“Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” (1 Corinthians 13:8-11)
Here’s another important passage that needs to be considered. 1 Corinthians 12-14 is the most extensive discussion of miraculous gifts that we have. In fact, 1 Corinthians is the only epistle that addresses the topic at length; most of the letters don’t even mention miraculous gifts.
This passage talks about a time when miracles would cease (or will cease, depending on your view). This is connected with the coming of “the perfect.” Some connect this with the Second Coming of Christ, arguing that we will have miracles among us until then. That’s not an impossible view, especially in light of the verse that follows the section I quoted, which talks about “then we shall see face to face.” Some object on grammatical grounds, while others point out that the Second Coming is nowhere else described as “the perfect” or “perfection.”
It’s been popular in our brotherhood to connect “the perfect” with “the perfect revelation,” the completion of the New Testament. The fact that the verse that talks about perfection also mentions “knowledge” and “prophecy,” two things that can be connected with the inspiration necessary to write Scripture. However, the Corinthians would have had no idea that a New Testament was being written, so this view makes the passage pretty meaningless to them.
It seems better to me to look for the answer within Corinthians itself. Consider this verse: “We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.” (1 Corinthians 2:6) This verse is interesting because the word “mature” is the same word translated “perfect” or “perfection” in 1 Corinthians 13. That should be an important consideration, because it’s the only other use of this word in Corinthians. If we read the whole of the letter (always a good idea when studying a passage), we’ll see that the Corinthians had a big problem with maturity. Paul tells them: “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.” (1 Corinthians 3:1-2) So it’s not surprising that he tells them that they will have these gifts until they reach maturity. That would also explain why none of the other churches seems to be as fascinated with these gifts, why none of the other letters has a similar discussion. The immature church was focused on the gifts that were meant to be in place at the beginning, not throughout the lifetime of the congregation.
The writings of the Early Church Fathers, the Christians from the first few centuries, speak of miracles in the past tense. This supports the view that the “cessation” came sometime early in the life of the church. If, as we saw last post, the external gifts of the Spirit were only given through the laying on of apostolic hands, it makes sense that the gifts would have died out, would have ceased as Paul says here.
My view is that Paul is saying that, when the church reached maturity, the gifts were no longer necessary.
“Charity never faileth: but whether [there be] prophecies, they shall fail; whether [there be] tongues, they shall cease; whether [there be] knowledge, it shall vanish away.”
I am not sure this speaks of an era of miracles at all. In my opinion this might be speaking of individual miracles, not lasting forever, and charity/ love as everlasting. Lets take a look at some of the miracles, performed and the lasting effect. The wine was drunk and therefore vanished, every person who was either cured, or raised from the dead, eventually died. I believe Paul was referring to spiritual things, (love for fellow man) compared to physical things that vanish, or will vanish. Just my opinion.
That’s an interesting view, Laymond. The problem I see is that the “physical miracles” aren’t mentioned here. Paul talks about tongues, prophecy and knowledge, presumably a miraculous gift of knowledge, although that isn’t necessarily so. It’s hard for me to see a contrast between physical and spiritual, but I’m still open to being convinced.
Grace and peace,
Tim
“physical miracles” aren’t mentioned here
I don’t see any miracles, anywhere that are not physical, I do believe the definition of miracles could be ” miraculous works” otherwise there would be no evidence of a miracle. what do you think?
Well, while I do know that the activity in our brains is technically physically, it seems to me that the miraculous giving of knowledge is not physical. Prophecy is only physical as it is communicated; the utterance itself is not physical. The miraculous part of speaking in tongues is not the physical aspect, but the non-physical aspect.
Going back to the passage in 1 Corinthians, it’s good to remember that the word “miracles” is one we supplied. What is spoken of is tongues, knowledge and prophecy.
It’s not a major point. It’s possible that Chapters 12-14 are discussing something that was only occurring in Corinth, not the miracles that were common in the church. Yet Paul’s discussion, to my eye, applies his teachings on a much larger scale.
Grace and peace,
Tim
I believe you correctly described these things as miracles, I do believe each one fits the category described below.
A miracle is a visible interruption of the laws of nature, such that can only be explained by divine intervention, and is sometimes associated with a miracle-worker.
I don’t believe that a claim of a miracle without proof, physical proof, even in the Catholic church when Installing Saint hood, will stand as such. Even if every miracle is not physical (and I believe they are) the proof of that miracle always is.
Tim,
I appreciated your reply to my comment on your earlier post. You raised a good question about how the indwelling of the Spirit was recognized. I don’t know — just as I don’t know how the indwelling Spirit, without a visible manifestation, serves as a seal or a guarantee, though I believe he does.
It seems that we are reading the same text through different grids and I, like you, hold my conclusions tentatively and with a great deal of humility.
I’m wondering how you understand 1 Corinthians 1:4-7 — “4I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Granted the Corinthians were immature, and Paul was probably speaking a little tongue-in-cheek about all their speaking and knowledge, but he does seem to expect the spiritual gifts to be present among them until the Lord Jesus would be revealed, which seems to be parallel to “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
It seems a big strange that I would be arguing this way. I don’t have gifts of tongues or prophecies or miracles — I just question our traditional reasoning that has excluded them.
Anthony,
I appreciate the thoughtful questioning. It makes me dig deeper into what I believe.
I don’t see Paul saying that the gifts would be there until the end, although that could definitely go back to our different grids, as you put it. Might this not be a rebuke to those Corinthians who seem to be pressuring their brothers to seek speaking in tongues? (Which is what we see in Chapter 12) “You do not lack any spiritual gift…”—any problems that you have, any lack of spiritual growth, is NOT because of a lack of spiritual gifts. The problem lies elsewhere.
Could Paul have expected them to have the gifts until Jesus returned? Certainly. Remember that Paul expected Jesus to return at any minute. He lived with a sense of urgency that I have a hard time capturing in my life. He wasn’t foreseeing the church existing for another 2000 years.
As far as your point of view, I always applaud someone who seeks to be honest with Scripture, even when it doesn’t fit their current situation. I worry about people who always want to know “where are you going with that” when you talk about Scripture. The question should be: where is Scripture leading us?
Grace and peace,
Tim
“The wine was drunk and therefore vanished, every person who was either cured, or raised from the dead, eventually died.”
How does this apply to prophecy and speaking in tongues and knowledge?
The prophecy was heard, and therefore vanished?
The tongue-speaker died, so she stopped speaking in tongues?
The teacher got Alzheimer’s, so the knowledge passed away?
Words, knowledge, truth — these things are not consumed, but transmitted — imbibing them only makes them stronger.