NOTES for Co1 1:10-17

Moving from the conversation about the Kingdom and salvation to the concrete problems of the Corinthian church, Paul reproaches the Corinthian Christians for the divisions that had arisen among them (vv. 10-12). Of course, the issue could hardly have been the deification of Paul himself or of anyone else whom the apostle mentions in his letter. But parties of supporters and followers could certainly have formed in the Corinthian church, much as groups of supporters and followers of one or another philosophical school sometimes arose in Greek cities. And in opposition to the supporters of all the groups that existed among the Corinthian Christians, a party, so to speak, of "pure Christians" inevitably had to appear, people who criticized all the others for deviating from the truth and proudly said of themselves: but we belong to Christ!

Of course, this state of affairs did nothing to help normal spiritual life. And the issue was not only that constant disputes inevitably distracted the Corinthian Christians from the main thing for which they gathered in church. The main problem was that such disputes, as can be seen, often divided those arguing so deeply that they did not even want to communicate with one another, and thus destroyed the Church as a spiritual space. For when Jesus departed, He did not leave in the world a religious brotherhood or a theological school. He left here a community of people living in the Kingdom, through whom it could abide in the world, transforming it. This, and only this, is the Church's chief task. Everything else, preaching, religious instruction, theological research, and even works of mercy, matters only as witness to the Kingdom. Of course, the development of theology is impossible without theological disputes.

But if disputes end with the community falling apart into groups opposed to one another, such theologizing must be recognized as a complete spiritual failure. And the issue is not only counter-witness, but also that the people taking part in such disputes are ultimately not brought into communion with the Kingdom by them, but separated from it. For the Kingdom requires not unity of views, but normal relationships with one's neighbor, and if those are absent, one will have to forget about abiding in the Kingdom. Even those whose arguments turn out to be impeccable from a theological point of view.