On Gary Benfold's blog there is a response to a charismatic friend in which Gary has some comments on 1 Corinthians 13:9ff. He mentions Stuart Ollyott's understanding of this passage, though I read it too long ago to remember it in any detail. For me the key is v.10. The NIV translates: 'but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.' By using 'imperfect' instead of 'partial' or 'in part' they have decided to use the antonym to 'perfection'. However, it surely ought to be the other way round. The antonym to 'partial' is 'complete'. Why is this word never used? After all, 'perfect' or 'perfection' prejudges the meaning of the phrase. The Greek word is teleion, of which Arndt & Gingrich say: 'having attained the end or purpose, complete, perfect'. The phrase is almost a proverbial or tautological one: 'When the complete comes, the partial has ended' QED. Once the complete prophetic revelation comes, the partial ceases.
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'...this I have resolved on, to wit, to run when I can, to go when I cannot run, and to creep when I cannot go.'
About Me
- Paul Brown
- Born of missionary parents, after National Service in the RAF I trained at London Bible College. I was an assistant pastor at Spring Road Evangelical Church, Southampton, pastor at Bethel Evangelical Free Church, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, and Dunstable Baptist Church, prior to retiring in 2003.
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