KNOWLEDGE — from ginōskō, to know; the root of 'diagnosis' and of 'Gnostic'. Paul thanks God the Corinthians are rich in it (1:5) and then spends the letter showing them what it is worth on its own: 'knowledge puffs up, but love builds up' (8:1), and 'if I understand all mysteries and all knowledge… but have not love, I am nothing' (13:2). ⚠ The second-century movements later called Gnostic are a different and later thing; reading them back into Paul's word is an anachronism, though the Corinthian appetite for special insight is plainly an ancestor of the mood. → first discussed at 1 Corinthians 1:5