The church of Corinth was a mission church. The christians in the town were a small band of people in an ancient Mediterranean city. Between 54 and 57 A.D., Paul wrote six letters while he was in Ephisis. Out of those six letters, four of them were written to Corinth. Corinth was a wealthy city and their economic status was high. .
By Paul's day, Corinth was a good commercial center. The city supported pageon sites and places of worship. There was a synagogue in Corinth, but there is not much known about it. Most of Paul's community was of Gentile ancestry, not Jewish. The laws and culture of Corinth was shaped by Rome. The people lived in a religiopolitical world and Paul called the Christians out of this type of world. Paul founded the Christian community in Corinth through his preaching and teaching.
Paul wrote I Corinthians because he received a report from Cloe's people. There was a serious decention in the community. The Corinthians had also written a letter to Paul asking for advice. Sexual immorality, legal disputes, sex and marriage, and sacrifices were just a few of the subjects they had questions on. Paul felt that the community was in a crisis. He had been in contact with this community for five years when he had written this letter. .
There are five major theological themes in I Corinthians: 1) Christ ology, from beginning to end, Paul discusses every issue in the light of the testimony of Christ. Paul's gospel is fundamentally the story of Jesus crucified and rose from the dead and insist that the community must be developed on this story. Christ defined the way people live. His self sacrificial death defines the way of the community. 2) Apocalyptic eschatology- Paul wants to press upon the people that they live in the "mean-time," awaiting the Lord. They live in the "already/ not yet." Cross brought old age to end and sign in community of order and waiting. 3) Embodied existence - Paul repeatedly insists on the meaningfulness of the body and its actions.