Perfect Love: Intertextual and Conceptual Commonalities Concerning Agape in 1 Corinthians 13:8–13 and 1 John 4:12–18

This dissertation will examine Paul and John’s mutual focus on agape and teleios. The premise is that in 1 Corinthians 13:10, “perfect” is not used by Paul in an eschatological sense, but to communicate the message of “perfect love” John also references (1 John 2:3–6; 4:12–18). Jesus’s teaching recorded in Matthew 5:43–48 will be considered regarding how it might provide a basis for understanding Paul and John’s thoughts concerning agape. Also, the use of teleios by Aristotle and תָּמִים by the Qumran community will be contemplated, in addition to how the Hebrew word תָּמִים might have influenced Jesus’s teaching and Paul and John’s later use of teleios and agape. These observations do not suggest a connection between Aristotelian philosophical thought and Qumran ideologies but rather highlight how these words were understood in Greco and Hebraic ways. Furthermore, Paul’s appeal to teleios and pnuematikos early in 1 Corinthians establishes his epistolary thematic emphasis regarding spiritual maturity. Proto-Gnostic considerations and whether Paul personified love in 1 Corinthians will also come into view. First Corinthians 13:8–13 will then be reexamined, and an analysis of “perfect” in 1 Corinthians 13:10 will be considered along with background thoughts concerning 1 John, and John’s occasion for writing his first letter and its reference to “perfect love” (1 John 2:3–5; 4:12–18). The themes of love, light, and knowledge, which are shared between 1 Corinthians 13:8–13 and 1 John 4:12–18, will be seen expanding to other portions of Scripture (1 Cor 13:12; Eph 1:16–19a; 3:17–19; Phil 1:9–10; Col 1:8–10, 1 John 2:5, 9–11). It is hoped that this dissertation will cause a reconsideration of the most popular views relating to 1 Corinthians 13:8–13 by linking Paul and John’s similar use of teleios with agape.