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only with relation to the professors of Christianity, who were guilty of these execrable vices. This occasioned the words, Νυνὶ δὲ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν, which will be more clear from the following paraphrase of ver. 9, 10, 11.

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Verse 9. "I wrote to you a little above, in my letter, that you should separate from those who were fornicators, (ver. 2.) "and because you may be in danger of being defiled by them, "that you purge them as old leaven, (ver. 5, 6.)

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Verse 10. "But fearing lest you should mistake me, I do "not mean those who are heathens, and those who are fornicators, covetous, extortioners, or idolaters among them; it being impossible for you, living in the world, to avoid commerce with them:

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Verse 11." But this I mean, and is what I now write to 66 you, that you do not freely converse with, nor admit to eat "the Lord's Supper with you, those who are charged with "the forementioned crimes, and yet make a profession of "Christianity."

This seems a very natural account of the apostle's reasoning*, and will appear the more probable if we consider,

1. That he uses the same verb ovvavaμíyvuola, in ver. 11. which he does ver. 9.

2. That the particle vì often is used in Greek, not as a note of time, but in an adversative sense, the same as sed and nunc vero in Latin, and the word now very often in English v.

3. The article seems to refer only to this same Epistle, and not another, and to denote the same with Taúry, as it often does 2; so we find it with the very same substantive, 1 Thess. v. 27. Viz. TηY ÉTTоλ, to express the very same Epistle which he was then writing.

tùy

4. The old Syriac translator, who lived, as has been proved, near St. Paul's time, well knowing there was no former Epistle of his to the church at Corinth, paraphrases the passage, ver. 11. in the same manner as above, in these words, ~? (?~

The same almost may be seen in Sixtus Senensis Biblioth. Sanct. 1. 2. in Paul. and Dr. Hammond on 1 Cor. v. 9.

y So vuvì is used more than once in this same Epistle. See chap. xii. 18. xv.

20. and vv very often. c. vii. 14. xii. 20. Vide Grot. in loc. et Glass. Gram. Sacr. lib. 3. Tract. 5. Canon. 13.

z See Glass. Gram. Sacr. lib. 3. Tract. 2.

i.e. This is that I have zowrote to ܕܒܬܒܬ ܠܟܘܢ

you, or the meaning of what I have wrote to you; by which it is plain he did not imagine the apostle writing a new Epistle, but explaining somewhat he had before written in this.

Thus it seems manifest, that St. Paul's words do not intimate his having wrote a former Epistle to the Corinthians. There is indeed a different interpretation from that above put upon the words by some learned men, who translate šypava úμív év tỹ étiotoλy, I wrote, or had written, or was about to write in this Epistle, that you should not company with fornicators, &c. but now hearing this high offence, I sharpen my style, and forbid, not only associating with such, but even common fellowship. This is Dr. Lightfoot's conjecturea, and espoused by Dr. Whitby b, but seems very precarious and groundless.

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1. Because it supposes the apostle to have had different sentiments as to what he was to write, which indeed Dr. Whitby is not afraid in so many words to aver; some things," says he, "in this Epistle were changed by him before he sent it to "them." But how apparently absurd is this, to imagine this great apostle under the conduct of inspiration, first to write one thing and then another? If the inspired penmen of scripture could thus alter their sentiments, and make changes in what they wrote, what must we think of the infallibility of that Spirit who dictated to them? But as I verily believe Dr. Lightfoot thought not at all of this consequence of his opinion; so I am persuaded, Dr. Whitby, who is so zealous an advocate for inspiration, would have been far from espousing it, had he thought more of it.

2. The paraphrase of the text, according to this interpretation, is very different from the apostle's meaning, as appears from what is already said.

Dr. Lightfoot, in another part of his works, has a quite different conjecture concerning the passage of St. Paul under debate, which though perhaps it be entirely groundless, may not be unworthy of the learned reader's notice. It is, in short, a sort of compounding the matter between those, who imagine

a

Harmony of the New Testament,

in loc.

b Annot. in loc.

Hor. Hebr. in 1 Cor. v. 9.

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a former Epistle to the Corinthians now lost, and those who think the contrary. I shall think it sufficient, having said so much on this head already, to give the reader a translation of the doctor's own words: "The apostle,” says he, “had sent Timothy to the Corinthians, before he wrote this Epistle to "them, (chap. iv. 17.) and it is probable he had sent some epistle by him, in which he had written thus, (viz. the "words of verse the ninth; that they should not keep company with fornicators.) But when Stephen, Fortunatus, and "Achaicus came, and laid before him the state of the church "at Corinth, and gave him both letters and certain questions "from that church, inasmuch as they knew Timothy was not 66 yet arrived at Corinth, he comprehends and supersedes (or "suppresses) that former Epistle in this. So that in some "sense you may truly say that Epistle is lost, inasmuch as an 66 exact copy of it is not now extant; but in another sense you "cannot truly say so, because all things which were contained "in that Epistle, we have in that which is now extant, and "many other things besides."

CHAP. IV.

An Epistle, under St. Paul's name, to the Corinthians, and of the Corinthians to St. Paul, now extant in an Armenian manuscript, translated out of Mr. La Croze's Latin into English, with some remarks.

THE preceding pages being taken up with an inquiry into that important question, whether St. Paul wrote any Epistle to the church of Corinth, before either of those which are now extant; it will not be foreign to the same purpose to observe, that there are now extant in the world an Epistle under the name of St. Paul to the Corinthians, (different from the received ones,) and an Epistle under the name of the church of Corinth to St. Paul. It is not indeed properly my business here to make any inquiry into apocryphal pieces now extant; that being left for the third part of this work, and the lost books only proposed to come under consideration here. But inasmuch as these two Epistles will not in any other part of this work come within my proposal to be discussed, designing

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only to inquire into those pieces which are mentioned by some writer of the first four centuries, whereas these are not by any, I hope it will not be unacceptable, if I digress a little here: and, since I have been discoursing so much on a lost Epistle of St. Paul's to the Corinthians, present the reader with these two ancient pieces, which I believe have not yet appeared in our language, nor till lately in Europe, adding some short reflections on them.

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The first account, as far as I know, of them in print, is that of the learned Dr. Gregory in the Preface to his Notes on some passages of Scripture: "I have seen," says he, "the "third Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians in the Armenian "tongue, beginning, Paul a servant of Jesus Christ, &c. and an Epistle of the Corinthians to St. Paul in the same tongue, "beginning, Stephen, &c. to our brother Paul greeting." In a Latin marginal note, he adds, that the manuscript with an Italian version was in the library of sir Gilbert North. The famous archbishop Usher saw the same manuscript in the same learned gentleman's custody, and only informs us further, that it was wrote at Smyrnad, taking a small sentence out of the Epistle of the Corinthians to Paul. In the year 1715, Mr. David Wilkins translated both Epistles out of the Armenian tongue into Latin, from a manuscript in the library of Mr. Masson at Utrecht, which are since printed by Fabritius, with another Latin version made by Mr. La Croze, library keeper to the king of Prussia, in the year 1716, from which, as being the last, and, as he says, a more literal and exact version than the former f, I have made the following one in English.

The Epistle of the Corinthians to St. Paul.
N. B. I place this first, because the other is evidently
designed as an answer to this.

STEPHEN, and the presbyters who are with him, Nemenus, Eubulus, Theophilus, and Nomeson, to our brother Paul, greeting. Certain men, whose names are Simon and Clobeus,

d Vid. Not. in Epist. Ignat. ad Trall. §. 84.

e Fabrit. Cod. Apoc. Nov. Test. par. 3. p. 667.

f See his Remarks upon these Armenian Epistles, in Fabrit. Cod. Apoc. Nov. Test. par. 3. p. 680. et p. 683.

are come to Corinth, who by their artful and delusive speeches have very much shocked the faith of some, to which it is incumbent on you to make answer yourself; for we have neither heard from you, or any other apostle, such doctrines. But this one thing we know, that we faithfully retain (or observe) whatever we learnt from you, or the other [apostles.] We esteem it a very great instance of divine compassion to us, that you are still in the body with us, and that we may again hear you, (or from you.) As soon therefore as may be, either write to us what we must steadfastly hold [as truth], or else, let it not be long before you visit us in person. We believe in the Lord, and that he shewed himself in a manifest manner, and has delivered us from the hands of the evil one. But their words are erroneous; for they say, there is no necessity of reading the prophets; That God is not Almighty; That there will be no resurrection of the dead; That flesh is not by any means made by God; That the body of Jesus Christ was not born of the Virgin Mary; and lastly, That the world was not made by God, but by some angel. Endeavour therefore, brother, to come speedily to us, that the city of Corinth may continue without offences, and the folly (or ignorance) of those men may be brought to a just contempt before all. Farewell in the Lord.

The Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. PAUL, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, to the brethren at Corinth, harassed with various trials, greeting. I do not at all wonder, that ye are so soon accosted with such, who would draw you aside to impiety. For as our Lord Jesus is about soon to hasten (or perfect) his coming, there are (or rather will be) those, who both change and despise his commandments. But I from the beginning did teach you the very same things, which I received from the former apostles, who had constant conversation with our Lord. I say then, that our Lord Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, of the seed of David, according to that which the Holy Spirit sent into her by the Father from heaven declared, namely, that Jesus should appear in the world, and by his flesh should work deliverance for all flesh, and raise us again from the dead; of which re

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