This letter is part of Paul’s correspondence with the Corinthian congregation founded by him and composed of Gentile Christians. The problems of Galatians and Romans, written to Christians with Jewish and Roman legal concepts, are different from those of I Corinthians, and, thus, the justification language is absent.

Except for the brief communication with Philemon (see below), I Corinthians is the most specifically practical, situation-oriented of Paul’s letters. No other Pauline letter is so directly devoted to the consideration of practical and theological problems, many of them apparently communicated by the congregation through correspondence or by delegations. The letter, therefore, does not tend to stand as a unit and it is not uniform in its treatment of the varying situations.

Literary criticism—or redaction—has traditionally split the letter into several fragments with a presumed historical development within a relatively short period in the Corinthian church. Paul’s reference to a previous letter of his in chapter 5, verse 9, has been the object of scholarly efforts to restore the earlier letter. The fragmentary and not-too-uniform nature of both I and II Corinthians, however, precludes much probability of success in such searches.

Writing from Ephesus c. 53 or 54 upon hearing from a certain Chloe’s people that the church was rent by party factions, Paul tried to bring unity to the congregation. Whether these factions actually represented outside interference (e.g., Cephas [Peter], Apollos, or others) or were factions of the congregation under the influence of a widespread heresy of the time is a question perhaps best answered by the fact that the factions do not come up again after I Corinthians, chapter 1, and that I Corinthians, chapter 3, reduces the factions to Apollos and Paul, who claims he is head of no party. The Christ “party”—i.e., those who claim no party at all—(1:12; cf. 3:23) may be the only “party” Paul advocated because Christ is not divided. Paul warned that Christians should not fashion themselves into parties under various leaders, because all these leaders are servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God through whom Christians come to belief. The church is not a society with competitive philosophical schools.

The letter is a response to difficulties caused or increased by a relatively strong group in Corinth that may be described as “enthusiasts.” This group of enthusiasts may have been proto-Gnostics (early religious dualists not yet organized into definite sects). The Corinthian enthusiasts did, however, have some characteristics that would later be found in 2nd–3rd-century Gnosticism: a belief in salvation through spiritual knowledge or wisdom communicated by a revealer (not a redeemer); an otherworldliness that could lead either to licentiousness (scorn) or asceticism (withdrawal); and a basically dualist and deliberately syncretistic system of beliefs using the mythical speculations and magical ideas of their time.

The Corinthian problems might well be traced to such enthusiasts. Their gnōsis (“esoteric knowledge”) was a religious knowledge that gave them the feeling of superiority over more pedestrian Christians. This gnōsis Paul identified as false wisdom. In chapter 14 Paul describes the views and related practices of those maintaining that they have spiritual gifts of inspiration, especially speaking in tongues (glossolalia) and gnōsis. Such enthusiasts prized eloquent or secret wisdom; they sought a revealer who had come into the world hidden from the evil powers and known only to those, the pneumatikoi, or the spiritual elite, who recognize him; and they tolerated gross immorality by claiming anything to be lawful for them (especially their slogan quoted by Paul: “for me all things are lawful”). These enthusiasts also rejected marriage because it furthered the propagation of the present evil world; they claimed to possess knowledge that made them indifferent to the world; and they believed that their salvation was guaranteed by ritual and rites. Though they prized spiritual gifts, they scorned the ordinary Christian services for the community; and they did not believe in a future resurrection of the dead, which in their system had no place or was nonsense.

The main Pauline answer (e.g., as emphasized in chapter 13) was that love, namely concern for the building up of the community, surpasses all knowledge or spiritual gifts and that love is a corrective because it demands service, edification (i.e., building up) of the church, and involves Christians with one another. Those Corinthians whom Paul viewed as opponents emphasized gnōsis over against love. The discussion of the resurrection in chapter 15 sheds further light on this. The opponents did not deny the Resurrection of Jesus Christ about which there was common agreement, but rather they debated about the future resurrection of Christians from the dead. Their view was perhaps similar to that reported as heresy in II Timothy, chapter 2, verse 18—i.e., the believer already had eternal life and that a future resurrection of the body was meaningless. In holding such a view, Paul’s opponents claimed they were faithful to the received kerygma (proclamation).

Another indication that some Corinthians had no disagreement with tradition but interpreted it too enthusiastically is found in I Corinthians, chapter 11. The liturgical formula pertaining to the Lord’s Supper is sound:

The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (11:23–25.)

In a discussion of the sacraments in chapter 10, however, the enthusiasts probably believed in a rather magical efficacy of Baptism and the Eucharist, though Paul qualified such an interpretation and took exception to it. The misunderstanding of the enthusiasts points to a special reinterpretation of Scripture and tradition (which resembles that of the 1st-century Jewish philosopher Philo and also the later Gnostics)—taking Scripture, tradition, and liturgical practices as effectively bringing about an otherworldly, spiritual reality immediately for those who really understand (i.e., those who have gnōsis). Paul also criticized these spiritualists for their disregard of the poor members of the congregation, who found no food left when they came from their work.

Discussions about Christian and apostolic freedom (in chapters 5, 6, 7, 9, and 11) and also a discussion about being free to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols and leftovers of pagan sacrifices sold in the marketplace were caused by conflicts with the enthusiasts who paraded their spiritual freedom, strength, and superiority at the expense of their weaker brothers in the faith, who were not ready for this freedom. A shift in the discussion in chapter 12 (the body and its members are equal in Christ)—from a very speculative idea of the body of Christ to a more metaphorical one that is reminiscent of Stoic philosophical ideas about society as an organism—can best be understood if it is assumed that the enthusiasts actually pressed for a mythical understanding of Christianity, in which one became literally incorporated into Christ, otherworldly, and divine. Paul added some qualifications that brought the church into concrete everyday life and even provided a source of political reality. A somewhat drastic understanding of spiritual gifts that was presupposed and criticized by Paul in chapters 12–14 fits well into such a pattern.

Permeating all the discussion of individual topics in I Corinthians is the theme of Christian unity and edification, a topic introduced and underscored in the preface and thanksgiving of this letter and in its introduction. Such unity is defended as being very inclusive, real, and concrete—as over against the enthusiastic attempt to speak in terms of spiritual reality and achievement, in which the true life of the spirit is only for the few (i.e., the Gnostic elitists).

Paul viewed the necessity of unity in the wisdom of God as it is evinced in the scandal of the cross. In order to deflate the exalted and to make foolish the destructive (speculative) wisdom established by men, God showed his wisdom in the “foolishness” of Jesus’ crucifixion. Here, although hidden, is God’s true wisdom. The opponents hailed their ideal teachers as bringers of hidden wisdom. To this Paul said that it is Christ who is the Wisdom.

In chapters 5 and 6 Paul dealt with certain ethical scandals and difficulties in the congregation: incest and fornication; the use of pagan courts for settling disputes among Christians; traffic with prostitutes—all for the demonstration of Christian “freedom.” These wrongs might have been the direct or indirect consequences of the spiritual “powers” of the enthusiasts. According to Paul, however, such immorality was impossible for the Christian because of the concreteness of his allegiance to Christ and of inspiration (with the idea of the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit).

Because Paul expected an imminent Parousia (Second Coming of Christ), he suggested (chapter 7) the unmarried state as the preferable one, but conceded that marriage can prevent fornication. Paul even advised against breaking up mixed marriages between baptized Christians (both Jews and Gentiles) and unbaptized Gentiles. He advocated the practice of ascetics living together as “virgins,” male and female, although he took this as a strain that is hard to bear and thus suggested marriage in unbearable cases. Not only the imminence of the Parousia but also radical change (“the form of this world is passing away”) caused Paul, on the whole, to affirm the social status quo—whether it concern circumcision, slavery, or other matters. Everybody is advised to remain—for the short time ahead—in the state in which he finds himself. Such eschatological fervour caused Paul to argue against any worldly anxiety, fear, or worries stemming from them. This is reflected in the ethical criterion of possessing things as though one did not have them.

In chapter 9, Paul used his own conduct, in contrast to that of the enthusiasts who flaunted their freedom in such a way that it often had destructive influences, as a paradigm for an understanding of responsible freedom. Here he showed by various examples from his own life-style that he had never made use of his rightful privileges to the fullest, that he has, rather, been guided by what serves the weaker brothers and sisters. It is in this sense that he subdued his body and that he urged the spiritual “snobs” to imitate him.

In chapters 11–14, Paul turned to problems of corporate worship. Paul did not question the right and ability of prophetically gifted women to make inspired statements in Christian worship, but he pointed out that women need protection. Arguments about a veil or long hair for a woman are in the context of the church’s worship before God himself, in which the congregation worships in the presence of the angels. Paul stressed the subordination of women in chapters 11 and 14; they are forbidden to speak in worship. In chapter 14 Paul stated (perhaps) a general principle that would allow for exceptions in cases of clear prophetic inspiration of women (cf. however, Galatians, chapter 3, verse 28).

In discussion of proper restraint and mutual regard in celebrating the Lord’s Supper, Paul seemed to presuppose a prior common meal (possibly an agape meal) as part of the eucharistic celebration. This common meal, however, had apparently been devalued because of the interest of the enthusiasts in the sacrament itself. As a result, the communal aspect showed up social differences in the community; and some brought ample food, whereas others, of lower station, had nothing. In view of this, Paul again used the criterion of love and suggested that people eat their meal at home and then come together, being sensitive to each other’s needs. The Lord’s Supper would then be what it is, a proclamation of the death of Christ in anticipation of his return; mutual and corporate concern and responsibility thus become a part of the Eucharist.

Similarly, mutual edification and love are linked in chapter 13 as the appropriate centre of the discussion of spiritual gifts, manifested particularly in public worship (chapter 14).

The emphasis on the communal aspect of the church is continued in chapter 15. Paul did not dwell on his own vision of Christ nor on his role in founding the church at Corinth but rather argued for the resurrection of all as a future experience, not as though each person had already had this experience. Paul viewed the resurrection as a collective phenomenon in the expectation of an end-time resurrection from the dead, with Christ as the first fruits of those who have died.

That love is to extend beyond the immediate community and be shared with all the saints (members of the church) is demonstrated in chapter 16, the closing chapter, by the collection for the Jerusalem church. The keynote might be: “Let all that you do be done in love.” The final passage—including the cry: “Our Lord, come!”—may reflect or repeat a eucharistic formula or setting.