The Theology of the First Letter to the Corinthians

Examines the theological orientation of 1 Corinthians, and Paul's contribution as theologian and teacher.

Furnish shows that the common view of 1 Corinthians as mainly about 'ethics' and of little importance for 'theology' needs correcting. He goes beyond the details of the Corinthian situation to explore and clarify the theological orientation of 1 Corinthians, and its contribution to an understanding of Paul's theology.This study shows that the common view of 1 Corinthians as mainly about 'ethics' and therefore of little importance for 'theology' needs correcting. Furnish argues that 1 Corinthians is an even better place to take the apostle's theological pulse than the allegedly 'more theological' letters to the Galatians and Romans, because here it is especially evident how his thinking about the gospel took place within the crucible of his missionary and pastoral labours. Paul's complex theological legacy is not a systematic theology or even the basis for constructing a theological system. However, we come close to the heart of Paul's legacy in his clear-sighted identification of the gospel with the saving power of God's love as disclosed in Christ, and his insistence that those who are called to belong to Christ are thereby summoned to be agents of God's love wherever in the world they have received that call.