1 Corinthians 13

[Unveiled Artist]

I was reading a poetry book called "The Random House Treasury of Favorite Love Poems" and the first page was a verse so beautiful I thought Id share it here if you like to discuss it:

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.

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.

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.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

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.

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 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.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

King James Version (KJV)​

 

[Forever_Catholic]

I looked this up because in some English-language bibles, "charity" in this text is translated as "love." I learned that it was "agape" in the original Greek, but Saint Jerome decided to call it "charity" when he translated it into Latin because he didn't have a Latin word to better convey the meaning of agape (pure love, as in brotherly love, love of neighbor, love between God and man).

Either way, I agree with you that it is very beautiful, and it beautifully describes one of the main characteristics of people who are most pleasing to God.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Charity is pretty similar to agape love. I didnt know Latin didnt have a good translation.

You think maybe the authors put those verses there because of the relations of the words charity and love?

I looked this up because in some English-language bibles, "charity" in this text is translated as "love." I learned that it was "agape" in the original Greek, but Saint Jerome decided to call it "charity" when he translated it into Latin because he didn't have a Latin word to better convey the meaning of agape (pure love, as in brotherly love, love of neighbor, love between God and man).

Either way, I agree with you that it is very beautiful, and it beautifully describes one of the main characteristics of people who are most pleasing to God.

 

[Forever_Catholic]

Charity is pretty similar to agape love. I didnt know Latin didnt have a good translation.

You think maybe the authors put those verses there because of the relations of the words charity and love?

That's a very good point, which becomes really obvious when I think about it. Charity is pretty similar to agape love, like you say. In fact, it is the natural expression of pure, unselfish love. If you didn't love other souls, then there would be no charitable motive toward them. There would be no sacrifice for their benefit, no going out of your way to help them. No interest in their welfare or salvation. No prayers for them.

 

[lovemuffin]

You think maybe the authors put those verses there because of the relations of the words charity and love?

I think you might be slightly confused, because it's all one word (agape) in the chapter. So there's no intention by the author to compare two words, because only one appears. I would say rather it's that in early 17th century English charity is a good translation, and in modern English love is preferable because the usage and definitions have changed. Although of course in agape one might hear in English both shades of "charity" and of "love".

Love is one of the most important symbols in Christianity so it encompasses a lot of meanings and shades of meanings. So for example I would hear in Paul's comparison of love to other virtues (faith, hope, knowledge, acts of mercy (bestow all my goods to feed the poor), acts of self-sacrifice (give my body to be burned) a similar kind of theme as in Jesus in John's gospel saying that love is both a new commandment but also the distillation of the old, that it encompasses all other virtues and gives them their value. It is good to give to the poor, and Jesus said that there was no greater love than to give your life for a friend, but to be fully transformed by the power of the goodness of those actions requires love, rather than just a rote ethic. It is the "law written on our hearts", so to speak. It is the idea of the dichotomy between the "letter" and the "spirit" of law. At the same time to love properly encompasses the ethic, both in what Paul lays out here (patience, kindness, humility, dissolution of ego through control of anger, envy, resentment, and etc. dispassion) and in its relation to the sermon on the mount, and the entire idea of an ethic that is self-emptying. It does not judge others but judges itself and pours itself out, and in so doing loves both God and neighbor.

There is also to me this interesting thread about the relation between love and knowledge, that exists in bits and pieces throughout the N.T. in my view, that ties also in with the ethics. "No one has ever seen God", John writes in his epistle. Paul says that for now we see as in a mirror, in enigmas (darkly: "en ainigmati"), but when the "perfect" comes (teleion: complete, finished, when the goal is reached) then partial knowledge will pass away, and presumably a more perfect knowledge is reached, but by love, the subject of the chapter. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God", the beatitude says. Sight in Greek usage is a primary metaphor for knowledge. Purity of heart encompasses both this nature of love that Paul speaks about, as well as the essence of the commandment to love. Purity of heart is love exemplified by the virtues both Jesus and Paul speak of, that we must cultivate. Therefore it is in this love that we will gain the complete knowledge, not in a mirror, not enigmatically, but by becoming "partakers of the Divine nature", as Peter wrote in his epistle.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I think you might be slightly confused, because it's all one word (agape) in the chapter. So there's no intention by the author to compare two words, because only one appears. I would say rather it's that in early 17th century English charity is a good translation, and in modern English love is preferable because the usage and definitions have changed. Although of course in agape one might hear in English both shades of "charity" and of "love".

Have you ever heard of the different types of love from lust to matrimonial? I hear people say they love God all the time, but having agape love and commitment love are two different types. So, I'd say agape is a sect of love, if you will. The word love is too general to say they go hand in hand with charity.