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Synopsis The New Testament
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Corinthians, the seventh book of the New
Testament, was written by Paul to get across that Jesus is alive (15:3-18) and that we will be resurrected (15:35-38), among other things. Today there is no dispute that Paul is the author of I Corinthians. “Both external and the internal evidence for the Pauline authorship are so strong that those who attempt to show the apostle was not the writer succeed chiefly in proving their own incompetence as critics.”1 As internal evidence, Paul identifies himself as the author in 1 Corinthians 1:1 and 16:21. External evidence of
Paul writing this letter is supported by people such as
Clement of Rome (c. 95-97) and Augustine (c. 400). The letter was written to the people of Corinth. Corinth was a strategically located Roman city on the main land route between East and West and was the crossroads for several sea routes. Corinth was famous for its intellectual and material prosperity and was honored with being the capitol of Ancaia. It also became famous for its corruption. Paul began his ministry there on his second missionary journey.
He converted many influential people in Corinth, thus he stayed for a year and a half. Most likely, Paul left Corinth in the fall of AD 51. Paul returned to Corinth on his third trip to Asia, c. fall, AD 52. Paul then wrote this letter from
Ephesus while on his third trip to Asia. Paul wrote the letter several years after his initial departure from Corinth in the fall of AD 51-52. The letter was written before the beginning of the summer since Paul intended to leave
Ephesus after Pentecost. It was also written before winter since Paul wanted to come to them and spend the winter.
Paul wrote the letter four or five years after his initial departure from Corinth. Paul had many points that he wanted to get across in I Corinthians. For instance, the purpose of the letter was to address problems in the local churches of Corinth. Also, to counter worldly wisdom with
Spiritual wisdom, and to answer questions that Corinthians had brought to Paul. (7:1,25 8:1) Furthermore, he wanted to deal with the several moral problems and the divisions that had formed as people had divided into fan-clubs and were proclaiming themselves followers of Paul, Apollo,
Peter or Christ. During this time the Corinthian church had many problems. Most of these problems were the result of pride and placing so much emphasis on social status. In
Corinth there was a lack of church discipline and an abuse of the Christian liberty. Paul dealt with these problems one by one, but the pinnacle of Paul’s argument is in chapter 13
According to Robert J. Matthews, “Paul suffered persecution throughout his missions, loss of all physical goods, and eventual martyrdom. Only a certain kind of disposition could tolerate such a life for a period of twenty-five or thirty years.” During Paul’s last days, he was taken to Governor Felix in Caeserea in 58 AD where he was sentenced to 2 years in prison. Paul appealed to Caesar in Rome. He finally arrived in Rome where he remained under house arrest for a couple more years. This is the time when he wrote many of his books. Paul was released from prison and traveled for a couple more years in much of the identical regions that he traveled before. He most likely died in prison as a martyr in 67 AD.
Scholars of the Pauline writings have divided them into the following categories: (1) those unquestionably by Paul: Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, I Thessalonians, and Philemon; (2) a letter that was probably written by Paul, but has had serious questions raised about its' authorship: II Thessalonians; (3) letters that were not actually written by Paul but were developed from his thought: Colossians and Ephesians; (4) letters that bear Paul's name but clearly come from another time and different set of circumstances in the church: I and II Timothy and Titus (the so-called Pastoral Letters); (5) a letter not bearing Paul's name and which evidences a wholly different thought and religious vocabulary from that of Paul: the Letter to the Hebrews (Kee, 5th Ed. 224).
Throughout many of Paul’s letters there are many debates pertaining to the authorship, destination, date, and the purpose. In the book of Ephesians many scholars debate on the authorship and if Paul actually wrote the letter, or if it was a scribe. Although there are some debates on whether Paul actually wrote it or not, he does refer to himself twice in the letter. In 1:1 and in 3:1 Paul states himself, 1:3 states, “For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles” (NIV) In verse 1:3 Paul states that he is a prisoner, therefore it is debated that he did not specifically write this because he was imprisoned in Rome at this time. According to Wallace “This, of course, is not to say that the letter must be by Paul, but it is to argue that without such internal testimony, no such claim could be made” (Wallace). Many scholars also debate on the vocabulary usage and the structure of the letter. Some believe that the structure is similar, but the vocabulary seems to be different than his New Testament epistles. Hoehner claims that,” Though the book has a close affinity with Colossians, critics claim that Ephesians is uncharacteristic of Paul” (Hoehner 613). The destination of Ephesians is somewhat debated, but many do believe that the letter was sent to the church of Ephesus. “Some to claim that Ephesus is a better starting point, others suggest Caesarea.” (Wallace) Although this is an argument that has many valid points, it is obvious that Paul was imprisoned in Rome while he wrote Ephesians. It is said by Hoehner that “Ephesians was probably delivered by Tychicus (Eph. 6:21-22), who also took Paul’s letter to Colossians (Col. 4:7-9)” (Hoehner 613). As for the date goes m...
The sixth book of the New Testament, Romans was written by Paul in the Greek city of Corinth around A.D. 57. Paul had never been to Rome when he wrote the letter, though he clearly states his desire to travel there soon. Paul writes to Rome to tell them of his plans to visit them, inform them of his plans to go to Spain, praise them, offer them advice, and to seek their prayers. In the letter, Paul greets twenty-six people by name. It seems as though Paul, being a personal stranger to most of the recipients, is trying to create a personal connection to his audience in order for his message to be better received.
Grayston, Kenneth. The Letters of Paul to the Philippians and to the Thessalonians. CBC. London: Cambridge U.P., 1967.
Virtually all scholars accept the Apostle Paul as the author of Philemon. Paul, who was formally called Saul prior to his work as an Apostle, was born in the city of Tarsus, the Capital of ancient Cilicia. Tarsus was declared a free city by Rome, thus making Paul a Roman citizen. He was Jewish by blood from the tribe of Benjamin. Paul studied under the teaching and influence of the rabbi Gamaliel and became a Pharisee. As a Pharisee, Paul possessed a rigid adherence to the letter of the law and strongly opposed and fought against Christianity. Paul was converted to Christianity by Jesus on a persecution journey to Damascus in AD 33. After his conversion, Paul became a missionary to the Gentile world. He is believed to have written at least thirteen books of the New Testament before his death in AD 67-68.
In 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul set out to address the issues of exclusivity and the divide among the converts of Corinth that has been caused because of spiritual gifts. Paul set a guideline to his converts in Corinth to create order and conduct during times of worship in 1 Corinthians 14:26-33. Doing so, Paul hoped that the divide that has been caused from those with special or “exclusive” spiritual gifts do not cause other believers to become jealous or envious. Paul’s guideline to the Corinthians showed the leadership that Paul had that allowed him to guide the Church to become Hellenistic in just one generation.
The books of I and II Thessalonians, which are in the New Testament, are both letters to a church that Paul the apostle helped establish in the city of Thessalonica. First Thessalonians is agreed by biblical scholars to be written by Paul. The author of II Thessalonians, however, is still being debated about.
First of all, Paul's words in I Corinthians chapter 7 are in response to a question asked by some of the Corinthian saints who had previously corresponded with him. Paul is writing to
Standing at the edge of a clearing, Corinthia could not believe that the old man sitting on the other side was the famous wizard Loki. Clearing her head with a purposeful shake, she strode up to the wizard and fixed him with an intimidating glare. The wizard lifted his wrinkled face and examined her intently, taking in her long, bronze hair, soulful blue eyes, and ragged purple dress that hung on her emaciated, porcelain frame. She, in return, took in his mud-stained blue robe, pointed hat as wrinkled as his face, and a great oak staff that twisted and turned as if it were still alive and trying to escape his grasp. “Hello my lady. What do I have the pleasure of helping you with today?” His voice retained so much sarcasm that it grated her nerves. Corinthia raised an unimpressed eyebrow and pointed at her throat, looking him straight in the eyes. Loki raised an equally unimpressed, though smoky grey and bushy, eyebrow and returned her stare. Corinthia sighed in frustration, pointed at her throat, at him, at her empty coin purse, and back at her throat. Recognition dawned on Loki’s face, “Ah! I see… you don’t have a voice… that could only mean one thing… You want your voice back!” She nodded her head vigorously, not catching the mischievous glint appear in his eyes. “Well. Seeing as you, obviously, don’t have any coinage to buy back your voice... how do you intend to go about this little plan of yours?” His smirk was infuriating but all she could muster was confused stare. “Look kid, something tells me if you got this far then you got some spunk in you. How about we make a deal, eh? If you can complete three tasks, I’ll give you your voice back. What do you say?” Corinthia gathered all of her resolve and firmly shook his proffered ...
The Apostle Paul is known as the greatest missionary of the early church. Paul, who once vowed to wipe out belief in Jesus Christ, was later converted to do the work of Christ. He would author almost half of the 27 books in the New Testament. He endured sickness, rejection, and repeated attacks on his life to bring the message of God's grace and forgiveness to Gentiles. Paul was the apostle largely responsible for the solid inception and growth of Christianity. He spoke before Jews, Greeks, and Romans. Paul is known as the apostle to the Gentiles. He defended God's Word before kings and emperors of this world. By the end of his life, much of the Mediterranean world had been reached with the gospel.
Veres 12-28 of chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians illustrates the influence Paul had on the formation of early Christianity. To Corinth, Paul rationalizes that if Corinth believes that there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ himself could not have been risen and if Christ has not been risen then their faith is in vain. Paul uses their own faith against them in a since as with his argument he forces Corinth to either reconcile with Paul’s views of resurrection or seemingly disband with Christianity altogether. As Paul himself claims in 1 Corinthians 3:6 to have founded the church in Corinth it seems most unde...
I attended the Sacred Heart Catholic Church located in Cotulla, Texas. The church was a nice, structured well-kept small building. The entrance were two wooden doors. To the left and to the right of the entrance were two dishes that contained holy water. As people were passing entering the house of God, I watched as they dipped their finger and motioned the sign of the cross. The seats were wooden benches, very nicely polished. The worship space was beautiful. A big statue of Jesus on the Cross was on the wall. To the right of the worship space was a medium sized statue of The Virgen Mary with flowers around and a kneeler. There were also candles lit and some that were not. On the side walls were beautiful, glass pictures of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from beginning to end. I also saw doors on the side of the church used for confession.
should be condemned. The sin Paul criticizes is not homosexuals as a whole, but the sins of prostitution, idolatry, and other pagan practices.
This period, the Geometric period, is well known by many transformations and startling innovation in Greek architecture and sculpture. The population has increased, and people have moved from the isolated settlements to the city states. The Greeks also moved to the new teritories to the east, and to the west. In that, new-concured teritories, the Greeks founded commercial trading posts and colonies. Also in this period, new script was adopted the Semtic alpha...