God, through Christ and in His Spirit. Therefore the work which
the Church is to accomplish is nothing less than a universal work, a
work not even limited to humanity; it is the bringing back of all
things visible or invisible into that unity which lies in God's
original purpose of creation. St. Paul long ago had spoken to the
Corinthians of a spiritual wisdom which they were not yet ready to
listen {47} to. But now St. Paul seems to feel--for reasons which we
have tried in part to interpret--that the time has come when all the
depth and richness of the divine secret may be spoken out. No wonder
that the subject stirs his imagination and gives to his whole tone an
uplifting and a glory without parallel in his other writings. And yet
it would be altogether false to attach to this epistle any associations
such as are commonly connected with flights of imagination or the
language of rhapsody. For the epistle has the most direct bearing on
matters of practical life. If St. Paul glorifies the Christian ideal
it is in order that all that weight of glory may be brought to bear
upon the Asiatic Christians to force them to see that their personal
and social conduct must have a purity, a liberality, a wisdom, a love,
a power, commensurate with the greatness of those motives which are
acting upon them in their new Christian state.

[1] The Committee of the Conference of Bishops at Lambeth, 1897, in a
report commended by the bishops as a body to the 'consideration of all
Christian people,' write: 'Your committee do not hold that a true view
of Holy Scripture forecloses any legitimate question about the literary
character or literal accuracy of different parts or statements of the
Old Testament.'

[2] Acts xxiv 14; xxvi. 6, 7, 22, 23; 2 Tim i. 3.

[3] Eph. ii. 12-19.

[4] 1 Thess. ii. 14-16.

[5] Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans.

[6] See app. note C, p. 257.

[7] Acts ix. 20; 1 Cor. viii. 6; Rom. ix. 5; 2 Cor. viii. 9; Gal. iv. 4.

[8] Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, Philemon.

[9] Col. ii. 18: 'by a voluntary humility (or 'taking delight in
humility') and worshipping of the angels.'

[10] See i. 13-20; ii. 2, 3, 9-23; iii. 11. Cf. i. 27-28.

[11] Hort, _Judaistic Christianity_ (Macmillan, 1894), p. 125.

[12] Cf. app. note C, p. 257.

[13] Cf. Hort, _Prolegomena to Romans and Ephesians_ (Macmillan, 1895),
p. 100.

[14] Col. iv. 2-4; Philemon 22; Phil. i. 12-14.

[15] Ramsay, _Paul the Trav