Discourses on 1 Corinthians

“Conversations on the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians” (44 conversations) delivered by St. John Chrysostom in 392-393. in Antioch. In the 7th conversation, the saint develops the theme of the incomprehensibility of God and the Divine economy and sharply criticizes the Anomeans (extreme Arians) for their tendency to excessively rationalize Christianity and to deny the mystical dimension in it. In the 24th conversation, speaking about the sacrament of the Eucharist, St. John points out that the cup of blessing, the cup of the Eucharist, contains precisely the very blood that Christ shed on the cross and which flowed from His rib pierced by a spear. Allowing for the real presence of the blood and flesh of Christ in the Eucharist, St. John recognized the identity of the Eucharistic blood and that shed on Calvary for us. Christ, having destroyed the Old Testament sacrifice as imperfect, instituted His new one in its place, in which He offers Himself as a sacrifice, and this means that the Eucharist is the sacrifice in which the Lamb of God Himself is slain. In the 26th conversation, the saint uses the term “consubstantial” in relation to the Divine Hypostases: “If the head of the wife is the husband, and the head is consubstantial with the body, and the head of Christ is God, then the Son is consubstantial with the Father.” The 40th conversation provides important information on the history of the sacrament of Baptism and the “secret discipline” (disciplina arcani), and also quotes a fragment of the Antiochian Creed, which was recited by those being baptized before entering the font at the night Easter service. St. John Chrysostom speaks about the unity of the Church (Conversations 1:30,32). There is one universal Church on earth, and although it is spread over many places and separated by great distances, it is bound together by the “common Lord for all,” so that the Church still remains a whole Body, the various parts and members of which constitute the local Churches. The saint considers the destruction of the unity of faith and love that reigns in the Church, carried out by heretics and schismatics, to be a great evil and a grave sin, which cannot be washed away even by the blood of martyrdom (Conversation 3). St. John touches on topics such as the incomprehensibility of God and the unity of the Church (Discourse 1), sin and virtue (Discourses 9,14,17,18,22,31,35), and the meaning and praise of love (Discourses 32,33,34). The saint speaks out against superstitions (Conversations 12), theatrical performances (Conversations 5,12), Doukhobors and Manichaeans (Conversations 29,38), addiction to money and luxury (Conversations 10,11,13,14,16,21,30,35,36,37). He provides evidence of the truth of the resurrection (Conversation 17), talks about the benefits of alms (Conversations 15,16,21,36), the life of the next century and the meaning of repentance (Conversation 23), gives instructions to spouses (Conversations 19,26), etc. *The title of the work in Greek is ῾Υπόμνημα εἰς τὴν πρὸς Κορινθίους πρώτην ἐπιστολήν. *The title of the work in Latin is In epistulam I ad Corinthios argumentum et homiliae 1-44. Conversation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 Contents of First Corinthians Corinth, now the first city of Greece, was famous in ancient times for its many amenities of life and especially for its wealth; therefore one of the external (pagan) writers called it a rich place 1. It lies on the Peloponnesian Isthmus and was very important in terms of trade; was also filled with many rhetoricians and philosophers; and one of the seven so-called wise men came from this city. We said this not out of vanity and not with the aim of showing learning - what really is an important thing to know this? - but because it relates to the subject of the message. Paul suffered much in this city; here Christ appeared to him and said: “But speak and do not be silent... because I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9–10); here he remained for two years. Here the evil spirit was expelled, from which the Jewish exorcists suffered a lot; here the scattered (inhabitants), having collected magic books, burned them, according to the estimate of fifty thousand drachmas 2. Here, under the proconsul Gallio, Paul was beaten before the judgment seat 3 . The devil, seeing that the great and populous city, famous for wealth and wisdom, and the main city in Greece, accepted the truth, and the affairs of the Athenians and Lacedaemonians, whose rule had long since fallen, were in a pitiful state - seeing that its inhabitants accepted the word of God with great zeal, what does he do? He separates them because he knew that even the strongest kingdom, divided against itself, could not stand. To carry out his machinations, he took advantage of the wealth and wisdom of the inhabitants. And so separate parties formed between them: some spontaneously declared themselves leaders of the people, who pestered first one, then the other, some as rich, others as wise and capable of teaching something more; and these, having attracted him to themselves, boasted that they taught a better teaching than the apostle - hinting at this, he said: “I could not speak to you... as to spiritual people” (1 Cor. 3:1). Obviously, it was not because of his own powerlessness, but because of their weakness that they did not hear much. He points to the same thing when he says: “you... have become rich without us” (1 Cor. 4:8). This division of the church was not an unimportant matter, but it was the most destructive. At the same time, another sin was committed there: someone who lived with his stepmother not only did not face reproach, but also ruled the people and gave his accomplices a reason for arrogance; That’s why (Paul) says: “And you became proud, instead of weeping” (1 Cor. 5:2). In addition, some who were considered “most perfect” through gluttony, eating from things sacrificed to idols and participating in reclining in churches, indulged in all sorts of bad things. Still others, having litigation and disputes over property, took their cases to external courts. Also, many of them walked around with their hair long; He commands them to cut their hair. There was another important sin - namely, that in churches they ate food separately from each other and did not give it to those in need. Then they also sinned in that they exalted themselves in (spiritual) talents and competed with each other in them, which most of all divided their church. And the doctrines of the resurrection were not firmly held; some of them did not really believe in the resurrection of bodies, still suffering from the disease of pagan delusion. And all this came from the meaninglessness of external philosophy; she was the mother of evil; that is why they divided, having also learned this from philosophers who rebelled against each other, constantly, out of lust and vanity, contradicting each other’s teachings and trying to add something new to what was previous. They suffered from such a disease because they relied on their own reasoning in everything. The Corinthians sent Paul a message through Fortunatus, Stephen and Achaic, with whom he also sends his message, as he says at the end of the letter: however (they wrote) not about everything, but only about marriage and virginity; That’s why he said: “What did you write to me about” (1 Cor. 7:1). He writes about what they wrote about and what they did not write about, having thoroughly investigated all their errors. He also sends Timothy to them with the message, knowing that although the message will have great power, the presence of this disciple will also bring them no small benefit. Since those who were the cause of the division of the church, ashamed to appear to be doing this out of ambition, covered up their passion with the fact that they teach the most perfect teaching and that they themselves are wiser than others, Paul first of all rebels against this illness, wanting to pull out the root of evil and stop the division that has arisen from here, and he rebels with great strength. After all, they, above all, were his disciples, as he himself says: “If for others I am not an Apostle, then for you I am an Apostle; for you are the seal of my apostleship” (1 Cor. 9:2). Moreover, they were weaker than others, as he says: “I did not... speak to you... as if you were spiritual... for you were not yet able, and even now you are not able” (1 Cor. 3:1-2). He speaks in such a way that they do not think that he is talking about the past tense, which is why he adds: “and even now I am not able to.” However, probably not all were given over to vices, but there were some among them who were very pious. He points to this in the middle of the letter when he says: “It means very little to me how you judge me” (1 Cor. 4:3), and adds: “this... I added to myself and Apollos” (1 Cor. 4:6). Thus, since all evil came from pride and from the fact that (some) considered themselves to know more than others, he puts it down first of all and begins like this: These conversations were delivered by the saint in Antioch around 390. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” αφνειον. Homer in Iliad, II, 570. This took place in Ephesus. (Acts 19:14–19). Those. Sosthenes under Paul. (Acts 18:17). You might be interested in: