Notes and Intro to 1 Corinthians

Notes on 1 Corinthians

Written around 56 AD

See the background of the journey in 1 Thessalonians

After Paul's planting of the church in Corinth, a man named Apollos comes and teaches. Peter also visits and begins to encourage the believers. After a second trip to Corinth, Apollos shares some of the stories of believers returning to their previous lives of sexual sins, idol worship and stealing from everyone.

Paul writes a letter to address some of these issues, but this letter has been lost. We have no copies, only the comments from Paul about this letter. This letter is delivered to the city with Titus. The letter is accepted, money given for the people in Jerusalem and Titus returns to Ephesus.

Soon, a believer named Chloe visits Corinth then meets Paul in Ephesus and shares even greater sexual sins, lawsuits between Christians, Dualistic ideas that encourage people to pervert worship into time with prostitutes, sick and dying people, and slaves who come late to meetings only to have the food and drink for their common meal consumed by the wealthy who are drunk by the time the slaves are free to join.

Questions come from other people that the Church in Corinth wants Paul to answer.  Paul finally stops and writes 1 Corinthians to address the problems and answer the questions.