Thomas Aquinas Commentary 1 Corinthians 6:1-6

"Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Or know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world is judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life? If then ye have to judge things pertaining to this life, do ye set them to judge who are of no account in the church? I say [this] to move you to shame. What, cannot there be [found] among you one wise man who shall be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goeth to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?" — 1 Corinthians 6:1-6 (ASV)

After rebuking the Corinthians for failing to judge, the Apostle now rebukes them for other failings in matters of judgment. First, regarding the judges before whom they present their disputes; secondly, regarding the disputes themselves (verse 7). Concerning the first point, he does three things: first, he charges them with unbecoming conduct; secondly, he gives the reason for this charge (verse 2); thirdly, he applies a remedy (verse 4).

First, therefore, he says: You fail to judge yourselves but allow yourselves to be judged by the unrighteous. This is why he says: When one of you has a dispute, that is, a secular matter, against a brother, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous—that is, submit to the decision of an unbeliever—instead of before the saints, that is, before believers, who have been sanctified by the sacraments of faith?

This is unbecoming in several ways. First, because it diminishes the full power of believers. Secondly, it insults the dignity of believers to take their lawsuits to unbelievers. Thirdly, it gives unbelieving judges an occasion for looking down on believers, whom they see at odds among themselves. Fourthly, it gives the same judges an occasion for slandering and oppressing believers, whom they hate on account of their faith and practices which differ from their own. This is why it says in Deuteronomy 1:15: I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you. And I charged them: ‘Hear the cases between your fellow believers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother.’ Again in Deuteronomy 17:15: You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.

But this seems to contradict what is commanded in 1 Peter 2:13: Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors sent by him. For it is the ruler’s authority to judge his subjects. Therefore, it would be against the divine law to forbid someone from submitting to the judgment of a judge who is an unbeliever. The answer is that the Apostle is not forbidding believers who are under the jurisdiction of unbelieving rulers to accept their judgment if they are summoned, for this would be contrary to the loyalty owed to rulers. Instead, he is forbidding believers from voluntarily choosing to be judged by unbelievers.

Then when he says, Do you not know, he gives a reason against this practice, because it diminishes the full power of the saints. He speaks first regarding the power they have over worldly affairs, and secondly, regarding the power they have over otherworldly things, that is, over angels (verse 3).

First, therefore, he says: It is unbecoming to take your lawsuits to unbelievers, because believers have authority to judge. For do you not know that the saints will judge the world—that is, the worldly people of this world? They do this in three ways:

1. By comparison. This means not only that the good will judge the evil and saints the worldly, but also that the good will be judged by the better and the evil by the worse, according to Matthew 12:41: The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it.
2. By approving the sentence of the judge, that is, Christ. This will be reserved for the just: The just man will rejoice when he sees the vengeance (Psalms 58:10); The saints shall judge nations .
3. By pronouncing judgment. This will be done by the apostles and those like them who despised worldly things and held fast only to spiritual things, as it says above (1 Corinthians 2:15). This is why Matthew 19:28 says: You who have followed me will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, and in Psalm 149:4: Two edged swords in their hands to wreak vengeance on the nations. This pronouncement of judgment will not be vocal but spiritual. It will happen as lesser saints or even sinners are enlightened with a spiritual light by the higher saints to understand what punishments or rewards they are owed, just as even now men are enlightened by angels, or lesser angels by higher ones.

Secondly, from this point he argues to his proposition, saying: If the world, that is, worldly people, is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? This refers to worldly business, for He who is dishonest in a very little, is dishonest also in much (Luke 16:10).

Then when he says, Do you not know that we—that is, the faithful of Christ—will judge angels? This can be understood in reference to evil angels, who will be condemned by the saints, by whose virtue they were overcome. This is why the Lord says in Luke 10:19: I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and all the power of the enemy. And in Psalm 91:3: The young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

It can also be understood in reference to good angels, as most of them will in some way be found inferior to Paul and others like him. It is significant, therefore, that he does not say "they" but "we" shall judge. For it might be said, as a consequence, that if saints will judge good and evil people, there will also be a judgment of good angels, whose accidental reward is increased by the reward of saints enlightened by them, and a judgment of evil angels, whose punishment is increased by the punishment of the people they led astray.

Secondly, he argues for his proposition, saying: How much more, matters pertaining to this life will we be fit to judge. For one who is capable of greater things is also capable of lesser things. This is why the Lord later entrusted one talent to the person who had been entrusted with five (Matthew 25:28).

Then when he says, If then you have such cases, he applies the remedy for their fault. First he mentions the remedy; then he explains it (verse 5).

First, therefore, he says: Since the saints will judge this world, if you should have secular trials among you (which, however, you should not have), those least esteemed in the Church should be appointed to judge, rather than you being judged by unbelievers. Let a good man strike or rebuke me in kindness, but let the oil of the wicked never anoint my head (Psalms 141:5); and in Ecclesiastes 9:4 it says: A living dog is better than a dead lion.

Then when he says, I say this, he explains in what sense he meant the previous statement, for someone could believe that the least esteemed were literally to be chosen as judges. But he excludes this, saying: I say this to your shame. It is as if to say: I did not say this as if it should actually be done, but I said it to shame you—with that shame which leads to grace and glory, as it says in Sirach 4:25. For the least esteemed in the Church should be chosen for judging only if no wise men were to be found among you, which would be shameful for you.

That is why he continues: Can it be that there is no man among you wise enough to decide between members of the brotherhood? Rather than do this, you should appoint the least esteemed in the Church to judge and to make up for the lack of wisdom—which, of course, is not lacking in you, as I said above: In every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge (1 Corinthians 1:5).

Alternatively, starting from verse 4: He had said that the saints are worthy to judge worldly matters. Consequently, he wants to show by whom worldly judgments should be passed: namely, by the least esteemed in the Church. By "least esteemed" he means those who are wise in worldly matters, as opposed to those wise in divine matters who are not occupied with temporal things, in order to devote themselves strictly to spiritual things. And this is what is added: I say this to your shame. This is why the apostles said in Acts 6:2, It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. After that, he returns to what he had criticized earlier, namely, that the Corinthians took their lawsuits to unbelieving judges, saying: Can it be that there is no man among you wise—that is, in temporal affairs, which he called contemptible earlier? The rest of the points are not changed from the first explanation, which seems to be more literal.