seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Corinthians 1: Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas[b]”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
18 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. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[c]
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[c]
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[d]
a. 1 Corinthians 1:10 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 11 d 26; and in 2:1; 3:1; 4:6; 6:8; 7:24, 29; 10:1; 11:33; 12:1; 14:6, 20, 26, 39; 15:1, 6, 50, 58; 16:15, 20.
b. 1 Corinthians 1:12 That is, Peter
c. 1 Corinthians 1:19 Isaiah 29:14
d. 1 Corinthians 1:31 Jer. 9:24
OK.... this is from the easy English site.
Corinth was an important city. It was on a very narrow section of land (called an ‘isthmus’) in the southern part of Greece.
1. It was the capital city of the region called Achaia.
2. It had two harbours. The harbour on the east coast was 4 miles (6 km) from the harbour on the west coast. Today a canal joins the two harbours. In Paul’s time, people pulled small boats across from one harbour to the other one. They dragged them on a kind of ship railway. Porters carried goods from large boats to the other side. They put the goods on a different boat. The journey would otherwise have been over two hundred miles round a very dangerous part of the sea.
3. As it was a busy centre for trade, Corinth was a good place for the gospel to spread. Merchants and travellers would hear the message and take it with them. There were many different people in Corinth. There were Romans because it was a Roman colony. (A colony is a city or country that another country controls.) There were Greeks, Jews, people from Asia and from further east. There were rich people and many slaves.
4. There was a temple to Aphrodite, the Greek female god of love. There were thousands of prostitutes in the city. Many of them belonged to this temple. Corinth became well-known for bad sexual behaviour. To live ‘like a Corinthian’ meant to become a drunk often or to visit prostitutes.
5. The Isthmian Games took place near Corinth. They were famous and only second in importance to the Olympic Games.
‘Christ’ is the Greek word for Messiah. It means the king that God would send to his people. Paul emphasises that he is an apostle because of God’s plan. He describes himself in this way in other letters. But it was important for him to state his authority to the Christians at Corinth. Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:1-23 show that some Christians at Corinth doubted whether he was an apostle. They doubted his right to tell them the truth and to give them advice.
Sosthenes may have been the same person as the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth. People had hit him in front of the ruler Gallio (Acts 18:12-17). Sosthenes had become a Christian and he had travelled with Paul to Ephesus. He may have acted as Paul’s secretary. Paul calls him ‘our brother’. So, the Christians at Corinth must have known him.
‘In complete agreement’ translates a medical word. It is about a way to join bones together that are broken. So, they must mend the broken unity of the church. Then the ‘body’ of the church will be healthy.
Chloe may have been a business woman whose servants had travelled from Ephesus to Corinth. They had brought back news about the quarrels in the church at Corinth.
Paul speaks about four groups:
1. Those who used Paul’s name. They may have been Gentiles. They were perhaps using Paul’s teaching about Christian freedom as an excuse to behave badly. One group liked Paul. But other people opposed him.
2. Those who used Apollos’s name. Apollos was a Jew from Alexandria. He knew the Scriptures and he could speak very confidently. He had visited Ephesus. Aquila and Priscilla had taught him more about the Christian faith. The Christians in Ephesus then encouraged him to go to Corinth. There he was very successful when he *preached the gospel (Acts 18:24-28).
3. Those who used Peter’s name. We do not know whether Peter ever visited Corinth. But the people there knew that he travelled with his wife (1 Corinthians 9:5). His supporters probably said that he had been the leader of the 12 apostles whom Jesus chose. Jesus had called him a ‘rock’. Jesus had made a special resurrection appearance to him (Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5).
4. Those who used Christ’s name. Those people probably said that they were the only real Christians in Corinth. But the words may be Paul’s own remark about the situation. ‘I, Paul, belong to Christ’.
Paul’s work was to preach the gospel. Who baptised whom was not the most important point. It was important for the Christians at Corinth to know the real nature of the gospel. The message was simple. Christ died on the cross. To speak with clever words and ideas would attract attention to the speaker. Then the message of the crucifixion would lose its power to save people.
The Jews thought that the idea of a crucified Messiah was an insult to God. The Romans crucified only slaves and dangerous criminals. And the Jews believed that anyone who hung on a tree as a punishment would suffer God’s anger (Deuteronomy 21:23). They did not think that the message in Isaiah 53 was about someone who would suffer for other people.
The Jews also expected wonderful signs when the Messiah came. In the past, God had done wonderful miracles for their nation. So they expected him to perform even greater miracles by his Messiah. Therefore the Jews kept on asking Jesus for a sign to ‘prove’ that he was the Messiah. But he refused (Matthew 12:38-39; John 6:30).
The Greeks thought that God does not feel human emotions. And they thought that he cannot change. Therefore, God could not become a man on earth. The idea that ‘the word became a physical person’ (John 1:14) was impossible. The Greeks also liked to discuss ideas. And they liked to speak in clever ways. The message about the gospel was simple. Paul preached it in plain words. A crucified God seemed to be the mad idea of people with little education.
This opinion is from the bibletrack.org site.These Corinthians had some problems - big problems
Paul deals with some Christian-living issues in his writings to the Corinthians that he doesn't address to any of the other churches to whom he wrote. These people, made up predominantly of Gentiles, brought a lot of pagan culture into the church. After all, the city of Corinth where they lived was the home of the Temple of Aphrodite. In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. Our English word Aphrodisiac comes from this mythological character. Because Corinth was home of two separate converging shipping ports, a lot of commerce passed through the city. Thus, it was always full of sailors looking for a "good time." And the temple did not disappoint them. Temple-sponsored prostitution was provided for all the visitors and residents alike. It was commonplace there - so much so, that in the minds of the residents, abuse of alcohol, sexual promiscuity and brawling represented normal conduct. In I Corinthians, Paul deals with issues of sinful practice within the church itself that go way beyond what Christians today can even imagine. It's a gross understatement to simply make the observation that this was a very spiritually-troubled church.
I wonder.... if Paul was around today.... how would he compare Corinth to the United States. I also wonder if this is where people started getting the idea they could help God choose who would share their pew.... by choosing the preacher.... maybe the principles will change.Jesus said there were only two rules..... not 10..... Just 2. Jesus said.... Love God with all your heart, mind and soul.... and Love each other.....
Now those good people who love Jesus and love each other were introduced to the prostitutes of Aphrodite... Is this where the goody two shoes were born? Did one message make the hookers and johns feel better about themselves than another? I'm pretty sure Peter's message would be different that someone who grew up in a town with a temple full of whores.... Peter grew up on the water.... fishing.... following strict rules.
I have a problem with Paul calling himself an Apostle. He was a disciple..... yes... Jesus knocked him down and blinded him..... but Paul never sat down to have a talk with Jesus. Peter.... on the other hand..... Peter sat with Jesus.... and then denied him..... and probably never really got over that.... even though Jesus did.
I also have a problem with Paul calling for the preachers to talk in simple language..... not as an orator..... this same Paul the grand orator who preached so long one of the guys who had moved to the window to get a little air.... was put to sleep by Paul's going on and on and on.... and he fell out the window.... and now Paul says keep it simple..... that's rich.
So I can see why Paul was saying that the preaching could split the church..... everyone should just stick to the script...... the same script..... the true Gospel.... not making one preacher more famous than another...... but making Christ the center of it all...... after all..... He did give His life for us. It would be a real shame if bickering over which church was right, or who could join the church, or the rules of the church..... detracted from the message..... and someone didn't get the message.
