1 Corinthians

Holy Writer and Authenticity

The holy writer who recorded the First Letter to the Corinthians is almost universally acknowledged to be the Apostle Paul. In the first verse of the book we read, “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother…”

Sosthenes was the scribe to whom Paul dictated the epistle. This practice was not uncommon for Paul. In Galatians 6:11 Paul points out how unusual it is for him to write when he writes, “See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!” In Romans 16:22 the scribe inserts his own greeting into the epistle, “I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord.” But Paul gave each epistle the mark of authenticity by signing it himself (cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:17: “The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle; so I write”).

Examples of the widely held belief that Paul was the writer (or the dictator) can be found already in 95 A.D. Clement of Rome, one of the early Church Fathers, cited this epistle in his own letter to the congregation in Corinth.

The Time of Writing

The time of writing is usually placed during Paul’s Third Missionary Journey, ca. 56 A.D., possibly as late as 57 A.D. Paul was in Ephesus at the time of the writing (“But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost”16:8). While Paul was preaching and teaching in Ephesus during this journey, he was disturbed by reports from the household of Chloe concerning quarrels in the church in Corinth (“For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you” 1:11). The church set a delegation of three men (“I am glad about the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, for what was lacking on your part they supplied” 16:17) carrying a letter requesting Paul’s judgment on certain issues (“Now concerning the things of which you wrote me…” 7:1). Paul wrote this epistle as his response to the problems and questions of the Corinthians.

The City of Corinth

In contrast to Corinth in our modern day, which is a city of perhaps two thousand, ancient Corinth was a metropolis of two hundred thousand people (or more) on a major trade route. After its destruction by the Romans in 146 B.C. Julius Caesar rebuilt the city in 46 B.C. and it became one of the most important cities along the trade route between Rome and the East.

As a result, Corinth became a city of great wealth, as well as a melting pot of differing ethnic groups and a favorite stop for sailors on shore leave. Because of the differences of nationalities, there were also many different religions, and pagan temples filled the city, the most prominent being the Temple of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. The one thousand temple prostitutes were one of the main attractions of the city and the “worshipers” made frequent use of them. Therefore, it is not surprising that Corinth also became well known for its immorality. In fact, vice and corruption were so common in Corinth that in the ancient world, the term “Corinthianize” (to act like a Corinthian) became a synonym for prostitution and loose living. With this in mind, it is easy to understand why Paul addresses marriage and sexual immorality so strongly in this epistle.

The Church at Corinth

According to Acts 18:1-17, the congregation in Corinth was founded in either 50 or 51 A.D. when Paul, on his Second Missionary journey, made the acquaintance of two tentmakers, Aquila and Priscilla, a Jewish couple recently arrived from Rome. Because Paul had worked as a tentmaker in the past he stayed and worked with them. Since the Jews worshiped in the synagogue on the Sabbath Paul would go there, and we are told that Paul reasoned with the Jews, testifying that, “Jesus is the Christ.” When they rejected Paul’s message he and his converts began to worship at the home of Justus, who lived next door to the synagogue.

The group of worshipers Paul gathered was made up chiefly of working class citizens (1:26ff). Paul had planted the seed of the Gospel in the hearts of these people, but his mission was not to settle down in one place, but rather, to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles. So when Paul left Corinth for Ephesus and then Jerusalem, Apollos stayed on as their pastor and continued to work in the congregation (3:6; Acts 18:24-28).

Content and Purpose

Paul had worked for about eighteen months setting up the congregation in Corinth during his Second Missionary Journey. He had now been absent for about four years. Suddenly, after four years, Paul began to hear all kinds of stories about the Corinthian congregation. During his absence the congregation was in danger of splitting into factions following different pastors such as Paul, Apollos, or Peter, and one group disregarded all the pastors and claimed to follow Christ alone. Paul says “Each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1:12-13).” This bitter strife threatened the church in Corinth with disruption.

But there were many other problems in the church as well. Some of the other problems that were occurring included:

•          Blatant incest (“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles----that a man has his father's wife!” 5:1ff);

•          Christians going to civil court against one another (“Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? ... But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers” 6:1,2,6);

•          General sexual immorality had become a problem (“Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For ‘the two,’ He says, ‘shall become one flesh.’ ... But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body” 6:13,16-18);

•          Marriage and divorce (“Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife” 7:10-11);

•          Christian liberty and the abuse of it (“But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak” 8:9);

•          Disorder in the practice of the Lord’s Supper (“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body”11:27-29);

•          Misuse of the gifts of the Spirit (ch 12 - 14);

•          And errors concerning the resurrection of the dead (15).

These were all matters of great concern to the apostle and ones which he was inspired to address in this letter. This letter is a practical instruction concerning many aspects of congregational life, both in Paul’s day as well as in our own.

Outline

            I. Introduction (1:1-9)

            II. Paul addresses the problems at Corinth 1:10-15:58)

A. Factions (1:10-4:21)

B. Sexual immorality (5:1-7:40)

C. Christian Liberty ( 8:1-11:1)

D. Public Worship ( 11:2-14:40)

E. The Resurrection (15:1-58)

            III. Personal matters and conclusion (16:1-24)

Note: This study was prepared for the Bible Class at Zion Lutheran Church, Lawrenceville, GA by Pastor Nathanael Mayhew.

If you would like more information about this study,
please contact Pastor Mayhew