ACC ~ 2 Corinthians 2 v15

A SWEET AROMA OF CHRIST. ORIGEN: Put an altar of incense in your innermost heart. Be a sweet aroma of Christ. HOMILIES ON EXODUS 9.

TO SPEAK THE TRUTH IS AROMATIC. AMBROSIASTER: The aroma of the knowledge of God comes from Christ and through Christ. The reason why Paul said “aroma” was this: Some things are recognized by their smell, even though they are invisible. God, who is invisible, wishes to be understood through Christ. The preaching of Christ reaches our ears just as an aroma reaches our nostrils, bringing God and his only begotten Son right into the midst of his creation. A person who speaks the truth about Christ is just such a good aroma from God, worthy of praise from the one who believes. But one who makes erroneous assertions about Christ has a bad smell to believers and unbelievers alike. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

A FRAGRANCE SENSED. PELAGIUS: Paul calls the knowledge of God an aroma. Its presence is sensed rather than seen. COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 2.

THE GOSPEL HAS A SWEET SAVOR. CHRYSOSTOM: Whether a person is saved or lost, the gospel continues to have its own power. The light, even when it blinds someone, is still light. Honey, though it is bitter to those who are sick, is still sweet. So also the gospel has a sweet savor to all, even if those who do not believe it are lost. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 5.2.

A MINISTRY OF DEATH. AUGUSTINE: Why, then, if the law is good, is it called a “ministry of death”? Because “sin, that it might be shown to be sin, worked death for me through that which is good.” Do not marvel when it is said of the preaching of the gospel, “We are a sweet aroma of Christ to God, in them that are being saved and in them who perish, to the one an aroma of life to life, to the other an aroma of death to death.” Now the law is called a “ministry of death” to the Jews, for whom it was written on stone, to symbolize their hardness of heart. But this does not apply to those who fulfill the law in charity. For charity is the fulfillment of the law. TO SIMPLICIAN—ON VARIOUS QUESTIONS 1.17.

THE SAME FRAGRANCE, DIFFERENT RESPONSES. ORIGEN: For, as the apostle says, “We are a good aroma of Christ,” but he adds, “To some a fragrance of life to life, but to others an odor of death to death.” So also the prophetic word is “a sweet fragrance” to those who believe, but to the doubting and unbelieving and those who confess that they are Pharaoh’s people, it becomes a detestable odor. HOMILIES ON EXODUS 3.

2 Cor