I am starting a study of the books of 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians. In doing so, it is important that a person who is studying the Bible consider the culture, the history and the context of a passage or book. It helps us make sense of what we are reading and why the author wrote the way that he did. In 1 Corinthians, we see Paul write as a pastor. He spent 18 months in Corinth ministering to the people there and starting a church there. We see the story of Paul founding this church in Acts 18:1-17. It is important to realize what the church of Corinth was like and why Paul wrote to them like he did. Paul most likely wrote this letter from Ephesus 1 Corinthians 16:8 around 55 A.D.. The letter of 1 Corinthians is most likely the second letter Paul wrote to Corinth, the first has been lost (1 Corinthians 5:9).
The city of Corinth had been destroyed back in 146 B.C. and rebuilt by Julius Caesar as a Roman colony in 46 B.C.. It was known for its three harbors (Lechaeum, Cenchrea and Schoenus), so it was rich in commerical history. This means that a majority of the people who heard Paul would not have been Jewish. It also made it a strategic city to get the gospel out to other parts of the world since people who arrived in Corinth would travel all over the world.
The city of Corinth was also known as a place of depravity. Just about every single kind of sin you can think of went on in this city. The Corinthian cult of Aphrodite, of Melikertes and of Athene and other deities were a part of this culture. This may have been why so much of 1 Corinthians is focused on problems that had developed. Because the believers in Corinth, though they were saved, were babies in their faith. Paul's call to the Corinthians for them to grow up in their faith is also a call to us as well.
This is also a letter which was to address concerns that Paul had and also that the church had. Apparently, the church had sent a letter with various questions to Paul. We can see Paul refer to that letter by his statement "now concerning" which he says in 7:1,25; 8:1; 12:1: 16:1,12. In this letter, Paul addresses the issues of divisions in the church (1:10-17), sexual immorality chapter 5; lawsuits chapter 6; concerns about marriage chapter 7; the use of christian liberty ch 8 & 9 concerns related to the Lord's Supper ch 11; the veiling of women in worship 11:2-16; the importance of spiritual gifts and the preeminence of love chapters 12,13. And the importance of the resurrection of Christ chapter 15.
Some web sites that have pictures and more information about Corinth:
http://www.bibleplaces.com/corintharea.htm
http://www.biblelandhistory.com/greece/corinth.html
http://www.biblestudy.org/biblepic/corinth-apostle-paul-missionary-journeys.html
