not risen ; and if Christ be not risen, we have no Saviour. He therefore proves, first, the fact of the resurrection of Christ, and then shows that his resurrection secures that of his people, 15, 1-36 ; and finally, that the objection that ma- terial bodies such as we now have, are unsuitable to the fiiture state, is founded on the false assumption, that matter cannot be so refined as to furnish material for bodies adapted to the soul in its highest state of existence, 15, 36-58. The sixteenth chapter is devoted to directions relative to the collection for the poor, and to certain admonitions and salutations.
§ 5. Importance of this Epistle.
Paul's relation to the church in Corinth was in some re- spects peculiar. He was not only the founder of the congre- gation, but he continued in the closest relation to it. It excited his solicitude, called for the wisest management, triec his patience and forbearance, rewarded him at times by signal evidence of affection and obedience, and filled him with hopes of its extended and healthful influence. His love for that church was therefore of special intensity. It was analogous to th^t of a father for a promising son be^et with temptations, whose character combined great excellencies with great de- fects. The epistles to the Corinthians, therefore, reveal to us more of the personal character of the apostle than any of his other letters. They show him to us as a man, as a pastor, as a counsellor, as in conflict not only witji heretics, but with personal enemies. They reveal his wisdom, his zeal, his for- bearance, liis liberality of princij)le and practice in all matters of indifference, his strictness in all matters of right and wrong, his humihty, and perhaps above all, his unwearied activity and wonderful endurance.
There is another consideration which gives a special inter- est to these epistles. They show more clearly than any other portion of the New Testament, Christianity in conflict with