James Donald.
NATURAL. -1. In Ro !=«'• U-'-^* (cf. Jude" 'naturally') 'natural' is the rendering of 0iicriK6s. In Ko 1 St. Paul denounces certain forms of sexual vice as ' against nature.' To indulge in them is to pervert and degrade human nature. Its constitu- tion is violated when the lower impulses refuse to be controlled. History confirms the Apostle's judgment that ' natural' instincts and passions un- bridled by reason and conscience lead to unnatural crimes which are dishonouring alike to man and to God. To Kenan's outburst, ' Nature cares nothing about chastity,' the true reply is, ' Instead of say- ing that Nature cares nothing about chastity, let us say that human nature, our nature, cares about it a great deal ' (Matthew Arnold, Discourses in America, London, 1896, p. 60). In Roll St. Paul, using figurative language, describes the Jews as 'natural branches' in contrast with the Gentiles, who are represented as artificially grafted into the tree of God's people. The process described is ' one that in horticulture is never performed. The cultivated branch is always engrafted upon the wild stock, and not vice versa. This Paul knew quite well (see irapa (pvcnv, v.-''), and the force of his reproof to the presuming Gentile turns on the fact that the process ivas an unnatural one ' (J. Denney, EGT, ' Romans,' 1900, p. 680).
2. In 1 Co 2''' 15"- ■", ' natural ' is the rendering of tj/vx^Kdi. It is also used twice in RVni as an alternative to another translation of the same word. In '2 P 2'- ' mere animals ' is in the RV text, but in Jude '* ' sensual ' is found, ' animal ' being a second marginal rendering. In all these passages foxt-K-M ' has a disparaging sense, being opposed to TTvev^ariKds (as ^vxr] is not to iri'eDjua), and almost synonymous with crd/j/cicos or ffap/cticds (1 Co 3"-). . . . 'This epithet describes to the Corinthians the un- regenerate nature at its best, the man commended in philosophy, actuated by the higher thoughts and aims of the natural life — not the sensual man (the animalisoi the Vulg. ) who is ruled by bodily impulses. Yet the i/'ux'tis, /nij f^"" ^"cvf^a (Jude '") may be lower than the capKiKOi, where the latter, as in 1 Co 3' and Gal 5"- -*, is already touched but not fully assimilated by the life-giving vi>edjxa ' (G. G. Findlay, EGT, ' 1 Cor.,' 1900, p. 783, note on 1 Co 2'''). To this helpful discrimination may be added a brief quotation from T. C. Edwards' Coinmentary on. First Ep. to Corinthians'^, London, 1885 : ' the word xf^vxinii was coined by Aristotle {Eth. Nic. III. X. 2), to distinguish the pleasures of the soul, such as ambition and desire of know- ledge, from those of the body.' As used by St. Paul, ' the ^i>x"c6s, contrasted with the d/cpar^s, is the noblest of men. But to the TrvevixaTLK6$ he is related as the natural to the supernatural. . . . The indwelling spirit is the Holy Spirit ; and he in whom that Spirit dwells is at once supernatural and holy' (p. 65 f., note on 1 Co 2'^').
\pvx^K6i is sometimes rendered 'psychic,' and sometimes 'soulish' in 1 Co 15", with the intention of emphasizing the contrast between the 'natural' and the ' spiritual ' body. Hut ' though inadequa((s "natural is the best available rendering of this adjective ; it indicates the moulding of man's body by its environment, and its adaplatiim to existing functions ; the same body is xo'^<>'' iti respect of its material (v.").' In this context, however, ' ^uxikov is only relatively a term of disi)aragement ; the " psychic " body has in it the making of the "spiritual " ' (G. G. Findlay, op. cit. p. 937). The body which, in our present state, is adapted for the service of the soul, is contrasted by St. P;iul with the body which, in the future state, will be adapted for the higher service of the spirit. 'An organism fitted to be the seat of mind, to express emotion, to carry out the Viehests of will is already in process of teing adapted for a still nobler ministry.' Hence in v.'"' the history of man is said to be ' a progress from Adam to Christ, from soulish to spiritual, from the present life to the future' (T. C. Edwards, op. cit. pp. 441, 445).
3. (a) In two passages (Ko P', 2 Ti 3') the phrase ' without natural attection ' is the rendering of d(TTopyoi. By this word St. Paul describes those who are so regardless of the claims of nature as to be lacking in love for their own kindred. He assumes that love of kindred {aTo/ryri) should natur- ally arise from such human relationships as parent and child, husband and wife, brother and sister. Here, as in those passages in which ' natural ' is the rendering of (pvaiKds, the word denotes not what is in harmony with our environment, but what is in accord with our own true nature or constitu- tion.
(6) In Ja 1-^ 'his natural face' is the rendering of the phrase Trpiiruirov ttjs yeviaews, lit. ' the face of his birth' (KVm). The meaning is the face which is ' native ' to man. The contrast is between ' the face which belongs to this transitory life,' of whicli a refle.xion may be seen in a mirror, and ' tlie character which is being here moulded for eternity,' of which a reflexion may be seen in the Word (J. B. Mayor, Epistle of St. James'', London, 1910, p. 71, note on 1^).