Corinthians

[VictimofChanges]

I am currently reading this book of the new testament in an edition called the new....revised...something or other!

Anyway, I feel that this section has some messages that I don't really agree with. It worries me a bit, but I'm not going to be force-fed something which doesn't seem right.

Things like women are men's property and men are God's property, and that men shouldn't have long hair.

Trivial perhaps, but I keep finding myself disputing this part lof the bible, unlike other parts I've read.

I guess I need to just apply the messages in a way that I agree with?

 

[seebs]

I found that 1 Corinthians made a lot more sense when I thought about it as a reply to a letter. So, Paul is repeating or paraphrasing things the Corinthians told him, then rebuking them for their errors. You will find that the passages that you find troubling, as though they are strangely legalistic and make no sense, are followed immediately by passages contradicting them and arguing against them.

 

[Serapha]

I guess I need to just apply the messages in a way that I agree with?

Hi there!



The letters to the Corinthian church was directed to a group of people from such diverse backgrounds, that Paul was trying to establish common ground for the believers. He didn't present a message that everyone would agree with, but a message that would bring unity out of confusion. The majority of the text of the Corinthian letters is found elsewhere in biblical teachings, so by just selecting what you agree with will eventually lead you into more gray areas in the Bible.

Using your philosophy... If I don't agree with tithing, then I don't tithe. If I don't agree that the Sabbath is a day of rest, then I can work seven days a week. If I don't see abortion as murder, then abortion is okay????


Christians live by God's Word, but they also survive by God's grace. As you grow spiritually in your salvation process, you will be given more light to walk in... and once you receive that light, you are accountable for that light.

In other words, Christians don't have the priviledge of picking and choosing what they want to believe. Not unless they are Christians in name only.

~serapha~

 

[Rafael]

I am currently reading this book of the new testament in an edition called the new....revised...something or other!

Anyway, I feel that this section has some messages that I don't really agree with. It worries me a bit, but I'm not going to be force-fed something which doesn't seem right.

Things like women are men's property and men are God's property, and that men shouldn't have long hair.

Trivial perhaps, but I keep finding myself disputing this part lof the bible, unlike other parts I've read.

I guess I need to just apply the messages in a way that I agree with?

Sometime, post the particular verse number for me to accurately comment. I have lots of reference material here, to work with.
I go along with Serapha, in that the hair thing probably has much to do with cultural traditions of the period of time Paul wrote about and addressed.

 

[futureyouthpastor85]

In terms of the book in general (I found a lot of hard spots too in that book), I dont think we could point simply to JUST cultural background and say "thats why" (because we could very well say that for a lot of books in the Bible, making for ourselves an edited version of the bible). You have to keep in light that Paul had no time for legalism, but he had much time for evangelism. 1 Corinthians is a guide to evangelism (read 1 Corinthians 9, probably one of the best explanations on how to evangelize). Everything that Paul suggests is in order to bring people into the church and be saved. While there is some cultural tint to it, keep in mind that while Paul was entirely AGAINST legalism, he would do whatever it took to get people saved (and in that sense, at the time culturally, it may have taken no long hair, or woman being quiet in the church).

 

[futureyouthpastor85]

to just add a little to what i just said, (cause i just remembered it lol), the general theme of 1 Corinthians is "Do whatever it takes to get people to the church, and the power of God will do the rest - but make sure everything you do is done orderly as to present a clean appearance to those who are unsaved."

 

[theseed]

Read Romans 14, here Paul talks about little differences between Christians. I believe it will help you decide what to believe theologically.