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1 and 2 Corinthians

  1. Lesson One
    Overview of 1 and 2 Corinthians (Skim 1 and 2 Corinthians)
    24 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  2. Lesson Two
    Holiness in the Context of Freedom (1 Corinthians 5–8, 10, 15)
    20 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  3. Lesson Three
    Unity and Order in the Context of Diversity (1 Corinthians 1–3, 11–14)
    19 Activities
  4. Lesson Four
    Paul's Apostleship (1 Corinthians 4, 9, 16, 2 Corinthians 1–7)
    19 Activities
    |
    3 Assessments
  5. Lesson Five
    Author and Audience (2 Corinthians 8–13)
    25 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

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Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

It’s not uncommon for people to suggest that Paul “invented Christianity,” or started a new religion. Paul was aware of these allegations already in his own lifetime, as was the evangelist Luke, who addressed the issue in his account of Paul’s conversion in Acts. While Paul was still blind from his encounter with God on the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Ananias and told him to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street in Damascus to restore Paul’s sight:

Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel . . .
Acts 9:15 NASB

  1. How does Paul address this issue in the opening verses of the two letters to the Corinthians?
Paul and Jesus

Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. 1 Corinthians 1:1 NASB

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. 2 Corinthians 1:1 NASB

Paul insists that his message is not his own but rather something that he has been given by God. In many cases, we can confirm the inspiration for Paul’s theology as it has precedent in Jesus’ own words in the Gospels. The consistency of these references and their place in Paul’s message remind us that for all his creativity, Paul is the inheritor of a faith, rather than the inventor of something new.