Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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CORINTHIANS, LETTERS TO THE

Two letters of St. Paul written from Ephesus to his converts at Corinth. The first was occasioned by certain problems that Paul sought to resolve. He therefore spoke of the need for unity (1:10-4:21), sins against chastity (5:1-6:20), marriage and sacrifices to idols (7:1-11:1), Christian worship and the gifts (11:2-14:40), the hymn on charity (13), the resurrection of the dead (15:1-58). In the second letter, St. Paul confronts his enemies at Corinth. He defends his apostolate, recounts the achievements God worked through him in spite of his own weakness and incompetence, asks funds for the Christians in Jerusalem, and once again defends his call as an Apostle and the extraordinary gifts the Lord conferred on him. It is very probable that St. Paul wrote four letters to the Corinthians, of which only two are extant.