The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 247

concealed. Would he announce nn inflexible determination to punish? No; further di8cipline might be needful for him, further forbearance might be desirable in the case of his assailants; and all he ventured to affirm was, "I think to be bold against some." 'Wno were the "some"? Evidently those who impeached his motives and openly reviled his ministry. How does he describe them? By the thoughts they entertained of him as an apostle. "They think of us as if we walked according to tbo flesh," referring to a course of conduct "determined by the fear of men or the desire of pleasing men, and hence a personal bearing disgraced by cowardice or servility. The human nature referred to was therefore one enfeebled, not merely from the want of Divine support, but from sin" (Lange's 'Commentary'). Such an opinion respecting the apostle indicate~ clearly enough the evil source whence it sprang. It happens often that the judgments we pronounce on others are most true in application to ourselves, and, unawares, we have disclosed what our own hearts are in estimating outside parties. A. politician who is always charging other politicians with· being demagogues is generally a. demagogue himself, and the man who ·never hesitates to apply the epithet of a liar to others is quite sure to be a liar himself. But how does St. Paul meet the charge of being carnally minded in his high office? " Though we walk in the flesh [live a corporeal life], we do not war after the flesh," or<c according to the flesh," the contrast being in the words "in" and "according." And forthwith he proceeds to show the difference between walking in the flesh and warring according to the flesh. A warrior he is, an open and avowed warrior-a. warrior who was to cast down imagin&tions and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ ; a. warrior ~o who would pnnish these J udaizers if they continued their disorganizing work; but a prudent and considerate warrior, deferring the avenging blow till "I am assured of your submission" (Stanley) "that I may not confound the innocent with the-guilty, the dupes with the deceivers." What kind of a preacher he was he had shown long before; what kind of an apostle he was among apostles as to independence, self- support, and resignation of official rights in earthly matters, he had also shown ; further yet, what kind of a. sufferer and martyr he was had been portrayed. Step by step he had gone on with this faithful unfolding of himself, giving the most unique spiritual biography in the world of literature, and that too on no preconceived plan. How many aspects of his character had been sketched I The man as ambassador, representing the majesty of a glorified King, and labonring to reconcile a world to his Divine sceptre; the man as co-worker with all the blessed ministries of earth and heaven; the man as philanthropist sharing the poverty of his countrymen in a far-off city; and now the man as warrior, leading on his hosts to battle against alien spirits; -what a wide activity, how minute, how full, how varied, how comprehensive I At no point does this personal narrative draw its interest from self alone. Self is always subordinate. The biography interweaves with a history that infinitely transcends all privat.e fortunes and all earthly affairs, and is nothing less than the history of providence in the development of Christian doctrine coincident with the work of _the Holy Ghost in glorifying the ascended Christ of the Father. " Casting down imaginations." The reference is to reasonings or disputings of the natural man in the pride of his intellectual ,power. Yet they are imaginations, the products of the imaging faculty, the fond conceits of creative ingenuity. .All these were religious beliefs or connected in rome vmy with them, so that what the apostle said at Athens was true elsewhere: "I per- ceive that in all things ye are too superstitious." Men who held these beliefs were earnest supporters of them and were always ready to defend their tenets. No matter in what province or city he preached the gospel, these disputants appeared. It was a battle on all occasions, and hence a battle figure, " casting down," or the destruction -of bulwarks. Philosophy, art, manufactures, trade, husbandry, seamanship, military life, domestic life, statesmanship, were all intimately associated with these religious beliefs. Paganism occupied the ground. Or, if Judaism had found lodgment over the empire at every prominent centre of industry, it was the Judaism that had crucified Jesus of Nazareth. So then there was battle everywhere. The "wisdom of the world" and of "the princes of the world," backed by social influence and civil authority, was arrayed against the gospel. In the land of its birth, Christianity had nothirig to i,how but a few Galilean fishermen, with a com!llunity of poor disciples, and Clll. x. 1-18,] 'l'HE SECOND EPIS'l'LE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 24'7