1 Corinthians 15:33Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

By these words he reproaches the Corinthians as unreasonable, since under the fair name of good morals he here means those easily inclined to yield. Yet, as far as possible, he excuses their former errors, removing much of the blame from them and placing it upon others, so that by this means too he may bring them to repentance.

He turns his speech toward exhortation. At the same time he covertly reproaches them for folly and light-mindedness, for this is what he expresses by the words, "Do not be deceived." By good morals he means morals easily yielding to deception. He also shows that others are drawing them into such reasonings.

Do not go astray by following those who speak to you in this way, for the evil conversations of the Greeks corrupt your pure souls. If you are not firm in your morals, do not befriend a man who is weak in judgment. I say this not so that you should abhor anyone as a sinner, but so that, when both sides are weak, you may not be harmed by him, nor he by you. If you are able to offer counsel in the Lord, offer it, and you will receive a reward.

You despise gold; another values it highly. You trample upon riches; another strives after them. Peace, meekness, and solitude are dear to you. He loves talkativeness and shamelessness in squares, markets, and the shops of apothecaries.

With such a discord of character, what agreement can there be?

Do not remain under one roof with him. Do not rely on your former purity. You cannot be holier than David or wiser than Solomon.

And if, because of your ecclesiastical duties, you must visit a widow or a virgin, do not enter the house alone. Let companions be with you, who will not blacken your name.

Do not sit alone with a woman privately or without witnesses. If she needs to disclose something secret, surely there will be a nurse, a stewardess, a young girl, or a married woman.

She cannot be so friendless that, besides you, she can find no one to whom she may entrust her secrets.

The Lord teaches and calls us to withdraw from such people: "Leave them; they are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit" (Mt 15:14). One must withdraw from such a person. One must also avoid the man who has separated from the Church, for such a man has become corrupt and has condemned himself. Does he who rises against the ministers of Christ, and who does not acknowledge His clergy and all the people, think that he abides with Christ? No. Such a man lifts his hands against the Church. He fights against the divine economy of God.

Neighbors must be endured everywhere, because Abel cannot be strong unless Cain exercises him by malice.

But there is one exception, for which one must flee cohabitation with the evil. This is so that they may not draw others to themselves, if they can no longer be corrected, and so that they may not corrupt those who live with them, while they themselves remain unchanged in their malice.

Therefore Paul says, "Evil conversations corrupt good morals." And as it is said through Solomon, "Do not be a friend to an angry man, and do not dwell with a hard-hearted friend, lest you learn his ways and receive snares for your soul" (Prov 22:24-25).

Nothing harms a Christian, especially a young one, so much as bad company.

As association with the good is a kind of school in which, without books, a person learns Christian philosophy, that is, an honest and holy life, so association with the evil becomes the cause of a person's extreme corruption.

This happens even if he is good by nature or well brought up. Once he associates with the corrupt, it is difficult and almost impossible for him not to become corrupt.

For malice is sticky, like pitch. Little by little and imperceptibly it creeps in, until it has completely mastered the person.

"Evil company corrupts good morals," φθείρουσιν ή̉θη χρήσθ’ όμιλίαι κακαὶ. According to the Church historian Socrates (Book 3:14), these words were borrowed by the Apostle from the work of the Greek poet Euripides, 480-402 before Christ. But according to Jerome (Ep. 84) and other investigators, these words are found literally in Thais, a work of the comic poet Menander, 342-290. The Apostle wishes to warn the Corinthians against fellowship and disputes with those who rejected the resurrection and did not even acknowledge God.

The absurd conclusion reached by those who do not believe in the future life comes not so much from their actual reasoning as from the enchantment and, as it were, drunkenness of the passions of sinful life.

From this comes forgetfulness of God, and with it forgetfulness of the future life (Lk 8:14; Jas 4:1). This, of course, should in no way be present in Christians, who have received revealed knowledge of God and of the divine economy of human salvation.

Bad company, customs, habits, and especially the seductive conversations of cunning and evil people also have no small influence in forming such a frivolous view.

It is clear that Christians must not only avoid falling into such temptations and deceptions, but must also always keep watch over themselves and their thoughts.

Thus nothing may enter our soul that could turn it away from God and from faith in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come.

Evil clings to us like a contagious disease. If you often associate with a pagan, a slanderer, or a lover of the world, you yourself will imperceptibly fall into the same vices. Conversely, often associate with a spiritual man and a man of prayer, and the same virtues will flow into you.

"Do not be deceived," me planasthe. Do not deceive yourselves, do not fall into error, do not yield to deception.

"Evil conversations" means conversation with evil people, whose mind is corrupted and therefore possesses demonic cunning, by which it slips into the minds of others and corrupts their thoughts, and after their thoughts, their life.

Or "conversations" means association in general, intimate dealings with people who reason perversely about everything.

Earlier the Apostle cited the words of people given over to despair. Now he says, as it were: such people can always be encountered in great numbers. Watch, and be on guard.