Chapter 2
Historical Context
In doing literary analysis we need to understand the
background of the Epistle, such as: the author, the addressees, the date, and
the purpose. The author of this Epistle is clearly stated in the prologue of
the letter; he is the apostle Paul (1 Cor 1:1). Peter Naylor said: “The author
of this epistle was a remarkable man. Quite apart from his Jewish upbringing in
Jerusalem and his origins in a major Greek University, Tarsus, he was also a
Roman citizen[1] and except for some ultra
radical critics who go so far as to question whether Paul ever existed, the
Pauline authorship of the epistle has been generally accepted.[2]
To whom it was addressed is
to the church of God at Corinthians and Paul wrote this first Corinthians epistle
from Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:8). The Corinthians, to whom he writes, as
well as all other believer, had been set apart because they were called by God
to be ‘saints’, or holy people.[3]This city was the scene of
Paul’s labors for “three years” (Acts 20:31) and the chief center of his
activities during his Third Missionary Journey (Acts 19; 20:1). He was about to
depart for Greece and Macedonia when the letter was written, but hoped to
remain at Ephesus “until Pentecost” (1 Cor. 16:5–8). However, circumstances
hastened his departure (Acts 19:21 to 20:3). These observations enable us to
date the letter in the spring of a.d.
57.[
Historical
Situation in Corinth city
Corinth (Gr. Korinthos) is an ancient Greek city lying
about 5 mi. Southwest of the present canal crossing the Isthmus of Corinth
(Paul’s First Missionary Tour). To the south was a mountain about 1800 ft. (c.
550 m.) high rising steeply from the lowland, on the summit of which, called
the Acrocorinthus, stood a citadel and a temple of Aphrodite. The
location of Corinth on the only land connection between northern Greece and the
Peloponnesus, as well as the fact that the city had harbors on two gulfs (the
harbor of Cenchreae, about 7 mi. [c. 11 km.] east of Corinth on the
Saronic Gulf, and the harbor of Lechaeum, 11/2 mi. [c. 2.5 km.] west on
the Corinthian Gulf).[5] This Geographical location
accounts for its known success in commercial trades.[6]
Ancient Corinth in Paul’s
time was a prosperous city where a good number of inhabitants would have become
well-to-do merchants who flourished on the prosperity of the Roman colony.[7] Furthermore Strabo writes: “Corinth is called
‘wealthy’ because of its commerce, since it is situated on the Isthmus and is
master of harbors, of which one leads straight to Asia, and the other to Italy;
and it makes easy to exchange of merchandise from both countries.”[8] The Corinthian economy was
more wide-ranging than that of many other Roman colonies. In addition to
agriculture, Corinth was known for manufacturing and trade, especially of
bronze, and the Isthmian games.[9] It is not surprise if Paul
pleaded a help from the church member of the Corinthians to help the saint who
are poor in Jerusalem.
Historical context of Corinthian church
The
description of Corinth prosperity is the kind of environment with which the
Corinthian church members were surrounded. The spirit of individualism was
strong in this city, since people came from different nations, lineages and
social statuses. In addition there was a constant temptation to immorality and
impurity in this city. It is plausible that Corinthians church member had many
problems as Paul mentioned in his epistle.
A
brief reading of the first Corinthians epistle shows that this church was struggling
with various internal problems such as: fraction quarrels among the church
member (1 Cor. 1:10-4:21), promiscuities and indifference church member’s
attitude toward them (1 Cor. 5:1-13; 7:1-39),
eating food which was scarified to idols (1 Cor. 8:1-13), rampant
immorality (1 Cor. 6:12-20), the Lord’s supper (1 Cor. 11:1-33), overvaluing of
the gift of the tongues (1 Cor. 12:1-14:39) and women speaking in the church (
1 Cor. 14:34-36), as well as the validity of the resurrection of the dead (1
Cor. 15:1-58). Furthermore regarding the problems which the Corinthians
congregation were facing, as Siegfried expounded:
“After the apostle’s departure from Corinth
numerous doctrinal and practical problems had arisen, and word was brought to
Paul at Ephesus, perhaps first by Apollos, a learned and eloquent Christian who
had labored earnestly to build up that church (Acts 18:24 to 19:1; cf. 1 Cor
16:12). Also, members of Chloe’s household, who belonged to the Corinthian
church, had come with disconcerting news of the state of affairs there (1 Cor
1:11). Further information came with the arrival of Stephens, Fortunatus, and
Achaicus (ch 16:17, 18), who may also have brought the letter of which Paul
speaks in ch 7:1, in which the church asked Paul’s judgment on certain matters.
Gross practices were corrupting the church and dissipating its life and
vitality, and heretical doctrines were being taught. Paul wrote a letter, now
lost, admonishing the Corinthians to amend their scandalous ways and to
discipline the guilty persons (ch 5:9, 11). From 2 Cor 2:1; 12:14; 13:1 some
have inferred that Paul himself paid a brief, unrecorded visit to Corinth during
this period of labor at Ephesus, one that had proved to be a painful and disappointing
experience. At least he sent Timothy there (1 Cor 4:17; 16:10), quite likely as
the bearer of what we now call his 1st epistle to the Corinthians—actually his
2d letter to them. In this letter he promised to visit Corinth, hoping to leave
Ephesus after Pentecost (ch 16:8). However, an unexpected event, the riot led
by Demetrius the silversmith, forced him to leave the Asian city sooner than he
had intended (Acts 19:21 to 20:3). Paul had also dispatched Titus to Corinth,
in a further endeavor to settle affairs at Corinth prior to his own arrival.
Titus was to rejoin Paul at Troas (2 Cor 2:13), but his failure to do so led
Paul to press on into Macedonia.”[10]
Even though Corinthians
church had so many problems in that time, however in spite of this challenges
they are facing Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians, Paul wrote: “Now about the collection for God's people:
Do what I told the Galatians churches to do. On the first day of every week,
each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income,
saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.” Paul was promoting a special project on
behalf of needy believers in Jerusalem (cf. 2 Cor. 8; 9). Years before he had
been the bearer of a special gift for the famine stricken from the church at
Antioch (cf. on Acts 11:28–30; 12:25). Paul carried a burden on his heart for
his fellow Jewish Christians (cf. Gal. 2:10).[11] Furthermore Gill expounded:
“The economic conditions and burdens in Palestine were oppressive upon
both Jew and Christian. It has been estimated that the combined taxes, both
civil and religious, reached the staggering total of almost 40 per cent of a
person’s income. For the common people there was no hope of escaping poverty.
In addition, the church in Jerusalem suffered much persecution. The majority of
the believers there were poor, some of them as a result of becoming Christians
(cf. Acts 4:34, 35; 6:1; 8:1; 11:28–30). They needed help from their more
fortunately situated brethren in other places (see Acts 8:1; AA 70). Paul had
undertaken the responsibility of soliciting help for them from other churches
that he visited, and he appealed to the Corinthians to do their share by
setting before them the example of their sister churches in Achaia and
Macedonia (Rom. 15:25, 26; 2 Cor. 8:1–7).”
[1]Peter Naylor, A
Commentary on 1 Corinthians (Durham,
NC: Evangelical, 1996), p. 11.
[2]Francis D. Nichol, ed., SDA Bible Commentary (SDABC), rev. ed. (Washington, DC: Review and
Herald, 1980), 7:575.
[3]Naylor, 22.
[4]Francis D. Nichol, ed., SDA Bible Commentary (SDABC), rev. ed. (Washington, DC: Review and
Herald, 1980), 7:575.
[5]Horn, Siegfried H., Seventh-day
Adventist Bible Dictionary, (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing
Association) 1979.
[6]Wendell Willis, “Corinth” Eerdmans Dictionary of the
Bible, ed. David Noel Friedman (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), p.280.
[7]Joseph A., The Anchor
Yale Bible: First Corinthians(New Heaven: Yale University, 2008), p. 32.
[8]Anthony Thiselton C., The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids, MI:, 2000) p. 156.
[9]The Isthmian games
were a big event. They were held every two years on the isthmus in honor of
Greek god Poseidon, god of water and sea, horses and earthquakes. When Paul was
in Corinth, however, the games may have been held in the city (the games moved
back to the isthmus about 50-60 C.E.). Both men and women competed in these popular pan-Hellenic games. For those more interested in the arts or who
wanted a mix of physical and intellectual competition, musical and oratorical contests were held at the same time in a theater on the isthmus.
[10]Horn, Siegfried H., Seventh-day
Adventist Bible Dictionary, (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing
Association) 1979.
[11]Francis D. Nichol, ed., SDA Bible Commentary (SDABC), rev. ed. (Washington, DC: Review and
Herald, 1980), 7:575.
[12]J. Paul Sampley, The New Interpreter Bible v.10;
Introduction to Epistolary Literature Roman Corinthians, (Nashville: Abingdon,
2002), p.996.
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