2 Clem. iii. 4, iv. 5 tt., xvii. 3. 6 ; Ign. Eph. ix. 2; cf. ]\lagn. xiii. 1 (Soy/xara tov Kvpiov kuI tQv airoaTb- \u3v) ; Did. xi. 3 {56yiJ.a tov evayye'Mov).
3. Commandments of the apostles. — From the commandments of Jesus appealed to by the apostles it is an easy transition to those of the apostles themselves (cf, 2 P 32) ; it should be noted, how- ever, that the term evroXai is restricted to the commandments of God and Jesus, while the apos- tolic ' commandments' are denoted by other terms : doyfiaTa (Ac 16-*), 7rapa77eX(at (1 Th 42 ; cf. 2 Th S^"), irapadoaeis (I Co II2, 2 Th 2^^ 3% and the like. But although St. Paul, in 1 Co 7, distinguishes between his own 'judgment ' (v. 25 yvu/j.7]) and the command- ment of the Loi'd, he nevertheless demands obe- dience to the former, inasmuch as he is possessed of the Spirit of God (1 Co 7^»; cf. Ac I528), and, accordingly, he can even assert that what he writes is ' the commandment of the Lord' (1 Co 143'^). It is true that he sometimes appeals, as in 1 Co 10^"*, to the personal judgment of his readers, but it is clear, from IV^ and 143"-, that he attached no de- cisive importance to such judgment. In any case,
234
COMMEXDATIOiJ
communio:n
all oijposition must give way before the consensus of apostolic usage (11"^ 14"''), and St. Paul always assumes that such a consensus really exists ; cf. Ro 6^' Ttjiros didaxns ('fixed form of moral teach- ing'), 16'^ (where ' the teaching ' = moral teaching).
This common ethical tradition would include, above all, the so-called Apostolic Decree (Ac IS^**'* 16''). It must certainly have comprised the in- junctions regarding things sacrificed to idols, and fornication, an echo of which is still heard in Rev 220. 24 ((>f_ y_24 ^T^Q phrase ' cast upon you none other burden' with Ac 15'^), and which the Apostle, not only according to Ac 16*, but also in 1 Co 6^^-20 ^nd lO^^"'^, expressly urges upon Gentile Christians. Cf. further artt. Law and MosES.
We must also take account of the lists of vices and virtues given in various forms by the apostles : Gal 5'9-2i, 1 Co 5'" &^-, 2 Co 122')'-, Ro l-«-=*' IS^^^ Col 35-8, Eph 43' 5»'-, 1 Ti P's 2 Ti S'^-^, Rev 21^ 22»» (vices) ; Gal 5^^ Col 312-16, Eph 42'- 32.52^ 2 P p-s (virtues). Similar lists are found in Did. ii. 1-v. 2, Ram. 18-20, Polycarp, ii. 2-iv. 3. Though such tables were in tiieir origin dependent upon Jewish and Greek models (e.g. Wis 12=**^- U--*^-; cf. Mt 15'9 ; Diog. Laert. vii. 110-114)— as St. Paul indeed in- directly recognizes in Ro P^ Ph 4^ (cf. the Stoic phrase ra fir) KadrjKovTa, Ro 1^^) — they nevertheless reveal, especially as regards the virtues, their dis- tinctively Christian character.
Along with the lists of vices and virtues should be mentioned also the so-called ' house-tables,' i.e. the groups of precepts for the various domestic re- lationships— husbands and wives, parents and chil- dren, masters and slaves (e._(/. Eph 5^^-6^, Col 3i*-4i, 1 P 2"*-3''). These, as will be seen, make their first appearance in the later Epistles, but they may well have attained an oral form at an earlier date. Finally, the Pastoral Epistles, in addition to the family precepts, give several series of directions for the various orders of Christians — bishops, deacons, widows, etc., thus furnishing in fact a kind of Church organization, the social duties of the various relationships being made more or less subordinate to the ecclesiastical point of view (cf. 1 Ti 2'-62, Tit P-32).
The reduction of Christian morality to concrete details was a matter of historic necessity. Just as the spirit of Christianity was not, even at the out- set, possessed by all believers in the same degree, but was found pre-eminently in the apostles and prophets, so it was not present so fully in the later period as in the earlier. Hence, wiien the apostles were nearing their end, they felt it necessary, for the sake of the succeeding generation, to commit to writing the more detailed ethical teaching which no doubt they had to some extent already brought into an oral form. Cf. further art. Law.
Litre ATUEE.— The NT Theoloj^es of B. Weiss, P. Peine, and H.Weinel ; G. B. Stevens, The Pauline Theology, 1S92 ; C. v. Weizsacker, Apostolic Age, Eng. tr., 1.2 [1897] 154 ; A. Seeberg, Der Katechismus der Urchristenheit, 1903, p. Iff.; O. Moe, Paulusund die evangeliscke Geschichte, 1912, p. 56 ff.; A. b! Bruce, St. Paul's Conception of Chriatianity, 1894, p. 293 ff.'; E. v. Dobsciiutz, Christian Life in the Primitive Church, Ens. tr., 1904, p. 399 ff. QlAF MoE.
COMMENDATION (from Lat. com- and mando, 'commit to'). — 'Commend' is used in AV and RV as a translation of (a) irapaTi9T)fi.i, in the sense of entrusting (cf. ' Father, into tiiy hands I com- mend my spirit,' Lk 23*") in Ac 14^3 and 20'-, in reference to tlie solemn committing of the heads of the churches to God. The same verb is trans- lated • commit ' (to God) in 1 P 4i» (' Let them that sutler . . . commit their souls ... to a faitliful creator') ; cf. Lk 12^^ 1 Ti 1'** 6-0, 2 Ti l'^- h 22.