ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 15 v9

LAST IN TIME. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is least because he was the last in time, not because he was inferior in any way to the others. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

UNFIT. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul says this because he was a humble man and also because it is what he really thought about himself. He was forgiven for having persecuted the church, but it was a shame he never forgot. It taught him the greatness of God’s grace toward him. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 38.6.

WHY SO FRAGILE? JEROME: These words apply to those who complain: Why wasn’t I created such that I would be free from sin forever? Why was I fashioned such a vessel that I could not endure hard like metal instead of being fragile and easily broken whenever touched? … Let us blush and say what those say who have already obtained their rewards. Let us, who are sinners on earth and encased in this fragile and mortal body, say what we know the saints are saying in heaven. AGAINST THE PELAGIANS 2.25.

THE JUST ACCUSE THEMSELVES. JEROME: If the apostle makes such a confession, how much more should the sinner? Scripture says: “The just man accuses himself when he begins to speak.”If the just man is prompt to accuse himself, how much more should the sinner be? HOMILY 47 ON PSALM 135 (136).

PAUL HUMBLED HIMSELF. CHRYSOSTOM: He who endured imprisonment, wounds and beatings, who netted the world with epistles, who was called by a heavenly voice, humbled himself, saying, “I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle.” ON REPENTANCE 5.27.

THE GREATER VICTORY. AUGUSTINE: The Enemy is more completely vanquished in the case of a man over whom he holds fuller sway. CONFESSIONS 8.4.

1 Cor