1 Corinthians 13:9
1 Corinthians 13:99For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
Watchtower treatment of 13:9 is minimal. The phrase "we know in part" does not typically feature as a proof-text in either direction in JW literature, because the Watchtower's self-understanding is that through the faithful and discreet slave, accurate knowledge of Jehovah's purposes IS now delivered. The "in part" quality of apostolic knowledge is not extended into the present age — the verse thus sits in a blind spot of JW hermeneutics: acknowledged if cited, but never made load-bearing.
13:9 grounds the "not yet" half of inaugurated eschatology. Paul — an apostle writing under inspiration, in the age of Pentecost — says "we know in part." If APOSTOLIC knowledge is in-part, no contemporary organisation can plausibly claim unmediated, final-settled knowledge of God's purposes. At the door, 13:9 is the hinge against the Watchtower's "channel of communication" claim: "If Paul puts himself in the in-part phase, and the full face-to-face knowledge belongs to the future, then any claim to infallible present-tense settled knowledge is claiming something Paul did not claim. Paul walked with limited light. He was honest about it. Should we expect more than Paul?"