DIVISION IV. DISORDERS IN WORSHIP AND CHURCH LIFE, 11 14. The Ap. returns to the internal affairs of the Church, which occupied him in Div. I., dealing however not as at the outset with the relations of the Cor [2013] Church to its ministry, but with the mutual relations and behaviour of its members... [ Continue Reading ]
This _way_ will be described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, but first its _necessity_ must be proved: this is shown by the five parl [1961] hypotheses of 1 Corinthians 13:1 ff., respecting _tongues, prophecy, knowledge_, and _devotion of goods or of person_. The first supposition takes up the charism last... [ Continue Reading ]
to 1 Corinthians 13:3. § 42. THE WAY TO CHRISTIAN EMINENCE. Carefully and luminously Paul has set forth the manifoldness of the Holy Spirit's gifts that contribute to common life of the Church. _All_ are necessary, _all_ honourable in their proper use; _all_ are of God's ordination. Some of the char... [ Continue Reading ]
_Prophecy_ in its widest range, and _faith_ at its utmost stretch in those lacking love, both amount to “nothing!” (ἐὰν) εἰδῶ τὰ μυστήρια πάντα κ. τ. λ., “If I know all the mysteries (of revelation) and all the knowledge (relating thereto),” explains καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω προφητείαν by stating the source, or... [ Continue Reading ]
The suppositions of these three vv. cover three principal forms of activity in the Church the spheres, _viz_., of _supernatural manifestation_, of _spiritual influence_, of _material aid_ (1 Corinthians 13:3); loveless men who show conspicuous power in these several respects, in the first instance a... [ Continue Reading ]
In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Paul's utterance began to rise with the elevation of his theme into the Hebraic rhythm (observe the recurrent ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, and the repeated οὐδέν) which marks his more impassioned passages (see _e.g_., Romans 8:31 ff., Ephesians 1:8 ff.; on a smaller scale, 1 Corinthians... [ Continue Reading ]
§ 43. THE QUALITIES OF CHRISTIAN LOVE. The previous vv. have justified the καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν of 1 Corinthians 12:31. The loftiest human faculties of man are seen to be frustrate without love; by its aid alone are they brought to their proper excellence and just use. But this “way” of Christian attainme... [ Continue Reading ]
Love, that bears, also _out-wears everything_ : “Love never faileth”. That πίπτει denotes “falling” in the sense of cessation, dropping out of existence (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 10:8; Luke 16:17), not moral failure (as in 1 Corinthians 10:12, etc.), is manifest from the parl, clauses and from 1 Corinthi... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 13:9-10 : reasons why _Prophecy_ and _Knowledge_ must be abolished. Though amongst the μείζονα (1 Corinthians 12:31) and rich in edification (1 Corinthians 14:6), these charisms are partial in scope, and therefore temporary: the fragmentary gives place to the complete. ἐκ μέρους (see n... [ Continue Reading ]
illustrates the abolition of the partial by the perfect through the transition from _the child to the man_ in speech (ἐλάουν), in disposition and aim (ἐφρόνουν), and in mental activity (ἐλογιζόμην). These three points of diff, can hardly be identified with the γλῶσσαι, προφητεία, and γνῶσις respecti... [ Continue Reading ]
figures in another way the contrast between the present partial and the coming perfect Christian state, in respect particularly of _knowledge_ : it is the diff [2000] between discernment by broken reflexion and by immediate intuition. “For we see now through a mirror, in (the fashion of) a riddle; b... [ Continue Reading ]
νυνὶ δὲ μένει κ. τ. λ. final conclusion of the matter, μένει being antithetical to πίπτει κ. τ. λ. of the foregoing: “But as it is (_nunc autem_), there abides faith, hope, love these three l” they stay; the others pass (1 Corinthians 13:8 ff.). Faith and Hope are elements of the perfect and permane... [ Continue Reading ]