The book of 1 Corinthians, explained simply

Who wrote it

The apostle Paul, one of the first people sent out to spread the message about Jesus, with a coworker named Sosthenes listed alongside him. Almost all scholars agree Paul wrote it. A few think parts may have been edited or added later, especially a short passage about women keeping silent in chapter 14, but this is debated.

When

Around AD 53 to 55, written from the city of Ephesus in what is now Turkey. Paul had started the group in Corinth a few years earlier. Corinth was a busy, wealthy Roman port city in Greece, full of trade, many religions, and big gaps between rich and poor.

Who it was written to

The believers in Corinth, a mixed group of mostly non Jewish people plus some Jewish people, rich and poor, who met in homes. Paul had heard reports about problems there, and they had also sent him a letter with questions.

Why it was written

The group in Corinth was splitting into rival camps, struggling with sexual behavior, arguing about food and worship, and some doubted that the dead would be raised. Paul writes to pull them back together around Jesus and to show what love looks like in a real, messy community. It gives one of the earliest pictures of how the first followers of Jesus lived, worshiped and believed, including some of the oldest written statements that Jesus rose from the dead.

Big themes

Unity instead of rival groups · Love as the highest gift · Freedom used with care for others · The hope of being raised from death

How it is laid out

Quarrels, and what real wisdom is (1-4)

Sexual conduct and lawsuits between believers (5-6)

Marriage and staying single (7)

Food offered to idols and limits on freedom (8-10)

Worship together, spiritual gifts, and love (11-14)

Jesus rising and the hope of resurrection (15)

Money for the poor, travel plans, and greetings (16)

A tip for reading it

Read it as one side of a conversation. Paul sometimes quotes the Corinthians' own slogans, such as "all things are lawful for me," before answering them, so watch for quotation marks in your translation. Some passages, like those on head coverings and women in worship, tied closely to that culture and are still debated today, so it is fine to read them slowly and with questions.