Author: The authenticity of I Corinthians has never been seriously questioned. In style, language and theology, the letter belongs to Paul.
Occasion and Date: Paul established the church in Corinth between the years 50-51 A.D., when he spent 18 months there on his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1-17). After his departure, he maintained correspondence and care of the church (see I Cor. 5:9; II Cor. 12:14). During his three year ministry in Ephesus, on his third missionary journey (Acts 19), he had received unsettling information about the moral laxitude among the believers in Corinth. To remedy the situation , he wrote a letter to the church (I Cor. 5:9-11), that has been lost. A while later, a delegation sent by Chloe, a member of the church of Corinth, communicated to Paul the existence of divisions in the congregation. Before he could send a letter to correct the problems, another delegation came from Corinth with a letter which asked him several questions (I Cor. 7:1; 16:17). Immediately, Paul sent Timothy to remedy that problem. Then the letter that we know as I Corinthians was sent, with the hope that it would arrive before Timothy (16:10). As it appears that Paul wrote it at the end of his stay in Ephesus (16:8), it can be dated around 56 A.D.
Purpose: The 1st Epistle to the Corinthians is a pastoral letter, written to resolve doctrinal and practical problems. Paul's authorship gives it apostolic authority for all "the churches of GOD" (11:16).
Background: The letter reveals some of the typical problems of the Greek culture in Paul's days, including the great sexual immoralities of the city of Corinth. The Greeks were known for their idolatry, divisive philosophies, polemic spirit and rejection of the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. Corinth was one of the most important commercial cities of that age and controlled a great part of commerce between the east and west. It was located on the narrow strip of land that joined the Greek continental territory to the Peloponnesian Peninsula. The city had a bad reputation for its sensuality and for temple prostitution. Its name even served to coin an expression that became famous for corrupt practices: "Corinthianize" means to practice prostitution. The highest deity of Corinth was Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of licentious loves, and around 1,000 prostitutes served in the temple dedicated to her worship. The spirit of the city was manifested in the church and explains the type of problems that the people faced.
It also reveals some of the problems that the former pagans faced by transferring some of their religious experience prior to those they received thanks to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They could have mixed some grotesque practices of pagan frenzy with the exercise of the spiritual gifts (see 12:2).
Content: Paul's letter responds to twelve separate problems: the sectarian spirit, incest, legal aspects, fornication, marriage and divorce, eating food offered to idols, the use of a veil, the LORD's Supper, the spiritual gifts, and the resurrection of the body.
The City of Corinth: (HBH) Corinth was one of the chief commercial cities of the Roman Empire. Its location made it a natural center of commerce and transportation. It had two ports: Cenchrea, six miles to the east of Corinth on the Aegean Sea see Rom. 16:1), and Lechaeum, a port on the Corinthian Gulf that opened westward to the Adriatic Sea. Sailing in those days was very hazardous, and rounding the southern tip of Greece was a troublesome voyage. To avoid this detour, eastbound shipping between Rome and Asia used the isthmus at Corinth as a portage, unloading their cargoes and carrying them overland to be reloaded at the opposite port. Corinth was thus called the bridge of the seas. It was also a gateway for north-south routes between the Peloponnesus and mainland Greece. AS a commercial center it was famous for arts and crafts.
Ancient Corinth was completely destroyed in 146 B.C. by the Roman General Mummius because it had taken the lead in an attempted revolt by the Greeks against the rising power of the Roman Empire. At that time its art treasures and wealth were said to have equaled those from Athens. For nearly one hundred years the city lay in ruins. In 44 B.C. Julius Caesar sent a colony of soldiers to rebuild it, making it the seat of the Roman province of Achaia. Almost immediately it assumed the former prominence it had as the richest and most powerful city of Greece.
Corinth had two patron deities. Poseidon, god of the sea, was appropriately reflected in the naval power and devotion to the sea. The other deity, Aphrodite, goddess of sexual love, was reflected in the city's reputation for immorality.The temple was central to the worship of Aphrodite. It boasted one thousand female prostitutes available to the people of the city and to all the visitors. Most of these women were famous for their great beauty. The income of the temple prostitutes provided a major source of the city's income. This practice, coupled with the looseness often characteristic of a port city of mixed and transient population, gave Corinth a reputation far beyond the cities of its day.
To demonstrate this fact, the Greeks invented a term, to Corinthianize, which meant to live an immoral life. To call a young woman "a Corinthian" meant she was an immoral person. Paul wrote what perhaps was a descriptive account of Corinth in his Letter to the Romans (see Rom. 1:18-32).
The Church at Corinth: (HBH) The church was a picture of converts who had come out of this background (see I Cor. 6:11). The church had several problems, among them a leadership problem producing divisions in the church (1:10-17). Immoral practices were not being dealt with (5:1-6:20). An enthusiastic group in the church flaunted their spiritual gifts (12:1-14:40). a legalistic group was concerned about dietary laws (8:1-10:32). Some were abusing the LORD Supper (11:17-34), and others were offering false teachings regarding the resurrection (15:1-58). These matters - in addition to its multiethnic makeup of Greeks, Romans, and Jews and a mixture of social classes including rich, poor, and slave - made for a unique and troubled congregations.
Purpose and Theology: (HBH) Paul dealt with several problems in this letter. He learned of these matters through the report form Chloe's people (1:11), common rumors (5:1), and from information received from the church (7:1; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1). Paul wrote to answer the questions the Corinthians had put to him, but he had other concerns as well. Although the church was quite gifted (1:4-7), it was equally immature and unspiritual (3:1-4). Paul wanted to restore the church in its areas of weakness. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he expounded the Bible's clearest exposition on the LORD's Supper (11:17-34), the resurrection (15:1-58), and spiritual gifts (12:1-14:40).
Yet the focus of I Corinthians is not on doctrinal theology but pastoral theology. this letter deals with the problem of those who bring division to the body of Christ (1:11-3:4), with the treatment of fellow Christians who sin (5:1-13), with matters of sexuality in marriage and divorce (7:1-40), with propriety in church worship (11:2-34), and with disputes about food (8:1-11:1).
Special Considerations: (IBD) As in the case with the resurrection, Corinthians also contains the earliest record of the L
First Corinthians also contains one of the best-known chapters in the New Testament. In poetic cadence Paul proclaims "the more excellent way" of agape (chap. 13). Love is not merely a feeling, but an attitude committed to patience, hope, and stability in the face of problems. Such love will outlast the world itself. Agape love is the greatest characteristic of the Christian life.
Personal Application: No episode of the New Testament gives a clearer vision of life in the first century church than I Corinthians. Paul offers in it strict instructions about such moral problems and theologies as sectarianism, spiritual immaturity, ecclesiastical discipline, ethical questions, the role of people of different sexes and the appropriate use of the spiritual gifts. Where these problems exist in the modern church, the remedies are the same. Those who belong to charismatic and pentecostal churches, where the worship is less elaborate and the spiritual gifts are emphasized, should reexamine their practices in light of Paul's instructions about congregational services.
Christ Revealed: The letter contains an unequalled revelation of the cross of Christ as an example to follow in every moment (11:1) and describes the church as his body (chapter 12). Especially important are the powerful consequences of Christ's resurrection for creation as a whole (ch. 15).
The Holy Spirit in Action: The passages that deal with the manifestations or gifts of the Spirit are the best known about the Holy Spirit (chapters 12-14). The role of the Holy Spirit shouldn't be passed over in the revelation of the things of GOD to the human spirit, as a way of preventing every prideful motive (2:1-13). Perhaps what sheds the most light on the subject, in the midst of the current debate within the church, is the way the apostle leads the Corinthians to a balanced practice of speaking in tongues, when he legitimizes it and doesn't recognize anyone's right to prohibit it (ch.14).
Home
Site Index
Bible Index
Kingdom Dynamics
Truth in Action
Links 