No one can read through the indications which the Apostle gives of what he means by "wholesome teaching," without perceiving the key-note which rings through it all;--_sobriety_ or _sobermindedness_. The aged men are to be taught to be "temperate, grave, _soberminded_." The aged women to be "reverent in demeanour," "that they may _school_ the young women ... to be _soberminded_." The younger men are to be "exhorted to be _soberminded_." And in giving the reason for all this he points out God's purpose in His revelation to mankind; "to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live _soberly_."
Now, what is the precise meaning of this sobriety or sobermindedness, on which St. Paul insists so strongly as a duty to be impressed upon men and women both old and young?
The words used in the original Greek (=sôphrôn=, =sôphronizein=, =sôphronein=) signify, according to their derivation,[77] "of _sound_ mind," "to make of sound mind," and "to be of sound mind;" and the quality which they indicate is that _mens sana_ or healthiness of mental constitution which shows itself in discreet and prudent conduct, and especially in _self-control_. This latter meaning is specially predominant in Attic writers.
Thus Plato defines it as "a kind of order and a controlling of certain pleasures and desires, as is shown by the saying that a man is 'master of himself' ... an expression which seems to mean that in the man's soul there are two elements, a better and a worse, and when the better controls the worse, then he is said to be master of himself" (_Rep._, IV. p. 431). Similarly, Aristotle tells us that the lowest bodily pleasures are the sphere in which this virtue of self-control is specially displayed; that is, those bodily pleasures which the other animals share with man, and which are consequently shown to be slavish and bestial, viz., the pleasures of touch and taste (_Eth. N._, III. x. 4, 9; _Rhet._, I. ix. 9). And throughout the best Attic writers the vices to which self-control is opposed are those which imply immoderate indulgence in sensual pleasures. It is a virtue which has a very prominent place in heathen moral philosophy. It is one of the most obvious of virtues. It is manifest that in order to be a virtuous man at all one must at least have control over one's lowest appetites. And to a heathen it is one of the most impressive of virtues. All of us have experience of the difficulty of regulating our passions; and to those who know nothing of Christian teaching or of the grace of God the difficulty is increased tenfold. Hence to the savage the ascetic seems to be almost superhuman; and even in the cultivated pagan abstinence from bodily pleasure and steadfast resistance of sensual temptation excite wonder and admiration. The beautiful panegyric of Socrates put into the mouth of Alcibiades in the _Symposium_ of Plato illustrates this feeling: and Euripides styles such virtue as the "noblest gift of the gods."
But when this virtue becomes illuminated by the Gospel its meaning is intensified. The "sobermindedness" or "sobriety" of the New Testament is something more than the "self-control" or "temperance" of Plato and Aristotle. Its sphere is not confined to the lowest sensual enjoyments. Self-mastery with regard to such things is still included; but other things are included also. It is that power over ourselves which keeps under control, not only bodily impulses, but spiritual impulses also. There is a spiritual frenzy analogous to physical madness, and there are spiritual self-indulgences analogous to bodily intemperance. For these things also self-mastery is needed.
St. Paul in writing to the Corinthians sums up his own life under the two conditions of being out of his mind and in his right mind. His opponents at Corinth, like Festus (Acts xxvi. 24), accused him of being mad. He is quite ready to admit that at times he has been in a condition which, if they like, they may call madness. But that is no affair of theirs. Of his sanity and sobriety at other times there can be no question; and his conduct during these times of sobriety is of importance to them. "For whether we went out of our mind" (=exestêmen=), "it was for God, or are in our right mind" (=sôphronoumen=, "are of sober mind," R.V.), "it is for you" (2 Cor. v. 13). The Apostle "went out of his mind," as his enemies chose to say, at his conversion on the road to Damascus, when a special revelation of Jesus Christ was granted to him: and to this phase of his existence belonged his visions (Acts xvi. 9; xxvii. 23), ecstasies and revelations (2 Cor. xii. 1-7), and his "speaking with tongues" (1 Cor. xiv. 18). And he was "in his right mind" in all the great tact, and sagacity, and self-denial, which he exhibited for the well-being of his converts.