Study Guide:  1 & 2 Corinthians

Most (but not all) of the Corinthians were lower-class:
[N]ot many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  (1Cor 1:26)

Events Leading to the Writing of 1Cor
Paul, Timothy, and Silvanus first visited Corinth after Thessalonica.
After they departed, a person named Apollos visited and taught the community and established a following.  (1Cor 1:12; 3:4-6)
Paul then at some point traveled to Ephesus, where he wrote 1Cor.  (1Cor 16:8)
1Cor was written in response to inquiries by two groups of Corinthians.

1. "Chloe's people" (likely slaves) have visited Paul tell Paul that the Corinthian Church is conflicted (1Cor 1:11)
2. Three other members of the churchóStephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicusóhave brought Paul a letter seeking advice on some issues in conflict in the community.  (1Cor 7:1; 16:15-18)

Paul addresses a variety of issues, from baptism to eating the meat of pagan sacrifice to sexual morality.  Our in-class discussion on 10/23 will attempt to reconstruct some of the discussions Paul had with his followers in Corinth and some of the problems the Corinthians faced.  Be certain to review your notes on this discussion for the final exam.

1. Paul, Silvanus, & Timothy visit Corinth & convert some people (2Cor 1:19)
2. Paul writes his first letter to the Corinthians; this letter is lost (see 1Cor 5:9)
3. Some of the Corinthians write to Paul and possibly others contact him as well (see above re 1Cor 1:11; 7:1; 16:15-18)
4. While in Ephesus, Paul writes his second letter to the Corinthians, which is now known as 1Cor (1Cor 16:5-7)
5. Paul visits Corinth a second time (see 2Cor 2:1-4)
6. Paul writes a third "painful" letter to the Corinthians, which now consists of 2Cor 10-13
7. Paul writes a fourth "conciliatory" letter to the Corinthians, which now consists of 2Cor 1-7 or possibly up through chapter 9

• Chapter 8 consists of a recommendation letter for Titus as an organizer for a collection for the church in Jerusalem
• Chapter 9 consists of another letter concerning another collection

A collection of Paul's letters probably circulated around the Roman Empire by the end of the first century.  Here is the evidence:

• Acts was written in 80-85 CE and demonstrates familiarity with the congregations and characters in Paul's letters.
• 1 Clement, a letter written to the Corinthian church at the end of the first century, refers to Romans and 1 Corinthians.
• In the early second century, the Bishop of Antioch, Ignatius, writes about collections of Paul's letters.
• 2 Peter, written in the first quarter of the second century, refers to Paul's letters as an addition to "scripture" (2 Peter 3:15-16)

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus...so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gifts as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (1Cor 1:5-8)

Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.  (1Cor 4:5)

I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none.... (1Cor 7:29ff.)

See also 1Cor 15:21-26 for a description of the parousia or coming of Jesus Christ.

For this momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure.... (2Cor 4:17)
 
 

• When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom.  For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.  (1Cor 2:1-2)
• Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you haold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to youóunless you have come to believe in vain.  For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received:  that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in the accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  (1Cor 15:1-5)  Note that no where in Paul's account of the resurrected Jesus in chapter 15 does he mention Jesus's appearance to the women at the tomb.

Belief in the resurrection of Jesus will save Christians at the coming end of this age, but it does not give them the authority to act superior to others or to do whatever they want in this age.  Faith in the crucified Christ should be a humbling experience:

• I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom... (1Cor 2:1)
• And I came to you in weakness and in fear and trembling.  (1Cor 2:3)
• [Paul instructs the Corinthians] so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one against another.  For who sees anything different in you?  What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?  (1 Cor 4:6-7)
• For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. We are fools for the sake of Christ.  We are weak, but you are strong.  You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.  To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the work of our own hands.  When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly.  We  have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.  (1Cor 4:9-13)
• Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.  Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."  So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  (2Cor 12: 7-9)

• But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.  For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.  But each in his own order:  Christ the first friuts, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.  (1Cor 15:20-23)
• Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead?  If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?  (1Cor 15:29)

Christians' belief in the resurrection of Jesus and future participation in the resurrectionmeans that they all form a part of the body of the resurrected Christ.  They are all members of Christ's resurrected body.  Consequently any sin or honor of any member in the community affects the rest of the community.

• For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with christ.  For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one bodyóJews or Greeks, slaves or freeóand we were all made to drink of one Spirit.  (1Cor 12:12)
• Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.  (1Cor 12:27)
• If one member suffers, all suffer together with it;  if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.  (1Cor 12:26)

Most scholars believe 2Cor 6:14-7:1 is a non-Pauline fragment.  It's vocabulary, style, and ideas are dramatically different than the rest of 2Cor.  Moreover, it interrupts Paul's discussion in chapters 6 & 7 about Christian love:
6:13:  In returnóI speak as to childrenóopen wide your hearts also.
6:14-7:1:  Do not be mismatched with ubelievers.  For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness?....Since wie have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.
7:2:  Make room in your hearts for us; we have wronged no one....
 
 

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Bibliography
Ehrman, Bart D.  The New Testament:  A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. 2d ed.  New York:  Oxford University Press, 2000.
Duling, Dennis C., and Norman Perrin.  The New Testament:  Proclamation and Paranesis, Myth and History.  3rd ed.  Fort Worth:  Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1994.
Meeks, Wayne A., ed.  The HarperCollins Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version.  New York:  HarperCollins, 1993.

Copyright 2001 by Caroline T. Schroeder