disciples. This unity will follow upon their being ' kept ii' T(j dnbiiarl aov.' It will be assured if their relationsliip to the Father is a counterpart of what had been their relationship to Christ (v.'-'), i.e. a personal relationship. Whatever, therefore, be the exact meaning which the analogy used by our Lord was intended to convey, His own language in the context appears to make it plain that it must be interpreted with a spiritual rather than with an external significance. — (3) This conclusion derives not a little support from the incident of Mk 9^''-. When a definite test case arose. He declared the real fellowship of His followers to depend not upon any outward bond of union between them, but upon each bearing such a relationship to Himself as would be involved in His working ^iri tiJ ovotiarl fiov. True, the man in question may not have been a nominal disciple of our Lord, but that in His view he was a real disciple is distinctly stated (v.-*"). This instance, therefore, may be regarded as a practical application on the part of Christ Himself of the teaching under consideration ; and thus it strongly confirms the inteniretation that we have put upon it. It would be outside the scope of the present article to consider arguments for or against the corporate unity of Christians dra\\-n from other sources, some of which are very strong and all of which must, of course, be duly weighed before a fair judgment on the whole question can be reached. But so far as the subject- matter before us is concerned, we find it hard to resist the conclusion that such external unity formed no part of the teaching of Christ and the Gospels.
One word must be added. The ' communion of saints' joins the believer not merely to his fellow- Christians upon earth, but also to those who have passed within the veil (cf. He 12'). This aspect of communion is not emphasized in tlie Gospels, but there are indications that the fellowship of be- lievers upon earth was linked in the thought of Christ to the yet closer fellowship of those beyond death. At any rate, it is worthy of notice that in instituting the sacred rite which, as we have seen, at once witnesses to and secures our communion one with another, our Lord carefully pointed for- ward to the reunion that will take place in the world to come (Mt 26^ ; note ik0' ufiQv) ; and that in a few suggestive words He represented the earthly gathering as incomplete apart from its final consummation in the heavenly kingdom (Lk 22"). See further artt. Fellowship, Unity'.
_ ,- Hag,
o/ the Christian with God ; Maclaren, Holi/ ,.,- ,,„<,.. r-h^- \vi.-xix. ; MacCuUoch, Comparative Theotogv, ir 1 : > ,111^. Keidence of Chr. Experience. 179; Strong, / , ( ■ ! Jii (J/, 11 ; Westcott, Historic Faith, 123, 247 ;
■ ■ i • Crec((, 32, 200 ; Expos. Tirrus, iii. 197, v.
i iiK '..W' ), nh); Tusker, Spiritual Communian.
H. BiSSEKER.
COMPASSION.-See Pity. COMPLACENCY.—
Of Scripture words expresj^ive of tlie idea of complacency as distinguished from benevolence, we find in the Heb. of the OT j'Srp, ,i)r!, variously rendered in the LXX by Wxii. i., or by some derivative of the verb lixoua,. In the NT the expressions used
are liSeje.'o,, iMe«;«, tinpirriei, liifSirriK, i.pia-x>,. The words i-/«T««,, «}.«Tr are also used in this sense. In the OT we find X^'i ' take pleasure in," in 1 S 1822 tr. in the LXX by the phrase eixu i., where Saul's servants say to David, • Behold the kins taketh pleasure in thee,' meaning that he was willing to regard with satisfaction a matrimonial alliance between David and Saul's daughter. Similarly the word .lyn ' delight,' is rendered by the same Gr. equivalent in 1 Ch 28^, where Da\id says of God, 'He likerl me to make me king.' .lyi is used of God's pleasure in '! ■ rl. -l tl;. s, ,■ '-r •! ,I.,l,oviih in Is ii\ where the LXX I : - . : ; .■ u-.,. 'Tny soul lias
COMPLACENCY
COMPLACENCY
my soul is well pleased." Here, apparently, the thought of the IjXX inclines more to the idea ot the Divine act of will by which the Servant of God was appointed to his mission, while St. Matthew emphasizes the love with which, because of His redemptive work, the Father regards His Son, and so he prefers ' my beloved ' to ' mine elect ' as a rendering ot n-nj (Mt 1218). In other passatjes also where the word I'?;; is used, as in Is 5310, the LXX makes prominent the idea of the good pleasure of the Father's will.
Again njT is used in Pr 16' of the favour with which God regards the ways of the righteous, where the LXX renders the passage, ' The ways of righteous men are acceptable (8i«T«0 with the Lord ' ; and the A V, ^ When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.'
In the NT, where tilaxiu, tiUxlu., are used, it is not always ap-
latter sense in those passages which refer to election, the deter- minate counsel and foreknowledge of God. So Eph 1=. a, Ph 213 etc. According to Cremer, ivhoxiv '(1) relates to a determi- nation when it is followed by an infinitive, Lk 12^2 , . . ; (2) Where the matter under consideration is the relation of the subject to an object, the latter is expressed in profane Greek by the dative, rarely by the addition of et/ t/v/. ... In the NT the accusative occurs only in He 106- 8 (from Ps 40'),' and here iilox-AiroL! is obviously parallel to >ilii>.y,ir»s. ' Elsewhere i» . . .' So in Mt 3" || Mk in || Lk 322, and again Mt 175. ' This mode of indicating the object is justified by the circumstance that ti'i»xi7v may be classed among the verbs which denote an emotion, a mood, a sentiment cherished towards any one = to take pleasure in something, to have an inclination