1 Cor. 13:10

[Truthseeking]

This reads in full context .....

1 Corinthians Chapter 13

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 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.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly

[Guest Guest]

Well, it isn't speaking of Christ, because "perfect" is in the neuter tense and Christ is never mentioned in such a way in scripture. I also feel it is unlikely to be the completion of the scriptures, because of Pauls use of the personal pronoun "I" when he says "then shall I know even as also I am known." Paul died before the scriptures were completed. Not to mention the fact that while scriptures do provide us with everything we need to know about God in this life, the completion of the scriptures did not cause us to know God to the same degree he knows us, nor do we actually see him face to face. I believe that this passage is speaking of our future glorified state when it says "But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away". Other scriptures teach us that when Christ appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. That would seem to fit this passage best in my view.

[Guest Guest]

:thumb

[PunkJohnnyCash]

I believe it is about that glorified state when we are with him. If we look the passage is full of depth, and has much profound to focus on, and looking at that one scripture without the rest seems to be an injustice. We see that we know in part and that we do not know it all or have all the answers. We see through a glass darkly. We have a clouded view. It is telling that this passage that speaks of when we shall know and see is in the love chapter. I feel this is one of the greatest passages of scripture. I read it often, and often I see where I have flawed or fallen short. It also allows me to see that I do not see all and can not comprehend all. The more I meditate on this passage the more pertinent it seems. I suggest praying and asking for insight and wisdom and reading this chapter quite a few times over the next few weeks. I get a great deal from it doing that.

I also see an extremely contextualized concept here. Scripture speaks to people on a level of their philosophy. like "In the beginning was the word" word is translated from Logos which is such a vast concept of philosophy to drive the point home to them. We see a bit of Aristotle here which was a popular concept of the day. He brings those concepts to describe the gospel and truths to people in a language they can understand. He even speaks of tongues in that chapter. Here he is using Greek and foreign culture to describe YHWH and Jesus Christ the son of YHWH. These people would have looked at him like an alien trying to describe the Jewish concept of a Messiah in certain terms they saw as alien, so there was a sense of putting it into a context they can conceive, such as the concept of the perfect and becoming whole.