Bible Challenge - First Corinthians

This is another of the letters attributed to Paul that was actually in all probability written by Paul.

The letter describes the issues of a particular local congregation - in this case one in Corinth - right around 55 AD.

Corinth was one of the most important cities in Roman Greece.  It was near Athens and Sparta - but it was one of the major trading ports on the Mediterranean.  Corinth was a cosmopolitan city.  It was made up of people from all over the Roman Empire and a variety of cultures, religions and ideas came together there.

Paul himself carried the message of Christ to Corinth and had done most of the work of establishing the church there.  Reading between the lines of the letter it seems as if his later relations with the church had not been smooth - there had been some tension between them.

Much of this letter is focused on dealing with divisions and problems between the people in the community of Christians in Corinth.  Paul is answering their questions about a variety of things.

We see in this letter the tension in the first century church (that continues to this day) of how to find the right balance between being enough a part of the culture that people around them were willing to listen to the message of Christ, and being separate enough from the culture that it was clear that they were different and set apart.

Pay attention especially to chapters 1, 13 and 15 for Paul's teachings on the cross, love and resurrection