INTRODUCTION.

words" were those attracted by the eloquence of Apollos, 4. It is scarcely less certain that those who said " We are of Peter " were the Judaizers, as Peter was specially the apostle of the circumcision. There is no evidence, however, from this epistle, that the leaders of this party had attempted to intro- duce into Corinth the observance of the Jewish law. But they were determined opponents of the apostle Paul. They had come to Corinth with letters of commendation (2 Cor. 2, 1.) They were Hebrews (2 Cor. 11, 22) ; they professed to be ministers of Christ (ch. 11, 23); they were false apostles (ch. 11, 13) ; the ministers of Satan, holding the word of God deceitfully. These men, as is evident from the defence which the apostle makes of his divine commission (1 Cor. 9, 1-3. 2 Cor. 12, 11. 12), called in question his apostleship, probably on the ground that he was not of the original twelve. On this ground also, to give themselves the greater authority, they claimed to be disciples of Peter, who was the first of the apostles. They also accused Paul of inconstancy and insinceri- ty (2 Cor. 1, 17-24). In short they stirred up against him all the elements of discord which they could find in a congrega- tion composed of such incongruous materials. 5. With regard to those who said We are of Christ, only two things are cer- tain. First, that they were as much to blame as the other parties. It was in no Christian spirit that they set up their claim to be of Christ. And secondly, that they assumed to have some relation to Christ, which they denied to others. Whether it was because they had seen and heard him ; or be- cause they claimed connection with " James, the brother of the Lord ; " or because they were the only genuine Christians, inasmuch as through some other channel than the apostles, they had derived, as they pretended, their knowledge of the gospel, is a matter of conjecture. Billroth and Baur regard this class as identical with the followers of Peter, who claimed to be of Christ because Paul was no apostle, and therefore his disciples were not "of Christ." According to this view there were only two, instead of four, parties in Corinth, the followers of