Saturday, November 21, 2009

1 Corinthians 15:33

Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners (KJV)

Then: Everybody recognized Paul's allusion as a quote, "Bad company destroys good ways" (Witherington, p. 306). It was part of a now lost play called Thais by Menander. Witherington agrees with a suggestion by Fee. Paul is chiding that those people eating in the "temple restaurants" were also imbibing non-Christian theology. The resurrection was a real event essential to God's plan of salvation. With the resurrection of Christ, the forerunner (first fruits) of all following resurrections of believers, Christians live out God's plan. Skepticism does not bring honor, just corruption (Baker, p. 229).

Now: That's not quite what parents say today, but they agree completely with the sentiment. Hanging around with a gang of disreputable characters is a poor way for a teen to grow up to become a God-fearing citizen of heaven. It happens. We don't often think of the church or church people as hanging out with unworhty ideals or philosophies, but Paul's letter warns us, it happens.

Extra source: Conflict and community in Corinth: a socio-rhetorical commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians by Ben Witherington (Grand Rapids MI: Wm B. Eerdmans, c1995 online at http://books.google.com/books?id=HXWNsxX2irkC&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=Witherington+1st+Corinthians&source=bl&ots=nm3jFPByR2&sig=qyPMM3WWXZvkeWc9PO_GmV-LewI&hl=en&ei=cLUJS7zqLMHTlAfV2-yEBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Cornerstone Biblical Commentary 1 Corinthians (William Baker), 2 Corinthians (Ralph Martin & Carl Toney), ed. by Philip Comfort. Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, c2006.

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