Know ye
not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?
(1 Cor 6:3)
I was recently asked a question by a
Seventh-day Adventist friend if this text supported their belief that, during
the Millennium, all the saints would be in heaven judging angels (in their
theology, the only person on earth during the Millennium will be Satan! For a
discussion of this eschatology, see Response
to Douglas V. Pond on Biblical and LDS Anthropology and Eschatology).
In reality, this text does not require Christians to be in heaven
to judge angels; indeed, verse 2 makes it clear that Christians will be on
earth:
Do ye not know that the saints
shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy
to judge the smallest matters?
If a promise that Christians will judge angels necessitates one to
be in heaven to do such, ipso facto, they must be on earth to judge the world
(κοσμος), and therefore, their bodies must possess the capability of multi-location (I am arguing reductio ad absurdum to show the
eisegesis behind such an interpretation of v. 3--I am not really arguing for
such! [also, if fallen angels are in view, whether in whole or in part, for v. 3 as some commentaries note, will SDAs teach Christians will also be in Tartarus per 2 Pet 2:4?])
To help understand what Paul is teaching, here are some useful comments
from Thiselton and Lenski:
3 Although the UBS Greek New Testament, 4th ed., has a question mark at the end of
this sentence without further comment, the 3d ed. notes helpfully that the Textus Receptus, Westcott-Hort, and
Nestlé (1898) placed a first question mark after angels. This permits the smoother NEB translation: Are you not aware that we are to judge
angels? How much more, then, mere matters of business. The REB, however,
changes the NEB: Are you not aware that
we are to judge angels, not to mention day-to-day affairs? The force of μήτιγε is to join a question
expecting an emphatic negative answer (μήτι) with the particle γε, at any rate,
or equivalent to some idiom in English which gives sharper point to the
rhetorical question. Conzelmann renders, to
say nothing of …; we propose: need I
add, then …? On do you not know,
see above on 3:16 (cf. also 5:6; 6:2). The question is repeated in 6:9, 15, 16
and 19. Thus six of Paul’s ten uses of the phrases occur in this chapter, or
seven if you count 5:1–6:20 as a single unit. (Hurd, we noted, identifies all
the occurrences as part of Paul’s response to the oral report, and believes
that they strike “a jarring note” in Paul’s remonstration.)
As Lukas Vischer observes, this argument is
an example of the inclusion of the lesser within the greater, which finds a
place in the logic of both Aristotle and the rabbis. The “lesser” is expressed
as βιωτικά. In the business and
official correspondence of the papyri this term regularly means business matters, i.e., what enables one
to make a living (hence NEB, matters of business). But outside this
narrower context, the neuter plural adjective means what relates to βίος, i.e., earthly
life, or matters of daily life.
Hence NIV and NJB translate matters or things of this life and NRSV ordinary matters. Our everyday life combines nuances of daily life with the ordinary. It is far more difficult to suggest what might be
entailed in the phrase we shall judge angels.
(i) In Derrett’s view this is simply part of
the stage scenery of “the myth of the Last Judgment” in which “angels, too will
be judged, the angels of nations, not merely wicked angels.”
It would fit nicely with Paul’s argument about pagan magistrate’s courts if he
suggests that the angels who watch
over the corporate structures of Gentile nations will stand at the last under
the judgment of Christians at Corinth. But in spite of the powerful advocacy of
this view of angels and nations by
G. B. Caird and others, when we examined τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου in 2:8, we saw the complexity of the issues and
the difficulties of this view (see above on 2:8).
(ii) Most patristic, medieval, and
Reformation commentators and many or most modern writers interpret the
reference to angels of wickedness, or demons. Chrysostom adopts this view (after rejecting a curious
tradition that the word refers to priests, perhaps on the basis of the “angels”
of the seven churches in Rev 2:1–3:22). Chrysostom appeals for clarification to
Matt 25:41, “the fire prepared for the devil and his angels”; and 2 Cor 11:15,
“disguised as an angel of light.” Most pointedly for us today, he identifies
them as beings “in contradistinction to what relates to this life.” Beings of
another nonhuman order exist but do not depend on human βιωτικά. Theophylact and Aquinas, broadly adopt this view,
while Bengel simply defines them as eos
qui non sunt sancti. Erasmus comments on the arrogance of assuming that
only humankind comprise the created order, and observes of believers, vestra pietas illorum impietatem.
Theodoret writes: “ ‘Αγγέλους δὲ λέγει τοὺς δαίμονας. Angelos
autem dieit daemonas.” Calvin applies the sentence to “apostate angels.”50
Conzelmann similarly speaks of “fallen angels” here.
(iii) H. A. W. Meyer argues for a reference
to “good” angels. Angels must render account of their service, he argues, in
Heb 1:14. But most writers see this allusion as part of “the apocalyptic theme
of the judgment of fallen angels (2 Pet 2:4; Jude 6; possibly 1 Enoch 10:11–14; 67–68. The word
“includes bad as well as good.”54
(iv) We must return to the considerations set
out under view (ii) on the previous verse, on will judge the world. Godet reminds us that in the climax to this
epistle Paul declares that Christ will finally destroy πᾶσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ πᾶσαν ἐξουσίαν (15:24). Christ alone will be sovereign and will
yield his kingship to God (v. 24a), and arguably (see above on v. 2) the
corporeity of believers characterized by being-in-Christ in this derivative
sense share in Christ’s acts and declarative speech-acts. That the
setting-to-rights of all things includes the nonhuman creation as well as the
world is, as Erasmus comments, a less presumptuous assumption than to assume
the opposite. (Anthony C. Thiselton, The First
Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text [New International
Greek Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2000], 430-31)
3) The case can be stated still more
effectively. In the world which is subject to our judging the angels rank
highest. So Paul adds: Do you not know
that we shall judge angels? to say nothing of common life affairs. This
argument is again a majori ad minus
with the minor concentrated in μήτι γε βιωτικά. This minor is not a part of the question (our
versions) but an assertion: “to say nothing,” etc. And μήτι γε is elliptic, vollends
aber,
B.-D. 427, 3. It is used only here by Paul but is frequently found in the
classics: “not at all (to mention that we shall judge) common life affairs.”
The contrast is tremendous: “angels” on the one hand and βιωτικά on the other, things connected with βίος, vita quam vivimus, the course of our physical existence as
distinguished from vita qua vivimus,
the life principle itself which animates us.
The Corinthians are not to make this
deduction; Paul himself states it. In v. 2 the contrast is between the
Corinthians as world judges and as judges of petty courts; in v. 3 the contrast
is between the cases judged, between angels and common affairs, and this
contrast is intensified, for angels are the mightiest persons, and these
affairs are the trifling things about mine and thine, about what you said and
what I said, etc. Regarding the judging of angels compare Isa. 24:21; 2 Pet.
2:4, and Jude 6. Many passages speak about the connection between the angels
and us, Heb. 2:14; 1 Pet. 1:12; Eph. 2:20, etc., 3:10; Rom. 8:38. The Word by
which the saints judge extends also to the angels. Osiander writes: “Just as we
find a law of mediation in the ministration of grace from man to man although
the Lord remains supreme, so we find the same law of mediation in the final
ministration of justice, the believers judge the world including the angels,
yet the Lord is always supreme. In what this judging consists, in promulgating
or confirming the verdict or in otherwise assisting, we must leave until the
great act takes place.” (R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul's First and Second Epistle to the
Corinthians [Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg Publishing House, 1963], 237-38)
Many 19th century Latter-day Saints offered comments on
this verse. Here are some representative examples:
Orson Pratt
Here, then, you can read their
history; they are not Gods, but they are angels or Servants to the Gods. There
is a difference between the two classes; the Gods are exalted; they hold keys
of power; are made Kings and Priests; and this power is conferred upon them in
time, by the everlasting Priesthood, to hold a kingdom in eternity that shall
never be taken from them worlds without end; and they will propagate their
species. They are not servants; for one God is not to be a servant to another
God; they are not angels; and this is the reason why Paul said, Know ye not,
brethren, that we shall judge angels? Angels are inferior to the Saints who are
exalted as Kings. These angels who are to be judged, and to become servants to
the Gods, did not keep the law, therefore, though. they are saved, they are to
be servants to those who are in a higher condition. (JOD 1:65 | August 29,
1852)
What says the good Book again?
"And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I
give power over the nations; And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the
vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I received of my
Father." Do we not expect to overcome and have power over the nations?
Yes. Says Paul, the Saints shall judge the world; not only this, but they shall
judge angels. "Why," says one, "I thought that angels were
greater in might and power than we, and is it possible that we, the servants of
God, are going to judge angels? You are surely exalting yourselves above all
that is called God; for God shall judge the world." How is it that we do
not recollect anything now that took place before we took upon us these bodies?
When we lay them off we shall remember every thing, the scenes of those early
times will be as fresh in our view as the sun was this morning when he rose
over the mountains. The Saints will say I to their fallen brethren, You were
arrayed under the command of Lucifer, and fought against us; we prevailed, and
it now becomes our duty to pass sentence against you, fallen spirits. You have
been reserved to this condemnation, and bound with a chain. With what chain?
That you could not multiply your race. There were limits put to you that you
could not increase. It was never said to you, Go forth into hell and multiply;
but it was said to man, Go forth and increase on the earth. Here were stakes
set they could not go beyond, and this is what they are angry about, this makes
a hell to them, because they "can't do it." They see the superiority
of the Saints who have kept their first estate, and they are envious, and now
it becomes the Saints' duty to pass sentence upon them. The Saints shall judge
angels, even those spirits who kept not their first estate, and have been a
long time in chains like criminals who are kept in bondage to await their
sentence. It will be the prerogative of the servants of God to pass a decision
upon them, and not only upon them, but upon the world among whom they have been
associated, and having combined in them the judicial power, and power of
witness, they will have power to judge and determine, for the Saints shall
judge the world. (JOD 1:127-28 | October 6, 1853)
Mankind, in one sense, are far
above the brutes, and not only this, but they are above even some of the
angels; for there are certain orders of angels that are far beneath man; they
have not progressed in the great scale of being—in the scale of wisdom,
knowledge, and intelligence to the same extent as we have; and consequently
they are beneath us; they are lower than we are; they have not attained to the
same degree of information that we are in possession of; hence we read that man
shall judge angels; the Saints are to judge, not only the world—the wicked
world, and also one another, but they are to judge angels. Why? Because they
are superior, or will be at the time they shall sit in judgment and decide upon
the cases brought before them by the angels; they will rule over the angels, or
in other words, the angels will be subject to them. This we read in the laws
that God has revealed to this Church. We read that there are a certain class of
beings, who, because they have not fulfilled the law of God, will, in the next
state, enjoy no higher privileges than those of the angels; they will remain
angels, while others who have kept the celestial law in all its bearings—in its
ordinances, and institutions, and have claimed the privileges of the Saints of
God, will be exalted to a higher sphere; they will have greater knowledge and
information, and those angels being of a lower order of intelligence will be
subject to them, and will minister for them, in carrying out their purposes and
designs in the wide field of action in the eternal worlds. (JOD 3:98 | October
22, 1854)
Some angels have got yet to be
judged, and the Saints will be the agents to perform this great work and render
the decision of judgment. Jesus said to the Twelve among the ancient
Nephites—"Know ye this, that your judgment"—speaking of their judging
the Nephite nation—"shall be that judgement which the Father shall give
unto you;" in other words—"You shall not judge by your own natural
wisdom; you shall not judge according to the outward appearance; but it shall
be that judgment which the Father shall give unto you." Now, the Lord
judges mankind according to the law and the testimony. The revealed law is
delivered to the people, and those to whom it is revealed will be judged by
that law, hence Jesus says—"My words shall judge you at the last
day." It is not the tradition of the children of men that is going to
judge the world, that is not the law. The traditions of the children of men are
one thing, and the law is another thing; popular ideas are one thing and the
law of God is another thing. We are not to be judged by the creeds, doctrines,
disciplines and articles of faith invented by uninspired men, but by the pure
law of God as it issued forth from his own mouth and by the mouths of his
ancient Prophets and Apostles. The testimonies will be forthcoming, one of
which will be the record, the books that are written. Every idle word that is
spoken, every idle thought that has ever entered into the hearts of man will be
written and brought up, and out of theft record of our conduct—our thoughts,
words and deeds—will we be judged . . . Here then are the various times of
judgment, the various conditions and circumstances of the children of men in
the spiritual state, judged before the resurrection, assigned to happiness or
misery as the case may be, and in the judgment of the first resurrection
certain rewards, glory, power, exaltation, happiness and eternal life will be
conferred upon the righteous. But another sentence of judgment will be
pronounced upon those who are not favored with coming forth on the morning of
the first resurrection, namely, those who have disobeyed the Gospel. To all
such the voice of the angel will be—"Let sinners stay and sleep until I
call again," their sins having been sufficiently judged beforehand, that
they are not counted worthy of a resurrection among the just and the righteous
ones of the earth. This agrees with another passage recorded in the Book of
Covenants, that at the sound of the third trump then come the spirits of men
that are under condemnation. These are the rest of the dead, and they live not
again until the thousand years are ended, neither again until the end of the
earth. Why? Because a certain measure of judgment is pronounced upon them even
then. Now then let us go to the angels which the Saints are to judge. We find
that the angels who kept not their first estate are reserved in chains of
darkness until the judgment of the great day. Those angels that fell from
before the presence of God were judged in a measure upon their fall, and were
cast out to wander to and fro upon the face of this earth, bound as it were
with chains of darkness, misery and wretchedness, and this condition is to
continue during the whole of the temporal existence of this earth, until the
final judgment of the great day, when the Saints, in the authority and power of
the Priesthood which God Almighty hast conferred upon them, will arise and
judge these fallen angels, and they will receive the condemnation of which they
are worthy. (JOD 17: 183-84, 185 | October 11, 1874)
John Taylor
We talk about the Gospel of the
Son of God, and there are many curious ideas and theories prevalent among
mankind in relation to it. The Gospel is not something new, or that never
existed until Jesus Christ came upon the earth; but it is an eternal principle,
and it has a Priesthood associated with it which, like the Gospel itself, is
without beginning of days or end of years. When God organized the world he had
in his mind certain ideas and plans which he calculated to bring about in
relation to the inhabitants who should live upon it; and the first great
commandment that was given to them was to "be fruitful, multiply, and to
replenish the earth, to have dominion over the beasts of the field, the fowls
of the air, and everything that creeps upon the face of the earth." Man
was created in the image of God, and he was the offspring of Deity himself, and
consequently made in his likeness; and being made in that likeness, be was a
son of God, and the very object of his being planted upon the earth was that he
might multiply. Why? That the spirits which had existed with their heavenly
Father might have tabernacles to inhabit and become mortal, and, through the
possession of these tabernacles and the plan of salvation, that they might be
raised to greater dignity, glory and exaltation than it would be possible for
them to enjoy without these; and hence, though a man was made a little lower
than the angels, the time will come when he will be a little higher than many
angels, for the Apostle says, in speaking of those who had received the Gospel,
"Know ye not that ye shall judge angels?" God had a purpose, therefore,
in the organization of this earth, and in the placing of man upon it, and he
has never deviated one hair to the right or to the left in regard to man and
his destiny from that time until the present. He is eternal and unchangeable,
and so are his ideas in regard to the world that we inhabit and mankind who
live upon it; and he has been seeking, from the commencement of creation to the
present time, to benefit mankind, just as much as it was in his power to
accomplish, consistent with certain laws governing and regulating the same,
that he could not violate any more than we can. (JOD 17:370-71 | April 8, 1875)
Charles W. Penrose
Now, the Lord has made known to
us a few things. We should make it our business to carry these things out, and
we shall find the value of them by and by if we do not sense them to-day; for
as I said just now when we are in the act of performing that which is right we
become purified in our character, and more. fit to abide the glory of our Father,
while the less we do what is right the further we will be away from that purity
which is necessary for dwelling in his presence. We expect to gain a celestial
glory. That is what you and I started out to win. We are not satisfied, as our
sectarian friends are, to sing:
"I want to be an angel,
And with the angels stand."
That is not what you and I are
aiming at. We are after a glory superior to that. We read that the Saints shall
judge the angels, Who are the angels?
They are ministering spirits to those that are worthy of "a far [p.357]
more and exceeding and eternal weight of glory." That is what you and I
have started out to gain, to obtain a celestial glory, to obtain a celestial
crown, and we shall be satisfied with nothing else than that. How shall we
obtain it? We shall obtain it in no other way than by abiding the laws that
pertain to the celestial kingdom. Let us, then, find out the laws of the
celestial kingdom as fast as we can and practice them, and if we make this the
business of our lives we will find the Lord very near to us, we will find it
easy to approach him and learn of his ways. We can have the still, small voice
to make glad our souls and open out our understandings. We should live in this
spirit, my brethren and sisters, so that we may enjoy happiness and peace
to-day as well as the prospect of having eternal happiness and peace in the
world to come. (JOD 21:356-57 | January 2, 1881)
Joseph F.
Smith
The man who passes through this
probation, and is faithful, being redeemed from sin by the blood of Christ,
through the ordinances of the Gospel, and attains to exaltation in the kingdom
of God, is not less but greater than the angels, and if you doubt it read your
Bible, for there it is written that the Saints shall "judge angels,"
and also they shall "judge the world." And why? Because the
resurrected, righteous man has progressed beyond the pre-existent or
disembodied spirits, and has risen above them, having both spirit and. body as
Christ has, having gained the victory over death and the grave, and having
power over sin and Satan, in fact having passed from the condition of the angel
to that of a God. He possesses keys of power, dominion and glory that the angel
does not possess—and cannot possess without gaining them in the same way that
he gained them, which will be by passing through the same ordeals and proving
equally faithful. It was so ordained when the morning stars sang together,
before the foundations of this earth were laid. Man in his pre-existent condition
is not perfect, neither is he in the disembodied estate. There is no perfect
estate but that of the risen Redeemer, which is God's estate, and no man can
become perfect except he becomes like them. And what are they like? I have
shown what Christ is like, and he is like his Father, but I will refer to an
undoubted authority to this people, on this point, "The Father has a body
of flesh and bones as tangible as man's, the Son also, but the Holy Ghost has
not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of spirit; were it not so the
Holy Ghost could not dwell in us." Doc. and Cov., Sec. 130. There is not
time to refer to the many scriptural passages which might be cited in proof of
these important facts, enough already has been referred to, to place the matter
beyond a doubt. (JOD 23:173 | June 18, 1882)
Other chief passages
used to arrive at such a model of eschatology that Ellen White and other SDAs
have pointed to include Isa 24:1, 3, 19 and Jer 4:7, 23. Let us briefly example
these passages:
Behold, the Lord
maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and
scattereth abroad the inhabits thereof . . . The land shall be utterly emptied,
and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word . . . The earth is
utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved
exceedingly. (Isa 24:1, 3, 19)
Ron Abel raised the
following objections to the SDA appeal to these verses:
1. If the earth is to
become completely desolate who are the “few men left”? (v. 6). Why is every
house shut up so that none can enter? (v. 10). Who is crying in the streets for
lack of wine? (v. 11). Who is it that sings for joy? (v. 14).
2. Isaiah refers to
the Lord of hosts reigning in Mount Zion, “and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients
gloriously” (v. 23). This time is referred to by Isaiah in chapters 2 and 65.
Both of these passages require the continued existence of mortal people on the
earth. Note the following: Isa. 2:3 (these are not righteous immortals since
they go to Jerusalem to learn, Zech. 14:17); Isa. 65:17-20 (“the sinner being
an hundred years old shall be accursed” likewise indicates the continued
existence of mortal nations on the earth).
3. The saints will
not be removed to heaven. “They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:6). This reigning, will be on
the earth: “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign
on the earth.” (Rev. 5:10).
4. The apparently
absolute expressions of desolation on the earth must, therefore, be read in a
limited sense. This conclusion is further indicated by noting parallel
expressions in Jer. 44:2,6 in which Jerusalem ins referred to as a
desolation with no man dwelling therein, yet Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and husbandmen.
(Jer. 52:16).
5. God will not leave
the earth utterly desolate with no inhabitants since “the LORD said in his
heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the
imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, neither will I again smite
any more every thing living, as I have done.”(Gen. 8:21).
6. The words “the
earth” throughout this chapter are the Hebrew word for “the land”, as pointed
out in the alternative translation in the RV (ASV). The “land” referred to is
the land of Israel, which was made desolate when its people were scattered
abroad (v. 1) in fulfilment of “the curse” (v. 6) as predicted in Deut.
28:15,25,64; Lev. 26:16,31-33. (Ron Abel, Wrested Scriptures: A
Christadelphian Handbook of Suggested Explanations to Difficult Bible
Passages [ed. John Allfree; rev ed.; Birmingham: The Christadelphian,
2011], 73
The lion is come up
from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone
forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid
waste, without an inhabitant . . . I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without
form, and void, and the heavens, and they had no light. (Jer 4:7, 23)
In SDA theology these
verses from Jeremiah are linked with the Isaiah texts above to teach that the
earth will be completely desolate during the millennium except for Satan.
However, again, there are problems with this:
1. As in Isa. 24 “the
earth” in this passage refers, not to the globe, but to the land of Palestine.
(v. 1-3,5,6).
2. The passage was
fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem in 586 BC (Jer. 44:2,6; 52:5,7,8).
Even then, some Jews were left to till the soil. (Jer. 52:15,16).
3. Even if there were
a secondary application of this passage at Armageddon, positive evidence that
mortals will inhabit the earth during the millennium is supported from the
following passages:
a. The saints are to
be given power over the nations to rule with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:26,27). But
this time must be during the millennial period since the end of the millennium
results in the end of sin and mortality. (1 Cor. 15:22-28).
b. The saints are
said to reign for a thousand years (Rev. 20:6). But who are they to reign over
if removed to heaven? (cf. Rev. 5:10—“Who shall reign over the earth.”).
c. See also Zech.
14:16,17; Isa. 65:17,18 (Ibid., 74)
It should be obvious
that the SDA understanding of the eschaton is a novelty that is void of any
sound exegetical support, and that 1 Cor 6:3 does not support the thesis that Christians will be in heaven when they
are judging angels—instead, they will be doing this and other activities on
earth.
