S4 156: 1 Corinthians — Broken Body
Reminded of Love Incarnate [33:05]
Episode Length: 33:05
Published Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 01:00:00 -0800
Session 4
About this episode:
Marty Solomon and Brent Billings take a trip to Corinth for an examination of the first letter to that complex city.
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey
Notes
*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.
BEMA Episode 156 Study Notes: 1 Corinthians — Broken Body
Title & Source Summary
Episode: BEMA 156: 1 Corinthians — Broken Body
Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings
Topic: This episode examines Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, focusing on how the diverse, sexually immoral culture of Corinth created challenges for unity and holiness within the early church. The episode explores themes of division, cultural compromise, and the call to love as the remedy for a fractured community of faith.
Key Takeaways
• Corinth was an extremely diverse port city serving as a cultural melting pot, creating identity challenges for believers • The Corinthian church struggled with two primary issues: selfish division and cultural compromise with pagan practices • Paul’s temple metaphor refers to the community as a whole, not individual bodies - unity is required for God’s Spirit to dwell • Sexual immorality and idolatry were rampant in Corinthian culture, particularly through goddess worship (especially Aphrodite) • The Roman guild system created additional challenges by tying vocations to pagan worship and immoral feasting practices • Paul’s marriage teachings in 1 Corinthians 7 are contextual responses to Corinth’s sex-obsessed culture, not universal theology • Love (1 Corinthians 13) is presented as the solution to both division and compromise - the way to heal the “broken body” of Christ • Even the Lord’s Supper had become corrupted by the Corinthians’ selfishness and class divisions • Modern Western Christianity shares striking similarities with the Corinthian problems of division and cultural compromise
Main Concepts & Theories
The Cultural Context of Corinth
Corinth functioned as a major port city connecting Greco-Asia, making it one of the most culturally diverse cities in the Roman Empire. This diversity included:
- Religious Pluralism: Worship of multiple goddesses including Aphrodite (chief deity), Hera, Athena, Artemis, and Demeter
- Sexual Immorality: Goddess worship, particularly of Aphrodite (goddess of erotic love), led to rampant sexual corruption
- Economic Diversity: Various vocational guilds each with their own patron deities and associated practices
- Social Stratification: Clear divisions between wealthy and poor that carried into Christian worship
The Problem of Division in the Church
Paul addresses multiple sources of division within the Corinthian congregation:
Leadership Factions (1 Cor 1:10-17): Different groups claimed allegiance to Paul, Apollos, Cephas (Peter), or Christ himself, with the “Christ group” being particularly self-righteous.
Theological Arrogance (1 Cor 4): The Corinthians presumed to be teachers rather than receiving apostolic instruction, showing disrespect for Paul’s authority.
Legal Disputes (1 Cor 6): Believers were taking one another to secular courts rather than resolving conflicts within the community.
The Temple Metaphor and Community Unity
Paul’s famous “temple” passage (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) is frequently misinterpreted. The text refers to the community collectively as God’s temple, not individual bodies. Key insights:
- Plural Subject, Singular Temple: “Y’all are a temple” - the community together forms one temple
- Unity Requirement: If they cannot find unity, they destroy God’s temple
- Corporate Indwelling: God’s Spirit dwells in the unified community, not just in individuals
The Guild System and Cultural Compromise
The Roman guild system created significant ethical dilemmas for Corinthian believers:
Vocational Brotherhood: Guilds functioned like fraternities combined with labor unions, providing professional support and social identity.
Religious Integration: Each guild worshiped specific Roman deities, making professional participation potentially idolatrous.
Feast Practices: Monthly guild feasts involved drunken debauchery, sexual immorality, and consumption of meat sacrificed to idols.
Economic Implications: Leftover sacrificial meat was sold at discounted prices in the agora, creating the “food sacrificed to idols” dilemma.
Paul’s Contextual Teaching Strategy
Paul’s approach throughout 1 Corinthians demonstrates contextual application of gospel principles:
Marriage Teachings (1 Cor 7): In a sex-obsessed culture, Paul recommends abstinence as counter-cultural witness, while clearly distinguishing between his opinions and divine commands.
Food Laws (1 Cor 8, 10): Similar to Romans, Paul emphasizes consideration for “weaker” believers over individual rights.
Cultural Testimony: Paul invites the Corinthians to tell a different story with their lives than the surrounding culture.
Love as the Central Solution
Paul places the famous “love chapter” (1 Corinthians 13) at the center of his discussion about spiritual gifts, creating a chiastic structure that emphasizes love as the solution to division:
Not Individual Rights but Community Benefit: The repeated refrain “I have the right to do anything, but…” (6:12, 10:23) emphasizes considering others above self.
Practical Love: Love is not sentiment but action that seeks the good of others rather than self-promotion.
Unity in Diversity: Love enables the diverse gifts and backgrounds in Corinth to function as one body rather than competing factions.
Examples & Applications
Historical Parallels
Roman Guild System: Similar to modern professional associations or unions, but with mandatory religious participation that created ethical conflicts for believers.
Port City Dynamics: Like modern international cities (New York, London, Singapore), Corinth’s diversity created both opportunity and challenge for gospel community.
Goddess Worship: The centrality of Aphrodite worship made Corinth’s sexual culture even more extreme than typical Roman cities - think “Las Vegas multiplied several times over.”
Contemporary Applications
Modern Church Division: Current denominational splits, theological factionalism, and social media arguments mirror the Corinthian tendency to divide over leaders and secondary issues.
Cultural Compromise: The challenge of participating in secular professional and social structures while maintaining Christian distinctiveness remains relevant.
Legal Conflicts: Christians suing other Christians continues to damage the church’s witness, just as Paul warned.
Class Division in Worship: The Corinthian Lord’s Supper problems (wealthy feasting while poor go hungry) parallel modern church dynamics where economic differences affect community life.
American Individualism: The emphasis on personal rights over community benefit directly contradicts Paul’s teaching about considering others first.
Practical Church Applications
Community Unity: Churches must prioritize what unites believers over what makes them distinct or unique.
Cultural Engagement: Learning to participate in secular culture while maintaining gospel distinctiveness requires wisdom and community discernment.
Conflict Resolution: Developing internal processes for handling disputes rather than escalating to public confrontation.
Economic Justice: Ensuring that economic differences don’t create divisions in worship and community life.
Potential Areas for Further Exploration
Historical and Cultural Studies
- Research ancient Corinthian religious practices and their influence on early Christian communities
- Study the Roman guild system and its parallels in modern professional associations
- Examine archaeological evidence from ancient Corinth to understand the physical context of Paul’s ministry
- Compare Corinthian culture with other major Roman port cities for broader context
Theological Studies
- Investigate Paul’s concept of the church as corporate temple and its implications for ecclesiology
- Study the relationship between Paul’s contextual teachings and universal gospel principles
- Examine the chiastic structure of 1 Corinthians 12-14 and its literary significance
- Explore the tension between individual rights and community responsibility in Christian ethics
Contemporary Applications
- Analyze modern parallels to Corinthian divisions in contemporary church conflicts
- Study how Christian communities can engage secular professional cultures without compromise
- Examine the role of love in resolving theological and practical disputes within churches
- Develop frameworks for applying Paul’s “beneficial/constructive” criteria to modern ethical decisions
Biblical and Literary Analysis
- Compare Paul’s approach in 1 Corinthians with his other letters to understand his contextual method
- Study Kenneth Bailey’s literary analysis of Corinthians for additional Middle Eastern cultural insights
- Examine the relationship between 1 and 2 Corinthians as a developing pastoral conversation
- Analyze Paul’s use of metaphor (temple, body) in addressing community problems
Comprehension Questions
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Cultural Context: How did Corinth’s role as a diverse port city create specific challenges for the early Christian community? What parallels do you see in modern multicultural urban centers?
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Unity vs. Division: Explain Paul’s temple metaphor in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. Why is this commonly misinterpreted as referring to individual bodies, and what difference does the correct corporate interpretation make for understanding church unity?
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Contextual Teaching: How do Paul’s marriage teachings in 1 Corinthians 7 demonstrate his contextual approach to ministry? What principles can we extract from this for applying biblical teachings to different cultural situations?
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Cultural Compromise: Describe the ethical dilemmas created by the Roman guild system for Corinthian believers. What modern professional or social situations create similar challenges for Christians today?
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Love as Solution: How does Paul position love (1 Corinthians 13) as the solution to both division and cultural compromise? What does it mean practically to choose “beneficial” and “constructive” behavior over simply “permissible” behavior?
Brief Personalized Summary
BEMA Episode 156 provides a sobering mirror for contemporary Christianity by examining the struggles of the Corinthian church. The episode’s detailed exploration of Corinth’s cultural context - from goddess worship to guild systems - illuminates why Paul’s letter addresses such a wide range of issues from sexual immorality to food sacrificed to idols.
The most challenging insight is recognizing how closely modern Western Christianity resembles Corinthian problems. We struggle with the same divisions (theological factions, denominational loyalties, social media arguments) and the same cultural compromises (prioritizing individual rights over community good, difficulty maintaining distinctiveness in secular professional settings).
Paul’s solution remains remarkably relevant: love that seeks the benefit and construction of others rather than self-promotion. The reframing of ethical questions from “Is this permissible?” to “Is this beneficial for my community?” offers a practical framework for navigating complex cultural engagement.
The episode’s exploration of Paul’s contextual teaching method - particularly around marriage and food laws - provides helpful tools for understanding how biblical principles apply across different cultural settings. Paul’s clear distinctions between his opinions and divine commands (1 Cor 7) also offer wisdom for contemporary biblical interpretation.
Perhaps most powerfully, the image of the “broken body” of Christ being healed through sacrificial love calls the church to examine whether our communities reflect the unity and selflessness that would attract the watching world to the gospel. The Lord’s Supper serves as both indictment of our divisions and invitation to the table of grace where all come equally needy.
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