The New Testament Along the Camino: 1 and 2 Corinthians

After I finished Romans, the first of Paul's Letters to Churches, I began my journey through the remainder. As a child, I learned about the differences in the different types of books in the Bible, but I never appreciated them for their context and content. For example, that each letter was addressed to a specific community via a trusted disciple was lost on me entirely, as was those communities' behaviours and specific challenges of faith that served as the driving factor for their specific letters. As an adult, this is no longer lost on me. After all, the Bible as a whole was written for Jews and Christians not as a history of the world, but as a specific and necessary guide for us in our faith. Not every historical reference is entirely flushed out, because they are simply references for framing a discussion, not a doctoral dissertation of the history of Rome, Christianity, and Israel. If anything, these casual references legitimise the Bible's message even more for me, as we can corroborate the timing of one of Paul's letters and Jesus's life with other historical and archaeological evidence.

With that said, I have learned more about the source of Christian beliefs in reading Paul's letters than I have even in the Gospels. Where the Gospels set the foundation of faith and eternal life, the letters clearly identify how we are to apply those foundations in our everyday life by defining Christ-like behaviours for us to emulate. In terms of 1 and 2 Corinthians, I delved deep into the issues of teachings derived from the Spirit versus those made by man.

Divisions in the Church. Paul is adamant that we are not to follow the teachings of individual apostles or disciples simply because they taught them. Instead, we are to follow those teachings because they are what God wants. In the Gospels, Jesus gave the Apostles the authority to make declarations in His name on Earth. In Corinth, Christians corrupted this into believing these were the teachings of individuals, not of God, hence the need for Paul's instruction. But do we not have the same such quarrels in the modern Protestant Church? Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Anglicans, we all believe in the same Bible, but we quibble over doctrinal differences codified in our respective denominational charters. If we are truly Christians, we should be dedicated to the teachings in the Bible as divinely inspired or directed, not the teachings of one doctrinal issue over another. The Catholic Church is the same, as it is divided into various cults and sects that follow the teachings of different priests' schools of thought. "He's not a Jesuit, which is good" is a verbatim response I heard to the selection of the new Pope. Such division is not only detrimental to the Christian faith; it is explicitly against it.

Let no one boast in men. Continuing in the vein of division in the Church, none of us is greater than the other. It is often quoted to let someone who is wise become foolish so that he may again become wise, but the following verse is often omitted. We are not to boast in men, be they Paul, Apollos, or Cephas, as men do not guide us, but God. This is yet another reason that I am critical of the Catholic Church. I spend a lot of time in cathedrals, basilicas, and services in Spain, and I find many people praying to and exalting patron saints, bishops, and the Pope. But are these not just men? If we are not to boast in the Apostles, why do we do so in modern figures? We should not. Just as the Apostles were spiritual guides, so are our pastors and priests today, but they themselves are not divine. They are simply men. The Pope can no more make a spiritual declaration than an East Texas preacher.

The issue of Apostlistic Succession. Continuing with the theme, Paul praises the Corinthians for becoming wise and rich in faith without the physical presence of the Apostles. He thinks that the Apostles are the "last of all, like men sentenced to death," because they have become a spectacle in the Jewish, Greek, and Roman worlds. The Aspostles will be persecuted and executed, but the faith will live on. To me, as a matter of Biblical doctrine (which, yes, I know I rail against), this is where the issue of Apostlistic Succession ends. Yes, in Acts, lots are cast to induct members amongst the original Twelve, but years later, Paul seems to say that their time and role as Apostles is ending, though the Christian faith and its teachings will endure. There is no indication that, after the martyrdom of various Apostles after the events of Acts, that more were selected to take their place. Instead, leaders in faith emerge in communities with the guidance that has already been set forth (and continued to be set forth until the Apostles all died). In fact, in later books, guidance for selecting elders, overseers, and deacons is established, but not Apostles, insinuating that the authority Jesus gave to the Apostles did not transfer to others upon their physical extinction.

"I" versus "the Lord." Paul makes clear that some of his letters contain commentary that are from him, not God, as good, though not necessary, practices to living a righteous life. For example, in discussing certain issues of marriage, Paul says "I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgement as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy." In this regard, Paul is serving as a learned individual and spiritual guide, just as our pastors and priests serve in modern times. We seek our spiritual leaders' counsel not because they are Apostlistic or given any extra authority from God, but because they are righteous people who will not lead us astray. For example, we may seek guidance on how to be stewards of monetary wealth. While there is no Christian blueprint for this, our spiritual leaders can provide guidance grounded in Biblical principles. This does not make their guidance a commandment from above, but following it will also not lead us astray (and likely will lead us closer to God). It is for this reason that we, as Christians, follow the teachings in Paul's letters, not because they are specific commandments from God (and are, in fact, explicitly not in some cases).

Women in the Church. Departing from the theme of the authority of spiritual leaders, I come to the issue of women in worship. Paul is unrepentant in his directives to the Corinthians stating women should be quiet in Church. I have to admit, I struggled with this and had to do some deeper digging. I am not a fan of interpretive doctrine, but I deviate from that stance on this issue. Jesus clearly places men as the head of the Church and household while also instructing men to love their wives as God loves the Church. The instruction, then, in 1 Corinthians, to me, is less about telling women they cannot speak, sing, or have a say at all in Church, but about giving women authority in the Church as priests, pastors, and other formal leaders. While some may find this offensive in modern-day contexts, that is not the concern of the Christian faith, as we live according to the commandments of the Bible, not the social winds of the time. Moreover, in reading and contemplating this passage, I thought about those denominations who violate it and the current state of those churches. They are in ruin as a matter of faith (especially the Methodist and Episcopalian churches), be it related to LGBT issues, new-age interpretations of the Bible, or even singing worship songs with profanity. Correlation is not causation, but it is still correlation. Spiritual leaders who disregard one Biblical principle in the name of modern political or social expediency will ultimately disregard more.

Islam does not serve the same God. A popular refrain from modern theologians and scholars is that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all serve the same God. I, too, bought into that line of thinking until I began this journey through the New Testament on the Camino de Santiago. Judaism and Christianity do serve the same God. Christianity doesn't believe the Jewish laws and books are corrupted or incorrect. Instead, Christianity believes that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies and laws of the Old Testament. Islam, however, does not. Islam posits that Christianity and Judaism have been corrupted over time, and its teachings often directly contradict the teachings of the Bible. For example, the only way to eternal life in Christianity is through Jesus, yet Christians also believe that God's covenant with the Jews was not revoked with Jesus's life, death, and resurrection, thus giving them avenues to eternal life in the end of days. Islam does not believe this and instead prioritises the teachings of the prophet Muhammed via the Qur’an and Hadiths over the teachings of the Bible. How is this compatible if Muslims worship the same God as Christians? The answer, given to us in 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, is that it cannot be: "I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough." Islam preaches such a different spirit, gospel, and other Jesus-like figure, thus deceiving us into believing Islam serves the same God as Christians and Jews. Clearly, it does not.

I have to admit, I was unprepared for the deep theological ponderings I encountered in 1 and 2 Corinthians. Reading them in Spain, I lived everyday amongst examples that either adhered to or worked against Paul's teachings. Further, these letters are not short, and touch on far more than what I have covered here. Some of the teachings, such as those on sexual immorality, are so well-known that I felt no need to mention them, as I had no profound reactions. Others, such as in issues of marriage, I have no practical need of in this moment as I am unmarried, so I excluded them from these thoughts. That does not make them any less important or interesting, though, and I will surely revisit them once my life changes to necessitate understanding them at a deeper level.