First Corinthians - Laying a Foundation

First Corinthians is an eminently practical piece of New Testament scripture. But its practicality points to one of its greatest pitfalls, namely the contemporary Christian's natural tendency to apply its instruction directly to himself as if the letter were written to him and for him. This introductory message on Paul's first Corinthian epistle considers the all-important - but frequently overlooked - matter of how this epistle must be approached by the contemporary reader if he is to interpret and apply it properly. It examines the various challenges to correct interpretation, not the least of which is the fact that the reader is effectively reading someone else's mail. Richard Hays' comments are illuminating: "What hermeneutical maneuvers permit us to read these particular pastoral instructions as God's word to us? We are so accustomed to thinking of First Corinthians as part of 'our' Bible that we seldom see the full complexity of this interpretive problem."