Biblical Anthropology

Paul's Hymn to Charity (**1 Corinthians 13**) is the page where the apostle, between the chapter on spiritual gifts and the one on their use, points to "a still more excellent way" (1Cor 12:31): agape. The Greek *agápē* denotes an oblative, self-giving love, distinct from *érōs* (desire) and *philía* (reciprocity), and the heir of the Old Testament covenantal *chesed*. The chapter unfolds in three strophes: gifts without love "are nothing" (vv.1-3), love's fifteen attributes (vv.4-7), its permanence beyond the transient gifts (vv.8-13). Charity is "the greatest" of faith and hope because it fulfills the Law (Rom 13:8-10; Lev 19:18) without abolishing it, and is the gift of the Spirit (Rom 5:5) before it is a task, with the face of Christ, "the one mediator between God and men" (1Tim 2:5).

The **immaculate conception** is the Catholic dogma, defined by Pius IX in *Ineffabilis Deus* of December 8, 1854, according to which Mary was conceived without original sin in her mother Anne's womb — **not** the virginal conception of Jesus (this is a common confusion). The exegetical argument is based on the Greek *kecharitomene* in Luke 1:28 (perfect passive participle: completed state of grace). The Eastern Orthodox Churches reject the dogma of 1854 but honor Mary as **Panagia** (All-Holy) through *synergeia* (cooperation). Protestant confessions reject it by argument from scriptural silence (Rom 3:23). Catholic feast: December 8.