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Work #1008 · Mature

1 Corinthians

Paul of Tarsus (Saul / Saint Paul)
c. 53-55 CE (composed in Ephesus during Paul's third missionary journey) · Koine Greek
Pastoral letter (16 chapters) · Earliest Christianity / Pauline Christianity

A pastoral letter to a troubled church — addressing factions, immorality, lawsuits, marriage, food offered to idols, worship, spiritual gifts, the resurrection, and the famous "hymn to love" of chapter 13

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute 1 Corinthians (Mature)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Scripture
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Discrete

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

1 Corinthians

The specific historical moment of the Corinthian church in the mid-50s CE; the eschatological time within which Paul's teaching is set.

Space

1 Corinthians

Corinth as the immediate geographical context — a wealthy Hellenistic-Roman commercial centre; the broader Mediterranean-imperial space of the early Pauline mission.

Matter

1 Corinthians

The embodied Corinthian Christians — their bodies as objects of moral teaching, their bodies as resurrection-objects of hope; the sacramental matter of bread and wine.

Observer

1 Corinthians

Paul as the apostolic teacher; the Corinthian community as the immediate audience; the global church across time as the broader audience.

Energy

1 Corinthians

The energy of the Spirit through which spiritual gifts operate; the energy of love that is the more excellent way.

Information

1 Corinthians

The 16 chapters as discrete pastoral-doctrinal content; the specific Corinthian problems and Paul's responses.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

1 Corinthians

Specific positions of 1 Corinthians — particularly chapter 11 on women's head-coverings, chapter 14 on women speaking in the church, chapter 7 on marriage and celibacy — have been the subject of continuing exegetical and theological controversy. Modern Pauline scholarship (Wire, Fee, Thiselton) has substantially reframed these debates in light of careful attention to the specific Corinthian context. The eucharistic teaching of chapter 11 has continued to divide Catholic-Protestant traditions on the nature of the Lord's Supper.