Is verse 16-17 regarding only one of the gifts? which? or is it both?
It seems that that last subject was ‘praying with the spirit’ (praying in tongues) … if we do view this verse as discussing different things.
However, I don’t see that there is a difference. It seems Paul is talking about the same thing … unless you think that ‘speaking in tongues’ is something other than prayer.
Good morning St. Paul,
I mean Michel,
All your searching for answers is paying off. You are seeing the Corinthian community as if you are about to write those laggards.
I’m sitting here pretending I am St. Paul and deciding which piece of my mind I am going to give those ingrates after all I did for them. I better drink my Pepsi (my substitute for morning coffee) and get serious.
Your comment about the thought that “speaking in tongues” is something other than prayer is the key to this whole thread.
If I may, I would like to start with the Isaiah Gifts connected with the Sacrament of Confirmation. These gifts are so relevant today, that I truly pray that every Confirmation preparation includes them…
My personal reason for starting with them is that they demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is essential to the overall plan for salvation and that He interacts with us on a personal basis. Thus, Pentecost and following should not be a surprise.
When someone is interested in the Charismatic Renewal, they attend classes. My reference is “Encountering the Risen Jesus” (ISBN: 0-943374-20-0) a six-week course first used in the Pennsylvania area. The general name for these courses is “Life in the Spirit”. This particular course would be an adaption.
The first lesson is about prayer starting with a basic description of prayer as a conversation with God and a personal experience of Him. It will then use St. Paul as our model. I am flipping through this manual and spotted this teaching: “The greatest, most important manifestation of the Risen Christ is the Eucharist.” The basic thrust of the Charismatic Renewal is to renew our Catholic faith.
Today, in addition to St. Paul, we have many great saints as models of prayer life. Charismatic prayer is one of many free choices. It follows the style of St. Paul. Sometimes, I feel like writing St. Paul a cranky letter complaining about his using the same words to describe different stuff.
St. Paul considered his style of prayer as a gift of the Holy Spirit. He saw the particular gift as one available to everyone. What distinguishes this gift is the interaction of the Holy Spirit with the individual. The interaction is that we allow the Holy Spirit to use our voice box, tongue, speech muscles. We yield to His power.
This is a very personal experience.
There were also a number of gifts, charisms, etc. given by the Holy Spirit to the early Church. One of them is known as the gift of speaking in tongues which is very similar to what you found on prophesy. Speaking in tongues was like prophesy in that it made known God’s words to His Church. The distinguishing characteristic is the person also yielded his voice box, tongue, speech muscles to the Holy Spirit.
In both of these gifts, praying and relaying the word of God, the Holy Spirit gives us different sounds of speech. I have my own idea of why but will refrain until I can check some of my research material. I have already decided that it would be better if I did not write a cranky letter to the Holy Spirit.
It is truly difficult to tell these two gifts apart especially with all the abuses starting with those nasty Corinthians. One needs to look at how the gift is being used, by whom it is being used, where it is being used, why it is being used, when it is being used, in what manner it is being used, who it is being addressed to, the subject matter and the intention of the person.
Hopefully, we can agree eventually that there are two separate gifts.
I am using the St. Joseph Edition of
The New American Bible with the revised New Testament dated 1986. It has introductions to the books plus footnotes.
As for 1 Corinthians 14: 16-17. Because of St. Paul’s usage of “the spirit” in the previous verses in this section, we would consider that he is referring to the gift of praying in prayer tongues. Supporting this is that the person is pronouncing a blessing which St. Paul identifies as a thanksgiving which sounds more like a personal prayer to God. Since there is a question of interpretation so that one could answer “amen”, this prayer would have to be in some form of tongues.
In verse 17, St. Paul clarifies which gift by praising the pray-er and then saying that the listener didn’t receive any direct benefit, i.e., he wasn’t built up. Another clue that St. Paul refers to personal praying in prayer tongues is that it does not appear that the person is in an assembly. To see where the gift of speaking in tongues is to be used, see verse 26 and following.
Verse 14 starts with ‘For …’ … it is a lead in from the previous sentence, not a new subject.
It is a lead in as it is a contrast to verse 13. I beg your pardon, St. Paul, but this section sounds like you are having a conversation with yourself as you figure out the best way to explain the differences between the two gifts.
Please see next post.
