Five things I have learned about 1 Corinthians 1-4
Brian Rosner was brought up in Sydney, but has spent sixteen years studying and working in America (ThM), England (PhD), Scotland (lecturer at the University of Aberdeen) and Germany (researcher) before returning to Australia in 2000. Formerly on Student Life staff, a public servant, an assistant minister and a school teacher. Brian lectures in New Testament and Ethics at Moore College. Later this year his co-authored commentary on 1 Corinthians will be published (Pillar series). He writes about five things he has learned about 1 Corinthians 1-4.
1. They are a good read. As history, they tell the compelling story of a church gone wild, riven with factions, envy and arrogant boasting. As literature, they have plenty to keep you reading and then re-reading, including impassioned appeals, elaborate metaphors, surprising rhetorical twists, biting sarcasm and puzzling explanations of the most profound mysteries. As theology, they teach us much about the grace of God, the death of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. What more do you want?
2. There was no Christ party. 1 Corinthians 1:12 is often thought to indicate that there were four parties in the church in Corinth, with factions gathered around Paul, Apollos, Cephas and Christ. I am convinced that no onewas saying, ‘I belong to Christ,’ and that was the problem. Belonging to Christ is Paul’s solution to inappropriate allegiances to church leaders, as the end of chapter 3 indicates.
3. One of the big problems with preferring one minister over another is that it impoverishes us all. We don’t belong to our leaders. In fact, they belong to us, and we all belong to God.
4. Paul’s use of the OT is key to the interpretation of 1 Corinthians 1-4. There are six quotations from the OT in chapters 1-3 and all four chapters are littered with OT allusions and echoes. When you notice these it’s like watching television in colour rather than black and white. A deeper and richer picture takes shape.
5. The cross means the end of the world as we know it. Its not just the way we get saved, but also the way we are supposed to live. In the death of Jesus the weakness of God overpowers the world’s strength and the foolishness of God outsmarts the world’s wisdom. This has implications for all of life.
Brian Rosner
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