The Paganism Of Corinthians

There is a general agreement among scholars that 1 Corinthians was written by the important early Christian missionary Paul of Tarsus. In late 56 or early 57 a.d., Paul was in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor. He addressed a series of letters to the Greek city of Corinth, which he had visited between 50 and 52 a.d., and where he had transformed both Jews and Gentiles to the Christian faith. Corinth was located on the bridge connecting the Peloponnesian peninsula to the Greek mainland, and its helpful position allowed it to become a wealthy merchant city. Prosperity, however, carried pagan hedonism. Corinth developed a status, widespread throughout the ancient world, for sexual immorality. Paul’s letters to the Christians at Corinth address his concern over a pressing issue: the widespread immorality associated with the paganism of Corinth. This immorality had begun to infect the Corinthian church. Paul was deeply worried for the spiritual health of the Corinthian church, which had been deprived of his guidance for several years. As a result, Paul agreed at greater length with the Corinthian church than with any of the other communities that he established. The New Testament preserves two of these letters, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and makes reference to at least one other lost letter.

Paul’s letter is remarkable in that it pushes the Corinthians toward unity rather than moral division. He does not command resolving whatever differences may exist between the factions of the Corinthian church. Rather, he reminds them of the all-important unity that binds them and replaces their differences. Throughout 1 Corinthians, the themes of unity and the importance of freedom of conscience within certain moral boundaries are constantly stressed. T...

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... but his emphasis on unity does not reflect any willingness to compromise his religious faith. Paul’s accepting attitude has limitations, and 1 Corinthians is filled with Paul’s righteous outrage. He does not hesitate to “say this to your shame” to the Corinthians, nor to rebuke them for their moral misdeeds (15:34). In this letter, Paul assumes the voice of a stern but loving parent. He says, “In Christ Jesus I became your father” (4:15), and he tells the Corinthians, “I fed you with milk” (3:2). The family of believers is open to all who are faithful. Unlike many of the early Christians, Paul is willing to accept Gentile as well as Jew: “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body . . . slaves or free” (12:13). But acceptance does not mean tolerance of repeated misdeeds and the refusal to repent: “Drive out the wicked person from among you” (5:13).