1st Corinthians 5: Keeping the Feast

Michael Sterns
NT 3416: Greek Exegesis of 1st Corinthians
Dr. George Parsenios
Spring 2016

Abstract: Paul writes to address a troubling situation of a man sleeping with his father’s wife.
Paul directly writes to the Corinthians as they repent of their arrogance of allowing this man in
their congregation, and Paul has already judged that this man is an outsider and thus must be
treated as one. He is leaven and will leaven the whole church. It is a scandalous act in the church,
but Paul points them to the scandal of the cross. It is Jesus that calls them to remember to be
holy. In order to keep the feast, the Corinthian community must remember the purity of the
paschal sacrifice. It is because of Christ that they must remove the sexually immoral person from
their company. Holiness, indeed, is a hard task.
 Sterns 1

I. Introduction
A. Translation: 1All around it is heard of fornication among you, and such fornication as this is
not even among the pagans, such that some one should have their father’s wife. 2And you are
puffed up, but instead you should be mourning in order that this work he has done should be
taken from you. 3For on one hand, I as absent in the body but present in the spirit, I have judged
already concerning the one that has so done this deed. 4In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when you are gathered together and with my spirit in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ 5to
deliver this kind of person to Satan for the destruction of the flesh in order that the spirit might
be saved on the day of our Lord Jesus. 6Your boasting is not good; do you not know that a little
leaven leavens the whole mass of dough? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven in order that you might be
a new mass of dough as you are now unleavened for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for
us. 8So then, let us keep the feast not with old leaven or bad leaven and sexual immorality but
with the unleavened (one) of sincerity and truth. 9I wrote to you in the epistle that you should not
keep company with fornicator, 10and not all the fornicators of this world or the greedy or
extortionists or idolaters, for then you all would need to go out from the world. 11But now I have
written to you to not keep company if any so-called brother (and sister) is a fornicator or greedy
or idolater or reviler or drunkard or extortionist, then you should not eat with such a person. 12For
what is it to me to judge those outside? Do you not judge those within? 13But God judges those
outside and remove from among you the wicked person!

B. No major textual variants that alter the meaning of the passage.

C. Delimiting the Passage: The transition from 4:21 to this chapter is nonexistent; Paul

immediately moves into a discussion on sexual immorality (porneia) without any indicator of a

shift in topic change. Paul alludes to an oral report, and from there, he begins a new topic

altogether. His explicit dealing with sexual immorality ends at 6:20 (though it is used to motivate

people to marry in chapter seven), but this chapter deals with a specific problem (the report of

the man sleeping with his mother or stepmother) and becomes a corporate responsibility for the

church in Corinth. He begins the chapter by speaking about an oral report, as he did in 1:11, to

admonish the church for tolerating such behavior in that they are puffed up (v.2). He uses

Passover language throughout this passage and ends with an excommunication found in the Old

Testament (specifically Deuteronomy).

II. Literary Analysis

A. Form Criticism: 1st Corinthians is a letter written by Paul to the church in Corinth. Paul

follows a traditional Hellenistic format by showing himself as the author (1:1), the receivers
 Sterns 2

(1:2), the typical thanksgiving (1:4-9), and epistolary conclusion (16:13-24). Paul’s letters are

real letters written to a real congregation, and they represent him (cf. 5:4).1 Paul writes

authoritatively by trying to diffuse problems by writing this letter. The purpose of this letter is to

write against factionalism (1:10-13). It is with this lens that the entirety of the letter can be read.

And what differentiated Paul’s letters from private ones were that he writes them addressing

multiple people and situations, and they were probably read aloud to congregations.2

Paul writes to the church in Corinth about the new Christian life. It seems that some are

trying to figure out how to live this new way of living.3 Readers of the Bible only have Paul’s

response to the arguments themselves, but 1st Corinthians offers the contents of their arguments

where Paul repeats part or all of their slogans.4 Paul is applying his Christology and eschatology

to practical issues within the church. The problems in Corinth are diverse, but Paul wants to

bring unity and order to the community by pointing them to the foolishness of the cross (1:18).5

Paul uses the Hellenist writing form, but he infuses it with Christian (and Jewish in

chapter five) contents. Paul is their church founder (2:1-3; 4:15; cf. 2 Cor 10:14; Acts 18:1-17),

and he is trying to speak to a congregation that is divided (1:10). It is a crisis of authority.6 Many

within the congregation are “puffed up” by their own merit and status. Though Paul does not

refer to himself as their pastor, he still is acting pastorally to them.7 Paul throughout is trying to

bring restoration to the broken community by speaking to them in love (4:14-21), but sometimes
1
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, First Corinthians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008), 54.
2
P.T. O’Brien, “Letters, Letter Forms” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Edited by Gerald F.
Hawthorne and Ralph P. Martin (Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 550-551.
3
George Parsenios, “February 2nd, 2016” (Class Lecture, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ,
February 2nd, 2016).
4
Ibid.
5
Fitzmyer, 52.
6
Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing
Company, 1987), 195.
7
Stephen C. Barton, “Paul as Missionary and Pastor” in The Cambridge Companion to St. Paul, Edited by
James D. G. Dunn (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003),34-35.
 Sterns 3

he has to speak harshly in order that they recognize the wrongs in their actions. Chapter five,

along with the entirety of the letter, is addressing the health of the whole Corinthian church.8

Literary/Rhetorical Criticism

Paul’s letters do not follow a strict pattern. They employ many other literary traditions

such as contemporary rhetorical forms and modes of persuasion, chiastic structures, diatribe

style, midrashic exegetical methods appealing to the authority of the Old Testament, along with

early traditional hymnic material and confessional formulas.9 In 1st Corinthians, Paul seems to

argue that he is not a rhetorician, and he appears to actually be quite critical of persuasive

arguing (1:17-2:5). But Paul uses his letters as means of convincing people to live properly in

response to the cross of Christ. It is this message of the crucified Christ that Paul presents to the

people in Corinth, and he comes in fear and trembling (2:3), which would have been the

antithesis to a powerful orator (cf. Philodemus On Rhetoric 1.194-200).10

In this chapter, Paul’s alarm as he introduces the problem showcases his rhetorical skill.

The exaggeration is not to say that pagans do not do such deeds, but that not even pagans tolerate

them (cf. Gaius, Institutes 1.63).11 The structure of this chapter is a self-contained unit of five

sections: 1) Paul’s hearing and reproach of the scandal in the church (vv.1-2); 2) Paul’s

eschatological decree upon the wrongdoer (vv.3-5); 3) a generic exhortation about living out the

Passover celebration (vv.9-11); and return to the scandal (vv.12-13).12 Throughout the chapter,

Paul uses judicial language, which he picks up later in following chapter. Though it seems

8
Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1989), 80.
9
O’Brien, 552.
10
B.W. Winter, “Rhetoric” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne and Ralph
P. Martin (Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 821.
11
Fitzmyer, 235.
12
Fitzmyer, 232.
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disjointed, Paul’s response to the problem at hand is that the person should be removed (vv.2,

13) because old leaven is bad (v.7).13

Paul advocates a covenantal relationship within the church by appealing to the Old

Testament in this chapter. He earlier writes to not go beyond what is written (4:6). This advice

could be describing Paul’s earlier letter to the Corinthians, but it is also an explicit plea for the

Corinthians to be people of the Word. In v.13, he makes a direct allusion to LXX Deuteronomy

(17:7; 19:19; 21:21, 22, 24; 24:7).14 Paul is not simply offering an axiom to “remove the sexually

immoral person,” but he instead frames it within a covenantal context; his use of the Old

Testament is linking the Corinthians (a predominately Gentile congregation) to the people of

Israel.15

Paul uses an analogy to speak of Christ as the Passover lamb (v.7). It is not to speak of

some ornate atonement theory, but it is to speak of the Passover feast that brings the covenant

people together. Paul’s purpose, then, is to invite the Christians participating in the feast that God

provided to live into paschal purity (which was expected for Israelites as they consecrate

themselves).16 The symbolic language is drawn from Israel’s story of leaving the bondage of

Egypt (Exod 12). Paul employs the image of leaven (cf. Gal 5:9; Mark 8:15; Matt 16:6, 11-12;

Luke 12:1). Allowing the immoral person to remain in the community will ruin the whole

leaven.17

But Paul does not make an analogy that Corinth is like Israel. He does not preface by

saying something like, “Through Christ, you are Israel” as he does in Romans 9-11 by using the

13
Fitzmyer, 232.
14
I will later address these passages and which one Paul may have been directly using in his
excommunicative command.
15
Hays, 81.
16
C.K. Barrett, A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians (London: Adam & Charles Black,
1968), 128-129.
17
Hays, 83.
 Sterns 5

imagery of trees and branches. Paul, in effect, is addressing the Gentile Corinthians as Israel;

God’s word to the Israelites then is the same word to them now: Sinful behavior of this kind

cannot be allowed within this elect community.18 Paul will parse out this thought more in chapter

ten, but Paul wants the church in Corinth to maintain the same moral standards as Israel and also

discharge people that do not maintain those paschal standards.19

III. Theological Analysis: Key Words and Phrases

πορνεία: This specific noun is used twenty-six times in the New Testament, and ten of its uses

are by Paul. It is typically rendered as sexual immorality, which does not seem to capture the

range of its meaning. πόρνος is a man that indulges in unlawful sex. πόρνη is the feminine form

of the noun, and Paul uses it later in 6:15. Strictly speaking, this root word means some kind of

illicit sexual intercourse. Paul introduces this word for the first time in 1st Corinthians in v.1. He

uses it twice to emphatically declare the certain kind of sexual immorality that is present in the

church.20 It is that someone is having (ἔχειν) his father’s wife. The language “having a father’s

wife” is taken directly from LXX Lev 18:7-8 where this exact sin is forbidden.21

πορνεία is one of the most important key words of primitive Christian paraeneitic

arguments, and it is in line with the traditional Jewish sexual ethic (cf. Wis 14:21; Jub. 25.1).22

Paul uses the pagans (τοῖς ἔθνεσιν) as an ethical foil that this Christian community should avoid.

Paul does not give any grounds to why people within the church should avoid this type of sexual

18
Ibid., 88.
19
Guy Waters Prentiss, “Curse Redux?: 1 Corinthians 5:13, Deuteronomy, and Identity in Corinth,” in The
Westminster Theological Journal 77, no. 2 (September 2015), 241.
20
This topic of the range of meanings of porneia is very fascinating, and from what I have read through,
there is not a clear consensus on the matter on the specific type of sexual immorality that is being discussed here and
elsewhere in the Pauline corpus. Sometimes it is translated as homosexual relationship depending on the context,
and it is also just sexual immorality in others. For my paper’s purposes, I will consistently refer to porneia as sexual
immorality because Paul’s sexual ethic is heightened for heterosexual relationships as well.
21
Fee, 200.
22
Hans Conzelmann, A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Translated by James W. Leitch
(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975), 95.
 Sterns 6

activity, but it is implicit in his understanding that the church community is the temple of God (1

Cor 3:16-17; 6:19). This insider-outsider language is important in this chapter. Paul speaks in

this manner not to shut the community off to the world (as he clarifies in v.10), but instead to

clarify their righteous standing in the world.23

The greater frequency of references to sexual topics in Paul’s letters compared to the

Gospel narratives may reflect the more relaxed sexual ethic in a Hellenistic society.24 Paul is

concerned that this type of sexual activity affects the whole person, and it is not something to be

taken lightly (cf. 6:12-13). Paul is not concerned with misusing sexual organs, but this porneia is

an assault against the person and the entire body of Christ. It consumes that person like a disease.

Paul’s understanding of human sexuality was never systematically laid out in his

writings. In 1st Thessalonians 4:3, Paul reminds the newly converted Christians at Thessalonica

that God’s will for their sanctification required their abstinence from porneia. Some of the

Christians at Corinth had been involved in porneia before their salvations (6:11-12). But Paul

desires for their shift towards the holy life. He is more disgusted with the fact that the church is

tolerating such behavior. Paul is not an ascetic after all. He later speaks on a healthy sexual ethic

in chapter seven: one of mutuality (cf. Eph 5:22-33).

Paul begins his introduction of the matter in v.1 by saying, Ὅλως ἀκούεται ἐν ὑμῖν

πορνεία.” The choice of ἀκούεται instead of ἀκούω is important. Paul is not only saying that he

has received an oral report, but this choice of word indicates that others are making the same

observation.25 Their reputation (and Paul’s) is at stake. Paul has already made his judgment about

this man, and the church in Corinth should do likewise.

23
Ibid., 100.
24
D.F. Wright, “Sexuality, Sexual Ethics” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Edited by Gerald F.
Hawthorne and Ralph P. Martin (Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 871.
25
Alistair Scott May, ‘The Body for the Lord’: Sex and Identity in 1 Corinthians 5-7 (London: T&T Clark
International, 2004), 60.
 Sterns 7

ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ κυρίου: Paul’s eschatological framework in this section is alarming. The Day

of the Lord is a standard feature of the Old Testament prophetic literature, and Paul uses it in v.5.

Within Paul’s letters, there is an association with this Day of the Lord and the judgment of Satan

(cf. Rom 16:20; 1 Cor 7:5; 2 Cor 2:11; 11:14; 12:7; 1 Thess 2:18). In doing this, Paul is using the

eschatological dualism typical of Jewish apocalyptic literature.26 But what does it mean to hand

someone over to Satan?

The church is called to hand this person over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, and

Paul’s purpose is indicated by the ἵνα clause. Paul uses σάρξ instead of σῶμα, which he uses in

6:14 in his discussion of the body and πορνεία. Some have contended that handing this man over

to Satan would result in a physical death. Supporters of this view look towards 11:29-30 where

Paul contends that those who eat and drink in an unworthy manner bring judgment upon

themselves resulting in an actual death.27

The other interpretation of this destruction is a more spiritual one (cf. Gal 5:24; Rom 8:9-

14). Paul often uses σάρξ to mean a corrupting body that is hostile to God (cf. 2 Cor 7:1; 10:2,

3), and it seems that this is happening in v.5.28 Paul wants the church to hand the person over to

Satan not for damnation but repentance. The flesh, in its rebellion, was to be handed over to

Satan so that the soul may be saved. Paul’s word choice, σωθῇ, indicates that God will save the

person. In this way, Paul is entrusting his salvation to the mercy and mediation of God on the day

of the Lord.29

26
L.J. Kreitzer, “Eschatology” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne and
Ralph P. Martin (Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 260-261.
27
May, 59-60.
28
Mohr Siebeck, The Church in the Wilderness: Paul’s Use of Exodus Traditions in 1 Corinthians
(Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 130-131.
29
George Ossom-Batsa, “Responsible Community Behaviour or Exclusion: Interpreting 1 Cor 5:1-13 from a
Communicative Perspective” in Neotestamentica 45, no. 2 (2011), 299.
 Sterns 8

τὸ πάσχα ἡμῶν ἐτύθη Χριστός: In v.7, Paul is explicitly evoking the Passover. He first

introduced paschal allusions in v.6, but the leaven imagery could have been understood without

any knowledge of the Passover (cf. Gal 5:9). This image of the leaven ruining the unleavened

bread was appropriate for Paul’s understanding of holiness. According to Exodus 12:15, on the

first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the participants were to remove all leaven from their

houses and were supposed to eat unleavened bread for seven days.30 Deuteronomy 16:3 recalls

the Hebrew people’s hastily eating the unleavened bread as they left Egypt, and eating this type

of bread was an act of remembering the night of their deliverance. Participating in the Passover

meal required a paschal sacrifice, and this sacrifice served as an identity marker to the

Egyptians.31

The verb ἐτύθη shows Christ as the sacrifice (cf. LXX Exod 12:22). It is a passive verb

from θύω. God has made Christ the sacrifice. It is this divine passive that also goes back to

God’s delivering the Hebrews from Egyptian captivity.32 And furthermore, Paul says that Christ

is our sacrifice; Paul later emphasizes that Christ’s death was for our sins (15:3). Though this

understanding of Christ’s death may not be in the back of Paul’s mind as he writes this chapter,

the meaning is all the same (cf. 1 Pet 1:19; Jn 1:29, 36; 19:36; Rev 5:6, 9, 12; 12:11). Christ’s

death was redemptive, analogous to the redemption of Israel from its bondage in Israel.33

ἐξάρατε τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν: From vv.9-13, Paul seems to be moving in a new

direction by resolving a misunderstanding from another letter. So that there are no more chances

to misinterpret his words, Paul explicitly lays out his positions on several vices. Christians

belong to a new age because the Holy Spirit has changed their lives. Therefore, they should look

30
Ibid., 134.
31
Siebeck, 139.
32
Gregory J. Lockwood, 1 Corinthians (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2000), 171.
33
Waters, 243.
 Sterns 9

like the Lord in their behavior (Col 3:5-11). Those that persist in their behavior, not those who

simply struggle with their former lives, do not belong in this new Christian community.34 His

vice-catalogue sounds uniquely Corinthian, but Paul uses it throughout his writings (1 Cor 6:10-

11; 2 Cor 12:20-21; Gal 5:19-21; Rom 1:29-31; Col 3:5, 8; Eph 5:3-5; 1 Tim 1:9-11; 2 Tim 3:2-

5; Tit 3:3; cf. Mark 7:21-22; 1 Pet 2:1; 4:3; Rev 21:8; 22:15).35

Christians are not supposed to mingle or associate, συναναμίγνυσθαι, with the sexually

immoral people. Other than in v.9 and v.11, this verb’s only occurrence is in 2 Thess 3:14 where

the context is similar since Paul is discussing fellowship. It can be regarded as a passive

infinitive, but it can also be rendered as middle with a permissive sense.36 This has the sense of

allowing oneself to become mixed up in the company of sexually immoral people. Some

translators render τις ἀδελφὸς ὀνομαζόμενος as “any so-called brother” to signify that this person

has not truly gone through the Christian transformation. The ὀνομαζόμενος can be rendered as a

present middle participle, and that this person is naming himself as a brother. This sarcastic

sounding translation highlights the fact that this person being excommunicated is actually not a

believer. Maybe this person is the leavened bread that is ruining the mass of dough, and it is for

this reason that Paul’s excommunication sounds harsher than Jesus’ instructions for handling

disputes in the church (Matt 18:15-20).37 This excommunication is harsher because this person is

not actually a fellow believer. He has not repented of his sin, and he does not desire to live the

holy life as πονηρός.

The ending phrase is taken directly out of the Septuagint. There are multiple

Deuteronoomic texts that correspond to the one Paul issues (17:7; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21, 24, 7).38
34
Fee, 224.
35
Ibid., 225.
36
Lockwood, 178.
37
May, 75.
38
Waters, 239.
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The phrases are identical to each other in these six passages in word order, number, or tense.

Except for the change in number (from a singular you to a plural), 1st Corinthians 5:13 is

identical to the commands in LXX Deuteronomy, and it seems that Paul is cognizant of his use

of the Old Testament. Two of these passages (22:21, 24) entail the expulsion of the sexual

offender from the community. Also, the use of πορνεία in v.1 harkens to the situations in Lev

18:18 and 20:11. Paul includes this word along with other vices that are found within

Deuteronomy, all of which warrant exclusion from the community.39

Conclusion

It seems to me that Paul is not trying to create an elitist Christian community of them and

us. Such a community that is separated from the world is an impossible one (v.10). Instead, the

church community in Corinth is to be extremely Christocentric. He appeals to the sacrifice of

Christ as the paschal lamb that brings them all together, and he advocates a paschal purity among

them. It is something that he himself is also doing. He motivates them to maintain purity by

imitation (11:1).40 It is about being holy.

In this passage, Paul is calling for the church to claim its identity as a people set apart.41

Paul frequently writes in his letters to members of the Christian community as “the holy ones” or

“the saints,” and he begins his letter to the Corinthians this way as well. These people are “called

saints,” κλητοῖς ἁγίοις, and Paul wants them to remember that calling (1:26). This type of sexual

immorality is not present among the heathens, and Paul is shocked that it is allowed in this holy,

Christian community. The church has a responsibility to remain pure. Paul himself anticipated

the debate for what is pure (1 Cor 6:12; 10:23). Paul’s ethical framework was both

39
Ibid., 240
40
The pastoral implications of this mindset are huge. Paul himself was single (7:7), and this allowed him to
be free from the anxieties of the world and to spend more time with the Lord (7:32).
41
Hays, 89.
 Sterns 11

christologically and eschatologically driven; people ought to live as people of Christ because he

is coming back soon. The tension lies in the fact that they are justified in Christ, but Paul calls

them to be sanctified as well. The way in which Paul resolves this relationship is in the person of

Christ.

1st Corinthians makes it apparent that the holy ones are expected to live their lives in

obedience to the commandments of God (7:19) and the law of Christ (9:21). Paul understands

Christian ethics of becoming what you are, in the context of God’s prior action on behalf of

humanity in Jesus Christ.42 The ethic that Paul is describing is not a law; it is love (1 Cor 13). It

is through love, and by love, that humans follow the will of God towards holiness. Today, we

still are deciphering what holiness looks like. How, then, should we handle sexual sins in the

church (cf. Matt 7:1-5)?

Paul’s charge to the community to remove the sexually immoral person sounds harsh, but

it is not something to brush over. In our modern world with sex saturating every television show,

the idea of sexual purity is colored by culture. The breadth of πορνεία in our world does not

seem too distant from the one that Paul describes in this letter. He warns this community to be

free from such corruption. The church has the responsibility to discipline within, but if the sin

has consumed the person making him a sinner, then the call to remove him is to maintain

holiness. This is probably the most difficult section in the passage. Inner church discipline is a

hard task, but if we tolerate someone’s sin that is affecting the community it can become an

excuse for indifference and a lack for moral courage.43

However, the church will always be filled with sinners. But Paul allows no compromise.

He later expands upon the idea of a Christian romantic relationship in chapter seven. Paul does

42
Fee, 18.
43
Hays, 89.
 Sterns 12

not minimize sex at all. He emphasizes mutuality within the sexual relationship that is so much

more advanced than the practice and precept of contemporary Hellenism and Judaism.44 No one

is safe in this sexual ethic because everyone is called to a higher standard because of Christ.

Paul begins with addressing a particular sexual deed, but this act becomes a teaching

moment for the entire Corinthian community. Paul’s charge at the end is to all of them. Paul is

not speaking directly to the offender, but instead speaks to the church to maintain their purity as

people set apart by God. They are to judge this offender as an outsider because he is affecting

their paschal identity.

In our own seminary community, we partake in the feast every Friday. Though it is not

the Passover feast, it is an act of coming together as a community in remembering the sacrifice of

Christ. Each week we are invited to come to the table of the Lord not because we deserve it but

because God invites us. Many of the prayers that are said before we all walk down the aisle to eat

of the bread of life and the cup of salvation capture this invitational aspect of communion.

I must admit that at first, this practice was difficult for me. I had grown up taking

communion in my own church. I knew the people in the community; I was a pastor’s kid, so the

congregation was my second family. But when I came here, taking communion with strangers

was complicated. As someone coming from a more conservative (and non-Calvinist)

background, there were many things that distinguished me from my peers. I wrestled with

communion for the first couple weeks that I was here, and I honestly prayed about it. I knew

about this excommunication in v.13 (and Jude 12), and I was concerned about what my response

would be to communion.

It was the Lord’s Table that helped to resolve my anxiety about the differences between

my classmates and myself. I had to come to terms with the truth that it was Christ inviting all of
44
Wright, 874.
 Sterns 13

us to his table. Whatever theology one might have, Christ is the ultimate equalizer. I had been

puffed up at my own ethic, and I was looking down at those that did not adhere to a similar

pattern (cf. Rom 14).45 I was not living up to my own calling in following Christ. Because it is

Christ that changes the hearts of women and men, and I imitate him.

This is not to be dismissive of holiness within the seminary’s community. There

absolutely is plenty of room for all of us to grow in our relationships with Christ. But the Lord’s

Table motivated me to grow in my own paschal purity. Though I have no idea how others

approach communion here at Princeton, I know that the purity of Christ charges me to be pure

myself. This place has been a challenge with varying theologies, ethics, and almost everything

else in between, but what brings us all together is that Christ died for all and bids us all come to

him.

Works Consulted

Barrett, C.K. A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians. London: Adam & Charles

Black, 1968.

45
In my time here, it has been easy to find differences. My first year at Mackay was filled with stressful and
heated debates about LGBTQ inclusion, women’s ordination, Calvinist-Arminian, and almost everything else.
People fought hard to get their points across, and it seemed that I had nothing in common with them. It was then that
I believed communion would be our best point of intersection.
 Sterns 14

Barton, Stephen C. “Paul as Missionary and Pastor.” In The Cambridge Companion to St. Paul.

Edited by James D. G. Dunn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Conzelmann, Hans. A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians. Translated by James

W. Leitch, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975.

Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s

Publishing Company, 1987.

Fitzmyer, Joseph A. First Corinthians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary.

New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008.

Hays, Richard B. First Corinthians. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1989.

Kreitzer, L.J.“Eschatology.” In Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. Edited by Gerald F.

Hawthorne and Ralph P. Martin. Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity Press, 1993.

Lockwood, Gregory J. 1 Corinthians. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2000.

López, René A. “A Study of Pauline Passages with Vice Lists.” In Bibliotheca Sacra 168, no.

671 (July-September 2011): 301-316.

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