CORINTHIANS, SECOND EPISTLE TO

with Ac 20'. Waite (^Speaker's Com.) therefore suggests October 57 and not earUer. This would suit the cir-cumstances of Timothy's and Titus' visits, and account for the great change at Corinth towards St. Paul. Godet would put just over a year between the two Epistles, arguing that such a change of circumstances and tone could not have arisen within a few months.

4. Integrity. — There is no ground for supposing that the letter is not now in its original form. Recent attempts to separate it into two letters and to identify one of them (chs. 10-13) with the supposed lost painful Epistle, are not only not convincing in their arguments, but also have the great weight of textual criticism and Church tradition against them. It is impossible to suppose that all trace of such textual changes could have been entirely removed. Our authorities for the text are early enough to make us question the possibility of a sufficient time elapsing for so serious a modifica-tion of the original text. The subject-matter entirely agrees with the situation described above. The strong feelings under which the Epistle was written, and the conflicting emotions which swayed the Apostle, amply account for Its ruggedness and abruptness.

5. Character. — Not even Galatians gives so full a revelation of the Apostle's mind and soul as does 2 Corinthians. It has been rightly called 'Paul's Apologia,' and as 1 Cor. is the first chapter of Ecclesi-astical History, so 2 Cor. is the first chapter of Ecclesi-astical Biography. It reveals the personal character of the great Apostle of the Gentiles in its twofold aspect of tenderness and strength, gentleness and severity, meelsness and indignation. In questioning his Apostolic authority, the Judaizers were really questioning the gospel he preached, and indirectly the Master he loved and served. We are not surprised, therefore, to notice the vehemence of his vindication and the torrent of irony and denunciation with which he overwhelms his opponents. Here as nowhere else we see the man he was, stern yet tender, with a will of steel and yet a heart of wax. The iron hand and the velvet glove are combined in no common degree. His spiritual ex-periences are also brought out here as nowhere else; his visions (12'), his 'thorn' (v.'), his conflicts (2i° 12'), his physical weakness (4'), his constant sufferings (1123-27). -We see something of what he had to endure from his unscrupulous Judaizing foes in their remarks about his personal appearance (10'°), his fickleness (l")t his pretended Apostleship and Jewish birth (1122), and Ills doubtful, if not dishonest, motives about the collection (6'). But if we see what he endured, we see also what he enjoyed in union with his Master. We have not a few indications of his personal relation to Christ and his oneness with tiis Master in suffering (is 4i«), fellowship (128- »), and the hope of glory (5')- The keynote of chs. 1-9 is 'comfort in tribulation,' and of chs. 10-13 'boasting in weakness.' The Epistle is thus noteworthy for its remarkable revelation of the inner Ufe of the Apostle as he faced his enemies, pleaded with his friends, bore the burden of the care of all the Churches, and lived in fellowship and communion with His unseen Lord and Master.

The doctrinal element of the Epistle is necessarily not prominent, but the foundations of the characteristic PauUne position are both assumed and seen. The comparison between the two dispensations (ch. 3), the teaching about Christ's death (S"-^'), theeschatol-ogy (4i6-5«), the Christology (S^), and the Trinitarian expression of the concluding Benediction (13"), are among the leading Apostolic thoughts.

6. Authenticity.— There are but slight traces of the Epistle in the writers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, though this is not to be wondered at, because of its personal rather than doctrinal character. The evidence for the text of the Epistle is, of course, practi-cally on the same basis as that of 1 Corinthians. The real proofs of authenticity are internal, and are found

160

CORNER, CORNER-STONE

in the character of the Epistle. It is too manifestly Pauline in its intensely individual character to be other than genuine, and hence it has long been one of the four undisputed Epistles of Paul.

7. Analysis. — The personal and emotional nature of the contents makes analysis far less easy than that of Epistles which were written under very different, because quieter, circumstances. Perhaps we may best understand and master the contents of the Epistle if, generally following Godet, we analyze it under its three main sections. Their connexion is mainly chrono-logical: li2-7's dealing with the past in relation to Umself and Corinth, S'-Q" dealing with a special and important matter of present duty, and 10i-13"i taking up a question that affected the entire future of bis rela-tions to them and the whole Church.

(1) Personal Introduction, l*-u.

(2) 11^7". Himself and his ministry with special refer-

ence to Corinth. The Past. (a) l'2-2u. Explanation of his change of plans. (6) 2'2-73. After peraonal references he passes to diflcusa the Christian ministry. i. Its power, 2"-4'. ii. Its tribulations and hopes, 4'-6*''. iii. Its object and source, 6"-2i. iv. Its fulfilment by himself, 6*-7*. (c) 7'-"'. The return of Titus and its glad resulte.

(3) 8'-9". His efforts on behalf of the poor saints in

Jerusalem. The Present, (a) &-^. The example of Macedonia. (6) 8^-95. The new mission of Titus, (c) 9^-'^. The Corinthian Church encouraged to give.

(4) 10'-13'°. His approaching visit to Corinth, and the

consequent need of a personal vindication in the face

of enemies. The Future. (a) lO'-'s. His claim to Apostolic authority. (6) H'-12i8. His claim to superiority of Apostleship. (c) 12"-13"'. His contemplated visit and mode of procedure.

(5) Personal conclusion, 13"-i3.

[Note — The chronology given above follows Lightfoot. According to Turner (Hastings' DB, art. ' Chronology of the NT') the dates would all be two years earlier.]

W. H. Griffith 'Thohas.

CORMORANT (Lv II", Dt 14", sftMafc).— The shlUak, as the meaning of the word implies, was some kind of plunging bird. Two varieties of cormorant, Phala-crocorax carbo and P. pygmceus, occur in Palestine both on the sea coasts and on inland waters, e.g. the Dead Sea. It was an 'unclean' bird. See also Pelican. E. W. G. Mastbrman.

CORN. — This term may be taken to include — (1) Barley, (2) Wheat, (3) Fitches, (4) Lentils, (5) Beans,

(6) Millet, (7) Rye, wrong translation for 'Vetches,' (8) Pulse — for most of which see separate articles. Rye and oats are not cultivated in Palestine.

E. W. G. Mabtehman.

CORNELIUS.— A 'proselyte of the gate' or 'devout man ' (Ac 10', see art. Acts op the Apostles, § 6), whose baptism was a step forward towards admitting the Gentiles into the Church. He was a Roman centurion of the Italic cohort (see art. Band). An inscrip-tion recently discovered near Vienna shows that an ItaUc cohort was stationed in Syria c. a.d. 69, and this makes St. Luke's statement (once said to be an anachronism) quite probable. It the presence of such an officer in Csesarea was not possible during the semi- independent rule of Agrippa (a.d. 41-44), we must date the episode before that; but we cannot assert such an impossibility. A. J. Maclean.

CORNER, CORNER-STONE.— 1. The special sanctity which in the Hebrew mind attached to corners is to be regarded as an inheritance from certain primitive and widely-spread animistic conceptions. Several of these were taken up and, so to say, ' regularized ' in the later legislation (cf. the remarks on Azazel under Atone-ment [Day of]). Examples will be found in the ideas associated with the corners of the altar (Zee 9"), usually termed the 'horns' (Altar, § 7), the unreaped corners