Post by PG4Him on Aug 27, 2020 13:04:13 GMT -5
1 Corinthians is a Pauline epistle in the New Testament. It’s at the beginning of Paul’s letters just after Romans. An epistle is a letter, just like we would send in the mail, written personally among friends but written to offer teaching. In the ancient times, many young people were penpals with older mentors so they could learn through long distance communication. The practice of educational epistles was therefore already popular in Paul’s time.
Corinth was a major city in Greece. It sat on the coast and attended to many ships coming and going from across the Roman empire. Its culture was Greco pagan. However, an influx of wealthy Jews had led to a popular synagogue and many curious “God fearers” among the locals.
The Caesar family of Rome had been escalating a conflict with Jews. According to Roman mythology, Caesar was supposed to be a god-man appointed by the Fates to rule the civilized world. Opposing Caesar was thought to bring famines or plagues by angering the Fates. Therefore, the Imperial Cult organized to enforce loyalty to Caesar. Most people went along with it to get the government to stop badgering them, just giving lip service in public while rolling their eyes at home. The Jews, however, publicly refused to make Caesar equal to Jehovah, and this ultimately led to Rome sacking the temple in Jerusalem.
But before it got that bad, around 50 AD, the city of Rome passed a law that Jews were forbidden in the city. Many affluent Jews were forced to move away. Corinth was a popular “Plan B” place to live because it was a similar urban metropolis.
Acts 18 picks up the story when an affluent Jewish couple named Aquila and Priscilla are forced to relocate to Corinth. Paul (inspired by the Holy Spirit) sees a God-fearing crowd in Corinth ripe for the picking. He leaves Athens to work on planting a new church in Corinth. Here we learn that Paul could do tent-making work by trade. Aquila works in the same industry. They work together during the week while preaching in the local synagogue on off days.
Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 9 that he worked a day job so there would be no excuses to call him a peddler. The established church at Philippi, planted earlier by Paul, sends him a financial gift, and Paul lives off that money to preach full time. Paul spends 18 months in Corinth building a rather large church.
The Jews succeed in pressing legal charges on him, so he leaves to plant new churches elsewhere. Acts 18 ends the section by saying Aquila and Priscilla left with him.
Paul’s abrupt departure left the fledgling church with many questions. While working in other cities, Paul received letters with various requests for advice. After he compiled a stack of questions to answer, he wrote one epistle to answer them all.
His content in 1 Corinthians is a blend of theology, correction, practical advice, and personal encouragement. Here we see what it would be like to have Paul as our pastor. When he hears that haughty men think they outgrew his teaching, he sarcastically remarks “Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you” (4:8). He ends chapter 4 by promising to test these proud men on the basis of their power instead of their ideas. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not have Paul showing up at my house to test my power because I made him angry. That doesn’t sound like a winnable match.
After spending six chapters on blistering rebukes, Paul gets on to their questions. 1 Corinthians shows us a hard-nosed Jewish ex Pharisee pastoring the petty whimpers of ex pagan Greeks. At times he sounds exasperated. When addressing frivolous lawsuits between church members, he witheringly asks if there’s a shortage of wise men in their midst. Paul is an excellent debater, and by the time he’s done with you, there’s no way to defend yourself.
But when he moves on to their philosophical questions, he’s more relaxed. He easily slips into rabbi mode as he launches a comprehensive teaching on gifts of the Spirit in chapter 12. After three sublime chapters on love and spiritual ministry, he adds one more rebuke in 15. He ends the epistle by telling them to “quit you like men” (16:13) before signing off.
1 Corinthians is where we find the famous love chapter everyone knows (love is patient, love is kind..) as well as some theological insights mentioned nowhere else. Its greatest value, however, is that it shows us how the apostles corrected behavior in the church. Paul was not verbally abusive. No nasty words, no ranting and raving. He didn’t need to yell. His scathing rhetorical questions were brutal enough.
It seems that the church of Corinth took most of his instructions to heart, for in we see in 2 Corinthians that some corrections had been made. More on this in another essay. For more information on Paul, please read An Introduction to Paul.
Corinth was a major city in Greece. It sat on the coast and attended to many ships coming and going from across the Roman empire. Its culture was Greco pagan. However, an influx of wealthy Jews had led to a popular synagogue and many curious “God fearers” among the locals.
The Caesar family of Rome had been escalating a conflict with Jews. According to Roman mythology, Caesar was supposed to be a god-man appointed by the Fates to rule the civilized world. Opposing Caesar was thought to bring famines or plagues by angering the Fates. Therefore, the Imperial Cult organized to enforce loyalty to Caesar. Most people went along with it to get the government to stop badgering them, just giving lip service in public while rolling their eyes at home. The Jews, however, publicly refused to make Caesar equal to Jehovah, and this ultimately led to Rome sacking the temple in Jerusalem.
But before it got that bad, around 50 AD, the city of Rome passed a law that Jews were forbidden in the city. Many affluent Jews were forced to move away. Corinth was a popular “Plan B” place to live because it was a similar urban metropolis.
Acts 18 picks up the story when an affluent Jewish couple named Aquila and Priscilla are forced to relocate to Corinth. Paul (inspired by the Holy Spirit) sees a God-fearing crowd in Corinth ripe for the picking. He leaves Athens to work on planting a new church in Corinth. Here we learn that Paul could do tent-making work by trade. Aquila works in the same industry. They work together during the week while preaching in the local synagogue on off days.
Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 9 that he worked a day job so there would be no excuses to call him a peddler. The established church at Philippi, planted earlier by Paul, sends him a financial gift, and Paul lives off that money to preach full time. Paul spends 18 months in Corinth building a rather large church.
The Jews succeed in pressing legal charges on him, so he leaves to plant new churches elsewhere. Acts 18 ends the section by saying Aquila and Priscilla left with him.
Paul’s abrupt departure left the fledgling church with many questions. While working in other cities, Paul received letters with various requests for advice. After he compiled a stack of questions to answer, he wrote one epistle to answer them all.
His content in 1 Corinthians is a blend of theology, correction, practical advice, and personal encouragement. Here we see what it would be like to have Paul as our pastor. When he hears that haughty men think they outgrew his teaching, he sarcastically remarks “Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you” (4:8). He ends chapter 4 by promising to test these proud men on the basis of their power instead of their ideas. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not have Paul showing up at my house to test my power because I made him angry. That doesn’t sound like a winnable match.
After spending six chapters on blistering rebukes, Paul gets on to their questions. 1 Corinthians shows us a hard-nosed Jewish ex Pharisee pastoring the petty whimpers of ex pagan Greeks. At times he sounds exasperated. When addressing frivolous lawsuits between church members, he witheringly asks if there’s a shortage of wise men in their midst. Paul is an excellent debater, and by the time he’s done with you, there’s no way to defend yourself.
But when he moves on to their philosophical questions, he’s more relaxed. He easily slips into rabbi mode as he launches a comprehensive teaching on gifts of the Spirit in chapter 12. After three sublime chapters on love and spiritual ministry, he adds one more rebuke in 15. He ends the epistle by telling them to “quit you like men” (16:13) before signing off.
1 Corinthians is where we find the famous love chapter everyone knows (love is patient, love is kind..) as well as some theological insights mentioned nowhere else. Its greatest value, however, is that it shows us how the apostles corrected behavior in the church. Paul was not verbally abusive. No nasty words, no ranting and raving. He didn’t need to yell. His scathing rhetorical questions were brutal enough.
It seems that the church of Corinth took most of his instructions to heart, for in we see in 2 Corinthians that some corrections had been made. More on this in another essay. For more information on Paul, please read An Introduction to Paul.