1 Corinthians - Brief Intro

Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians around AD 57 while on his third missionary trip, probably when he was in Ephesus where he spent two years (see this prior post for timelines and maps).  He had originally visited Corinth, a major city in Greece, on his second missionary journey and had spent over 18 months there which was his first long stay in a city on one of his trips.

Prior to his first time in Corinth, he had been put in prison in Philippi and chased out of Thessalonica and Berea.  While in Corinth, he met Aquila and Priscilla who he worked with both in secular tentmaking and in the Kingdom of God. God told Paul not to be afraid, that no one would harm him in Philippi and that God had many people in that city (Acts 18:9-10).

Corinth is just across the Aegean Sea from Ephesus where Paul was at the time and word of how the believers in Corinth were doing was coming across to Paul thus prompting the series of letters that he writes to them.  In 1 Corinthians 5:9 he references a previous letter to the Corinthians that we no longer have, so this is now his second letter (though it is called 1 Corinthians) and after this letter the Corinthians write back to Paul and he then responds in a third letter (called 2 Corinthians).

So let's now jump in and begin to read!