Ver. 16. The connexion of thought lies in a feeling that the lofty terms in which the Church has been just spoken of may demand a justification. The truth of which the Church is στύλος καὶ ἑδραίωμα is not a light thing nor an in- substantial fabric; the truth is, more expressly, τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον, the revelation to man of practical reli- gion; and, beyond yea or nay, this truth, this revelation, is great. Whether you believe it or not, you cannot deny that the claims of Christianity are tremendous.
μέγας is rare in Paul: (Rom. ix. 2; 1 Cor. ἱσ σα, χνή ο. Cor, κι. πο; Epbenve 32; 1 Tim. vi.6; 2 Tim. ii. 20; Tit. i. 13). The nearest parallel to the present pas- sage is Eph. v. 32, τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο μέγα ἐστίν. See note on ver. 9. On εὐσέβεια, see chap. ii. 2.
If we assume that 6s is the right read- ing, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that what follows is a quotation by St. Paul from a primitive creed or summary of the chief facts to be believed about Jesus Christ. And one is tempted to conjecture that another fragment of the same summary is quoted in τ Pet. iii. 18, θανατωθεὶς μὲν σαρκὶ ζωοποιηθεὶς δὲ πνεύματι. ὅς, then, does not form part of the quotation at all; it is simply intro-
15—16. ΠΡΟΣ ΤΙΜΟΘΕΟΝ A 119 “ ἐκηρύχθη ἐν “ ἔθνεσιν, ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ, ἢ ἀνελήμφθη Ἱ ἐνο ca i. 2
cf. 2 Cor. ᾿ ὰ i. 19, Col. 1, 23. p Mark xvi. 19, Acts i. 2, 11, 22. q Luke ix. 31, 1 Cor. xv. 43, Phil. iv. το, Col Ἢ 4e
ductory, and relative to the subject, Jesus Christ, whose personality was, in some terms, expressed in an antecedent sentence which St. Paul has not quoted.
As the passage stands, there are three pairs of antithetic thoughts: (1) (a) the flesh and (6) the spirit of Christ, (2) (a) angels and (b) Gentiles—the two ex- tremes of the rational creation, (3) (a) the world and (b) glory. In another point of view, there is a connexion be- tween 2 a and 3 ὁ, and between 2 ὃ and 3 a. Again, we may say that we have here set forth (τ) the Incarnation in itself, (2) its manifestation, (3) its conse- quence or result, as affecting man and God.
The antithesis between the σάρξ and πνεῦμα of Christ is drawn, in addition to τ Pet. iii. 18, also in Rom. i. 3, 4. τοῦ γενομένου ἐκ σπέρματος AavelS κατὰ σάρκα, τοῦ ὁρισθέντος υἱοῦ θεοῦ ἐν δυνάμει κατὰ πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης. We cannot leave out of account in discussing these passages the parallel in 1 Pet. iv. 6, εἰς τοῦτο yap Kal νεκροῖς εὐηγγελίσθη ἵνα κριθῶσι μὲν κατὰ ἀνθρώπους σαρκί ζῶσι δὲ κατὰ θεὸν πνεύματι. The πνεῦμα of Christ, as man, in these pas- sages means His human spirit, the natur- ally permanent spiritual part of a human personality. See also 1 Cor. v. 5.
ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί: He who had been from all eternity “‘in the form of God” became cognisable by the limited senses of human beings, ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας (Rom. viii. 3), became manifest in the flesh, σὰρξ ἐγένετο (John i. 14). avepoty is used in connexion with Christ in four associations in the Ν.Τ. :-
(1) as here, of the objective fact of the Incarnation: John i. 31 (?), Heb. ix. 26, 1 Pet. i. 20, 1 John i. 2 (bis), iii. 5, 8.
(2) of the revelation involved in the Incarnation: Rom. xvi. 26, Col. i. 26, iv. ΠΣ τ 1 τὸ, ὉΠ 1.3. Ν.Ε. in’ Rom. and Col. the verb is used of a μυστήριον.
(3) of the post-resurrection appear- ances of Christ, which were, in a sense, repetitions of the marvel of the Incarna- tion, as being manifestations of the unseen: Mark xvi. 12, 14, John xxi. 1 (bis), 14.