The Four Letters to the Corinthians
Upon arriving in Ephesus, having visited Jerusalem and Antioch, and in
the midst of planting a new congregation, Paul began a lengthy
correspondence with the Corinthian church, a correspondence both revealing
and puzzling. The numbering of the canonical letters as First and Second
Corinthians is roughly accurate, but not entirely helpful. An analysis of
the apparently tidy First and Second Corinthians in our Bibles brings to
light evidence of a not so tidy history of this correspondence.
Some four different letters or parts of letters are discernible:
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| Letter P, “the Previous Letter,” which probably has not survived; it is
referred to in 1 Corinthians 5:9.
Letter L, “the Laundry List of Problems Letter,” our canonical First Corinthians.
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Introduced here is a new system of enumeration, keyed to a descriptive
word, and avoiding the confusion caused by numerous and conflicting uses
of A, B, C, etc.
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Letter H, “the Harsh
Letter,” a letter fragment found in 2 Corinthians 10-13; it is
a forceful defense of his apostleship in the face of accusations by the
Corinthians and inroads by competing teachers; this letter appears to be the
“tearful letter” referred to in 2 Corinthians 2:3-4 and 7:8.
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The reasons for identifying chapters 10-13 with the “tearful letter”
are given in Paul and Corinth (2)
and The X-Letter (a) to (c).
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Letter R, “the Letter of Reconciliation,” a letter fragment found in 2 Corinthians 1-9; it
reflects reconciliation with the Corinthians after the bitter lovers’
quarrel between Paul and the people in Corinth.
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2 Corinthians 9 may in fact be yet another
letter fragment, separate from chapters 1–8. See discussion of the Follow-up
Letter, in F-Letter.
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With the sequence of the Corinthian letters in place, we will be in a
position to find appropriate places for other letters of this Ephesian
period, i.e. Galatians, Philippians and Philemon, and for other developments such
as his imprisonment, the work on the collection, and his intermediate visit
to Corinth.
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Letter P:
“The Previous Letter” to the Corinthians
As for Letter P, 1 Corinthians 5:9-11 makes it clear that our
canonical First Corinthians was not the first letter which Paul addressed
to them. In a previous letter, he had offered them advice on regulating
the moral life of the still young community, warning them not to associate with
sexually immoral people. This admonition had been misunderstood and
misrepresented, and when Paul learned of this problem he set about
clarifying his views, in Letter L (1 Corinthians).
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1 Corinthians 5:9-11 9I wrote to you in my
letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons—10not
at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or
idolaters, since you would then need to go out of the world. 11But
now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of
brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater,
reviler, drunkard, or robber. Do not even eat with such a one.
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This initial communication, Letter P, through which Paul re-established
contact with Corinth, may also have contained an announcement of the
collection, which had been agreed to at the Jerusalem Conference, and
perhaps also news of other actions of the apostles. The letter was
probably delivered by Titus, who would likely also have provided verbal
reinforcement of the request for a generous contribution for the relief of
the poor in Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:6, 10).
There is at least a slim possibility that a fragment of Letter P has
survived in 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1, a passage which interrupts the
flow of thought between 6:13 and 7:2, and which bears a rough resemblance
to the point in Letter P, where Paul bids them not to associate with immoral people.
However, the non-Pauline characteristics of 6:14–7:1 make such a view
difficult to defend, even if we assume (a) that the Corinthians have
misunderstood what Paul wrote, and (b) that Paul did not remember
precisely what he had written.
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Letter L = 1 Corinthians: The
Laundry List
of Problems Letter
To skim through 1 Corinthians:
 | Note the messages which the Corinthians have sent Paul; |
| Note the kinds of topics which Paul discusses; and |
| You might note points where Paul makes a positive contribution
to your thinking, and points where Paul seems dated. |
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What had been happening since Paul wrote Letter P?
• As we have already
noted, he was likely obliged to face a situation of mortal danger, in the
episode of “fighting with beasts in Ephesus.”
• In the
intervening period between Letters P and L,
Paul or one of his associates had been instrumental in founding other
churches in Asia, besides Ephesus (1 Corinthians16:19).
• We also know that
Paul had sent Timothy to Corinth, and that he was at the time of Letter L en
route to Corinth, perhaps by way of Macedonia, or even Athens (1 Corinthians 4:17;
16:10-11).
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1 Corinthians 15:32; click on Fighting
with Beasts. Compare 1 Corinthians 4:9, on becoming “a
spectacle to the world. . . .”
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From a close study of
1 Corinthians it is evident that a two-way conversation
was going on between Paul and his congregation in Corinth. Of special
interest are the references to an epistle they had written to Paul, in which
they request advice
| about unmarried persons; |
| about food offered to idols; |
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about spiritual gifts; |
| about the organization of the collection; and |
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the return of Apollos.
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The Corinthian epistle
to Paul is implied from 1 Corinthians 7:1, 25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1, 12.
Apollos by this time had made his way to Ephesus from Corinth.
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But given the relatively easy travel between
Corinth and Ephesus, Paul had also received information by personal visits from some of the
Corinthian folk: from Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus
(1 Corinthians 16:17); from Chloe's people (1 Corinthians 1:11);
and from Apollos, if he had recently arrived from Corinth
(1 Corinthians 16:12). What Paul learned from these conversations
was in some respects more alarming than what he found in the
letter:
| divisions in the congregation, 1:11; |
| the incestuous man, 5:1; |
| the misinterpretation of Letter P, 5:9-10; |
| litigation between members of the church, 6:1; |
| divisions and disorderly conduct at meals, 11:17-22; questions about
dress, etc., 11:2-16; and |
| questions about the resurrection of believers, chapter 15.
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Further information on the pre-history of Letter L is summarized in
scenario.
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| Thus Letter L is in
considerable measure a “reactive” letter, responding to questions,
crises, controversies, and challenges; it surely addresses a wider range
of issues than any other he wrote. At first sight, the letter, apart from
a lengthy discourse on the resurrection and on end-of-time events,
might give the impression of Paul as a theological light-weight. But what
we find on closer analysis is Paul the pastor- theologian at work,
developing his ideas in response to the barrage of questions which we have
identified. The problem for the reader today is to
discern what is of abiding value
in his pronouncements, and what is contingent, reflecting his time-bound
situation. He is surely an apostle for his time, perhaps without peer; but
which of his opinions entitle him to be reckoned an apostle for all times?
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There are several reasons why he appears to us as a time-bound
apostle: his end-of-time urgency, for one thing; and also his
uncritical adoption of many of the moral and social views of his time.
These views are partly inherited from the Judaism in which he was
nurtured, partly a reflection of Greco-Roman society, and partly other
factors, such as a possibly excessive admiration for the Roman state. On a
number of issues we today would take exception to his views or contend
that his views are at least debatable (as he himself allowed):
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• Paul on
slavery: he was no abolitionist;
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1 Corinthians 7:21-24.
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• Paul on
marriage: his is at best a concessive view based on
moral expediency;
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1 Corinthians 7:1-16, 25-40.
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• Paul on
women: his views, though not unusual for a person of
his day, do not earn him a pass on the charge of sexism.
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1 Corinthians 11:3, 7, 11; 14:33-36
[a later editorial insertion?].
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• Paul on
homosexuality: surely a hotly debated point today, but
one where Paul’s views should not be conceded without careful
scrutiny; and
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1 Corinthians 6:9; compare Romans 1:26-27. |
• Paul on hair- and headware-fashions: fashions change.
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1 Corinthians 11:4-14. |
An additional justification for relativizing Paul is that he himself
acknowledges that on certain issues he has no word of the Lord, but only
gives his opinion. But when we have said all this, there are abundant
reasons for . . .
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1 Corinthians 7:12, 25. |
Appreciating Paul
If he is an apostle for all times, it is because on themes such
as the following he is able to respond to questions, some major, some
minor and ephemeral, in ways that show a first class mind at work.
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The Paradox of the Cross
1 Corinthians 1:17-25 17For
Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with
eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its
power. 18For the message about the cross is foolishness to
those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of
God . . . . 21For since, in the wisdom of God,
the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the
foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22For
Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23but we proclaim
Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but
to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God
and the wisdom of God. 25For God’s foolishness is wiser than
human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
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In addition to this passage we find significant references to the cross in
1 Corinthians 2:2, 8; 5:7; 6:20; 8:11; 10:16; 11:23-27; and
15:3.
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The cross is surely a prevailing theme in the letter. But this passage
is important, not only in substance, but for what it reveals about
Paul’s original and lively mind. Several things deserve comment:
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There is evident a kind of free association development of ideas in
this first chapter of the letter; he opens the main body of the letter
with a discussion of divisions in the church, which
gets him talking about baptism, which in turn leads almost
incidentally to his preaching of the cross. We may note that Paul does
return to the theme of church divisions again (1 Corinthians 3:3-23;
11:18-22; and, from a different perspective, chapter 12).We may
further note that there is a possible connection between the
factionalism of 1:10-12 and the issue of wisdom in 1:17-25, if one of
the factions was laying claim to wisdom.
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1 Corinthians 1:11-13.
1 Corinthians 1:13-17
This exercise in digression, a kind of pin ball machine style of
ordering his topics, may raise some purist eyebrows, but it also
illustrates the chatty character of Paul's letter writing.
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Of special interest is the dialectical style of Paul’s discussion
of the cross in 1:17-25. He shows the same fascination with paradox
found in many of Jesus’ sayings, and in certain periods of
the history of Christian thought (S. Kierkegaard and K. Barth come to
mind). Paul’s reflections are rooted in his own undoubted experience
of preaching the cross, when Jews would be offended by the weakness of
Jesus in his suffering and death, and Greeks would find such an act of
self-sacrifice incomprehensible and foolish. Paradoxically, says
Paul, this suffering Christ is both God’s wisdom and his power.
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“For those who want to save their life will lose
it . . . .” (Mark 8:35)
“But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
(Mark 10:31)
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Believers as Organism
Another kind of response to church factionalism, and uncharitable
claims of charismatics who flaunt their spiritual gifts, is the organic
view of the church, the body of Christ. The community of believers
is not a collection of individuals but a living, breathing organism; like
the various organs of a human body, the members of Christ’s body are
interrelated and interdependent, sharing in each other’s pains and their
joys.
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 12For
just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the
body, though many, are one body, so it is with
Christ. . . . 19If all were a single member,
where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many members,
yet one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no
need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of
you.” . . . 27Now you are the body of Christ and
individually members of it.”
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Click Next
button below to continue discussion of Letter L, in Ephesian Headquarters (3).
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Revised
February 2, 2003
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