A twelve-lesson verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians chapters 1 through 11. Corinth was a wealthy Greek seaport of some 400,000 people, rebuilt by Julius Caesar a century before Paul arrived, notorious for its temple of Venus and for the mixture of peoples that trade brought through its two harbours. The church there was founded on Paul’s second missionary journey (Acts 18), and the letter he wrote it takes up problem after problem — which is why the course opens with the claim that no book in the Bible speaks more directly to the American church than this one.
The lessons work through division and carnality, the two representations of the church, baptism answered against both the Jesus-only teaching and hyper-dispensationalism, the wisdom of this world against the wisdom of God, the seven mysteries a believer is steward of, the natural man and the law of biblical interpretation, milk and meat and the seven steps of spiritual growth, the foundation and the judgment seat of Christ, stewards found faithful and the cost of the ministry, church discipline from beginning to end, going to law before unbelievers, marriage and divorce, knowledge bridled with charity, Christian liberty and the weaker brother, the call to preach and the support of the ministry, the Christian life as a race, Israel’s wilderness examples, headship and the covering, and the Lord’s Supper.
Recurring emphases include the difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven, inheritance and reward as distinct from salvation, signs as belonging to the Jew, and the repeated warning that “knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.”
Required text: King James Bible.
Instructor: Dr. Tom Gresham.
Course materials: twelve audio lectures, one final exam, and two written essays.
Coursework: Listen to each lecture and take detailed notes. The final exam is open-Bible and open-notes. Two essays are required — one on the NIV rendering of 1 Corinthians 1:21, and one contrasting the judgment seat of Christ with the great white throne — worth 10 points each. 1 Corinthians 12 through 16 and 2 Corinthians are covered in AD2057 Corinthians 2.
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