1 Corinthians 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me nothing. E.g., when a Buddhist ascetic leaps upon the blazing pyre, immolating his body that he may immortalise his spirit, what does it profit him? Nothing; the fanatic is in love with himself, and with no one else; he seeks his own soul happiness, whether in the shape of a coming deification or a present glorification of self. It is quits possible that this image of a Buddhist priest with his "ineffectual fires" suggested the thought of this text to Paul; more especially as this text was written in , before the outbreak of Nero's fiery persecution. The apostle, just before his visit to Corinth, had been staying in Athens, where he had certainly seen an altar to the "unknown God," and had probably seen or heard about, "the tomb of the Indian," with its epitaph, "Here lies Zarmanochegas, who made his own self immortal." (Canon Evans.) Parallel Verses KJV: And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. |
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