Our study of Ephesians will start on February 22, 2009.

Meanwhile, some photos of the remains of Ephesus, recently visited by John and Alice Weicher, are posted in the Photos category.

Peter Combes

Paul asks for the affection of the Corinthians, complaining that he has affection for them, but it is not returned. Verses 6:14 thru 7:1 seem to break the flow of this argument, which resumes at 7:2, and presenting directions on mixed marriages that are not entirely compatible with his more detailed instructions in 1 Corinthians.  We had some sympathy with the commentators who believe that this section is a fragment that belongs to another letter, and has been edited in by a later copyist.  Paul refers to a "stern letter", and indeed apologizes for it ("I did not mean to make you grieve"). This letter does not appear to be I Corinthians. However, the beginning of chapter 10 is a very abrupt change of tone, and it has been suggested that this, too, belongs to another letter, perhaps the "stern letter" itself.

Another oddity is that Paul twice refers to a "brother" whom he is sending to Corinth, without giving his name.  Some have suggested that the name appeared in the original manuscript, but was removed when that person developed a bad reputation.  "Demas" who "deserted me and went to Thessalonica" (2 Tim 4:10) is one candidate.  In Chapter 10 (verses 4-6), Paul surprisingly threatens the Corinthians with supernatural "weapons" that he has at his disposal.

II Corinthians

This is a complicated letter, showing several sides of Paul’s turbulent personality.  At times it is so discontinuous that several commentators have thought that it consist of fragments from a number of different letters.

1.      Accused of breaking his word by not visiting Corinth when he promised. Paul launches into a long justification of his own integrity, rather than simply apologizing.

2.      He comes close to apologizing for his "stern" letter, which he "did not send to make you grieve."  We do not have the letter as such -- I Corinthians hardly fits the bill -- but some have suggested that an excerpt from it is contained in chapters 10 to 13.

3.    A long essay on the way Moses' face "shone" as he came down the mountain with the Ten Commandments is used to suggest that the Mosaic Law has become obsolete. Paul describes the law as a "ministry of death" -- a phrase hardly likely to endear him to the church in Jerusalem, whose leader, James, was famous for his obedience to the Law.

4.    What is the relationship of the soul to the body?  Paul talks of our "treasures in a clay pot", and also describes us as tent-dwellers longing to live in a heavenly house.  This may have been a local reference since tent "cities" were erected at Corinth every four years for the Isthmian Games.

5.    A major task of ambassadors was to “reconcile” conflicts between nations.  Paul uses this image for Christians – making their peace with God.

We reviewed the reconstruction of first Century Corinth.  We were a little puzzled by the Bema, but apparently this was the judgement hall, where Paul  faced the governor of Achaia, Gallio, brother of Seneca, Nero’s tutor.  Since the dates of Gallio’s posting are known, this gives one of the best data in calculating the chronology of Paul’s missions.

Six dense chapters conclude Paul’s  first letter to the Corinthians:

11.          Women and their place

Paul gives a somewhat confusing treatment of whether men and women should cut their hair and/or cover their heads.  At lease one commentator has suggested that Paul was getting his cultures mixed.  He tells men to cut their hair, yet it is observed in Acts that he did not cut his own  hair until he reached Cenchrae “because he had a vow”. 

12.          Spiritual gifts

C.S. Lewis has noted that some take the term “members” to mean that everybody in the church should be considered equal.  The image, however, is of members of the body, which have specialized functions.

13.          Love  The famous passage, quoted in many weddings --  “love suffereth not, and is kind….”   We noted that the Greek word is agape, which relates to neighborly love rather than sexual love.  Most translations nevertheless perpetuate the confusion by using the word “love”, an exception being the King James’ version, which uses “charity”, unfortunately a word that has also changed its meaning.              

14.          Prophecy and women

Paul’s injunction that women should keep silent in church of course jumps off the page to us today.  However, this cannot be a prohibition against their preaching in church, since Chapter 11 has detailed instructions as to how they should dress when “prophesying”  The word used for the prohibition is laleo, an onomatopoeic word meaning something like “chatter”.  Don’t let women  chatter during the sermons – if they have questions, they should save them up until they get home……

15.          Resurrection

Some Christian thinkers in Corinth had suggested that there was no such thing as a bodily resurrection.  Paul uses strong language against this, saying that if we are not raised, then Christ is not raised and we “of all men most to be pitied”.  But in fact Christ has been raised…….

16.          Collection and travel

Judaea was in economic difficulties in the late forties and early fifties.  Josephus reports that the harvest failed after the farms were abandoned to protest Caligula’s attempt to place his own statue in the temple.  When approving Paul’s mission to the Gentiles, the Jerusalem Council specifically asked him to “remember the poor” and Paul seems to have set up a collection for the Jerusalem church at each of the Gentile churches.  He gives his plans to visit the Corinthians again, but they were to be disappointed, as we shall see in II Corinthians.