1 Corinthians 13
6 April 2011
1 Corinthians 13 The book of 1 Corinthians is the seventh book of the New Testament and is located between the books of Romans and 2 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians is also referred to as the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, as it was a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the Church in Corinth. It has been debated that letters and epistles differ from one another in literary style, as letters where meant to be nonliterary, versus epistles were meant as a public literary form (Fee 56) . For the purposes of this paper, I will use epistle and letter interchangeably. We know the literary form of 1 Corinthians is a letter and/or epistle because it followed the standard form of ancient letters. The standard form of ancient letters, much like letters of today, contained six distinct pieces, name of the writer, name of the recipient, greeting, prayer wish or thanksgiving, body, and final greeting and farewell (Fee 56-57). Paul’s epistle contained all of these standard elements, Paul was the writer, the church in Corinth was the recipient, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father…” is the greeting, thanksgiving “I always thank God for you…”, the body, and then the farewell, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you” (Fee 57). Paul’s letter was written approximately 55 AD (“Corinth in the Time of Paul” 1) and was constructed to address rumors of non-Christian acts that were going on with Christians in the city of Corinth. The city of Corinth was a very influencial city in Greece at the time, as it was known for its commerce, culture, and religion (“Corinth in the Time of Paul” 1). “The city of Corinth was a very important hub in ancient Greece. Located between Italy and Asia this major trade center was bustling with ethnic diversity. Even though it was a commercial success, its immorality was unrivaled. The Aristophanes coined the term Korinthiazomai, meaning "to act like a Corinthian"-synonymous to sexual immorality. They
1 Corinthians 13 The book of 1 Corinthians is the seventh book of the New Testament and is located between the books of Romans and 2 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians is also referred to as the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, as it was a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the Church in Corinth. It has been debated that letters and epistles differ from one another in literary style, as letters where meant to be nonliterary, versus epistles were meant as a public literary form (Fee 56) . For the purposes of this paper, I will use epistle and letter interchangeably. We know the literary form of 1 Corinthians is a letter and/or epistle because it followed the standard form of ancient letters. The standard form of ancient letters, much like letters of today, contained six distinct pieces, name of the writer, name of the recipient, greeting, prayer wish or thanksgiving, body, and final greeting and farewell (Fee 56-57). Paul’s epistle contained all of these standard elements, Paul was the writer, the church in Corinth was the recipient, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father…” is the greeting, thanksgiving “I always thank God for you…”, the body, and then the farewell, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you” (Fee 57). Paul’s letter was written approximately 55 AD (“Corinth in the Time of Paul” 1) and was constructed to address rumors of non-Christian acts that were going on with Christians in the city of Corinth. The city of Corinth was a very influencial city in Greece at the time, as it was known for its commerce, culture, and religion (“Corinth in the Time of Paul” 1). “The city of Corinth was a very important hub in ancient Greece. Located between Italy and Asia this major trade center was bustling with ethnic diversity. Even though it was a commercial success, its immorality was unrivaled. The Aristophanes coined the term Korinthiazomai, meaning "to act like a Corinthian"-synonymous to sexual immorality. They
Cited: “Corinth in the Time of Paul.” Biblica. Zondervan. From the Zondervan NIV Study Bible. "exegesis." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2008. Merriam-Webster Online. 7 May 2008 Fee, Gordon D. and Douglas Stuart. “How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth.” 3rd ed. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1993. “History of the Book of 1st Corinthians.” JesusAnswers.com. Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, Thomas Nelson, Inc. 2008. Obama, Barack. “Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address.” January 20, 2009.