Tom Wright - Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians

The New Testament for Everyone commentary series

Matthew for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 115

Matthew for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 1628

Mark for Everyone

Luke for Everyone

John for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 110

John for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 1121

Acts for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 112

Acts for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 1328

Paul for Everyone: Romans, Part 1 Chapters 18

Paul for Everyone: Romans, Part 2 Chapters 916

Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians

Paul for Everyone: 2 Corinthians

Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians

Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon

Paul for Everyone: The Pastoral Letters 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus

Hebrews for Everyone

Early Christian Letters for Everyone: James, Peter, John and Judah

Revelation for Everyone

First published in Great Britain in 2003

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

36 Causton Street

London SW1P 4ST

www.spckpublishing.co.uk

Reprinted six times

Reissued 2014

Copyright Nicholas Thomas Wright 2003

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

SPCK does not necessarily endorse the individual views contained in its publications.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9780281071944

eBook ISBN 9780281072798

Typeset by Pioneer Associates, Perthshire

eBook by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong

CONTENTS

For

Monsignor Liam Bergin

Rector of the Pontifical Irish College in Rome

and his colleagues and students

in the grounds of whose College

this book was written

On the very first occasion when someone stood up in public to tell people about Jesus, he made it very clear: this message is for everyone .

It was a great daysometimes called the birthday of the church. The great wind of Gods spirit had swept through Jesus followers and filled them with a new joy and a sense of Gods presence and power. Their leader, Peter, who only a few weeks before had been crying like a baby because hed lied and cursed and denied even knowing Jesus, found himself on his feet ex-plaining to a huge crowd that something had happened which had changed the world for ever. What God had done for him, Peter, he was beginning to do for the whole world: new life, forgiveness, new hope and power were opening up like spring flowers after a long winter. A new age had begun in which the living God was going to do new things in the worldbeginning then and there with the individuals who were listening to him. This promise is for you , he said, and for your children, and for everyone who is far away (Acts 2.39). It wasnt just for the person standing next to you. It was for everyone.

Within a remarkably short time this came true to such an extent that the young movement spread throughout much of the known world. And one way in which the everyone promise worked out was through the writings of the early Christian leaders. These short worksmostly letters and stories about Jesuswere widely circulated and eagerly read. They were never intended for either a religious or intellectual elite. From the very beginning they were meant for everyone.

That is as true today as it was then. Of course, it matters that some people give time and care to the historical evidence, the meaning of the original words (the early Christians wrote in Greek), and the exact and particular force of what different writers were saying about God, Jesus, the world and themselves. This series is based quite closely on that sort of work. But the point of it all is that the message can get out to everyone, especially to people who wouldnt normally read a book with footnotes and Greek words in it. Thats the sort of person for whom these books are written. And thats why theres a glossary, in the back, of the key words that you cant really get along without, with a simple description of what they mean. Whenever you see a word in bold type in the text, you can go to the back and remind yourself whats going on.

There are, of course, many translations of the New Testament available today. The one I offer here is designed for the same kind of reader: one who mightnt necessarily understand the more formal, sometimes even ponderous, tones of some of the standard ones. I have tried, naturally, to keep as close to the original as I can. But my main aim has been to be sure that the words can speak not just to some people, but to everyone.

Pauls first letter to Corinth a lively seaport where people and cultures of every sort jostled together, just like so many places in todays world is full of wisdom and challenge. The young church there was as lively as the place itself, with as many questions and problems and as much joy and excitement as any growing church today. Pauls pastoral sensitivity and deep insight come together to make this letter one of his crowning achievements, full of good things for us to ponder and enjoy today. So here it is: Paul for everyone 1 Corinthians!

Tom Wright