Among biblical scholars, there is a general agreement that Paul wrote  1 Corinthians. In fact, Paul identifies himself as the author twice in this book. In addition, we have support for Pauline authorship in the early church fathers. For example, the sub-apostolic father Clement of Rome (A.D. 95), in his letter to the church at Corinth, affirmed that Paul wrote this letter to the church at Corinth.         

Most likely Paul wrote 1 Corinthians while at Ephesus ca. between A.D. 54 and 56, during his third missionary journey, a year or so before he wrote a letter to the church at Rome, what we know as the book of Romans. During the time that Paul penned down his first letter to the Corinthian church, this church was probably no more than four years old, founded by the apostle on his second missionary journey, after he has left Athens for Corinth. After beginning this church, he remained for eighteen months, seeking to establish the church in the faith. Interestingly, what we call first Corinthians was not Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth. He had apparently had written the Corinthians a letter prior to our First Corinthians (cf 1 Cor. 5:9) but we have no surviving manuscript.  

We know quite a bit about the city of Corinth, as to its founding, its history, its religious and civic practices, and its reputation in the ancient world. This information is important if we are to understand Paul’s message to this church in lower Greece. 

The city was ravaged by the Romans in 146 B.C., but after Julius Caesar rebuilt it in 46 B.C., it became an important city. As a seaport it occupied an ideal location for trading between Italy all the way to Asia, and diverse visitors and trade made it a strong city. But it was also filled with temple prostitution, polytheism and paganism. The city of Corinth had such a poor reputation that if someone wanted to insult you, they would call you a “Corinthian.” Earlier in its history, the temple on the acropolis of Corinth boasted of a thousand temple prostitutes.

Given the fact that this was such a young church, new believers were dramatically affected by the city’s pagan culture and moral decline. While the Christian church ought to affect the world, it was the opposite at Corinth, which suffered greatly for its compromise and for allowing external influences to defect this new body of Christians. The church at Corinth was no doubt the most troubled group of believers during the lifetime of Paul the Apostle and the early church. Sexual immorality, lawsuits, contention, superiority issues and splits were prevalent among the early Corinthians. This particular body of believers had some serious maturing to do which was the main reason Paul wrote them this letter. Despite their great sin, Paul still addresses these believers “To the church of God which is at Corinth”; and regardless of their gross sins and troubles, nowhere does Paul suggest that they are not saved.  In addition to the great moral failure, they also were in error in matters of doctrine. They wrongly understand the use and purpose of activities of the Spirit of God and greatly understood the matter of the physical resurrection of Christ and believers.      

It appears that the believers in this city were either influenced by a form of skepticism or an embryonic form of second century Gnosticism due their belief that it did not matter what one did to one’s physical body, as if matter was evil, so long as the spirit remains untouched. Thus, in chapter 15 we see a clear case for the physical resurrection of Jesus including Paul alluding to an earlier creed or hymn affirming Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection on the third day that was consistent with both Scripture and historical evidence to eyewitnesses. In 1 Cor. 15:3-4 we see the plain message of the gospel—which Paul “received” and was now “passing on” to the Corinthians. Given the early date of this book and the fact that Paul may be quoting an earlier hymnal creed of a sort, demonstrate that any argument suggesting that the later church invented a resurrected Messiah is not credible.

In Paul’s tone in First Corinthians, we see a strong message of correction and exhortation. He cared for this body of believers like a father cares for his children. In this letter, Paul responds to an oral report from a prominent family in the church (the house of Chloe) and a letter from the Corinthian church that had a number of questions being debated among them. The report spoke of gross immorality and divisions among them, while the letter had questions ranging from marriage to celibacy, the issue of Christian liberty in regards to eating food offered to idols, to lawsuits against other Christian, the misuse of gifts of the Spirit, abusing the Lord’s Table, and sexual immorality in religious worship.

Paul sought to bring this immature church under the Lordship of Christ and unity of the Spirit, but his efforts never seemed to reach full fruition in this debased cultural center of Greece, which gave rise to a much harsher and more sorrowful second letter, we know as Second Corinthians.