e mood in the time of St. Clement. They
found it hard to hate the sensuality which in their earlier days they
had regarded as divine. They were puffed up with eloquence and
philosophic speculation, and forgot that there is no "sweetness and
light" comparable to the Gospel.

[Sidenote: Where and when written.]

This Epistle was written from Ephesus in the spring of A.D. 55. The
note at the end of the Epistle to the effect that it was written "from
Philippi," though ancient, is incorrect, and is due to a
misunderstanding of xvi. 5.

When St. Paul left Corinth in April, A.D. 52, to go to Jerusalem,
Apollos came to take his place, and preached with much success (Acts
xviii. 27). St. Paul returned to Ephesus at the end of the summer of
52, and Apollos left Corinth and joined St. Paul. Soon some Judaizing
teachers appeared at Corinth, and the apostle was obliged to go
thither, though "in sorrow" (2 Cor. ii. 1; cf. 2 Cor. xii. 14; xiii.
1). After this disciplinary visit he returned to Ephesus, and sent the
Corinthians a sharp letter, now lost, about the relations which they
should have with open and notorious evil-livers (1 Cor. v. 9).

St. Paul's next news from Corinth caused him to write this letter.
Some members of Chloe's household told him of the development of
factions there; and a letter was sent, perhaps {136} by the hands of
Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus (xvi. 15-18), asking for advice
about matters of grave importance, including litigation between
Christians and an unseemly freedom in public worship. Realizing the
serious state of affairs, St. Paul determined to visit Corinth a third
time, and sent Timothy as his representative to prepare for his coming
(1 Cor. iv. 17, xvi. 10). After Timothy's departure he wrote this
Epistle.

The above account assumes that St. Paul's _second visit_ to Corinth was
paid before 1 Corinthians was written, but it is thought by some
writers of repute that it was paid after 1 Corinthians was written and
before 2 Corinthians.

[Sidenote Character and Contents.]

This Epistle, like each of the three other Epistles belonging to the
same group, has a perfectly distinct character of its own. It expounds
the doctrine of a crucified Christ as applied to social difficulties.
What Romans does as a theological treatise, and Galatians as a
controversial admonition, and 2 Corinthians as a record of personal
experience and vocation, this 1 Corinthians does as an instruction for