to any man, whether he himself should remain alive till Christ's second coming. Our Lord said to his Apostles, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own power." (Acts i. 7.)

But it would be very erroneous to say (as has been recently affirmed by some), that St. Paul expected that he himself, and the majority of those whom he was addressing, would be alive at Christ's Second Coming; and that he taught in this Epistle, as an article of Christian Doctrine, that Christ would come in his own age and lifetime; and that he was deceived in this expectation, and afterwards “modified this opinion," particularly when "he saw the evil effects of this doctrine on the practice of the Thessalonians," who (it is alleged) were induced by the expectation of an immediate reappearance of Christ to relinquish their worldly callings, and to live in idleness.

This allegation is disproved by the fact that St. Paul used the same language five years after the composition of his two . Epistles to the Thessalonians, viz. in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, where, using the first person plural in the same way as here, he says, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed" (1 Cor. xv. 51).

And, be it observed, he used that language at a time when he himself personally was in daily danger of death. (1 Cor. xv. 31. Cp. 2 Cor. i. 8, 9.)

If the personal pronoun we in the present passage means St. Paul himself and his own contemporaries, it must also have the same meaning in the latter passage.

There was no alteration whatever in his teaching, such as is supposed;

Before he wrote to the Corinthians he himself warned the Thessalonians in his second Epistle, which, be it remembered, was written very shortly after the first, against being "soon shaken or troubled as if the day of the Lord was at hand" (2 Thess. ii. 2).

And he teaches them that the Day of the Lord would not come until after the manifestation of some Power, which was not then visible, and which he describes.

St. Paul also, in his Epistle to the Romans, written in the next year after the first Epistle to the Corinthians, speaks of the Conversion of the Jews as an event still to be looked for after the "fulness of the Gentiles had come in " (Rom. xi. 24-27).

This was a preliminary prophecy, which he, the Apostle of the Gentiles, well knew was not yet accomplished; and therefore he was a debtor to the Gentiles (Rom. i. 14, 15; xi. 13), and bound to promote its fulfilment. Cp. Tertullian, de Resurrectione, c. 23.

As to the use of the pronoun we in this passage and that to the Corinthians (1 Cor. xv. 51), if it be pressed rigidly, it would follow that all the Thessalonians to whom he writes, who would live till Christ's Second Coming, would be for ever with the Lord; which could not have been his meaning.

But no one who has considered the characteristics of St. Paul's style, will be perplexed by the use of the pronoun here.

St. Paul frequently even speaks of himself individually as a representative of a class with which he has no sympathy, and

Luke 21. 34. 2 Pet. 3. Rev. 3. 3. & 16. 15. c Luke 21. 34, 35. Isa. 13. 6-9. Jer. 13 21.

with which he himself, therefore, is by no means to be identified. See on 1 Cor. iv. 6, and the quotation from Bp. Sanderson in the note on 1 Cor. vi. 12 and xiv. 14.

Thus in Rom. iii. 7: "If the truth of God hath inore abounded through my lie unto his glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner?" See also the seventh Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, vii. 7-25.

Accordingly, it is well said by Theodoret here, "St. Paul is not speaking here of his own person, but of those who will be alive at that time. He is speaking of the faithful who will then be alive, and who will be caught up into the air." So also Chrysostom and Theophylact. The Apostle "transfers by a figure unto himself and his contemporaries the persons of those who would be alive at Christ's Second Coming." Augustine, De Civ. Dei, xx. 20.

Although St. Paul no where teaches that the Lord would not come again while he himself was alive, yet he did not teach in this Epistle, or in any other, that Christ would come in his own age. He knew that the time of Christ's coming could not be known by men, and had not been revealed by God. He teaches in this Epistle that it would come as a thief in the night (v. 2), and that the certainty of its coming, and the uncertainty of the time of its coming, is a reason for perpetual preparation for it.

Let it be remembered that it is the Holy Ghost who speaks by the Apostle. And let it not be forgotten that He designed this Epistle not only for the edification of the Thessalonians and of other Churches in the Apostolic Age, but of all Christians in every Country and Age, even to the Coming of Christ, and that He knew that it would be read in every country and age till the Day of Doom.

Hence we may recognize the divine wisdom of the Apostle in using that pronoun which would best admonish all who read the Epistle, in his own and every successive generation, to be on their guard, as not knowing when their Lord would come; whereas, if he had used the pronoun they, it might have been thought that as long as the Apostle was alive men need not expect the Coming of Christ.

St. Paul's we is an universal we, which every age may apply, and ought to apply, to itself. Cp. Bengel.

St. Paul's office was to teach that the Great Day would surely come, and would come suddenly. But it was no part of his Mission to declare when it would, or would not, come.

That Day is hidden, in order that every day may be well spent. "Ergo latet Ille Dies, ut observentur omnes dies" (Augustine). See his three Letters, "De fine Sæculi," Ep. 197-199. εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα] to meet the Lord, into the air. "Nos qui vivimus, qui residui erimus, rapiemur cum nubibus obviam Domino in aëra.- Domino obviam Sancti rapientur in nubibus, ipso illo nube in resurrectionis corpore clati." Hilary (in Ps. li. and in Ps. lvi.) And Tertullian (adv. Marcion. iii. ad fin.), "Auferemur in nubibus obviam Domino secundum Apostolum, Illo scilicet Filio hominis veniente in nubibus secundum Danielem (Dan. vii. 13), et ita semper cum Domino erimus."

Observe, he does not say ailépa, but ȧépa, intimating that Christ will descend to this lower Atmosphere which surrounds the Earth. Cp. the use of amp Acts xxii. 23. Ephes. ii. 2.

18. "NOTE] Therefore; itaque' (Vulg.). Cp. Phil. ii. 12; iv. 1.

CH. V. 1. τῶν χρόνων καὶ τ. καιρῶν] the times and seasons ; 'de temporibus et momentis' (Vulg.). Xpóvos signifies duration or length of time; καιρὸς, point of time: so that καιρὸς is ἀκμὴ Xpóvov, 'punctum temporis.' See on Acts i. 7, and the remarks of Augustine, Epist. 197, noting the inadequacy of the Latin language to mark this difference, "Ibi Græcè legitur (Act. i. 7) χρόνους ἢ καιρούς. Nostri utrumque hoc verbum tempora appellant sive Xpóvous sivе kaιрoùs, cùm habeant hæc duo inter se non negligendam differentiam;" which he explains.

2. aкpißws oldare] ye know well. How did the Thessalonians know certainly that the Day of the Lord would come “as a thief in the night?"

The expression is a remarkable one. No one but Christ Himself would have ventured to compare His Second Advent to judge the World to the coming of a Thief. Probably the Thessalonians derived that knowledge from a written Gospel.

If so, it must have been either from the Gospel of St. Matthew (xxiv. 43), or of St. Luke (xii. 39), or from both. See above, on ii. 18 and iii. 5;

The present comparison is not found in either of the two other Gospels. The expression, the Day shall come, is not found

m

S

Tò

Gal. 6. 1, 2. 2 Thess. 3. 6, 11,

12.

n Lev. 19. 18.
Prov. 17. 13.
& 20. 22.
& 24. 29.
Matt. 5. 39.
Rom. 12. 17.
1 Cor. 6. 7.
Gal. 6. 10.
1 Pet. 3. 9.
o Rom. 12. 12.

Phil. 4. 4.

p Eccles. 18. 22. Luke 18. 1.

17. ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε] The Apostle commands us to pray without ceasing. We cannot be always on our knees, and strecthing forth our hands, and yet we are to pray without ceasing (ἀδιαλείπτως).

How can this be done? By continuity of desire. If, whatever you are doing, you are longing for the everlasting Rest, the heavenly Sabbath, you never cease praying; your desire is prayer. Continuous desire is continuous prayer. If you would never cease from prayer, never cease from desire. Your desires speak. If you cease to desire, you are dumb, you have ceased to pray. Augustine (in Ps. 37). See also Dr. Barrow's exposition of this text in his Sermons on the Duty of Prayer (i. p. 107-140), where he shows that the precept is to be obeyed,

(1) by cherishing habitually and constantly the spirit of supplication.

(2) by vigilant attendance on devotion, as the main business of the Christian life.

(3) by never failing to engage in public acts of devotion, on the recurrence of set times for it, and on all fitting occasions; (4) especially when prescribed by authority.

(5) by lifting up our hearts to God from time to time in fervent ejaculations in private, in the midst of our business, and by being in "the fear of the Lord all the day long" (Prov. xxiii. 17).

19. тò Пveûμa uǹ oßévvvтe] quench not the Spirit, whether in yourselves or others. Compare the case of the foolish Virgins saying αἱ λαμπάδες ἡμῶν σβέννυνται (Matt. xxν. 8).

The flame of the Spirit is kindled from heaven in the lamp of man's nature, but requires to be fed with continual supplies of oil from the same Spirit, given in the means of Grace, Prayer, Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist, hearing and reading the Word of God, and in the exercise of works of piety, holiness, and charity. Otherwise the light will go out, that is, will be no light to us, and the door will be shut, and we excluded from the wedding (Matt. xxv. 10-13). This Scripture is not to be so pressed as to be made a plea for rebaptization or re-ordination, as it was by some schismatics in ancient times, as if the Spirit once given in Baptism or Holy Orders could be so utterly quenched that it required to be lighted again by a Second or Third Baptism, and by a Second or Third Ordination. See S. Jerome's Dialogue against the Luciferians, and Augustine's remarks on this point, c. Epist. Parmenian. ii. c. 13, vol. ix. p. 108, where he says: "The Sacraments of Christ are holy and pure, and cannot be violated; and yet they are said to be polluted by evil men, because they do what in them lies to defile them. So the Spirit is said to be quenched by sin, because the sinner does his part to quench it; but he cannot so violate the purity of the Holy Ghost, and the grace of the Spirit remains 'bonis ad præmium, malis ad judicium.'

Besides; this text is to be taken together with what follows, where see note.

20. προφητείας μὴ ἐξουθενεῖτε] despise not prophesyings, or preachings; declarations of God's will, and expositions of His Word. On this use of роoηTeía, frequent in St. Paul's Epistles, see 1 Cor. xi. 4; xii. 10, and on Rom. xii. 6.

But it may be asked, how was there any danger that prophesyings should be despised?

This question may best be answered by reference to the precept which immediately precedes, and to the circumstances of the early Church.

They who were admitted into the Church by Baptism received on their admission supernatural spiritual gifts (xapíoμara), particularly the gift of Tongues.

Some among them were vain of their gifts, and made an ambitious display of them, as was the case at Corinth, where St. Paul was now writing. See 1 Cor. xii. 28; xiii. 1; xiv. 2-39.

And in comparison with those extraordinary gifts of the

s 1 Cor. 2. 11, 15. 1 John 4. 1.

Rom. 12. 12.
Eph. 6. 18.
Col. 4. 2.
t Phil. 4. 8.

Spirit, some disparaged the less ostentatious but more edifying work of Prophesying (see 1 Cor. xiv. 1-5).

St. Paul had a difficult task to perform, in order to assign to each gift its proper place; and so to commend the ordinary work of Prophesying as not to depreciate the supernatural gifts of the Spirit, which had produced such glorious effects on the day of Pentecost.

The balance was to be held in equipoise between the two; and he has done it on these two precepts, which are like the two scales of the Balance.

He gives due honour to both in these two consecutive sentences. To one side he says, Quench not the Spirit ;" to the other, "Despise not Prophesyings."

These precepts may be best illustrated by the words with which he afterwards summed up his more elaborate reasonings on this subject in his first Epistle to that city from which he is writing, Corinth—ζηλοῦτε τί προφητεύειν,καὶ τὸ λαλεῖν γλώσσαις μὴ κωλύετε.

"Earnestly desire Prophesying; and do not forbid speaking with Tongues" (1 Cor. xiv. 39). There the balance is perfectly adjusted, for he inverts the prohibition, and converts it into an exhortation. Here he says, Despise not Prophesying; there he says, Earnestly desire it.

21. Пávтa dokiμáGETE] Prove all things. "Omnia examinate; quod bonum est, tenete" (Tertullian, de Præs. Hæret.). A precept probably derived from one of our Blessed Lord, which is often cited as such by ancient writers, γίνεσθε δόκιμοι τρα Teral. Estote probi examinatores sive nummularii,''Be ye skilful tryers (properly assayers) of coin, whether it be spurious or genuine;' which precept is ascribed to St. Paul by Dionysius of Alexandria (cp. Euseb. vi. 7), probably referring to the present text. See the note of Valesius on Euseb. 1. c., and note above on Matt. xxv. 27, and the present Editor's note on Theocritus xii. 23.

x. 15.

On the duty of examining evidence in Religion, see on 1 Cor.

This precept," Try all things, hold fast the good, and abstain from all evil," evidently implies that they to whom it is addressed had some standard by which all things were to be tried.

They are required to prove the various doctrines presented to them; they must therefore have had some touchstone by which those doctrines were to be tested. What could that be? Some authentic document doubtless. How otherwise could these Thessalonians who were only neophytes in Christianity, recently converted from idolatry (1 Thess. i. 9), have been proof against the arts of false teachers? how would they be enabled to prove all things, and to hold fast the truth? This consideration confirms the opinion stated above (v. 2), viz. that they had a written Gospel already provided for them.

22. ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε] This precept, like that in v. 20 (see note), is to be coupled with the preceding one. Hence S. Basil says (cited by Grinfield here), "The wise examiner of spiritual coinage (i. e. of doctrine) will hold fast what is genuine, but will hold himself off and wavròs eldous πovnpoû."

Try all things, put them to the test, do not hastily receive any doctrine that is presented to you, nor believe every spirit, but prove them by the Rule of Faith which ye have received, and hold fast that which is good, Τὸ καλὸν κατέχετε, but ἀπέχεσθε ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ, • hold yourselves off from its opposite evil.'

u Rom. 15. 33.

ch. 3. 13.

1 Cor. 1. 8.

& 6. 20.

x 1 Cor. 1. 9.

& 10. 13.

2 Cor. 1. 18.

Heb. 10. 23.

y Rom. 16. 16.

1 Cor. 16, 20.

2 Cor. 13. 12.

1 Tim. 1. 3, 18. & 5. 7, 21.

& 6. 13, 17.

1 Pet. 5. 14.

z Col. 4. 16.

u

z

1. The word eldos (from eldw, video) which often occurs in the LXX, means form, outward appearance, which is seen, but does not signify kind, except perhaps in Jer. xv. 3. And it never signifies kind or sort in the New Testament. Indeed this is a philosophical sense of eldos which is not quite in harmony with the style of the sacred text.

2. eldous seems more naturally construed as agreeing with πονηροῦ. And it is doubtful whether πονηροῦ would have been used for TOÙ Tоvnpoù. The passage cited in defence of this construction, Heb. v. 14, πρὸς διάκρισιν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ, is hardly parallel.

Accordingly we find that in the Vulgate, Syriac, Ethiopic, and Arabic Versions εἴδους is construed as agreeing with πονηροῦ, and so the Old Latin Version in the Codex Augiensis (now first published by Mr. Scrivener), and cod. Boërnerianus. On the whole, the meaning of the two precepts seems to be:

Hold fast the good, and Hold yourselves off, refrain, not merely from Tâν ěруоν поνпpòv, every evil work, (cp. 2 Tim. iv. 18, where the structure is the same as here, and Tavròs рyou тоvпрou, and confirms this exposition, and Job i. 1, ἀπεχόμενος ἀπὸ παντὸς πονηροῦ πράγματος, LXX, and Exod. xxiii. 7,) but hold yourselves also off from every evil appearance, every thing that has an evil look.

Provide things honest, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men (2 Cor. viii. 21); or as the heathen poet expresses it, keep yourselves off

66

...

ab omni

Non solum facto, verum opprobrio quoque turpi." (Horat. 1 Sat. vi. 83.) 23. Αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς κ.τ.λ., πνεῦμα ψυχὴ . . . σῶμα] May the God of Peace Himself sanctify you perfectly, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless. The words ὁλοτελὴς and ὁλόκληροι signify perfected in your Christian stature and maturity, and in full participation of the Christian inheritance. An ancient version of an ancient Father thus renders the words: "Deus pacis sanctificet vos perfectos, et integer vester spiritus et anima et corpus sine querelâ in Adventum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi servetur," Irenæus (v. 6. 1), who comments on this triple division of the human constitution, and on the graces which men receive from God, and the duties which they owe to Him, for the perfect preservation of each of these elements (spirit, soul, and body) to the coming of Christ.

What reason (says Irenæus) had the Apostle to pray for a perfect preservation of those elements (soul, body, and spirit), unless he foreknew the reunion of all three, and that there is one salvation for them all? They will be perfect, who present all three blameless to God. They will be perfect, who have the Spirit of God dwelling in them, and keep their souls and bodies blameless before Him, by holding the true faith, and doing their duty to their neighbour. (Irenæus, and see Gregory Nyssen ap. Theophyl. here.)

It is not to be supposed that the ʊxǹ and πνeûμ¤ are different parts of the human constitution; for the sentient faculty is indiscerptible (Bp. Butler, Anal. i.), and cannot be anatomized, like the body; but they are different faculties of the invisible part of man; so that yuxǹ refers to that lower faculty of life which man has in common with other animals, and veûμa represents the higher attribute which they do not possess, and which makes him nearest to God. (See Grotius here.)

This distinction of σῶμα, ψυχὴ, and πνεῦμα is best illustrated by the adjectives thence derived, and as used by St. Paul, owμaTIKós belonging to the body (1 Tim. iv. 8), 4vxíkós, animal, distinguished from яVEνμаTIKÓS, spiritual, 1 Cor. ii. 14; xv. 44. 46; cp. Jude 19, ψυχικοί, πνεῦμα μὴ ἔχοντες. Observe also their order, as here marked by St. Paul,-veûua, the spirit, or highest faculty, the proper recipient of the Holy Spirit; then, secondly, ux, or living principle, as that which animates the oua, or corporeal frame. Cp. 1 Tim. iii. 16.

26. ἀσπάσασθε φιλήματι ἁγίῳ] Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. This precept also is to be coupled with that which

is placed next to it, viz. 'I conjure you that this Epistle be read to all the brethren.'

Let the reader compare this precept as it stands here with the other places where the same precept occurs in St. Paul's Epistles (1 Cor. xvi. 20. 2 Cor. xiii. 12. Rom. xvi. 16. Cp. 1 Pet. v. 14), and let him also bear in mind the practice of the primitive Church in this respect, especially as stated by Justin Martyr (Apol. ii. p. 97), “ After the Prayers (in the Church) are ended, we greet one another with a kiss."

S. Cyril of Jerusalem (Catech. 5, n. 2) says that, before the sursum corda' a deacon said to the communicants (in the words of St. Paul), "Salute one another with a holy kiss."

This was called píλnua eipńvns, Osculum Pacis,' the Kiss of Peace,' and a seal of peace, Signaculum Pacis' (Tertullian de Orat. 14), and sometimes simply' Pax.' In the Eastern Churches it was given before the oblation in the Eucharist, as a sign of reconciliation and love; in the Western, after the consecration of the elements, and before the distribution. See Concil. Laodic. c. 19; August. c. literas Petil. ii. c. 23 (quoted by Bingham, xv. 3); and Constitut. Apost. ii. 57, àσña§éσ0wσav åλλýλous ἄνδρες καὶ ἀλλήλας αἱ γυναῖκες τὸ ἐν Κυρίῳ φίλημα.

Further, we know from the Acts of the Apostles that the Churches planted by St. Paul came together on a stated day, the Lord's Day, to break bread, i. e. to receive the Holy Communion. See on Acts xx. 7.

On considering these evidences we may conclude that the kiss of which the Apostle speaks, was not one given in private; it was a holy kiss, the kiss of peace, the kiss to be given in a holy place on a holy solemnity, the kiss to be given in the assemblies of the Church at the Holy Communion. In a word, this kiss which passed from mouth to mouth was a holy symbol of unity. The mouth which gave it was about to receive Christ in the Holy Eucharist, and the kiss was a seal of that love which knits together the faithful with one another and with Him in the Holy Communion of His Body and Blood. Here, then, we have another glimpse of the system of spiritual order and discipline organized by the Apostle in the Churches planted by him.

Concerning this Apostolic precept, "Salute one another with a holy kiss," and whether it is still obligatory, see Hooker, Pref. iv. 4, &c. Let us see what follows next;

27. ὁρκίζω ὑ. τ. Κ. ἀναγνωσθῆναι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν πᾶσι Toîs àdeλpoîs] A solemn adjuration by the Lord, Christ; and a testimony to His Godhead. For He Whom the Apostle invokes, as knowing all things, cannot be other than God. Cp. Ps. Ixiii. 12.

It shows also the great importance of the matter here enjoined, viz. that the Epistle now sent should be read to all the brethren, doubtless, not only at Thessalonica, the capital of Macedonia, but in all the Macedonian Churches. Compare 1 Cor. i. 1, 2. 2 Cor. i. 1.

Taken together also with other similar denunciations in Holy Writ, it seems to imply a condemnation of every Church which is untrue to this charge, and does not read the Holy Scriptures in the vernacular tongue to the people. "Quod Paulus cum adjuratione jubet, id Roma sub anathemate prohibet" (Bengel). There is something therefore like a prophetic protest in this solemn adjuration.

The Apostle had given a precept in the foregoing verse concerning an order to be observed in their public assemblies at the administration of the Holy Communion. He now gives direction as to another point in their public Kitual, viz. the Reading of Holy Scripture.

He uses the same language in both precepts, with a slight change in the position of the words.

He had said, Salute all the brethren, Toùs ådeλpoùs návτas, or every one, with a holy kiss; he now says, I adjure you by the Lord that this Epistle be read to all the brethren.-aylors, inserted here by Elz., is not in the best MSS.

The present was the first Epistle written by St. Paul; and the precept he gives here, that this Epistle should be read in the public assemblies of the Church, is a specimen and pattern of