Writer: Paul

2. How was the Corinthian congregation established, and hence what bond did it have with Paul?

² It was to this thriving but morally decadent metropolis of the Roman world that the apostle Paul traveled in about 50 C.E. During his stay of 18 months, a Christian congregation was established there. (Acts 18:1-11) What love Paul felt toward these believers to whom he had first carried the good news about Christ! By letter he reminded them of the spiritual bond that existed, saying: “Though you may have ten thousand tutors in Christ, you certainly do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have become your father through the good news.”​—1 Cor. 4:15.

3. What moved Paul to write his first letter to the Corinthians?

³ Deep concern for their spiritual welfare moved Paul to write his first letter to the Corinthian Christians while in the course of his third missionary tour. A few years had passed since he had resided in Corinth. It was now about 55 C.E., and Paul was in Ephesus. Apparently he had received a letter from the relatively new congregation in Corinth, and it required a reply. Furthermore, disturbing reports had reached Paul. (7:1; 1:11; 5:1; 11:18) So distressing were these that the apostle did not even refer to their letter of inquiry until the opening verse of chapter 7 vs 1 of his letter. Especially because of the reports he had received did Paul feel compelled to write to his fellow Christians in Corinth.

5. What establishes the authenticity of the letters to the Corinthians?

⁵ The authenticity of First Corinthians, and also of Second Corinthians, is unquestionable. These letters were ascribed to Paul and accepted as canonical by the early Christians, who included them in their collections. In fact, it is said that First Corinthians is alluded to and quoted at least six times in a letter from Rome to Corinth dated about 95 C.E. and called First Clement. With apparent reference to First Corinthians, the writer urged the recipients of this letter to “take up the epistle of the blessed Paul the apostle.”c First Corinthians is also directly quoted by Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Irenaeus, and Tertullian. There is strong evidence that a corpus, or collection, of Paul’s letters, including First and Second Corinthians, “was formed and published in the last decade of the first century.”d