1 Corinthians 13:1-13

II. The Way par excellence. Chap. 13.

This chapter has been called a hymn. In tone indeed it is truly lyrical, especially in the first verses. Charity is poetically personified. In this respect the passage resembles some others in St. Paul's writings, such as the end of chap. 15 of our Epistle, that of chap. 8 of the Romans, or that of chap. 3 of the First Epistle to Timothy. These are, so to speak, specimens of a sublime speaking in tongues, interpreted by the glossolalete himself. “There is here,” as Heinrici well says, “such warmth as could only proceed from the purest experience of charity. It is as if love itself stood before us, filled with its holy peace and profound sympathy.” The apostle develops three thoughts: (1) the uselessness of gifts, even the highest, without charity, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3; (2) the intrinsic excellence of charity, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7; (3) the eternal duration of charity, and of charity alone, 1 Corinthians 13:8-13. Thus is proved the assertion of 1 Corinthians 12:31, that to walk in love is the way par excellence; for it alone guides us to the absolute end.