The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: the First Epistle to the Corinthians
I must add to this that theologians of repute, as Francis Suarez (pt iii. vol. 2, disp. 57. sec. 1), hold that this general conflagration will not slay and purge men, but that after the resurrection, at the general judgment, this fire will only be for the terror and punishment of the lost, and to burn up and renew the world after judgment . Still, they say, that we can infer that it will try and purge the good, inasmuch as it will be a witness to the acknowledgment of their innocence resulting from the purgation they have undergone in purgatory. It is therefore much more certain that the trial spoken of here will be by the fire of purgatory rather than by the conflagration at the end of the world. In short, the whole of this passage of the Apostle’s must be understood as well of the day of judgment, both particular and universal, as of purgatory and the fire that is to consume the world. It may be asked, Why does the Apostle blend these and speak indifferently of both judgments and both fires? The reason is (i.) that as the particular and general judgment will be one and the same, so will the fire of purgatory and at the end of the world be one and the same. One purges men, the other the world. The fire of purgatory is related as a part to the whole to the general fire which will be the world’s purgatory ; it will give place to it, and perhaps be changed into it, and perhaps become numerically one with it. (2.) The Apostle frequently speaks of the day of judgment being close at hand, and consequently as if the passage from purgatory to the general conflagration were soon to be made ; and, as was said, he does this that men may prepare themselves for it by holy and pious lives. Cf. 1 Thess. iv. 15 ; Heb. xi. 40; 2 Cor. v. 1, 3, 4. Similarly, the Prophets and Christ Himself often mingle type and antitype, as in S. Matt. xxiv. Christ speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the world as one destruction, and as if one were to follow closely upon the other. This is why the Apostles, when Christ said this, thought that the two would be nearly contemporaneous, though afterwards when better taught they perceived and corrected their mistake.
You may ask secondly, How can the words, “it shall be revealed,” be applied to the particular judgment? What fire will be Christ’s assessor at the particular judgment when each man’s works are tried and declared? I answer that the fire of purgatory is Christ’s assistant in the particular judgment of any man, ready to His hand to try, punish, and purge each man’s work. We ought to remark that S. Paul personifies this purgatorial fire, and makes it a kind of assessor to Christ, so that, like soldiers before their captain, all the dead must pass before it, to be inspected, and, if they need it, to be corrected. The Apostle does this (1.) to carry on his figure of gold and the refiner ; (2.) to keep the fitting proportion between this fire and the general conflagration, to which his reference is primarily when he says, “ the day of the Lord shall be revealed by fire.” Notice also that, as when the Prophets and Christ blend confusedly type and antitype, as, e.g., when they speak of Solomon and Christ, of the destruction of the city and the world, and appear to apply to both things, which have more reference to the one than to the other, so also S. Paul does here : for the words, “ the day of the Lord shall be revealed by fire,” refer rather to the conflagration at the end of the world ; but the words that follow, “ the fire shall try every man’s work,” have to do rather with the fire of purgatory.
The fire of purgatory, then, is Christ’s assistant at the day of particular judgment, His precursor, lictor, jailer, and scourge ; it examines each man’s work, leaves the gold of good works unharmed, but burns up as if they were its proper fuel all works of wood, hay, stubble ; and so each one shall suffer loss, or punishment — in such a way, however , that the worker is saved, yet so as by fire. And so at the day of death and particular judgment this fire is revealed to each one. And this was the meaning of Fursey’s vision. For when he saw himself dead and the fire approaching him, he said to the angel, “Lord, lo! the fire is coming near me.” The angel answered, “What thou didst not kindle shall not burn thee. For though the pyre seem great and terrible, yet it tries every man according to the merit of his works, for each man’s lust shall be burnt in this fire. For just as each one burns in his body with unlawful lust, so when freed from the body shall he be burnt by just punishment.”
Ver. 15. — But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire . Isidorius Clarius wrongly applies this to the “ foundation.” Grammatically it is possible, but logically not, for it does not agree with the context. For the Apostle is showing that those teachers who erect an empty and showy structure on the faith of Christ shall be punished with fire. Moreover, the preceding words, “he shall receive a reward,” evidently refer to the builder, not to the foundation. So, too, the opposite clause here must be referred to him who builds and not to the foundation laid.
Notice (1.) that as is a mark of truth, not of comparison. So in S. John i. 14: “We have seen His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father,” that glory which befitted the Only-begotten. (2.) That it is possible for or to be the introduction of a comparison here. The meaning then would be, He shall be saved like as one who escapes from a burning house, and passes scorched through the flames, as I said at ver. 12. Hence it appears both that there is a purgatory and that there is fire. Hence Chrysostom ( Hom. ad pop. 69) says that “the Apostles ordered that at the sacrifice of the Mass prayer be offered for the departed.” Dionysius ( Eccles . Hierarch . vii. pt. 3) records these prayers, and says that he received them from the Apostles. For, as S. Augustine says (Ps. xxxviii), “Because it is said ‘shall be saved,’ this fire is thought little of, but it will be more than anything that man can endure in this life.” S. Bernard too says (de Obit. Humb.), “What we have neglected here shall there be paid a hundredfold.”
Many think that the fire of purgatory is the same as the fire of hell, which borders on purgatory, but only differs from it in duration. From this Anselm gives the wise advice: “If to escape tortures we obey a king here, let us obey the will of God so as to escape that fire which is more terrible than all tortures here.” And S. Chrysostom (de Penit. hom. 5) says: “Now there is space for repentance; let then penitence forestall punishment; let us come before His face with confession ; let us extinguish the fire prepared for our sins, not with many waters, but with a few tears.” At all events, it is better and easier to be purged with water than with fire : it is better to spend the whole life in the purgatory of penitence than to dwell for a year in the purgatory of fire.
S. Bernard, in his sermon on “the wood, hay, stubble,” gives a tropological discourse that is much to the point. He says : “ The foundation is Christ, the wood is perishable , the hay yielding, the stubble light. They who began stoutly enough, but when broken are not renewed, are the wood. They are the hay who , being lukewarm by reason of the sloth that they should have fled from, are unwilling to touch arduous labours with the tip of their fingers. They are the stubble who, being tossed about by every light breeze, never remain in the same state. For such must we fear, though not despair: for if they have heed to Christ as the foundation, and have finished their life in Him as the Way, they shall be saved, yet so as by fire. . . . Fire has three things — smoke, light, heat. Smoke calls forth tears, light illuminates what is near, heat burns. So he who is of this sort ought to have smoke, that is, a smarting as it were in his mind, because of his lukewarmness , his remissness , his fickleness; for as far as in him lies he disturbs and overthrows natural order . So, too, should he have light in his mouth, that he may by confession say and bewail that he is what he knows himself to be ; so that his tongue may sharpen his conscience, and his conscience shame his tongue . It is necessary , too, that he feel in his body the heat of the suffering exacted— in some degree at all events, if not very acutely . Thinkest thou that He who wishes all men to be saved will cast away those who in this way are of contrite heart, who humbly confess, and try to bring under their bodies . . . There are, too, others who build on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, who begin ardently, more ardently go forward, and most ardently seek perfection , not paying any heed to what the flesh can do, but what the Spirit wills."
Ver. 16. — Know ye not that ye are the temple of God? This is a return to the image of ver. 9 : “Ye are God’s building,” and therefore not a heathen temple, but the temple of God, in which by faith, grace, charity, and His gifts He dwells. So Anselm and others. For a fuller exposition of this, see the notes to 2 Cor. vi. 16.
How the soul may be dedicated as a temple to God is declared at length by S. Bernard (Serm. 1 de Dedic. Eccl.). He says that there are five things observed in a dedication : the sprinkling, the marking with the cross, the anointing, the illumination, and the benediction ; and all these take place also in the dedication of the soul.
Observe that up to the present S. Paul has been dealing with those teachers and those of the faithful who build up the holy edifice of the Church. He now turns to those who undermine it.
Ver. 17. — If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy . If any one, through the fatal pride that is born of human wisdom, through novel, erroneous, and pestilential teaching, or through schisms such as are found among you, O Corinthians, says Anselm; or if any one in any other way corrupt the Church, or any individual soul in it — him shall God destroy. The Apostle is speaking mainly of the corruption that comes through the teaching of false doctrine, through pride, through envy, or the fomenting of schism. For as he began, so does he finish this chapter with warnings to false teachers. It appears, too, from the next words where he says that any such defiler shall not be saved, so as by fire, but shall be consumed in everlasting fire.