A rhetorical analysis of St Paul’s Famous Letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13)
The words Charity and love are not simply what everybody claims they are in daily colloquial use. In the selected exert from St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, St Paul employs definition as a rhetorical strategy to make his argument that charity is not in its essence something that people should use to boast their own perception. St Paul argues that charity is instead a concept that is complex and specific, and is comprised of many unique attributes. He structures his argument to start with first specific claims on what charity is not or does not possess before moving on to describe what charity is and its distinctions, finally using a metaphor to illustrate how he had come to the better definition of charity. Here is the text:
1 Corinthians 13:
If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up; Is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But, when I became a man, I put away the things of a child. We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known. And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.
For the sake of brevity, I have analyzed the text line-by-line and written analysis in bolded text for the reader’s convenience
1If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
Starting with a parallel structure, St. Paul here defines charity as not simply talking with great and pleasing rhetoric, but actually containing an element in itself.
2 And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
If you notice at this point, anaphora is used to set up the same parallel structure from Line 1 to say that charity is not simply the doing of great deeds or possession of great wisdom.
3 And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Here there is a contention with the literal definition of charity as giving away of possessions, and St Paul’s definition, and although St Paul does not reveal his definition, yet he sets it apart from the literal one.
4 Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up;
Here St Paul is using personification to help metaphorically define charity in a visual way.
5 Is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil;
The continued personification sets charity apart from things that can lead to sin or are not related to charity.
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth;
The main contention here is that there is an element of charity that is not subjectively defined but is actually a part of truth itself.
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
The continued personification is poetic and contains a nice flow and use of consonance
8 Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed.
There is a sense of hyperbole or at the very least a metaphor raising the value of charity as being higher in virtue than knowledge and prophecy.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
There is a literal mention to the use of synecdoche and our knowledge of charity to be partial.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.
There is a criticism of synecdoche in defining charity, as St Paul believes in a more complete definition than just a representation.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But, when I became a man, I put away the things of a child.
The use of an analogy to childhood and to growth helps define the move of the argument from reasoning to an explanation of why charity is now more known to the speaker (St Paul)
12 We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known.
The metaphorical description of a transition in knowledge from St Paul’s audiences' perception of Charity to its true definition as St Paul knows it to be.
13 And now there remain faith, hope, charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.
The plainly stated definition of charity as St Paul intends it: the greatest of three virtues, in itself a complex metaphorical comparison.
Overall, St Paul employs many rhetorical strategies in seeking to redefine charity. His effectiveness in getting readers to reconsider their views on love and charity, combined with the countless retelling of this excerpt, speaks to its importance. The intrusion into popular culture and wedding receptions only further solidifies St Paul’s definition of love as one of the most famous and complete definitions, while also proving the effectiveness of definition as a rhetorical strategy.
