I was reading one Corinthians this morning, inspired by both Bishop Pete Wilcox and John Collins, that morning devotions should include the companion of a biblical scholar.

Happily I turned to Pentecostal theologian, Gordon Fee’s excellent NICNT commentary.

It’s taken me two days to get through the first two verses. Yesterday I was struck by Sosthenes, who is listed as a co-author, (or at least scribe) that he may well be one of the Jewish synagogue members who tried to persecute Paul when he preached in Corinth as recorded in the book of Acts.

Today, I was struck by the fact that Paul changes the title of the church from his previous two letters. In One and Two Thessalonians he writes to ‘the church of the Thessalonians’. But to the Corinthians, he feels the strong need to write to the ‘church of God in Corinth’.

This Fee argues is because he’s trying to make a point. They belong to God – not to themselves and certainly not to any leaders. So they are the Church of God in Corinth.

Now there may be other explanations, including that the church in Corinth was made up of a wider variety of people than just local Corinthians, but as you read the rest of the letter, you can see that Fee may well be onto something

If Paul was writing to the church of England, I wonder how he might expand the nomenclature?

A church of God for England? And I suppose, if you add in the great commission, it must be ‘for England and beyond’.