In order to understand the relationship between 1 and 2 Corinthians, it is important to appreciate their role as foundational texts of the Christian--and especially Pauline--mission of the apostolic period. They do not present the whole picture of formative Christianity; that is, they are not sufficient to explicating it. They are, however, necessary, and although each has its particular objective, they achieve more complete resonance to the extent they are considered a unit. That is because of the circumstances under which the texts emerged, which have to do with the determination of the apostolic- and postapostolic-era evangelists to adhere to the injunction to teach all nations and tell them "to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt. 28.19-20). For Paul, as will be seen, this came down to articulating and requiring adherence to doctrine as Paul articulated it.
In order to arrive at such a reduction, however, which is nothing more than an assertion of ecclesiastical authority, the complexities of the Corinthian case must be addressed. For only by taking seriously and disposing of the issue fronts that appear to have been threatening to motivate the new Christians to abandon their doctrinally problematic new religion in Corinth could Paul seriously hope to achieve the objective of religious and spiritual unity.
Jesus' evangelical adjuration to the apostles can be thought of as a "given" of the first-century Christian mission. However, backgrounding that mission were practical considerations that had implications for the evolution of the church in "all nations." Despite the sway of the Roman Empire that was contemporaneous with nascent Christianity, there appears to have been a good deal of ethnic and religious diversity in the ancient world. Were that not true, the Empire would not have had to be built by conquest. Identity politics, in other words, was a feature of everyday experience, such that there were s...