Confession – Corinth

Confession

In Eng. the words ‘confess,’ ‘confession’ denote either a profession of faith or an acknowledgment of sin; and they are used in EV in both of these meanings.

1. Confession of faith. — (1) In the OT the word ‘confess’ is found in this sense only in 1 K8"- = 2 Ch6"-2«. But the acknowledgment of God as God and the proclamation of personal trust in Him meet us continually in the lives or on the lips of patriarchs, prophets, and psalmists. The Book of Psalms in particular is a storehouse of confessional utterances in prayer and song (see 71 48" etc.).

(2) Coming to the NT, we find that ‘confess’ is of frequent occurrence in the sense we are considering, and that confession now gathers expressly round the Person and the Name of Jesus Christ. Moreover, the idea of confession has been elaborated, hs immediate relation to faith and vital importance for salvation being clearly brought out.

(a) The meaning of confession. — In the earlier period of our Lord’s ministry, confession meant no more than the expression of belief that Jesus was the expected Messiah (John 1:41). Even the title ‘Son of God’ (Matthew 8:29)), cf. John 1:34, 49) at this stage can be used only in its recognized Messianic sense (Psalms 2:7). A great advance In faith and insight is marked by St. Peter’s confession at Cffisarea Philippi, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Matthew 16:16))). This was the highest point reached by Apostolic belief and profession during the Lord’s earthly ministry, and it anticipated those later views of Christ’s true nature which found embodiment in the Creeds of the Church. After the Resurreotion, confession of Christ carried with it readiness to bear witness to that supreme fact (John 20:28, 29. Romans 10:9) and this of course implied an acceptance of the historical tradition as to His marvellous life and character which made it impossible for death to hold Him (cf. Acts 2:24). All that was at first demanded of converts, however, may ha ve been the confession ‘Jesus is Lord’ ( 1 Corinthians 12:3 ; cf. Philippians 2:11. 2 Timothy 1:8) a view that is confirmed by the fact of their being baptized ‘into (or in) the name of the Lord’ (Acts 8:16 10:48 19:5). At a later period the growth of heresy made a more precise confession necessary. In the Johannine Epistles it is essential to confess, on the one hand, that ‘Jesus Christ is come in the flesh’ (1 John 4:2, 3. 2 Jn ‘), and, on the other, that’ Jesus is the Son of God’ (1 John 4:15). With this developed type of confession may be compared the gloss that has been attached to the narrative of the Ethiopian eunuch’s baptism (Acts 8:37. see E.Vm), probably representing a formula that had come to be employed as a baptismal confession. It was out of baptismal formulas like this that there gradually grew those formal ‘Confessions’ of the early Church which are known as the Apostles’ and the Nicene Creeds.

(6) The value of confession. — Upon this Jesus Himself lays great stress. It we confess Him before men, He will confess us before His Father in heaven; if we deny Him, He will also deny us (Matthew 10:32 f.)). 1|, cf. Mark 8:38). The glorious blessing Hebrews 6. Peter at Ccesarea Philippi was the reward of the Apostle’s splendid profession of faith; and it contained the assurance that against the Church built on the rock of believing confession the gates of Hades should not prevail (Matthew 16:17–19). In the Epp. the value of confession is emphasized not less strongly. According to St. Paul, the spirit of faith must speak (2 Corinthians 4:13), and confession is necessary to salvation (Romans 10:8–10). And St. John regards a true confession of Christ as a sign of the presence of the Divine Spirit (1 John 4:2). a proof of the mutual indwelling of God in man and man in God (v. 15).

2. Confession of sin. — (1) This holds a prominent place in the OT. The Mosaic ritual makes provision for the confession of both individual (Leviticus 5:1 ff. 26:40) and national (lO^i) transgressions; and many examples may be found of humble acknowledgment of both classes of sin, for instance in the Penitential Psalms and In such prayers as those of Ezra (10:1). Nehemiah (1:6, 7). and Daniel (9™- 20). it is fully recognized in the OT that confession is not only the natural expression of penitent feeling, but the condition of the Divine pardon (Leviticus 5. 6, Psalms 32:5, Proverbs 28:13).

(2) In the N’T ‘confess’ occurs but seldom to express acknowledgment of sin (Matthew 3:6 = Mark 1:5. James 5:16. 1 John 1:9). But the duty of confessing sin both to God and to man is constantly referred to, and the indispensableness of confession in order to forgiveness is made very plain (Luke 18:10 f.: 1 John 1:9).

(a) Confession lo God. — This meets us at many points in our Lord’s teaching — in His calls to repentance, in which confession is involved (Matthew 4:17 = Mark 1:15. Luke 11:29, 3, 2 24:47). in the petition for forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:12. Luke 11:4). in the parables of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) and the Pharisee and the Publican (18:10 f.). It is very noteworthy that while He recognizes confession as a universal human need (Luke 11:4))), He never confesses sin on His own account or shares in the confessions of others.

(6) Confession to man. — Besides confession to God, Christ enjoins confession to the brother we have wronged (Matthew 5:23, 24). and He makes it plain that human as well as Divine forgiveness must depend upon readiness to confess (Luke 17:4). In James 5:16 (RV) we are told to confess our sins one to another. The sins here spoken of are undoubtedly sins against God as well as sins against man. But the confession referred to is plainly not to any official of the Church, much less to an official with the power of granting absolution, but a mutual unburdening of Christian hearts with a view to prayer ‘one for another.’ ‘J. C. Lambekt.

Confirmation

The noun ‘confirmation’ is used only twice in AV (Philippians 1:7. Hebrews 6:16). the reference in the first case being to the establishment of the truth of the gospel, and in the second to the ratification of a statement by an oath. The verb ‘confirm,’ however, is found frequently in both OT and NT, in various shades of meaning, but with the general sense of strengthening and establishing. The only questions of interest are (1) whether ‘confirm’ is used in NT to denote the ecclesiastical rite of Confirmation; and (2) whether that rite is referred to under the ‘laying on of hands.’

1. There are 3 passages in Acts (14 15) in which Paul and Barnabas, or Judas and Silas, or Paul by himself, are said to have confirmed ‘the souls of the disciples,’ ‘the brethren,’ ‘the churches.’ In none of these is there any indication of the performance of a rite, and the natural suggestion is that the word is used simply of a spiritual strengthening.

2. In the ‘Order of Confirmation’ in the Book of Common Prayer, ‘the laying on of hands upon those that are baptized and come to years of discretion,’ as performed by the bishop, is said to be done ‘after the example of Thy holy Apostles.’ Presumably the reference is to such passages as Acts 8:15–17 19:6. Hebrews 6:2. In the passages in Acts, however, the imposition of hands is associated with the impartation of extraordinary spiritual gifts, while of He & no more can be said than that in the early Church the act appears to have been closely associated with baptism. That it might precede baptism instead of following it is shown by Acts 9:17, 18; which further shows that it might be performed by one who was not an Apostle or even an ofiicial of the Church. In all likelihood it was simply a natural and beautiful symbol accompanying prayer (Acts 8:15). which had come down from OT times (Genesis 48:14). and had been used by Christ Himself in the act of blessing (Mt 19). See, further, Laying on of Hands.

J. C. Lambert.

Confiscation

See Ban, § 2, Excommtjnication.

Confusion of Tongues

See Tongues IConfusion of].

Congregation, Assembly

In AV these terms are both employed to render either of the two important Heb. words ‘Whah and qahal, with a decided preference, however, in favour of’ congregation’ for the former, and ‘assembly’ for the latter. In RV, as we read in the Revisers’ preface, an effort has been made to secure greater uniformity on these lines. Of the two, gahai is the more widely distributed, although neither is frequent in pre-exilic literature; ‘Mhah, which is not used in the prophetic or Deuteronomic sources of the Pentateuch, is found at least 115 times in the Priests’ Code alone, where it denotes the theocratic community of Israel as a whole, the church-nation in its relation to J". The full designation, as found in Numbers 1:2 and a score of times elsewhere, is ‘(the sum of) all the congregation of the children of Israel,’ which is the equivalent of the Deuteronomic phrase ‘all the assembly (g&hSl) of Israel’ (Deuteronomy 31:30, RV and AV ‘congregation’). In the older and more secular writers the same idea would have been expressed by ‘the sum of the people’ of Israel, as in 2 Samuel 24:2.

It is extremely doubtful if there is any valid ground for the attempts to find a distinction between the two expressions ‘congregation’ and ‘assembly,’ even within P itself, as if ‘assembly’ represented either ‘picked members of the congregation’ (EBi col. 345), or the latter in its capacity as an assembly of worshippers. For in one and the same verse P employs ‘congregation’ and ‘assembly’ as synonymous terms, as in Leviticus 4:13, Numbers 16:3 RV, and in the priestly redaction of Judges 20:1 f.: the whole body of the people being intended in every case. The only two passages which seem to imply that the ‘assembly’ was a limited section of the ‘congregation,’ viz. Exodus 12, Numbers 14:5 ‘all the assembly of the congregation,’ etc., clearly show conflate readings (cf. LXX.). What difference, finally, can be detected between ‘the assembly o{ J"‘of Numbers 16:3 20:4 (cf. Deuteronomy 23:3, 4) and’ the congregation of J"" of 27:17 31:16 — all P passages?

In the LXX ‘Mhah is In most cases rendered by aynagSgi, qahai by ecclSsia, both being used, according to SchOrer, without essential distinction to signify the religious community of Israel, in this agreeing, as has been argued above, with the original and with our AV. The subsequent history of these terms in the Jewish and early Christian Churches is of considerable interest. Later Judaism, as SchUrer has shown, began to distinguish between synagBgS and ecdesia in the direction of applying the former in an empirical, the latter in an ideal, sense, the one to signify the religious community in a particular place, the other’ the community of those called by God to salvation,’ the ideal Israel. This Jewish usage explains how, while synagBgi is occasionally found in early Patristric literature in the sense of ‘the Christian congregation,’ its rival finally gained the day. The Christian synagogue became ‘the Church,’ while the Jewish Church remains ‘the synagogue’ (see under Church, Synagogue).

The expression solemn assembly, in which ‘solemn’ has its etymological, but now obsolete, sense of ‘stated,’ ‘appointed’ (lit. ‘yearly,’ soUennis), represents a third Heb. word applicable originally to any religious gathering(Am S«, Isaiah 1:13. 2 Kings 10:20). but afterwards limited to those appointed for the seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Cakes (.Mazzoth, Deuteronomy 16:8). and the eighth of the Feast of Booths (Leviticus 23:36, Numbers 29:35).

‘Holy convocation’ occurs frequently in the Priestly sections of the Pentateuch (esp. Lv. 17-26 [h]).

The ‘mount of the congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north’ (Isaiah 14 RV), to which the king of Babylon aspired, was the Babylonian Olympus or abode of the gods. An echo of this mythological conception is probably to be found in the similar phrase Psalms 48. For tabernacle of the congregation see Tabernaci,b. A. R. S. Kennedy.

Coniah

Coniah (Jeremiah 22) = jehoiachin (wh. see).

Conscience

The term occurs 30 times in the NT; it signifies joint knowledge. The two things known together may be two motives, two deeds, etc. ; or the comparison instituted may be between a standard and a volition, etc. Self or others may be judged, and approval(Ac 23’ 24", Romans 9:1, 2 Corinthians 1:12, 1 Timothy 1:5, 19 3:9, 2 Timothy 1. Hebrews 13. 1 p 3) or disapproval (John 8:9. Hebrews 9 10:2, 22) may be the issue. The conviction that a certain course of conduct is right is accompanied by a sense of obligation, whether that course receives (Romans 13:5) or fails to secure (1 Peter 2:19. Acts 4:19, 20) legal confirmation. The belief on which the consciousness of duty depends is not necessarily wise (1 Corinthians 8:7, 10, 12, Acts 26:9), though the holders of the belief should receive careful consideration on the part of more enlightened men (Romans 15:1. 1 Corinthians 8. 10:25–29). Unfaithfulness to moral claims leads to fearful deterioration, resulting in confusion(Mt 6) and insensitiveness (1 Timothy 4:2, Titus 1:15).

1. Sphere. — ‘The sphere of conscience is volition in all its manifestations. That which merely happens and offers to us no alternative movement lies outside morality. Let there be a possibility of choice, and conscience appears. Appetites, so far as they can be controlled; incentives of action admitting preference; purposes and desires, — all deeds and institutions that embody and give effect to human choice; all relationships that allow variations in our attitude give scope for ethical investigation, and in them conscience is directly or indirectly implicated. Conscience makes a valuation. It is concerned with right, wrong; worthiness, unworthiness; good, bad; better, worse. This appraisement is ultimately occupied with the incentives that present themselves to the will, in regard to some of which (envy and malice, for instance) there is an immediate verdict of badness, and in regard to others a verdict of better or worse. The dispositions that are commended by the Saviour’s conduct and teachings — purity of heart, meekness, mercifulness, desire for righteousness, etc. — are recognized as worthy of honour. The conscience censures the selfishness of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:6). and assents to the injunction of considerateness and justice (Philippians 2:4). The rightness of many general statements is discerned intuitively, and is carried over to the deeds that agree therewith. Sidgwick considers that the statement’ I ought not to prefer my own lesser good to the greater good of another’ is axiomatic, and that some such intuitively discerned principle is a necessary foundation of morals. We do not question the baseness of some pleasures; their curse is graven on their foreheads. Both mediately and immediately we arrive at etUcal convictions. The appearance in one’s life of a person of distinguished excellence will cause many virtues to stiine in our estimation. The mind surveying a course of conduct can judge it as bad or good on the whole. A precept to seek to raise the whole tone of one’s life (Matthew 5:48. Colossians 4:12) is felt to be reasonable, and as the capacity for improvement is greater in man than in any other creature, better motives, deeds, habits, aims, characters may righteously be demanded.

2. Obligation. — ‘In the recognition of any conduct as right there is involved an authoritative prescription to do it.’ This feeling of oughtness — which is the core of conscience — can be exhibited but not analyzed. It is an ultimate. It is unique. It is an evidence within the soul that we are under government. There is a ‘categorical imperative’ to aim at that which we have admitted to be right. From the duty discerned there issues a command which cannot be silenced so long as the duty is present to the mind. Likings or dislikings, hopes or fears, popularity or unpopularity — no matter what may be advanced, — the dictatorial mandate is unaltered:

‘Tis man’s perdition to be safe. When for the truth he ought to die.’ When Jesus Christ asserts His supremacy and demands deference to Himself at all costs. He does so as the incarnation of the moral law. To be His friend is to be under His orders (John 15:14), and one is bound to follow Him without regard to any claims that can be urged by self or kindred (Matthew 10:37, 38. Luke 14:33). Let it be ascertained that this is the way and the command is at once heard, ‘Walk ye in it.’ The peremptory claim made by conscience is eminently reasonable, because it rests upon what we have admitted to be right. It is a provision in our nature that links — or that would link if we were loyal — belief and practice, and would cause us to be builders as well as architects. ‘Had it strength as it has right ; had it power as it has manifest authority, it would absolutely govern the world’ (Butler, Serm. ii.).

3. The ethical feeling. — The perception of oughtness has its own emotional tone. There is, of course, a sense of relief when the mind has arrived at a decision; but is there not an additional element? Is there not an inclination — at least a taint one — in favour of the behest? And in men habitually conscientious, is not the inclination immediate and strong? All men are clearly aware that they are wrong in case of refusal to obey. ,Man is a born judge of himself, and the verdict that results from self-examination brings peace or uneasiness. Herod is ill at ease by reason of self-judgment (Mark 6:20). and so is Felix (Acts 24:25). Peter sees himself as one who has broken the law, and the light hurts him (Luke 5:8). All the best men have had some experience like that of Isaiah (6:5) and that of Job 42:6). for with them the moral susceptibility has been great. All the emotional accompaniments of penitence and remorse, as well as the glow incident to the hearing of noble deeds— all anticipations of the Lord’s ‘Well done!’ are instances of moral feeling. These pleasures and pains are a class by themselves. They are as distinct from those of sensation and intellect as colours are distinct from sound. That pleasures are qualitatively different was rightly maintained by J. S. Mill, though his general theory was not helped by the opinion. In consciousness we know that sorrow for sin is not of the same order as any physical distress, nor is it to be ranked with the feeling of disappointment when we are baflSed in a scientific inquiry. The difference between the moral and the unmoral emotions is one of kind and not of quantity, of worth and not of amount : some pleasures low in the scale of value are very intense, while the moral satisfactions may have small intensity and yet are preferred by good men to any physical or intellectual delights. It should be noticed that the pleasure attendant upon a choice of conduct known to be right may be not unmixed ; for the feelings, clinging for a while to that which has been discarded, interfere with the satisfaction due to the change that has been made. Converts are haunted by renounced beliefs, and their peace is disturbed ; beside the main current of emotion there is a stream which comes from past associations and habits.

4. Education of conscience. — (1) No training can Impart the idea of right : it is constitutional. (2) Malevolent feelings (as vindictiveness, the desire to give pain gratuitously) are known by all to be wrong; immediately they are perceived at work, they are unconditionally condemned. (3) The inward look makes no mistake as to our meaning, gets no wavering reply to such questions as, ‘Do you desire to have full light? to know all the facts? to be impartial? to act as a good man should act in this particular?’ For this accurate self-knowledge provision is made in our nature. (4) Some general moral principles are accepted as soon as the terms are understood. (5) When two competing incentives are to be judged, we know, and cannot be taught, which is the higher. (6) The imperative lodged in a moral conviction is intuitively discerned. ‘I do not know how to impart the notion of moral obligation to any one who is entirely devoid of it’ (Sidgwick). (7) The feeling of dishonour comes to us without tuition when we have refused compliance with known duty. Belonging to a moral order, we are made to react in certain definite ways to truths, social relations, etc. The touch of experience is enough to quicken into action certain’moral states, just as the feelings of cold and heat are ours because of the physical environment, and because we are what we are. We can evoke while we cannot create the elementary moral qualities. ‘An erring conscience is a chimera’ (Kant). ‘Conscience intuitively recognizes moral law; it is supreme in its authority; it cannot be educated’ (Calderwood). These sentences are not intended to deny that in the application of principles there is difficulty. One may readily admit the axioms of geometry, and yet find much perplexity when asked to establish a geometrical theorem the truth of which directly or indirectly flows from the axioms. The Apostle Paul prayed that his friends might improve in moral discrimination (Philippians 1:10. Colossians 1:9). We have to learn what to do, and often the problems set by our domestic, civic, and church relationships are hard even for the best and wisest to solve. The scheme of things to which we belong has not been constructed with a view to saving us the trouble of patient, strenuous, and sometimes very painful investigation and thought.

5. Implications. — Of the many implications the following are specially noteworthy. The feeling of responsibility suggests the question, to Whom? Being under government, we feel after the Ruler if haply we may find Him. Jesus tells us of the ‘Righteous Father.’ The solemn voice of command is His. The preferences which we know to be right are His. The pain felt when righteous demands are resisted, and the joy accompanying obedience, are they not His frown and smile? Neither our higher self nor society can be the source of an authority so august as that of which we are conscious. To the best minds we look for guidance; but there are limits to their rights over us, and how ready they are to refer us to Him before whom they bow l We are made to be subjects of the Holy One. Admitting that we are in contact with Divine Authority, and that His behests are heard within, the encouraging persuasion is justified that He sympathizes with the soul in its battles and renders aid (Philippians 2:12, 13). The inference that it is God with whom we have to do makes it fitting for us to say that conscience is man’s capacity to receive progressively a revelation of the righteousness of God. But is law the last word? May there not be mercy and an atonement? Cannot the accusing voices be hushed? May the man who admits the sentence of conscience be pardoned? Conscience is a John the Baptist preparing the way for the Saviour, who has a reply to the question ‘What must I do to be saved?’ W. J. Hendebbon.

Consecration

See Clean and Unclean, Nazirite.

Consolation

See Comfoet.

Cons

Cons infflPTION.— The Heb. word (kaiah) which is translated ‘consummation’ in Daniel 9:27 is rendered ‘consumption’ in Isaiah 10:23 ZS’‘*, these Eng. words having then the same meaning. Cf. Foxe, Actes and Mon.,’ Christ shall sit . . . at the right hand of God till the consumption of the world.’ Consumption occurs also with the same meaning in Isaiah 10:22 (Heb. killyOn). But in Leviticus 26:16. Deuteronomy 28:22 it is used of a disease of the body. See Medicine.

Contentment

1. The word does not occur in the OT, but the duty is implied in the Tenth Commandment(Ex 20"), and the wisdom of contentment is enforced in Proverbs 15:17 17:1 by the consideration that those who seem most enviable may.be worse off than ourselves. But the bare commandment ‘Thou shalt not covet’ may only stir up all manner of coveting (Romans 7:7 f.) and though a man may sometimes be reconciled to his lot by recognizing a principle of compensation In human life, that principle is far from applying to every case. It is not by measuring ourselves with one another, but only by consciously setting ourselves in the Divine presence, that true contentment can ever be attained. Faith in God is its living root (cf. Psalms 16 with v. 5; also Habakkuk 3:17 f.).

2. In the NT the grace of contentment is expressly brought before us. Our Lord inculcated it negatively by His warnings against covetousness (Luke 12:15–21). positively by His teaching as to the Fatherhood of God (Matthew 6:25–32))) and the Kingdom of God (v. 33, cf. v. 19 f.). St. Paul (Philippians 4:11–13) claims to have ‘learned the secret’ of being content in whatsoever state he was. The word he uses is autarkss, lit. ‘self-sufficient.’ It was a characteristic word of the Stoic philosophy, implying an independence of everything outside of oneself. The Apostle’s self-sufficiency was of a very different kind (see Y."), for it rested on that great promise of Christ, ‘My grace is sufficient (arkei) for thee’ (2 Corinthians 12:9). Christian contentment comes not from a Stoic narrowing of our desires, but from the sense of being filled with the riches of Christ’s grace. For other NT utterances see 1 Timothy 6:8. Hebrews 13:5. J. C. Lambert.

Convenient

This Eng. word often has in AV its primary meaning of befluing, as Romans 1:28 ‘God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient’ (RV ‘fitting’). So in the trans, of Agrippa’s Van Anes (1684) ‘She sang and danc’d more exquisitely than was convenient for an honest woman.’

Conversation

In EV the word Is always used in the archaic sense of ‘behaviour,’ ‘conduct.’ In the OT, AV gives it twice (Psalms 37:14 SO^s), representing Heb. derek = ‘wa,y’ (cf. RV and RVm). In the NT it is used in AV to render three sets of words. (1) The noun anas- (ropfte = ‘behaviour’ (Galatians 1:13. Ephesians 4:22. 1 Timothy 4. Hebrews 13:7, James 3:13. 1 Peter 1:15, 18 2:12 3:1, 2 i(i_ 2 Peter 2:7 3:11). RV substituting in each case ‘manner of life,’ ‘manner of living,’ ‘life,’ ‘living,’ or ‘behaviour’; the vb. anastrephesthai— ‘to behave oneself (2 Corinthians 1:12. Ephesians 2:3). (2) The noun pojjieumo=‘citizenship’ or ‘commonwealth’ (Philippians 3:20) the vb. politeuesthai = ‘to act as a citizen’ (Philippians 1:27). (3) (ropos = ‘manner,’ ‘character,’ lit. ‘turning’ (Hebrews 13:5). Cf. RV and RVm throughout. The main point to notice is that in every case ‘conversation’ in the Bible refers not to si)eech merely, but to conduct.

J. C. Lambeht.

Conversion

The noun occurs only In Acts 15 (epislTopfa), but in AV ‘convert’ is found several times both in OT (Heb. shubh) and NT (Gr. epistrepM, atrephB) to denote a spiritual turning, RV in most cases substituting’ turn.’ ‘Turn’ is to be preferred because (1) in the Eng. of AV ‘convert’ meant no more than ‘turn’; (2) ‘conversion’ has come to be employed in a sense that often goes beyond the meaning of the originals. RV has further corrected AV by giving act. ‘turn’ for pass, ‘be converted’ in Matthew 13:15 18:3. Mli 4:12. Luke 22:32. John 12:40. Acts 3:19 28:27. where the Gr. vbs. are reflexive in meaning. In OT shubh is used to denote a turning, whether of the nation (Deuteronomy 30:10, 2 Kings 17:13 etc.) or of the individual (Psalms 51:13. Isaiah 65:7 etc.). In NT epistrepho, slrephB are used esp. of individuals, but sometimes in a sense that falls short of ‘conversion’ as the conscious change implied in becoming a Christian. Matthew 18:3 was spolcen to true disciples, and the ‘conversion’ demanded of them was a renunciation of their foolish ambitions (cf. v. 1). Ll£ 22:32 wag addressed to the leader of the Apostles, and his ‘conversion* was his return to his Master’s service after his fall. In Acts and Epp., however,’ convert’ or ‘turn’ is employed to denote conversion in the full Christian sense (Acts 3:19 Q"* 11:21 14:15 [cf. 15:3 ‘conversion’], 2 Corinthians 3:16. 1 Thessalonians 1:9). Conversion as a spiritual fact comes before us repeatedly in the Gospels (Luke 7:47 ff. IS"*- igs^- 23:42, 43) and in the history of the Apostolic Church (Acts 2:41, 47 8:5, 6, 12 9:3 ff. IB’"- etc.). RV brings out the fact that in the NT conversion (as distinguished from regeneration [wh. see]) is an activity of the soul itself, and not an experience imposed from above. This view of its nature is confirmed when we find repentance (Acts 3:19 26:20; cf. Ezekiel 14:6 18:30) and faith (Acts 11:21; cf. 20:21) associated with it as the elements that make up the moral act of turning from sin and self to God in Christ. J. C. Lambeht.

Convince

Adams {Serm. ii. 38) says: ‘Whatsoever is written is written either for our instruction or destruction; to convert us if we embrace it, to convince us if we despise it.’ This is the meaning of ‘convince’ in the AV. It is what we now express by convict. Thus Jude " ‘to convince all that are ungodly among them of their ungodly deeds.’

Cooking and Cooking Utensils

See HonsG, §9.

Copper

See Brass, and Mining and Metals.

Coppersmith

Coppersmith (2 Timothy 4:14). See Alexander, Arts

AND CkATTS, § 2.

Cor

See Weights and Measures. CORAL. — See Jewels and Precious Stones.

Cor-ashan

Cor-ashan (AV Chor-ashan, 1 Samuel 30:30) is the present reading of MT, but the orig. text was undoubtedly Bor-ashan. The place may be the same as Ashan of Joshua 15:42 19:7.

Corban

See Sacrifice and Offering.

Cord, Rope

Hebrew possesses a considerable number of words rendered, without any attempt at uniformity, by ‘cord,’ ‘rope,’ and a variety of other terms. It is difiicult for the English reader to recognize the same original in the Psalmist’s bow ‘string’ (Psalms 11:2) and the ‘green withs’ (RVm ‘new bowstrings’) with which Samson was bound; or again in the tent ropes of Isaiah 33:20 (EV ‘cords’) and the ships’ ‘tacklings’ of V.2’. The former set were probably of animal sinews or gut, the latter of twisted flax. The stronger ropes were of three strands (Ecclesiastes 4:12). No doubt the fibres of the palm and, as at the present day, goats’ hair were spun into ropes. The process of rope-making from leather thongs is illustrated on an Egyptian tomb, the ‘wreathen work’ (Ut. ‘rope-work’) of Exodus 28:14 (see RV), where, however, gold wire is the material used. Ecclesiastes 12:6 speaks also of a silver cord, and Job 41:2 of a ‘rope of rushes’ (see RVm). The Gr. word for the cords of our Saviour’s scourge (John 2:15) and the ropes of Acts 27:32 also denoted originally such a rope.

The everyday use of cords tor binding evil-doers suggested the metaphor of the wicked man ‘holden with the cords of his sin’ (Proverbs 5:22). while from the hunter’s snares comes the figure of Psalms 140:5; also ‘the cords of death’ of Psalms 116:3 RV. A. R. S. Kennedy.

Core

See Korah.

Coriander Seed

Coriander seed (gad. Exodus 16:31. Numbers 11:7). A product of the Coriandrum sativum, a common cultivated plant all over the East. It has a carminative action on the stomach. It is a globular ‘fruit’ about twice the size of a hemp seed. E. W. G. Masterman.

Corinth

Corinth was the capital of the Roman province Achaia, and, in every respect except educationally (see Athens), the most important city in Greece in Roman times. It was also a most important station on the route between E. and W., the next station to it on the E. being Ephesus, with which it was in close and continual connexion. Its situation made it a leading centre of Christianity. The city occupied a powerful position at the S. extremity of the narrow isthmus which connected the mainland of Greece with the Peloponnese. Its citadel rises 1800 feet above sea-level, and it was in addition defended by its high walls, which not only surrounded the city but also reached to the harbour Lechseum, onthe W. (14 miles away). The other harbour, Cenchrese, on the E., on the Saronic Gulf, was about Si miles away. The view from’ the citadel is splendid. The poverty of the stony soil and the neighbourhood of two quiet seas made the Corinthians a maritime people. It was customary to haul ships across from the one sea to the other on a made track called the Diolkos. This method at once saved time and protected the sailors from the dangers of a voyage round Cape Malea (S. of the Peloponnese). Larger ships could not, of course, be conveyed in this way, and in their case the goods must have been conveyed across and transhipped at the other harbour. The place was always crowded with traders and other travellers, and we find St. Paul speaking of Gaius of Corinth as ‘my host and of the whole Church’ (Romans 16:23).

The city had been destroyed by the Romans in 146 B.C., but exactly a hundred years afterwards it was refounded by Julius Caesar as a colonia, under the name Laus Julia Corinthus (see Colony). A number of Roman names in the NT are found in connexion with Corinth: Crispus, Titius Justus (Acts 18:7, 8). Lucius, Tertius, Gaius, Quartus (Romans 16). Fortunatus (1 Co 16:17). The population would consist of (1) descendants of the Roman colonists of 46 B.C., the local aristocracy; (2) resident Romans, government officials and business men; (3) a large Greek population; (4) other resident strangers, of whom Jews would form a large number (their synagogue Acts 18:4). Of these some joined St. Paul (Acts 18:4–8. Romans 16:21, 1 Corinthians 9:20). and the hatred against him in consequence led to a plot against his life. The church, however, consisted chiefly of non-Jews (see 1 Ckj 12:2).

St. Paul did not at first intend to raalte Corinth a centre of woA (Acts 18:1). but a special revelation altered his plans (Acts 18:9–10), and he remained there at least 18 months. The opposition he met in the Jewish synagogue made him turn to the Gentiles. St. Paul left the baptism of his converts almost entirely to his subordinates, and himself baptized only Stephanas (1 Corinthians 16:15). Gaius (Romans 16:23). and Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue (1 Corinthians 1:14–16). Some weeks after his arrival in Corinth, St. Paul was joined by Silas and Timothy, returning from Macedonia. News brought by Timothy caused him to write there the First Ep. to the Thess. (1 Thessalonians 3:6). and the Second was probably written there also, immediately after the receipt of an answer to the First. While St. Paul was in Corinth, Gallio came there as proconsul of the second grade to govern Achaia, probably in the summer of the year 52 a.d. The Jews brought an action before him against St. Paul, but Gallio, rightly recognizing that his court could take no cognizance of a charge of the sort they brought, dismissed the action. St. Paul’s preaching was thus declared to be in no way an offence against Roman law, and in future he relied more on his relation to the State, against the enmity of the Jews. After the examination Gallio permitted the populace to show their hatred to the Jews (Acts 18:17). It was in Corinth that St. Paul became acquainted with Prisca and Aquila (Acts 18:2, 3, 18 2«), and he lived in their house during all his stay. They worked at the same industry as himself, and no doubt Influenced his plans for later work. They also left for Ephesus with him.

Christianity grew fast in Corinth, but the inevitable dissensions occurred. Apollos had crossed from Ephesus to Corinth (Acts 18:27. 2 Corinthians 3:1) and done valuable work there (Acts 18:27, 28. i Co 1:12). He unconsciously helped to bring about this dissension, as did also Cephas, if (but see next art. § 3) he visited Corinth. The subject of these dissensions is, however, more appropriately dealt with under the following two articles. The Apostle wrote at least three letters to the church: the first, which is lost (1 Corinthians 5:9) ; the second, which we call First Corinthians, and which was probably carried by Titus (Timothy also visited Corinth at the instance of St. Paul, 1 Co 4:17) the third, our Second Corinthians, which was taken by Titus and Luke (2 Corinthians 8:16–18 12:18). St. Paul spent three months in Greece, chiefly no doubt at Corinth, in the winter of 56-S7. Whether the Corinthians actually contributed or not to St. Paul’s collection for the poor Christians at Jerusalem must remain uncertain (but see p. ISQ’, § 2 atf fin.). A. Souter.