Paul's Salutation

Paul began this epistle in characteristic fashion with a greeting. In it he identified himself and Sosthenes as the authors and the Corinthians as the letter's recipients. Because Paul introduced all of his epistles in this way it is easy for Bible readers to fly past the opening salutation in order to get to the "meat" of the particular letter. But Paul's salutation was anything but gratuitous; he was purposeful in it, constructing it such that it would provide the foundational premise through which the Corinthians - and subsequent readers - were to read and interpret the balance of the letter.