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Chapter Four:
St.
Paul---1. The Mystical Christ in Paul’s Preaching
I
All that we
have thus far seen, rich in instruction though it be, is
as yet only an introduction. We saw in the Old Testament
that God was preparing a union of all men in Himself;
the Synoptics showed Christ founding the Kingdom in
order to effect that union; in the Acts we learned that
the Kingdom was being set up on earth, and that the
union thus established is to endure to the end of time.
But as to the intimate nature of this union and of this
Kingdom, God has until now spoken only in very summary
fashion.
This He
tells us in the Epistles of St. Paul, and, in a somewhat
different way, in the writings of St. John.
We shall first consider the
Epistles of St. Paul (1). They are not something
entirely new in the doctrine of the Mystical Body; they
are simply its continuation. We have just seen, in
studying the Acts, that Paul had received the revelation
of Christ living in the Church. Now he transmits this
revelation to the Church.
Many were the visions granted to the
Apostle, but he speaks of them merely in passing. The
single exception is Christ’s appearance on the road to
Damascus; this he describes repeatedly, and in great
detail. Indeed, it is this vision that furnishes the
true explanation of his work and of his writings.
Whether he refers to it explicitly or whether he is
speaking merely of revelation in general, he seems
always to be thinking of this one when he wishes to
explain his knowledge of Christ.
It was this vision that made him an
Apostle, an official witness of the risen and living
Christ; it gave him his message, with the peculiarities
it presents; it is always at the heart of his preaching,
so that it may be called the whole of his preaching. In
his instructions as well as in his controversies the
Apostle is simply paraphrasing Christ’s own words: “ I
am Jesus, whom thou dost persecute.” (2) As he was
called to the apostolate by a manifestation of the
Mystical Christ, so he becomes the Apostle of this
Mystical Christ.
II
His doctrine is the same as that of the
other Apostles; he was schooled in the usual
catechesis, having learned the truths of
Christianity from one of the most respected Christians
of Damascus. He himself tells us that he was in perfect
agreement with the Twelve, whom he calls the pillars of
the Church.
Like the Christ of the Gospels, his Christ
is a truly living personality, not a hazy abstraction;
He is positively and unquestionably real; He speaks with
authority, and conquers his man with a mere word. He is
a real being of flesh and blood. His life was passed on
this earth, like our own. Paul is familiar with the
events of that life, and dwells untiringly on the
Passion and the Cross.
And Christ’s Passion is no mere speculative
truth. In it Paul senses an ardent love that is seeking
him out personally. “He loved me, and He delivered
Himself for me.” (3) And the heart of the Apostle is
transpierced by those loving eyes that are fixed upon
his soul; henceforth a most personal attachment exists
between Paul and the One “who has loved him” (4), as he
calls Jesus.
To “this Man”, to this Man-God whose ardent
affection and ineffable goodness he has come to know,
Paul has vowed a violent love. He loves Him with all the
stubbornness and all the exclusiveness that
characterizes his whole nature. He serves this Master
above and against all others. He never ceases to think
of Him, to speak of Him; he is pursued, obsessed, by His
name. He quotes Jesus, repeats His words, in season and
out of season, for though his heart be brimming over
with Christ, yet he cannot sate his hunger. His is an
“ecstatic love”, says Cornelius à Lapide, “a love that
snatches and carries Paul out of himself, and into the
object of his love.” (5)
III.
Part One
We must go
even further. There is more here than a preference, more
than an obsession. It is a presence. Not only is Paul in
love with Christ; he possesses Christ. His Christ is not
simply a man who has died and happens to find himself
alive again; He is a Man who gives life to all other
men.
This doctrine of the Mystical Christ takes
on an entirely new emphasis in the Apostle’s writings;
it gives his Epistles their individuality, and we may
say with St. John Chrysostom that in all his writings,
Paul is intent upon one thing: to show the faithful that
they possess all things in common with Christ. Paul’s
teaching, “Paulinism”, is frequently summed up in a
series of theses, or better, of oppositions: the Gospel
as opposed to Judaism, grace as opposed to sin, and
finally our justification as opposed to any previous
merit on our part. Now, the objection may be raised that
not one of these oppositions speaks, explicitly at any
rate, of the Mystical Body.
This is certainly true, as long as we view
them from the exterior only. But let us reflect a
moment. Their very structure testifies that under this
form they are merely incidental. Had it not been for
human pride and the machinations of the Judaizers, Paul
would never have adopted an attitude of defense in his
teaching. The controversy that he takes up betrays an
ardent love, not for the adversaries whom he attacks,
but for the truth he is defending. And this truth is
precisely our incorporation in Christ.
If the Gospel is greater than the Law, it is
because it alone gives us true life, in Christ; if grace
is contrasted with sin, it is because it alone frees us
from all baseness and all iniquity by renewing us in the
Saviour; finally, if justification precludes all
previous merit, it is because it makes us members of the
Incarnate Son, and because no effort of our own can make
us worthy of a life so sublime. Thus, it is always the
same error that Paul is combating on every side and
under varied forms, and his refutation in each instance
is an act of faith and love in the new life that is
given us in Christ.
True, Paul defends this one
doctrine with virulence; but this very virulence, in its
own way, renders testimony to the same truth. Each
figure of dualism, of opposition, of struggle, to which
the Apostle has recourse, is certainly a reflection of
his ardent temperament and of the contradictions that
harass him. But do they not likewise remind one of
Paul’s own combat, of that first combat which made him
an Apostle? On the road to Damascus---for thither we
must ever return---the Gospel rose up before him, so to
speak, and struck down the man of the Law; the light of
grace burst upon his soul and put to rout sin and its
allies; and Paul was inundated by a love that all too
plainly excluded the very thought of pre-existing merit.
In this dramatic conversion lies the seed of all of
Paulinism, controversial as well as positive. For both
to grow, all that is needed is that contradictors appear
and that Paul’s life continue.
Hence let us leave aside the outer shell of
controversy, and take a closer view of the fruit within.
The doctrine of our incorporation in Christ is at the
heart of Paul’s teaching. It appears everywhere, even in
letters to very recent converts; it is repeated at every
instant, with a superabundance of comparisons and forms
of expression. It is used in the explanation of many
points of Christian doctrine as well as for the
inculcation of moral precepts. Like a living seed, its
roots have penetrated the Apostle’s entire thought,
gathering grouping everything together. As Bossuet
declares, “Whoever would delete the passages in which
Paul proposes this doctrine, would not only weaken his
invincible arguments, but would even suppress the
greater part of his divine Epistles.” (6)
III.
Part Two
The Apostle himself takes care to point
out the position which the doctrine holds in his
teaching. It is around it that he makes his synthesis,
by incomplete efforts at first, but later in a full
development.
We shall begin with uncertain attempts.
However, in order to appreciate their significance, we
must keep the final result in mind. This we shall
briefly indicate at present, and return to it when the
chronological order of the Epistles brings it up again
later on. We find the complete expression in the
exposition of the “mystery”, which is the object of the
Christological Epistles. Let us consider, for example, a
few verses of the Epistle to the Ephesians.
I, Paul, prisoner of Christ Jesus on
behalf of you the gentiles…for ye have surely heard of
the gracious commission of God given me in your regard,
how by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I
have written in brief above. By reading that ye can
perceive my insight into this mystery of Christ, which
was not made known to other generations of the sons of
men, as now it hath been made known to His holy apostles
and prophets in the Spirit---that in Christ Jesus
through the gospel the gentiles are coheirs and
concorporate and comparticipant in the promise.
Of that gospel I was made minister by
the free grace of God, given me by the operation of His
power. Unto me, the least of all saints, hath been given
this same grace, to preach to the gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make clear what is
the dispensation touching the mystery which from ages
hath been hidden in God the Creator of all.
(7)
The passage will suffice; besides, it is
supported by the entire series of the Epistles of the
captivity. It tells us that all of Paul’s preaching is
summed up in the “mystery”, and that this mystery
consists in the incorporation into Christ of the pagans
as well as of the Jews. According to Père Prat, the
“mystery” is the plan conceived by God from all
eternity, but revealed only in the Gospel, to save all
men without distinction of race by identifying them all
with His well-beloved Son in the unity of the Mystical
Body. (8) All men without exception are called in Christ
Jesus to be saints, and this divine bounty, this grace,
this mystery, expresses at once all that Paul teaches
and all that constitutes our justice; it is Paul’s
entire Gospel, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Nor is this mystery, as presented in the
Epistles of the captivity, the abrupt manifestation of
something whose existence was until then unsuspected.
Paul was certain, enthusiastically certain, of the truth
from the beginning of his ministry. But discussions with
alarmists who saw the end of the world at hand,
controversies with zealots of the Law, and all the
opposition that met him at every turn during the early
years of his preaching, left him neither time nor
leisure to prepare a complete, systematic treatment of
the subject. Moreover, as yet he did not have at his
command the words, images, and comparisons with which to
express it; he had not as yet been able to organize his
thoughts, and it may be that he had not yet considered
giving a full and complete exposition. Such a systematic
development presupposes a long psychological and logical
labor of preparation, and God is not wont to do this
work for men, even in the case of the inspired writers
whom He has chosen to announce His message. This is the
work that He uses as His instrument; it is this He
initiates, directs, assists, and ratifies in the
Scriptures. Hence, as a general rule, He would scarcely
begin by suppressing it.
Nor is it necessary that the human author of
the sacred text be fully conscious of this labor.
Through the instrumentality of man, God produces greater
effects than man is aware of. When truth, particularly
divine truth, is once received in the human heart, it
lives and develops by its own powers, with the energy it
has from God; and God watches over His truth far more
jealously than does the man who has received it.
Now, what the author does not necessarily
perceive in an explicit way in his own mind, will not
find expression in his book in a manner that is
immediately perceptible either. Hence this psychological
and divinely directed development of the revealed truth
may appear, not in the form of clear statements, but
rather by way of indications or certain series of
indications that only a careful scrutiny will bring to
light. It is like an underground stream that flows
unseen, and whose existence would never be suspected,
except than an occasional resurgence, the dampness of
the soil and the abundance of vegetation betrays its
presence.
Such, it seems to us, is the expression of
the mystery in the early Epistles. One would think it
absent, but it is in process of formation. A more
careful investigation detects traces of it in a few
isolated phrases, or even in a series of connected
ideas. These traces, it is true, are scarcely visible,
and at times may prove a source of annoyance to the
commentator, if he fails to see what they are leading
to; but they become eloquent, when they are interpreted
in the light of the finished formula.
No one can deny that alongside the
general theme of a work there also exist secondary
themes. Pure, dry unity or dull monotony can exist only
where rhetoric is misunderstood. The real man has a
soul; he thinks with all that soul, and if he is
eloquent, he expresses himself with all his soul. All
his memories, all his reflections, all his interests, in
a word, his entire being reacts as a unit when he is
deeply moved. There is unity of direction and of
inspiration, but accompanying this is a full, rich
harmony, the response of an unsuspected multitude of
sympathetic reactions that modify the whole, yet blend
into a single state of soul. Such is the secret, the
incommunicable secret of living eloquence. It is in this
that the profuse beauty of Paul’s Epistles consists;
when he speaks of Jesus, the whole man struggles for
expression, and particularly what is deepest in his
heart and least capable of expression. Who can analyze
the ardor of this soul, all intent upon the pursuit of a
single object? Certainly the Apostle makes no effort to
do so; he thinks neither of a synoptic plan nor of
desirable pruning. One thought leads to similar
thoughts; at times a series of related ideas is
introduced by way of digression from the principal
theme. But the whole is a perfect unit, for it is the
voice of a single soul, completely filled with a single
love.
Why should God not make use of all
this in speaking to us? He is the sole principal author
of the Scriptures; He alone can speak to us in this
fashion. If all this is found in the Scriptures, God has
willed it so, although the human author may not have
adverted to its presence. It is all inspired, and as
such it should be carefully studied. The task of
assembling these indications is an important one, for
they permit us to touch the very chords that vibrated in
the heart of Paul when he spoke of Jesus, and they give
us an inkling of the discreet and gentle manner in which
God enlightened the mind of His Apostle. But it is
likewise a delicate task, for the indications we must
seek are imponderable; it would even be impossible, if
the author himself had not marked the path, and if his
later writings did not point out the direction that his
thoughts had taken from the beginning.
This is the task we wish to perform here; we
wish to see how, under God’s inspiration, Paul makes the
doctrine of the “mystery” the central theme of his
preaching.
III.
Part Three
The first passage to be noted is an
isolated but very early verse, hidden away in the First
Epistle to the Thessalonians. The author places it among
the moral counsels which unusually make up the second
part of his letters. Here, it seems rather out of place,
but it takes on real meaning when compared with the
Epistle to the Ephesians.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
In everything give thanks; for
this is God’s will toward you in Jesus Christ.
Quench not the Spirit, spurn
not the prophesyings; but test all things, hold fast the
good, keep yourselves from every form of evil.
May the God of peace
Himself sanctify you through and through, and may your
spirit and soul and body be preserved whole without
blame against the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (9)
The verse to be singled out is the act of
thanksgiving because of God’s will in our regard in
Jesus Christ. Not that the passage is not a moral
counsel; it is one. But when it is compared with other
texts, it also becomes a statement of the “mystery”. It
is incomplete, of course, and somewhat confusing,
because of its presence in a different development; but
it breaks the continuity of the whole by a kind of
distinct personality. It is more vague than the rest; it
is crowded into a reference to the Trinity: God, Jesus,
the Spirit; it is accompanied by a blessing; it seems to
sum up the whole economy of salvation, and to give us,
by itself, the reason for joy without end.
Next, we shall take an example of a series
of thoughts parallel to the principal theme and
connected by the idea of the “mystery”. It is to be
found in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, written
four or five years later than the text we have just
read. Here we see a more precise expression of the
ineffable reality.
We know under what circumstances the letter
was written. Paul was in Asia Minor when he learned that
the Church of Corinth, which he had founded a short time
previously, was in a ferment of discord. The neophytes
had been visited by Apollo, and, it would appear, by
certain Jewish Christians as well. Upon contact with
these men, the flock soon began to divide into opposing
factions. One of these claimed the eloquent philosopher
Apollo for its head, and made wisdom its boast. Another
party, probably organized by some of the Jewish
Christians, took the name of Cephas. Others, who
remained more or less faithful to the Apostle Paul,
swore by his name. Finally, a fourth group, more
presumptuous or more fanatical than the rest, called
themselves Christ’s. Further division had been caused by
disputes over moral problems and ritual observances.
Such was the turbulent community to which the Apostle
addresses his letter.
For our immediate subject, we need consider
one only of these many circumstances. It appears that
one or more of the troublesome factions at Corinth laid
claim to a deeper, more philosophical view of
Christianity than was Paul’s. At all events, the
Apostle’s Gospel was too banal and too simple for the
taste of certain “intellectuals”.
This criticism did not leave the
Saint indifferent. He could not let it be said that his
preaching, the authentic Christianity, was a doctrine
lacking in depth. It, too, has its wisdom, a sublime
wisdom, as he is going to prove. Among the many cares
that occupied Paul’s mind at the thought of Corinth,
there is one that has a special interest for us. This is
his anxiety to bring out all the hidden meaning, the
wondrous “mystery” of the Gospel.
Furthermore, Paul shows that the mystery is
a marvel of unity. All this wrangling has impaired the
harmony of the Christian community. They who set up
factions after the manner of men do not understand that
they are all one in Christ. Therefore, in opposition to
their narrow exclusivism Paul explains the wonderful
mystery of unity.
Let us read the Epistle; one sees
at once what is uppermost in Paul’s mind, for the
opening verses are full of it.
I give thanks at all
times for you (cf. Eph. 1: 3, 16), because of the grace
of God (Eph. 1: 6, 7) bestowed on you in Christ Jesus
(Eph. 1: 6; 2: 13), by reason that in Him you have been
enriched in everything (Eph. 1: 7, 8) in all utterance
and all knowledge (Eph. 1: 3, 8)…God is trustworthy,
through whom you have been called (Eph. 1: 3, 4, 5) into
the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (Eph.
1: passim). (10)
The resemblance between this passage and the
Epistle to the Ephesians is quite evident. We have
indicated, in parentheses, those phrases of the first
chapter of that Epistle which bear such a resemblance.
The parallels are numerous; both texts are acts of
thanksgiving to God, and both present the same
explanation of the election of the faithful in Christ.
But Paul does not pursue the exposition of
the mystery further. Distracted by the thought of the
divisions in the Corinthian Church, he begins vigorously
to reprimand the factious members. He preaches unity,
but is not that the same as preaching the mystery? The
rebuke then leads to the declaration that he is sent,
not to baptize, but to preach---and not to preach the
speech of “wisdom”, but the “folly” of the Crucified.
The mention of “wisdom” reminds him of the reproaches
that have been made against his Gospel, and immediately
he is intent upon showing its sublimity. It does appear
to be folly, he explains; and such it is, for the world.
But in God’s eyes it is wisdom, a wisdom too ineffable
to be understood by worldlings. Indeed, he continues,
the doctrine that he preaches by God’s command is
something inconceivable: God has chosen all of us in
Christ, that we may behold in Christ by participation in
the holiness of Christ.
The base things of the world,
aye, the things that are despised, the things that are
not, God hath chosen, so as to bring to naught the
things that are, lest any flesh should vaunt itself in
the face of God.
It is from Him (Eph. 1:
3 sq.) that you have your being in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:
3, 4, 6 sq.), in that He hath become to us wisdom
God-imparted (Eph. 1: 8), yea, and justness (Eph. 1: 5)
and sanctification (Eph. 1: 4) and redemption (Eph. 1:
4, 7, 14).(11)
The last verse resembles the opening lines
of the Epistle. Both passages contain a résumé of the
mystery as it is later described to the Ephesians. Here
again we have indicated the many points of resemblance
that exist between the present text and the first
chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians. We have before
us a brief exposition of the “mystery”; only the name is
wanting.
And the name itself appears a few verses
further on. There is still question of “wisdom”; Paul is
still repeating that his preaching is wisdom. But, he
adds, he does not share this wisdom with everyone who
comes. It is an instruction reserved to the perfect; it
consists in a “mystery”, formerly hidden, but now
revealed by the Spirit. And it concerns an eternal
predestination of God, choosing us for glory:
Yet among the
{spiritually} mature, we do speak of a wisdom, a wisdom,
indeed, not of this world, nor of the rulers of this
world, who are tottering to their fall. Rather, we speak
of the wisdom of God {embodied} in a mystery, the hidden
wisdom which God devised before the ages unto our glory.
(12)
The
similarity of this passage with the two preceding texts
is visible, and its resemblance to the Epistle to the
Ephesians is unmistakable. A mystery hidden, then
revealed, bearing upon our glorification, and upon the
ineffable sanctification that God effects within us: all
these points are a preparation for the Epistle to the
Ephesians.
This wisdom, continues Paul, is understood
only by those who have “the sense”, the spirit, of
Christ. (13) Others, and particularly fomenters of
discord, can comprehend nought of it. Then, absorbed
once more by the thought of factions and disunion, the
Apostle returns to the subject of union, and then passes
to other moral counsels. From this point forward, he
loses sight of the mystery. It does not return again in
the course of the Epistle, except in a few scattered
verses.
However, from the indications we have
gathered, we can see that the thought is becoming
organized in his mind. The psychological process, we
repeat, is directed by the Holy Ghost, who thus prepares
His messenger. And since these indications are in a
canonical book, they, like the rest of Scripture, are
inspired, but only as indications.
Nor does the Spirit allow this process to
cease. Soon the references to the “mystery” reappear,
more complete than before. Paul is no longer content to
mention it in passing or to leave it implicit in a
series of related developments; now it receives a brief
exposition of its own which, as may be seen in the
Epistle to the Romans, written about a year later,
appears to form a unity by itself.
As a matter of fact, several passages of the
Epistle deserve to be quoted because of their
resemblance to the general tone and doctrine of the
Epistle to the Ephesians. Thus, as soon as Paul begins
to develop the general topic of his entire letter,
justification, he refers to the latter as the
“mystery”.
But now the justness of
God hath been manifested quite apart from the Law,
though witnessed to by the Law and the prophets---the
justness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all
who believe. There is no distinction; all have sinned,
and need the glory of God. By His grace they are
justified freely, through the redemption which is in
Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth a propitiation by
His blood, to have effect through faith, unto the
showing forth of His justness. For through the patience
of God the sins of times gone by are to be passed over,
unto the showing forth of His justness at the present
time---just Himself, He will also justify him that is of
faith in Jesus. (14)
The
thought of redemption in Christ (cf. Eph. 1: 3, 4, 5,
6), by His blood (1: 7), the idea of election (1: 4), of
glory (1: 6, 12, 14), of purification and justness (1:
4, 7), of redemption foretold in ancient times (1: 4),
and now revealed (1: 13, 14, 16), the idea especially of
the universal vocation of pagans and of Jews in Christ (passim),
in fine, all the thoughts of the passage are elements
that together constitute the “mystery”.
The
same mystery receives emphatic mention elsewhere in the
same letter, as in certain passages of the sixth,
seventh, and eighth chapters. We shall cite a few that
figure prominently: Each one is either the conclusion or
the beginning of a development, and they sum up brief
expositions of doctrine.
The wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God life everlasting in Christ
Jesus our Lord. (15)
There is now no
condemnation, therefore, for those in Christ Jesus. (16)
{Nothing} shall be able
to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord. (17)
But the characteristic passage is the last
conclusion of the letter---for it has several
conclusions, as if the Apostle could not make up his
mind to break off. At last he seems to have remembered
what he still had to say, and takes pen in hand to trace
at the foot of the Epistle the few autograph lines that
served as signature. In these he sums up what he has
dictated, just as the Epistle itself sums up the
doctrine of the Great Epistles. And this résumé is an
exposition of the “mystery”.
Now
to Him who is able (Eph. 1: 5, 8) to establish you (1
Cor. 1: 6) in accordance with His revelation (1 Cor. 1:
7; Eph. 1: 9 and passim) of that mystery (1 Cor. 2: 6;
Eph. passim), which in ages past was kept secret (1 Cor.
2: 7; Eph. passim), but hath now been made manifest, and
through the writings of the prophets hath by command of
the everlasting God been made known to all the nations
(Eph. passim), unto obedience of faith---to the only
wise God be glory through Jesus Christ forever and ever.
Amen. (18)
In
this passage we have noted in parentheses the references
that indicate its place in the development of the
doctrine. It both sums up the explanation of the mystery
given in the rest of the Epistle, and introduces the
Epistle to the Ephesians. It seems like a tiny sprout,
ready to leave the grain, and grow.
And it has ample time to grow. Here
intervene the four or five years of St. Paul’s life that
are related in the closing chapters of the Acts. They
were eventful years, marked by riots, plots and
intrigues. The Apostle, imprisoned and interrogated,
several times narrowly escaping death, passed from
prison to prison while waiting to be sent to the
tribunal of Caesar. His imprisonment, however, was often
mild enough; he was treated with consideration, and so
this troublous period could be a time for reflection. It
was to end at Rome, where for two years Paul lived in a
rented house, under guard, but free to preach the Gospel
as much as he pleased. After the stormy times through
which he had passed, this was at least a comparative
peace; he now had an opportunity to put in writing the
fruits of his reflections and the message which the
Spirit wished to reveal through him.
This message we possess in the Epistles of
the captivity. Their formulas are so enlightening that
we have already been led to quote two long passages from
them. The reader will allow us to repeat a few verses of
a passage to which we have already referred. Under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul here develops his
doctrine in a song of gladness. Thus had Jesus been wont
to speak of the wonders that God had so long kept hidden
from the proud, but now permitted the little ones to
see; for such was His good pleasure.
Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with every spiritual blessing on high in Christ….
In Him we have
redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of our
transgressions,
according to the
riches of His grace.
For God hath given us
abundance thereof,
together with full
wisdom and discernment,
in that He hath made
known to us
the secret of His
purpose according to His good pleasure.
It was the purpose of
His good pleasure in Him---
a dispensation to be
realized in the fullness of time---
to bring all things to
a head in Christ,
both the things in the
heavens and the things upon the earth. (19)
The following chapters will enable us to
make a detailed study of this merciful design and of
this union of all things in Jesus Christ. At present let
us note merely how joyously and how emphatically Paul
declares that this incorporation is at once the eternal
plan of God and the epitome of his entire Gospel. For a
long time, perhaps, the Apostle has been seeking for
this expression of the mystery. Even with the assistance
of grace, the search was not easy. Now he has found it,
and his soul is filled with gladness and understanding.
The whole of Christianity unfolds before his
eyes, and he sees that everything points to Christ:
there is only Christ, who mystically embraces in Himself
all the faithful, and all their grace, and all their
knowledge, and all their hope.
It is true that Paul introduces a certain
number of juridical terms into these considerations.
Christ has paid our ransom; God considers Him as
answering for us all; juridically, He sees us all in
Christ, and, in Him, He pardons us all. But this is not
all; mere legal fictions alone cannot account for the
decisions of the God of truth. Nor does Paul stop here.
When he wishes to show the ultimate reason for these
merciful substitutions and for these inclusions of
grace, he returns to the mystery, to Christ, who is all
in all. Truly and mysteriously, Christ contains us all.
Now everything becomes clear: this is the reason why, in
Him, we cease to be sinners, and why, in Him, we become
pleasing to God.
IV.
This the Apostle expresses more clearly than
anyone had done before him; or rather, God expresses it
more clearly by means of the Apostle. Here, then, there
has been a development in the Christian teaching
concerning the Mystical Body. Very naturally the
question arises: How is this development to be
explained?
Of
the various schools of philosophy that flourished at the
time when the doctrine of the Mystical Body made its
appearance in the Greco-Roman world, there are two which
on first sight at least bear a certain resemblance to
that doctrine. The first is the school of the Stoics,
who described the world as a single living being, a kind
of immense body consisting of men as its members. The
second is the Platonist school, which likewise
considered the world as a single organism possessed of a
soul and a life of its own, adding however that the true
reality, the foundation of the universe, is a world of
Ideas, a world of intelligible unities.
It is quite possible that these speculative
developments concerning natural unity may have been of
some assistance in the process of conceiving and of
expressing the supernatural unity of men, and that they
may at the same time have impeded the process by
threatening to falsify the true concept of that unity.
It is certain, for instance, that those Fathers of the
Church who were Platonists have spoken more forcefully
than others of the unity of men in Christ. The
supernatural order, which concerns the destiny of
revelation as well as the sanctification of souls, is
not simply superimposed upon the natural order; it takes
the natural order, and adapts its elements to its own
purposes.
Historical criticism, particularly of the
Rationalist variety, has tried very hard to connect
Paul’s doctrine with Stoic philosophy. For, according to
Harnack, it is Paul, and Paul’s teaching on
incorporation in Christ, that constitutes the great
problem. As a matter of fact, the critics have looked
everywhere: they speak of the infiltration of mystery
cults, of the influence of a certain religious
syncretism, consisting of diverse and little known
elements which were gaining favor among the masses at
that particular period. And now we have Freud, to
explain everything by psychoanalysis!
Unquestionably natural factors may have
exerted a certain general influence on the progress of
the doctrine; in His work God deigns to make use of
everything that it human. Why should He reject human
philosophies?
In the present instance, however, we are
left completely in the dark. The resemblance become much
less striking when they are studied at close range, and
Paul never refers to any such sources. On the contrary,
first as a fanatical Pharisee, and afterwards as a
thoroughgoing Christian, he shuns the wisdom of the
world, which he considers a dangerous thing. When he
indicates his sources---and he does indicate them---he
speaks of something entirely different: his visions and
the inspired Books of the Old Testament.
What
he preaches is the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom promised
to Israel and brought by Jesus, the ancient alliance, of
which the patriarchs and even the whole Law were a
figure, and which has now been revealed. According to
Paul, the Gospel has sprung from the ancient Jewish
root, and the Mystical Body is the true seed of Abraham.
The only new factor is that he, Paul, has
received a fuller understanding of the ancient promises
and of their fulfillment in Christ. He neither assigns
nor suspects any other cause of the doctrinal progress
which is being effected through him. Nor shall we search
further.
One final question remains. Is this
doctrinal progress, of which Paul is the instrument,
also taking place within Paul himself? Did he learn all
this and understand all this at once, or did he come
gradually to his knowledge of Jesus?
To answer this question is impossible.
Despite the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, we
have too few documents. At times there does appear to be
a development of thought on certain points, or at least
one of expression. We have just noted an example of this
in the wording of the “mystery”, and we shall have
occasion to point out others later on. But that is all.
Hence, in the chapters that follow, we shall
confine ourselves to the logical order of ideas.
However, we shall call attention to any signs of
chronological development that may appear.
1)
Chronological order of St. Paul’s Epistles: 1. The two
Epistles to the Thessalonians; 2. The “Great
Epistles”---1, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans; 3. The
“Epistles of the Captivity”---Philemon, Colossians,
Ephesians, Philippians; 4. The Epistle to the Hebrews
and the Pastoral Epistles. The Epistle to the Ephesians
and to the Colossians are often called the
“Christological Epistles”, since in them the author is
more particularly concerned with the divinity of Christ.
2)
Acts
9: 5.
3)
Gal.
2: 20.
4)
1
Tim. 2: 5.
5)
In
Act. Apost., 27.
Opera,
Vol. 10 (Antwerp, 1662), p. 16.
6)
Sermon 1 pour le
samedi saint,
in Oeuvres
oratoires,
Vol. 1 (Paris, 1914), p. 106.
7)
Eph.
3: 1-9.
8)
Prat,
La Théologie de
Saint Paul,
vol. 1, 15th edition (Paris, 1927), p. 369.
9)
1
Thess. 5: 18-23.
10)
1 Cor. 1: 4, 5, 9.
11)
1 Cor. 1: 28-30.
12)
1 Cor. 2: 6, 7.
13)
1 Cor. 2: 16.
14)
Rom. 3: 21-26.
15)
Rom. 6: 23.
16)
Rom. 8: 1.
17)
Rom. 8: 39.
18)
Rom. 16: 25-27.
19)
Eph. 1: 3, 7-10.
• Up • The Whole Christ (Introduction) • The Whole Christ: Chapter One • The Whole Christ: Chapter Two • The Whole Christ: Chapter Three • The Whole Christ: Chapter Four • The Whole Christ: Chapter Five • The Whole Christ: Chapter Six • The Whole Christ: Chapter Seven •
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