We reviewed the reconstruction of first Century Corinth. We were a little puzzled by the Bema, but apparently this was the judgement hall, where Paul faced the governor of Achaia, Gallio, brother of Seneca, Nero’s tutor. Since the dates of Gallio’s posting are known, this gives one of the best data in calculating the chronology of Paul’s missions.
Six dense chapters conclude Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:
11. Women and their place
Paul gives a somewhat confusing treatment of whether men and women should cut their hair and/or cover their heads. At lease one commentator has suggested that Paul was getting his cultures mixed. He tells men to cut their hair, yet it is observed in Acts that he did not cut his own hair until he reached Cenchrae “because he had a vow”.
12. Spiritual gifts
C.S. Lewis has noted that some take the term “members” to mean that everybody in the church should be considered equal. The image, however, is of members of the body, which have specialized functions.
13. Love The famous passage, quoted in many weddings -- “love suffereth not, and is kind….” We noted that the Greek word is agape, which relates to neighborly love rather than sexual love. Most translations nevertheless perpetuate the confusion by using the word “love”, an exception being the King James’ version, which uses “charity”, unfortunately a word that has also changed its meaning.
14. Prophecy and women
Paul’s injunction that women should keep silent in church of course jumps off the page to us today. However, this cannot be a prohibition against their preaching in church, since Chapter 11 has detailed instructions as to how they should dress when “prophesying” The word used for the prohibition is laleo, an onomatopoeic word meaning something like “chatter”. Don’t let women chatter during the sermons – if they have questions, they should save them up until they get home……
15. Resurrection
Some Christian thinkers in Corinth had suggested that there was no such thing as a bodily resurrection. Paul uses strong language against this, saying that if we are not raised, then Christ is not raised and we “of all men most to be pitied”. But in fact Christ has been raised…….
16. Collection and travel
Judaea was in economic difficulties in the late forties and early fifties. Josephus reports that the harvest failed after the farms were abandoned to protest Caligula’s attempt to place his own statue in the temple. When approving Paul’s mission to the Gentiles, the Jerusalem Council specifically asked him to “remember the poor” and Paul seems to have set up a collection for the Jerusalem church at each of the Gentile churches. He gives his plans to visit the Corinthians again, but they were to be disappointed, as we shall see in II Corinthians.