Synopses & Reviews
2000 Catholic Press Association Award Winner!
One of the most exciting of Paul's letters, 1 Corinthians offers a vantage point from which modern readers can reflect on diverseness in Christian Churches today. In First Corinthians, Raymond Collins explores that vantage point as well as the challenge Paul posed to the people of his time - and continues to pose in ours - to allow the gospel message to engage them in their daily lives.
Pal introduces us to a flesh-and-blood community whose humanness was al too apparent. Sex, death, and money were among the issues they had to face. Social conflicts and tension within their Christian community were part of their daily lives. Paul uses al of his diplomacy, rhetorical skill, and authority to exhort the Corinthian community to be as one in Christ.
In examining Paul's message and method, Collins approaches 1 Corinthians as a Hellenistic letter written to people dealing with real issues in the Hellenistic world. He cites existing Hellenistic letters to show that Paul was truly a letter writer of his own times. Collins makes frequent references to the writings of the philosophic moralists to help clarify the way in which Paul spoke to his beloved Corinthians. He also comments on some aspects of the social circumstances in which the Christians of Corinth actually lived.
Chapters are Introduction"; *Translation, Interpretation, Notes - ; *Body of the Letter - ; *Indexes. -
Raymond Collins, PhD is a priest of the Diocese of Providence and is the dean of the School of Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America. He is the author of John and His Witness and Divorce in the New Testament published by The Liturgical Press."
Review
Looking at this commentary on First Corinthians with the eyes of a college professor who teaches an introductory course on Paul, my first question is: Can I recommend it to a non-specialist, undergraduate student as a reliable source to do a paper on Paul? The answer is an unqualified, enthusiastic Yes!Catholic Books Review
Review
This series is uniformly excellent with its common format of introductory chapter, general structural outline and bibliography, followed by verse-by-verse commentary on the entire text of the NT book in question.Catholic Library World
Review
In addition to the translated text itself, First Corinthians is packed cover to cover with methodological perspectives, background information, interpretations, sources for reference and further study, and much more. Written for intermediate to advanced Bible studies students, and a singularly valuable tool for professionals, clergy, and religious educators, First Corinthians is as highly recommended for its depth and exacting scrutiny of source material as the rest of the Sacra Pagina series.The Midwest Book Review
Review
This commentary on First Corinthians continues the fine tradition of the Sacra Pagina commentary series. The Catholic Journalist
Review
. . . the professional reader will find his/her knowledge of the canons of ancient rhetoric and the extant literature of the philosophical schools broadened. Toronto Journal of Theology
Synopsis
Presented by an international team of Catholic biblical scholars, Sacra Pagina is a fresh series of translations and expositions of the books of the New Testament. The volumes provide basic information as well as sound, critical analysis in a highly readable manner -- yet remain sensitive to religious meaning. Each author has adopted a specific methodology while focusing on the issues raised by the New Testament compositions themselves. The expression "Sacra Pagina" ("Sacred Page") refers to the text of Scripture. In the Middle Ages it also described the study of Scripture to which the interpreter brought the tools of grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, and philosophy. Thus, Sacra Pagina encompasses both the text and the act of interpretation.
The "very soul of sacred theology" (Dei Verbum 24). That's how the Second Vatican Council described the study of the "sacred page". These volumes open up the riches of the New Testament and invite all Christians to study seriously the "sacred page".
One of the most exciting of Paul's letters, 1 Corinthians offers a vantage point from which modern readers can reflect on diverseness in Christian Churches today. In First Corinthians, Raymond Collins explores that vantage point as well as the challenge Paul posed to the people of his time -- and continues to pose in ours -- to allow the gospel message to engage them in their daily lives.
About the Author
Raymond F. Collins, STD, is the Warren-Blanding Professor of Religion Emeritus and former dean of the School of Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America. He is the author of The Many Faces of the Church: A Study in New Testament Ecclesiology (Crossroad, 2003), I and II Timothy and Titus (Westminster John Knox, 2002), Sexual Ethics and the New Testament: Behavior and Belief (Crossroad, 2 ), and First Corinthians in the Sacra Pagina series (Liturgical Press, 1999).