Journey Lesson 35 Love And Discipline

By Marcel Gervais

This is lesson 35 of the Journey Bible Study Program series. In this lesson we learn how Paul responded to the problems and questions of the Church in Corinth. In chapter 1 we describe Paul's response to questions about the eating of meat sacrificed to idols. In chapter 2 we describe Paul's response to questions about his integrity and authority as an apostle.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marcel Gervais
• Release date: Apr 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781927766385

Marcel Gervais

About the Author Archbishop Gervais was born in Elie Manitoba on September 21 1931. He is the ninth of fourteen children. His family came from Manitoba to the Sparta area near St. Thomas Ontario when he was just a teenager. He went to Sparta Continuation School and took his final year at Saint Joseph`s High School in St. Thomas. After high school he went to study for the priesthood at St. Peter’s Seminary in London , Ontario. He was ordained in 1958. He was sent to study in Rome. This was followed by studies at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem. He returned to London to teach scripture to the seminarians at St. Peter’s Seminary. In 1974 he was asked by Bishop Emmett Carter to take over as director of the Divine Word International Centre of Religious Education. This Centre had been founded by Bishop Carter to provide a resource for adult education in the spirit of Vatican II. This Centre involved sessions of one or two weeks with many of the best scholars of the time. Students came not only from Canada and the United States but from all over the globe, Australia, Africa, Asia and Europe. By the time Father Gervais became the director Divine Word Centre was already a course dominated by the study of scripture to which he added social justice. This aspect of the course of studies was presented by people from every part of the “third world”; among which were Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez and Cardinal Dery of Ghana. In 1976 the Conference of Ontario Bishops along with the Canadian conference of Religious Women approached Father Gervais to provide a written course of studies in Sacred Scripture for the Church at large, but especially for priests and religious women. This is when Fr. Gervais began to write Journey, a set of forty lessons on the Bible. He was armed with a treasure of information from all the teachers and witnesses to the faith that had lectured at Devine Word. He was assisted by a large number of enthusiastic collaborators: all the people who had made presentations at Divine Word and provided materials and a team of great assistants, also at Divine Word Centre. The work was finished just as Father Gervais was ordained an auxiliary bishop of London (1980). He subsequently was made Bishop of Sault Saint Marie Diocese, and after four years, Archbishop of Ottawa (1989). He retired in 2007, and at the time of this writing, he is enjoying retirement.

Book preview

Journey- Lesson 35 Love and Discipline

by Marcel Gervais, Emeritus Archbishop of the diocese of Ottawa, Canada

Nihil Obstat: Michael T. Ryan, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.

Imprimatur: + John M. Sherlock, Bishop of London

London, March 31, 1980

This content of this book was first published in 1977 as part of the JOURNEY Series By Guided Study Programs in the Catholic Faith and is now being republished in Smashwords by Emmaus Publications, 99 Fifth Avenue, Suite 103, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5P5, Canada ON Smashwords

Cover: What I mean is that each one of you says, I belong to Paul, or belong to Apollos,' or I belong to Cephas,' or 7 belong to Christ.' is Christ divided' 1 Cor 1:12-13a

COPYRIGHT © Guided Study Programs In the Catholic Faith, a division of The Divine Word International Centre of Religious Education 1977. Reproduction in whole or in part is Prohibited.

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Be United in Faith and Practice (1 Corinthians)

Chapter 2 In Weakness Strength (2 Corinthians)

Answer key to practice questions

Self-test

Answer key to self-test

Recommendations for group meeting on Lesson Thirty-five

About The Author

Psalm 111

The psalmist praises and thanks God for his mighty acts on behalf of his People. The Lord has redeemed them by deeds of power and by his saving word (vss 2-8). He keeps his covenant with them, feeding and guiding them by his Law (Torah). This psalm stresses the proper interior disposition ("with all my heart", vs 1) of those who fear the Lord, that is, who acknowledge what God has done for them and who desire to serve him in grateful obedience. Those who fear the Lord will attain true wisdom (vs 10).

Throughout his letters to them, Paul urges the Corinthians to abandon their attachment to the false wisdom of the world and to embrace the true wisdom which comes from knowing Christ Jesus. As Paul says, Christ is "the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor 1:24).* Paul urges them to accept the good news of God's gift of redemption through Christ and to serve the Lord in gratitude and love.

Lesson Objective To describe Paul's response to the problems and questions of the church of Corinth as found in 1 & 2 Corinthians.

Paul spent a year and a half in Corinth. His stay there can be dated fairly accurately since it was during the proconsulship of Gallio (Acts 18:12-17). An ancient inscription found at Delphi shows that Gallio was proconsul in January of 52. It was in that year that Paul established the church in Corinth.

A little knowledge of the history of Corinth is of value in studying Paul's letters. Corinth was one of the most important cities of the Empire, a focal point of industry, culture and sport. It was the capital of the province of Achaia and the seat of the proconsul. A seaport located on an isthmus separating the Aegean from the Adriatic, it had access to both seas and was an important shipbuilding centre. The population, drawn from all parts of the Empire, represented a variety of cultures and religions, including a large Jewish segment. As a centre for athletics Corinth was well-known. The Isthmean games were held there every spring and drew contestants from the whole of Greece and from other parts of the Empire.

The fame of Corinth, spread chiefly by sailors, reached every corner of the Empire. Its reputation was by no means limited to athletic contests, industry and commerce. Corinth was also notorious for sexual license. Paul's letters indicate that this reputation was well deserved. Undoubtedly many of Corinth's first Christians had a rather unsavoury background.

Paul's letters to the church of Corinth are especially pertinent to modern readers, since he deals with problems which are prevalent in the Church today: factions, false wisdom, immorality, scandal, various forms of idolatry, the breakdown of marriages, undue pride in spiritual gifts and distortion of the principles of our faith. The forcefulness, yet the diplomacy of Paul in dealing with these problems is a model for modern leaders of the Church.

* In the main, the quotations used in this lesson are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted 1946, 1952,© 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used with permission.

Chapter 1 Be United in Faith and Practice Corinthians

Section Objective To describe Paul's response to the problems and questions of the church in Corinth as found in 1 Corinthians.

Introduction

The opening verses of 1 Corinthians consist of a salutation, or greeting (1:1-3) and a brief thanksgiving (1:4-9). These few verses hold important clues to this letter's tone and content, so different from those of the letters studied in the previous lesson. In both 1 Thessalonians and Philippians, Paul is in a rather relaxed and joyful mood, like a tender father. In 1 Corinthians he is definitely more authoritative, though still paternal. He considers it necessary to assert his authority as an apostle (1:1), something he never does when writing to a church which fully accepts and respects this authority. Another difference between this letter and the two already studied is found in the thanksgiving section (1:4-9). In both 1 Thessalonians and in Philippians, Paul thanks God for the gifts of faith, love and hope which the communities have received (1 Thess 1:2ff; Phil 1:3ff). In 1 Corinthians, however, he makes no mention of these virtues, since there is much room for improvement in these areas of Corinthian spiritual life. Instead, he offers thanks for the many spiritual gifts with which the community has been endowed.

Reading 1 Corinthians