Toward Spiritual Maturity: Studies in Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians

Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians addresses a number of social, moral, and spiritual problems that had arisen in the church after he left the city. Corinth was a cultural and ethnic melting pot of European and Asian cultures. Its inhabitants were steeped in Roman and Greek pagan religion, particularly the worship of Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation, whose worship centered around temple prostitution. Corinth had a reputation as a wicked, licentious, immoral city. Intellectually alert, materially prosperous, and morally corrupt, the Corinthians were devoted to a reckless development of the individual, unbridled lust, commercial pursuits devoid of ethical restraints, and athletic pursuits that demanded extreme exercise and strength. In a word, they recognized no superior and no law but their own desires.In this environment Paul ministered for 18 months and established a thriving Christian church composed mostly of Gentiles converted from their pagan culture. After leaving the city, Paul learned of the problems in the church and wrote First Corinthians as a corrective response. Though the problems were closely related to their own cultural era, Paul's principles of Christian morality and spirituality, which he enunciated as corrections, are timeless. Toward Spiritual Maturity examines each of the local problems and suggests applications to situations in the church of the twenty-first century.

Author: Grady Manley
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 09/24/2013
Pages: 136
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.42lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.29d
ISBN: 9781491211106

About the Author
Grady Manley has gained a well deserved reputation as a passionate student of Scripture. Reared in the home of an early Pentecostal minister, he lived in a home environment in which Biblical principles strictly regulated daily life and faith. His mother began training him to memorize Bible verses when he was two years old. Thus began a lifelong devotion to the Bible. At the age of 17 he experienced a divine call to ministry. Following his parents' example, he pursued ordination in the Assemblies of God. With a baccalaureate degree from an evangelical Bible college and a graduate degree in New Testament studies from Southern Nazarene University, he has served more than sixty years as pastor, teacher, and college lecturer. Early in his ministry his interest expanded beyond traditional Pentecostal churches. His fervent love of Scripture and his zealous pursuit of practical spirituality that was evident in the New Testament church has given his ministry wide acceptance in evangelical, liturgical, charismatic, and catholic churches in the USA and Great Britain. He describes himself as committed to traditional Christian theology proclaimed in the Nicene, Apostles, and Athanasian creeds. He is positively Arminian in his theology and committed to the validity of the Charismatic gifts in Christian life and worship. He maintains that Scripture stands as final authority for life and faith and interprets the Bible giving priority to its original intent and meaning when it was written. Rev. Manley currently lives with his wife Janice (nee Lister), to whom he has been married for 57 years. They have three children, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

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