Loving and Knowing: Toward a Pauline Epistemology of Love

Abstract

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul addresses the Corinthian believers’ fractured relationships by expounding upon love (agape), as their overemphasis on “spiritual knowledge” led to divisive behaviors which were entirely counter to their participation with each other in Christ. In this article, I utilize Hanne de Jaegher’s (2007, 2019) enactive theory of social cognition, participatory sense-making, and Esther Meek’s (2011) covenant epistemology to illuminate cognitive elements of participation in Christ. I draw on these epistemologies to examine Paul’s discussion of loving and knowing throughout 1 Corinthians, wherein Paul describes love as (1) “being known by,” (2) “having knowledge of,” and (3) being “together with.” I then suggest a reading of Paul’s “Hymn to Love” in light of these epistemologies, wherein the Spirit’s gift of love enacted in embodied participation with each other in Christ might be understood as the highest form knowledge and as necessarily transformative to the knower.