1 Corinthians
“An ancient text like 1 Corinthians cannot be properly understood unless it is read against the background of its historical context and as part of a dialogue with the Corinthian church itself.”
- James D. G. Dunn
Corinth the City
During the intertestamental period (the time between Malachi and Matthew), Corinth joined the Achaean League. Being the chief city of this Greek group who refused to submit to Rome’s demand to dissolve the league.
“Corinth had aroused Rome’s wrath as the chief city of the Achaean league, which revolted rather than submit to Rome’s demands to dissolve the league. The Roman military machine’s superior numbers and prowess led to the league’s inevitable defeat and the demolition of its leading city in 146 b.c. Lucius Mummius, the Roman general, sacked and burned the city. Reportedly, the male population was killed, the women and children were sold into slavery, and the city’s treasures were plundered. The extent of the destruction of the city may have been exaggerated by the ancient sources, but 146 b.c. marks its end as a normally functioning city.”
Julius Caesar made Corinth a Roman colony in 44 B.C. He named it Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis (Colony of Corinth in Honor of Julius). Corinth rose to prominence rapidly and was hailed as an important city within the Roman Empire. Corinth’s success is frequently credited to its strategic location.
Julius Caesar colonized it with people who made up the freedman class (the poor, which seemed to be increasing in Rome, and the restless army veterans). It quickly received a Roman identity because of the immigration of the Roman population.
It is estimated that during the 80s B.C., a portion of Italian farmers who left their farms for town resettled in Corinth. Those who settled in this city were one of three things: sold into slavery, unstable, or disreputable slaves.
This suggests that the first to arrive were desperate folks with no other options. There are claims that this new population looted the Greek tombs and started a “necrocorinth” market. This suggests the first colonists did not have much money.
“The city, however, was soon transformed from ruin to riches. The denizens of Corinth in Paul’s day were known for their wealth and ostentation. The new city allowed many aggressive freedmen and their heirs, who would have been freeborn, the chance to acquire wealth through commercial ventures. Without an entrenched aristocracy, the citizens of Corinth were not fated to stay within an allotted social position. They had a real opportunity for upward social mobility, primarily by attaining wealth and buying friendships and clients. The favorable economic climate attracted settlers from all over the empire who could work their way up the social ladder.”
Theme to Watch for
Paul wants to see unity among the church in Corinth.
About the Author
The author of this letter is Paul. The opening line in verse 1 says:
“Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes…” – 1 Corinthians 1:1 (ESV)
Paul wrote 1 Corinthians while staying in the city of Ephesus. The exact date of this event is uncertain, as it could have occurred in the spring of A.D. 53, 54, or 55. He wrote, in any case, towards the end of his three-year ministry in Ephesus.
About the Audience
Corinth was not an egalitarian society.
“It was an oligarchy that was ‘hierarchic and elitist, and therefore safe’ from a Roman point of view. De Vos notes that the elite ‘used a number of social control mechanisms to restrict access to their group, including wealth, marriage, and social ties.’”
The city was thriving and financially stable, but despite its reputation, many residents struggled with poverty.
According to David Garland, the following was said of Corinth during Paul’s time:
Alciphron (Epistles 3.60), a second-century writer, explained why he did not go to Corinth: “I learned in a short time the nauseating behavior of the rich and the misery of the poor.”
Murphy-O’Connor (1984: 148) interprets the proverb “Not for every man is the voyage to Corinth” (Strabo, Geogr. 8.6.20; Horace, Ep. 1.17.36) to mean that only “the tough survived there.”
Winter (1989) points to evidence of grain shortages after Paul left Corinth that resulted in famines worsening the divide between rich and poor.
Corinth was made up of a mix of ethnicities. There were Roman freedmen, Greeks, immigrants, and so on. There is an argument suggesting that Jews were part of the initial colonists and that they had a well-integrated and harmonious relationship with the broader community.
Although there was massive diversity within Corinth, Rome heavily influenced the culture. They identified as Romans. Some have said that Corinth was more so Greek, but these claims have been reevaluated because of the time. During Paul’s visit, the city found itself situated in Greece geographically, but its cultural atmosphere was more aligned with Rome.
“The Romans were dominant; they brought with them not only their laws but also their culture and religions. But the Roman world had been thoroughly Hellenized; and since Corinth was historically Greek, it maintained many of those ties—religion, philosophy, the arts. And from the East came the mystery cults of Egypt and Asia and the Jews with their synagogue and “peculiar” belief in a single God.
The scattered pieces of evidence from Acts, 1 Corinthians, and Romans suggest that the church was in many ways a mirror of the city. In 1 Cor 12:13 Paul interrupts his argument to emphasize the diversity of those who have all become one body—Jew, Greek, slave, free.”
Historical & Cultural Factors to Keep in Mind
What’s the deal with Apollos?
“Some time after Paul left Corinth Apollos, a learned man from Alexandria, arrived there. He had been in Ephesus teaching Christianity, though he knew only John’s baptism. There Aquila and Priscilla ‘explained to him the way of God more adequately’ (Acts 18:26). Armed with this new knowledge, Apollos went to Achaia, of which province Corinth was the capital. Here his eloquence was employed in ‘proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ’ (Acts 18:28). This implies that preacher and hearers alike looked for the coming of the Messiah (the Christ). Apollos was able to say, ‘The Messiah you expect is Jesus and Scripture makes this clear.’ His method of preaching probably differed from that of Paul. Paul’s preaching had a studied simplicity (1 Cor. 2:2–4), that of Apollos was probably highly rhetorical (Acts 18:24, 27–28). There was no fundamental difference in the message preached, for Paul speaks of Apollos as continuing the work that he had begun (1 Cor. 3:6, 8). But the difference in presentation was enough to cause a certain partisanship with some of the Corinthians.”
How did the culture influence the Corinthian church?
“The implications of this backdrop for understanding the problems that beset the Corinthian church should not be underestimated. Few Christians could have been unaffected by the dominant culture surrounding them, even if they assimilated its values only subliminally. Most, if not all, of the problems that Paul addresses were hatched from the influence of this setting. Values that were antithetical to the message of the cross—particularly those related to honor and status so basic to the Greco-Roman social system, in which power manifesting itself in ruthlessness and self-advancement is thought to be the only sensible course—percolated into the church, destroying its fellowship and its Christian witness as some members sought to balance civic norms with Christian norms. Secular wisdom—which reflected the code of conduct of the social elites, who jostled one another for power, prestige, and popularity—had its hold on members of the church. Its values played havoc on Paul’s attempt to build a community based on love, selflessness, and the equal worth of every member. Corinthian society was riddled by competitive individualism, and this ethos spilled over into the relationships in the church as wealthier members competed for followers. Socially pretentious and self-important individuals appear to have dominated the church. It is likely that they flaunted their symbols of status, wisdom, influence, and family pedigree and looked down on others of lesser status. They appear to have wanted to preserve the social barriers of class and status that permeated their social world but were nullified in the cross of Christ. For some, the Christian community had become simply another arena to compete for status according to the societal norms.”
How many letters were there in total to the church of Corinth?
3 letters in total that we know.
The letter before 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians
A “severe” letter
2 Corinthians
Sosthenes
Sosthenes was with Paul when he wrote this letter. This is believed to be the same person Paul was with in Acts 18:12-17 who was beaten in front of the tribunal instead of Paul and “Gallio (the governor) paid no attention.”
