The Expositor's Bible: The General Epistles of St. James and St. JudePlummer, Alfred
Religion
The Expositor's Bible: The General Epistles of St. James and St. Jude
Plummer, Alfred
Bible. James -- Commentaries; Bible. Jude -- Commentaries
The second of the three terms of condemnation used by St. James
(ψυχικός) cannot be adequately rendered in English, for "psychic"
or "psychical" would convey either no meaning or a wrong one. It does
not occur in the Septuagint, but is found six times in the New
Testament--four times in the First Epistle to the Corinthians (ii. 14;
xv. 44, 46), where most English versions have "natural;" once in Jude
(19), where Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Genevan have "fleshly," the
Rhemish, the Authorized, and the Revised "sensual;" and once here,
where Genevan, Rhemish, Authorized, and Revised all give "sensual,"
the last placing "natural or animal" in the margin.[71] When man's
nature is divided into body and soul, or flesh and spirit, every one
understands that the body or flesh indicates the lower and material
part, the soul or spirit the higher and immaterial part. But when a
threefold division is made, into body, soul, and spirit, we are apt to
allow the more simple and more familiar division to disturb our ideas.
"Soul" is allowed to keep its old meaning, and to be understood as
much more allied with "spirit" than with "body" or "flesh." This
causes serious misunderstanding. When the soul is distinguished, not
only from the flesh, but from the spirit, it represents a part of our
nature which is much more closely connected with the former than with
the latter. The "natural" or "sensual" man, though higher than the
carnal man, who is the slave of his animal passions, is far below the
spiritual man, who is ruled by the highest portion of his nature,
which is under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The natural man does
not soar above the things of this world. His inspirations are not
heavenly. "Of the earth he is, and of the earth he speaketh." The
wisdom from above is heavenly, spiritual, Divine; the wisdom from
below is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account