1 Corinthians 10:1-17

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• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • Greek Interlinear Bible, ScrTR, ScrTR t, Strong, Parsing, CGTS, CGES id, AV.
  • The Bible Gateway: NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Greek text with concordance, commentaries.
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition and sermons. .
• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • Comparative World Scriptures from United Communities of Spirit: "Grace"
  • Comparative texts about Baptism: Water & Spirit from DSS, Josephus, Babylonian Talmud. At (Rutgers University Dept of Religion) Mahlon H. Smith's Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus companion to the historical study of Christian texts.
  • "Supper & Eucharist," The Jesus Database, an online annotated inventory of the traditions concerning the life and teachings of Jesus. Dr. Gregory C. Jenks, FaithFutures Foundation.
  • Chapter I, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, Ignatius of Antioch (c.110). (Longer version only - 4th cent interpolation.)
  • Chapter IX, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians, Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110). (Longer Version only - 4th cent interpolation)
  • Similitude VII, Shepherd of Hermas. (c.145)
  • IV.XIV.3, IV.XXVII.3, IV.XXXVI.6, Adversus Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyons. (c. 180)
  • Chapter I, Chapter IX, Adversus Judaeos, Tertullian (c. 198)
  • Chapter XX, On Baptism,  Tertullian (c. 198)
  • I.11, II.10, Paedagogus, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • II.6, V.1, VII.16, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • Chapter V, The Prescription of Heretics, Tertullian (c.200)
  • II.9, On The Apparel of Women, Tertullian (c. 202)
  • III.V, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 209)
  • IV.35, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 210)
  • Chapter LVIII, On the Resurrection of the Flesh,  Tertullian (c. 211)
  • V.7, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 212)
  • III.II.3, First Principles (De Principiis), Origen. (c.225)
  • V.III, The Refutation of all Heresies (Philosophumena), Hippolytus of Rome. (c. 225)
  • I.8, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Origen. (c.228)
  • VI.26, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Philocalia [anthology of Origen prepared by St. Basil and St. Gregory Nazianzen], Origen. (c.230)
  • IV.XLIII, IV.XLIX, Against Celsus, Origen. (c.246)
  • XII.10, XII.11, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Origen. (c.247)
  • Epistle LI -- Cyprian of Carthage (c. 252)
  • Epistle LXXV -- Cyprian of Carthage (c. 255)
  • From the Geneva Notes.
    • "To tempt Christ is to provoke him to a combat as it were, which those men do who abuse the knowledge that he has given them, and make it to serve for a cloak for their lusts and wickedness."
  • From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
    • "Carnal desires gain strength by indulgence, therefore should be checked in their first rise. Let us fear the sins of Israel, if we would shun their plagues."
  • From Wesley's Notes.
    • "It would have been improper to say, Neither let us be idolaters; for he was himself in no danger of idolatry; nor probably of murmuring against Christ, or the divine providence."
  • On Temptation (1 Cor 10:13). Sermon by John Wesley.
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
    • "Christ is the pillar cloud that screens us from the heat of God's wrath. Christ as "the light of the world" is our "pillar of fire" to guide us in the darkness of the world. As the rock when smitten sent forth the waters, so Christ, having been once for all smitten, sends forth the waters of the Spirit. As the manna bruised in mills fed Israel, so Christ, when "it pleased the Lord to bruise Him," has become our spiritual food. A strong proof of inspiration is given in this fact, that the historical parts of Scripture, without the consciousness even of the authors, are covert prophecies of the future."
  • From The People's New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
    • "Neither let us tempt Christ, as, etc. The event referred to is narrated in Num. 21:4-6, which see. The application is, that we should not be discontented over hardships or long for the sinful pleasures of a former life from which we have parted."
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies and Exegesis:
  • Commentary, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, (Lent 3C), Susan Hedahl, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2010.
    • "Verse 7 holds the key: it is behavior, faux spiritual and otherwise, which is idolatry."
  • "First Thoughts on Passages on Year C Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Lent 3, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "Faith understood as an ongoing relation on engagement in God and with God in the world can never sit back in distraction or religious self-preoccupation or self indulgence, because the God we know in Jesus keeps opening our eyes to both joy and pain, to wonder and to need, and inviting us to see them and not withdraw from them, which is the wont of religion."
  • Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
  • "Communion as Civil Disobedience," Meg E. Cox, Theolog, 2008.
    • "The homogeneity of many U.S. congregations can make it difficult for us to discern the full body of Christ when we gather for the Lord’s Supper."
  • "The Cup of Death," William Willimon, The Christian Century, 1982. At Religion Online.
    • "The cross suggests that this good news is the beginning of problems we would gladly have avoided, the turning away from the quest for self-fulfillment, the ultimate mocking of our claims for goodness. The principalities and powers tremble only before the cross. Nothing less than death will do -- painful, full-scale conversion, letting go, turning from ourselves and toward God."
  • "Full Communion," Martin E. Marty, The Christian Century, 2001.
    • "Now that the 'ecumenical century' has ended, Christians must ask, 'How are the people of `one baptism' and `one bread' doing?'"
  • "Anne Dutton as a Spiritual Director," study guide, Robert B. Kruschwitz, (other resources at) "Women and the Church," Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 2009. Focus article: "Anne Dutton as a Spiritual Director," Michael Sciretti.
  • "Table Fellowship," study guide for adults, Robert B. Kruschwitz, (other resources at) "Food and Hunger," Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 2004.
  • "Learn from Old Israel's Experience," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources.
    • "Our passage for study is part of wider section where Paul deals with the dangers associated with participation in pagan religion, in particular, eating food offered to idols."
  • Kairos CoMotion Lectionary Discussion, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Wesley White. "A place of conversation regarding Progressive Christianity."
    • "No safety. No exemption. Not for Moses, Jesus, me, or thee. Herein is a commonality between us."
  • "That Rock Was Christ," Expository Essay, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Dr. William R. Long.
    • "...the heart of the passage is the most dire warning to the people not to do the thing that they really, according to Paul's logic, have the freedom to do."
• Articles & Background:
  • "Meals, Food and Tablefellowship." Jerome H. Neyrey, in The Social Sciences and New Testament Interpretation, 159-82. R. L. Rohrbaugh, ed. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1996.
    • "How can readers understand the particular ceremony of meals and table fellowship? Why are meals so important as symbols of broader social relationships? How can we peer below the surface and grasp the social dynamics encoded in meals and commensality, what anthropologists call "the language of meals"?"
  • "The Ordering of Community: New Testament Perspectives," Ellen Bradshaw Aitken, Anglican Theological Review, 2003.
    • "Inasmuch as Paul's letters also allow some small access to the perspectives and voices of those to whom he wrote and with whom he negotiated, we also receive glimpses into those other experiments in Christian community, into ways other than Paul's of centering communal identity and practice around the memory of Jesus."
  • "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry," Faith and Order Paper No. 111. World Council of Churches, 1982. Theological and practical commentary.
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  • Aitken, Ellen Bradshaw, "TA DROMENA KAI TA LEOGMENA: The Eucharistic Memory of Jesus' Words in First Corinthians," Harvard Theological Review, 1997.
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  • Baird, William, "1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Expository Article," Interpretation, 1990.
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  • Bandstra, Andrew J., "Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 10:1-11," Calvin Theological Journal, 1971.
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  • Ciocchi, David M., "Understanding Our Ability to Endure Temptation: A Theological Watershed," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 1992.
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  • Collier, Gary D., "'That We Might Not Crave Evil': The Structure and Argument of 1 Corinthians 10:1-13," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1994.
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  • Garland, David E., "The Dispute Over food Sacrificed to Idols (1 Cor 8:1 - 11:1)," Perspectives in Religious Studies, 2003.
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  • Goppelt, Leonhard, tranlsated by Mathias Rissi, "Paul and Heilgeschichte: Conclusions from Romans 4 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-13," Interpretation, 1967.
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  • Hays, Richard B., "On Hearing Bad News," The Christian Century, 1992.
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  • Kloha, Jeffrey, "Idols, Eating and Rights (1 Cor 8:1-11:1): Faithful and Loving Witness in a Pluralistic Culture," Concordia Journal, 2004.
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  • Marty, Martin E., "Full Communion," The Christian Century, 2001.
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  • Meeks, Wayne A., "'And Rose up to Play': Midrash and Paraenesis in 1 Corinthians 10:1-22," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1982.
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  • Oropeza, B.J., "Apostasy in the Wilderness: Paul's Message to the Corinthians in a State of Eschatological Liminality," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1999.
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  • Smit, J., "'Do Not Be Idolaters': Paul's Rhetoric in First Corinthians 10:1-22," Novum Testamentum, 1997.
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  • Songer, Harold S., "Problems Arising from the Worship of Idols: 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1," Review & Expositor, 1983.
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  • Still, E. Coye, III, "Divisions over Leaders and Food Offered to Idols: the Parallel Thematic Structures of 1 Corinthians 4:6-21 and 8:1-11:1," Tyndale Bulletin, 2004.
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  • Still, E. Coye, III, "Paul's Aims Regarding EIDWLOTHUTA: A New Proposal for Interpreting 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1," Novum Testamentum, 2002.
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  • Tucker, J. Brian, "The Role of Civic Identity on the Pauline Mission in Corinth," Didaskalia, 2008.
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  • Willimon, William H., "The Cup of Death," The Christian Century, 1982.
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  • Willis, Wendell, "1 Corinthians 8-10: A Retrospective after Twenty-Five Years," Restoration Quarterly, 2007.
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  • Wright, N.T., "One God, One Lord, One People: Incarnational Christology for a Church in a Pagan Environment," Ex Auditu, 1991.
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• Sermons:
• Reviews:
  • Review: John Fotopoulos, Food Offered to Idols in Roman Corinth: A Social-Rhetorical Reconsideration of 1 Corinthians 8:1 - 11:1. Mohr Siebeck, 2003. Review by Alex Cheung in The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2004.
  • Phua, Richard  Liong-Seng, Idolatry and Authority: A Study of 1 Corinthians 8:1 - 11:1 in the Light of the Jewish Diaspora. T&T Clark, 2005. Review by Scott McClelland, Review of Biblical Literature, 2008.
• With Children:
  • "Temptation Island," Jim Kerlin, childrensermons.com.
  • "A Shoo-Roo to Shoo Satan," MSSS Animal Tale, 1 Cor 10:13.
• Drama:
  • "Temptation," Denise Busenitz, dramatix.
  • "The Sin Chair," Teresa Jensen, dramatix.
  • "Leftovers," Eric Stapleton, dramatix.
• Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
  • Clip Art, 1 Corinthians 10:2, Fr. Richard Lonsdale, Resources for Catholic Educators.
  • Bait, Reverend Fun Cartoon, gospelcom.net. Check for printing permissions at right-hand side of destination page.
• Hymns and Music:
  • Hymns with Scripture Allusions: 1 Corinthians 10:13, 16. The Cyber Hymnal.
  • Hymnal Scripture References, The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship.
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of 1 Corinthians