Homilies on First Corinthians

“If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema.”

By this one word he strikes fear into all: those who made their members the members of an harlot; those who put stumbling blocks in the way of their brethren by the things offered in sacrifice unto idols; those who named themselves after men; those who refuse to believe the resurrection. And he not only strikes fear, but also points out the way of virtue and the fountain of vice, viz. that as when our love towards Him has become intense, there is no kind of sin but is extinguished and cast out thereby; so when it is too weak, it causes the same to spring up.

“Maran atha.” For what reason is this word used? And wherefore too in the Hebrew-tongue? Seeing that arrogance was the cause of all the evils, and this arrogance the wisdom from without produced, and this was the sum and substance of all the evils, a thing which especially distracted Corinth; in repressing their arrogance he did not even use the Greek tongue, but the Hebrew: signifying that so far from being ashamed of that sort of simplicity, he even embraces it with much warmth.

But what is the meaning of “Maran atha?” “Our Lord has come.” For what reason then does he use this phrase in particular? To confirm the doctrine of the Economy: out of which class of topics more than any other he has put together those arguments which are the seeds of the Resurrection. And not only this, but also to rebuke them; as if he had said, “The common Lord of all has condescended to come down thus far, and are you in the same state, and do ye abide in your sins? Are ye not thrilled with the excess of His love, the crown of His blessings? Yea, consider but this one thing,” says he, “and it will suffice you for progress in all virtue, and you shall be able to extinguish all sin.”