CHAPTER XIV SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER i. He puts prophecy before the gift of tongues, because (_a_) it is of great use in edifying others, and tongues are not, unless some one interpret; (_b_) because (Ver. 21) prophecy is given to the faithful, while tongues are a sign to them that believe not, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_And even things without life_, &c. That tongues profit nothing unless they are understood can be seen, even from a comparison drawn from inanimate things; for a pipe or harp are of no use unless they give a distinct sound. Unless a man knows what is played he will take no pleasure in the sounds, no... [ Continue Reading ]
_So likewise ye_... _how shall it be known what is spoken._ For the tongue is the stamp, the image, the index, and messenger of the mind. As Aristotle says (_Peri Hermen_. lib. ii.), "words are signs of the feelings which lie concealed in the soul." Hence Socrates used to determine the mind and char... [ Continue Reading ]
_There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification._ As a matter of fact, or for example, there are many different languages: no nation is without its language, no language without its meaning. Others, as Œcumenius, refer the _none_ to the instrume... [ Continue Reading ]
_I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian._ As Ovid says: "A barbarian here am I, and understood by none." The word "barbarian" is onomatopoetic, and was first applied by the Greeks to any one who spoke another language than Greek; then by the Romans to one who spoke neither Greek nor Latin; a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let him that speaketh._. _. pray that he may interpret._ Paul is here speaking of public prayer, in which one man, even though a layman, inspired by the Holy Spirit, would offer up prayer in an audible voice before all, the others listening, and joining their prayers to his. This is the meaning, as... [ Continue Reading ]
_For if I pray in an unknown tongue my spirit prayeth._ (1.) My spirit is refreshed; (2.) according to S. Chrysostom, the gift of the Holy Spirit which is in me prayeth, makes me pray and utter my prayer in public. (3.) Theophylact and Erasmus, following S. Basil, understand breath by spirit; in oth... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also_. I will pray with sense and meaning, intelligibly, so that others may understand me. S. Paul alludes to Psalms 47:7, where the same double meaning of understanding on the part of speaker and hearer is found.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit_, &c. To bless here is to praise God with heart and mouth. S. Thomas understands it of the public blessing of the people; so also do Primasius, Haymo, and Salmeron, the latter of whom strives by many arguments to prove that the Apostle is speaking here of... [ Continue Reading ]
_I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all._ The Latin rendering is, "I speak with the tongues of you all," which suggests the question, What could be S. Paul's meaning in this, since there was but one tongue in Greece, and at Corinth in particular, viz., Greek? Haymo's answer is that he... [ Continue Reading ]
_Brethren, be not children in understanding._ Understanding here is not the same word in the Greek as in the preceding verse: It can, with Chrysostom and Ephrem, be rendered "mind." Do not become children in mind, judgment, and reason, so as to display your gift of tongues as children might. _Howbei... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the law._ Viz., Isaiah 28:11. As Chrysostom remarks, _the law_ is sometimes used to denote, not merely the Pentateuch, but also the Prophets and the whole of the Old Testament. _It is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people._ This is a difficult passage, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore tongues are for a sign... to them that believe not._ Viz., to the unbelieving Jews, both here and in Isaiah xxviii, rather than to the Gentiles. This sign must therefore not be used by the faithful for vain glory. _Prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which beli... [ Continue Reading ]
_And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest_. Out of the gift of discerning of spirits, or because God directs the tongue of the prophet, _i.e._, the preacher, the most hidden sins of his heart will be described and reproved, and the man will think that the preacher speaks as a prophet to h... [ Continue Reading ]
_How is it then, brethren?_... _Let all things be done unto edifying._ "Every one of you" is, of course, distributive. It is not meant that each one had all these things, but one had one thing, another another. Whoever of you has a psalm, or a doctrine, or a revelation, or an interpretation, or the... [ Continue Reading ]
_If_ _any man speak in an unknown tongue_.... _let one interpret._ This verse depends on the foregoing clause, "Let all things be done to edifying." If any one sing, or teach, or speak with a tongue, let all be done to edifying, so that, _e.g_., if tongues are used, then let only two, or at the most... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let the prophets speak two or three_, viz., their prophecies or revealed truths, or intuitions or exhortations inspired into them by God. See what was said at the beginning of the chapter. _And let the other judge._ Let the other prophets, not the people, judge by the gift they have whether what t... [ Continue Reading ]
_For ye may all prophesy... and all may be comforted._ All the prophets can exhort in their turn, if only the method and order laid down above be observed, and so all can receive exhortation and consolation. The word for "may be comforted" occurs again in 2Cor. i. 6. Some take it as active, when the... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets._ The prophets can, when they wish, restrain the spirit of prophecy, and keep silence, and give place to other prophets; they are not forced to speak by an irresistible impulse, like heathen fanatics; for, as S. Thomas says, the spirit or... [ Continue Reading ]
_For God is not the author of confusion._ He does not compel these or those to prophesy at the same time, to make a noise and disturb each other, and so cause such a confusion as is commonly found in uproarious crowds.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let women keep silence in the churches._ Ambrose, and after him Anselm, say that even the prophetesses are to keep silence: (1.) Because it is against the order of nature and of the Law, in Genesis 3:16, for women, who have been made subject to men, to speak in their presence. (2.) Because it is op... [ Continue Reading ]
_What! came the word of God out from you?_ This is a sarcasm, concluding what had been said in this chapter and the preceding. Did not the Churches of Judæa, Samaria, and Syria believe before you? Look, then, at the order and custom of those Churches, whether they are so contentious about their gift... [ Continue Reading ]
_If any man think himself to be a prophet_, &c. It is the Lord who commands this order to be observed in your assemblies, by my mouth, not directly by Himself. This verse is an authority for canons passed by the Popes, and for the laws of the Church. Melancthon replies that Bishops cannot make fre... [ Continue Reading ]
_But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant._ He who is not willing to acknowledge these laws and my power will be ignorant, or ignored or condemned by God, who will say to him, "I know you not," for "he that heareth you hear heareth Me, and he that despiseth you despiseth Me." Ambrose, Jerome,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let all things be done decently and in order._ Like S. Ignatius (_Ep._ _ad. Philipp. et Tars_.), S. Paul had a great care for good order in the Church, especially in things indifferent, both because this order is beautiful and decent in itself, and because it prevents confusion and disturbance, and... [ Continue Reading ]