Paul passes on now to Corinthian questions about the spiritual gifts (12:1–14:40), for Christians should not be “ignorant” about them (12:1–3). Their pagan experience should show, however, how easy it is to get carried away in ecstatic worship and “influenced” toward speech, even speech uttered falsely in the name of a mute idol. Thus, it is important to realize that speech inspired by the Spirit of God will never produce the words “Jesus be cursed,” despite any sense of ecstasy (which, if it were false, might explain this strange utterance) or any temptation under persecution to apostasy (an alternative context in which this cry might be comprehensible). Conversely, no one can say “Jesus is Lord,” producing the content of the most basic Christian confession (Phil. 2:11), without openness…