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The First Epistle to the Corinthians

Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987. ISBN: 0802825079

Reviewed by Henry Neufeld

This is an exceptional contribution to the commentary literature on the New Testament. It is a critical commentary, in that it takes account of issues raised by historical-critical study. It is thorough in dealing with textual and linguistic issues. As is this entire series, it is written from an evangelical perspective. The authors and editors espouse a high view of Biblical inspiration. I present it as an example of strong evangelical scholarship which is also in conversation with the broader scholarly world.

A key feature of this commentary is the division of the content between the text body and the footnotes. All original language material is placed in the footnotes, while the body text, while serious in content, does not require any knowledge of the original languages. I found the division of content logical and usable. You can easily read either just the body text, or follow the footnotes as you go along. Frequently in commentaries you find that you can�t follow the text without reading at least some footnotes. In this commentary you can choose your approach to them. The notes are quite substantial, however.

The text itself places strong emphasis on literary factors, including organization of the text and elements which provide a connection between various sections. Considering that many commentators regard 1 Corinthians as a bit disorganized, this information is extremely helpful.

The introduction deals with broad issues of authorship and structure. Dr. Fee also provides a cogent reconstruction of the situation at the church in Corinth. Contrary to common conceptions of the situation there, Dr. Fee believes that there is less of a problem with factions within the church than with the relationship between the church and the apostle Paul who planted it. This doesn't mean that there were no factions; rather, the problem was not specific to the views of the various divisions within the church, but more with the division between the church and Paul. This is one topic on which I disagree with Dr. Fee, as I think he carries this point too far, but his arguments that there were no specific Paul, Peter, Apollos and Christ parties in the church are quite convincing.

I would especially commend the sections of the commentary on chapter 7 (marriage and divorce), chapter 11 (covering the head in worship), the entire discussion of spirituality and spiritual gifts is excellent, though in these passages I think Dr. Fee doesn't go quite far enough. Nonetheless, he connects the whole issue of who is a spiritual person from the first chapter through chapter 15 and the discussion of spiritual bodies. In this way he makes explicit and clear the key issue in the Corinthian church which is the nature of true spirituality. I would suggest that in support of this overall theme the term "pneumatikon" in its various forms should never be used with the term "gift" (charisma) unless this is explicit, both in 12:1 and 14:1, even though this makes the translation of 14:1 somewhat awkward. The thematic connections that Fee demonstrates would support such a translation effort, however.

In terms of critical examination of a textual issue, the presentation of 14:34-35 (pp. 699-708) is an excellent example of the kinds of issues one must examine in determining the authenticity of a small element of the text. Dr. Fee concludes that these two verses are, in fact an interpolation.

I believe that this commentary is one which any student of the first epistle to the Corinthians should consult. While it provides an evangelical view of the book, it examines the full range of issues and does so openly and in sufficient detail to allow the reader to understand the basis for all the decisions made by the commentator.

I strongly recommend this commentary to any serious Bible student.

Other commentaries in this series that I recommend:

• Revelation (Robert H. Mounce)ISBN: 0802825370
• The Gospel According to John (Leon Morris)ISBN: 0802825044

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