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is neither of one who condemns, nor of one who is silent. For neither is safe, neither to 95.760 speak openly, nor to hide it perpetually; and by the memory of the story, he casts them into great fear. From the simplicity and the purity that is in Christ. He shows that faith requires an unfeigned and simple soul. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach. He shows here that it was not the Corinthians who were deceiving, but those who were brought to them from outside. This, he says, is because they boasted that the apostles taught imperfectly, as if they themselves were contributing something more in what they said. Since, therefore, he had spoken at length of them boasting and making ill use of worldly wisdom, he says this: that if these men were saying something more perfect, and preached another Jesus, one who did not need to be preached and whom we had omitted, you would be right to tolerate them. For for this reason he added, whom we have not preached. But if they are the same main points of the faith, what is the advantage? For whatever they may say, they will say nothing more than what we have said. Or you receive a different Spirit, which you did not receive. That is, to make you richer according to grace. Or a different gospel, which you did not accept, you would rightly tolerate them. For I think that I am not in the least inferior to the super-apostles. Nor again did this require their elegance. Therefore, he says, nothing more perfect has been introduced by them. For whether they preach Jesus, we have preached him; or another Spirit, having said this, he added, which you did not receive; Or another gospel again, having said this, he added, which you did not accept, by all these things making clear, that one must not simply pay attention, if they say something more; but if they were saying something more which ought to have been said, and was omitted by us. But if it was not necessary, for this reason it was not said by us; why then do you gape at those who say such things? But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet not in knowledge. Since they were boasting greatly in Hellenic wisdom, he puts it this way, showing that he is not ashamed of this, but even prides himself on it. For he considers external wisdom to be worthy of no account, but even foolishness. But in every way we have been made manifest in all things to you. He accuses the false apostles, as walking in craftiness. Or did I commit a sin, humbling myself, so that 95.761 you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God 95.761 to you free of charge? I robbed other churches, taking wages for my ministry to you. And when I was present with you, and was in need, I was a burden to no one. For my lack the brothers supplied, having come from Macedonia, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and I will keep myself. What he says is something like this: I was living in distress and extreme poverty, being with you, and preaching the word to you. This therefore you have to accuse me of, and this was my sin, that I chose to afflict myself, so that you might be benefited. For this is the meaning of, that you might be exalted. The truth of Christ is in me. Do not think, he says, that I said this in order to receive. For, he says, there is truth in me. That this boasting will not be silenced for me in the regions of Achaia. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows. But what I do, I will also do. And he calls the matter a boast. But in order to cut off the occasion from those who want an occasion; so that in what they boast, they may be found to be even as we are. For since they were eager for this, to find some handle against him as a lover of money, he was eager to remove this. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder; for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. For this reason, he says, I call them false apostles, because they pretend all such things, in order to deceive. For since they know, that otherwise they would not be readily accepted, they take on the appearance of truth, in order to act out the drama of deceit, and they claim not to receive money, in order to receive more. It is no great thing, therefore, if his ministers also transform themselves. An angel of light, he says, is an angel who has boldness. For these are angels of darkness, those of the devil. As ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. Which we are, he says, who the

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οὔτε καταδικάζοντός ἐστιν, οὔτε σιωπῶντος. Οὐδ' ἕτερον γὰρ ἀσφαλὲς, οὔτε τὸ 95.760 εἰπεῖν φανερῶς, οὔτε τὸ κρύψαι διηνεκῶς· καὶ τῇ μνήμῃ δὲ τῆς ἱστορίας, εἰς φόβον αὐτοὺς ἐμβάλλει πολύν. Ἀπὸ τῆς ἁπλότητος καὶ τῆς ἁγνότητος τῆς εἰς τὸν Χριστόν. ∆είκνυσιν ὡς ἀπλάστου καὶ ἀφελοῦς ψυχῆς δεῖται ἡ πίστις. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἄλλον Ἰησοῦν κηρύττει, ὃν οὐκ ἐκηρύξαμεν. ∆είκνυσιν ἐνταῦθα οὐχὶ Κορινθίους ὄντας τοὺς ἀπατῶντας, ἀλλ' ἔξωθεν προσφερομένους αὐτοῖς. Τοῦτο δέ, φησιν, ἐπειδὴ ἐκόμπαζον ἐκεῖνοι ὡς ἀτελῶς τῶν ἀποστόλων διδασκόντων, ὡς αὐτοὶ πλεῖόν τι εἰσφέροντες ἐν οἷς ἔλεγον. Ἐπειδὴ οὖν πλείονα εἰρηκὼς αὐτοὺς κομπάζειν τῇ ἔξωθεν σοφίᾳ ἀποχρησαμένους, τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι εἰ μέν τι τελειότερον ἔλεγον οὗτοι, καὶ ἕτερον ἐκήρυττον Ἰησοῦν, ὃν οὐ κηρυχθῆναι ἔδει, ἡμεῖς δὲ παρελείψαμεν, καλῶς ἂν εἴχεσθε. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο προσέθηκεν, ὃν οὐκ ἐκηρύξαμεν. Εἰ δὲ τὰ αὐτὰ κεφάλαια τῆς πίστεως, τί τὸ πλέον; Ὅσα γὰρ ἂν εἴπωσιν, οὐδὲν πλέον ἐροῦσιν ὧν ἡμεῖς εἰρήκαμεν. Ἢ Πνεῦμα ἕτερον λαμβάνετε, ὃ οὐκ ἐλάβετε. Τουτέστι, πλουσιωτέρους ὑμᾶς ποιῆσαι κατὰ τὴν χάριν. Ἢ Εὐαγγέλιον ἕτερον, ὃ οὐκ ἐδέξασθε, καλῶς ἂν εἴχεσθε. Λογίζομαι γὰρ μηδὲν ὑστερηκέναι τῶν ὑπὲρ λίαν ἀποστόλων. Οὐδὲ τοῦτο πάλιν τῆς κομψείας ἐκείνων ἐδεῖτο. Οὐδὲν οὖν, φησὶ, τελειότερον παρ' αὐτῶν εἰσενήνεκται. Εἴτε γὰρ Ἰησοῦν κηρύσσωσιν, ἐκηρύξαμεν· εἴτε ἕτερον Πνεῦμα, εἰπὼν, προσέθηκεν, ὃ οὐκ ἐλάβετε· Ἢ Εὐαγγέλιον ἕτερον πάλιν, εἰπὼν, προσέθηκεν, ὃ οὐκ ἐδέξασθε, διὰ πάντων δηλῶν, ὅτι οὐχ ἁπλῶς, εἰ πλεῖόν τι λέγουσι, προσέχειν δεῖ· ἀλλ' εἴ τι πλέον ἔλεγον ὃ λεχθῆναι ἔδει, καὶ παρ' ἡμῶν παρελείφθη. Εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἔδει, διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲ παρ' ἡμῶν εἴρηται· τί τοίνυν τοιαῦτα λέγοντας πρὸς ἐκείνους κεχήνατε; Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἰδιώτης τῷ λόγῳ, ἀλλ' οὐ τῇ γνώσει. Ἐπειδὴ μεγάλα ἐκόμπαζον ἐκεῖνοι ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ Ἑλληνικῇ, τοῦτο οὕτω τίθησι, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐκ αἰσχύνεται τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐγκαλλωπίζεται. Οὐδενὸς γὰρ ἡγεῖται ἀξίαν λόγου τὴν ἔξω σοφίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μωρίαν. Ἀλλ' ἐν παντὶ φανερωθέντες ἐν πᾶσιν εἰς ὑμᾶς. ∆ιαβάλλει τοὺς ψευδαποστόλους, ὡς ἐν πανουργίᾳ περιπατοῦντας. Ἢ ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησα, ἐμαυτὸν ταπεινῶν, ἵνα 95.761 ὑμεῖς ὑψωθῆτε, ὅτι δωρεὰν τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ Εὐαγγέλιον 95.761 εὐηγγελισάμην ὑμῖν; Ἄλλας Ἐκκλησίας ἐσύλησα, λαβὼν ὀψώνιον πρὸς τὴν ὑμῶν διακονίαν. Καὶ παρὼν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ ὑστερηθεὶς, οὐ κατενάρκησα οὐθενός. Τὸ γὰρ ὑστέρημά μου προσανεπλήρωσαν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ, ἐλθόντες ἀπὸ Μακεδονίας, καὶ ἐν παντὶ ἀβαρῆ ὑμῖν ἐμαυτὸν ἐτήρησα, καὶ τηρήσω. Ὃ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Ἐν στενοχωρίᾳ διῆγον καὶ πενίᾳ ἐσχάτῃ, παρ' ὑμῖν ὢν, καὶ κηρύττων ὑμῖν τὸν λόγον. Τοῦτο οὖν μοι ἔχετε ἐγκαλεῖν, καὶ τοῦτο ἥμαρτον, ὅτι εἱλόμην ἐμαυτὸν θλίψαι, ἵνα ὑμεῖς ὠφεληθῆτε. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ, ὑψωθῆτε. Ἔστιν ἀλήθεια Χριστοῦ ἐν ἐμοί. Μὴ νομίσητε, φησὶν, ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο εἶπον ἵνα λάβω. Ἔστι γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀλήθεια ἐν ἐμοί. Ὅτι ἡ καύχησις αὕτη οὐ φραγήσεται εἰς ἐμὲ ἐν τοῖς κλίμασι τῆς Ἀχαΐας. ∆ιὰ τί; ὅτι οὐκ ἀγαπῶ ὑμᾶς; Ὁ Θεὸς οἶδεν. Ὃ δὲ ποιῶ, καὶ ποιήσω. Καύχησιν δὲ τὸ πρᾶγμα καλεῖ. Ἵνα δὲ ἐκκόψω τὴν ἀφορμὴν τῶν θελόντων ἀφορμήν· ἵνα ἐν ᾧ καυχῶνται, εὑρεθῶσι καθὼς καὶ ἡμεῖς. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοῦτο ἐσπούδαζον ἐκεῖνοι, λαβήν τινα εὑρεῖν κατ' αὐτοῦ ὡς φιλοχρημάτου, καὶ ταύτην ἀναιρεῖν ἐσπούδαζεν. Οἱ γὰρ τοιοῦτοι ψευδαπόστολοι, ἐργάται δόλιοι, μετασχηματιζόμενοι εἰς ἀποστόλους Χριστοῦ. Καὶ οὐ θαυμαστόν· αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ Σατανᾶς μετασχηματίζεται εἰς ἄγγελον φωτός. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο, φησὶ, ψευδαποστόλους καλῶ, ὅτι τοιαῦτα ὑποκρίνονται πάντα, ἵνα ἀπατήσωσιν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἴσασιν, ὅτι ἑτέρως οὐκ ἂν γένοιντο εὐπαράδεκτοι, τὸ πρόσωπον λαμβάνουσι τῆς ἀληθείας, ἵνα τὸ δράμα τῆς πλάνης ὑποκρίνωνται, καὶ χρήματα φάσκουσι μὴ λαμβάνειν, ἵνα πλείονα λάβωσιν. Οὐ μέγα οὖν, εἰ καὶ οἱ διάκονοι αὐτοῦ μετασχηματίζονται. Ἄγγελον φωτὸς, τὸν παῤῥησίαν ἔχοντα ἄγγελον λέγει. Εἰσὶ γὰρ ἄγγελοι σκότους οὗτοι, οἱ τοῦ διαβόλου. Ὡς διάκονοι δικαιοσύνης, ὧν τὸ τέλος ἔσται κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν. Ὅπερ ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν, φησὶν, οἱ τὸ