Paul’s Teaching on the Pneumatika in 1 Corinthians 12-14: Prophecy as the Paradigm of ta Charismata ta Meizona for the Future-Oriented Ekklesia

In this study, Soeng Yu Li explores Paul’s understanding of the charismata in 1 Corinthians 12-14 and why the apostle focuses on the charisma of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14. After demonstrating that the semantic relationship between charismata and pneumatika is to be understood as meronymy, the author then offers an exegesis of 1 Corinthians 12-14 from a meronymic point of view. In 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul teaches about the topic pneumatika, the things that characterize the life of the pneumatikoi. Paul teaches the Corinthians that as pneumatikoi, both their behaviour and their practice of their apportioned charismata must be characterized by agape. Only in this way can they build up the ekklesia in the here and now towards the promised eschatological future. To illustrate his teaching, Paul uses prophecy as the paradigm of ta charismata ta meizona for the gathered ekklesia living in the future-oriented present.