If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Understanding these verses requires us to understand the context of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. They were deeply divided (1 Corinthians 1:10-11) and they were eager to know more about spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1). After Paul writes to them explaining that it is one Spirit that powers all gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) he writes that these gifts are diverse and for the purpose of building the body (1 Corinthians 12:30).
That leads us to Paul’s final point at the end of chapter 12, which really reads as the start to this chapter. He writes that he is going to show a still more excellent way than spiritual gifts and that’s what he does.
These verses are often used to support the doctrine of angelic tongues, but Paul’s focus is contrasting miraculous gifts and acts with their worthlessness without love. Paul is using a technique called hyperbole to exaggerate and claim that even these lofty and remarkable things are worthless.
Paul isn’t trying to start a new doctrine on heavenly languages. He’s establishing a doctrine of love into a church that was very unloving towards one another.
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