Emphasis Preaching Journal

The church of Corinth was full of believers and skeptics. The Apostle Paul was writing to a mix of Jews and Christians. Each person was converted by Paul in a truly diversified church. Corinth was a secular society and often called "the city of love." Because it was a seaport, many transient people traveled through and exchanged ideas with the citizens. The citizens of Corinth had a conglomeration of ideas and many folks were confused about what to believe. People in Corinth questioned the reality of the resurrection. It was an unknown experience. Nothing in the backgrounds of these Greek converts gave them this concept of coming back from the dead. The incredulity they felt was a combination of extreme fear and doubt. Paul used the word "appeared" many times to emphasize that Jesus first showed himself to a few folks and then to many folks. Paul reminded the Corinthians of all the witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. But, he told them they had to believe it to see it! This took all the faith the community could muster. Paul said, "This is what I preached, and this is what you believed."
-- Becker 1