Tag: Gospel Doctrine

Come Follow Me: 1 Corinthians Part 2

Corinthians, continued

The latter part of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians has a definite flow and organization to it. While our tendency is to zoom in on a single verse or even sentence, sometimes we miss the forest for the trees. So, let’s start with an overview and then zoom in a little.

Chapters 8-11 deal with two seemingly unrelated topics: food and sexual immorality. This is puzzling to us, but logical to Paul’s readers. We’ll return to this to unpack why.

In chapter 11, Paul regulates some issues about how the community should function, both relating to gender and the Lord’s Supper, which Latter-day Saints call “the sacrament.” (Shortened, apparently, from “the sacrament [ordinance] of the Lord’s supper.”)

Then he moves on to a potentially more destructive issue; the Corinthian saints are highly competitive and trying to one-up each other, but with spiritual gifts. Who is the most blessed? Who is the most spiritually in-tune? This is not terribly unusual. The Apostles themselves had argued about which of them “was the greatest” and even asked Jesus to settle the matter- Luke 9:46, 22:24, Matt 18:1 Continue reading