which even the heathen did not tolerate. About the same time that these distressing reports reached Ephesus, a dutiful message to St. Paul was brought from Corinth by Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus (1 Cor. xvi. 17). These envoys seem to have brought with them a letter asking for advice on certain points of conduct and discipline, viz., about Marriage, Celibacy, the use of Idol-meats, the. Gifts of the Spirit, and the Collection,? with each of which the Apostle deals separately in his reply under a distinct heading, beginnning περὶ δέ... It is interesting, because so natural,’ that the Corinthians seem to have made no mention in their letter of the schisms and disorders which had arisen among them.4
7. It was in consequence of the reports which had reached him, as well as in reply to this letter of the Corinthian Church, that St. Paul wrote the First Canonical Epistle. Of this the early part is entirely taken up with warnings against schism (chaps. i.-iv.), and with a stern rebuke for the sins of the flesh into which they had fallen, and of which the Church had not taken cognisance (chaps. v., vi.). The remainder of the Epistle is mainly occupied with the letter of the Corinthians to him, taking up their points in order: περὶ δὲ ὧν ἐγράψατε, καλὸν ἀνθρώπῳ γυναικὸς μὴ ἅπτεσθαι (1 Cor. vii. 1); περὶ δὲ τῶν παρθένων (1 Cor. vii. 25); περὶ δὲ τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων (1 Cor. viii. 1); περὶ δὲ τῶν πνευματικῶν (1 Cor. xii. 1); περὶ δὲ τῆς λογίας (1 Cor. xvi. 1). It thus appears, and it is important to bear it in mind, that chaps. vii.-xvi. of 1 Corinthians are of the nature of an appendix or excursus, and that chaps. i.-vi. constitute the letter proper, as con- taining the Apostle’s special message to the Corinthian Church at this juncture. His language in reference to the party spirit which was manifesting itself is grave and uncompromising (1 Cor. iii. 12-15), and he writes about his own position in a spirit of depression (1 Cor.
1See Cicero, pro Cluentio, 6, 15.
2 Lewin (94. Paul, vol. i., p. 386) and Findlay (Expositor, June, 1900) have tried to reconstruct this letter ; but beyond the general fact that it dealt with certain topics we have no data upon which to go.
3 See Paley, Hore Pauline, chap. iii., § i.
4 Mention may be made here of an apocryphal letter of the Corinthians to St. Paul and his supposed reply, which are extant in Armenian and in Latin. An English translation by Lord Byron will be found in Stanley’s Corinthians, vol. ii., p. 305. These letters do not correspond in any way to the lost correspondence discussed above (1 Cor. v. 9, xvi. 17), and, although they were admitted into the Armenian and Syrian canon, have no claim to authenticity or genuineness. They were originally incorporated in the apocryphal Acts of Paul (see Sanday, Encyel, Biblica, vol. i., p. 907).