2 Corinthians 11:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach." From this it is clear that the Corinthians themselves were not the cause of their corruption, but that outsiders deceived them. Therefore he says, "someone comes." "Or if you receive another Spirit, whom you did not receive, or another Gospel, which you did not accept, you would bear with him well." What are you saying? To the Galatians you said, "If anyone preaches to you a Gospel contrary to what you received, let him be anathema" (Gal 1:9). But now you say, "you would bear with him well"? For this very reason they ought not to have endured them, but to have fled. If they had said the same thing as you, they ought to have been tolerated. How then do you say, "When they say the same thing, they must not be tolerated"? And if they said something different, they ought to be tolerated? Let us examine the Apostle's words. Before us lies a great danger and a deep abyss. If we leave this unexamined, what was said above will open the door to every heresy.

What, then, is the meaning contained in these words? The false teachers boasted that the Apostles taught imperfectly, while they introduced something greater. Probably, by babbling about many things, they introduced senseless additions into the dogmas of the faith. For this reason he mentioned the serpent and Eve, who was deceived by the expectation of something greater. He hinted at this also in the first epistle when he said, "Already you are enriched, already you have become kings without us" (1 Cor 4:8). Again he said, "We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ" (1 Cor 4:10). Since they apparently made use of external wisdom and spoke much empty talk, the Apostle says: If they had said something additional and preached another Christ, one who ought not to be preached. While we had kept silence, "you would bear with them well." With this intention he added, "whom we did not preach." But if they have the same foundations of faith, what advantage is there? However much they may say, they will not say more than what we have already said.

See with what exactness he speaks about this. He did not say, "If the one who comes should say something more than we did," because the false teachers did say something more, with greater authority and greater elegance in words. Therefore he did not say that. What did he say? "If someone comes and preaches another Jesus," for which there was no need of fine verbal display. Or "if you receive another Spirit," that is, if he enriches you with greater gifts of grace, for which fine words were likewise unnecessary. Or "another Gospel, which you did not accept," which similarly did not require elegance of speech, then "you would bear with him well."

See what strict distinction is observed everywhere. From this it is clear that they said nothing additional or greater than the Apostles. Having said, "For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus," he added, "whom we did not preach." To the words, "or if you receive another Spirit," he added, "whom you did not receive." Likewise, after saying, "or another Gospel. " he joined to it, "which you did not accept." By all this he shows: one must not simply ask whether they said something more, but whether they said something more that ought to have been said and had been omitted by us. If they said what ought not to be said, and what therefore we did not say, then why do you listen to them?

But you will say, "If they say the same thing, why do you forbid them to speak?" Because, under the cover of hypocrisy, they introduce another teaching. Yet he does not say this for the present. He states it afterward, when he says that they transform themselves into Apostles of Christ (v. 13). Now he uses the gentlest means to weaken the disciples' respect for them. He does this not from envy, but for the disciples' safety. Otherwise, why does he not forbid Apollos, an eloquent man and one learned in the Scriptures? On the contrary, he even asks for him and himself promises to send him. Certainly because Apollos, together with his knowledge, preserved the correctness of the dogmas. Those Corinthian teachers did the opposite. Therefore the Apostle arms himself against them and reproves the disciples for listening to them with amazement, saying: If we omitted something that ought to have been said, and they supplied it, we do not hinder you from listening to them. But if everything has been done by us and nothing omitted, what draws you to them?

Notice further: he did not say, "If someone came and began to preach more about something." For they did say something more, with greater arrogance and greater beauty of speech. Rather, he said, "to preach another Jesus, whom we did not preach." For this, rhetorical ornament is not needed.

Or, "if you received a different Spirit," that is, if he enriched you more with spiritual gifts, which have no need of verbal intricacies. Or, "a different Gospel," which must not consist in words alone.

Everywhere he shows that one must condescend not when they speak somewhat better, but when they speak what ought to have been said and about which we kept silent.

See: "another Jesus, whom we did not preach," or "if you received a different Spirit, whom you did not receive," or "a different Gospel, which you did not accept." Therefore, if they say the same thing, why do you listen to them so greedily?

And if they say the same thing, why do you, Paul, hinder them? Because, using pretense, they introduce new doctrines.

I do this not from lack of love for you, that is, not from proud independence from you. I do it to remove every right from the covetous false apostles who deceive you, and who boast of being like me. "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into Apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light."

But "you, being wise men," with irony, "gladly endure fools. You endure it if someone enslaves you, if someone devours you, if someone takes from you, if someone exalts himself, if someone strikes you in the face. To my shame I say that we were too weak for that."

I say this to mutual shame: to mine, in irony, and to yours, in rebuke. The Apostle is speaking as though he said: there is nothing to be done, I must admit it. I was not capable of the deeds just listed. In general, among you I was not distinguished by those showy qualities with which the false apostles strove to shine. As is clear, they blinded you by them. But how are you not ashamed that you cannot distinguish true dignity from false? How could you forget everything that revealed in me a true Apostle of Christ?

"It is clear that those who corrupted the Corinthians were not from among them, but outsiders. Of course, they boasted that the Apostles taught imperfectly, while they, by contrast, brought something greater. For probably, while speaking idly about many things, they introduced foolish trifles into the dogmas of the faith. Therefore, since they used external wisdom and, as is likely, spoke much emptiness, the Apostle says: if they had told you something beyond this, and had preached another Christ, more fully, while we had kept silence, 'you might well have endured it.' But if they have the same foundations of faith, what advantage is there? However much they speak, they will not say more than what we have already said. Why, then, do you listen to them?"

Yet because the false teachers, despite teaching empty things, boasted that they were better than the Apostles, Paul was unwillingly compelled to speak of his relation to the Apostles chosen before him. He says, first, that he is in no way less than the other Apostles. Second, he understands Christ's teaching just as they do. St. John Chrysostom explains this: "See what modesty there is here also. He does not say, 'The Apostles have said no more than I.' Rather, he says, 'I think,' that is, 'I think that I have in no way fallen short of the chief Apostles.' Since the Corinthian false teachers also imagined they could compare themselves with the Apostles, St. Paul compares himself with the Apostles in a way fitting for him. Therefore he speaks of them with praise, calling them not simply Apostles, but chief, having Peter, James, and John in view."

Turning again to compare himself with those who had deceived the Corinthians, the Apostle says that he is unskilled in speech. Yet he was far from being such. He had studied in Hebrew schools, not Hellenic ones. For this reason he could seem ignorant of Greek eloquence. Yet he possessed the power of speech common to all mankind. Above all, he had a true understanding of everything necessary to know for salvation. The Greek sophists, the talkers, knew how to speak elegantly and smoothly, but they preached false teachings (cf. 1 Cor. 1:2). According to blessed Theodoret, St. Paul is saying to them, as it were: "Though my tongue is not learned, my mind is adorned with the knowledge of God."

The Apostle said, "I fear lest your minds be corrupted." But how can they be corrupted unless someone comes and begins to unsettle them? Therefore, in the same word of the Apostle there is hidden both his desire and his exhortation: receive no one, whatever teaching anyone may bring to you. The present text contains the reason why they must not receive or tolerate any other teacher or preacher of the faith. The reason is this: you have no need to receive one. You already have everything, and you have it in full. The one true Jesus has been preached among you, God the Son, incarnate for our salvation. The true grace of the Spirit has been bestowed upon you. You perceive its power within yourselves and visibly see it in one another. The Gospel has been proclaimed to you in full, offering you forgiveness of sins, renewal, sonship, and inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. What more could you desire?

If someone came and offered you something that we had not communicated or given to you, and if it were true and essentially necessary for salvation, then of course you would do nothing wrong in receiving such a teacher. You would rightly tolerate him. That is, if someone came and told you about Jesus more fully and precisely than we had done, so that Jesus would be contemplated by you more clearly and would seem new, as though different from the One preached by us. If he offered you the Spirit with other manifestations of His operations, which you had not experienced when you received grace from us. And if he proclaimed to you a Gospel with more generous promises than we had revealed to you, then nothing could be said against receiving such a person. You would rightly tolerate him. But I assure you that such a circumstance cannot exist. No one can proclaim or give you anything greater or fuller than what has been proclaimed and given to you by us. You have everything, and you have it fully. Therefore you have no reason to receive anyone else as a teacher and preacher of the faith.

Let us recall again that the Apostle frames his speech as though warning them about the future. Yet it is known that they had already received someone, and because of this had allowed disputes among themselves, though all in vain. Therefore the Apostle's thought here is this: you did this in vain. You ought not to have received and listened to them. "The Apostle now turned his accusation against those who had fallen into deception and clearly showed the absurdity of the deception. For he says: by what, and in what way, were you carried away? Did they preach another Jesus to you? Did they bestow other gifts of the Spirit? Did they offer another Gospel?" (Theodoret).

Chrysostom says: "From this it is clear that those who corrupted the Corinthians were not from among the Corinthians, but outsiders deceived them. Of course, they boasted that the Apostles did not teach perfectly, while they brought something greater. Probably, by babbling about many things, they introduced foolish trifles into the dogmas of the faith. Since they apparently made use of external wisdom and spoke many empty things, the Apostle says: if they had told you something additional and preached another Christ more fully, while we had kept silence, you would rightly tolerate them. With this intention he added, 'whom we did not preach.' But if they have the same foundations of faith, what advantage is there? However much they may say, they will not say more than what we have already said. If they said what ought not to be said, and what therefore we did not say, why do you listen to them? But you will say: if they say the same thing, why do you forbid them to speak? Because, under the cover of hypocrisy, they introduce another teaching. Amid empty speech and excessive speech, falsehood will slip in unnoticed. Paul does not say this yet, but will add it later when he says that they transform themselves into Apostles of Christ (v. 13). Meanwhile he uses the gentlest means to weaken the disciples' respect for them. He does this not from envy, but for the disciples' safety. Otherwise, why does he not forbid Apollos, an eloquent man and one learned in the Scriptures? On the contrary, he himself asks for him and promises to send him. Certainly because Apollos, along with learning, also preserved the orthodoxy of the dogmas, while the Corinthian teachers did the opposite. Therefore the Apostle arms himself against them and blames the disciples for listening to them, saying: if we omitted something that ought to have been said, and they supplied it, we do not hinder you from hearing them. But if everything has been done by us, and nothing has been omitted, what draws you to them?"