1 Corinthians

About 1 Corinthians

First Corinthians is Paul's letter to a young, gifted, and deeply divided church in the port city of Corinth. He wrote to answer their questions and to correct real problems: rival factions, immorality, lawsuits, confusion in worship, and doubts about the resurrection. The letter shows what it looks like for the message of the cross to reshape everyday life in a messy city church, and it gives us the Bible's famous chapters on love and on the resurrection of the dead.

Written by

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, and his authorship is not seriously disputed.

When

It was written around AD 53-55, while Paul was working in Ephesus.

Themes

• Unity in the church
• Love above every gift
• Holiness in daily life
• Worship and spiritual gifts
• The resurrection hope

Key verses

• 1 Corinthians 1:18For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-4For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: