West European Studies

1.  What were the problems that Paul was facing in 1 Corinthians Why didmight these issues have arisen Do you feel he handled them properly Why or why not

There were many problems that the people of Corinth were facing by the time Paul got to them. The first problem was the factionalism within the church, which means people divided themselves according to the different preachers of the Gospels some were devotees of Paul, others, to Peter, Appollos, Cephas, Christ, etc. People might have thought this way because people are naturally different from each other and have different point of views. The people might have devoted themselves to the preachers who have the closest views as their own. Paul handled this situation correctly as he preached to the Corinthians that all other preachers were just followers of Christ and that everyone should be united through Christ.

Another problem that Paul faced was the sexual immorality of the people. People then were involved with pre-marital sex an act that the church clearly does not approve of. Paul preaches that it is okay for people to be unmarried like himself but if they cannot practice chastity, people should get married before having sex. This problem arose because people are sexual beings, their instinct is to procreate or at least satisfy their sexual desires. There is no other way to say it so the Paul handled the situation well. No sex outside of marriage period.

Lastly, Paul had to deal with things that were related to pagan practices. Apparently, there were food that were dedicated to false gods. Paul did not say flat out that people should not eat these kinds of food but instead he said that it is okay to eat these kinds of food as long as eating them would not compromise the morality of other Christians. Paul was an open minded person and he accepted that some practices are just part of the culture of the people.