Lectio 2
Lecture 2
Apostoli stulti propter Christi sunt
The apostles are fools for Christ
4:6 Haec autem, fratres, transfiguravi in me et Apollo, propter vos: ut in nobis discatis, ne supra quam scriptum est, unus adversus alterum infletur pro alio. [n. 198]
4:6 But these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollo, for your sakes: that in us you may learn that one be not puffed up against the other for another, above that which is written. [n. 198]
4:7 Quis enim te discernit? quid autem habes quod non accepisti? si autem accepisti, quid gloriaris quasi non acceperis? [n. 200]
4:7 For who distinguishes you? Or what do you have that you have not received, and if you have received, why do you glory, as if you had not received it? [n. 200]
4:8 Jam saturati estis, jam divites facti estis: sine nobis regnatis: et utinam regnetis, ut et nos vobiscum regnemus. [n. 203]
4:8 You are now full: you are now become rich: you reign without us; and I would that you did reign, that we also might reign with you. [n. 203]
4:9 Puto enim quod Deus nos Apostolos novissimos ostendit, tamquam morti destinatos: quia spectaculum facti sumus mundo, et angelis, et hominibus. [n. 208]
4:9 For I think that God has set forth us apostles, the last, as it were men appointed to death. We are made a spectacle to the world and to angels and to men. [n. 208]
4:10 Nos stulti propter Christum, vos autem prudentes in Christo: nos infirmi, vos autem fortes: vos nobiles, nos autem ignobiles. [n. 211]
4:10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ: we are weak, but you are strong: you are honorable, but we without honor. [n. 211]
4:11 Usque in hanc horam et esurimus, et sitimus, et nudi sumus, et colaphis caedimur, et instabiles sumus, [n. 214]
4:11 Even unto this hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no fixed abode. [n. 214]
4:12 et laboramus operantes manibus nostris: maledicimur, et benedicimus: persecutionem patimur, et sustinemus: [n. 217]
4:12 And we labor, working with our own hands. We are reviled: and we bless. We are persecuted: and we suffer it. [n. 217]
4:13 blasphemamur, et obsecramus: tamquam purgamenta hujus mundi facti sumus, omnium peripsema usque adhuc.
4:13 We are blasphemed: and we entreat. We are made as the refuse of this world, the offscouring of all, even until now.
198. Postquam Apostolus reprehendit in Corinthiis temeritatem, qua ministros Christi iudicabant, hic arguit eorum elationem, qua ministros Christi contemnebant.
198. After berating the Corinthians for the rashness with which they judged Christ’s ministers, the Apostle now censures the self-satisfaction with which they scorned Christ’s ministers.
Et circa hoc tria facit.
In regard to his he does three things.
Primo proponit quod intendit;
First, he states his proposition;
secundo rationem assignat, ibi quis enim te discernit?
second, he assigns a reason, at for who distinguishes you;
Tertio eorum contemptum ironice loquens irridet, ibi iam saturati estis.
third, he belittles their contemptuous attitude, at you are now full.
199. Circa primum considerandum est, quod Apostolus supra volens reprimere contentiones Corinthiorum, quas habebant ratione ministrorum, usus fuerat nominibus bonorum ministrorum Christi, sicut supra I, 12 dixit: unusquisque vestrum dicit: ego quidem sum Pauli, ego autem Apollo, ego vero Cephae; et supra III, 22 ubi dixit: sive Paulus, sive Apollo, sive Cephas, et tamen non gloriabantur de bonis ministris Christi, nec propter eos dissidebant, sed propter pseudo-Apostolos, quos nominare noluit, ne videretur ex odio, vel invidia contra eos loqui; sed loco eorum posuerat nomen suum et aliorum bonorum praedicatorum, et hoc est quod dicit haec autem, fratres, scilicet quae dixi de ministris, de quibus gloriamini, et pro quibus contenditis, transfiguravi id est, figuraliter loquens, transtuli, in me et Apollo. Dicit enim Prov. I, 6: animadvertent parabolam et interpretationem verba sapientium et aenigmata eorum. Et hoc propter vos, id est, vestram utilitatem, II Cor. IV, 15: omnia propter vos; ut in vobis discatis, ne unus vestrum infletur, id est, superbiat, adversus alium proximum suum, pro alio, scilicet pro quocumque ministro Christi, ne supra quam scriptum est, id est, ultra formam vobis in praemissis descriptam. Dicitur enim Sap. IV, v. 19: disrumpens illos inflatos sine voce.
199. In regard to the first it should be noted that above when the Apostle tried to repress the rivalry about ministers among the Corinthians, he had used the names of good ministers of Christ, as when he said, every one of you says: I indeed am of Paul; and I am of Apollo; and I of Cephas (1 Cor 1:12), and again: whether it be Paul or Apollo or Cephas (1 Cor 3:22). But in fact they were not glorying in Christ’s good ministers or disagreeing over them but over the false apostles, whom he chose not to name, lest it seem that he was speaking against them from hatred or envy. Rather he had employed his own name and the names of other good preachers. And that is what he is saying now: but these things, brethren, namely, what I have said about the ministers in whom you glory and for whom you compete, I have in a figure transferred, i.e., speaking figuratively, I have transferred to myself and to Apollo. For it says in Proverbs: to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles (Prov 1:6), and this for your benefit: all things are for your sakes (2 Cor 4:15); that in us you may learn that one be not puffed up, i.e., with pride, against the other, your neighbor, for another, i.e., for any of Christ’s ministers, above that which is written, i.e., beyond the form described in the foregoing; for it is written: he will dash them puffed up and speechless to the ground (Wis 4:19).
200. Deinde cum dicit quis enim te discernit? Assignat rationem quare unus non debeat contra alium inflari.
200. Then he assigns the reason why one should not be puffed up against another, at for who distinguishes you.
Et primo ponit rationem, dicens quis enim te discernit? Quod potest intelligi dupliciter: uno modo sic: quis enim te discernit a massa perditorum? Tu teipsum discernere non potes: unde non habes in te unde contra alium superbias. Et de hac discretione dicitur in Ps. XLII, 1: iudica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam de gente non sancta. Alio modo potest intelligi quis te discernit, scilicet superiorem faciens proximo tuo? Hoc quod tu facere non potes, unde contra eum superbire non debes. Et de hac discretione dicitur Eccli. XXXIII, 11: in multitudine disciplinae Domini separavit eos, et immutavit vias illorum. Sed inter homines, inquantum sunt fideles Christi, non est discretio, quia, ut dicitur Rom. XII, 5, multi unum corpus sumus in Christo. Et dicit Petrus: nihil discernit inter nos et illos, fide purificans corda eorum.
First, he lays down the reason, saying, for who distinguishes you? This can be interpreted in two ways: in one way so that it means: who distinguished you from the mass of the damned? You cannot distinguish yourself; hence you have nothing in you as a ground for exalting yourself. Of this distinction it is said: judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from an ungodly people (Ps 43:1). It can be understood in another way: who distinguishes you to make you superior to your neighbor? This is something you cannot do; hence you should not exalt yourself above him. Of this exaltation Sirach says: in the fullness of his knowledge God distinguished them and appointed their different ways (Sir 33:11). But there is no distinction among men, insofar as they are Christ’s faithful, because we, though many, are one body in Christ (Rom 12:5); God put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith (Acts 15:9).
201. Secundo excludit quamdam rationem.
201. Then he dismisses an apparent reason.
Posset enim aliquis discerni a bonis vel a malis, melior eis existens, propter bona quae habet, puta fidem, sapientiam, et huiusmodi. Sed hoc excludit Apostolus, dicens quid autem habes, quod non accepisti? Quasi dicat: nihil. Omnia enim bona sunt a Deo, secundum illud Ps. CIII, 28: aperiente te manum tuam, omnia implebuntur bonitate; et Par. XXIX, 14: tua sunt omnia, et quae de manu tua accepimus, dedimus tibi.
For someone could be distinguished from good or from evil men, because he is better than they on account of the blessings he has, such as faith, wisdom and the like. But the Apostle excludes this, saying, what do you have that you have not received. As if to say: nothing; for all blessings come from God: when you open your hand, they are filled with good things (Ps 104: 28); all things come from you, and of your own have we given you (1 Chr 29:14).
Et ex hoc concludit propositum, dicens si autem accepisti, quid gloriaris, quasi non acceperis? Ille igitur gloriatur quasi non accipiens, qui de seipso gloriatur, et non de Deo, sicut de quibusdam dicitur in Ps. XLVIII, v. 7: qui confidunt in virtute sua, et in multitudine divitiarum suarum gloriantur.
From this he draws his conclusion, saying, and if you have received, why do you glory, as if you had not received it? Accordingly, a person boasts as though he did not receive, when he boasts in himself and not in God, as those mentioned in a psalm: men who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches (Ps 49:6).
202. Et ad hoc pertinet prima species superbiae, qua scilicet aliquis superbiendo, quod habet, dicit a seipso habere, iuxta illud Ps. XI, 5: labia nostra a nobis sunt, quis noster Dominus est? Ille autem gloriatur quasi accipiens, qui omnia Deo adscribens, gloriatur de ipso, sicut supra dictum est: qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur. Sic autem gloriari non est superbire, sed humiliari sub Deo, cui homo dat gloriam, secundum illud Eccli. ult.: danti mihi sapientiam, dabo gloriam.
202. This is the way the first form of pride expresses itself, namely, when a person, taking pride in what he has, says that he has it of himself, as a psalm: with our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is our master? (Ps 12:4) But a person boasts as one receiving, when he glories in himself by ascribing everything to God, as was said above: he who glories may glory in the Lord (1 Cor 1:31). To boast in this way is not pride but humility under God, to whom a man gives glory: to him who gives me wisdom I will give glory (Sir 51:17).
203. Deinde, cum dicit iam saturati estis, irridet eorum superbiam, qui apostolos Christi contemnebant. Et
203. Then when he says, you are now full, he mocks the pride of those who looked down on Christ’s apostles:
primo in generali,
first, in general;
secundo in speciali, ibi nos stulti sumus, et cetera.
then specifically, at we are fools.
Circa primum duo facit.
As to the first he does two things.
Primo irridet in eis quod de se nimis praesumebant;
First, he ridicules them for presuming too much on themselves;
secundo deridet in eis, quod apostolos contemnebant, ibi puto enim quod Deus, et cetera.
second, for looking down on the apostles, at for I think that God.
Circa primum duo facit.
In regard to the first he does two things.
Primo irridet eos de praesumptione, qua sibi attribuebant quod non habebant;
First, he mocks them for presuming to attribute to themselves what they did not have;
secundo irridet eos de hoc, quod sibi singulariter attribuebant, quod singulariter non habebant, ibi sine nobis regnatis.
second, for attributing to themselves an abundance of good things, some of which are internal, at you reign without us.
204. Attribuebant autem sibi abundantiam bonorum, quorum quaedam sunt interiora; et quantum ad hoc dicit iam saturati estis, id est, vobis videtur quod saturati estis, id est, abundanter refecti spirituali dulcedine, de qua dicitur in Ps. XVI, 15: satiabor dum manifestabitur gloria tua. Poterat autem eis secundum veritatem dici, quod iam saturati estis, non plenitudine, sed fastidio, secundum illud Prov. XXVII, 7: anima satiata calcabit favum. Quaedam vero sunt bona exteriora, et quantum ad hoc dicit iam divites facti estis, sicut vobis videtur, scilicet divitiis spiritualibus, de quibus dicitur Is. c. XXXIII, 6: divitiae salutis sapientia et scientia. Simile est, quod dicitur Apoc. III, v. 17: dicis, quia dives sum, et locuples valde, et nullius egeo.
204. In regard to these he says, already you are filled, i.e., it seems to you that you are now full, i.e., you seem to yourselves to be full, that is, completely sated with spiritual delights, about which it is said: I shall be satisfied, when your glory shall appear (Ps 17:15). But it could have been true to say to them, already you are filled, not with fullness but with nausea: he who is sated loathes honey (Prov 27:7). But some goods were external. In regard to these he says, you are now become rich, as it seems to you, with spiritual riches, about which Isaiah says: riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge (Isa 33:6). This is similar to Revelation: you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing (Rev 3:17).
205. Sed contra hoc videtur illud quod supra dixit in principio, dicens quia in omnibus divites facti estis in illo, in omni verbo, et in omni scientia, etc.
205. But this seems to conflict with his earlier statement: in all things you are made rich in him, in all utterance and in all knowledge (1 Cor 1:5).
Sed dicendum est, quod supra dixit quantum ad bonos, qui inter eos erant; hic autem dicit quantum ad praesumptuosos, qui superbiebant de eo quod non habebant.
The answer is that the earlier statement referred to the good men among them; but there he is speaking about the presumptuous ones, who took pride in what they did not have.
Potest et aliter distingui satietas et divitiae, ut saturitas referatur ad usum gratiae, quo quis spiritualibus fruitur; divitiae autem ad ipsos habitus gratiarum.
Or a distinction can be made between fullness and riches, so that the former refers to using grace to enjoy spiritual things, whereas riches would refer to the very possession of grace.
206. Secundo cum dicit sine nobis regnatis, irridet eos, quod sibi singulariter attribuebant quod non habebant.
206. Second, when he says, you reign without us, he makes sport of them for attributing to themselves individually things they did not possess individually.