The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 510

nncl the imrnrd pressure was so hcnvy and constant, as that he suffered like a dying man, day b~· day. To particularize; if (metaphorically) he had "fought with beasts at Ephesus," what advantage was it if the dead rise not? Wns he facing all these tcrnble risks, hour by hour, to preach a gospel that left Christ imprisoned in the sealed grave of the Sanhcdrim, nnd that it was vain to preach and vain to believe, and that made baptism a nullity? Was it for this that he underwent so much distress? "Let us eat and drink." If the body has no part or lot in the grace of Christ, and has. no future, let us make the most of its enjoyments in the present life. "To-morrow we die." No punishment can be inflicted on the body hereafter, since it has no hereafter;.. "Let us eat and drink." And yet beware; deception is always possible, and deception is certain in this instance. " Evil communications corrupt good manners;" so that poet and apo~tle, Menander and St. ~an!, a;e at one as it respects association and intercourse, nn<l thmr effects on practical hfe. '!hen follows the warm exhortation: "Awake to. righteousness"-" an exclamation full of apostolic majesty" (Bengel)-" and sin not."· :-:uch views as he had condemner! came from a want of the knowled"e 0 of God. More· than this, it was humiliating that such errors were found amon"O the Corinthians. '.' I speak this to your sha~e." The argument, as conducted to its p:esent point, has rncluded a number of particulars, each luminous in itself, each reflectin" }ic,ht on the general course of the idea foremost in his mind; and from the wide rano-~, r~achino- to• the end of the mediatorial kingdom, he returns to himself as dnily dying for the ~ake of these truths. On the other side, what is the landing-place? It is, in Epicurean morality and practice, the deception and corruption and shame of "Let us eat and· drink; for to-morrow we die." And as he comes back from this extensive circuit. of thought, convictions far more profound than earthly logic, and emotions deeper than. earthly love, press themselves into utterance while he reminds these Corinthians how far astray they had gone, "not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God."-L. Vers. 35-50.-Objections to the resurrection; replies thereto; conclusions involved.. How far has St. Paul come on the path he has been treading? Beginning with the- "many infallible proofs" of the forty days, and adding the appenrance of the Lord .Jesus to him, he had convicted those of an absurdity who denied a general resurrection. On Yarions grounds, the view they held was incredible. The moral consequences of their belief were set forth. True logic and pure morality condemned their departure from that "righteousness" which only exists by virtue of "the knowledge of God." If the one class of thinkers whom he had answered had etherealized a fundamental, historic fact into a sheer fiction, so that a great truth was utterly lost, another cla.ss of thinkers stood arrayed against the doctrine itself, and refused its acceptance on the score of its unreasonableness. Nature, they claimed, was on their side. Nothinf!; that died lived again. The whole economy of the material world was opposed to it. A grave was a grave for ever. Heaven and earth bore witness that death was death, and could never be other than death. Now, the body is a part of the physical kingdom, and, as such, has well-known properties, and is subject to certain laws. Well, he will discuss it on their ground. In the previous branch of the argument, the basis was "according to the Scriptures,'' and he had constant occasion to say, Christ, Christ Jesus, Christ Jesus our Lord, Christ as the Firstfruits, Christ in contrast with Adam, Christ as Mediator, Christ as the second Person in the Trinity. But there is a change, a noteworthy change, now, and for some verses Christ is not named. .According to nature, or by analogy, the argument bas to proceed if the objectors are met. 'rhe new stand- point is promptly taken, and St. Paul and the philosophical critics are face to face. Who are these that have gathered before the eye of his imagination in that humble room in Ephesus, the proud and lordly city, whose commerce connected it with every land, and whose wealth was the wonder and envy of the world? Near by was the magnificent temple of Artemis, renowned over Ionia. and far beyond, safe too in its renown, since no art of man could surpass its pillars of' Parian marble, its doors of cypress-wood, its roof of cedar resting on columns of jasper, aud the great master-pieces of painting and sculpture by which it had been enriched. Likely enough, one who could quote from Menander, Aratas, and Epimenides, knew something of Anacrcon, Thales, Heraclitus, and others associated with Ionia and Ephesus. Would not some of these illustrious thinkers rise before bis vision when he began to mcuito.te on th& oH. xv. 1-58.J THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 519