Although it has the same scope as the letter to the Romans, theological first letter to the Corinthians is often overshadowed by the later letter of Paul. Much of what Paul writes here seems too situational to tell us anything today. The present commentary shows how Paul, in this letter, too, which deals with problems in the church in Corinth, the background of which we often only partially understand, formulates his answers from the center of the Gospel. By placing the plethora of challenges that arise in the young Corinthian church in the field of tension between the lasting meaning of the word of the cross and the hope of the resurrection of the dead, he develops a perspective for the understanding and practice of the church which is still important today among completely different issues. Paul argues on very different levels when it comes to the endangerment of the theology of the cross and the unity of the congregation or problems of a responsible lifestyle and the constructive organization of worship services, but he treats all these questions under the sign that the congregation belongs to Christ. The exposition carefully works out the different problem areas and approaches that Paul addresses, but at the same time shows the red thread that runs through the entire letter and gives it its own theological weight. The point is not to take over what Paul wrote to the Corinthians one-to-one for us today, but to take it seriously as an impulse for our search for answers today. The following is decisive for the interpretation of all volumes: 1. Although the current state of scientific interpretation is processed, the text of the commentary should be generally understandable. 2. The historical questions about the origin of the respective script are taken into account, but the focus of the interpretation is on capturing the message of the text. 3. Therefore, only the most necessary information for understanding the text is given in the respective introduction. The decisive historical and theological questions are worked out on the text. A final part summarizes the results. 4. The translation prepared especially for the commentary provides an initial introduction to the interpretation. If all volumes of the commentary series "The Message of the New Testament" are purchased, the sales price is reduced by approx. 10%. The so far established authors of the volumes that will appear in the next few years are Walter Klaiber, 2nd Corinthians (2012); Walter Klaiber, Galater (2013); Walter Klaiber, Matthäus (2014); Christian Rose, Hebrew (2014); Michael Gese, Ephesians (2014); Volker Hampel, Jakobus (2014); Christoph Schluep, Philippians (2014); Roland Gebauer, Acts of the Apostles (2015); André Heinze, Johannesbriefe (2015) and Ernst Synofzik, 1-2. Thessalonians (2015). This is followed by Karl-Heinrich Ostmeyer, 1.-2. Petrus, Judas and Thomas Söding, Lukas. Further authors for the remaining New Testament letters are requested.
