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1 Corinthians

First Corinthians responds to a gifted but divided church, addressing community conflict, worship, embodied ethics, resurrection, and the collection for Jerusalem.

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Why did Paul write 1 Corinthians, and what is debated about its setting or authorship?

The letter is one side of a continuing exchange, so some of the Corinthians’ questions and social circumstances remain only partly visible.

Acts 18:18-22 · Acts 18:23 · Acts 19:1-20; 20:31 · 1 Cor 1:11-12; 3:6; 16:8-12 · 2 Cor 2:1-4; 7:8-12 · Acts 19:21-41; 20:1

1 Corinthians: chronology diagram showing the sequence of events, dates, and distinctions between established, inferred, and uncertain details.
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What remains uncertain

Ephesus around AD 54–55 is strongly supported by Paul’s plans to remain there and by the setting of the third journey.

The exact year within Paul’s long Ephesian ministry remains approximate.

1 Corinthians is widely regarded as an undisputed letter of Paul, written from Ephesus around AD 54–55 while he was planning further travel and responding to reports and questions from Corinth.

A neighboring year in Ephesus: Another major chronology places the letter in late AD 56 or early 57 while retaining Ephesus as the setting. The letter remains before the painful visit and before Second Corinthians; the difference is one of fine dating.

Sources: An Introduction to the New Testament · The Pauline letters · The Acts of the Apostles · Pauline Letters chronology · Paul: A Critical Life

Sources

Acts 18:18-22 · Acts 18:23 · Acts 19:1-20; 20:31 · 1 Cor 1:11-12; 3:6; 16:8-12 · 2 Cor 2:1-4; 7:8-12 · Acts 19:21-41; 20:1

  1. An Introduction to the New Testament

    Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (Doubleday, 1997). Chapter 22, “First Letter to the Corinthians,” “General Analysis of the Message”; Chapter 22, “First Letter to the Corinthians,” “Summary of Basic Information”: “DATE” and “AUTHENTICITY”; Chapter 22, “First Letter to the Corinthians,” “The Background”

  2. The Pauline letters

    Romans through Philemon, World English Bible (public domain).

  3. The Acts of the Apostles

    Acts 7–28, World English Bible (public domain).

  4. Pauline Letters chronology

    The project’s 67-row chronology, cross-referencing Acts and the letters and labeling debated dates.

  5. Paul: A Critical Life

    Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, Paul: A Critical Life (Oxford University Press, 1996). Chapter 1, “The Chronological Framework,” “The Evidence from the Pauline Letters” and “The Evidence from the Acts of the Apostles”

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