In Chapter 12 of the First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul wrote about spiritual gifts (1–11) and the unity and variety of the Mystical Body of Christ (12–31).
Spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit for the common good of the Church. St. John Chrysostom commented:
“Because they were not raised on the ancient Scriptures but had worshipped idols, their understanding was insufficient. When they were baptized, they immediately received the Spirit, yet they could not see the Spirit, who is invisible. So by divine grace they were given obvious evidence of the Spirit’s activity.”
Those gifts, however, led to division, St. John said, “because of the folly of those who received them. Those who received the greater gifts exalted themselves above those with lesser ones. The latter, for their part, were upset and envious of those with the greater gifts. Paul explains this later in the letter. Since this situation caused serious injury, namely, the dissolution of their love, Paul takes great pains to correct it.”
They were also thrown into confusion by other things. “There were also many diviners in Corinth, since it was a Greek city. This caused further upset and confusion. Thus, at the beginning of his discussion, Paul distinguishes prophecy from divination. This is why they also received the ability to distinguish between spirits (1 Cor 12:10), so that they could make distinctions and know who was speaking under the influence of a pure spirit and who of an impure one.”
As for those who worshipped idols, Paul wrote, “Whenever anyone was possessed by an unclean spirit to utter an oracle, as if carried away, he would be so constrained and driven by the spirit that he would not know what he was saying. Diviners are by nature out of their minds, under constraint, pushed, pulled, and swept away like madmen. That is not true of a prophet; everything the prophet says is spoken from a sober mind, with self-control, and full knowledge of what he is saying. Thus, you should recognize diviners or prophets on the basis of their behaviour, even before they are proved right or wrong.”
St. Paul wrote, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ” (1 Cor 12:12). No man is an island. We need one another. Each member of the Mystical Body of Christ must work together for the good of all.
St. Jerome said: “The Church has real eyes: its teachers and leaders who see in sacred Scripture the mysteries of God. … It also has hands, effective persons who are not eyes but hands. Do they plumb the mysteries of sacred Scripture? No, but they are powerful in works. The Church has feet: those who make official journeys of all kinds. The foot runs that the hand may find the work it is to do. The eye does not scorn the hand, nor do these three scorn the belly as if it were idle and unemployed.”
In 1 Corinthians 12:22, we read, “The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.”
St. Augustine commented, “Aren’t the hairs of your head certainly of less value than your other members? What is cheaper, more despicable, more lowly in your body than the hairs of your head? Yet if the barber trims your hair unskilfully, you become angry at him because he does not cut your hair evenly. Yet you do not maintain that same concern for unity of the members in the Church.”
About 40 years after Paul wrote the First Letter to the Corinthians, the Christians in Corinth were divided again. The issue was rebellion against leaders.
Pope St. Clement wrote a letter to the Corinthians to address the issue and used the same image of the body: “Let us take our body as an example. The head without the feet is nothing; likewise, the feet without the head are nothing. Even the smallest parts of our body are necessary and useful for the whole body, yet all the members work together and unite in mutual subjection, that the whole body may be saved. So in our case, let the whole body be saved in Christ Jesus, and let each man be subject to his neighbour, to the degree determined by his spiritual gift.”
Your voice matters! Join the conversation by submitting a Letter to the Editor here.
