1st Corinthians Bible Study

Following Jesus in a Pagan World: Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth

Class Date: March 23, 2025

Corinth was the capital of the Roman province of Achaia, with a population estimated to be about 600,000. It was the wealthiest city in Greece, with two major ports. The city had become a major crossroads of all nationalities, religions, and cultures. It was the most unashamedly profligate of the cities of the Roman Empire. Every faith and philosophy and dissipation made their home here.

Some of the problems Paul encounters in Corinth include:

1) The church is split in 3 ways, around three honored personalities (Apollos, Paul, and Peter) – 1 Corinthians 1:11-12

2) Some had become arrogant about their superior Christian knowledge and virtue. 1 Corinthians 4:8-13

3) One man was living in an open sexual union with his own stepmother – 1 Corinthians 5:1-3

4) Christians were suing one another in the civil courts – 1 Corinthians 6:1-8

5) There was much uncertainty as to what the Christian faith taught about marriage and sexual unions. 1 Corinthians 6:12-7:16

6) Many did not know what to do about the meat that was sold in the public market that had been sacrificed to idols – 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

7) Some questioned Paul’s apostolic authority – 1 Corinthians 9:1-2

8) The “agape meal”, which seemed to be a potluck out of which the Sacrament was shared, had two features which shocks Paul. The more well-to-do folks did not share their food with those of lesser status, and some people were getting drunk at Holy Communion. 1 Corinthians 11:17-22

9) There was disorder at the worship services – a confusion of roles and gifts, clashes with leadership, and practicing charismatic gifts with no understanding of rules – 1 Corinthians 12:12-30

10) There is a problem of the status and role of women, especially those that had recently come from paganism, and were used to being a bit more aggressive, and were immediately branded as immodest – 1 Corinthians 14:34-35.

11) Some Christians were telling other Christians there was no resurrection from the dead – 1 Corinthians 15:12

The appeal Paul makes throughout this letter is for Christian unity, with Jesus himself as the center, and this becomes the key passage to this letter. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.'” (1 Corinthians 1:18-19)

Paul is essentially saying that the ungodly world in which these Christian live is both corrupt and competitive. When Christians cease to make Jesus Christ central, the values and attitudes of this ungodly world invade and corrupt the Christian fellowship, and they begin to act just like everyone else in their culture. The behave like pagans, their minds become divided, and they are divided among themselves. The only cure is radical union with Jesus which enables them to be “crucified with Christ” and the rise to a type of self-forgetfulness and a new way of life – a life based on God’s love, inspired by Jesus.

Outline of Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians

I. Paul’s Introduction – 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

II. The Problem of Factions – 1 Corinthians 1:10-4:21

III. The Problem of Sex – 1 Corinthians 5:1-7:40

IV. The Problem of Understanding the Difference between Freedom and License – 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1

V. The Problem of Questioning the Resurrection of the Dead – 1 Corinthians 15:1-58

VI. Personal Matters – 1 Corinthians 16:1-12

VII. Paul’s Conclusion – 1 Corinthians 16:13-24

The Key to Reading this Letter

Returning to what we have identified as the “Key Passage” in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, Paul contrasts the “wisdom of humankind” with the foolishness(or nonsense) of God. The “wisdom” of humankind sees knowledge as power, justice as a defense of one’s own rights, and the pursuit of pleasure as a private matter. So, it is no accident that this “wisdom” produces rivalries that degenerate into open strife. But God’s love, made flesh in Jesus Christ, shows a far more excellent way, the way of the cross, which is the very “nonsense of God”. If we would be strong, we must be willing to be broken; only when we lose our self-assertiveness, our pursuit of conscientious rights, in the interest of doing God’s will can we come to understand this wisdom and experience its healing power. Then something more important than having our own way begins to happen within us, and it is no longer we who live but Jesus Christ who lives in us.