Paul went through many difficulties in Corinth. Corinth was an immoral city with many various religions. "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Corinthians 13:1-2, NIV). People were not told to follow certain rules and were sexually immoral. It was hard for someone with Christian values to come in, share his views with the populace, and be accepted.
Although Paul was accepted by some and gained followers, there were some problems that arose. Some of these problems had to do with old habits and immorality. Others had to deal with grief, mourning, and death. That being said, Paul addressed such pastoral difficulties in an epistle.
Corinthians or the epistle was written by Paul in Ephesus located on the west coast of what is now Turkey. Paul's letter was written during his time in Ephesus. There are seven parts to the epistles and in Salutation; Paul immediately addresses concerns regarding opposition to his apostleship as well as defends the issue through claiming it was given unto him via a revelation from Jesus Christ. Thus, the first section (The Salutation) reinforces the legitimacy of his apostolic claim. This can be seen as a pastoral difficulty because it deals mainly with the idea of proving legitimacy. As a leader, people must view the person as sufficient to guide and lead. By addressing the concerns primarily, Paul shows he is suitable enough for leadership.
Another pastoral difficulty Paul had to contend with was immorality in Corinth from 5:1-6:20. There were issues with resolving personal disputes as well as sexual purity. In fact, sexual immortality was especially highlighted through the sin of an unnamed person (Christian) in Corinth. The man had his father's wife, essentially sleeping with his stepmother. To make matters worse, the Corinthian Christians appeared to take lightly the sins committed, unconcerned for such behavior. Perhaps it was because Corinth was such an immoral city that had pagan religions, which did not place value on a person's sexual purity. This was a clear problem for Paul.
The third pastoral difficulty was dealing with properly expressing Jesus Christ's resurrection. This is explained in 1 Corinthians 15. Paul discusses Jesus' resurrection appearances. He uses this resurrection to explain the resurrection for Christianity. The idea of resurrection played an important role for Paul in guiding mourners by assuring them resurrection to a good and better life. Paul mentions resurrection of the flesh: 1 Corinthians 15: 52: "the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." In addition to baptism of the dead. He also explains Christ will come back into power and put his opponents under his feet, destroying the last enemy, death. This was a great way for Paul to handle some of the suffering (the Christians had when a loved one died) and it strengthened their faith in Christ and God.
Paul did an excellent job of guiding his followers through struggle. "In verse 10, as Paul summarized his initial preaching to them, he concluded with a reference to Christ's return and the coming judgment, which became the central emphasis of the entire letter (4:13-5:11)" (Polhill, 1999, p. 190). He gave them hope. He guided them towards a better and deeper understanding of god. Most importantly, he reinforced his teachings and heightened their spiritual awareness.
He taught them that sexual purity is an important aspect of the Christian religion. He taught them about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He showed them that life can be lived a moral and just way. His writings gave valuable lessons and information to his followers.
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Some scholars have the notion that Galatians 2:1-10 and Acts 15 describe the same events, but from two dissimilar viewpoints. This is due to the numerous similarities these two events share in common. Aside from the things in common, both events have the same people (Paul, James, Barnabas, and Judaizers) involved. Another interesting aspect of the two events is the same subject matter, which was Gentile participation and acceptance in both fellowship and salvation. Similarly, both events have people suggest circumcision is not require for salvation. Lastly, both of the passages refer to Christian believers internal struggles.
Even though they share so many things, they may not be discussing the same event. There are some differences. For example, in Acts 15, Paul mentions three visits. In...
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