1 Corinthians 5 - Introduction

V.

An entirely new subject, to which the concluding words of the last chapter form a natural introduction, is now treated of. Intelligence has reached the Apostle, through the members of Chloe’s household (1 Corinthians 1:11), or through general report, that a member of the Corinthian Church has caused grave scandal by marrying his stepmother. This was aggravated by the fact that her husband, his father, was yet alive (2 Corinthians 7:12). Throughout the Roman empire such a union was regarded with abhorrence, and the toleration of it by the Christian community was calculated seriously to imperil the character of the early Church. Such a state of morals would be promptly seized upon by opponents, as an example of what must result from the “freedom of the gospel.” Seeing what enormous interests were thus at stake, and how the success of Christianity itself would be imperiled by such conduct, the Apostle addresses the Corinthians on this topic with an almost startling severity and vehemence.