11.
TO. "el τις ἔρχεται πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ ταύτην τὴν διδαχὴν οὐ Φέρει, ὃ ἡ λαμβάνετε αὐτὸν εἰς οἰκίαν, καὶ χαίρειν αὐτῷ μὴ λέγετε᾽ μὴ hap , καὶ χαίρ D μὴ λέγ
203
2 Thess. ili. 6. Ir. 6V 1 Johni. 3,6, 7;
γὰρ λέγων 1 αὐτῷ χαίρειν, ’ κοινωνεῖ " τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ τοῖς πονηροῖς. ολη
w 1 John iii. 12.
1ο yap λεγων KLP, Iren. (I. ix. 3); ο λεγων γαρ SAB, edd.
much as he saw. Each approached the infinite wonder along the lines of his temperament and experience. St. John saw in it arevelation of Eternal Life; St. Paul the Reconciliation of sinners to God, the satisfaction of humanity’s long desire and the completion of its long discipline under the Law; the author of t e Epistle to the Hebrews the rending of the Veil and the opening of free Access to God. St. John does not condemn theological progress; he defines its limits: ‘ abide in the teaching of the Christ”. (1) We must never break with the past ; the new truth is always an outgrowth of the old. A theology which is simply old is dead; a theology which is simply new is false (cf. Matt. xiii. 52). (2) We must main- tain ‘‘ the teaching of the Christ”. Jesus is the Saviour, and no interpretation of Christianity is true which eliminates Redemption or obscures the glory of the Cross.
Vv. το-11. Treatment of Heretical Teachers. ‘‘ If any one cometh unto you and bringeth not this teaching, receive him not into your house, and bid him not farewell. For he that biddeth him fare- well hath fellowship with his works, his evil works.”
Ver. τω. Φέρει, not ‘“‘endureth” (cf. Rom. ix. 22; Heb. xii. 20), but ‘ bring- eth” as a precious boon (cf. Rev. xxi. 24, 26). ets οἰκίαν (cf. Mark ii. 1; iii. το), zu Hause; cf. ‘to church,” ‘to town,” “to market,” “το bed”. See Moulton’s Winer, pp. 148 ff. yatpe, like ave, salve, was used of both the salutation at meet- ing and the farewell at yarting. The former is its prevailing use in N.T., but here, as in 2 Cor. xiii. 11, the latter. ‘Zum Abschied, wenn der Abgewiesene weiter ziehen muss” (Holtzmann).
Ver. Ir. κοινωνεῖ, cf. 1 Johni. 3. An unholy κοινωνία. τοῖς épy. αὐτ. τοῖς πον., cf. I John i. 2: τὴν Conv τὴν αἰώνιον. The adjective is an emphatic afterthought.
This counsel recalls the story of St. John’s behaviour to Cerinthus (see Introd. p. 157), and it was cited by Irenzus (1. ix. 3) as inculcating intolerance of here- tics. If so, it is certainly an unChristian counsel, contrary to the spirit and teach- ing of our Lord (cf. Mark ix. 38-39;
Luke ix. 51-56; Matt. χιπ. 28-209). Heretics are our fell. w-creatures; Jesus died for them also, and our office is to win them. If we close our doors and our hearts against them, we lose our opportunity of winning them and harden them in their opposition. There are two thoughts which may well teach us for- bearance and humility: (1) The patience of the Lord. A Jewish fable tells how Abraham thrust an aged wayfarer ‘rom his tent because he asked no blessing on his food and avow-d himself a fire-wor- shipper. And the Lord said: ‘‘I have suffered him these hundred years, al- though he dishonoured Me; and couldst not thou endure him for one night?” (2) The mystery of the things of God and the blindness of our intellects. «ΤΗ, says St. Augustine (Contra Epis- tolam Manichai, 2), ‘‘in vos saviant, qui nesciunt cum quo labore verum inventa- tur, et quam difficile caveantur errores”. This counsel of the Apostle must be read in the light of local circumstances. There was need of caution and discrimin- ation in receiving the itinerant ‘‘ aposties and prophets” who went from church to church, lest they should prove ‘“ false apostles ” (ψευδαπόστολοι) and “false prophets” (ψευδοπροφῆται).. See Di- dache, xi.-xii., where the test is given: ov πᾶς 6 λαλών ἐν πνεύµατι. προφήτης ἐστίν, add’ ἐὰν ἔχῃ τοὺς τρόπους Kupiov. It is not until the second century that there is any appearance of buildings set apart for worship. The primitive ἐκκλη- σίαι met in private houses (cf Rom. XVI ο στ αν. του 6ο]. αν. πο Philem. 2); and when St. John warns Kyria against “ receiving into her house” a heretical teacher, it is not showing him hospitality that he forbids, but affor ing him an opportunity to unsettle the faith of the brethren. She must neither let him pervert ‘‘ the church in her house”, nor send him on his way to a neighbour- ing church ith the recommendation of her confidence and goodwill. ‘This is expressed, though somewhat vaguely, by Clem. Alex.: ‘‘ Hoc in hujusmodi non est inhumanum, sed nec conquirere vel condisputare cum talibus admonet qui non valent intelligibiliter divina tractare, ne per eos traducantur a doctrina veri-