Navigating the Bible: 1 Corinthians

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is perhaps best known as having the “love” chapter that I just read from. But it’s a testament to the weight of this book that in our conversation today, we barely even touch on that chapter. In this letter, Paul is responding to things he has heard were going on at the church he started in Corinth. Think of a pastor who planted a church, had to go away for awhile, but starts hearing about a bunch of issues happening back at his church plant and has to respond to them. Our guest today likes to say that while 1 Corinthians isn’t considered one of Paul’s “pastoral letters,” it may actually be his most pastoral as we see him handling the business of the church. Paul covers a lot of ground in this letter, from issues of leadership and authority to spiritual pride and sin in the church, from instructions on public worship to spiritual gifts and finally ending with a beautiful treatise on the resurrection of Christ. To help us navigate 1 Corinthians is Dr. B.J. Oropeza, professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Azuza Pacific University and Seminary and author of a commentary on 1 Corinthians. Doable Discipleship is a podcast produced and hosted by Jason Wieland. It premiered in 2017 and now offers more than 450 episodes. Episodes release every Tuesday on your favorite podcast app and on YouTube. (https://www.youtube.com/saddleback). Subscribe to the Doable Discipleship podcast at Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com