Paul explained that there are three theological virtues, those of faith, hope and love, with love being the greatest of the three. Love (caritas, which can sometimes be described as or translated as charity) is greater than knowledge, even if both are goods which we should cultivate in our lives. Knowledge should help us to love better, not less. We certainly should not seek knowledge so as to make ourselves look better than others, hoping to get the praise of our peers. Rather, what we learn, what we discover, should be used for the sake of the common good, for that is what love would have us do:
So having said, We are aware that we all have knowledge, he then goes on, Knowledge puffs up, whereas love builds up: love is more powerful than knowledge. The former often makes conceited those not using it well, whereas the latter has a concern for the neighbor’s benefit – hence, his statement, it builds up. Now, his charge is directed at them for being bereft of love; if they possessed it, they would have a care for the welfare of the weaker members.[1]
The common good, not our selfish interests, should direct our activity in the world. We should lift up those who have suffered unjustly, those who do not have what they need to thrive. The more we build up, truly build up, and help those in need, especially those who suffer grievous injustices, the more we find ourselves embracing and engaging the way of love, the love which God intends us to follow. Indeed, the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Give of Life, often described as the Spirit of Love, manifests itself in us in and through the gifts it gives us, gifts which are given for our own good, yes, but also for the sake of the common good:
In fact, what follows also touches on this. To each is given the manifestation of the Holy Spirit for the common good (v.7). He said, not the grace, but the manifestation: the grace even today is given to those thought worthy of all-holy baptism, but not in an obvious fashion, whereas in those days they immediately spoke in diverse tongues, and performed wonders, strengthened by them and instructed in the truth of the teaching. Now, he was obliged to say that the manifestation of the Spirit was given for the common good, to console those same mourners, and to emphasize that the one who understands everything clearly and know what is of benefit to each one guides everything in his wisdom.[2]
If we want to bear the name of Christian, to live out our anointing of the Spirit, we will use the gifts the Spirit has given us for the sake of the common good, working especially for those who are in the greatest need (the poor, the oppressed, and the vulnerable, like migrants and refugees seeking a better place to live). If we think we are wise, that we have studied a great deal and through it, acquired a great deal of knowledge of the Christian faith, but we do not live out the expectations we have learned through the teachings of the faith, and instead promote ourselves as being great because of our knowledge and so deserve to be praised and honored and treated as greater than others (debating anyone who disagrees with us), we show ourselves far from the spirit God wants us to have. Knowledge, again, is good, but it should be used to help promote the proper kind of spiritual life, the one which Joan Chittister sees represented by the Rule of St. Benedict:
The spiritual life is about more than piety or regular adherence to religious practices. To be truly spiritual we must, as Benedict of Nursia counsels in his ancient monastic Rule, give ourselves over to the ‘school of the Lord’s service.’ We need to bring knowledge to virtue so that our spiritually does not become a bad theology. A commitment to knowledge is what provides us with the tools we need to make judgments that are true and kind, compassionate and just. The knowledge of God makes us free of the kind of guilt and scrupulosity, compulsion and righteousness that tempt us to put more effort into maintaining institutions than plumbing God’s mysteries in our own lives.[3]
Ignorance can cause us to go astray, but it if it is not willful ignorance, but simple naivety, while we still intend to do what is good and true, to follow the way of love, our culpability differs from those who know what is expected of them and do not do it because they desire something other than what is just and good. Intention is important; of course, we can have good intentions, but because of our ignorance, do great harm to ourselves and others out of it. This is why, if we love others, if we desire what is good and true for everyone, we will seek to know more and more of what is good and true. We should, therefore, pursue knowledge, realizing that knowledge is certainly a good, but we should do so in proper fashion, making sure we use what we for the good of all. Embracing love, keeping it as the foundation of our actions, including our pursuit of knowledge, will help make sure our pursuit will not puff us up, even as, if we lack love, it is almost certain it will.
[1] Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Letters of St. Paul. Volume One. Trans. Robert Charles Hill (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2001), 191 [First Corinthians].
[2] Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Letters of St. Paul. Volume One, 210-11 [First Corinthians].
[3] Joan Chittister, OSB, Life Ablaze: A Woman’s Novena (Franklin, WI: Sheed & Ward, 2000), 20-21.
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