[2] Eph. i. 23. The Church is said to be "the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." The word "fulness" is derived from philosophy, and means that the Church is, or rather is the realization of, the sum of the sacred attributes of Christ, who fills the whole universe with all kinds of gifts. Some commentators translate "fulness" as if it meant the receptacle of Christ's attributes, and others as if it meant the completion of Christ. But the word is used in a philosophical and not in a literal sense. See Lightfoot, _Colossians_, p. 259. {188} CHAPTER XVI THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS [Sidenote: The Author.] The genuineness of this Epistle is now admitted by critics of very different schools of thought, including some extreme rationalists. About A.D. 110 St. Polycarp, in his letter to the Philippians, speaks of the letters which they had received from "the blessed and glorious Paul." Although he seems to refer to a number of letters, we may be sure that this letter was among that number. Otherwise it would not have been so universally regarded as genuine during the 2nd century. It is in Marcion's canon, in the _Muratorian Fragment_, the Peshitta Syriac and Old Latin versions. It is also quoted in the letter of the Churches of Lyons and Vienne, in the Epistle of Diognetus, and by Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria. It was rejected by Baur and others on various grounds. It was urged (1) that the doctrine of Christ's self-surrender or "self-emptying" in Phil. ii. 7 is derived from the Valentinian Gnostics of the 2nd century, who taught that the Spirit "Sophia" fell from the "fulness" of divine spirits in heaven to the "emptiness" of the lower world. This objection is too fantastic to deserve serious refutation. It is, in fact, little more than a play upon words. It was urged (2) that in Phil. ii. 7 the manhood of Christ is said to have come into existence at the incarnation, whereas in 1 Cor. xv. 47-49 it is said to have existed in heaven before the incarnation. This idea rests on a false interpretation; in 1 Cor. xv. Christ is called "of heaven" {189} because His manhood became heavenly at His ascension. It was urged (3) that in Phil. iii. 6 the writer says that he had been, "as touching the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless," whereas St. Paul in Rom. vii. speaks of his revolt against the Law. But it seems that in Phil. iii. St. Paul is laying stress rather on his external privileges and external conformity, while in Rom. vii. he speaks of what is inward and secret. It was urged (4) that the mention of "bishops" (or rather _episkopoi_) and "deacons" in Phil. i. 1 shows that the Epistle was not written in the apostolic age. But there is nothing to make it impossible that such offices did exist at that period, and there is much evidence in favour of them. Christians who are attached to the historical form of Church government will now note with interest that, since the