Orthodox Christian Bible Commentary: 1 Corinthians

This Orthodox Christian commentary is derived from a series of sermons given by His Grace Bishop Youssef of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States, where His Grace has been serving in this capacity since the early 90s.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Corinth was a very important commercial center which made it easy for it to be a place for all sorts of vice and evil. Also, its closeness to Athens added the problem of intellectualism. Greece was known for its philosophers and philosophy. St. Paul established the church of Corinth during his second missionary trip. Unfortunately, the immoral environment found in the city adversely affected the church. In addition, pride caused division in the church and disruption in the services (1 Cor. 1-4, 11). Immorality and immodesty found its way into the church, which led to a bad reputation for the church of Corinth (1 Cor. 5). There was also the problem of the Christian brethren who were taking their personal problems with each other before the heathen courts instead of working them out among themselves (1Cor. 6). Other issues affecting the church included questions about marriage (1 Cor. 7), meats sacrificed to idols (1 Cor. 8-10), women praying and prophesying with their heads uncovered (1 Cor. 11), the use of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12-14), the resurrection from the dead (1 Cor. 15), and the collection for the saints in Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16). Reports of the problems within the church reached St. Paul's ears, and so he set out to answer these reports, correcting sinful practices and refuting false doctrine.