Commentary on the Epistles to the Corinthians John Calvin
John Calvin
Let us eat and drink This is a saying of the Epicureans, who reckon man's highest good as consisting in present enjoyment. Isaiah also testifies that it is a saying made use of by profligate persons, (Isaiah 22:13,) who, when the Prophets of God threaten them with ruin, 981 with the view of calling them to repentance, making sport of those threatenings, encourage themselves in wantonness and unbridled mirth, and in order to show more openly their obstinacy, say, "Since die we must, let us meanwhile enjoy the time, and not torment ourselves before the time with empty fears." As to what a certain General said to his army, 982 "My fellowsoldiers, let us dine heartily, for we shall sup to-day in the regions below," 983 that was an exhortation to meet death with intrepidity, and has nothing to do with this subject. I am of opinion, that Paul made use of a jest in common use among abandoned and desperately wicked persons, or (to express it shortly) a common proverb among the Epicureans to the following purpose: "If death is the end of man, there is nothing better than that he should indulge in pleasure, free from care, so long as life lasts." Sentiments of this kind are to be met with frequently in Horace. 984
33. Be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt good manners As nothing is easier than to glide into profane speculation, under the pretext of inquiring, 985 he meets this danger, by warning them that evil communications have more effect than we might suppose, in polluting our minds and corrupting our morals. 986 To show this, he makes use of a quotation from the poet Menander, 987 as we are at liberty to borrow from every quarter everything that has come forth from God. And as all truth is from God, there is no doubt that the Lord has put into the mouth of the wicked themselves, whatever contains true and salutary doctrine. I prefer, however, that, for
981"De ruine et perdition;" — "With ruin and perdition." 982"Car quant a ce qui on trouue entre les histoires ancicnnes que quelqu'vn disoit aux soldats;" — "For as to its being recorded in ancient histories, that one said to his soldiers."
983The allusion is to Leonidas, king of Sparta, when addressing 300 Spartans, at the Pass of Thermopyhe, who "by an act of intrepidity, rarely paralleled in history, set themselves to defend that Pass, in opposition to 20,000 Persian troops, and during the night spread dreadful havoc and consternation among the Persians, but the morning light at length discovering their small number, they were immediately surrounded and slaughtered." — Robertson's History of Greece, page 151. — Ed.
984The following instances may be quoted as a specimen: — "O beate Sesti! Vitae summa brevis nos vetat inchoare longam, Jam to premet nox, fabulaeque Manes Et domus exilis Plutonia: O happy Sestius! the brief span of human life forbids us to indulge a distant hope. Soon will night descend upon thee, and the fabulous Manes, and the shadowy mansion of Pluto." — Hor. Carm. I. 4, 13-17. "Sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi Spem longam reseces. Dum loquimur, fugerit invida Aetas. Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero. Be wise; rack off your wines; and abridge your distant hopes in adaptation to the brevity of life. While we speak, envious age has been flying. Seize the present day, depending as little as possible on any future one." — Hor. Carre. I. 11.6-8.
985"De douter et s'enquerir;" — "Of doubting and inquiring." 986"Les bonnes moeurs;" — "Good manners." 987"Menander was a celebrated comic poet of Athens, educated under Theophrastus. His writings were replete with elegance, refined wit, and judicious observations. Of one hundred and eight comedies which he wrote, nothing remains but a few fragments. He is said to have drowned himself' in the fifty-second year of his age, B. C. 293, because the compositions of his rival Philemon obtained more applause than his own." — Barnes. — Ed.