4. Here, as in x. 7, St. Paul touches upon the descent into Hades, and indicates the purpose of it. 'For this end Christ died, that He might be Lord of the dead.' It might have been imagined that the dim realms of the dead were outside the jurisdiction of Christ--that the dead have no king--that the kingdom of redemption does not include them. To obviate such an idea, to show the universality of His realm, Christ went down among the dead. 5. In many places of the New Testament there is mention of the thanksgiving before food--the Christian's 'saying grace.' Whether he eat flesh or vegetables he 'giveth God thanks[34].' And the word used is the word which, in its substantive form, is 'eucharist.' And indeed there is meaning in this. The thankful reception by the Christian of the ordinary bread of his daily life as coming from God, touched his common meals with something of the glory of divine communion; and the eucharist in its turn {158} is the common blessing and breaking of the bread, raised by the Holy Spirit to a higher power and consecrated to become the vehicle of the bread of life[35]. [1] Possibly his mind passes by a natural reaction from the thought of sensual licentiousness (xiii. 13) to that of unenlightened asceticism. [2] It is implied (xiv. 1; xv. 1 and 7) that the strong-minded brethren were in the ascendant. It is them chiefly to whom St. Paul addresses himself. [3] Ecclus. xxxiii. 9. [4] Mark vii. 19. [5] Acts x. 28. [6] The matter of 'eating with the Gentiles' was prominent, cf. ii. 12. [7] 1 Cor. x. 25. [8] Acts xv. 23. [9] 1 Cor. viii, and x. 23-33. [10] The exact point--abstaining from all flesh meat--is so different from what had presented itself at Corinth that there must be a particular reference to Roman circumstances, of which St. Paul was probably informed by Priscilla and Aquila. [11] This seems to follow from Philo's statement that they did not make animal sacrifices: and from Josephus' description of their way of life as Pythagorean. [12] Cf. 1 Cor. viii. 10. [13] Gal. iv. 10; cf. Col. ii. 16, 17: 'Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ's.' [14] Or _for decisions of doubts_, marg. This, or something like this, is the right meaning; cf. Hebr. v. 14: 'for decision between good and evil.' 1 Cor. xii. 10: 'discernings of spirits,' i.e. decisions as to their true character. [15] From Isa. xlv. 33. [16] Cf. Ephes. pp. 271 f. [17] See app. note H, p. 239. [18] Gal. i. 8. [19] 1 Cor. xv. 12, 13. [20] 1 Cor. v. 6 [21] Cf. Ephes. p. 126. [22] 1 Cor. xi. 16. [23] Gal. v. 2. [24] Phil. iii. 15, 16. [25] _Unity in Diversity_, by Charles Bigg, D.D. (Longmans, 1899), pp. 84, 85, 95. [26] 'Whatever is not of faith is sin--that is whatever is against conscience.' Aquinas, quoted in _S. and H. in loc._