I’m taking a course right now through the Charles Simeon Trust organization.  It’s called “First Principles for Women”.  I’ll link to the website at the end of this post.  

That course is about good exegesis.  If you’re unfamiliar with that term, let me help you with that.

To start with, knowing what hermeneutics is will help.  “A set of principles (presuppositions, values, or beliefs) which guide or control the interpretation of Biblical texts.”   Under that are 2 subsets – the correct way is exegesis which is the execution of studying the Bible.  There’s also eisegesis, which means that the person studying the bible brings his or her own principles to the text, assigning meaning that’s not there. With good exegesis you let Scripture interpret Scripture.  Okay.  Moving on.

The course has 8 modules.  Staying on the Line, Pathway for Preparation, Structure, Context, Melodic Line, Text and Framework, Seeing Jesus, and The Bible For Life.

The lesson on context was eye opening.  Now, I already knew that “context is king”.  Taking a verse out of context leads to many interpretation problems.   Seeing what comes before the text, what comes after it, as well as the genre of the book and its overall message are important.   And, we need to understand how the original audience understood a passage to know how it applies today. 

According to this course, there are two types of Context: literary which is the words around the text, and then historical which is the world around the text.  In that order. 

So, one of the passages the teacher took us through is 1 Corinthians 13.  The famous love chapter. It’s often read at weddings. And often seen in a romantic love kind of way.  But using good exegesis can lead us to a somewhat different conclusion. 

We start with literary context. First, we had to read chapter 12 and 14.  Doing that helps us identify the main issue Paul is addressing.  In chapter 12 Paul is writing about spiritual gifts.  How they are given by the same Spirit to each person, and how individuals differ from one another for the common good.  Emphasizing the unity of the body of Christ through diversity.  In chapter 14 he goes back to spiritual gifts and teaches that because of our love for God and neighbour, our spiritual gifts are used within the body for the mutual edification of the giver and receiver.   In between those two chapters is a discourse on love – the one binding gift that covers all.  

We were asked to identify key words.  Spirit, gifts, body, love, member, unity, diversity come to mind. Then asking ourselves “What is the main issue surrounding chapter 13?”  Spiritual gifts – and desiring spiritual gifts.  Paul uses the same word in 12:1 and 14:1 – pneumatikos, of which the root word is pneuma meaning spirit, or quite literally breath/wind.  In 12:1 he says, “Now concerning spiritual gifts…” and in 14:1 “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts.  In chapter 12:1 the translation can also be said to be “spiritual person”.  The main issue throughout those 2 chapters is about the characteristics of the spiritually mature person.

So you can see now how chapter 13 is written within a much larger discussion.  The literary context is on unity, spiritual gifts, and a mature spiritual person. 

Next we look at the historical context. The world around them. Not just historical in terms of political, national, or place in general.  It does help to know that they were living in a Greco Roman world where paganism was the norm, and all that that involved. But what is happening with the Corinthians in the church?

Paul seems to be writing a response to them. (he’s also received verbal reports about what was going on in the church there). There are a lot of issues he addresses.  A number of times he starts with “Now about” or “Now concerning” and the like.  So, what questions were the Corinthians asking Paul? What reports did he receive? Chapter 7:1 says, “Now for the matters you wrote about….”  Moving on from that point we can identify what those issues were:  sexual immorality, marriage and singleness, food sacrificed to idols, money collected for the poor, Apollos. But even starting in chapter 1, Paul addresses other concerns:  conflict over leadership involving quarreling, jealousy, incest, and lawsuits. Overall then, what theme can we take from this? How to live as a Christian or even how not to live as a Christian.  Thus, we can see that the bigger picture surrounding chapter 13 is “a spiritual life in Christ.”  
 

One of the strategies we can use in finding context is to read the whole book.  When you do that, you see that Paul addresses spiritual persons and or gifts right away in chapter 1:7 and 2:13!  What does Paul say to them?  They do not lack in spiritual gifts. They already have those. But in 3:1 he tells them that they are not spiritually mature. They’re infants. Paul wants to show them “how to grow up”!   Paul writes about a lot of issues between chapter 3 and 13.  Keeping in mind their infant like state – look at chapter 13:11.   This is where he compares what you do as a child and what you do as an adult.  Basically saying, “grow up!”

Knowing this – what kind of tone does chapter 13 give us?  It changes, doesn’t it?  There’s more of a feeling of rebuke and correction.  Instead of how they were behaving, he tells them what a spiritually mature person looks like and behaves like – summed up in chapter 13.  He connects love with spiritual maturity, using their gifts for the advance of the gospel and for the benefit of the church.  The Corinthians were more concerned about spiritual gifts than spiritual maturity.  Chapter 13 beautifully shows what living with each other in Christian love looks like: patience, kindness, contentment, humility, treating each other with respect, seeking the good of others, calmness, forgiveness, truth, protection, trust, perseverance.   They needed to hear these corrections.  Do we?

Disclaimer:  I am learning.  And I’ve got a looooooooong way to go.  😊

Charles Simeon Trust: https://simeontrust.org/