Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Sin in 1 Corinthians 13-14

1 Corinthians 13 is of course the "love chapter." Sin of course is not mentioned, although we might suggest that love is in some respects the opposite of sin. Paul will say elsewhere that love of one's neighbor is fulfillment of the law. In that sense, the person who loves is a person who does not sin.

1 Corinthians 14 deals with the heart of the spiritual gift problem at Corinth. Chapter 12 was leading up to this and chapter 13 gives the solution to this problem. But it is only in chapter 14 that we really see what the problem is: the use of tongues at Corinth.

Not much on sin. Paul does encourage them to be infants when it comes to evil (14:20). Prophecy is also mentioned as a means by which God reveals secrets, presumably secret sins, if you would (14:24-25).

14:35 of course says that it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. I do not believe Paul wrote this verse, as I've aruged elsewhere along with Gordon Fee, Richard Hays, and others. If it were original, it would have to refer to disruptive speech rather than spiritual speech, since it is assumed that woman can pray and prophesy in church in chapter 11. Is shame the same as sin for Paul? Not sure.

Paul in 14:38 implies that a person who does not accept Paul's teaching here is not accepted either (cf. 11:16). Unclear exactly what this might mean in terms of sin.

1 comment:

Angie Van De Merwe said...

Since Corinth was a trade center and many "types" of people and philosophies were prevalant, it seems appropriate that he would write on LOVE...to "teach" what love behaves like, since the Corinthians were a mix of "philosophies"...I believe that Christians have univeralized Paul's "love" chapter to contexts that do NOT apply...such as when confrontation is necessary....or a supoena, ... you know "tough love"...Dan Allendar in his "Bold Love" book makes it very clear that when someone does evil we are not to "turn the other cheek". Evil must be "caught in the act" and held to strong boundaries! Otherwise, evil will continue in its "cunning and craftiness"...We are to HATE evil NOT LOVE it...and it becomes hard to love those who "do evil" as Jesus found it hard to embrace the Pharisees...!