Book Written: 54 A.D.
Time Period/Setting: Written by Paul from Ephesus to the Gentile Christian community in Corinth, a bustling city with a diverse population, in Achaia, a Roman province
Title: self-explanatory
This letter of Paul, called first, is actually Paul's second letter to the Corinthian community per HC. Paul had founded this Christian community and he's writing to them concerning problems that have arisen: leaders proclaiming themselves to have special knowledge, adultery, fornication, prostitution, the persistent problem of clean and unclean food along with the matter of circumcision and resurrection to name a few. Really, Paul covers the spectrum from head coverings to law suits. He was a tireless crusader for the faith certainly and a relentless apologist for it as well, always stressing Christ and his message as the extension of God's covenant with Abraham and the Law.
There are many passages in First Corinthians that read a bit more poetically than those where Paul hammers away at the disobedient Corinthians. Chapter 12 tells of the Church as being many members but one body, and Chapter 13 is the entirely beautiful passage about love (the Greek word used for love here was
agape). He writes of the resurrection of body in Chapter 15 as the "perishable body" putting on "imperishability."
Paul does dip in to some dangerous territory by modern-day standards in Chapter 14 much more so than his comments on marriage in Chapter 7. Women, he says, should not speak in church! Oh well, perhaps it would be easier all around if we did keep quiet, along with everyone else who may really have nothing whatsoever to say.
