Comments on 1 Corinthians 3 v1-5 Paul states the Corinthian Church is like a baby in the gospel, in that they are naive to spiritual things and still walking in carnal things. As long as they are contentious and divisive, not realizing who is the Master of the work, they are still carnal. v2 "milk...meat", this analogy is more fully developed in Hebr. 5:11-14, see also John 4:34, D&C 19:21-23. The KJV "meat" would be better translated to "solid food" in contemporary English. It is common to equate the two things, milk for babies and solid food for adults, with simple doctrine and complex doctrine. But, this fails to recognize Paul's intent. Paul is saying he is only teaching them simple doctrine because their walk, their behavior, is carnal, they "walk as men" (cf. v. 3). If their walk was spiritual, then he would teach them more spiritual doctrine because they would perceive it by the Spirit. The "meat" is not in an of itself complex doctrine, as is so commonly equated. The "meat" is inextricably linked to a godly walk that makes the individual spiritual and therefore perceiving spiritual things. As long as there is division and contention, there is no "meat". Not because they are not intellectually capable of obscure logic, they obviously are as the contention evidences, but because they are not spiritually minded. v6-15 Paul then employs two similar analogies to emphasize that the divisions over the doctrine within the Church are false ones: a field and a building. While there are many workers in the field, it is God's field and they are all his servants. The one who planted is no different from the one who watered, because they were both servants of God (v. 8a). However, all those in the field, including those presently causing division, will be judged according to their works (v. 8b), for they are all in the field and held as fellow laborers with God in the field, which is the Church (v. 9a). Paul has laid the foundation of God's building for them in teaching them of Christ (v. 9b, 11). But, others have come to build on the foundation Paul has laid (v. 10). What they build with will be made manifest and they will be held responsible for their actions (v. 12-14). The IV/JST then informs us that although there are those who are presently building with poor materials, they may still yet change their ways. v9 "God's husbandry...God's building", both of these are nouns in the Greek making reference to a metaphorical farm and building. The building is later equated with the Temple in v. 16-17. v13 "the day", we would typically assume the "day" wherein people's works are exposed is the Day of Judgement. However, this does not appear to be the case here as v. 15 suggests there is still time for these divisive and contentious people to repent. Thus, I would assume Paul is referring to exposing the false teachings of these people to the light of day, thereby revealing them for what they are. v16-17 Paul continues on with the building analogy to say that God's building is the Temple, and those who defile His Temple will be destroyed. Paul is making use of the various OT statements the Lord makes about keeping His Temple holy. It is common for LDS persons to use this as a reference to the individual person's body being a Temple in conjunction with doctrines of bodily purity and the Word of Wisdom. That is not Paul's primary intent here. His primary intent is to emphasize that the Church at Corinth should be holy even as the Temple is holy and be built strong with hewn stones and not straw even as the Temple in Jerusalem is built. The contentious people who are dividing the Church at Corinth are defiling God's Temple and attempting to build it with straw. These people who corrupt God's Temple will be destroyed. Naturally, the Church is made up of individuals and so this applies to individuals, but the primary contextual reading is that of the ecclesia and not the individual. So why do I bother to point this out? Because if you go into this chapter assuming v. 16-17 are referring to the individual then it is difficult to understand what Paul is talking about in the rest of the chapter. When a commonly accepted acontextual reading on a couple of verses is forced onto an entire chapter it makes it difficult the establish the context and meaning of the chapter. People are carrying in their acontextual reading on two verses and imposing it on the entire chapter. v18-23 forms the conclusion to ch. 1-3 with Paul reiterating that the divisions within the Church are false. He admonishes those who are wise pertaining to things of the world to become foolish to things of the world and become spiritually discerning instead. v19-20 Paul paraphrases Job 5:13 and Ps. 94:11 as proof texts indicating man's wisdom is foolishness before God. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.