Results 1 - 5 of 5
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | What does "the perfect" mean? | 1 Cor 13:10 | OldPilgrim | 189647 | ||
Continuation part 1. My Preferred View Of these views, I (personally) find the last three more convincing than the first three. This is primarily due (I will confess) to the testimony of church history. Dr. Gary Shogren, after doing an in-depth study of some 169 patristic references to this passage, concludes that the church fathers unanimously saw the perfect in terms of something beyond this life (most normally associating it with the return of Christ). Even Chrysostom (who was clearly a cessationist) saw it this way. While not authoritative, such evidence is difficult to dismiss. From an exegetical perspective, the first three views have difficulty explaining the phrase, “then I will see face-to-face” (v. 12) as something other than the full knowledge that believer’s receive in glory. It is also difficult to imagine how the term “perfect” could describe the Christian’s present level of knowledge in this life. View 6 then (which overlaps with views 4 and 5) is my preferred understanding of the perfect. In this sense, “the perfect” or “perfection” would be essentially synonymous to “glorification.” Such a view seems to adequately fit the historical data, while also accounting for the personal nature of Paul’s statements in verse 12. The moment of the believer’s glorification is the moment in which all the partial knowledge of this life is removed and replaced with full knowledge. Though we have the completed canon, our knowledge is still not perfect (which is why discussions like this one continue to persist). Do we have all that we need for life and godliness? Absolutely. But do we now know fully as we will then be fully known (v. 12)? This does not seem to be the case. For Paul, his partial understanding and partial knowledge was done away at the moment of his death, when he was ushered instantly into the presence of Christ (v. 12; cf. 2 Cor. 5:8). The incompleteness and obscurity of this life disappeared. In its place he experienced the full revelatory knowledge of glory. When he died, his partial knowledge became full knowledge, as his faith became sight. For Paul’s readers (and for all believers who would die throughout church history), complete understanding came at the moment they entered the presence of Christ. For those believers, in the future, who are alive at His return, complete understanding will come at the moment of His appearing. In either case, the obscurity of this life is done away for each believer when glorification comes. To be continued. |
||||||
2 | What does "the perfect" mean? | 1 Cor 13:10 | OldPilgrim | 189648 | ||
Continuation part 3. If, as seems apparent in the passage, the teleion refers to the individual’s presence with the Lord [either through death or through rapture], this passage does not refer to some prophetic point in history. [Instead,] it serves to remind the Corinthians of the abiding nature of love in contrast to the gifts, which by their inherent nature are only temporal, only for this life. (Thomas Edgar, Satisfied by the Promise of the Spirit, 246) Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians, then, is that they be less worried about what only has value for this life (the limited knowledge derived from the gifts), and be more concerned with what has value for the life to come (namely, love). This fits perfectly within the scope of Paul’s larger argument. Thus, how long the gifts will continue into church history is not explicitly addressed in this passage. For Paul and his Corinthian readers, living in an era in which charismatic gifts were unarguably operational, it is unlikely that Paul was thinking in terms of church history and more likely that he was thinking in terms of the personal experience of his audience. For the Corinthian recipients of this letter, the limited knowledge of prophecy did not “cease” at the close of the canon or at the return of Christ. It ceased, instead, at the moment they were ushered into our Lord’s presence. Paul’s point, then, is that until we each get to heaven our knowledge (through whatever means it comes) remains incomplete. But when glorifcation comes, then that which is partial will be done away. One Important Closing Thought In closing our discussion on this text, one final point should be made. The interpreter can take any of the above positions, and still remain a cessationist. In fact, there are cessationists who hold to each position listed above. Thus, Anthony Thiselton notes in his commentary: “The one important point to make here is that few or none of the serious “cessationist” arguments depends on a specific exegesis of 1 Cor 13:8–11. … These verses should not be used as a polemic for either side in this debate” (pp. 1063, emphasis original). Ultimately, we conclude that this text does not explicitly answer the when question, with regard to when the miraculous gifts will end in church history. To be sure, they will not continue into the eternal state. But whether or not the gifts themselves remain in operation until the end of the church age is something beyond the scope of Paul’s argument. It is not the apostle’s purpose to answer the when question from the perspective of church history. Rather, his goal is to make one very important point: Love is superior to the gifts. While the gifts produce that which is incomplete (and therefore limited to this life), love never fails — it has value both for this life and for the life to come. |
||||||
3 | What does "the perfect" mean? | 1 Cor 13:10 | Bauhinia | 189657 | ||
OldPilgrim: In my original post, I cited Daniel 12:4. It reads: "But you, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the Book until the time of the end. [Then] many shall run to and fro and search anxiously [through the Book], and knowledge [of God's purposes as revealed by His prophets] shall be increased and become great [Amos 8:12.]." (1 Peter 1:10, 11) So, perfect knowledge of God's purposes will come in "the time of the end." (Matthew 13:39, 40; 24:3) 1 Corinthians 13:12 says: "Now we see in a mirror dimly," that is, a hazy understanding of God's purpose. "But then," that is, when "the perfect comes," perfect knowledge of God's purpsoe in the time of the end, we'll know "face to face," that is, intimately. (Deuteronomy 5:4; 34:10) "Now I know in part, but then [in the time of the end] I will know fully." Paul will "know fully" because he'll be alive in heaven then, just as those on earth will know fully at that time, too. (Ephesians 3:10, 11) |
||||||
4 | What does "the perfect" mean? | 1 Cor 13:10 | OldPilgrim | 189670 | ||
Bauhinia Thank you for your most helpful input. OldPilgrim. |
||||||
5 | What does "the perfect" mean? | 1 Cor 13:10 | Bauhinia | 189702 | ||
You're very welcome, OldPilgrim | ||||||