The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 410

EXPOSITION. thought it their duty to abstain from anunal CHAPTER XIV. food, and perhaps also from wine (vera 2, Vere. l'--23.-F. The duty of enlightened 21); and there is allusion also to obser,o.nce ChristianB towa'l'dB weak breth'l'en, From of certain days (ver. 5). The views that moral duties in general of Christians to- have been ta.ken are as follows :- wards each other and towards all the apostle (]) That they were the same clas3 of now passes to such 1U1 they owe peculiarly Jewish Christians as are spoken of in 1 to ea.oh other as members of a religious Cor. viii. as over-scrupulous a.bout eating of community, united by a common faith. He things that had been offered in sacrifice to has already (eh. xii. 16) admonished his idols. readers to be " of the same mind one toward (2) That they were such as were scrupu- another ; " but, as was reme.rked under that lous in avoiding unclean meats, forbidden verse, this did -uot imply ngreement of view in the Mosaic Law. (Or, as Er-=us and on all subjects, such as is impossible where others suggest, views (1) and (2) mny be there are many minds. In this chapter he combined.) recognizes the impossibility, having imme- (3) That they were a&cdica. die.tely before him what wns then patent, the In favour of view (1) is the fact that the inability of some, through prejudioe or slow- drift and tone of the etlorte.tion is exactly ness of oonoeption, to enter into views of the same here 1U1 in 1 Cor. viii., with simi- the meaning of the gospel whioh to himself larity also of ~resfilons, such e.s d ii,r6,vii,v, nnd the more enlightened were 11,ppnrent. 6 i<T8{o,y, {Jpo,<Tis, {Jpo,µa,, ciroAu,ur, rpo<T1<0,ui,.a, He by no meons departs from whot he snys <TIMYB~l(,ur. Against it are the fa-11;.i (a) olsewhere (of. Ge.I. i, 6-10) a.bout no deniol th11t in the ohe.pter before us there is no of fundRmontol dootrine being o.llowe.ble iu allusion whntever to idol-meats, M there is the communion of the Ohurch; but inmRtters throughout so morkedly in 1 Cor. viii.; and not touching the foundation he does here (b) that 11bstinenoe from u.ll nnilll,11 food inouloe.te II lorge nnd generous tolemnce. whatever (nnd apparently from wine too) In these, as in nll other rolRtious between is spoken of in this chnpter. Objection (11) men on the earth together, the all-inspiring has been met by saying th11t the ground of principle of oharity is to rulo. Who the the scrupulosity referrod to might be so well "weok brethren" wero whose scruples he known that St. Pnul did not think it neces- ospeoie.lly inculcates tolemnoe of in this sary to mention it when he wrote to tha ohopter onnnot bo decided positively. It Roml\US. To objection (b) it is r1.1plied that will be seen tho.t they wore persons who theru might ha sollle who, in order to gullld 1 Pope'•' Kiugtlom of Christ,' pp. SiG, Si7.  THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. [011. Xtv. 1-28.