1 Corinthians 14:32Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets" (1 Cor 14:32). Do you see how strongly and awesomely he puts them to shame?

So that a man may not object or resist, he says that the gift itself obeys. By spirit here he means the operation.

If the spirit obeys, then all the more you, who have received it, have no right to object.

Then he proves that this is also pleasing to God: "For God is not the God of disorder, but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints" (1 Cor 14:33).

Do you see by what arguments he moves them to silence and consoles the one who yields to another?

First, by saying that in this case he too is not excluded: "You can all prophesy one by one," he says.

This too is for the consolation of the one whom he commanded to be silent. These words have this meaning: do not object, do not resist.

For the Spirit Himself, that is, the gift within you and the operation of the Spirit within you, obeys the gift of another who has been stirred to prophecy.

If the Spirit obeys, then all the more you yourself, who have received the Spirit, must not object.

Some understood it in this way. Pagan soothsayers, once a demon had seized them, could not be silent even if they wished.

But our holy prophets are not so. It depends on their will whether to be silent or to speak.

This is what the words mean: the spirits of the prophets, that is, the gifts, are subject to the prophets and to the prophets' will to be silent or not to be silent.

For the spirit of prophecy is subject to the prophets. That is, what one prophet said was explained by another prophet.

For it is one and the same Spirit Who fills both the prophets who speak of things to come and the prophets who explain Scripture, according to their tasks. In this connection the Apostle Paul said, “are subject to the prophets,” so that they might enter upon the work in hope that the Spirit helps good beginnings.

And the spirit of the prophets “is subject to the prophets.” By spirit the Apostle means the gifts. Thus Joshua obeyed Moses, Elisha obeyed Elijah, a multitude of prophets obeyed Elisha himself, and Timothy, Titus, and the others obeyed this very Apostle.

Therefore, if this gift is subject to the prophets, is it not absurd for you not to submit to the common good, so that, when it is time to be silent, you keep silence?

“And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” Against the Apostle’s requirement that the prophets prophesy only one at a time, and not several at once, the Corinthians could naturally raise this objection: it may happen that many present in the Church receive revelation at once. Then they will all begin speaking at once, moved by the revelation. The Apostle answers that true prophecy is not the same as the prophecy of oracles, accompanied by violence and compulsion. In the Christian Church, as in the Old Testament, the prophetic gift is subject to the free will and rational demand of the prophet. Thus one who has received revelation is not violently forced to speak and prophesy immediately, but can quietly wait for a suitable time for prophecy.

Here the order is depicted which was fitting in apostolic times, but not in our own.

The Church then abounded in miraculous gifts, but the number of believers was still not great. Liturgical hymns and prayers were only just being composed, and the order of worship had not yet become definite.

Therefore an individual believer, sensing within himself the presence of the Spirit of God, was allowed to come forward with his own song or psalm, with his own revelation or instruction.

But what would happen in church in our time, if, amid the immense multitude of believers, each were allowed to sing his own song and deliver his own instruction?

The rule for prophets is that only a few should instruct, two or three in turn. Yet one must immediately cease speaking if others receive a revelation, for “the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” This is not as it happens among frenzied soothsayers in temples. “God is not a God of disorder, but of peace.”

Having shown the impropriety of disorder in church assemblies, the Apostle Paul gives rules for the use in church of the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy.

As a general foundation for those who possess either gift, he sets forth the good goal of edifying one's neighbors. Apart from this, nothing should have a place in the Church.

In particular, he counsels those who possess the gift of tongues to use their gift in turn. They should do this only when it is possible to explain what is uttered in a foreign language.

Otherwise, one must only lift up to the Lord in one's mind what has been given by Him, as a gift for the prayer of mind and heart.

It is evident that we truly have power to pray in the spirit, as soon as we truly and wholly surrender ourselves to the Spirit of God, Who is the Spirit of prayer. It is evident that we have power, because, in like manner, through the wondrous condescension of the Spirit of God toward us, the prophets also have power in the use of the prophetic spirit. The same Apostle clearly testifies to this: “and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.”

“Do you see how he again gives the reason why he commands this? So that a man may not object or resist, excusing himself by the irresistible force of the Spirit, he says that the gift itself obeys the one who has received it. Here he calls the operation of the Spirit ‘spirit.’ But if the Spirit obeys, then still more do you, who have received Him, have no right to object” (Chrysostom).