In other words, I don’t see anything in chapter 6 that sounds like a romantic relationship. It still reads to me like Paul is saying to steer clear of the unbelievers. It reminds me of the “for you are in the world but not of the world” line.

Unless, I guess, you are saying that the verse is directed towards individuals and not the church itself, and that “yoked” means “romantically involved.” That seems out of context with the rest of the chapter, which is talking with the Corinthians as a sum, not as individuals.

I guess I can sorta see that. Though I don’t know if saying “hey, don’t fall in love with that person if she is not a believer” is all that much better.

“…even perhaps death, is worth it to gain an eternity’s worth of grace from God.”
God’s grace is not earned, it is given. Paul writes from the perspective that God has given us all these gifts; what is the proper response? If the Corinthians do NOT respond correctly, God will not take away those gifts.

“Paul is basically saying that the church in Corinth should not be as welcoming of newcomers as it is”
Absolutely false. It’s talking about serious romantic relationships here. From a purely pragmatic perspective it can (sometimes) be a bad idea to be in an intimate relationship with someone who doesn’t share values that you hold deeply.
It’s not talking about being cold towards unbelievers. That’s absurd.

Jesus’ teaching presupposes Judaism. He taught in a fully Jewish environment, and his message was mainly an elaboration and clarification of what God expected via the Mosaic law that his hearers were already well aware of. Paul, on the other hand, is writing raw pagans-turned-Christians of the Hellenistic world, whose former religious practices were very different from what Jesus was addressing.

I think Paul gets defensive, because the churches he established were veering wildly off course, and they needed, in his opinion, to be set straight–and quick.

In 1 Corinthians, you had people open divisions and fractions occurring, misuse of the “spiritual gifts”, people feeling that the freedom of Christ’s love entitled them to indulge in incest, temple prostitution, and other various immoralities, etc.

In Galatians, hardcore Judaizers were promoting a full-fledged return to the law of Moses–including circumcision–for all Christians.

In Thessalonians, people being so concerned about the 2nd Coming of Christ that they had stopped working for a living and were just sitting around waiting for it, and so on.

On these and other occasions, Paul would write and say, “Look guys, this isn’t the way,” and often they’d respond with “Oh yeah? Who put you in charge?” Thus his various defenses of his position, authority, credentials, etc. Especially in 1 and 2nd Corinthians. (Not to mention in a lot of his letters–it’s kind of veiled and hard to see–Paul is trying to raise money for the Jerusalem church. That always hits a nerve.)

Lastly, his various differences of opinion were rarely versus the other apostles. Usually they were Paul versus a local faction of a local church which HE founded. In his absences they would get certain ideas, and then feel that he had no right to correct them, and he’d return with, “Well, I’m the one who taught you all this… I think I know what the message is.”

Interestingly enough, in Galatians Paul says that he presented his “version” of the gospel, or what I guess we could call rudimentary Christianity, to Peter and John for approval, and they didn’t have any disagreements, or anything to add. In 2 Peter, Peter (Cephas) endorses “brother Paul”, and his letters, showing agreement there as well.

Pretty much all the apostles–Paul, Peter, John (especially john!), James, Jude, take the same tone in their letters. They’re definitely pastoral and interested in correcting wrong thinking and clarifying what the message is and how it’s to be lived.

Anyway, good luck as you progress. I imagine you’ll have fun with chapters 6 and 7.

I’m working through 1 Corinthians right now, and the first thing that is blatantly obvious is that people don’t agree with Paul’s teachings. Enough don’t agree that Paul flew off the handle at them in the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians. What I am trying to figure out is just why Paul is so defensive, and why he doesn’t want any competition for people’s hearts and minds. I am guessing I’ll get more information on this as I progress through the books.

I do agree that, every now and then, Paul turns into an excellent orator. It’s usually when he’s delving deeply into scripture. You can – or I can – see his expertise and knowledge coming to the forefront, both in what he presents and how he interprets it. You can tell he spent a lot of time in Greece – I loved Luke’s description of Paul’s time there in Acts, btw – and is versed in Greek deliberation. I don’t agree with him on most points, but he is at least entertaining.

Everything else that I’ve read of him? Not so much.

Thanks for the comment! And for letting me know that comment submission was broken. I’ve fixed it.