I & II Corinthians Date: 54/55 Written From: Ephesus (3rd miss. Tour) Themes: I Cor -Division, Maturity, Morality II Cor – Reconciliation, Paul defends himself

Church in Corinth Priscilla and Aquilla helped start it –They had left Rome when Claudius kicked out all the Jews – 49 AD Strong arguments, riots, over “Chrestus” Jews and Jewish Christians debating over “Christ” – the Messiah He kicked them all out Paul came in 51; stayed 18 months

“Because the Jews of Rome were indulging in constant riots at the instigation of Chrestus, Claudius expelled them.” (Suetonius, Life of Claudius, 25)

Overview of 1 Corinthians Chs. 1-4 The Church is divided: –Cephas, Apollos, Paul, Christ –Social, economic, intellectual, religious division –Along lines of house churches? Not clear. –Paul says such division is a sign of immaturity. 5 & 6 Other examples of immaturity: –Someone is living with his father’s wife. –Some are taking each other to court. –Some are visiting prostitutes.

7 Paul begins responding to some of their questions. –The first is about marriage and relationships between men and women The second question deals with participating in worship of pagan gods. –Some were eating food at pagan festivals and at pagan temples, others thought it wrong –Paul’s response deals with the issue of love, exercising individual rights, and respect for others.

11-14 Several questions about worship: –Their worship was not very edifying. Their immaturity and selfishness had made worship a “showcase” for some. –The Lord’s Supper was a fiasco, people with spiritual gifts were “showing off,” men and women were creating a scene. –Paul gives several guidelines to make their worship more orderly and edifying. Take turns, if no one there to interpret the tongues, then don’t speak

–13 emphasizes the importance of love and how this principle should direct all that we do. 15 The resurrection of Jesus is the bedrock of Christian faith. –The resurrection in the future has tremendous implications regarding how we live now. 16 Plans for travel and greeting of individuals.

Themes of 2 Corinthians In the first part Paul describes the recent events leading up to writing 2 Cor. He also answers several of the criticisms brought against him. He deals with the idea of the Lord preparing one for ministry in contrast to the idea that we are competent within ourselves.

We have a ministry of reconciliation – ch. 5. Encouragement to participate in Paul’s collection for the Christians in Judea who were suffering from a severe famine. (8-9) Strong defense of his ministry against those who were still opposing his integrity and apostleship (10-13).

After Paul sent 2 Corinthians ahead with Titus, he stayed for a while in Macedonia. Then he went to Corinth for a while before he took the special collection to Jerusalem. While still in Corinth, he wrote the Church in Rome. On his way to Jerusalem, he stopped and visited the elders from Ephesus in the city of Miletus (Acts 20).