Letter 2 of 14 · Overview available
1 Corinthians
A church formed by the crucified and risen Christ must live as one holy body, shaped by love rather than status.
Corinth was a prosperous, competitive Roman colony. The young church Paul founded there (Acts 18) had fractured into factions around favorite leaders, tolerated serious sexual immorality, took one another to court, and turned the Lord's Supper into a display of social inequality.
Paul responds to oral reports ("Chloe's people," 1:11) and to a letter from the church (7:1). Repeatedly he brings every issue back to the cross, which overturns worldly wisdom and status (1:18–2:5), and to love, without which even spectacular gifts are worthless (ch. 13).
The letter closes with the earliest written summary of the resurrection appearances (15:3–8) and an extended argument that Christ's bodily resurrection guarantees the future resurrection of believers.
- Date
- c. AD 55
- Written from
- Ephesus
- Recipients
- The church of God in Corinth
- Chapters
- 16
- Stage
- Third journey (Ephesus)
- Author
- Paul the Apostle
Written from Ephesus before Pentecost (1 Cor 16:8).
Why Paul wrote it
News of quarrels and moral problems, plus questions about marriage, food offered to idols, worship, spiritual gifts, the resurrection, and the collection.
Why it matters today
It is the most practical window into an early church's struggles — and shows how theology shapes everyday decisions.
Related Acts passages
- Acts 18:1–18
- Acts 19:1–10
- Acts 19:21–22
The World Behind the Letter
Refounded as a Roman colony by Julius Caesar in 44 BC, Corinth controlled two harbors and hosted the Isthmian Games. Its culture prized rhetoric, patronage, and public honor.
The church gathered in households; meals for the Lord's Supper likely reflected the host's social hierarchy (11:17–34).
Purpose and Problems
Sexual immorality and lawsuits
A man living with his father's wife; believers suing believers.
Literary Structure
- 1
Greeting and thanksgiving · 1:1–9
Paul thanks God for gifts given in Christ.
- 2
Divisions and the wisdom of the cross · 1:10–4:21
Leaders are servants; the cross is God's wisdom.
- 3
Moral disorder · 5:1–6:20
Discipline, lawsuits, the body as a temple.
- 4
Marriage and singleness · 7:1–40
Answers to the Corinthians' letter.
- 5
Food offered to idols · 8:1–11:1
Freedom limited by love; Paul's example.
- 6
Worship · 11:2–14:40
Head coverings, the Lord's Supper, spiritual gifts, love.
- 7
The resurrection · 15:1–58
Christ raised; the resurrection body.
- 8
Collection and closing · 16:1–24
Plans and greetings.
Passage-by-Passage
Theological Themes
My Notes
Sources
- Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT, rev. ed., 2014)
- Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC, 2000)