The City and the Church
During his second missionary journey the Apostle Paul made his way to southern Greece (Achaia), where he established the church in Corinth - a cosmopolitan center of commerce and trade located on a narrow isthmus between the Aegean and Adriatic seas (Acts 18:1-17). Sailors often avoided the perilous waters south of Greece by dragging their ships over the strip of land separating the seas - a time-consuming shortcut that took them past Corinth.
The City and the Church
As a stopover for travelers of widespread geographical origins and destinations, Corinth offered nearly limitless opportunities for exporting Christianity throughout the ancient world. But the cultural diversity of the transient population also fostered an atmosphere of religious pluralism dominated by flourishing paganism, epitomized in the abundance of "sacred" prostitutes working for Aphrodite (the Greek goddess of love) on the city's acropolis. No wonder, then, the variety and vulgarism of the problems characterizing the ethnically mixed but mainly Gentile Corinthian church. Paul's correctives address issues ranging from church unity to sexual morality to practical matters of religious practice to theological foundations of faith in Christ.
The Letter
Actually, 1 Corinthians constitutes the second letter of Paul to the church in Corinth. The first letter (5:9) remains lost to us. The apostle now writes from Ephesus while on his third missionary journey. He plans to revisit Corinth, for he has already become aware of disturbing problems in the church there, by means of a letter and a delegation soliciting Paul's judgment on a number of issues. The problems prove too
pressing to postpone responding till he arrives in person. Evidently the apostle dictated his letter to a secretary, but by signing off in his own handwriting, Paul makes sure the Corinthians know that the letter carries authority and that he means business.
1:1-9 A Positive Opening
Paul's opening words of encouragement foster receptiveness to the stern exhortations that dominate this letter. Acts 18:17 identifies Sosthenes (v. 1) as a leader of the synagogue in Corinth; his mention as co-author of 1 Corinthians suggests that he had become a Christian. Paul touts the benefit of "sanctification" (being made godly, V. 2) in Rom. 6:15-23. By using both the Greek and Hebrew words of greeting ("grace" and "peace, V. 3), Paul regards Gentiles and Jews as equal in the church. In chapter 12, he elaborates the spiritual "gifts" alluded to in verse 7. The "revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ" refers to his second coming, and his "day" to the final judgment, when confirmation in blamelessness (the result of sanctification) ensures for the Christian eternal life.
1:10-4:21 Divisions and Foolishness
Oral reports from "Chloe's people" (probably slaves) prompt Paul's initial exhortation against divisions within the church. The apostle chastises the cliquish Corinthians claiming spiritual superiority by association with wrongly idolized heroes of the faith - Paul himself, who established the city's church, the eloquent Alexandrian orator Apollos (Acts 18:24-28), and the Apostle Peter (Cephas), especially renowned in Jewish circles (Acts 1-12). Paul expresses relief that he did not baptize many of the Corinthians, not because he considers the rite unimportant but because he does not want the focus to be on him. He counters the Christians' exalted claims by characterizing the gospel they received as "foolishness" in the eyes the world. The heart of this gospel - the death and resurrection of Jesus - is a "stumbling blocl"' to the Jews, who on the whole reject Christ's messiahship, and "foolishness" to the Gentiles, who regard crucifixion (inflicted on common criminals) as the most shameful of executions. God's provision of salvation through such a humbling means rules out religious pride by making humility a requirement for saving belief.
Paul had gone to Corinth after the intellectual elite of Athens rejected his gospel-laden message (Acts 17:15-18:1). Here he elaborates the difference between human wisdom manifested in persuasive speech, such as that of the Greek rhetoricians undoubtedly esteemed by the people of cosmopolitan Corinth, and the otherworldly, age-old wisdom of God uniquely imparted by the Holy Spirit to believers but incomprehensible to unspiritual ("natural") hearers. Paul exposes the persistent spiritual immaturity of the Corinthian Christians evidenced in their "fleshly" (sinful) squabbling (cf. Rom. 7:14-8:17). The apostle uses examples from agriculture and architecture to illustrate the relationship of Christian leaders and the church to God. No growth occurs without God; no structure stands without a foundation - for the church, Jesus Christ. Paul equates the church with the temple of God, made holy by the indwelling of his Spirit, and warns destroyers of the church (false teachers) that God will destroy them.
Finally, Paul points out the illegitimacy of bragging about salvation, since it comes as a gift. Though he rejects being idolized by Corinthian believers, he does not relinquish fatherly authority over this congregation. Rather, Paul exhorts them to imitate his Christian conduct, sends a tutor (his beloved protege, Timothy) to foster their spiritual maturation, and alerts them to his coming visit.
5 Incest Necessitates Ostracism
While the Corinthian cliques claim spiritual superiority, the church as a whole tolerates incest in its ranks! Even secular Roman law prohibited
sexual relationships between a man and his "father's wife" (= stepmother). Paul chastises the church fellowship for failing to ostracize the sinning husband (apparently, the only believing partner). His wickedness threatens to corrupt the whole church, as a little yeast leavens an entire lump of dough. The Corinthian church needs to clean house, not cut itself off from the secular world, as they mistakenly interpreted Paul's earlier instruction. "Handing over" the sinning man to Satan suggests expulsion from the Christian community to prompt repentance for salvation at the final judgment.
In 4:5, Paul prohibits judging other Christians, but here he orders it. The universal moral principles of God make obvious the boundaries of holiness - a characteristic required of the church as God's temple (cf. 3:16).
6:1-11 Settling Internal Disputes Internally
Paul's teaching on lawsuits seems to interrupt his exhortations to sexual morality, which continue in 6:12-20. Perhaps the case of incest addressed in chapter 5 was fueling legal action that goes unspecified here. In any case, Paul expresses disapproval that Corinthian Christians have been suing each other in secular law courts presided over by non-Christian judges. They should be addressing internal disputes within the church, or better yet wronged believers should simply absorb brotherly offenses rather than seek retaliation and recompense (cf. Matt. 18:21-35). In the end, worldly judges will not judge the world; rather, sanctified, justified Christians will (cf. Matt. 19:28). In the meantime, the sinners-turned-saints of Corinth should settle internal disputes internally.
6:12-20 More on Immorality
When Paul says, "All things are lawful for me," he is claiming freedom from the peculiarly Jewish features of the Mosaic law, not freedom to violate God's universal moral principles. He clarifies the point by prohibiting sexual immorality, because for the Christian it unites the sacred, bodily "temple of the Holy Spirit" with sin.
7:1-11:1 Questions from the Corinthians
Paul now answers questions put to him by the Corinthian church in a letter lost to us.
7 Sex and Marriage In response to the Corinthians' questions on marriage, the apostle commends celibacy, for it maximizes the time and energy a Christian can devote to spreading the gospel. Nevertheless, he recognizes celibacy as a uniquely bestowed, divine "gift" Marriage, however, provides the right context for satisfying sexual desire and the means for avoiding sexual immorality. That no inherent evil attaches to sex itself shows in Paul's commands that husbands and wives satisfy each other sexually and that widows remarry if they lack sexual self-control.
Paul echoes Jesus' instruction when he prohibits Christian couples from divorcing, disallows remarriage with a different partner (while the first partner remains living), and counsels the reconciliation of separated spouses (vv 10-11; cf. Matt. 5:32; 19:3-9). Through his own authority as an apostle, Paul faces an issue unaddressed by Jesus: marriages between Christians and non-Christians. He exhorts Christians to remain with their non-Christian spouses, since by the influence of the believer "sanctification" rubs off on the entire family and may result in their salvation. Divorce initiated by the unbelieving partner, however, frees the Christian ex-spouse from the "bondage" of seeking reconciliation, though Paul leaves unclear whether this freedom includes the right to remarry within the Christian community, as widows obtain (cf. V. 39).
Verses 17-34 extend Paul's commendation of celibacy and elaborate the distractions of marriage, though without characterizing marrying as wrong. Indeed, marriage constitutes no sin (vv. 36-38). Widows should be allowed to remarry "in the Lord;" that is, within the Christian community (v. 39).
Paul's counsel does not equate with a purposeless approach to life; rather, he cautions against being preoccupied with seeking to escape one's plight in life (v. 21). His sense of urgency in securing the Corinthian Christians' "undistracted devotion to the Lord" may derive from an expectation of the Lord's impending return suggested by the "present crisis" of the times (vv. 26,35).
8:1-11:1 Sacrifices to Idols Because most of the meat for sale in the markets of Corinth comes from animals sacrificed to pagan idols, the city's Christians wonder whether they should eat it or abstain. Paul understands the issue as a matter of ritual propriety, not morality, and approves in principle the eating of such meat, for the deities to which it has been sacrificed do not really exist. But the less "knowledgeable" Christian, who still believes in the reality of gods other than the Lord, sins by eating the dedicated meat, because for him the act means participating in a pagan rite and violates his conscience.
Paul resolves the question by applying the law of Christian love, which requires selfimposed limits on legitimate personal freedoms: more "knowledgeable" believers should not eat the meat if doing so might cause "weak believers" to sin by following suit or might give a wrong impression to non-Christian observers (cf. Rom. 14:1-15:13). For the same reasons, Paul forbids eating at pagan feasts (v. 10; cf. 10:1-13). Paul highlights the incompatibility of participating in such feasts and partaking of the Lord's Supper (10:14-22). He declares as sin against Christ himself the heedless tripping-up of weaker-conscienced fellow Christians.
Paul supports his exhortations by appealing to his own example of voluntarily giving up personal rights, such as marriage and material support, for his work as an apostle - rights legitimately exercised by the other apostles (9:5, 14). For Paul, the opportunity to offer the gospel free of hindering cost and to win all types of people to Christ trumps exercising his rights and personal freedoms. He likens such self-discipline to that of an athlete training to win first prize - a familiar metaphor to the Corinthians, since every three years their city hosted the Isthmian Games, outranked only by the Olympics. Isthmian competitors trained for 10 months, and event winners won a perishable pine wreath crown. Thus Paul urges Christians to live lives worthy of an "imperishable wreath;' eternal life. He summarizes these instructions in 1o:23-11:1.
The Holy Spirit in the New Testament
A significant difference in turning to the New Testament from the Old is the much more central role the Holy Spirit plays in the ongoing biblical story. This is related both to the early Christians' experience of the Spirit as now "poured out upon all people" (Acts 2:17, fulfilling Joel 2:28) and to their own expectations regarding the coming messianic age and God's establishing his people anew on the basis of a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 37:26-27). Thus their experience of the outpoured Spirit, and their later reflections about Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, caused them to see these realities in the light of certain Old Testament passages that looked forward to a time when God's Spirit would be especially on the Messiah (Isa. 11:1-2), but also available to all God's people, so causing them to live (Ezek. 37:14). The fact that prophecy played such a predominant role in the life of the early church also caused them to see themselves in continuity with the Old Testament prophetic tradition.
We meet the Holy Spirit (a name derived from Isa. 63:11) at the very beginning of the Story as the one who impregnated Mary with the child Jesus (Matt. 1:18; Luke 1:35), the Jewish Messiah. The Gospel writers, especially Luke, thus attributed Jesus' earthly ministry not to his deity but to the anointing of the Spirit at his baptism (Luke 3:22). Led by the Spirit for testing in the desert (4:1), he returned to Galilee "filled with the power of the Spirit" (4:14).
His first recorded public act was to declare in his home synagogue that the prophecy of the Spirit's anointing the Messiah for mighty deeds was now being fulfilled (4:1821). Thus Peter explains "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him" (Acts 10:38).
Jesus himself promised that the same Holy Spirit would come upon his followers so that they would bear effective witness to him (Acts 1:5, 8), which happened at Pentecost (2:1-41), after Jesus, "exalted at the right hand of God," had "received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit" and "poured out this that you both see and hear" N. 33). The rest of Acts tells how this Spiritempowered people took the good news about Jesus from Jerusalem as far as Rome.
The Gospel of John both elaborates several aspects of the Spirit's ministry on Jesus and shows interest in the Spirit's activity in the ongoing church. The Son, therefore, is the one to whom the Father has given the Spirit without limit (John 3:34), and he in turn breathes the Spirit on his disciples (20:22), to whom the Father and Son will send the Spirit as Advocate after Jesus has returned to the Father (14:15-18; 15:26; 16:12-15). Because the Father himself is Spirit, his true worshippers worship him in the Spirit and truth (4:23). So the Spirit indwells the believer as a "fountain of life" (4:14; 7:37-39).
Revelation and 1 John then provide evidence of the ongoing work of the Spirit in the Johannine churches. Believers have received the true "anointing" of the Spirit (1 John 2:20), and in Revelation the Spirit is the source of John's visions (Rev. 1:1o) and thus the one who speaks to the churches (e.g., 2:7,11). His present ministry is envisioned as the seven eyes of the Lamb, the "seven spirits of God (= the sevenfold Spirit; cf. Isa. 11:2; Zech. 4:6,10), sent out into all the earth" (Rev. 5:6).
The Spirit is also a part of the experience and theology of the author of Hebrews (Heb. 2:4; 6:4; 10:15) and Peter (1 Pet. 1:2,12; 4:14). But it is the Apostle Paul who presents the most thoroughgoing understanding of the Spirit in the New Testament. The Spirit is the renewed presence of God, who creates and indwells the new temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:22), the Spirit of the Son (Gal. 4:6; Phil. 1:19) as well as the Father, who is the key to the ongoing life of the believing community. Christian conversion comes by the Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Thess. 2:13; Tit. 3:6). He is the "down payment," the evidence and guarantee of the final glory (Eph. 1:13-14), The Spirit inhabits the community of faith and ministers in their midst with gifts, including signs and wonders, prophetic speech, teaching, and singing (1 Cor. 12:8-11; 14:1-33; Rom. 15:19). Moreover, the Spirit enables Christian living (Gal. 5:16-25; Rom. 1:1-18), thus fulfilling the righteous requirement of the Law (Rom. 8:4). It bears fruit in the believing community so that believers bear God's likeness (Gal. 5:22-23) as they are being conformed into the image of the Son (Rom. 8:29)
Dove with olive branch; detail of funerary stone of Titzanus, Early Christian Necropolis Museum, Tarragona. (Phoenix Data Systems, Neal and Joel Bierling)
Both the personal nature of the Spirit and his intimate relationship with the Father and the Son in both Paul and John, plus the many Trinitarian passages in the New Testament, led the later church finally to articulate its belief in God as Trinity: One God in three divine persons.
GORDON D. FEE
11:216 Head Covering and Prayer
Biblical scholars have offered wide-ranging interpretations of Paul's instructions concerning the covering of one's head for prayer. Does "head" imply authority or origin (v 3)? Is head covering a piece of cloth or long hair, hanging in loose locks or gathered and arranged on top of the head? Does the "symbol of authority" on a female pray-er's head give her authority to pray and prophesy in public, or does the covering symbolize a man's authority over her (v. 1o)? Paul is certainly prescribing an observable distinction between male and female prayers, but the broader question concerns whether his specific instructions relate simply to his own culture or apply universally today. At minimum, the passage teaches that men and women should not dishonor the gospel by presenting themselves for public prayer in a way that offends the sensibilities of other people.
11:17-34 The Lord's Supper
Paul chastises the Corinthian church for making a mockery of the Lord's Supper by maintaining disunity even in their congregational gatherings. The apostle has already corrected them for theological divisions (1:1off.), and now he adds an indictment for practical separateness in a forum meant to foster fellowship. Early comers to Co rinthian church meals are consuming too much food and drinking till drunk, without leaving enough to nourish later arrivers who keep longer working hours. Paul exhorts the reverent observation of the Lord's Supper - a communal commemoration of Christ's death, not a feast to satisfy the stomach. He warns that approaching the Lord's table too casually, without self-examination for repentance from sins, invites divine judgment on the partaker. The words of institution quoted by Paul and attributed directly to Christ come from a tradition that predates the formulas recorded in the synoptic Gospels (vv. 24-25; cf. Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:17-20).
12-14 Spiritual Gifts
Paul's emphasis on Christian unity and fellowship continues in an extended discussion of abilities endowed by the Holy Spirit to individual Christians for the common good of the church as a whole. Paul likens the necessary church unity of variously gifted Christians to the many-membered human body, made up of functionally different but all essential parts. Spiritual gifts (12:8-10) include wisdom (the practical application of moral law for success in life), knowledge (the intellectual grasping of truth); faith (beyond belief in Christ for salvation); healing (in the holistic sense); miracles (lit., "acts of power," particularly in the spiritual realm, such as the performance of exorcisms), prophecy (words of God for specific situations), spiritual discernment ("distinguishing" between the forces of good and evil), tongues (the ability to speak in unlearned human languages, not ecstatic utterances), and interpretation of tongues ("translation;' necessary for personal and communal edification). Hierarchically ordered gifts include apostleship (being "sent" by God for a specific mission), prophecy, teaching (in religious and spiritual matters), miracle-working, healing, helps (supporting tasks), administration, and tongues (12:28).
Early Christian Churches and Their Worship
The various churches described in the New Testament are seen as worshipping communities of men and women and their families assembled in the homes of Jesus' followers. From the gatherings after Pentecost in "homes" and "upper rooms" (Acts 2:46; 5:42; 12:12; cf. 20:7-8) to Paul's writing to congregations meeting in believers' homes (e.g., Rom. 16:23; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; PhIm. 2) we learn that the courtyard of fairly well-to-do members provided a venue for the practice of worship. Earlier associations with the Jerusalem temple (Acts 3:1) and more importantly the Jewish synagogue (13:13-47) offered patterns of worship the early believers as messianic pietists followed, adding such distinctive elements as a convivial meal in celebration of the risen Lord, whose presence was expected and experienced. The prayer call Marana tha, "Come, our Lord" (1 Cor. 16:22; Didache 10:6), is evidence of this vivid awareness of the Lord's coming to meet his people (Matt. 18:20) who gathered in his name and at a time of table fellowship. Other loanwords in Aramaic or Hebrew such as "Amen," Abba," and "Hallelujah" carry us back to the earliest Jewish Christian followers, with a sample of their table "prayers over food" preserved in Didache 9-1o.
Other aspects of worship in the original Jewish Christian community are attested in Acts (baptism
in the name of Jesus, teaching the basic "apostolic" beliefs [2:42], a common fund for the relief of those in need [cf. 1 Tim. 5:3-16], and united praying using the language of the Psalms and often directed to specific objectives [12:12]).
A debated issue involves the invocation of and prayer to Jesus as Lord, ranking him as the exalted one who shared the glory of the Father (Acts 7:54-60; cf. the prePauline hymn incorporated into Phil. 2:6-11) as worthy of worship. The canticles of the nativity (Luke 1-2) are further evidence of the intimate association in worship of the Messiah with Israel's covenantal God. This paved the way for an enriched monotheism in which God and Jesus are cosharers of the divine throne (Rev. 3:21; 22:3) and equally hailed as worthy to receive the church's and all creation's homage (4:11; 5:9, 12-14) with no sense of rivalry or displacement of belief in the one God" of the synagogue's creed, the Shema (Deut. 6:4; cf. 1 Cor. 8:6).
These are the earliest roots of worship traced to the Jesus movement and its followers in Jerusalem, as recorded in Acts. If the letter of James comes from or at least mirrors this period, some features are confirmed. The practice of psalm-singing (Jas. 5:13) and the role of the teacher (3:1-12) are clear examples, with added items such as recourse to
corporate prayer in time of sickness (5:13-16) with an invocation of Jesus as Lord, whose "excellent name" (2:7) suggests baptism and a high status (v. 1).
Paul
Paul's correspondence with the church at Corinth opens a window on one company of first-generation Christians in a Greco-Roman cultural setting. The phrase when you come together" (1 Corinthians 12-14) points to the assembled people as they meet for worship on the first day of every week" (16:2), or Sunday, then known as the Lord's day (Rev. 1:1o; Didache 14:1).
Paul's consideration and critique of how the Corinthians evidently described their worship gatherings is one of the fullest accounts on record. They are acknowledged to be spiritually gifted (1 Cor. 17 14:12) with an excess of vitality and dynamism, associated with "power" and "spirit." Coupled with their exploiting of "freedom" and "knowledge" (all Corinthian watchwords), their worship was in danger of getting out of control. By way of corrective, Paul's summary conclusion (14:40) makes this point: "let all be done [in worship] decently and in order."
Part of their problem may be a native Hellenistic desire to express their worship in exuberant ways (1 Cor.14:12: they are "eager for spiritual gifts"). They also exhibit a faulty belief that the kingdom had already come in its fullness and they were sharers in the heavenly life and worship now (4:8), hence their practice of the tongues of angels" (13:1).
Paul sensed that this situation needed to be firmly kept in check. While lifting up the charismatic expressions in word, hymn, and prayer (1 Cor. 14:15), he entered some cautions. Worship should be intelligible, hence the need for interpretation of glossolalia (speaking in tongues) and the role of the prophet N. 3) in upbuilding the community (12:7;14:26). Unbelievers and ungifted members should not conclude (14:23) that they are demonized (12:1-3, reflecting their Hellenistic background) but rather should be able to enter into the meaning of God's immediate presence and be impressed by God's truth (14:25), uttered by true prophets (male and female, 11:216; 14:33b-36 suggests women prophets who claimed to communicate a message at variance with God's word through Paul, and are rebuked to silence).
In all, the stress falls on the need for good order (1 Cor. 14:33, 40) and intelligible worship accessible to all. All gifts, motivated by love (ch. 13), should serve one purpose: edification of the community, which is Paul's key word. To that end, he appeals for a "reasonable worship" (Rom. 12:1), both well thought out and inspired by the Holy Spirit, with no distinction between "mind" and "spirit" (1 Cor. 14:15).
Asia Minor
Worship in Asia Minor is represented by the later (or post-)
Pauline letters to the Colossians and Ephesians along with 1 Peter, which is an independent witness. Churches on the Pauline foundation in Ephesus and further afield show clear signs of a developing liturgical tradition. There are still features that hark back to the earlier period, such as baptisms, prayers, hymns, and praises - all attributed to the Spirit (Eph. 5:1920 par. Col. 3:16-17). But some notable and spontaneous expressions of worship (cf.1 Corinthians) are absent, and the emphasis falls on the ministries of teaching and instruction, with the employment of set patterns under the direction of appointed leaders. Here the data in the Pastoral Epistles show how the churches are becoming organized and regulated with officeholders and the transmission of traditional teaching forms. Discipline and repelling deviance from the apostolic-Pauline standards by promoting sound doctrine and conducting worship in a proper manner are the call to Timothy (1 Tim. 4:11-16). False ideas are exposed and denounced by Timothy's recourse to the church's confession of faith and
creedal formulas (3:16; 2 Tim. 2:11-13).
Peter's house at Capernaum, later the location for a house church. (Wikimedia Commons)
Worship functions in the pastors' congregations as a stabilizing, boundary-fixing marker. Its effect is to close ranks and define the church not so much as a charismatic community of the Spirit awaiting the imminent end time, but as a settled institution with a future here on earth, adapting to the needs of Christians in society and the family and accepting their role and station as citizens in the empire.
1 Peter handles the tension of the pilgrim people living in the world in a unique way. It pictures the church as God's worshipping temple (1 Pet. 2:1-10), yet not in any fixed way since they are "aliens and exiles" in the Dispersion (1:1; 2:11). Their worship, harking back to baptism (3:21) and enlightenment in the new birth (1:23-25), is controlled by the thought of the new Israel, God's servant and elect people (2:9-1o). This same emphasis permeates Hebrews, a rhetorical sermonlike document that is part hortatory, part polemical. Throughout it uses the cultic idioms of the tabernacle and the sanctuary to portray the finality and sufficiency of Christ's self-offering and sacrifice. Jesus is both victim on the earth and high priest in the heavenly sanctuary, where he continues his ministry (Heb. 7:25; 9:24; 13:10), calling his pilgrim people to engage with him in the worship of his Father. He is the model worshipper leading God's family in their hymns (2:1112; 13:12-16).
Orant - a figure with bent arms raised in a posture of prayer - from the catacomb of Priscilla in Rome. (Scala /Art Resource, NY)
Johannine Communities
The communities associated with John and his followers in Asia are
a distinct group, as the Fourth Gospel, the Johannine letters, and the Apocalypse (Revelation) reveal. Threatened by false teachers, both Jewish and protognostic or docetic, they offer a defensive reaction to what looks to be an increasing formalizing of worship in the churches of their day at the turn of the century. Individual and personal participation in worship is the key to Johannine spirituality. Worship is not tied to sacred places and spaces; it is in spirit and truth" (John 4:20-24) and largely independent of outward forms, locations, and ceremonials. While Jesus is baptized and endorses baptism indirectly (4:2), there is no command to incorporate baptism into the Johannine community. What matters is baptism in the Holy Spirit (1:33). Likewise, there is no institution of the Last Supper, though Jesus does share a meal. Rather, he discourses on the bread of life at Capernaum (ch. 6), just as he had spoken of the living water to the woman at the well (ch. 4). This governs John's concept of worship as individualized communion with the living Lord, irrespective of outer forms. It is the reality behind the outward pattern that John accentuates (1 John 4:7-12).
Such a variety of worship styles and practices can hardly be systematized into a set pattern. The churches adapted their worship to the cultural and theological needs of the hour, and there is development within the canonical record and beyond. Yet certain "constants" remain to be observed: the living Lord is at the heart of all worship, whether in adoration, petition, or devotion, as well as cere
monial practices such as initiation into his death and resurrection (Rom. 6:1-14) or taking bread and cup in remembrance of his death and victory in the coming kingdom (1 Cor.1o:16; 11:23-26). The role of the Holy Spirit is central both to check excesses and to activate and enliven all the exercises of public worship. The keynote, if one such emphasis may be said to predominate, is that of celebration in joyous acknowledgment of the Redeemer's coming from God as God to die on the cross and be elevated to the Father's presence. Then in anticipation of God's future triumph the church in worship reaches out to embrace that future and bring it near.
For Further Reading
One God, One Lord. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988.
RALPH P. MARTIN
The apostle encourages the prayerful pursuit of spiritual giftedness but elevates love as the overarching principle that gives spiritual gifts their value, that should govern their exercise, and that will outlast them in the end. Paul's profile of active love describes what it does and does not do, not how it does or does not feel (13:4-8). These verses make clear that love takes the initiative to overcome feelings when necessary for righteous behavior.
Paul devotes most of chapter 14 to comparing the communal benefits of tongues and prophecy. He commends prophecy as the superior gift because of its greater capacity for corporate enlightenment, exhortation, consolation, and witness to unbelievers (vv. 3, 24-25). Since the Christian community can benefit from tongues only through an interpreter, and since the purpose of spiritual gifts consists in the common good of the church (12:7), Paul limits the public exercise of tongues to occasions on which an interpreter is present to assist the congregation in understanding. Further guidelines ensure orderliness so that all in attendance can hear and thus worship in mind as well as in spirit. (Verses 34-35 appear to address a specific problem in the Corinthian church, perhaps women interrupting worship with questions; cf. 11:5.)
15 The Nature of Resurrection
Paul's last major corrective to the ethnically mixed Corinthian church takes up the issue of resurrection of the body, in which most Jews believed but most Gentiles did not. Paul summarizes the gospel with emphasis on the
bodily resurrection of Jesus confirmed by his postresurrection appearances to a great many people, a number of whom Paul names and most of whom are living witnesses at the time Paul writes. The apostle's own eyewitnessing of the resurrected Christ lends firsthand credibility to his claims.
Paul points out the futility of faith in Christ apart from belief in the resurrection of the dead - not only Christ's resurrection, but also that of believers. The goal of salvation history has consisted in reversing the fatal effects of sin; so if death gets the last word for believers in Christ, they have exercised faith for nothing. Paul stresses, therefore, that the resurrection of Christ to eternal life represents not a unique event but a preview of what is in store for believers. Therein lies the hope of the gospel. The death sentence earned by Adam for all humanity is reversed in renewal for eternal life made possible by Christ's self-sacrificial conquest of death.
"Baptism on behalf of the dead" (vv. 29-34) may mean that Christians were undergoing baptism on behalf of loved ones who died as unbelievers in order to achieve salvation for them after death and/or to make reunion with them possible in the afterlife. Whatever the underlying reason for the practice, Paul mentions it not to evaluate its effectiveness but to expose its incompatibility with disbelief in bodily resurrection. Corinthian Christians who deny the resurrection are acting irrationally by getting baptized "for" the dead. Further, Paul's own self-endangerment to spread the gospel constitutes irrational behavior if no resurrection will occur. He and the rest of humanity might just as well enjoy this one-and-only life while they can.
Marketplace (agora) at Corinth, showing a number of small shops with the Acrocorinth beyond. (www. Ho l yL an d Ph o to s. o rg)
The apostle answers with an analogy from nature persistent skeptics insistent on knowing the mechanics of resurrection and the characteristics of the resurrected body. As a mere seed dies before transformation into a flourishing plant, so the earthly human body dies before transformation into a superior, resurrected "spiritual" body - still physical, as with the resurrected Christ, but with a "heavenly image" suited for immortality (v. 49). Yet the perishable bodies of believers living at the time of Jesus' second coming will undergo this essential change without dying (vv. 51-52). Paul's denial that mortal "flesh and blood" can inherit the eternal kingdom of God only makes sense; thus the necessity of believers' resurrection in immortal, imperishable bodies. By robbing death of ultimate victory, resurrection affirms the value of putting faith into practice in this earthly, mortal life.
16 Closing Instructions and Greetings
Paul closes the letter with practical instructions and greetings. On the eastward trek from Syrian Antioch through Asia Minor, the apostle has been collecting relief funds for the impoverished church in Jerusalem, and he instructs the Corinthians to start saving their contributions before he arrives for an extended visit. Paul's post-Pentecost exit from Ephesus will follow an itinerary through Macedonia (northern Greece), where he earlier established churches in Philippi and Thessalonica, and on to Corinth in southern Greece.
In case Timothy gets there first, Paul exhorts the Corinthians to treat his pastoral protege right. Apollos's delayed return to Corinth may relate to the church conflicts described in 3:1-9.
Paul's commendation of the "household of Stephanas" recognizes this Corinthian family as the first Christian converts in southern Greece (cf. 1:16). In passing on greetings from his fellow Jewish tentmakers Aquila and Prisca (short for Priscilla), who landed in Corinth after being ousted from Rome (Acts 18:1-3), Paul reveals that the couple has moved to Ephesus, where they host a church in their home.
The penning of the greetings in Paul's "own hand" (v. 21) authenticates the letter, mostly written down by a secretary - apparently Sosthenes (ia). The apostle's use of "Maranatha," Aramaic for "0 [our] Lord, come!" testifies to the early acknowledgment of Christ's deity among Aramaic-speaking Christians.