📖 The Book of 1 Corinthians
Start reading →New Testament · 16 chapters · Pauline
Unity, holiness, and the centrality of the cross and resurrection.
Who wrote 1 Corinthians?
Author
Paul
Written
c. AD 55
Genre
Pauline
Why 1 Corinthians was written
Paul addresses a divided, immature, and worldly church at Corinth, calling them back to the wisdom of the cross, sorting out their many problems (lawsuits, sexual immorality, spiritual gifts, the Lord's Supper), and grounding everything in the resurrection.
Outline of 1 Corinthians
- 11–4: Divisions in the church; the wisdom of the cross
- 25–7: Sexual ethics and marriage
- 38–10: Food offered to idols; freedom and love
- 411–14: Worship, the Lord's Supper, and spiritual gifts
- 515: The resurrection — the foundation of the faith
- 616: Practical matters and greetings
Key verses
1 Corinthians 1:181 Corinthians 13:131 Corinthians 15:14
How 1 Corinthians points to Christ
1 Corinthians 15 is the NT's fullest defence of the resurrection — Paul argues that without it, faith is futile. The resurrection of Christ is not an appendix to the gospel but its heart.
How 1 Corinthians begins
1Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
Read 1 Corinthians 1 →