Third Sunday after the Epiphany 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Ancient Lens

What can we learn from the historical context?

Corinth: "Young, Scrappy, and Hungry"

Corinth was an up-and-coming city with an up-and-coming attitude. The Romans had conquered it and left it in rubble in 146 BC, but Julius Caesar began its redevelopment in 44 BC. As a result, it became a strategic and cosmopolitan Roman city that aspired to be the most important in the region. Corinth had its own sporting culture with the Isthmian Games and its own intellectual culture that sought to rival Athens.

Rival Intellectual/Spiritual Authorities

As a result, Corinth was one of the main stops on the speaking tours of prominent scholars, rhetoricians, and…

1. Corinth was rebuilt only a little over 100 years before Paul's ministry. How does Corinth's relative youth, cosmopolitanism, and wealth parallel our own societies? And how are we different?

2. Your church probably isn't identifying itself based on who baptized whom. But what are some divisions you see in your own church? What about divisions in the church more broadly in your country? Why do they exist? What might Paul say to you/us?

3. Why do Christians squabble so much? Is it just that human beings find things to fight about and Christians are humans? Or is there something about our communities that makes us prone to it? How might we find greater unity?

4. How does the world perceive Christians? How do you think the world would…