7rvenza in the sense in which Paul uses that phrabe here. Meyer makes croOla the higher Christian wisdom as such ; TN:Dais the speculative, deeper, more penetrating knowledge of it ; while Estius reverses this, making X6-yos o-o(Plas gratiam de iis, qum ad doctrinam religionis ac pietatis spectant, disserendi ex causis supremis,' and Xcry. -yva)crecos ‘gratia disserendi de rebus Christianm religionis ex iis gum sunt humaxim scientim aut experientim,' i.e. of bringing principles of human philosophy or facts of human experience to bear on the illustration of divine truth. Henderson takes o-oct.fa to be com prehensive of the sublime truths of the gospel directly revealed to the apostles, of which the X6-yos was the supernatural ability rightly to communicate them to others ;' and by -rya cns the possession by divine communication of an exact and competent knowledge of the truths which God had already revealed through the instrumentality of the pro phets and apostles, in consequence of which those who possessed it became qualified, independently on the use of all ordinary means, forthwith to teach the church' (p. ISS, ff.) Osiander makes 0-00/a the apprehension of divine truth in its totality, of the ends and purposes of God, of the plan and work of redemption, of the revelation of salvation through Christ in its connection, its divine system and organism ; and -ypao-Ls the penetrating know ledge of particulars, given by God, with their in ward appropriation and experience (John vi. 69 ; xvii. 3 ; Phil. iii. 8). This last seems to be on the whole the least arbitrary and most probable inter pretation—it being of course kept in view that the apprehension and experience of divine truth, whether as a whole or in its parts, as well as the power of giving this forth in discourse, is not such as mere human intelligence and study could attain, but such as was Kari: 71-1,601.:a.
—All are agreed that this cannot be understood of that faith which saves—justifying faith ; and most regard it as a fides miraculosa, such as our Lord speaks of (Matt. xvii. 2o ; xxi. 21), and to which St. Paul refers (1 Cor. xiii. 2); a firm persuasion that on fitting occasions the divine power would be put forth to work miracles. Meyer thinks this too narrow, because under vio-r:s are ranked not only icinara and Supcip,cis, but also srpoq5nrcla and StaKplocts srvevihdrwv. He would therefore understand by vlares here a high degree of faith in Christ—a faith-heroism whose operation in some was in healings, etc.' As, however, such faith in Christ must mean faith in Him as the risen Lord, the source of miraculous power, whether exercised in healing diseases or in utterances of knowledge, this opinion seems to resolve itself into a substantial identity with the other.
xap. laillts-cov.—This all are agreed in under standing as the power of healing disease directly without the aid of therapeutic applications. The plural is used to indicate the variety of diseases, and the various gifts of healing them possessed in the church.
iv. locpy6p.. oInollAccop.—This is generally referred to the working of miracles of a higher kind than the healing of disease—miracles which consist not in the performing without means what means may effect, but in the performance of what no means can effect, such as the raising of the dead, the ex orcism of demons, the infliction, by a word, of death as a punishment, etc.
v. a-pokreia.-This refers not to ordinary, raj gious discourses for the edification of the church, but to such a forth-speaking of the mind of God in relation to truth, duty, or coming events, as the inward action of the Holy Spirit on the mind may produce ; Chrysost. rpoOre6wv rapra dm?) ro0 71-1,613Awros 00eryerat. That the gift of predicting future events was possessed in the early church, we see from such instances as Acts ii. 27, 28 ; xxi. I I, etc. ; but the 2-pthinrcla of the N. T. does not generally relate to this ; it usually has reference to the utterance of doctrine given by revelation from God (comp. Cor. xi. 3 ; xiv. 26-33, etc.) vi. Statcpftrels 7rpevildrwp.—From Cor. xiv. 29 (comp. t Thes. v. 21 ; John iv. r) we learn that professed prophetic utterances were to be subjected to trial, that nothing unchristian or unedifying might pass under that name ; and it is to this that the gift now before us relates. Even apostles would seem to have submitted their doctrine to the judgment of these gifted critics (r Cor. xiv. 37).
vii. ^yin 7Xtocraulv.—That this refers to the XaXdp -yX636-6-0 or •dit-6rtrrats which existed in the Corin thian church, and indicates that of these 7N3acrat there were various kinds, is undoubted ; hut in what this gift consisted is a question involved in great difficulty, and to which very different answers have been given. We may at once dismiss some of these as not deserving serious consideration—viz.
That of Bardili and Eichhorn, who take-AL:wart in the literal sense of tongue, and suppose that the Xalteat was a sort of inarticulate babble, an ecstatic utterance of mere sounds made by the tongue—an opinion which is irreconcilable with the idea of this being a gift of the Holy Ghost, with the possi bility of an interpretation of the sounds uttered, with what St. Paul says xiv. 18, and with the use of the plural in the phrase 7Nalacrats XaXcip ; 2. That of Bleck, who takes -yXiDaaa in the sense of gloss—i. e. archaic, poetical, or provincial word or idiom—a meaning which belongs to the techni calities of the grammarians, and is quite foreign to the language of the N. T. ; and 3. That of Billroth, who supposes -yVt6o-cta to mean a com posite language formed of the elements of various tongues, and in its composition affording a symbol of the uniting power and universality of Chris tianity—which is at the best only a pleasing fancy. The only two opinions worth considering are the old view that these -ylv2uraac were actual foreign tong-ues which the gifted persons spoke without having learned them ; and the opinion, subject to various modifications, that they were new and divinely-inspired utterances of a kind transcending the ordinary capacity and intelligence of men.