216 Sect. 2. 1 Cor. I. 1o. TI 12 •For he had heard of their Contentions ; I urge this with the greater Earneftnefs, because it bath been certified to me, my Brethren, concerning you, by thofe of Chloe's [Family] (c), that there are fome Contentions among you, which by no Means become the Relation, wherein you ftand to each other, and the Regard which you profess to the Gospel of Chrift. Now this I fay and mean by the preceding Charge, that, if my Information be right, there are among you various Parties, which avowedly fet themfelves up, as under different Heads, tho' you are not yet come to an open Separation; so that every one of you lifts himfelf under one or another of thofe dividing Names, which are fo unhappily used among you on this Occafion. One, for Instance, fays, I am for Paul, admiring the Plainness and Purity of his Doctrine; and a Second, I am for Apollos, charmed with the Eloquence and Beauty of his Addrefs; and a Third, I am for Cephas, the Apostle of the Circumcifion, who may be well called a Founda tion-ftone in the Church, as he maintains fo ftrict a Regard to the Mofaick Ceremonies, and the peculiar Priviledges of GoD's ancient People; while a Fourth fays, I am for Chrift (d), whose fuperior II For it hath been de clared unto me of you, my Brethren, by them which are of the House of Chloe, that there are Contentions among you. 12 Now this I fay, that every one of you faith. I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Chrift. b) In the fame Mind and the fame Sentiment.] It was morally impoffible, confidering the Diverfity of their Educations and Capacities, that they fhould all agree in Opinion; nor could he intend that, because he does not urge any Argument to reduce them to fuch an Agreement, nor fo much as declare, what that one Opinion was, in which he would have them agree. The Words must therefore exprefs that peaceful and unanimous Temper, which Chriftians of different Opinions may and ought to maintain towards each other; which will do a much greater Honour to the Gospel, and to human Nature, than the most perfect Uniformity that can be imagined. (c) Thofe of Chloe's [Family.] Grotius fuppofes Fortunatus, and Achaicus, (mentioned Chap. xvi. 17.) to have been her Sons. (d) I am for Chrift.] They might perhaps, be displeafed with Peter, for his Conde fcenfion concerning which he expoftulates with them; 217 fuperior Name, and ftrict Obfervation of the Sect. 2. Give me leave now to afk, Is Chrift divided into And fcenfion to the Uncircumcifed at Antioch, (Gal. ii. 12.) which happened long before the Date of this Epiftle; and might alfo, as L'Enfant intimates, have valued themfelves on having heard Chrift preach in his own Perfon, during the Time of his Miniftration on Earth. (e) Was Paul crucified for you?] As if he had faid, are your Obligations to me equal, or comparable to thofe, you are under to our common Mafter, to him who died for us upon the Cross? He mentions himself, as it was lefs invidious to do it; tho' the Application was equally just, as to every other Inftance. Compare Chap. iii. 6. (f) Left any should fay, I baptized into my own Name.] If any should object, that others might do it for him; it may be answered, that Paul's Attendants, (who feem to have been Timothy and Silas, Acts xviii. 5. 2 Cor. i. 19.) were Perfons of an established Character, fo as to be above fuch Sufpicion; that Baptifm was probably adimiftered too openly to allow of this; and that the Apostle herein does, as it were, appeal to the baptized Perfons themselves, challenging any one of them all to fay, that the Ordinance was administered to him in Paul's Name. (g) I know not, whether I have baptized any other.] This Expreffion of Uncertainty as to VOL. IV. E e fuch 218 Sect. 2. And declares that he had given no Occafion for their Factions. And indeed, it might very naturally happen, that I fhould baptize only thefe few; for Chrift 1.Cor. I. 17. fent me not fo much to baptize; which was an Office that others, of a much inferior Rank in the Ministry, might as well perform; but to preach the Gospel, and thereby to bring Perfons to that Faith, which would entitle them to this appropriate Ordinance of Chriftianity. And I blefs GOD with all my Heart, that I have been enabled to do it with fuch Simplicity, Fidelity, and Succefs. 17 For Chrift fent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel : Ver. 10. IMPROVEMENT. WHILE ས་ LE we live in the Midft of fo much Darknefs, and continue obnoxious to fo many Prejudices and Errors, it will be abfolutely impoffible for us, fo to speak the fame Thing, and fo perfectly to be joined in the fame Mind and Judgment, as that there should be no Diverfity of Opinion, or Expreffion. But let us labour to obey the Apostle's pathetick Exhortation, fo far as the Imperfection of this mortal State may admit. Let us be intreated in the Name of our Lord Jefus Chrift, that venerable, that endeared, that facred Name, that there be no Schifm among us, no mutual Hatred or Animofity, no uncharitable Contenfions, no fevere Cenfures of each other. And as we defire that there may not, let us take Care, that we do not impofe upon our Brethren indifferent Things as neceffary; and thereby drive them into a Separation for Confcience Sake; and tempt them, at the fame Time, by our ill Ufage, to that Bitterness of Refentment, which would make them, what the mere Separation would not, Tranfgreffors of this Precept; and us, Partakers in their Sins. On the other Hand, let none of us be difpofed to difpute merely for the Sake of difputing, nor unneceffarily oppofe the Judgment or Tafte of Our fuch a Fact, is by no Means inconfiftent with Infpiration, in that View and Notion of it, which I have endeavoured to ftate and vindicate in my Difcourfe on that Subject, annexed to the Third Volume of this Work. I can by no Means think, with Bishop Burnet, that the Reafon, why Paul baptized fo few, was, becaufe Baptifm was delayed, till fome confiderable Time before Converfion to Chriftianity, and that the Apostle did not feay fo long in a Place as to do it; (Burnet on the Articles, Art. xxvii. pag. 304. Edit. 1699.) for it does not appear me, that Baptifm in thefe earliest and pureft Ages, was long delayed; and 'tis certain, that this Caufe could not take Place here, as Paul continued at Corinth 18 Months. I rather think, the Office was generally affigned to Inferiors, as requiring no extraordinary Abilities, and as being attended with fome Trouble and Inconvenience, especially where Immerfon was ufed, as I fuppofe it often, tho' not conftantly, was. I Reflections on our Obligations to avoid a Party-Spirit. 219 our Brethren, out of an Affectation of Singularity, or Spirit of Conten- Sect. 2. tion. But let us rather labour, fo far as with a fafe Confcience we can, to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace. And while we do this, if our Brethren will exact fuch Submiffions from us, as they are not warranted by GOD to require, and as we cannot in Confcience pay, let us follow Confcience witherfoever it leads us; taking all neceffary Care, that it be rightly guided: and if in that Circumftance, our Brethren will caft us out, and fay, let the Lord be glorified; and if to the rest of their Unkindness, they will add the farther Injury of branding us with the odious Names of Schifmaticks, or of Hereticks; let it be a light Thing to us, to be judged of Man's Judgment. Let us not render Railing for Railing, nor Injury for Injury, but rather, by our Meekness, endeavour to overcome their Severity; and wait for that happy Time, whem more of the Spirit of Knowledge and of Charity, thall difpose them to throw down thofe middle Walls of Partition, by which the Temple of GOD is ftraitned and defaced, and the Convenience, the Symmetry, and Grandeur of its original Plan, fo lamentably fpoiled. Above all, let us wait that Day, when the Secrets of all Hearts fhall be made manifeft; and that World, where they, who love the Lord Jefus Chrift in Sincerity, fhall retain no Remembrance of the Controverfies, that once divided them; unlefs it be to balance the Alienations of Time, with the Endearments of Eternity. In the mean while, let us avoid, as much as poffible, a Party-Spirit ; and not be fond of lifting ourselves under the Name of this, or that Man, how wife, how good, how great foever. For furely if the Names of Ver. 12, 13. Peter, or Paul, were in this View to be declined, much more are those, which in these latter Days, have fo unhappily crumbled the Chriftian and Proteftant Intereft, and have given fuch fad Occafion to our Enemies to reproach us. Chrift is not divided; nor were Luther, or Calvin, or even Peter, or Paul, crucified for us; nor were we baptized into any of their Names. Happy fhall that Difciple of our compaffionate Lord be, whom he shall most eminently own in healing the Breaches, which the Artifices of the Tempter, too often abetted by the Infirmities of Christ's faithful Servants, have already made in the Church, and which the great Enemy is continually endeavouring to multiply, and to widen! Happy he, who reverencing and loving his Master's Image where-ever he fees it, fhall teach others to do fo too! And who, being himself an Example of yielding, fo far as he confcientiously can, and of not taking upon him to cenfure others, where he cannot yield to them, hall do his Part towards cementing, in the Bonds of holy Love, all the Children of GoD, and the Members of Chrift! How unfuccefsful foever his Efforts may be, amidst that angry and contentious, that ignorant and bigotted Croud, E e 2 who 220 St. Paul bad not preached the Gofpel with the Wisdom of Words; Sect. 2. who mifcal themselves Chriftians; or by whatever fufpicious and reproachful Names his Moderation may be ftigmatized; his Divine Mafter will neither fail to confider it in its true View, nor to honour it with portionable Tokens of his Acceptance and Favour. Love is the firft and greateft of his Commands; and after all the Clamour that has been made about Notions and Forms, he who practifes and teaches Love best, hall be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Sect. 3. The Apoftle, knowing that a fond Regard to Eloquence and Philofophy, to which fome of their Teachers made high Pretenfions, was one great Occafion of their Divifions, fets himself to fhew, how little Strefs was to be laid upon them; which he illuftrates by the Choice, which GOD had made of Gofpel-Preachers, quite deftitute of thofe Accomplishments. 1 Cor.. I. 17, to the End. I CORINTHIANS I. 17. I JUST now told you, that Chrift did not Ifend me to baptize, 19 my principal Bufiness, Cor. I. 17. but rather to preach the Gospel (a); and now muft add, that in the Commiffion which I had the Honour to receive from him, he did not instruct me to preach it with thofe philofophical Niceties of Expreffion, or laboured Rhetorick, which many are fo ready to efteem, as the Wif dom of Words; left if I had attended to thefe little Things, the Cross of Chrift fhould have been deprived of its juft Honours, and fo have been enervated, and rendered vain (b). For this muft have I CORINTHIANS I. 17. to FOR Chrift fent me not preach baptize, but ot with Wifdom of Words, left the Cross of Chrift fhould be made of none Effect. (a) Baptize, but to preach.] As I knew not how to avoid the Repetition of this Claufe without prolonging the former Section beyond due Bounds, or making an improper Divifion; I hope the Reader will excufe it, and a few other Inftances, of this Kind which will accur. (b) Should have been enervated, or rendered wain.] If the Doctrine of the Crucifixion of the Son of |