John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 12:29

"Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all [workers of] miracles?" — 1 Corinthians 12:29 (ASV)

He has, in the beginning of the chapter, spoken of gifts; now he begins to discuss offices, and we should carefully observe this order. For the Lord did not appoint ministers without first endowing them with the requisite gifts and qualifying them for discharging their duty.

From this we must infer that those are fanatics, and actuated by an evil spirit, who intrude themselves into the Church while destitute of the necessary qualifications, as many boast that they are under the influence of the Spirit and glory in a secret call from God, while in the meantime they are unlearned and utterly ignorant. The natural order, on the other hand, is this—that gifts come before the office to be discharged. Just as he has taught above that everything an individual has received from God should serve the common good, so now he declares that offices are distributed in such a way that all may together, by united efforts, edify the Church, each individual according to his measure.

On verse 28, which begins First, Apostles, he does not list all the particular kinds, and there was no need for this, as he merely intended to provide some examples. In the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians (Ephesians 4:11), there is a fuller list of the offices required for the continued government of the Church. I will explain the reason for this there, if the Lord permits me to advance that far, though even there he does not mention all of them. Regarding the passage before us, we must observe that of the offices Paul mentions, some are perpetual and others are temporary. The perpetual ones are those necessary for the government of the Church; the temporary ones were appointed at the beginning for the founding of the Church and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom, and these ceased a short time afterward.

To the first class belongs the office of Teacher; to the second, the office of Apostle. For the Lord created the Apostles so that they might spread the gospel throughout the whole world. He did not assign to each of them specific limits or parishes, but intended for them, wherever they went, to discharge the office of ambassadors among all nations and languages. In this respect, there is a difference between them and Pastors, who are, in a way, tied to their particular churches. For the Pastor does not have a commission to preach the gospel over the whole world, but to take care of the Church that has been committed to his charge. In his Epistle to the Ephesians, he places Evangelists after the Apostles, but here he passes them over, for from the highest order, he passes immediately to Prophets.

By this term he means (in my opinion) not those who were endowed with the gift of prophesying, but those who were endowed with a unique gift—not merely for interpreting Scripture, but also for applying it wisely for present use. My reason for thinking so is this: he prefers prophecy to all other gifts because it yields more edification—a commendation that would not be applicable to the predicting of future events.

Furthermore, when he describes the office of Prophet, or at least discusses what he ought principally to do, he says that he must devote himself to consolation, exhortation, and doctrine. Now these are things that are distinct from predictions of future events. Therefore, let us understand Prophets in this passage to mean, first of all, eminent interpreters of Scripture, and furthermore, persons endowed with uncommon wisdom and dexterity in correctly assessing the present needs of the Church, so that they may speak suitably to it and, in this way, be, in a sense, ambassadors to communicate the divine will.

This difference may be pointed out between them and Teachers: the office of Teacher consists in ensuring that sound doctrines are maintained and propagated, so that the purity of religion may be preserved in the Church. At the same time, this term is also taken in different senses, and here perhaps it is used in the sense of Pastor—unless, perhaps, one prefers to take it in a general way for all who are endowed with the gift of teaching, as in Acts 13:1, where Luke also joins them with Prophets.

My reason for not agreeing with those who define the entire office of Prophet as consisting in the interpretation of Scripture is this: Paul restricts the number of those who ought to speak to two or three (1 Corinthians 14:29), which would not be consistent with a mere interpretation of Scripture.

In short, my opinion is this: the Prophets spoken of here are those who make known the will of God by applying with dexterity and skill prophecies, threats, promises, and the whole doctrine of Scripture to the present use of the Church. If anyone is of a different opinion, I have no objection to it and will not quarrel on that account. For it is difficult to form a judgment about gifts and offices of which the Church has been deprived for so long, except that some traces or shadows of them are still to be seen.

Regarding powers and the gift of healings, I have spoken about these when commenting on Romans 12. It must only be observed that here he mentions not so much the gifts themselves as their administration. Since the Apostle is here listing offices, I do not agree with what Chrysostom says, that ἀντιλήψεις (that is, helps or aids) consists in supporting the weak. What is it then? Undoubtedly, it is either an office, as well as a gift, that was exercised in ancient times but of which we have no knowledge whatever today; or it is connected with the office of Deacon—in other words, the care of the poor—and this latter idea I prefer. In Romans 12:7, he mentions two kinds of deacons. I have discussed these when commenting on that passage.

By Governments I understand Elders who had charge of discipline. For the primitive Church had its senate to keep the people in proper conduct, as Paul shows elsewhere when he mentions two kinds of Presbyters (1 Timothy 5:17). Therefore, government consisted of those Presbyters who excelled others in gravity, experience, and authority.

Under different kinds of tongues he includes both the knowledge of languages and the gift of interpretation. They were, however, two distinct gifts, because in some cases an individual spoke in different languages and yet did not understand the language of the church with which he had to interact. This defect was supplied by interpreters.

Are all Apostles? It may indeed have happened that one individual was endowed with many gifts and held two of the offices he has listed; nor was there any inconsistency in this. Paul’s object, however, is to show, first, that no one has such completeness in everything as to be self-sufficient and not require the aid of others. Second, he shows that offices, as well as gifts, are distributed in such a way that no one member constitutes the whole body; rather, when each contributes his portion to the common advantage, they then altogether constitute an entire and perfect body. For Paul means here to remove every occasion for proud boasting, base envy, haughtiness, contempt for the brethren, malignity, ambition, and everything of that kind.