The church of Corinth was a church that was once a light in its community, but the light was beginning to go dim. The Apostle Paul started the church on his third missionary journey (Acts 18). He lived among the Corinthians for eighteen months. During this time, he planted the church, raised up leaders, and moved on to his next ministry venture.
Shortly after Corinth, he went to Ephesus. During his time in Ephesus, he corresponded with members of the church at Corinth (1:11). Through this exchange, Paul discovered a high level of tension in the church. The issues included: immature attitudes toward church leaders (4:1-21), sexual immorality (5:1-5), disunity among the members (6:1-11), gender issues (11:1- 16), disorderly worship (11-14), denying the resurrection (15:1-49), and many other problems that emerged.
Paul wrote 1 Corinthians in order to untangle the theological and moral issues that were taking place in the church. In doing so, he consistently shows them the problems they encountered were a result of misapplying the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul’s main goal was to help restore the Church at Corinth back to their foundation in Christ, and the preaching of the gospel.
Corinth today has little significance other than historical. During the time this letter was written (around A.D. 55), Corinth was composed of both Jews and Greeks (Acts 18:4). However, it is clear there were more Gentiles among the church because Paul reiterates his vision statement for his ministry, “From now on I will go to the Gentiles” (Acts 18:6; cf. 13:46).
Corinth was a strategic city for Paul to plant a church. Corinth was a large, innovative, and wealthy city. It was a port city located between the Aegean region and the western Mediterranean where goods from around the world were transported in and out. As a result, it became the center for art, philosophy and religion.
Corinth was widely polytheistic and contained a number of pagan temples, which included widely known idols to Apollo and Aphrodite. The worship of these gods was so ingrained in the culture of Corinth that it was a part of governmental affairs, many of the cultural outlets and festivals, and consequently became a part of everyday life.