1 Corinthians 1:4-9

The Thanksgiving. 1:4-9.

The Epistle to the Galatians is the only one in which the apostle passes directly from the address to the handling of his subject, without interposing a thanksgiving. This is due to the tone of abrupt and severe rebuke which characterizes the beginning of the letter. In his other Epistles, before speaking to the Church of what it lacks, of what he would teach or correct in it, the apostle begins by expressing his gratitude for the work already accomplished, and the desires he cherishes for fresh progress to be made. This is what he does here in 1 Corinthians 1:4-9. But, as in the addresses, there is in these thanksgivings a great variety, according to the state of each Church. If we compare that which follows with those of the two Epistles to the Thessalonians, the wide difference will be immediately perceived: there, he congratulates the Thessalonians on the work of their faith, the labour of their love, the patience of their hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2Th 1:3 seq.). Here, there is nothing of the kind: the apostle blesses God for the spiritual gifts, both of knowledge and of speech, which He bestows abundantly at Corinth. We shall have no difficulty in understanding the reason of this difference.