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Going to law with a Christian in the pagan courts is rebuked. Warning against profligacy (vi.).
(2) Answers to a letter from the Corinthians: vii. 1-xi. 1.—Marriage and celibacy. It is well to avoid marriage. But the married must not separate. Under present circumstances, the apostle would prefer others to be unencumbered as he is (vii.).
Food offered to idols. Christian liberty (viii.). St. Paul's example in not claiming one's own rights (ix.). Danger of thinking that we stand. We are "one bread," and must seek each other's good (x.-xi. 1).
(3) Other evils in the Church: xi. 2-34.—Women to be covered. Conduct at the Eucharist and the Agapé. An account of the institution of the Eucharist.
(4) Answer to a question concerning spiritual gifts: xii.-xiv.—Unity in diversity (xii.). Charity the greatest gift (xiii.). Prophesying and tongues compared (xiv.).
(5) Vindication of the Resurrection: xv.—The evidence for Christ's resurrection.[2] The nature of our resurrection.
(6) Some directions and personal details: xvi.
[1] 1 Cor. xv. 29. This verse is very obscure. It has been interpreted as meaning that when a convert died before it was possible for him to be baptized, it was a custom of the Corinthians to allow a friend to undergo baptism in his stead. But perhaps it simply means being baptized for the sake of some dear one who was a sincere Christian, and begged that his or her surviving relatives would be baptized and meet him or her hereafter.
[2] It is important to notice that St. Paul, in writing of the death and resurrection of our Lord, gives powerful evidence in support of St. John's assertion that our Lord died on Nisan 14 (see above, p. 29). In 1 Cor. v. 7, 8 he says, "Our Passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ: wherefore let us keep the feast"; and in 1 Cor. xv. 20 he calls Christ "the first-fruits of them that are asleep." Now, if Christ died on Nisan 14, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed for a feast, and if He rose on Nisan 16, when the Passover firstfruits were offered in the temple, this double comparison is exquisitely appropriate. But if the statement in John is false, St. Paul's comparison is forced and unnatural.