Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-299).

Opening the letter: A community called by God (1:1-9) -- A call for unity in the community 1:10--4:21) -- A call for community discipline (5:1--6:20) -- Responses to contested issues (7:1--15:58) -- Concluding matters: A community called to love (16:1-24).

Paul's first letter to the Corinthians was addressed originally to a fledgling mission church in Corinth. Paul's absence from the church had allowed serious problems to arise within the Corinthian community, but the problems that he addresses in this letter do not always seem based in explicitly theological ideas. The brilliance of Paul, though, is that he frames the issues in theological terms and reflects on them in the light of the gospel. Hays identifies and discusses the major theological themes of the letter, as well as issues such as community formation and the rethinking of inherited sociocultural norms and practices, and he offers Paul as a model for ministry.