church,
however,
consisted
chiefly
of
non-Jews
(see
1
Ckj
122).
St.
Paul
did
not
at
first
intend
to
raalte
Corinth
a
centre
of
woA
(Ac
18'),
but
a
special
revelation
altered
his
plans
(Ac
18'-'°),
and
he
remained
there
at
least
18
months.
The
opposition
he
met
in
the
Jewish
synagogue
made
him
turn
to
the
Gentiles.
St.
Paul
left
the
baptism
of
his
converts
almost
entirely
to
his
subordinates,
and
himself
baptized
only
Stephanas
(1
Co
16'*),
Gaius
(Ro
16^),
and
Crispus,
the
ruler
of
the
synagogue
(1
Co
1"-").
Some
weeks
after
his
arrival
in
Corinth,
St.
Paul
was
joined
by
Silas
and
Timothy,
returning
from
Macedonia.
News
brought
by
Timothy
caused
him
to
write
there
the
First
Ep.
to
the
Thess.
(1
Th
3»),
and
the
Second
was
probably
written
there
also,
immedi-ately
after
the
receipt
of
an
answer
to
the
First.
While
St.
Paul
was
in
Corinth,
Gallio
came
there
as
proconsul
of
the
second
grade
to
govern
Achaia,
probably
in
the
summer
of
the
year
52
a.d.
The
Jews
brought
an
action
before
him
against
St.
Paul,
but
Gallio,
rightly
recognizing
that
his
court
could
take
no
cognizance
of
a
charge
of
the
sort
they
brought,
dismissed
the
action.
St.
Paul's
preaching
was
thus
declared
to
be
in
no
way
an
offence
against
Roman
law,
and
in
future
he
relied
more
on
his
relation
to
the
State,
against
the
enmity
of
the
Jews.
After
the
examination
Gallio
permitted
the
populace
to
show
their
hatred
to
the
Jews
(Ac
18").
It
was
in
Corinth
that
St.
Paul
became
acquainted
with
Prisca
and
Aquila
(Ac
IS''-
'■
's-
2«),
and
he
Uved
in
their
house
during
all
his
stay.
They
worked
at
the
same
industry
as
himself,
and
no
doubt
Influenced
his
plans
for
later
work.
They
also
left
for
Ephesus
with
him.
Christianity
grew
fast
in
Corinth,
but
the
inevitable
dissensions
occurred.
ApoUos
had
crossed
from
Ephesus
to
Corinth
(Ac
18",
2
Co
3')
and
done
valuable
work
there
(Ac
18"-
^a,
i
Co
1'^).
He
unconsciously
helped
to
bring
about
this
dissension,
as
did
also
Cephas,
if
(but
see
next
art.
§
3)
he
visited
Corinth.
The
subject
of
these
dissensions
is,
however,
more
appropriately
dealt
with
under
the
following
two
articles.
The
Apostle
wrote
at
least
three
letters
to
the
church:
the
first,
which
is
lost
(1
Co
5«)
;
the
second,
which
we
call
First
Corinthians,
and
which
was
probably
carried
by
Titus
(Timothy
also
visited
Corinth
at
the
instance
of
St.
Paul,
1
Co
4");
the
third,
our
Second
Corinthians,
which
was
taken
by
Titus
and
Luke
(2
Co
S'^-'s
12i8).
St.
Paul
spent
three
months
in
Greece,
chiefly
no
doubt
at
Corinth,
in
the
winter
of
56-S7.
Whether
the
Corin-thians
actually
contributed
or
not
to
St.
Paul's
collec-tion
for
the
poor
Christians
at
Jerusalem
must
remain
uncertain
(but
see
p.
ISQ',
§
2
atf
fin.).
A.
Souter.
CORINTHIANS,
FIRST
EPISTLE
TO
THE.—
1.
Occasion
of
the
Epistle.
—
Some
tour
or
five
years
had
elapsed
since
St.
Paul's
first
evangelization
of
Corinth
when
he
addressed
the
present
Epistle
to
the
Christians
in
that
great
centre
of
commerce.
No
doubt
there
had
been
frequent
communications,
especially
during
the
Apostle's
stay
in
Asia,
for
the
journey
between
Corinth
and
Ephesus
was
a
very
easy
one;
but
the
communica-tions
were
probably
by
letter
only.
A
former
epistle
is
mentioned
in
1
Co
5',
In
which
St.
Paul
had
bidden
his
disciples
'to
have
no
company
with
fornicators'
—
advice
which
was
no
doubt
considered
hard
to
obey
in
the
most
vicious
and
pleasure-loving
city
of
the
world,
and
which
to
some
extent
is
modified
in
the
present
Epistle
(6"");
and
a
letter
from
the
Corinthians
to
St.
Paul
is
the
immediate
object
of
the
Apostle's
writing
on
the
present
occasion
(7').
But
before
answering
it,
he
reproves
the
Corinthians
for
certain
abuses
which
he
had
heard
of
from
'the
[household]
of
Chloe'
(1"),
namely,
schism
and
party
spirit,
a
bad
ease
of
incest,
and
litiglousness;
for
'they
of
Chloe'
seem
to
have
been
St.
Paul's
informants
on
all
these
matters.
Chloe
was
perhaps
a
woman
of
importance
who
carried
on
a
trade
CORINTHIANS,
FIRST
EPISTLE
TO
in
Corinth,
as
Lydia
of
Thyatira
did
at
Philippi
(Ac
16'*).
She
therefore
not
improbably
belonged
to
Asia
Minor
—
the
reference
to
her
seems
to
imply
that
she
was
not
a
Corinthian,
—
and
'they
of
Chloe'
would
be
her
agents
who
passed
to
and
fro
between
Ephesus
and
Corinth.
Having
reproved
the
Corinthians
for
these
abuses,
the
Apostle
answers
the
questions
put
in
their
letter
to
him,
as
to
marriage
and
other
social
questions;
perhaps
also
as
to
Christian
worship,
the
doctrine
of
the
Resur-rection,
and
the
collection
for
the
poor
of
Judaea.
We
may
consider
these
topics
in
order.
2.
The
state
of
the
Corinthian
Church.
—
It
will
be
remembered
that
the
majority
of
the
Christians
at
Corinth
were
Gentiles,
though
there
were
some
Jews
among
them
(Ro
le^',
1
Co
7"
9™
12''),
including
such
influential
men
as
Crispus
(Ac
18*)
and
(probably)
Sosthenes
(Ac
18",
1
Co
1').
It
was
the
heathen
ante-cedents
of
the
Corinthians
that
led
to
most
of
the
evils
for
which
St.
Paul
rebukes
them
(6»
12^).
The
Apostle,
though
he
had
not
intended
to
stay
long
in
Corinth
when
he
first
went
there,
desiring
to
return
to
Mace-
donia
(1
Th
2"),
yet,
when
his
wish
was
found
to
be
impracticable,
threw
himself
with
all
his
heart
into
the
task
of
making
heathen
Corinth,
the
famous
trade
centre
which
lay
on
one
of
the
greatest
routes
of
com-munication
in
the
Empire,
into
a
reUgious
centre
for
the
spread
of
the
gospel
(cf.
Ac
18').
But
the
dilH-culties
were
not
those
with
which
he
had
met
in
Athens,
where
the
philosophic
inhabitants
derided
him.
At
Corinth
the
vices
of
the
city
had
lowered
the
tone
of
public
opinion;
and
when
St.
Paul
preached
Christ
crucified
with
all
plainness
of
speech
(1
Co
1'™-),
many
heard
him
gladly,
but
retained
with
their
nominal
Christianity
their
old
heathen
ideas
on
morals.
He
preached
no
longer
'wisdom'
to
the
Jewish
lawyer
or
the
Greek
sophist
(l^"),
but
salvation
to
the
plain
man;
the
Gentiles
had
no
sense
of
sin,
and
the
preaching
of
a
personal
Saviour
was
to
them
'tolly'
(1**).
We
need
not
indeed
suppose,
as
Sir
W.
Ramsay
(.Expositor
VI.
[i.)
98)
points
out,
that
the
passage
1™^-
describes
Corinthian
Christians
as
distinguished
from
those
in
other
places;
the
disciples
at
Corinth
were
not
merely
the
'dregs
of
society,'
separated
from
the
rest
of
the
population,
as
the
negro
from
the
white
man
in
some
countries
to-day.
Ramsay
thinks
that
the
special
work
of
the
Church
was
to
raise
the
thoughtful
and
educated
middle
classes.
It
certainly
included
men
of
means
(ll^™-).
StUl,
the
upper
classes
and
the
learned
were
everywhere
less
attracted
by
Christianity
than
were
the
poor,
with
certain
conspicuous
exceptions,
such
as
St.
Paul
himself.
It
has
been
debated
how
far
the
Church
was
organized
at
Corinth
at
this
time.
The
ministry
is
seldom
referred
to
in
these
two
Epistles;
the
'bishops
and
deacons*
of
Ph
1'
are
not
mentioned;
but
we
read
of
apostles,
prophets,
and
teachers
(1228),
n
^ould,
however,
be
unsafe
to
con-clude
that
there
was
not
a
settled
local
ministry
at
Corinth.
St.
Paul
had
certainly
established
presbyters
in
every
Church
on
his
First
Journey
(Ac
14=^),
and
so
apparently
in
Asia
on
his
Second
(20").
In
this
Epistle
the
regular
ministers
are
perhaps
not
explicitly
mentioned,
because
they
were
the
very
persons
who
were
most
responsible
for
the
disorders
(Goudge,
Westminster
Com.
p.
xxxvi),
while
in
ch.
12
the
possession
of
'spiritual
gifts'
is
the
subject
of
discussion,
and
the
mention
of
the
regular
ministry
would
not
be
ger-mane
to
it.
A
settled
order
of
clergy
is
implied
in
9'-
''.
».
3.
Party
Spirit
at
Corinth.
—
It
is
more
correct
to
say
that
there
were
parties
in
the
Church
than
that
the
Corinthians
had
made
schisms.
We
read,
not
of
rival
organizations,
but
of
factions
in
the
one
organization.
It
is
noteworthy
that
Clement
of
Rome
(Car.
1,
47),
writing
less
than
60
years
later,
refers
to
the
factions
prevalent
at
Corinth
in
his
time.
The
Greeks
were
famous
for
factions;
their
cities
could
never
combine
together
for
long.
In
St.
Paul's
time
there
was
a
Paul-
party,
and
also
an
Apollos-parly,
a
Cephas-party,
and
a
Christ-party
(l'^),
though
the
words
'but
I
[am]
of
Christ'
are
interpreted
by
Estius
(Com.
ed.
Sausen,
U.
