Reading 1 Corinthians in the Twenty-First Century

One of the challenges of reading 1 Corinthians these days is that its style seems foreign to us and many of its passages seem irrelevant to us today. On the other hand, many of the passages have become too familiar, overly authoritative, and too oppressively close for comfort in the lives of many Christians. Cyss uses the insights of hermeneutics and other critical methods to offer a new reading of Paul’s letter for our day. Since much of the letter discusses decisions that have been made or ought to be made by the Corinthians about people, beliefs, behaviors, and situations, Cyss reads 1 Corinthians in terms of discernment and judgement. Cornelia Cyss is an instructor at San Francisco Theological Seminary and is the author of several articles on 1 Corinthians, Mikhail Bakhtin, and biblical interpretation.