Literature. — Sermons on Ph 4" will be found in L Barrow, Works, iii. [1831] 1-106 ; R. Sanderson, Works, i. [1854] 112- 172 ; R. Sibbes, Works, v. [1863] 177-193 ; CommeTitaries on Philippians, esp. C. J. Ellicott (31865), M. R. Vincent (ICC, 1897), H. A. A. Kennedy (EGT, 1903) ; see also J. Guthrie, Divine Dvicontent, 1913 ; H. W. Smith, The Life Worth Liv- ing, 1912, p. 7 ; Lord Avebury, Peace and Happiness, 1909, p. 99flf. ; jT \. Vance, Royal Manhood, 1899, p. 165 ff. ; D. Watson, In Life's School, 1902, p. 145 fif. J. S. BANKS.
CONTINENCE.— See Abstinence.
CONTRIBUTION.— The significance of the word Koiviovia, twice translated ' contribution ' in the RV, is understood best from its employment and the employment of its cognates in various connexions in the NT. The root-idea is that of personal rela- tionship. The fellowship or communion which it
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COXVERSATION
CONVERSION
denotes, while it is essentiallj- inward and spiritual, is at the same time a living and active union based on mutual co-operation between persons or personi- fied subjects (cf. 1 Jn P- «'•, Ac 2-»-, 2 Co 6^^ IS''', 1 Co P, etc. ; for (xvyKOLPuji'eii' and crvyKoivwvos see Ph 4", Eph 5", Rev 18^). From this it came to express the acts by which this vital fellowsliip is manifested through the agency of the Holy Spirit?, or by acts of brotherly kindness between members of the scattered Christian communities (cf. Ph 2^, He 13i« ; see B. Weiss, Biblical Theology of the NT^, 1893, i. 188). In the Didache we lind the same conception of brotherly love emphasized as the visible expression of a personal spiritual communion {cTvyKOivuivfj(Tet.% 5i iravra t(^ a5eK(pi2 <rov . . . el yap iv Tw ddavdrw kolvwi/oI iare, vdcri^ /xdWov iv toIs dvrjTols, iv. 8). Here the meaning has not yet reached the degenerate stage at which it arrived in patristic Greek theologj^ where it is almost equivalent to iXetjfioavvT] (see Cremer, Bibl.-Theol. Lexicon of NT Greek, Eng. tv.\ 1895, p. 363). We are thus able to apprehend the supreme importance which St. Paul attached to the contributions of the Gentile Churches to the poor among the Christians of Judaea (Ro 152s, 2 Co 9'*, etc. ; see also art. COLLECTION). His conception of the undertaking is not merely that Gentile and Jew should be participators in the common blessings of plenty, to a share in which each Christian has a claim. If that were all, we should look for the word fier^x^iv (cf. 1 Co 10", He 2^*, etc. ), which has both a narrower and a more external connotation than KOLvwvelv (see Westcott, Epistle to the Hebrews^, 1903, pp. 74, 336 ; Robert- son-Plummer, 1 Corinthians [ICC, 1911], pp. 212, 215,217 ; cf., however, Ellicott's Commentary, 1887, on 1 Co 1016).
The giver and the receiver are both involved in Koivwvla, and in the acts of giving and receiving they throw into objective reality their complete personal union in the Body of Christ. To achieve this end no sacrifice was too great (XeiTovpyijaai, Ro 15^), for a debt inestimable was resting on those who, from outside, had been received into the spiritual fellowship of Jesus Christ {6(peL\eTai). By discharging their obligation in this respect, the Gentiles not only witnessed to the profound spirit- ual principle of communion in the Christian society, but also used an instrument whereby the union, thus expressed, would be realized on the other side. Arising out of the movement initiated by St. Paiil we find that contributing to the needs of the saints {KoivuvodvTes, Ro 12'^) is enjoined as a general duty of Christians (cf. koivwvikovs, 1 Ti 6^^ where the thought involves the formation of the habit and character of generosity with a view to ' the life which really is life ' [see the translation in Mottat's historical New Testamenf^, 1901, p 575]). J. R. Willis.
CONVERSATION.— This is the AV rendering of the Gr. dva(;Tpo<pT) in Gal l'^, Eph 4^2, 1 Ti 412 Ja 313 1 p 115-18 212 3.. 2. 16^ 2 F 2^ 311 ; of iro\lTevp.a in Ph ^^ {TToXiTeveade, Ph !■"), and of rpdwos in He 13^ The English word is founded on the Vulg. conversatio (conversor) and signifies 'manner of life' (= RV rendering ; for examples of this use of ' conversa- tion,' see Murray's OED s.v.). iroXlTev/xa and iroXiTevea-Oai definitely associate the conception of life with relationship to a iroXis. They are character- istically Greek expressions ; for ' conduct to a Greek was mainly a question of relation to the State ' (J. A. Robinson on Eph 2'). On the other hand, dva(TTpi(}>eadai. (with its noun d.va<TTpo(p7)) is in the NT practicallj'sj^nonymous with words express- ing a manner or ' walk ' of life, such as irepiwaTe'iv (a favourite Pauline and Johannine word) and TTopetjeffdai (which is found in Luke and Acts and elsewhere in tlie NT, but not in Pauline and Johan-
nine M-ritings) ; cf. also crTOLxelv, Gal 5-^ 6'", Ph 3^^ (see HDB, art. ' Conversation,' for discussion of the distinction between TrepnraTeiv and dvaarpecpea-dai as drawn by E. Hatch in his Essays in Biblical Greek, 1889, p. 9). ' Conversation,' therefore, is an ex- cellent rendering of dvaarpocp-n if it be understood in the general sense of ' conduct ' or regulation of life, the signification which it bore in English before being limited by common usage to inter- course in speech.