1 Corinthians 1-7

As you read Corinthians this week here are some things you might think about and pay attention to.

This letter was probably written in Ephesus to a community in Corinth that Paul knew well, and that he helped to found. Paul has a letter from the Corinthian group asking him questions, and has had visitors from Corinth who have given him information. His letter is a direct response to both of those sources of information. It addresses specific and concrete concerns and controversies. Paul's responses are developed from a perspective of faith, and therefore allow him to in turn expound upon that faith as the common elements to his responses become clearer. So we see here Paul's thoughts on the righteousness of God, the trustworthiness of God's promises, on faith alone leading to salvation, on the diversity of the body of Christ, on the freedom we attain in Christ, and on the centrality of the resurrection of Christ and it's implications for human life.

Here are some specifics to think about:

-On Sunday, Dr. Maia Kotrosits talked about how these letters would have been read at social meals of no more than 12 people. So picture the tiny groups reclining around a courtyard and reading this letter together.

- The almost immediate frustration that Paul has with the Corinthians--how does that color the entire letter? Keep that frustration in mind.

-What does Paul say about who they are? They are not wise, not powerful not noble. How would this have sounded to them?

-Paul's style is often to contrast one thing to another, for example the flesh vs. the spiritual. What does dividing up life and contrasting things do for Paul rhetorically? What does it do for us as readers?

-Paul defines who he is to the Corinthians (the planter,God's steward, like a father figure)--does this help us to understand who Paul might be for us today?

-Paul gets to some specifics: he doesn't like that a man is living with his father's wife and he doesn't like that one member of the community took another to court. What do both of these problems suggest about community? How do we read responses that are so directly to the Corinthians?

- The we get to a lot of things about human sexuality. Keep in mind the emphasis on fleshiness, and the way that Paul does not want sameness to be at the root of this community. He thinks they should be able to retain their flesh-y differences, and yet still be able to eat a meal together. And remember the importance of time: Paul really thinks the end of all things is near, and hopes that some people will be able to just hold off sex until the end comes.

-Finally in all this about sex, Paul says "I want you to be free from anxiety"--thinking back to how Paul understands himself as a father figure to the Corinthian community, what does it sound like to read this section as fatherly advice? And how then are we connected to it?