1 and 2 Corinthians, Epistles to the

CORINTI, EPISTOLE I E II ai. - Letters addressed by St. Paul to the faithful of the community of Corinth (v.), two of the four major letters of the Pauline epistolary collection. They are the most closely connected with the Apostle’s activity and with the vicissitudes of the community to which they were addressed, yet they are riddled with uncertainties concerning the events that occasioned them (II C. in particular).

Paul’s first period of apostolic work in Corinth, the longest period, extended from A.D. 50 or 51 to 52 or 53. Greater precision is impossible, given the uncertain date of his Gallio (v.) in Achaia, a date on which the chronology of the second missionary journey and of a large part of Paul’s life chiefly depends.

The Apostle came to Corinth after the painful experience of Athens, which advised him to adhere firmly to what had previously also been the substance of his apostolate: the uncompromising preaching of the “scandal of the Cross.” For eighteen months he worked in

Corinth, before being brought before Gallio’s tribunal. The gains were quite limited among the Jews, but numerous among the pagans. That it was not, however, very easy for these converts of Corinth to enter into the spirit and discipline of the new religion, Paul must have understood during his prolonged stay among them, and he received confirmation of this from the reports that reached him during his stay at Ephesus, in the course of the third missionary journey.

I. FIRST E. TO C.

SUMMARY:

I. Occasion

II. Division and content

III. Date of composition

IV. Pauline authenticity.

It would first of all be necessary to address the question whether this was truly the first letter sent by St. Paul to that community. The problem is raised by I Cor. 5:9–11, which many today understand to mean that the canonical I C. was preceded by another letter, which had given rise to the misunderstanding referred to in the cited text. The faithful of Corinth had understood Paul to prohibit all association with every category of fornicators, and this had seemed impracticable in that city devoted

(from J. R. Melida, Catálogo monumental de España, Prov. de Cáceres, s. n.)