New Testament Study Helps:
    Paul's Letters to the Corinthians

Letters to the Church in Corinth

1. The Church in Corinth

The city of Corinth (situated in Greece) was set in a particularly advantageous situation. Not only did the main land route between East and West pass through it, but several sea routes converged on its two harbors. It consequently became very prosperous and was honored by being chosen the capital Of the province of Achaia and the seat of the Roman proconsul. Although surpassed in culture by Athens, it was nevertheless proud of its political status and mental acuteness. It had in the past acquired notoriety for vice and licentiousness. In the city was a small temple for the worship of the goddess Aphrodite. The population of the city was cosmopolitan, comprised of Romans, Orientals and Jews. The establishment of the church there is related in Acts 18. paul came to Corinth on his second missionary journay, after a not too successful visit to Athens. He made his home with two exiled Jews from Rome, Aquila and Priscilla, and began his evangelistic work in the synagogue. After a short time, owing to the opposition of the Jews, he turned to the Gentiles, making use of the house of Titius Justus and this resulted in many believing. There were therefore both Jews and gentiles in the Corinthian church. Paul appears to have worked there for a year and a half (Acts 18:11) and during this period was brought before the proconsul Gallio, who refused to take action against him. This virtually secured him from further attack from the Jews during his stay in the province. The Corinthian church was bound to be troubled with many problems arising from the impact of Christianity on its pagan environment. This background canin many places be traced in the Corinthian epistles. Many of the Christians were as yet undisciplined extremists and needed strong handling. None of Paul's churches seems to have given him such cause for concern as this one, for these Christians were setting a poor example for their pagan neighbors. They also did not take kindly to the apostle's authority, either because of a false estimate of their own importance or because of the teachings of false apostles among them. These two letters which have been preserved as our 1 and 2 Corinthians are invaluable for the light they throw, not only on the practical problems of a primitive community, but also on the personality of Paul.

2. Paul's Opponents at Corinth

Although the exact source of opposition tp paul at Corinth may not be precisely determined, it is undeniable that he had to deal with various groups of Christians with tendencies which were leading to an inadequate view of Christianity. Among these were libertines, who had misunderstood Christian freedom, ascetics who had adopted too rigid an approach to Christian behavior, and ecstatics who were allowing their spiritual experiences to lead to disorderliness. Not all these may be described as opponents to paul, but he saw that their policies would result in a contradiction of his gospel. It is possible that the main problem with which Paul had to deal was a wrong approach to eschatology. It has been suggested that the Corinthians had adopted a kind of realized eschatology in which they had imagined that the rapture (paraousia) had already taken place. This inevitably led to a confused view of the resurrection.

3. Paul's Relationship with the Corinthians

1. The most widely held theory regarding the history of Paul's relationship with the Corinthian church is the following:

   1. Paul wrote a letter, known now as the "previous" letter, in which he warned the Corinthians not to associate with immoral persons (1 Cor 5:9), but this appears to have been misunderstood (1 Cor 5:10-11).

   2. At the same time as hearing of their misunderstanding of his previous letter Paul heard reports of certain disorders in the Corinthian church from the household of Chloe. He possibly then received a delegation from the church in the persons of Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus who brought a number of questions which needed answering. As a result he sent 1 Corinthians.

   3. Timothy, who was apparently not sent with this letter but who had proceeded to Macedonia with erastus (Acts 22), may never have reached Corinth, for he is not mentioned in the body of 2 Corinthians but is linked with Paul in the salutation.

   4. Paul probably heard other adverse reports and decided to payy a visit which was a painful experience, and from which he was obliged to withdraw in haste (known as the "painful visit")

   5. On his return he sent a letter "out of great distress and anguish of heart" (2 Cor 2:4) in an attempt to rectify the matter. This letter, which was probably carried by Titus, is known as the "sorrowful letter".

   6. Paul had in the meantime left Ephesus and was awaiting the arrival of Titus at Troas wiht news of the reception of the "sorrowful letter". He failed to meet him there, but after he had moved to Macedonia Titus arrived with good news of the Corinthian situation.

   7. Paul wrote 2 Corinthians to express his relief at the success of his severe letter and Titus' mission.

   8. He later spent the winter at Corinth prior to proceeding by way of Macedonia to Jerusalem with the collection for the poverty-stricken Christians.

2. If this reconstruction is correct it means that Paul paid three visits and wrote at least four letters to the Corinthian church.

4. The Dates of the Epistles

Because of the complicated character of the historical background it is not possible to be quite certain about the dating of these letters, especially 2 Corinthian. The most widely held dating of the first epistle is in the spring of AD 57. The more important consideration for the Corinthian correspondence is the interval separating 1 and 2 Corinthians. This depends largely on the meaning "a year ago" in 2 Corinthians 8:10; 9:2. This appears to be the time when the collection for the poverty-stricken was commenced at Corinth, organized by Titus (8:6). But does this mean that at least a year must have elapsed between 1 and 2 Corinthians? The Macedonian New year began on September 21 and the civil calendar for the Jews coincided with a few days. If Paul had written in October he might have easily referred to the preceding Easter as "last year", and 2 Corinthians would then be placed in the autumn of the same year as 1 Corinthians, separated by about 7 months. This shorter periosd would just leave sufficient time for an additional visit and an additional letter between 1 and 2 Corinthians.

5. Outlines

In progress