When Were the Letters to the Corinthians Written?

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

The letters of 1 and 2 Corinthians are fascinating windows into the earliest decades of Christianity. Written by the apostle Paul to a church he had founded in the city of Corinth, these letters reveal a Christian community struggling with discord, moral disputes, and theological confusion. But when were the letters to the Corinthians written?

In this article, I’ll describe the content and historical context of both Corinthian letters, explain how scholars determine their dates and authenticity, and consider how they relate to the accounts of Paul found in Acts.

1 Corinthians Summary

Paul had probably established the church at Corinth around the year 50 CE. His first letter to the Corinthians, also known as the first epistle to the Corinthians, was written principally to deal with problems that had arisen in this Christian community since he had last seen them. These include the formation of factions within the group, sexual sins, and disorderly worship services.

Since scholars know that not all the Pauline letters in the New Testament were actually written by him, was it really Paul who wrote 1 Corinthians? According to the vast majority of scholars, 1 Corinthians was indeed written by Paul, apparently in the city of Ephesus, according to 1 Corinthians 16:8. As Bart Ehrman writes, the letter’s “writing style, themes, mode of argumentation, presupposed historical context, theological views, and most everything else cohere well with what we can establish as Pauline.”

While the scholarly consensus agrees that Paul actually wrote this letter, there is one short and controversial passage—1 Corinthians 14:34-35—that Paul probably didn’t write, according to John Barclay, writing in the The Oxford Bible Commentary. This passage says

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Barclay notes that scholars generally give three reasons for why this is probably a later interpolation by a scribe. First, it interrupts Paul’s discussion about prophesying in church, which begins before this passage and then continues unabated after it. If you read the verses preceding it and then skip verses 34–35, the section makes far more sense. Second, it contradicts the fact that Paul mentions women leaders in churches in other letters, such as Romans 16:7, in which Junia appears. Finally, the passage is so similar to 1 Timothy 2:11–15, which was probably not written by Paul, that it seems likely that a later scribe merely inserted the passage into 1 Corinthians. So, how does Paul address the problems at Corinth?

In looking at the church’s problems through this letter, it’s important to remember that the Corinthian church was made up mostly of former pagan Gentiles. For this reason, they have no background in the monotheism of Judaism, so Paul needs to educate them on how to behave in the context of their relatively new religious identities.

Paul begins the letter by speaking to various splinter groups in the church, emphasizing unity through Christ rather than loyalty to the human leaders to whom different members claim allegiance. He also addresses reports of sexual immorality in the group and believers who are taking each other to court (Chapter 5). In addition, a large part of the letter responds to questions asked by church members about marriage and celibacy (Chapter 7), whether they are allowed to eat food that was offered to idols (Chapters 8 and 10), and how to correctly conduct worship services (Chapter 14). Paul also argues strongly that the resurrection of Jesus was physical, contradicting the view of those who have denied that Christians will ultimately be resurrected themselves (Chapter 15).

Paul ends the letter by telling his charges that he is taking up a collection from all his churches to give money to the church in Jerusalem. He instructs them to set aside extra money one day a week for this purpose. He tells them of his travel plans and signs off with a blessing.

2 Corinthians Summary

2 Corinthians, while also an undisputed letter of Paul, is a very different letter from 1 Corinthians, not least because scholars have determined that it consists of at least two letters combined. To understand 2 Corinthians, therefore, it helps to construct a timeline of events which the letter addresses as well as other letters to the Corinthian church about which Paul writes.

2 Corinthians 1:19 indicates that when Paul first visited Corinth, along with Timothy and Silvanus, he established the church, probably giving them his gospel and information necessary to conduct themselves as a Christian community. Soon after, Paul apparently wrote them a letter (which we do not have, unfortunately), telling them to stay away from people who are immoral, sexually and otherwise.

This was apparently followed by a letter from the Corinthians to Paul (which we also don’t have), which Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 7:1. It asked Paul about sexual immorality, including whether or not Christians should have sex with their husbands or wives or become celibate. This is when Paul wrote his second letter in response, which we know as 1 Corinthians, to address such questions and other problems.

Then, Paul made a second visit to Corinth, as he says in 2 Corinthians 2:1–4, but this visit did not go as well as the first. Apparently, this time Paul was confronted and humiliated by someone in the church (he doesn’t give any details because the Corinthians presumably already know).

After Paul left, however, a group of missionaries Paul sarcastically calls “super-apostles” came to Corinth. They insisted, contrary to Paul’s doctrine, that true life in Christ was a glorified, heavenly existence here and now, rather than at the end of time. Paul in anger calls them “ministers of Satan” (11:13–15). Now, Paul wrote his third letter to the Corinthians, which is found in 2 Corinthians 10-13.

Paul was happy to discover that the Corinthians had punished whoever had outraged him (2 Cor 2:5–11), and that they had come back to his original theological position (2 Cor 7:5–12). After hearing this news, Paul wrote a fourth letter, which is 2 Corinthians 1-9, to show his happiness at their change of heart.

Having discussed the authorship and content of the two letters, let’s look into how scholars have dated them, as well as how scholars date ancient texts in general.

How Do Scholars Date Ancient Texts?

There are certainly many methods for dating ancient texts, but here I’ll highlight four of the most common methods, taken from an article by Drew Longacre:

1. Internal Dates and Content Clues

When we are very, very lucky, a scribe actually writes the date or at least the year on a manuscript (this doesn’t happen nearly as often as we’d like). However, this doesn’t automatically mean that we can know exactly when the text was written.

For instance, there were different calendars used in the ancient world among different people groups. Longacre writes about a manuscript “dated to the third year of the revolt against the Romans by Bar Kokhba (AD 132–135), which corresponds to AD 134.” This type of date notification is common in ancient legal documents, for example, but less common in religious texts.

However, even when there is no obvious date written, the contents of a manuscript can sometimes give clues to the approximate date of its composition. One example of this is the Gospel of Mark, which mentions the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (Mark 13:2). Since we know that happened in 70 CE, we can deduce that Mark was written no earlier than that date.

2. Archeological Context

Longacre notes that another way ancient Hebrew manuscripts are dated is by knowing the date of the place and structure within which they were found.

This may only give an approximate date, but, along with other evidence, it can really help place the document in its historical background. Another example is the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran. Since we know that the Romans destroyed that site in 68 CE, we know that all the texts found there had to be written before that date.

3. Radiocarbon Dating

Brent Nongbri writes about what radiocarbon dating can tell us (and what it can’t):

So by using radiocarbon dating to analyze a fragment of papyrus (made from a plant) or parchment (made from animal skins) on which a text was copied, we can tell the approximate century from which it came. This cannot tell us exact dates, of course, but it has certainly given scholars much useful information about ancient texts.

Longacre notes that for this reason, more than 60 early Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts have been subjected to radiocarbon dating.

4. Paleography

Brent Nongbri writes that paleography, the analysis of ancient handwriting, is the main way that scholars date ancient manuscripts. Conventions of handwriting change over time. Therefore, if we have a lot of manuscripts of the same text, paleography can indicate broadly in what era or century something was written (since ancient texts were always handwritten). In other words, it can give us a date range for a given manuscript but not an exact date or year because similar handwriting styles indicate that different manuscripts came from the same era.

When Were the Letters to the Corinthians Written?

When did Paul write the letters to the Corinthians? In terms of internal evidence, scholars trace Paul’s travels, connecting 1 Corinthians with his time in Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8) during his third missionary journey. Additionally, 2 Corinthians was determined to have been written shortly after 1 Corinthians because it addresses issues raised after the delivery of 1 Corinthians.

For external evidence, we have early Christian writings such as 1 Clement, a letter written to the Corinthians around AD 96, which mentions and refers to 1 Corinthians. From this, scholars know it was in circulation before the end of the 1st century.

So, when was 1 Corinthians written? When was 2 Corinthians written? And how much time passed between the writing of 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians?

Given the chronology we know, the four letters Paul wrote to the Corinthians—only some of which survive— and the abovementioned methods of determining the dates of composition, most scholars see both these letters as having been written in the mid-50s CE. 1 Corinthians is usually dated to 53–54 CE, while 2 Corinthians, written not long after, is dated to 55–56 CE.

Do 1 and 2 Corinthians Agree With Other Pauline Letters?

One way that the authenticity of 1 and 2 Corinthians is determined, is, as I noted above, that their internal evidence shows the same style and theological positions as the other undisputed books. So, how does the content of these two letters line up with other New Testament letters that bear Paul’s name but are likely not written by him? Let’s look at four different areas of comparison.

Worship and Church Structure

One of the issues Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians is how disorderly the structure of their worship services are. Paul has to give them instructions on how to rein it in:

Likewise, we see no mention of official leaders, such as priests or bishops, in 1 or 2 Corinthians. However, in the letters written in Paul’s name, we see church structures developing (see Ephesians 4:11–12, for instance). In the later Pastoral Letters (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus), we begin to see even more rigid, institutional roles, including bishops and deacons (1 Timothy 3:2–7).

Eschatology

Paul’s eschatology  (beliefs about the end times) in his undisputed letters is absolutely imminent. Christ could return any minute now, as he says in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17:

By contrast, the Deutero-Pauline letters (2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, and Colossians) argue that believers already reign with Christ in some mystical sense. Finally, the later Pastoral letters say that Christ’s coming will be delayed indefinitely and to focus, therefore, on passing the faith down to later generations.

Apostolic Authority

In 1 and 2 Corinthians, Paul insists that he has earned his apostolic authority, far beyond that of the “super-apostles,” through suffering and weakness:

By contrast, in the Deutero-Pauline epistles, such as Ephesians and Colossians, Paul has an almost cosmic authority, conferred upon him by Christ. In the Pastoral Epistles, his authority is institutionalized, giving him the authority to teach Timothy on church order and fight false teachings.

Primary Focus

To sum it up, then, 1 and 2 Corinthians, like the rest of Paul’s undisputed letters, focus on immediate crisis management for his communities. The Deutero-Pauline letters expand this focus to the universal theology of the church, while the Pastoral Epistles focus on church order and fighting heretical views.

Does the Content of 1 and 2 Corinthians Line up With the Book of Acts?

In terms of narratives, some of the content in Acts does line up with Paul’s own words in 1 and 2 Corinthians. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 3:6 and 10, Paul notes that he indeed established the church in Corinth. This can be found, with more detail, in Acts 18:1–11. Likewise, 1 Corinthians 1:12 and 3:4–6 acknowledge that the early Christian Apollos also brought his ministry to Corinth.

However, the Corinthian letters demonstrate that Paul’s ministry was far more tumultuous and perilous than the portrayal in Acts and that there were far more interpersonal challenges than the smoothed out story of Acts would suggest.

Reception History

The reception history of these letters shows their authoritative influence on the early centuries of Christianity. In the letter of 1 Clement, for example, the author refers to 1 Corinthians in an attempt to address a schism in the Corinthian church of his own time, appealing especially to Paul’s teaching as an authority on unity in Christ.

Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 110–130 AD) quotes from 1 Corinthians and mentions 2 Corinthians to inspire moral uprightness and right doctrine. Irenaeus of Lyons (155–191 CE), meanwhile, used the Corinthian letters as references to fight Gnosticism, citing them to prove the resurrection of the body (1 Cor 15) and the unity of the church under apostolic authority.

Finally, in the 4th century, John Chrysostom (347–407) wrote extensively on 1 and 2 Corinthians, concentrating on the ethical, liturgical, and practical problems of the Corinthian community, while Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE) frequently referred to the Corinthian letters to discuss grace, love (1 Cor 13), and the resurrection.

Conclusion: When Were the Letters to the Corinthians Written?

1 and 2 Corinthians were, like most of Paul’s authentic letters, written to address specific problems in one of the Christian communities he had founded. In 1 Corinthians, Paul addresses factionalism that had invaded the spirit of the community, along with moral problems and theological questions about which the community had asked him. 2 Corinthians, however, is the result of a conflict between Paul, an instituting member of the Corinthian community, and opposing missionaries who have misled the community with a different gospel.

When were the letters to the Corinthians written? Using methods of dating, including internal and external evidence, scholars have dated the Corinthian correspondence to the middle of the 50s CE, about twenty years after Paul’s conversion, which was a time when the theological doctrines of Christianity were still being debated throughout the Mediterranean world.