Controversy in the Corinth Church – JSS3 Christian Religious Studies Lesson Note (Second Term)

The controversy in the Corinth church was the set of quarrels and wrong practices among its members, which Paul corrected in his letters.

• The church: one of the earliest Christian churches, started by Paul, an important teacher in early Christianity.
• The record: the problems are written in the Bible books called First and Second Corinthians.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. Describe the city of Corinth and why it was hard for new Christians to change their old habits.
2. State the main problems in the Corinth church.
3. Explain how Paul advised the church to deal with these problems.
4. List the approaches Paul used to help the church.
5. State lessons Christians can learn from the problems in Corinth.

What was the city of Corinth like?

Corinth was a big, busy trading city in ancient Greece, and its way of life made it hard for new Christians to leave their old habits.

• Trade: it was a trading centre with many ships coming and going.
• People: many different people lived there from different places.
• Behaviour: the city was known for wild parties and bad behaviour.
• Religion: people worshipped many different gods and goddesses.
• Effect on the church: new Christians were surrounded by the habits they were meant to leave behind.

What were the main problems in the Corinth church?

There were seven main problems in the Corinth church: divisions, unpunished wrong behaviour, court cases, questions about marriage, food offered to idols, disorder in meetings and wrong ideas about resurrection.

1. What was the problem of groups fighting each other?

Church members split into rival groups instead of working together (1 Corinthians 1:10-17).

• The problem: some said, “I follow Paul”, others said, “I follow Apollos”, “I follow Peter” or “I follow Christ”.
• The result: people fought instead of working together.
• Paul’s advice: they should not be divided, because Christ cannot be divided.
• Paul’s reason: Paul, Apollos and Peter were only workers for God, not people to follow in place of Jesus.

2. What was the problem of bad behaviour not being stopped?

The church did nothing about a member who was living in a wrong sexual relationship (1 Corinthians 5).

• The problem: a man was having a relationship with his father’s wife.
• Why it was serious: it was wrong even by the standards of non-Christians in Corinth.
• The church’s attitude: it did nothing, and some members were proud of being “open-minded”.
• Paul’s advice: remove the man from the group until he changed his ways.
• Paul’s reason: allowing such behaviour would make others think bad behaviour was acceptable.

3. What was the problem of taking each other to court?

Church members sued each other in public courts (1 Corinthians 6:1-8).

• The problem: Christians took their quarrels before non-Christian judges.
• Paul’s view: this was shameful.
• Paul’s advice: settle problems among themselves.
• Paul’s reason: it is better to be cheated than to show non-Christians that the church cannot solve its own problems.

4. What were the questions about marriage?

Some members were unsure whether marriage was holy, so they asked Paul for advice (1 Corinthians 7).

• The problem: some thought it was more holy not to marry.
• The problem: some married people thought they should stop having physical relationships with their spouses.

Paul’s advice:

• Single life: it is good to be single, as Paul was.
• Married life: it is also good to be married.
• Married couples: they should not stop their physical relationship, except by agreement for a short time of prayer.
• The unmarried: a single person is not forced to find a spouse.
• Mixed marriages: a believer should not leave a spouse who does not believe in Jesus.

5. What was the problem of food offered to idols?

Members argued about whether Christians could eat food that had been offered to idols, which are false gods (1 Corinthians 8).

• First group: thought it was always wrong to eat this food.
• Second group: said idols are not real, so the food was fine to eat.
• Paul’s answer: idols are not real gods, but the food may hurt weaker believers who feel confused or troubled.
• Paul’s advice: even if you know it is acceptable, do not eat it if it will hurt another person’s faith.

6. What were the problems during church meetings?

Church meetings in Corinth were disorderly and selfish (1 Corinthians 11 to 14).

• The Lord’s Supper: rich people ate a lot and got drunk, while poor people got nothing.
• Speaking in tongues: some showed off with this special spiritual language.
• Noise: many people spoke at the same time.
• Questions: some women asked questions in ways that disturbed the meeting.
• Paul’s advice: do everything in an orderly way.
• Paul’s reason: the purpose of meetings is to help everyone, not to show off.

7. What were the wrong ideas about resurrection?

Some members said Christians would not be raised from the dead, and Paul corrected this at length (1 Corinthians 15).

1. If there is no resurrection, then Jesus was not raised.
2. If Jesus was not raised, then our faith is useless.
3. But Jesus was raised, so we will be raised too.
4. Our new bodies will be different and better than our present bodies.

What are the problems in Corinth and Paul’s advice at a glance?

How did Paul address these problems?

Paul used five approaches to help the Corinth church.

1. Basic teaching: he reminded them of the basic teachings about Jesus.
2. Clear examples: he used examples they could understand.
3. Concern for others: he told them to think about others, not just themselves.
4. Love: he taught that love is the most important thing.
5. Authority with care: he used his authority as their teacher, but also showed his care for them.

What lessons can we learn from the Corinth church?

The problems in Corinth happened about 2,000 years ago, but they still teach Christians today.

• Unity: Christians should work together, not fight each other.
• Discipline: church communities need to help members live right.
• Love: love is more important than showing off what we know.
• Care for others: we should think about how our actions affect others.
• Order: church meetings should be orderly and helpful for everyone.

Why did Paul not give up on the Corinth church?

Paul did not give up on the Corinth church because he saw it as God’s church, even with its failures.

• His letters: he wrote to help them grow and become better.
• His titles for them: he still called them “God’s church” and “saints”.
• The lesson: God works with imperfect people and imperfect churches.
• The challenge: the important thing is to keep learning and growing.

Evaluation

1. Describe the city of Corinth in your own words.
2. State four problems in the Corinth church.
3. What advice did Paul give about food offered to idols?
4. What was wrong with the way the Lord’s Supper was held in Corinth?
5. List three approaches Paul used to help the Corinth church.

Assignment

Choose any two problems in the Corinth church. For each one, explain the problem and state how Paul advised the church to deal with it.