You have a big problem here PF. If the church is perfect, then "that which is perfect" was already present on the earth and there was no need for the spiritual gifts in 55 AD when Paul penned the letter. So what was Paul talking about? By your own admission "that which is perfect" is Christ. And if it was yet to come, then clearly it refers to Christ's visible second coming. If it referred to the Church, it was already there.
This whole argument regarding Chapter 13 was clearly made out of whole cloth as an excuse for those who wish to deny the continued use of spiritual gifts. The burden is on those who deny the perpeturity of spiritual gifts to show exactly when they ceased. Are you one of those "70 AD return" people? If not, then you've got a problem.
Marlowe, it was you who stated that which is perfect refers to Christ. I was disagreeing with your comment that his church is not perfect.
Posted by P-Marlowe to PFKEY On Religion 05/22/2003 2:45 AM EDT #33 of 51
Sorry, but "That which is Perfect" refers to Christ. The Church has never been perfect.
Furthermore, one says if you say that that "which is perfect" had not come in New Testament times, you are declaring that the church was then imperfect. Paul was speaking of the fact that the New Testament Scriptures had not all been given, and that when they were perfected, or completed, for that is the meaning of the word "perfect", then that which was in part, namely spiritual gifts or divine knowledge, prophecies, and tongues, were to be done away.
It is my contention that 'which is perfect' is refering to the New Testament Scriptures. Which were not fully reveled at the time Paul was writting to the Corinthians.