One consequence of growing up in a church is that, just as the children of butchers tend to become vegetarians, you often develop a distaste for many of the ceremonies, because you have seen one too many of them, and you have an overdeveloped eye for the clichés that go with them.
And the greatest of these is the use of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. If you have been to more than, say, five church weddings, you have likely heard it. “Love is patient, love is kind,” Paul tells the Corinthians, “It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” It’s beautiful, but there’s a problem: Paul isn’t talking about romantic love – he is talking about the love of God.
Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month
Content from our partners
