Canaan To Corinth

"Michael Li-Tak Shen carefully examines the biblical view of God's absolute uniqueness, and argues that the biblical texts are consistent in their prohibition of idolatry and its paraphernalia in whatever form---a helpful point in similar pastoral situations today in a world of idols, ideologies, addictions, and runaway consumerism. The high view of the absolute nature of God warns against lax and mistaken notions of so-called Christian freedom." Robert Solomon, Bishop, the Methodist Church in Singapore. --Book Jacket.

Why did Paul frequently employ a diverse range of metaphors in his letters to the Corinthians? Was the choice of these metaphors a random act or a carefully crafted rhetorical strategy? Did the use of metaphors shape the worldview and behavior of the Christ-followers? In this innovative work, Kar Yong Lim draws upon Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Social Identity Theory to answer these questions. Lim illustrates that Paul employs a cluster of metaphors--namely, sibling, familial, temple, and body metaphors--as cognitive tools that are central to how humans process information, construct reality, and shape group identity. Carefully chosen, these metaphors not only add colors to Paul's rhetorical strategy but also serve as a powerful tool of communication in shaping the thinking, governing the behavior, and constructing the social identity of the Corinthian Christ-followers.

This compact commentary on 1 Corinthians is both readable and full of insights that will engage students, ministers, and scholars alike. The Apostle Paul writes to a relatively new church in which members are failing to maintain solidarity with other members. They struggle to find their unique place in Roman society as Gentile followers of Jewish leaders that proclaim Christ as Lord. Their many problems include competition over leadership and social prestige, sexual impropriety, household conflicts, idol foods, table fellowship, protocols on gender and the use of spiritual gifts, and confusion about death, immortality, and Christ’s return. Oropeza addresses Paul’s response to these and other issues as he engages ancient biblical, Jewish, and Greco-Roman sources along with recent scholarship. This is a must-read for those who want to understand the Corinthian situation and Paul’s response in a new way.

This volume addresses many of the questions surrounding Paul and his social relations, including how to define and analyze such relations, their relationship to Paul's historical and social context, how Paul related to numerous friends and foes, and the implications for understanding Paul's letters as well as his theology.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1967, volume 1, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from February through May 1967. For the first three months of the year, Brother Lee continued his six-month visit to the Far East begun in the previous year. He spent the first two days of the year in the Philippines and then traveled to Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia before returning to Taipei. There is no record of his speaking before his return to Taipei. Brother Lee returned to the United States in April and remained in Los Angeles until early May, after which he visited San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and Sacramento before returning to Los Angeles at the end of May. The contents of this volume are divided into six sections, as follows: 1. Fifteen messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, from February 9 through March 5. They were previously published in Chinese under the title Experiencing Christ as the Portion of the Saints. 2. Six messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, from February 9 through 13. They were previously published in Chinese under the title Basic Knowledge on Service. 3. Twenty-one messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, from February through April. They were previously published in Chinese under the title Serving in Coordination and Washing in Love. 4. Five messages given in Los Angeles, California, from April 21 through 23. They were previously published in The Stream, volume 5, number 3, August 1, 1967, under the title Pray-reading the Word and have been revised for inclusion in this volume. 5. Five messages given in Los Angeles, California, from April 24 through May 29. They are included in this volume under the title The Service in the Church for the Expression of the Body. The first two messages were combined into one. 6. Fifteen messages given in San Francisco, California, on May 3 through 9. They are included in this volume under the title Enjoying the Lord in His Word by Pray-reading for the Building Up of the Church in Oneness. Two of the messages were combined.

This work has several objectives: to understand what the problem of idol meat at Corinth involved, to establish the attitude of the Corinthians to this issue - what course of conduct had they followed or proposed to follow and how did they seek to defend their position? - to explain the reply of Paul to the Corinthian inquiry, and, finally, in the process of the exegesis and in the conclusions this study will seek to identify fundamental norms and themes which are operative here as a part of Paul's ethical thought.