That which is perfect

I'll take either side and give you a good argument.

I do think there is room to interpret perfect as something other than without error. Complete, or mature are two ways of rendering it.

That would allow for the view that this represents the completed Bible, or the closed canon and prophecy and the charismatic gifts such as prophecy and words of knowledge would no longer be needed.

There is also room for the view that the perfect thing is Christ, and possibly a reference to his second coming, when all truth will be revealed. This view also argues that even with the completed canon, at best we still know only in part.

Am I good at straddling the fence, or not?

 

Fer your sake, I shore hope it ain't a picket or barbed-wire fence!!:laugh::laugh:

 

I don't think that which is perfect refers to the canon or to Christ, at least not directly, but to love known in Christ.

The passage is about love and how it will endure over prophecy, tongues, and knowledge. So the "perfect" could be knowing love perfectly or completely. When such a love is known, the others (prophecy, tongues, our human knowledge, etc.) are not needed.

When our love is completed or made perfect (could be when Jesus comes, could be when we are with God after death), the other things are moot. This chapter is between two chapters on the gifts, so perfect love in Christ, achieved only after death or when Jesus comes, makes the gifts moot. So we should yearn most for knowing that perfect love we can only know in Christ.

 

Good explanation, Marcia. Do you know of a commentary in print that takes this position?

 

People who straddle the fence on issues are known as mugwumps.

The sit on the fence with the mug on one side and the wump on the other.

Oh, I like Marcia's viewpoint, too. Now I have three positions on the same issue.

 

I like the explanation because it is rooted in the context and the flow of the argument within the book. Other explanations that I have read are dependent upon intricate grammatical explanations. For me, context trumps grammar every time.

 

I like the way Phillips renders 1 Cor 13:10
"At present we are men looking at puzzling reflections in a mirror. The time will come when we shall see reality whole and face to face. At present all I know is a little fraction of the truth, but the time will come when I shall know it as fully as God now knows me."

I believe it has to do with relational knowledge...Now we know in part, but then we shall know in full.........

Cheers,

Jim

 

Thanks!

No, I don't know of a commentary. I just looked at the passage and thought about it, then came up with that. I had never really considered what it meant in context before.

 

Ahh...

I wrote an entire seminary paper on this verse. I argued for perfect love at the Eschaton.

 

And that's why you CAN'T leave the BB! You're too valuable!:flower:

 

Wow, that makes me feel good about what I said. I honestly had not heard that view before.

 

So you hang your answer on the word "perfect"?

Besides, Paul mentions nothing about Law.

 

Whatever "Teleios" is referring to it is obvious that it is referring to full knowledge.

What we do know is prophesying has not come to and end. We are to carry the gospel to all the world. We are to preach the word to teach and reprove.

Teleios can refer to a period of time or the action of a return. Baptists have a way of taking on the wrong battles over doctrines which cannot be supported in order to defend against other false doctrines being pushed. This has been much of the motivation of the assertion that Teleios refers to scripture over the years in order to defend against the false teachings about tongues.

The real debate over tongues is not whether they have ended but the very nature of them.

 

Dr. Bob. Thanks for the lesson on Greek. I enjoyed reading it and it makes sense. However, is it fair to assume that "biblion" would be the word? Although we use the term Bible today, would they have in that time? DO other languages refer to thescriptures as "The Bible"? Thanks in advance for your answers. This is why I started reading the Board, to learn.

Navyman...

I don't know if this is a valid argument. People use the exact same argument to say it is Jesus and that the gifts are still valid.

Revmitchell...

This is a study I would like to pursue. I tend to think that the whole spiritual language thing may be incorrect and it is simply another language such as Spanish or something. I haven't studied it in depth yet though.