The Corinthian Epistles

Introduction to 1 and 2 Corinthians

Written by George Goldman

“The Corinthian Correspondence,
A Church with Problems”

Paul visited Corinth for the first time on his second missionary journey (Acts 18). He remained there eighteen months and made his home with two exiled Jews from Rome, Priscilla and Aquilla. After being forbidden to preach in the synagogue, Paul made use of the house of Titus Justus. Many of the Corinthians, Jew and Gentile, believed and were baptized. Paul himself baptized Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue; Gaius; and the household of Stephanus (1 Cor. 1:14-16).

Often a city influences the church more than the church influences the city. This was certainly the case in Corinth. Corinth was about the size of Memphis, Tennessee, in population. It had a very bad reputation. In the stage plays people from Corinth were always depicted as drunkards. To live like a Corinthian was to live a life of fornication and drunkenness. The Corinthians worshiped Poseidon, the god of the sea, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love. In Aphrodite’s temple there were more than a thousand priestesses of vice. Paul spoke out against this sin again and again (1 Cor. 5:10; 6:9; 10:7, 8; 2 Cor. 6:14; 7:1; 12:21). He wrote the book of Romans from this city that probably contributed to his terrible description of heathenism (Rom. 1:21-32).

First Corinthians was written to a church with problems. In the first four chapters the problem of divisiveness is discussed. In 97 A.D. Clement of Rome wrote another letter, which still survives today, and shows that divisions still existed at Corinth. In 1 Corinthians (5 – 6) Paul deals with the problem of moral lapses. Chapter 7 begins with “Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote.” This formula denotes the questions the Corinthians had written to Paul. These questions concerned: marriage (1 Cor. 7), meats sacrificed to idols (1 Cor. 8 – 10); disorders in public worship (1 Cor. 11); spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12 – 14); the resurrection (1 Cor. 15); and the contribution for the poor saints at Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16).

In 2 Corinthians Paul elaborates further on the collection scheme (2 Cor. 8 – 9) and defends his apostleship.

Today if you visited ancient Corinth you could see the ruins of the ancient market place (1 Cor. 10:25) with its refrigeration system of cold water. Also you could touch the starting marks for the runners in the Isthmain games, which consisted of melted copper poured into stone. Among the ruins of the temple of Apollo you could drink from a foundation of running water. You could climb the 2,000-foot Arco-Corinthies where the temple of Aphrodite once stood. You could also visit the ruins of two ancient Greek theaters. At the entrance of one was found in inscription, “Erastus, city treasurer” (Acts 18:22; 2 Tim. 4:20).

On 1 Corinthians 16:1

Why Does Paul Mention "the Churches of Galatia"?

Written by Dr. Jeremy Barrier

In regard to Paul's mention of the Galatian churches in 1 Corinthians 16:1, the significance is unknown! Paul wrote a letter to the churches of Galatia, but this does not really bring us any closer. First, "Galatia" is not a city but is a work that represents an ethnic group of Celtic people who migrated from southern Germany in the third century BC down into Macedonia, Thrace, and then over into Turkey, and finally residing in central Anatolia (Turkey). These people were called Celts or Gauls or Galatians. After Rome established themselves in Turkey during this time period, by the time that Paul wrote this letter (circa 48 AD), Galatia was also a word that referred to a Roman Province in southern Galatia, as northern Galatia, home to the Celts, was still largely unmanageable by Rome with a quasi-independent state. It was just slightly more independent than Palestine at this time.

So, when Paul uses the term "Galatians" it is uncertain who he means. Could he have meant his letter to the Galatians? Maybe. However, Paul does not seem to address giving of money very much in the Galatian letter that we have (Galatians 2:10). What he does say here is not in regard to how money should be gathered. We know that Paul wrote multiple letters (See 1 Cor 5:9; Colossians 4:15-16), and even letters now lost, thus we can conclude that there must be another letter that was written to the Galatians that has now been lost. In addition, it is uncertain of whether or not the Galatians were good givers or not. Did he single them out to commend them or reprove them?

What is certain is Paul is making mention of them here, because he is trying to emphasize that he was encouraging a practice of setting aside money, in advance, everywhere he went. The reality of the ancient banking systems is that if Paul were to gather money for the poor in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:10), then he would not be able to use a debit card, ATM, credit card, check, or paper money. He would have been carrying coins of various metals. This would be heavy and dangerous, and it is something that Paul thought should be done in advance, with preparation. This is especially important for churches around the world were people are more like "day laborers" than what we experience in most of the USA. A day laborer, lives from one day to the next, and if anything is going to be given to God, it needs to be cut out of the daily amount every day or every week, and slowly, very slowly, an amount can be set aside to be used in the service of God!