to secure her fidelity. Yet by the subtilty of Satan she fell. What reason then have we to fear who are exposed to the machinations of the same great seducer. As the serpeiit be- guiled Eve ; i. e. Satan in the form of a serpent. TJie serpent, i. e. the well-known serpent of which Moses speaks. The New Testament writers thus assume, and thereby sanction, the historical verity of the Old Testament record. The ac- count of the temptation as recorded in Genesis is regarded by the inspired writers of the New Testament not as a myth, or as an allegory, but as a true history. Comp. 1 Tim. 2, 14. Kev. 12, 9. 15. JBeguiled^ i^rj-rrdTrja-ev, thoroughly deceived. All seduction is by means of deception. Sin is in its nature deceit. The imagination is filled with false images, and the foolish heart is darkened. Eve was thus deceived by the sub- tilty of Satan. She was made to disbelieve what was true, and to believe what was false. Man's belief, in a very large sphere, is determined by his feelings. The heart controls the under- standing. The good believe the true; the evil believe the untrue. This is the reason why men are accountable for their fiiith, and why the Avicked are led captive by Satan into all manner of error. Eve was deceived by exciting unholy feel- ings in her heart. Paul's apprehension was lest the Corinthi- ans, surrounded by false teachers, the ministers of Satan, should in like manner be beguiled. What he feared was that their minds should he corrupted. It was a moral perversion, or corruption, that he apprehended. Your niinds^ ra vorjixara vfxiov. The word vorj/xa means first thought / then that which thinks, the imderstanding ; and then, the aftections or dispo- sitions. Phil. 4, 7. Our translation, " your minds," as includ- ing the idea both of thought and feeling, is the most appro- priate rendering. Corrupted from., is a pregnant expression, meaning corrupted so as to be turned from. The simplicity that is in Christ y aTro t^s a.irXoT-qTO'i rrj<i ets Tov XptoTov, ' from singleness of mind towards Christ.' That is, the undivided aifection and devotion to Christ which is due from a bride to her spouse. The allusion to the marriage relation is kept up, Paul had compared the Corinthians to a virgin espoused to one man, and he feared lest their aflfections might be seduced from Christ and transferred to another.
4. Por if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom Ave have not preached, or (if) ye receive another
254 II. CORIIsrTHIAlSrS 11, 4.
spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with (him).
There are two entirely different views of the meaning of this verse, depending on the view taken of the connection. If the association of ideas is with the preceding verse, so that this passage assigns the reason of the fear there expressed, the meaning is, 'I am afraid concerning yon, for if a false teacher comes and preaches another gospel, you readily bear with him.' It is a reproof of their credulity and easiness of persuasion to forsake the truth, analogous to that administered to the Galatians. Gal. 4, 6-8. 5, 8. But if this verse is con- nected with the main subject as presented in v. 1, then the sense is, ' Bear with me, for if a false teacher preaches another gospel you bear with him.' This is to be preferred, not only because the sense is better as more consistent with the con- text, but also because avexofxai means to endure^ to put up loith^ and supposes that the thing endured is in itself repulsive. In this sense the word is used twice in v. 1, and should be so taken here. ' If a man preaches a new Christ ye would put up with his self-laudation, therefore, you should put up with mine.' The proper force of the verb (dve^o^ai) is also against the interpretation given by Chrysostom and followed by many later commentators. 'If any one really preached another gospel (i. e. communicated to you another method of salva- tion), you would do well to bear with him and receive him gladly.' But all this is foreign to the context. The thing to be endured, was something hard to put up with. It was what the apostle calls folly.
For if he that cometh^ 6 ipx6fji€vo<;^ the corner^ any one who happens to come. The reference is not to any one well known false teacher, but to a whole class. Preaches another Jesus ; not another Saviour, but another person than the son of Mary whom we preached. That is, if he sets forth some other in- dividual as the true deliverer from sin. Or if ye receive an- other spirit^ which ye have not received. The gitt of the Holy Ghost was secured by the work of Christ. He redeemed us from the curse of the law — in order that we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Gal. 3, 13. 14. The indwelling of the Spirit, therefore, as manifested by his sanctifying and miracu- lous power, was the great evidence of the truth of the gospel. Hence the apostle, to convince the Galatians of the folly of