GREEK. LATIN.
Εν τουτω φανερα εστιν In hoc manifesti sunt
τα τεκνα του Θεου και filii Dei et filii diaboli.
τα τεκνα του διαβολου. Omnis qui non est
Πας ὁ μη ποιων δικαιοσυνην iustus non est ex Deo,
ουκ εστιν εκ του et qui non diligit
Θεου, και ὁ μη αγαπων fratrem suum; quoniam
τον αδελφον αυτου· ὁτι hæc est adnuntiatio
αυτη εστιν ἡ αγγελια quam audistis ab
ἡν ηκουσατε απ' αρχης, initio, ut diligamus alterutrum,
ἱνα αγαπωμεν αλληλους· non sicut
ου καθως Καιν εκ του Cain ex maligno erat,
πονηρου ἡν και εσφαξε et occidit fratrem suum.
τον αδελφον αυτου· και Et propter quid occidit
χαριν τινος εσφαξεν eum? quoniam opera
αυτον; ὁτι τα εργα eius maligna erant,
αυτου πονηρα ἡν, τα fratris autem eius
δε του αδελφου αυτου iusta. Nolite mirari
δικαια. μη θαυμαζετε, fratres si odit nos
αδελφοι, ει μισει ὑμας ὁ mundus. Nos scimus
κοσμος. Ἡμεις οιδαμεν quoniam translati
ὁτι μεταβεβηκαμεν εκ sumus de morte in
του θανατου εις την vitam, quoniam diligimus
ζωην, ὁτι αγαπωμεν fratres: qui non
τους αδελφους· ὁ μη diligit, manet in morte.
αγαπων μενει. εν τω Omnis qui odit fratrem
θανατω· πας ὁ μισων suum homicida est, et
τον αδελφον αυτου scitis quoniam omnis
ανθρωποκτονος εστιν· και homicida non habet
οιδατε ὁτι πας ανθρωποκτονος vitam æternam in se
ουκ εχει ζωην manentem. In hoc
αιωνιον εν αυτω μενουσαν. cognovimus caritatem
Εν τουτω εγνωκαμεν Dei, quoniam ille pro
την αγαπην, ὁτι nobis animam suam
εκεινος ὑπερ ἡμων την posuit: et nos debemus
ψυχην αυτου εθηκε· και pro fratribus animas
ἡμεις οφειλομεν ὑπερ ponere. Qui habuerit
των αδελφων τας ψυχας substantiam mundi et
θειναι. ὁς δ' ἁν εχη viderit fratrem suum
τον βιον του κοσμου necesse habere et
και θεωρη τον αδελφον clauserit viscera sua ab
αυτου χρειαν εχοντα και eo, quomodo caritas
κλειση τα σπλαγχνα Dei manet in eo?
αυτου απ' αυτου, πως Filioli non diligamus
ἡ αγαπη του Θεου μενει verbo nec lingua sed
εν αυτω; τεκνια μη opere et veritate. In
αγαπωμεν λογω μηδε hoc cognovimus quoniam
γλωσση, αλλ' εργω και ex veritate
αληθεια. Και εν τουτω sumus: et in conspectu
γινωσκμεν ὁτι εκ της eius suademus corda
αληθειας εσμεν, και nostra, quoniam si
εμπροσθεν αυτου πεισομεν reprehenderit nos cor
τας καρδιας ἡμων· nostrum, major est
ὁτι εαν καταγινωσκη Deus corde nostro
ἡμων ἡ καρδια, ὁτι et novit omnia. Carissimi
μειζων εστιν ὁ Θεος si cor nostrum
της καρδιας ἡμων, και non reprehenderit nos,
γινωσκει παντα. αγαπητοι, fiduciam habemus ad
εαν, ἡ καρδια Deum, et quodcumque
ἡμων μη καταγινωσκη petierimus accipiemus
ἡμων, παρρησιαν εχομεν abeo, quoniam mandata
προς τον Θεον, και ὁ eius custodemus et ea
εαν αιτωμεν, λαμβανομεν quæ sunt placita coram
παρ' αυτου, ὁτι τας eo facimus. Et hoc
εντολας αυτου τηρουμεν, est mandatum eius ut
και τα αρεστα ενωπιον credamus in nomine
αυτου ποισυμεν. και filii eius Iesu Christi
αυτη εστιν ἡ εντολη et diligamus alterutrum
αυτου, ἱνα πιστευσωμεν sicut dedit mandatum
τω ονοματι του υιου nobis. Et qui servat
αυτου Ιησου Χριστου, mandata eius, in illo
και αγαπωμεν αλληλους, manet et ipse in eo: et
καθως εδωκεν εντολην. in hoc scimus quoniam
και ὁ τηρων τας manet in nobis, de
εντολας αυτου, εν αυτω spiritu quem dedit
μενει, και αυτος εν αυτω. nobis.
και εν τουτω γινωσκομεν
ὁτι μενει εν ἡμιν, εκ
του Πνευματος ου ἡμιν
εδωκεν.
AUTHORISED VERSION. REVISED VERSION.
In this the children In this the children
of God are manifest, of God are manifest,
and the children of the and the children of the
devil: whosoever doeth devil: whosoever doeth
not righteousness not righteousness is
is not of God, neither not of God, neither he
he that loveth not his that loveth not his
brother. For this is brother. For this is
the message that ye the message which ye
heard from the beginning, heard from the beginning,
that we should that we should
love one another. Not love one another: not
as Cain, _who_ was of as Cain was of the evil
that wicked one, and one, and slew his
slew his brother. And brother. And wherefore
wherefore slew he slew he him?
him? Because his own Because his works
works were evil, and were evil, and his
his brother's righteous. brother's righteous.
Marvel not, my brethren, Marvel not, brethren,
if the world hate if the world hateth
you. We know that you. We know that
we have passed from we have passed out of
death unto life, because death into life, because
we love the brethren. we love the brethren.
He that loveth not _his_ He that loveth not
brother abideth in abideth in death.
death. Whosoever Whosoever hateth his
hateth his brother is a brother is a murderer:
murderer: and ye know and ye know that no
that no murderer hath murderer hath eternal
eternal life abiding in life abiding in him.
him. Hereby perceive Hereby know we love,
we the love _of God_, because He laid down
because He laid down His life for us: and we
His life for us: and ought to lay down our
we ought to lay down lives for the brethren.
_our_ lives for the But whoso hath the
brethren. But whoso world's goods, and beholdeth
hath this world's good, his brother in
and seeth his brother need, and shutteth up
have need, and shutteth his compassion from
up his bowels him, how doth the love
_of compassion_ from him, of God abide in him?
how dwelleth the love of _My_ little children, let
God in him? My little us not love in word,
children, let us not love neither with the
in word, neither in tongue; but in deed
tongue; but in deed and truth. Hereby
and in truth. And shall we know that we
hereby we know that are of the truth, and
we are of the truth, shall assure our heart
and shall assure our before him, whereinsoever
hearts before Him. our heart condemn
For if our heart condemn us; because God
us, God is greater is greater than our
than our heart, and heart, and knoweth all
knoweth all things. things. Beloved, if
Beloved, if our heart our heart condemn us
condemn us not, _then_ not, we have boldness
have we confidence toward God; and
toward God. And whatsoever we ask,
whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him,
we receive of Him, because we keep His
because we keep His commandments, and
commandments, and do the things that are
do those things that pleasing in His sight.
are pleasing in His And this is His commandment,
sight. And this is His that we
commandment, That should believe in the
we should believe on name of His Son Jesus
the name of His Son Christ, and love one
Jesus Christ, and love another, even as He
one another, as He gave us commandment.
gave us commandment. And he that keepeth
And he that keepeth His commandments
His commandments abideth in Him, and
dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby
He in him. And hereby we know that He
we know that He abideth in us, by the
abideth in us, by the Spirit which He gave
Spirit which He hath us.
given us.
ANOTHER VERSION.
In this the children
of God are manifest
and the children of the
devil: every one who is
not doing righteousness
is not of God,
neither he that is not
loving his brother.
For this is the message
that ye heard from the
beginning that ye
should love one another.
Not as Cain
was of the wicked one
and slew his brother
(_shall we be_). And
wherefore slew he
him? because his
works were evil, but
those of his brother
righteous. Brethren,
marvel not if the world
hate you. We know
that we have passed
over from the death
unto the life because
we love the brethren.
He who loveth not
abideth in the death.
Every one who hateth
his brother is a murderer:
and ye know
that no murderer hath
eternal life abiding in
him. Hereby know
we The Love because
He laid down His life
for us: and we are
bound to lay down our
lives for the brethren.
But whoso hath the
living of the world and
gazes on his brother
having need and shuts
out his heart from him,
how doth the love of
God abide in him?
Children let us not love
in word, nor with the
tongue, but in work
and truth. Hereby
shall we know that we
are of the truth and
shall persuade our
hearts before Him.
For if our heart condemn
us God is greater
than our heart and
knoweth all things.
Beloved, if our heart
condemn us not then
have we boldness toward
God, and whatsoever
we ask we
receive of Him, for we
observe His commandments,
and are doing
those things that are
pleasing in His sight.
And His commandment
is this, that we
should believe the
name of His Son Jesus
Christ and love one
another as He gave
commandment. And
he who is observing
His commandments
abideth in Him, and
He in him. And hereby
we know that He
abideth in us--out of
the fulness of the Spirit
whereof He gave us.
DISCOURSE IX.
_LOFTY IDEALS PERILOUS UNLESS APPLIED._
"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life
for us: and we ought to lay down, our lives for the brethren. But
whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and
shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the
love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word,
neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth."--1 JOHN iii. 16-18.
Even the world sees that the Incarnation of Jesus Christ has very
practical results. Even the Christmas which the world keeps is
fruitful in two of these results--forgiving and giving. How many of
the multitudinous letters at that season contain one or other of these
things--either the kindly gift, or the tender of reconciliation; the
confession "I was wrong," or the gentle advance "we were both wrong."
Love, charity (as we rather prefer to say), in its effects upon all
our relations to others, is the beautiful subject of this section of
our Epistle. It begins with the message of love[230] itself--yet
another asterisk referring to the Gospel,[231] to the very substance
of the teaching which the believers of Ephesus had first received from
St. Paul,[232] and which had been emphasized by St. John. This
message is announced not merely as a sounding sentiment, but for the
purpose of being carried out into action. As in moral subjects virtues
and vices are best illustrated by their contraries;[233] so, beside
the bright picture of the Son of God, the Apostle points to the
sinister likeness of Cain.[234] After some brief and parenthetic words
of pathetic consolation, he states as the mark of the great transition
from death to life, the existence of love as a pervading spirit
effectual in operation.[235] The dark opposite of this is then
delineated[236] in consonance with the mode of representation just
above.[237] But two such pictures of darkness must not shadow the
sunlit gallery of love. There is another--the fairest and brightest.
Our love can only be estimated by likeness to it; it is imperfect
unless it is conformed to the print of the wounds, unless it can be
measured by the standard of the great Self-sacrifice.[238] But if this
may be claimed as the one real proof of conformity to Christ, much
more is the limited partial sacrifice of "this world's good"
required.[239] This spirit, and the conduct which it requires in the
long run, will be found to be the test of all solid spiritual
comfort,[240] of all true self-condemnation or self-acquittal.[241]
We may say of the verses prefixed to this discourse, that they bring
before us charity in its _idea_, in its _example_, in its
_characteristics_--in _theory_, in _action_, in _life_.
I.
We have here love in its idea, "hereby know we love." Rather "hereby
know we _The Love_."[242]
Here the idea of charity in us runs parallel with that in Christ. It
is a subtle but true remark,[243] that there is here no logical
inferential particle. "Because He laid down His life for us," is not
followed by its natural correlative "therefore we," but by a simple
connective "and we." The reason is this, that our duty herein is not a
mere cold logical deduction. It is all of one piece with The Love. "We
know The Love because He laid down His life for us; _and_ we are in
duty bound for the brethren to lay down our lives."
Here, then, is the idea of love, as capable of realisation in us. It
is continuous unselfishness, to be crowned by voluntary death, if
death is necessary. The beautiful old Church tradition shows that this
language was the language of St. John's life. Who has forgotten how
the Apostle in his old age is said to have gone on a journey to find
the young man who had fled from Ephesus and joined a band of robbers;
and to have appealed to the fugitive in words which are the pathetic
echo of these--"if needs be I would die for thee as He for us?"
II.
The idea of charity is then practically illustrated by an incident of
its opposite. "But whoso hath this world's good, and gazes upon his
brother in need, and shuts up his heart against him, how doth the love
of God abide in him?"[244] The reason for this descent in thought is
wise and sound. High abstract ideas expressed in lofty and
transcendent language, are at once necessary and dangerous for
creatures like us. They are necessary, because without these grand
conceptions our moral language and our moral life would be wanting in
dignity, in amplitude, in the inspiration and impulse which are often
necessary for duty and always for restoration. But they are dangerous
in proportion to their grandeur. Men are apt to mistake the emotion
awakened by the very sound of these magnificent expressions of duty
for the discharge of the duty itself. Hypocrisy delights in sublime
speculations, because it has no intention of their costing anything.
Some of the most abject creatures embodied by the masters of romance
never fail to parade their sonorous generalizations. One of such
characters, as the world will long remember, proclaims that sympathy
is one of the holiest principles of our common nature, while he shakes
his fist at a beggar.[245]
Every large speculative ideal then is liable to this danger; and he
who contemplates it requires to be brought down from his
transcendental region to the test of some commonplace duty. This is
the latent link of connection in this passage. The ideal of love to
which St. John points is the loftiest of all the moral and spiritual
emotions which belong to the sentiments of man. Its archetype is in
the bosom of God, in the eternal relations of the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost. "God is love." Its home in humanity is Christ's heart of
fire and flesh; its example is the Incarnation ending in the Cross.
Now of course the question for all but one in thousands is not the
attainment of this lofty ideal--laying down his life for the brethren.
Now and then, indeed, the physician pays with his own death for the
heroic rashness of drawing out from his patient the fatal matter.
Sometimes the pastor is cut off by fever contracted in ministering to
the sick, or by voluntarily living and working in an unwholesome
atmosphere. Once or twice in a decade some heart is as finely touched
by the spirit of love as Father Damien, facing the certainty of death
from a long slow putrefaction, that a congregation of lepers may enjoy
the consolations of faith. St. John here reminds us that the ordinary
test of charity is much more commonplace. It is helpful compassion to
a brother who is known to be in need, manifested by giving to him
something of this world's "good"--of the "living"[246] of this world
which he possesses.
III.
We have next the characteristics of love in action. "My sons; let us
not love in word nor with the tongue; but in work and truth." There is
love in its energy and reality; in its effort and sincerity--active
and honest, without indolence and without pretence. We may well be
reminded here of another familiar story of St. John at Ephesus. When
too old to walk himself to the assembly of the Church, he was carried
there. The Apostle who had lain upon the breast of Jesus; who had
derived from direct communication with Him those words and thoughts
which are the life of the elect; was expected to address the faithful.
The light of the Ephesian summer fell upon his white hair; perhaps
glittered upon the mitre which tradition has assigned to him. But when
he had risen to speak, he only repeated--"little children, love one
another." Modern hearers are sometimes tempted to envy the primitive
Christians of the Ephesian Church, if for nothing else, yet for the
privilege of listening to the shortest sermon upon record in the
annals of Christianity. When Christian preachers have behind them the
same long series of virgin years, within them the same love of Christ
and knowledge of His mysteries; when their very presence evinces the
same sad, tender, smiling, weeping, all-embracing sympathy with the
wants and sorrows of humanity; they may perhaps venture upon the
perilous experiment of contracting their sermons within the same span
as St. John's. And when some, who like the hearers at Ephesus, are not
prepared for the repetition of an utterance so brief, begin to
ask--"why are you always saying this?"--the answer may well be in the
spirit of the reply which the aged Apostle is said to have
made--"because it is the commandment of the Lord, and sufficient, if
it only be fulfilled indeed."
IV.
This passage supplies an argument (capable, as we have seen in the
Introduction, of much larger expansion from the Epistle as a whole)
against mutilated views, fragmentary versions of the Christian life.
There are four such views which are widely prevalent at the present
time.
(1) The _first_ of these is _emotionalism_; which makes the entire
Christian life consist in a series or bundle of emotions. Its origin is
the desire of having the feelings touched, partly from sheer love of
excitement; partly from an idea that _if_ and _when_ we have worked up
certain emotions to a fixed point we are saved and safe. This reliance
upon feelings is in the last analysis reliance upon self. It is a form
of salvation by works; for feelings are inward actions. It is an unhappy
anachronism which inverts the order of Scripture; which substitutes
peace and grace (the compendious dogma of the heresy of the emotions)
for grace and peace, the only order known to St. Paul and St. John.[247]
The only spiritual emotions spoken of in this Epistle are joy,
confidence, "assuring our hearts before Him":[248] the first as the
result of receiving the history of Jesus in the Gospel, the Incarnation,
and the blessed communion with God and the Church which it involves; the
second as tried by tests of a most practical kind.
(2) The _second_ of these mutilated views of the Christian life is
_doctrinalism_--which makes it consist of a series or bundle of
doctrines apprehended and expressed correctly, at least according to
certain formulas, generally of a narrow and unauthorised character.
According to this view the question to be answered is--has one quite
correctly understood, can one verbally formulate certain almost
scholastic distinctions in the doctrine of justification? The
well-known standard--"the Bible only"--must be reduced by the excision
of all within the Bible except the writings of St. Paul; and even in
this selected portion faith must be entirely guided by certain
portions more selected still, so that the question finally may be
reduced to this shape--"am I a great deal sounder than St. John and
St. James, a little sounder than an unexpurgated St. Paul, as sound as
a carefully expurgated edition of the Pauline Epistles?"
(3) The _third_ mutilated view of the Christian life is
_humanitarianism_--which makes it a series or bundle of philanthropic
actions.
There are some who work for hospitals, or try to bring more light and
sweetness into crowded dwelling-houses. Their lives are pure and
noble. But the one article of their creed is humanity. Altruism is
their highest duty. Their object, so far as they have any object apart
from the supreme rule of doing right, is to lay hold on subjective
immortality by living on in the recollection of those whom they have
helped, whose existence has been soothed and sweetened by their
sympathy. With others the case is different. Certain forms of this
busy helpfulness--especially in the laudable provision of recreations
for the poor--are an innocent interlude in fashionable life;
sometimes, alas! a kind of work of supererogation, to atone for the
want of devotion or of purity--possibly an untheological survival of
a belief in justification by works.
(4) The _fourth_ fragmentary view of the Christian life is
_observationism_, which makes it to consist in a bundle or series of
observances. Frequent services and communions, perhaps with exquisite
forms and in beautifully decorated churches, have their dangers as
well as their blessings. However closely linked these observances may
be, there must still in every life be interstices between them. How
are these filled up? What spirit within connects together, vivifies
and unifies, this series of external acts of devotion? They are means
to an end. What if the means come to interpose between us and the
end--just as a great political thinker has observed that with legal
minds the forms of business frequently overshadow the substance of
business, which is their end, and for which they were called into
existence. And what is the end of our Christian calling? A life
pardoned; in process of purification; growing in faith, in love of God
and man, in quiet joyful service. Certainly a "rage for ceremonials
and statistics," a long list of observances, does not infallibly
secure such a life, though it may often be not alone the delighted and
continuous expression, but the constant food and support of such a
life. But assuredly if men trust in any of these things--in their
emotions, in their favourite formulas, in their philanthropic works,
in their religious observances--in anything but Christ, they greatly
need to go back to the simple text--"His name shall be called Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins."
Now, as we have said above, in distinction from all these fragmentary
views, St. John's Epistle is a survey of the completed Christian life,
founded upon his Gospel. It is a consummate fruit ripened in the long
summers of his experience. It is not a treatise upon the Christian
affections, nor a system of doctrine, nor an essay upon works of
charity, nor a companion to services.
Yet this wonderful Epistle presupposes at least much that is most
precious of all these elements. (1) It is far from being a burst of
emotionalism. Yet almost at the outset it speaks of an emotion as being
the natural result of rightly received objective truth.[249] St. John
recognises feeling, whether of supernatural or natural origin;[250] but
he recognises it with a certain majestic reserve. Once only does he seem
to be carried away. In a passage to which reference has just been made,
after stating the dogma of the Incarnation, he suffuses it with a wealth
of emotional colour. It is Christmas in his soul; the bells ring out
good tidings of great joy. "These things write we unto you, that your
joy may be full." (2) This Epistle is no dogmatic summary. Yet combining
its proœmium with the other of the fourth Gospel, we have the most
perfect statement of the dogma of the Incarnation. As we read
thoughtfully on, dogma after dogma stands out in relief. The divinity of
the Word, the reality of His manhood, the effect of His atonement, His
intercession, His continual presence, the personality of the Holy
Spirit, His gifts to us, the relation of the Spirit to Christ, the Holy
Trinity--all these find their place in these few pages. If St. John is
no mere doctrinalist he is yet the greatest theologian the Church has
ever seen. (3) Once more; if the Apostle's Christianity is no mere
humanitarian sentiment to encourage the cultivation of miscellaneous
acts of good-nature, yet it is deeply pervaded by a sense of the
integral connection of practical love of man with the love of God. So
much is this the case, that a large gathering of the most emotional of
modern sects is said to have gone on with a Bible reading in St. John's
Epistle until they came to the words--"we know that we have passed from
death unto life, because we love the brethren." The reader immediately
closed the book, pronouncing with general assent that the verse was
likely to disturb the peace of the children of God. Still St. John puts
humanitarianism in its right place as a result of something higher.
"This commandment have we from Him, that he who loveth God love his
brother also." As if he would say--"do not sever the law of social life
from the law of supernatural life; do not separate the human fraternity
from the Divine Fatherhood." (4) No one can suppose that for St. John
religion was a mere string of observances. Indeed, to some his Epistle
has given the notion of a man living in an atmosphere where external
ordinances and ministries either did not exist at all, or only in almost
impalpable forms. Yet in that wonderful manual, "The Imitation of
Christ," there is not more than the faintest trace of any of these
external things; while no one could possibly argue that the author was
ignorant of, or lightly esteemed, the ordinances and sacraments amongst
which his life must have been spent. Certainly the fourth Gospel is
deeply sacramental. This Epistle, with its calm, unhesitating conviction
of the sonship of all to whom it is addressed; with its view of the
Christian life as in idea a continuous growth from a birth the secret of
whose origin is given in the Gospel; with its expressive hints of
sources of grace and power and of a continual presence of Christ; with
its deep mystical realisation of the double flow from the pierced side
upon the cross, and its thrice-repeated exchange of the _sacramental_
order "_water_ and blood,"[251] for the _historical_ order "_blood_ and
water"; unquestionably has the sacramental sense diffused throughout it.
The Sacraments are not in obtrusive prominence; yet for those who have
eyes to see they lie in deep and tender distances. Such is the view of
the Christian life in this letter--a life in which Christ's truth is
blended with Christ's love; assimilated by thought, exhaling in worship,
softening into sympathy with man's suffering and sorrow. It calls for
the believing soul, for the devout heart, for the helping hand. It is
the perfect balance in a saintly soul of feeling, creed, communion, and
work.
For of work for our fellow man it is that the question is asked half
despairingly--"whoso hath this world's good, and seeth" (gazes
at)[252] "his brother have need, and shutteth up his heart against
him, how doth the love of God[253] dwell in him?" Some can quietly
look at the poor brother; they see _him_ in need, but they have not
the thoughtful eyes that see _his need_. They may belong to "the
sluggard Pity's vision-weaving tribe," who expend a sigh of sentiment
upon such spectacles, and nothing more. Or they may be hardened
professors of the "dismal science," who have learned to consider a
sigh as the luxury of ignorance or of feebleness. But for all
practical purposes both these classes interpose a too effectual
barrier between their heart and their brother's need. But true
Christians are made partakers in Christ of the mystery of human
suffering. Even when they are not actually in sight of brethren in
want, their ears are ever hearing the ceaseless moaning of the sea of
human sorrow, with a sympathy which involves its own measure of pain,
though a pain which brings with it abundant compensation. Their inner
life has not merely won for itself the partly selfish satisfaction of
personal escape from punishment, great as that blessing may be. They
have caught something of the meaning of the secret of all love--"we
love because He first loved us."[254] In those words is the romance
(if we may dare to call it so) of the divine love-tale. Under its
influence the face once hard and narrow often becomes radiant and
softened; it smiles, or is tearful, in the light of the love of His
face who first loved.
It is this principle of St. John which is ever at work in Christian
lands. In hospitals it tells us that Christ is ever passing down the
wards; that He will have no stinted service; that He must have more
for His sick more devotion, a gentler touch, a finer sympathy; that
where His hand has broken and blessed, every particle is a sacred
thing, and must be treated reverently.
Are there any who are tempted to think that our text has become
antiquated; that it no longer holds true in the light of organised
charity, of economic science? Let them listen to one who speaks with
the weight of years of active benevolence, and with consummate
knowledge of its method and duties.[255] "There are men who, in their
detestation of roguery, forget that by a wholesale condemnation of
charity, they run the risk of driving the honest to despair and of
turning them into the very rogues of whom they desire so ardently to
be quit. These men are unconsciously playing into the hands of the
Socialists and the Anarchists, the only sections of society whose
distinct interest it is that misery and starvation should increase. No
doubt indiscriminate almsgiving is hurtful to the State as well as to
the individual who receives the dole, but not less dangerous would it
be to society if the principles of these stern political economists
were to be literally accepted by any large number of the rich, and if
charity ceased to be practised within the land. We cannot yet afford
to shut ourselves up in the castle of philosophic indifference,
regardless of the fate of those who have the misfortune to find
themselves outside its walls."
NOTES.
Ch. iii. 12-21.
Ver. 12. A second reference to the Book of Genesis within a few lines
(see ver. 8). It is characteristic of the historical spirit of St.
John that he does not entangle himself with the luxuriant upgrowth of
wild fable in which traditional Judaism has ever enveloped the simple
narrative of Cain and Abel in Genesis.
Ver. 15. St. John may refer to another passage in Genesis. "And Esau
said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand;
then will I slay my brother Jacob" (Gen. xxvii. 11-41).
Ver. 17. A Rabbinical saying is worth recording as an illustration of
the spirit in which the "living of this world" should be held. "He that
saith, Mine is thine, and thine is mine, is an idiot; he that saith,
Mine is mine, and thine is thine, is moderate; he that saith, Mine is
thine, and thine is thine, is charitable; but he that saith, Thine is
mine, and mine is mine, is wicked; even though it be only saying it in
his heart, to wish it were so." Paulus Fagius. _Sentent. Heb._
Vers. 19, 20, 21. These verses probably present more difficulties than
any other portion of this Epistle. (1) For their construction. The
following note from a _fasciculus_ (now no longer to be procured)
written by a master of sacred studies seems to us to say all that can
be said for a rendering different from that of the R. V. and our own.
"Ver. 20: ὁτι εαν καταγινωσκη ἡμων ἡ καρδια, ὁτι μειζων εστιν ὁ Θεος.
The difficulty is in the second ὁτι, which is ignored by the Vulgate and
A. V. The Revisers (after Hoogeveen, _De Partic._ p. 589, ed. Schütz.
and others) point ὁ,τι εαν in the first clause, which they join with the
preceding verse: 'and shall assure our heart before him, whereinsoever
our heart condemn us; because God' etc. But this is quite inadmissible,
since nothing can be plainer than that εαν καταγινωσκη (ver. 20) and εαν
μη καταγινωσκη (ver. 21) are both _in protasi_, and in strict
correlation with each other. Dean Alford suggests an ellipsis of the
verb substantive before the second ὁτι, and would translate: 'Because if
our heart condemn us, (it is) because God' etc. He instances such cases
as ει τις εν Χριστω, (he is) καινη κτισις, which are quite dissimilar;
but the following from St. Chrysostom (T. X. p. 122 B) fully bears out
this construction; Ὁ ζυγος μου χρηστος κ.τ.ἑ. ει δε ουκ αισθανη της
κουφοτητος, ὉΤΙ προθυμιαν ερρωμενην ουκ εχεις; where I have expunged
δηλον before ὁτι on the authority of three out of four MSS. collated for
these Homilies, the fourth, with the old Latin version, for ὁτι
προθυμιαν reading μη θαυμασης, προθυμιαν γαρ. In my note on that place I
have pointed out that the ellipsis is not of δηλον, but of το αιτιον,
_causa est, quia_. So in the present instance we might translate: 'For
if our heart condemn us, (the reason is) because God is greater,' etc.,
were it not for the difficulty of explaining how the fact of God's being
greater than our heart can be a valid reason for our heart condemning
us. I would, therefore, take the second ὁτι for _quod_, not _quia_, and
suppose an ellipsis of δηλον, as in 1 Tim. vi. 7, where see
note."--_Otium Norvicense_, by Frederic Field, M.A., LL.D. (pp. 153,
15).
Dr. Field s rendering then is: "For if our heart condemn us, (it is
evident) that God is greater than our heart."
(2) For the meaning of these verses. All interpretations appear to
fall into two classes; as St. John is supposed to aim at (_a_)
_soothing_ conscience, or (_b_) _awakening_ it. But may he not really
intend to leave people to think over a something which he has
purposely omitted, and to apply it as required? The saying "God is
greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things," probably cuts two
ways. If my heart condemn me justly, and with truth, much more so does
God who is greater than my heart. But, if my conscience is tenderly
sensitive, scrupulous because full of love, God's knowledge of my
heart tells in this case on the brighter side, as truly as in the
other case it told on the darker side. We may lull our heart. "A
tranquil God tranquillises all things, and to see His peacefulness is
to be at peace." (_St. Bernard in Cant._)
FOOTNOTES:
[230] Ver. 11.
[231] John xv. 12-17. See also the stress laid upon the unity of
believers; surely including love as well as doctrine in the great
High-Priestly prayer, John xvii. 21-23.
[232] "The message that ye heard _from the beginning_," conf. 1 John
ii. 24.
[233] "Contrariorum eadem est scientia."
[234] This is one of the few references to the Old Testament _history_
in St. John's Epistle (Gen. iv. 1-8). To the _theology_ of the Old
Testament there are many references; _e.g._, light and life. 1 John i.
1-5; John i. 4; Ps. xxxvi. 9. There is, however, another historical
reference a few verses above (1 John iii. 8)--a passage of primary
importance because it recognises the whole narrative of the Fall in
Genesis, and affords a commentary upon the words of Christ (John viii.
44). The writer has somewhere seen an interesting suggestion that ver.
12 may contain some allusion to the visit of Apollonius of Tyana to
Ephesus. Apollonius incited the mob to kill a beggar-man for the
purpose of placing himself on a level with Chalcas and others who
caused the sacrifice of human victims. The date of this incident would
apparently coincide with the closing years of St. John's life
(_Philostrat. vita Apollon._, Act. ii., S. 5).
[235] Ver. 14.
[236] Vers. 14, 15.
[237] Ver. 12.
[238] Ver. 16.
[239] Ver. 17.
[240] Vers. 18, 19.
[241] Vers. 20, 21.
[242] "For _The Love_ I rather beseech thee" (Phil. v. 9). The
addition in the A.V. (_of God_) rather impairs the sweetness and
power, the reverential reserve of the original.
[243] Of Prof. Westcott.
[244] Ver. 17.
[245] It is suggestive that on Quinquagesima Sunday, when 1 Cor. xiii.
is the Epistle, St. Luke xviii. 31 sqq., is the Gospel. The lyric of
love is joined with a fragment of its epic. That fragment tells us of
a love which not only proclaimed itself ready to be sacrificed (Luke
xviii. 31-33), but condescended individually to the blind importunate
mendicant who sat by the wayside begging (vers. 35-43).
[246] The word here is βιος not ζωη. "Βιος period of life; hence the
means by which it is sustained, means of life." (Archbp. Trench.) It
is to be wished that the R. V. had either kept "the good" of the A.
V., or adopted the word "living"--the translation of βιος in Mark xii.
44; Luke xxi. 4.
[247] 2 John 3.
[248] 1 John i. 4, ii. 28, iii. 21, iv. 17, v. 14, iii. 19.
[249] 1 John i. 4.
[250] τα σπλαγχνα (ver. 17). This however is the only occurrence of the
word in St. John's writings. The substantive σπλαγχνα = _emotions_, is
found in classical poets. But the verb σπλαγχνιζομαι occurs only in LXX.
and New Testament--and thus, like αγαπη, is almost born within the
circle of revealed truth. The new dispensation so rich in the mercy of
God (Luke i. 78), so fruitful in mercy from man to man, may well claim a
new vocabulary in the department of tenderness and pity.
[251] 1 John v. 6, conf. John xix. 34.
[252] θεωρη, ver. 17.
[253] "The love of which God is at once the object, and the author,
and the pattern." (Prof. Westcott.)
[254] 1 John iv. 19.
[255] Lord Meath.