"Michael Li-Tak Shen carefully examines the biblical view of God's absolute uniqueness, and argues that the biblical texts are consistent in their prohibition of idolatry and its paraphernalia in whatever form---a helpful point in similar pastoral situations today in a world of idols, ideologies, addictions, and runaway consumerism. The high view of the absolute nature of God warns against lax and mistaken notions of so-called Christian freedom." Robert Solomon, Bishop, the Methodist Church in Singapore. --Book Jacket.

This compact commentary on 1 Corinthians is both readable and full of insights that will engage students, ministers, and scholars alike. The Apostle Paul writes to a relatively new church in which members are failing to maintain solidarity with other members. They struggle to find their unique place in Roman society as Gentile followers of Jewish leaders that proclaim Christ as Lord. Their many problems include competition over leadership and social prestige, sexual impropriety, household conflicts, idol foods, table fellowship, protocols on gender and the use of spiritual gifts, and confusion about death, immortality, and Christ’s return. Oropeza addresses Paul’s response to these and other issues as he engages ancient biblical, Jewish, and Greco-Roman sources along with recent scholarship. This is a must-read for those who want to understand the Corinthian situation and Paul’s response in a new way.

This latest commentary in the Belief series looks at Paul's theological wrestling with the divisions facing the early church in Corinth. These divisions arose for many reasons, among them the practices of the community: baptism,the Lord's Supper, preaching, and the exercise of spiritual gifts. The contemporary church in North America is likewise dealing with divisions of various sorts. Who can preach? Who can celebrate Communion? Who can marry whom? With this commentary Charles L. Campbell helps preachers understand how to better respond to those questions in their own settings.

Why did Paul frequently employ a diverse range of metaphors in his letters to the Corinthians? Was the choice of these metaphors a random act or a carefully crafted rhetorical strategy? Did the use of metaphors shape the worldview and behavior of the Christ-followers? In this innovative work, Kar Yong Lim draws upon Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Social Identity Theory to answer these questions. Lim illustrates that Paul employs a cluster of metaphors--namely, sibling, familial, temple, and body metaphors--as cognitive tools that are central to how humans process information, construct reality, and shape group identity. Carefully chosen, these metaphors not only add colors to Paul's rhetorical strategy but also serve as a powerful tool of communication in shaping the thinking, governing the behavior, and constructing the social identity of the Corinthian Christ-followers.

"John Phillips writes with enthusiasm and clarity, . . . cutting through the confusion and heretical dangers associated with Bible interpretation." --Moody Magazine

Rushdoony’s Sermons in First and Second Corinthians are the last of his Biblical commentaries—delivered shortly before his passing—but it represents a fitting close to his teaching ministry. He said Paul’s letters are difficult to preach on because they speak to the sins of Christians, and with the church at Corinth, the long list of sins included division, strife, injustice, immorality, doctrinal error, and the abuse of the sacraments. Despite their many transgressions, the apostle Paul still addresses the believers at Corinth as saints and referred to their gathered community as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were still Christ’s embassy on earth. They could still develop into a greater training center for Christian action. This is why Paul’s letters to the Corinthians are relevant to the church today, and it’s also why Rushdoony’s sermons on these two epistles are invaluable to us now. Rushdoony was criticized for his ecclesiology, but only because he always saw the greater fact of God’s advancing Kingdom, and the church as the equipping center for the saints. Rushdoony’s fresh application of Paul’s warnings and admonitions will help Christians, pastors, and churches to free themselves of the same sins and return to the church as an embassy of the Kingdom. THE NEED FOR A GODLY SOCIAL ORDER “The church could not hope in time to rule the world if it could not rule itself. It was thus very important for Paul to bring the Corinthians back into obedience to God’s law, among other things.” The apostle Paul was an envoy to the ekklesia of Jesus Christ—those who are called to establish God’s Kingdom on earth. Therefore, the importance of his patience, correction, and instruction could not be diminished if he were to be faithful to the One who sent him. The church is Christ’s embassy to earth to reclaim what belongs to Him. Against the backdrop of a history filled with hatred for God and hatred of all that is holy, our greater calling is the establishing of a godly social order, and this commentary by Rushdoony is a welcomed text to help equip us for that great responsibility.

"John Phillips writes with enthusiasm and clarity, . . . cutting through the confusion and heretical dangers associated with Bible interpretation." —Moody magazine