Lesson ▪ 2009 Tags: 1 Corinthians; Paul; Church at Corinth Related Resources: A Survey of 2 Corinthians IntroductionWhen we visit a library or bookstore, or even when we shop for books online, we look at certain parts of the books (or their digital representatives) in order to decide whether to read them. What kinds of information do we look for?
A lot of the information we care about is on the outside cover or dust jacket, and the rest of it is not far from the front or back cover. As we contemplate studying our way through 1 Corinthians, we need to grasp some sense of the whole in order to make better sense of the parts. Understanding a book of the Bible as a whole is no small feat. Often we read and quote Bible verses, but have little idea of their immediate context—much less how they fit into the book where they appear. So our purpose today is to look at the “wrapping” that a publisher might wrap put around the text of 1 Corinthians if it were being published today. Literally, we’re going to study our way through a made-up book cover and table of contents, and in the process we’ll achieve a better understanding of the letter: the circumstances under which it was authored, the way that its contents are structured, and the themes that it addresses. Publication ElementsAuthors/About the AuthorsOur book cover identifies two contributors to the text of 1 Corinthians: Paul and Sosthenes. Both are named in the very first verse of the letter (1 Cor. 1:1). Paul was certainly the primary author, and thus his name appears in various portions of the text (1:12, 13; 3:4, 5, 22; 16:21). It is possible that Sosthenes performed the physical act of writing the letter under Paul’s direction (16:21) (Fee 30-31). We know nothing about him from 1 Corinthians itself, as he is not mentioned again in the letter. The name Sosthenes occurs one other time in the New Testament, in the narrative about Paul’s ministry in Corinth (Acts 18:17). One might speculate that the Sosthenes who appears there is the “brother” who collaborated in writing 1 Corinthians, but this cannot be confirmed, as Sosthenes was a common name (Unger 1212). We know Paul, of course, as the named author of 13 letters included in the New Testament and the apostle whose itinerant ministry is the focus of much of the book of Acts. SeriesThe book we know as 1 Corinthians is actually not the first letter that Paul sent to Corinth; it is merely the first that is included in the biblical canon. Paul wrote at least one prior letter to the same church—a fact that he points out in 1 Cor. 5:9: “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.” So, if a publisher were preparing to release 1 Corinthians today, it might regard it as the second volume in a series, the sequel to a prior work that might have been entitled Keeping the Right Company. The series might be entitled Letters to Corinth. About the PublisherNone of the New Testament books were “published” in the modern sense. In order to reflect something of the circumstances under which Paul authored 1 Corinthians, the book cover we’re working through lists the publisher as Ephesus Press. Evidence within and outside of 1 Corinthians leads us to believe that Paul was in Ephesus at the time he wrote the letter. Internal evidence includes the mention of Ephesus in 15:32 and 16:8. In the latter of these references, Paul says, “But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost.” External evidence includes the fact that Paul embarked on a multi-year ministry in Ephesus not long after he left Corinth (Acts 19:1ff). DateThe ancient world didn’t use dates in the same way that we do today. There is no date imprint in the text of 1 Corinthians. The best way we can date 1 Corinthians is to fit it into the historical scheme of the book of Acts, which does contain some historical references that help to establish dates. Among those is a reference to Gallio, a political leader of Corinth who is mentioned in Acts 18. Secular history places the start of Gallio’s administration around AD 52, so the letter may have been penned around AD 55 (Tenney 291; Fee 15). About This BookOur book cover provides the following blurb in description of the contents of 1 Corinthians: Fostering Unity, Dispelling Confusion is the much anticipated sequel to Paul’s earlier epistle to the Corinthian believers, Keeping the Right Company. This letter seeks to correct the disunity and disorder prevalent within the Corinthian church, addressing such topics as cliquishness, lawsuits, marriage, personal liberty, Christian worship, and the hope of future resurrection. The book concludes with an appeal for the Corinthians’ continued partnership in Paul’s ministry, including contribution to a collection for the impoverished Jerusalem Christians. This description is a summary of the contents of the letter, to which we now turn our attention. Table of ContentsDiscerning the structure of a Bible book can be a challenging task. Paul tended to write his letters to churches in a formulaic way. After an appropriate introduction, he would proceed to a large section with a strong doctrinal component, then move to a large section of practical exhortations. The letter would typically conclude with some personal greetings. This type of structure is present in Romans, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. However, 1 Corinthians does not follow this type of structure. 1 Corinthians begins with an introduction and ends with material of a more personal nature in chapter 16. Since the intervening chapters that intervene do not follow the typical form (long doctrinal section, then long practical section), we have to look at other clues to discover the structure that best explains what Paul intended to communicate. 1 Corinthians was one of many elements in an ongoing conversation between Paul and the Corinthian church. As we’ve already noted, Paul had founded the church and had already written it at least one letter. The New Testament includes another epistle that he wrote to the same congregation, and the book of Acts tells us that Paul later returned to Greece for three months (Acts 20:3). How did 1 Corinthians fit into this conversation? What motivated Paul to write it? The answer is twofold. First, Paul received some reports about the condition of the Corinthian church that concerned him: “For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.” (1 Cor. 1:11; cf. 5:1). The situation required him to take action promptly in writing—not wait for the opportunity to travel to Corinth. Second, the church itself had written to Paul, asking for his guidance on issues that troubled them: “Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me” (7:1; cf. 7:25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1; 16:12). 1 Corinthians includes Paul’s responses to a number of their questions. Part I: Introduction (1:1-9) 1 Gifted Saints: Paul’s Gratitude for the Corinthians’ Testimony (1:1-9) Part II: Divisions and Disorder in the Corinthian Church (1:10-6:20) 2 Wise up and Say Goodbye to Cliques (1:10-4:21) 3 Lawsuits, Licentiousness, and Lordship (5:1-6:20) Part III: Matters of Concern to the Corinthian Church (7:1-16:12) 4 Marriage, Divorce, and Sex (7:1-40) 5 Personal Liberty, Christian Responsibility (8:1-11:1) 6 Order in Public Worship: Male Leadership (11:2-16) 7 Order in Public Worship: Reverence for the Lord’s Table (11:17-34) 8 Order in Public Worship: Edification through Spiritual Gifts (12:1-14:40)
9 The Christian’s Hope: The Reality of the Resurrection (15:1-58) 10 Paul’s Program for the Corinthian Church (16:1-12) Part IV: Postscript (16:13-24) 11 Personal Communication with the Corinthian Church (16:13-24) TitleThe division of the letter into two major portions leads to the suggestion of the title presented on our book cover, Fostering Unity, Dispelling Confusion. Lessons from 1 CorinthiansWhat can we learn from looking at 1 Corinthians in such broad fashion? Here are some lessons (among many others that could be identified):
SourcesFee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1987. Tenney, Merrill C. New Testament Survey. Rev. Walter M. Dunnett. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity; Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1985. Unger, Merrill F. The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Revised and updated ed. Ed. R. K. Harrison. Chicago: Moody, 1988. Download This Resource |
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