“Keep the Ordinances, As I Have Delivered Them” 1 Corinthians 11-16

Keywords

early Christian unity, church disorder, Pauline teachings

Abstract

“Let all things be done decently and in order.”

1 Corinthians 14:40

This lesson begins where a prior lesson left off, the disorder and disunity disrupting the Corinthian church, which Paul sought to repair through his epistles. So as we study the final six chapters of Paul’s 1st epistle to the Corinthians, the most important thing for us to understand is Paul’s overriding purpose in writing the letter in the first place. Sometimes we become so excited by the doctrines and principles shared throughout the many passages that we miss the context and reason for their inclusion. In short, Paul’s original purpose in writing this epistle was to deal with division and general disorder among the early Christian saints living in the city of Corinth. Now, unless we be too hasty to point the finger at these erring saints, perhaps we can put ourselves in their circumstances and realize that misunderstanding, disunity, disorder and carelessness are the common lot of human experience. In other words, Paul’s admonitions for unity and decency are as relevant in our day as they were in his day, though with some cultural nuances.

Now that we remember that the entire epistle is couched in the circumstances of disorder, indecency and disunity growing in the Corinthian branch of the early Church, we can turn our attention to study specific doctrines and principles taught by Paul to overcome these problems. So in today’s lesson we will give an overview of each chapter to show how it fits into the larger picture of Paul’s address on disorder and then look at some key doctrines from those chapters.

Original Publication Citation

“Keep the Ordinances, as I have Delivered Them: 1 Corinthians 11-16.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. 2013.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2013

Publisher

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Marketing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

Link to Full Text

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