Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] First and Second Corinthians at a Glance and Questions for Reflection by Bart Ehrman.
[00:00:08] In earlier posts, I provided discussions of both 1st and 2nd Corinthians, their major emphases and themes, what we know about their context, when they were written, and why.
[00:00:19] Below is a concise summary of both discussions, each book at a glance taken from my book the New A Historical Introduction published by Oxford University Press, and some questions for reflection to help you think through some of the issues that the books and scholarship on them raise.
[00:00:36] First Corinthians at a glance 1. First Corinthians is written to a church located in Corinth in the Jewish province of Achaia, a city with a reputation for dubious morals in antiquity.
[00:00:49] 2. Paul had established the church by converting former pagans to faith in Jesus.
[00:00:55] Most of his converts were poor and uneducated, but some came from the upper classes.
[00:01:00] The different socioeconomic levels of the Corinthian Christians may explain some of their problems, for example tensions over the community meals.
[00:01:10] After Paul left the community, a number of problems arose involving disunity in the church, immorality of various kinds, and difficulties during worship services.
[00:01:21] Paul deals with all these problems one by one in the letter and at the end deals with the major problem overriding the Corinthians failure to appreciate the true nature of the resurrection of believers, which was to be future and physical.
[00:01:36] 5. Understanding that the resurrection will be bodily was to affect the Corinthians sense of what, in the meantime, they were to do with their bodies.
[00:01:46] So what do you think? Questions for reflection on 1 Corinthians 1. Pretend that you are a Christian in the church of Corinth who disagrees with Paul.
[00:01:57] You think that it's okay to eat meat offered to idols, to have sex with prostitutes, to speak frequently in tongues in your church meetings, and to enjoy lots of food and drink at the church's weekly meals together.
[00:02:08] In part, your views are based on your belief that you have already begun to enjoy the benefits of Christ's resurrection in the here and now. So write a letter to Paul to explain why he is wrong on all these things.
[00:02:24] In 1 Corinthians, Paul gives firm instructions to the community to cast out the member who is living with his stepmother.
[00:02:32] But he simply rebukes and reasons with the men in the congregation who appear to be visiting prostitutes, and he does not insist on their exclusion.
[00:02:41] Why do you think he treated the two situations so differently?
[00:02:46] And number three, how many big problems in the church of Corinth do you think can be connected in one way or another with the big one that he addresses at the end, the reality of the coming resurrection of the dead. Explain in each case 2nd Corinthians at a glance 1/2 Corinthians appears to embody at least two of Paul's letters. See chapters 1 to 9 and then chapters 10 to 13, and possibly as many as 4 or 5.
[00:03:17] Two at a later date, someone took these various letters and edited them together into one.
[00:03:24] 3 It is possible to trace the history of Paul's relationship with this community based on the different letters combined here.
[00:03:32] 4 After he wrote 1 Corinthians, Paul visited Corinth again, and he faced a public humiliation.
[00:03:39] Soon thereafter, other Christian apostles arrived in town advocating a view that Paul himself opposed, that Christians already could experience the full benefits of salvation in the here and now without waiting for the future apocalyptic act of God.
[00:03:55] 5 Paul responded by writing an angry letter, which may be found partially in chapters 10 to 13, sent through a personal messenger, Titus.
[00:04:05] This letter, or Titus, had the desired effect. The community changed its mind. Paul wrote a grateful conciliatory letter in response, partly found now in chapters one to nine.
[00:04:17] Many of the same apocalyptic themes of First Corinthians can be found in the fragments of Letters now composing 2 Corinthians.
[00:04:26] So what do you think?
[00:04:27] Questions for Reflection what strike you as the most compelling argument that 2 Corinthians is at least 2 or possibly more letters of Paul spliced together?
[00:04:41] Do you think there are strong counter arguments? If so, what? And in the end, what is your view?
[00:04:49] To the best of your ability, sketch out the history of Paul's relationship within the church in Corinth, from his first arrival in the city until the end of his final surviving letter.
[00:04:59] 3.
[00:05:00] What do you think of Paul's response to the super apostles? That he alone is the true servant of Christ because he suffers more? What's the logic behind the view, and do you see it as compelling or problematic.
