The First Letter to the Corinthians

The city. Corinth stood on the narrow neck of land joining northern Greece to the south, with a harbour on each sea, Lechaeum to the west and Cenchreae to the east. Goods and travellers passed through all the time. The Romans destroyed the old Greek city in 146 BC, and Julius Caesar founded it again as a Roman colony in the 40s BC. It became the capital of the province of Achaia, a place of Greeks, Romans, Syrians, Egyptians, Jews and many slaves. The Isthmian Games were held nearby, which may explain Paul's picture of the runner and the boxer (9:24 to 27). The city had many temples, and ancient writers gave it a bad name for loose living. Some of those stories are exaggerated, but the letter itself shows real problems (5:1; 6:15 to 18).

How the Church began. Paul came to Corinth from Athens on his second journey and lodged with Aquila and Priscilla, tentmakers like himself, who had left Italy under the order of Claudius (Acts 18:1 to 3). When the synagogue turned against him he moved next door to the house of Titius Justus, and Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed (Acts 18:7 to 8; 1 Cor 1:14). He stayed a year and a half (Acts 18:11). Under the proconsul Gallio he was brought before the court, and the case was thrown out (Acts 18:12 to 17). An inscription found at Delphi helps date Gallio's term to about 51 to 52, which makes this one of the firmest dates in Paul's life. Benedict XVI places the stay from about 50 to 52 (General Audience, 27 August 2008).

Who they were. "Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth" (1:26). Yet there were some people of standing too, such as Crispus and Stephanas. They met in houses, and the richer members could come early and eat, while slaves and labourers came later and went hungry (11:21). Many of the troubles of this Church sprang from these differences of class and from the pride that grew from them.

Why Paul wrote. Paul had already written them one letter, now lost, which they had misunderstood (5:9 to 11). Then three things reached him at Ephesus: news from "Chloe's people" of quarrels (1:11); a letter from the Corinthians with questions (7:1); and a visit from Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus (16:17). So he writes partly to correct and partly to answer. Timothy is on his way to them (4:17; 16:10). The phrase "now concerning" marks each new question (7:1; 7:25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1; 16:12).

The parties. "I belong to Paul," said some, or "to Apollos", "to Cephas", "to Christ" (1:12). Apollos was an eloquent Jewish Christian of Alexandria who had worked there after Paul (Acts 18:24 to 28), and Paul speaks of him with respect (3:5 to 9; 16:12). There is no sign that the leaders themselves were rivals. The rivalry was among the followers.

The Church's tradition. The Church has always received this as a letter of St Paul and as inspired Scripture (Dei Verbum 11, 20). Its witness is very early. St Clement of Rome, writing to this same Church in the 90s, says: "Take up the epistle of the blessed Apostle Paul", and reminds them of what he had written concerning himself, Cephas and Apollos (1 Clement 47). Few books of the New Testament have such early support.

Paul's own hand. Sosthenes is named at the start (1:1). He may be the synagogue leader of Acts 18:17, though that cannot be shown. Paul dictated the letter, then took the pen for the end: "I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand" (16:21).

A scholarly note. Almost no one doubts that Paul wrote this letter. Some scholars have asked whether it joins pieces of more than one letter; most commentators today read it as a single work (USCCB). The two verses on women's silence (14:34 to 35) are placed after 14:40 in some manuscripts, and some scholars take them for an early addition. The NRSV prints them in parentheses, with 14:33b and 14:36. All are received as Scripture, and none of these questions touches the letter's inspiration.

How Paul argues. He rarely answers with a bare rule. He takes a problem and lifts it up to Christ: a quarrel leads him to the cross, a question about meat leads him to love of the weak brother, and a question about the dead leads to the risen Lord. He also quotes the Corinthians' own slogans and corrects them: "All things are lawful for me", but not all things are beneficial (6:12; 10:23). Benedict XVI notes this phrase as an early misreading of Christian liberty (General Audience, 19 November 2008).

• The wisdom of the cross. The message about the cross is foolishness to those perishing, but to those being saved it is the power of God (1:18). Christ crucified is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, both Paul's own people and all others alike, but to those called from both he is God's power and wisdom (1:23 to 24; Catechism 272). Benedict XVI gave a catechesis on this passage (29 October 2008). God chooses what the world counts weak (1:27), so no one may boast (1:29).
• Unity and ministry. Christ is not divided (1:13). Ministers are servants: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth" (3:6). They are "stewards of God's mysteries" (4:1), and each will answer to him. The Church is God's field, building and temple (3:9, 16). On the day of judgment each one's work will be tested and the builder "will be saved, but only as through fire" (3:15), a text which the Catechism recalls when it speaks of the final purification (1031).
• Pastoral discipline. In a grave and public scandal Paul tells the community to remove the man (5:1 to 13). He aims at healing: "so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord" (5:5). In the same way, Christ our paschal lamb has been sacrificed, so we must keep the feast in sincerity and truth (5:7 to 8; Catechism 613).
• The dignity of the body. "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit" (6:19; Catechism 364, 1004). Paul names sins that exclude from the kingdom, and adds: "this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified" (6:9 to 11; Catechism 1425, 2357). No sinner is beyond this grace, and the Church asks respect and compassion for every person (Catechism 2358).
• Marriage and virginity. Husband and wife belong to each other (7:3 to 5). Paul gives the Lord's own command that they should not separate, and if they do, that they remain unmarried or be reconciled (7:10 to 11; Catechism 1650, 2382). Paul separates his own advice from the Lord's word (7:12, 25). He allows a believer deserted by an unbelieving spouse to be no longer bound (7:15); the Church's law calls this the Pauline privilege (Code of Canon Law, canons 1143 to 1147; Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canons 854 to 858). The believing spouse consecrates the other (7:14; Catechism 1637). Virginity for the Lord is a gift, and marriage is a gift too: "each has a particular gift from God" (7:7; Catechism 1618 to 1620).
• Conscience and love. Meat sold in the market had often been offered in temples. Paul agrees that idols are nothing, but "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (8:1). To wound a brother's conscience is to sin against Christ (8:12; Catechism 1789). He himself gave up his rights: "I have become all things to all people" (9:22).
• The Eucharist. The cup of blessing is "a sharing in the blood of Christ", and the bread "a sharing in the body of Christ" (10:16). Paul hands on what he received: the words of Jesus on the night he was betrayed (11:23 to 25). When we eat and drink we "proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (11:26; Catechism 1130, 1403). Whoever eats unworthily "will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord", so each must examine himself (11:27 to 29; Catechism 1385). The Church reads this as a witness to the real presence and to the sacrifice (see Catechism 1366, 1376). Benedict XVI calls these words "truly the centre of the Church's life" (24 September 2008).
• The Eucharist and the poor. The rich were shaming those who have nothing, and Paul says that this is not really the Lord's Supper (11:20 to 22). "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body" (10:17; Catechism 1396). Benedict XVI: "A Eucharist without solidarity with others is a Eucharist abused" (10 December 2008).
• The Body of Christ and the gifts of the Spirit. "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it" (12:27; Catechism 790 to 791, 953). Baptism joins Jews and Greeks, slaves and those not slaves, into one body (12:13; Catechism 1267). The one Spirit gives the gifts for the good of all (12:7). Charisms are to be received with gratitude and tested by the Church's shepherds (Catechism 800 to 801, 2003). Prophecy, which builds up, is preferred to tongues which no one understands (14:1 to 5). "God is a God not of disorder but of peace" (14:33).
• Love. Without love, tongues, knowledge, faith and even self-sacrifice are nothing (13:1 to 3). Love is patient and kind (13:4 to 7; Catechism 1825). Faith, hope and love abide, "and the greatest of these is love" (13:13; Catechism 1826 to 1827).
• The Resurrection. "If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain" (15:14; Catechism 651, 991). Christ is "the first fruits" (15:20; Catechism 655). As all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ (15:22). Our body is sown perishable and raised imperishable, a "spiritual body", which does not mean a ghost but a body wholly given life by the Spirit (15:42 to 44; Catechism 999 to 1000, 1017). At the end God will be "all in all" (15:28; Catechism 1060). Paul gives no date for this: "We will not all die, but we will all be changed" (15:51) is a word of hope.
• Baptism for the dead. Paul mentions in passing some who "receive baptism on behalf of the dead" (15:29). No one now knows for certain what this practice was. Paul neither explains nor commends it; he only uses it as an argument for the resurrection.
• Giving. Each Sunday, "on the first day of every week", each one is to put something aside for the poor of Jerusalem (16:1 to 2).

Three hard passages. Head coverings (11:2 to 16). Paul asks women to cover their heads when they pray or prophesy, following the custom of his world. In doing so he takes it for granted that women do pray and prophesy aloud in the assembly (11:5). The Holy See's declaration Inter Insigniores (1976) counts the veil among "disciplinary practices of minor importance" which "no longer have a normative value" (section 4). Women's silence (14:34 to 35). Since this cannot be meant to cancel 11:5, Benedict XVI calls the exhortation "relative" and leaves the question of how they fit to exegetes (14 February 2007). Inter Insigniores says that this ban is of a different nature from the veil. As exegetes explain it, Paul in no way opposes women prophesying in the assembly, and the prohibition solely concerns "the official function of teaching in the Christian assembly". "The brothers of the Lord" (9:5; see 15:7). The Church has always understood these as close relations and not as other children of the Virgin Mary (Catechism 500).

• Christ crucified. Paul resolved to know nothing else among them (2:2). The crucified one is "the Lord of glory" (2:8).
• One Lord with the one God. "One God, the Father, from whom are all things ... and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things" (8:6; see Catechism 258). Long before the creeds, Paul sets Jesus beside the Father in the confession of the one God, and he joins Spirit, Lord and God when he speaks of the gifts (12:4 to 6).
• Lord of the assembly. "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (12:3; Catechism 683).
• Host of the Supper. On the night he was betrayed he gave his body and his blood, the new covenant (11:23 to 25). The earliest written record of these words is here.
• The risen one, seen by witnesses. Cephas, the Twelve, more than five hundred at once, James, all the apostles, and last of all Paul (15:5 to 8; Catechism 639, 641 to 642). Benedict XVI calls the Resurrection the "keystone" of Paul's Christology, and notes that he received this creed from those before him (5 November and 24 September 2008). Paul adds: "Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim" (15:11).
• The last Adam. The first man became a living being, and "the last Adam became a life-giving spirit" (15:45; Catechism 504).
• The rock in the desert. Paul sees Christ already at work in Israel's Exodus: "the rock was Christ" (10:4).
• The one who comes. The letter ends with an old Aramaic cry, kept in Greek letters behind the NRSV's "Our Lord, come!" (16:22; Catechism 451, 1130).

The Catechism quotes this letter at many points: the power of the cross, 272; the body as temple, 364; the witnesses of the Resurrection, 639 and 642; the rising of the dead, 991, 999 to 1000; the Eucharist, 1329, 1385, 1396, 1403; the charisms, 800 to 801; charity, 1825 to 1827; the communion of saints, 953.

The Fathers, in substance. St Clement of Rome, in the 90s, sends Corinth back to this letter when the same kind of quarrel breaks out again (1 Clement 47). St John Chrysostom preached forty-four homilies on it. On 10:17 he asks: what is the bread? The Body of Christ. And what do those who partake become? "The Body of Christ: not many bodies, but one body" (Homily 24 on 1 Corinthians). St Augustine, as the Catechism recalls, teaches his hearers from this passage that they receive the mystery of what they themselves are (see Catechism 1396).

Benedict XVI uses this letter throughout his catecheses on St Paul: the Church (15 October 2008), the cross (29 October), the Resurrection (5 November), the coming of the Lord and "Maranatha" (12 November), and the sacraments (10 December). On 12 November he says that Christians can still pray this prayer, asking Christ to come wherever injustice and violence reign, without wanting the end of the world.

In the liturgy.

• Syro-Malabar. In the calendar of readings for 2026 to 2027, Pesaha Thursday has 11:23 to 29 as the Epistle at the Holy Qurbana. The Conversion of St Paul has 15:1 to 10, the commemoration of the faithful departed 15:39 to 49, and the weekdays of Dedication and Denha read many other parts of the letter, such as 13:1 to 10.
• Syro-Malankara. In the calendar of readings for 2026 to 2027, Pesaha has 11:23 to 34 and Pentecost Sunday 12:1 to 11 as the Epistle at the Holy Qurbono. Sundays after Pentecost read 10:14 to 22 (Fourth), 12:12 to 26 (Sixth), 6:1 to 11 (Ninth) and 14:26 to 33 (Eleventh). The First Sunday after Sleebo has 2:10 to 15.
• Latin. Sunday Mass in Ordinary Time reads it at the start of each year's cycle: 1:1 to 4:5 in Year A (Second to Eighth Sundays), 6:13 to 11:1 in Year B (Second to Sixth), and chapters 12 to 15 in Year C (Second to Eighth). Holy Thursday has 11:23 to 26; Corpus Christi in Year C has the same; Christ the King in Year A has 15:20 to 26, 28. On weekdays of Year II it runs from the Twenty-first to the Twenty-fourth Week.

Do not read this letter as a list of rules. Read it as a pastor's letter to people he loves. Skim it through once, then take it slowly over about ten days:

• Days 1 to 2: chapters 1 to 4. Which party do I belong to, in my parish or family?
• Day 3: chapters 5 to 6. See how he treats sin and the body.
• Day 4: chapter 7. Note where he speaks in the Lord's name and where in his own.
• Days 5 to 6: chapters 8 to 10. Whom might my liberty be hurting?
• Day 7: chapter 11. Read 11:23 to 26 before your next Mass or Qurbana.
• Day 8: chapters 12 and 14. What gift has God given me for others?
• Day 9: chapter 13. Put your own name in place of "love" in 13:4 to 7, and see where it fails.
• Day 10: chapters 15 to 16. Read them with someone you have lost in your mind.