Religious Studies, Essay
The first book of Corinthians is popularly known as the Pauline Epistle. The Pauline Epistle is a letter written by Paul roughly around the 56 A.D. There is no other writing in the New Testament that offers a highly concrete depiction of the way in which Christian faith can be applied to the everyday issues of daily life, both at work as well as in the personal life, than 1 Corinthians.
There are a number of issues ranging from career and vocation, the enduring significance of work, overcoming personal precincts, leadership and service, the development of gifted abilities, ecological stewardship, and the judicious utilization of money and assets are among the few significant aspects covered in this letter of Paul. The unifying outlook on all the above and a wide range of other topics covered in the Pauline Epistle is love. Love, according to Paul, is the very “purpose, means, motivation, gift, and glory behind all work done in Christ.”
The primary motive behind Paul writing this letter to the church in the city of Corinth was to discuss and mend the corruption and disunions that had arisen among the people. In the first four chapters of Corinthians, Paul gets numerous reports about the various issues present in the Church and hence he attempts to address them. He says, “there are quarrels among you” (1:11).”
Paul urges all believers to “consider your calling'' (1:26-30).” He then announces thrice that the Lord “has chosen'' them and ''because of Him you are in Christ Jesus.” This fact is extremely joyous and offers a sense of relief to believers that God is the in charge and is the ruler of their lives.
The letters of Paul are in reality provisional letters which Paul had authored to precise locations and vicinities for discussing about specific issues. Although Paul’s letters predominantly focused on dealing with individual situations and issues, their legacies can be located in an articulately authored Pauline gospel. It is pivotal to understand and recognize the consistency and exigency of the gospel of Paul in the Pauline letters.
The Pauline Epistle is not a divine treatises wherein an exhaustive doctrinal structure is elucidated comprehensively. They are instead letters written for dealing with specific life situations and problems that several churches of those years were faced with. If the real goal of Paul was a mere composition of a methodical and organized guideline, then his responses to specific churches would be superfluous and inordinate. Paul might alternatively chose to send out a common letter addressed to all the churches together in order to address the issues that were dealt with in the Pauline Epistle. He need not have done a redundant job by sending a letter to Galatians once and to a different church or individual some other time.
Bibliography
Cory, Catherine A. 2007. A Voyage Through the New Testament. NY: Pearson.
Crossway Bibles. 2007. The Holy Bible - English Standard Version. Wheaton, Illinois: Good News Publishers.
Imperato, Robert. 2008. Portraits of Jesus: A Reading Guide. MD: Lanham.
Smith, Jay. 2015. 1 Corinthians Summary. Accessed March 12, 2016. http://biblehub.com/summary/1_corinthians/1.htm.
Theology of Work. 2010. Corinthians and Work. Accessed March 12, 2016. https://www.theologyofwork.org/new-testament/1-corinthians/.
