Author
God (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21), who inspired the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 1:1; 16:21), who then dictated the letter to an unnamed secretary, who transcribed it for him (cf. 1 Cor. 16:21).
Date
Written most likely in the spring of AD 54 or 55 but could have been as late as the spring of AD 56. The letter was probably written in the city of Ephesus in Turkey during Paul’s three-year visit there just before the festival of Pentecost (1 Cor. 16:8; Acts 20:31). The time of composition correlates to sometime in the beginning of Paul’s third missionary journey when he learned about some of the issues in the church in Corinth.
Audience
To all the believers in the church at Corinth, as well as every person who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1:2). The recipients of this letter consisted of those believers who Paul had converted during his first visit when he stayed in the city for over eighteen months, evangelizing and teaching (Acts 18:11). Paul describes the Corinthian believers as having been enriched in all things and not lacking any spiritual gift (1 Cor. 1:5-7). Furthermore, according to the issues that Paul addresses, it seems the church was very socially, economically, and ethnically diverse. This is not surprising as Corinth was one of the largest commerce centers in the Roman Empire.
Paul specifically addresses issues concerning the relations between Jew and Gentile (1 Cor. 8:7-12), wealthy and poor (1 Cor. 11:19-21), married and unmarried (1 Cor. 7:8-16), and slave and free (1 Cor. 7:21-23). This reflects the type of diverse community that made up the church community in Corinth. Much of Paul’s letter deals with how aspects of the culture in Corinth were negatively affecting the church and the faith of the believers there. Paul even accuses them of being “unspiritual,” saying they are still not ready for “solid food” (1 Cor. 3:1-4). Thus, Paul describes the Corinthian believers as still being immature and in need of further instruction.
Biblical Canon
The First Letter to the Corinthians is placed after the Letter to the Romans as the second of Paul’s letters in the collection known as the “Church Epistles” to early Christian communities, many of which he had founded during his missionary journeys. First Corinthians was written before Romans but is nonetheless placed after it in the collection of Paul’s letters in the NT. It is one of Paul’s longer letters that deals with numerous issues concerning proper Christian conduct both individually and collectively as the church (e.g., issues concerning personal sanctification as well as communal worship and other practices in the church).
As with many of Paul’s other “Church Letters,” he weaves together doctrine, reproof, and correction in order to guide the believers in their faith and to reveal to them the understanding he had received by revelation concerning the administration of grace, the gift of the holy spirit, God’s secret plan for the joining together of both Jew and Gentile in the church, the promise of redemption and salvation, and proper Christian behavior both inside and outside the church.
Background
The first time Paul visited Corinth was toward the end of his second missionary journey after leaving Athens in c. AD 51-52 (cf. Acts 18:1-17). At that time, Corinth was still a rather newly established Roman city. Although it was destroyed in 146 BC, it was re-founded in 44 BC by Julius Caesar as a colony where many retired veterans were sent to live. Another reason Corinth was re-founded was because it was a major crossroads in the Roman Empire. It was a major seaport city that facilitated a lot of trade and mixing of cultures since it was a midway point between the East and West sides of the Empire. As a strategic seaport, Corinth was located on a narrow isthmus connecting mainland Greece to the Peloponnese and divided the Saronic Gulf (an inlet to the Aegean Sea) from the Gulf of Corinth (an inlet to the Ionian Sea). The isthmus is less than 4 miles (6.4 km) across, and the Romans built a paved track to transport smaller boats and goods between the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. This saved sailing hundreds of miles through dangerous waters around the southern tip of Greece and contributed greatly to Corinth being an important and cosmopolitan city.
And so, being a prominent seafaring city, Corinth was full of the typical characteristics of a port: an abundance of food, entertainment, and promiscuous women. Long before Paul arrived there, the promiscuous culture of Corinth was so well-known that several ancient writers coined terms with the base word “Corinth” to describe various sexual behaviors and appetites (e.g., “a Corinthian girl” was a label used to describe a loose woman or prostitute). While this promiscuous culture is noted long before the time of Paul, it is likely that Corinth’s notorious reputation was still accurate during Paul’s lifetime.
Upon arriving in Corinth, Paul preached in the synagogue and was met with much resistance (Acts 18:3-6). However, the Lord told Paul to continue speaking, for there were many people in the city who would believe (Acts 18:9-11). After remaining in Corinth for a year and a half, Paul departed, leaving behind a group of many believers, including Crispus, who had been a synagogue leader, and Titius Justus (Acts 18:7-8, 11). But much work of the ministry in Corinth was taken over by Apollos, who came over from Ephesus after Paul left (1 Cor. 3:6; 16:12; Acts 18:27-19:1). There was also a believer named Erastus in Corinth, who was the city treasurer that Paul mentions in his Letter to the Romans (Rom. 16:23). This Erastus may be the same as the “Erastus” mentioned on an 1st-century AD inscription discovered in Corinth near a paved area northeast of the Corinthian theater.
It is known from 1 Corinthians 5:9 that the letter of 1 Corinthians was not Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church. It appears the Corinthian community was in contact with Paul, and Paul had corresponded on several matters with them previously. In addition, Paul appears to allude in several places to the contents of a letter that he received from them (1 Cor. 7:1, 25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1). The multiple correspondence between Paul and the church in Corinth was likely due to the frequent sea traffic between the major seaports of Ephesus and Corinth, thus permitting Paul and the Corinthians to communicate more rapidly.
Purpose for Writing
First Corinthians should be read as part of an ongoing conversation between Paul and the believers in Corinth. As mentioned above, the letter of 1 Corinthians was not Paul’s first correspondence with the Corinthian church. From Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 5:9, the letter we call “1 Corinthians” is Paul’s second letter to Corinth.
The specific occasion for which Paul penned this letter to the believers in Corinth was prompted by rising problems in the church there. Paul discloses at the beginning of the letter how he became informed of these problems when news reached his ears through members of Chloe’s household, and a major problem that runs through the entire letter is division (1 Cor. 1:11-15). This division among the people is partially understandable given the diverse backgrounds of the people in the church in Corinth, but it shows up throughout the whole letter. There was jealousy and strife (1 Cor. 3:3), people criticizing Paul (1 Cor. 4:3-4, 18-19; 9:1-3), the believers suing each other in court (1 Cor. 6:1-8), and some believers not being sensitive to the views of others in the church (1 Cor. 8:7-13; 10:25-33). He also alludes to hearing of other problems in the church such as sexual immorality (1 Cor. 5:1), neglecting the needs of some at the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:18-22), and confusion over the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:12). Furthermore, Paul also responds to concerns that the Corinthians had written him about in a prior letter (cf. 1 Cor. 7:1, 25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1).
Therefore, this letter to the Corinthians was prompted by the need for practical correction concerning the alarming behavior of the Corinthians that Paul had learned about as well as Paul’s pastoral and apostolic instruction concerning the matters that the Corinthian church had inquired about through their letter to him.
As Paul’s style typically is in most of his letters, he often mentions the premise for his letter in his introduction and his prayer for the recipient. At the outset, Paul addresses his letter to the Corinthian believers but also mentions everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, “both their Lord and ours” (1 Cor. 1:2). In addition, at the conclusion of his opening prayer, Paul reminds the Corinthians that they were all called by God into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1:9).
Throughout the letter, Paul points to this overarching theme of the collective joining of all believers to the Lord Jesus and his universal lordship and authority in their lives. Thus, Paul’s objective is to persuade the Corinthians to recognize that they are all “owned by” and have been united with Jesus Christ as part of his body, and that reality should be reflected in their faith and practice.
Overall, the letter is Paul’s instruction about, and warning against, the various wrong practices that the Corinthian church was involved in. In the letter, Paul bares his concern for the community in Corinth regarding all these perils that were affecting their faith in God, their love for one another, their public worship, and their Christian witness.
Message
Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians can be viewed as a series of instructive responses to oral reports about, and written communication from, the Corinthians. After the introduction and opening prayer of the letter, Paul launches right into addressing the pressing matters about the problems stirring in the church in Corinth.
One way to view the content of Paul’s letter is to see him alternating between responding to matters he has heard through oral reports and answering questions posed in a previous letter he received from the Corinthians.
- Oral Reports (1:10-4:21 / 5:1-6:20)
- Corinthian Letter (7:1-40 / 8:1-11:1)
- Oral Reports (11:2-34)
- Corinthian Letter (12:1-14:40)
- Oral Reports (15:1-58)
- Corinthian Letter (16:1-12)
In the first section (1 Cor. 1:10-4:21), Paul addresses the problem of quarreling factions in the Corinthian community, which he was informed about by some people in Chloe’s household (1 Cor. 1:11-13). The problem arose because certain Corinthian believers were claiming to be identified with various prominent leaders in the Christian church. This led to divisions and strife among the church members instead of promoting the unity that Christ has established in the church. Paul reminds the Corinthians that God’s wisdom contained in the good news is unlike the wisdom they were familiar with in the Greco-Roman world, and that the good news did, in fact, contain wisdom but not a type they were used to hearing (1 Cor. 1:18-2:16). In addition, this wisdom encapsulated the secret plan of God that was not known in past ages (1 Cor. 2:6-8), and it is a wisdom not taught by humans, but by the spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:10).
The rivalries among believers stemmed from people vastly overestimating their own importance, and thus Paul corrects their misunderstanding by explaining the unified purpose and role of the servants of God (1 Cor. 3:5-17). Since the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God, each person should recognize that they are a servant and that everyone belongs to Christ, and Christ belongs to God (1 Cor. 3:18-23). Paul ends this section with an admonition against being inflated with pride, and that the manner in which he comes to visit them will be dependent upon their future conduct (1 Cor. 4:6-21).
In another report that reached Paul’s ears, he learns about some moral and ethical issues in which the Corinthians were being negligent (1 Cor. 5:1-6:20). First, Paul addresses the practice of sexual immorality happening among the Corinthians, using the report of a man sleeping with his father’s wife as a case example (1 Cor. 5:1-8). The negligence of the Corinthians is exposed when Paul reiterates that, according to his previous letter, this kind of behavior was exactly what he stipulated should not be tolerated in the community (1 Cor. 5:9). Therefore, Paul declares for the Corinthians to purge this sin from among them and not to associate with believers who practice sin (1 Cor. 5:10-13). In the second and third issues in this section, Paul brings up two other incompatible practices with Christian holiness: 1) bringing lawsuits against each other before unbelieving judges (1 Cor. 6:1-11), and 2) the sanctity of Christ’s and the believer’s body and the defilement of sexual immorality (1 Cor. 6:12-20).
Paul then turns to address two serious matters that the Corinthians had brought up in their previous letter to him. In response to their concerns, Paul offers instruction and advice on the matters of marriage and to those who are unmarried (1 Cor. 7:1-40), and the problems that have come about because of opposing views regarding eating meat that has been sacrificed to idols (8:1-11:1). Interspersed in Paul’s address about food sacrificed to idols is a discussion about Paul’s apostolic example (1 Cor. 9:1-27), the error of idolatry (1 Cor. 10:1-22), and the meaning of Christian freedom (1 Cor. 10:23-11:1).
In the next section (1 Cor. 11:2-14:40), Paul talks about issues concerning public worship that relate to problems with how the Corinthians were conducting themselves in church meetings. Three paramount issues seem to be plaguing the Corinthian church: 1) the meaning of head coverings (1 Cor. 11:2-16), 2) the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:17-34), and 3) the use of spiritual gifts and manifestations (1 Cor. 12:1-14:40). Within the discussion on spiritual gifts, Paul includes a lengthy digression on the meaning of love and how it relates to the proper operation of and perspective about spiritual gifts (1Cor. 13:1-13). Throughout the section as a whole, Paul focuses on the collective functioning of the Corinthian community because some divisions had sprouted up over these matters when the church gathered together, and these conflicts were not good (1 Cor. 11:18; 12:25; 14:26).
In the last major section of the letter (1 Cor. 15:1-58), Paul is eager to reiterate to the Corinthians the essentiality of the resurrection of Christ for the validity and meaning of the good news (1 Cor. 15:1-11), the Christian faith (1 Cor. 15:12-19), and the hope of future resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20-58). Paul defends the legitimacy of Christ’s resurrection and its purpose in God’s plan of redemption and salvation because it has been reported to him that some of the Corinthians are denying the truth of a future bodily resurrection of the believers (1 Cor. 15:12). This accusation fundamentally undermines the life, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. The Corinthians are also questioning what sort of body believers will be raised with (1 Cor. 15:35). Paul assures them that it will not be a body like their weak, earthly bodies but rather a powerful, heavenly body like Christ’s (1 Cor. 15:42-49).
Paul ends his letter by encouraging the Corinthians to continue to prepare a collection for the poor believers in Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16:1-4), and also conveys his intent to visit them soon, if the Lord permits (1Cor. 16:5-12). Paul also gives greetings to the Corinthians from various believers, including specifically Aquila and Priscilla, who were residing in Corinth when Paul first arrived (1 Cor. 16:13-24; cf. Acts 18:1-2).
