1 Corinthians 7:1-9

§ 20. MARRIAGE OR CELIBACY? At this point the Ap. takes up the questions addressed to him by the Cor [993] Church (see Introd., chap. 2). In replying to Paul's previous letter, they had asked for clearer instructions to regulate their intercourse with men living in heathen sins (1 Corinthians 7:5); this request led up to the inquiries respecting the desirability of marriage, respecting the duties of married Christians, and the lawfulness of divorce for a Christian married to a heathen, with which ch. 7 is occupied. The headings of 1 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Corinthians 7:25, chh. 8, 11, 16, indicate various matters on which the Cor [994] had consulted their Ap. The local impress and temporary aim of the directions here given on the subject of marriage must be borne in mind; otherwise Paul's treatment will appear to be narrow and unsympathetic, and out of keeping with the exalted sense of its spiritual import disclosed in Ephesians 5. Indeed, ch. 1 Corinthians 11:3-15 of this Ep. show that P. had larger conception on the relations of man and woman than are here unfolded. The obscurity of expression attaching to several passages betrays the writer's embarrassment; this was due partly to the low moral sensibility of the Cor [995], and partly to the uncertain continuance of the existing order of life (1 Corinthians 7:26-31), which weighed with the Ap. at the time of writing and led him to discourage the formation of domestic ties. In later Epistles, when the present economy had opened out into a larger perspective, the ethics of marriage and the Christian household are worthily developed (see Col. and Eph.).

[993] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[994] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[995] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.