II. Ascetic principles. — Abstinence is wider than fasting or outward observances ; it implies principles by which these external actions are determined, and it keeps in view also the inner reality of which they are the expression. It in- cludes character as well as conduct. Indeed, it is this inward reality which is mainly of value in the Christian ideal of abstinence.
1. The verb do-Ktiv occurs only once in the NT (Ac 24^®), in this sense of a life whose activities are explained, in the way both of omission and com- mission, by an inner principle. St. Paul was accused of deliberately ott'ending Jewish legal sus-
* Harnack (on Did. xi. 8) thinks Eph 532 recommends celibacy as a higher life for the Christian. See, however, Schaff, The Oldest Church Manual, 1885, p. 202.
t See Ilarnack's What is Christianity i (Eng. tr., 1904, p 123 ff.) for remarks qualifying the idea underlying the phrase, ' the dignity of labour.'
ABSTINENCE
ABSTINENCE
ceptibilities. He denies the charge. AYhile he adheres to the heresy of 'the Way,' he does so without intentionally coming into collision with the customs or prejudices of others. Not only so, Vjut his plan is a studied attempt to conform to all customs of Jew and Gentile, of ' weak ' and 'strong,' consistently with his faithfulness to God and his being under law to Christ. This is his &<TKr]aLs for the gospel's sake (1 Co 9*^"^*). His whole life is an illustration of this. He yielded to Jewish susceptibilities (Ac 16^ 18'^ 21^^), and bore with Gentile immaturity (1 Th 2"-i2). This con- duct was not due to fickleness or guile (1 Co 2'®, 1 Th 2»), but to love (2 Co 5^^^-), and it Avas done in simplicity and godly sincerity of conscience (2 Co V'-, Ac 24"*). It was ditt'erent from the love- less superior liberty of Corinthian liberalism, and from the servile man-pleasing of weak Judaism (Gal 1. 2). It was, in short, a reproduction of that Kivuxxis of self (so different from seltish human ac- quisitiveness) which was the great feature of the life of Christ (Ph 28).
To St. Paul this involved very real asceticism. In striking language he figures himself as in the course of his Christian race undergoing privations, abstinences, and self-discipline as great as any runner for tlie Isthmian prize or as any pugilist. It is not simply that this asceticism involved abstinence from sin — Christianity demands that from all ; it involved also the giving up of privi- leges and rights, and the denial to self of anything that would hinder his being sure of the prize or that would weaken others or cause them to stumble. It is a warning to Christian liberalism in Corinth not to degenerate into licence and so to fall. Christian asceticism is the remedy against this. We are not to infer that St. Paul practised bodily torture, that he went, as it were, out of his way to invent austerities, self-imposed fastings, or flagella- tions. ^Yhat he refers to here is the effect on his whole life of his absorbing passion for men's salva- tion. That was the expulsive power which made him an ascetic in this sense, which made him abnegate his rights of maintenance at Thessalonica and Corinth, which made him work at night though preaching through the day, which overcame his bodily weaknesses, which brought him into dangers by land and sea without being deterred by the fear of pain or privation.
Nor was this daK-rja-is of his a superior form of life which was binding only on a few choice souls. St. Paul has no double moralitj\ No one can empty himself too much for Christ or endure too much for Him. In tliis way must we explain the mani- fold passages where the Christian life is compared to a race, to an athletic contest, to military life and warfare. Just as these involve abstinence, so also does Christianity. This asceticism is, however, not arbitrarily imposed or cunningly invented ; it is the consequence of fidelity to Christ's cause. It arises out of the very nature of the Christian life. Its outward manifestation is accidental. What is essential is the presence of the self-denying spirit, which spends and is spent willingly out of love to Christ. It is a complete perversion to suppose that outward austerities can create this spirit. Out- ward hardships of any sort must be effects, not causes. This Christian asceticism is not due to any disparagement of the body or undervaluation of earthly relationships or a false view of matter. The asceticism born of tliese is at best only a (Tu/xaTiKTi yvfxvaaia* (1 Ti 4^''), while Christian as- ceticism is one whose end is piety. The one is of little proht, the other of eternal worth. This gymnastic for holiness arises out of the provi-
* This crioftaTiioj yvixvacrta. is not athletics in our sense ; it is a bodily discipline dictated by a philosophico-religious view of the body — a dualistic view of things (cf. 1 Ti 43).
dential disciplines furnished copiously by a strict adherence to the line of Cliristian duty. It is the kottlSlv /cat oveLdl'^ecdai, the exhaustive labouring, and the abuse (or earnest conflict [dyuivV^«j6aL\) of the man who sets his hope on the living God (1 Ti 4^"), 2. What, then, are the principles that determine the nature and limits of Christian abstinence? We may learn these by considering the general word for 'abstinence' [awex^adai.) in the NT (Ac 15-'»- 29, 1 Th 43 5--, 1 Ti 4^ 1 P 2"). These principles did not disengage themselves all at once in the Church's consciousness. The first real attempt at such a disengagement is found in the so-called Apostolic Decree (Ac 15). This was nothing more than a working compromise to ease the existing situation. Attempts have been made often and early to moralize it and so hnd in it a valid basis for Christian abstinence. Thus ' blood ' was explained as ' homicide,' and ' things strangled ' were omitted, as in Codex D ; but such attempts are beside the point as surely as the attempts to judaize the document completely by making ' forni- cation ' mean ' man-iage within the prohibited degrees.' For our purpose the Decree is valuable historically rather than morally. It is a land-mark in the liberating of Christianity from ceremonial Judaism, similar to the evangelizing of Samaria by Philip and his baptizing of the eunuch, or the dealing of St. Peter with Cornelius. It does not, however, supplj' a logical or lasting basis for abstinence. Such a basis is furnished by St. Paul (1 Th 4'-8, 1 Co 6'--"^ Gal 5^8 etc. ; cf. 1 P 2'i). The ground of Cliristian abstinence is found in the nature of the Christian life, which is a holy calling — a fellowship with the Holy One — whose animat- ing principle is the Holy Spirit. The Christian man — body, soul, and spirit — is in union with Christ. Hence the very nature of the Christian life gives a positive princijjle of abstinence. Every- thing carnal is excluded. ' The carnal mind is enmity against God, it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be' (Ro 8''). This deter- mines positively what is of necessity to be avoided, and lists of these sins are given in the NT (see above. Introduction). These are ' the works of the flesh.' At the very lowest foundation of the Christian life there must be personal purity. ayiaff/jLos is wholly opposed to aKadapaia (1 Th 4").