42 Bousset, Was ivissen ivir, etc., pp. 19, 20, says: "It is not, however, at all the case that the critical theology denies to Paul all others of the letters ascribed to him with the exception of the four chief Epistles (and possibly also the Epistle to the Philippians). If the critical the- ology once did that, it has since corrected itself here. Thus with ever increasing confidence it has again accredited to Paul, together with the Epistle to the Philippians, i Thessalonians also, and Colossians, with the exception of perhaps a few verses. Lately a theologian like Jiilicher, whom no one can accuse of anti-critical prepossessions, has again de- fended the genuineness of Ephesians on striking grounds. With ever greater clearness and definiteness doubts are confining themselves to particular Epistles — 2 Thess., i Tim. and Titus." Weinel bases his picture of St. Paul the Man and His Work (E. T., 1906), on Romans,
26o The Designations of Our Lord
For this same reason nothing is gained for our pres- ent purpose by treating the Epistles not all together,
but in small chronologically arranged No Substantial ci- u^ j-n: u u
Development g^oups. ^ Slight differences may be ob- served, it is true, from group to group In modes of expression and relatively favorite forms of statement. But no differences can be traced in the conceptions which are brought to expression In these varying forms of statements. For example, the ruling designation of Christ in the Thessalonians is ' the Lord' (22), with 'the Lord Jesus Christ' (14) a somewhat close second, and 'the Lord Jesus' (10) third, while the simple ' Christ ' occurs only four times. In Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, on the other hand, It is the simple ' Christ ' which becomes the favorite designation, with ' Lord ' a good second : and the same is true of the Epistles of the first imprisonment. In the Pastorals, on the other hand, while ' Lord ' is still common, ' Christ,' as in Thessalonians, falls into the background, and ' Christ Jesus ' becomes the favorite designation. Variations like these, it Is obvious, are rather interesting to those who are engaged in studying the literary form of the Epistles than Important In estimating their witness to the deity of our Lord. Through all such variations, the product of clrcum- S. stance, the essential teaching of all these Epistles upon
1 and 2 Cor, Gal, Phil, and i Thess only: but he is willing to admit that " the vast majority of critics consider the Epistle to the Colossians and the short note to Philemon to be genuine," and that some not un- worthy of the name of critics add Eph. and 2 Thess. (p. ix.) Wrede (Paulus, 1905) uses Romans, i and 2 Cor., Gal., Philip., i Thess., Col., Philem. ; while Wernle makes use of all except the Pastorals {Beginnings of Christianity, 1903).
The Corroboration of Paul 261
the person of Christ remains the same. In them all alike He Is the divine ' Lord,' whose right it is to rule: the 'Son of God,' consubstantlal with the Father: the ' great God and Saviour ' of sinners : ' God over all, blessed forever.' And In their consentient testimony to the deity of Christ they make it clear to us that upon this point, at least, the whole primitive Church was of one unvarying mind.
THE WITNESS OF THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES
There yet remains a certain amount of corroborative evidence for the conclusions which we have reached, Catholic borne by a series of letters which have Epistles been preserved to us, purporting to be Corroborative j-^g compositions of primitive followers of our Lord. We use the term " purporting " not be- cause we have any doubt that they are all that they profess to be, but because their descriptions of them- selves have not been accepted as valid in all critical circles, and because we do not consider it necessary to pause to vindicate their authenticity here. If their testimony were substantially different from that of the more extended documents which we have already passed in review, it might be required of us to validate their claim to give testimony to the primitive conception of Christ, before admitting their witness. As, however, they yield only corroborative testimony, we may be content to present it for what it seems to each indi- vidual to be worth. In any event it helps to make clear to us the absolute harmony of early Christianity taken in a wide sense in its lofty conception of its Lord's person, and thus adds weight to what we have learned, from the more important documents, of the concep- tion current in the first age. And just in proportion as we recognize these letters, too, as a legacy of the first age, reflecting the belief of the first generation of
262
The Catholic Epistles 263