Some scholars think that Paul was especially concerned about a particular group of women prophets who were praying with their heads uncovered in a way that emulated other religious traditions of the day. Do you see any evidence of such a designated sub-group in the Corinthian community? In what ways is reading this passage grounded in the historical context important here?
The material about the Lord’s Supper in 11:23-25 is one of the few places where Paul draws on words attributed to Jesus himself. How is this important for Paul’s argument?
The suggestion that some of the Corinthians have become ill and others have died because of mistaken communion practices seems both harsh and strange to us. Are there ways to make a link between Paul’s kind of spiritual “realism” and our frequent division between spiritual matters and bodily consequences?
Applying the Text:
Do Paul’s distinctions between what is appropriate for a male and what is appropriate for a female provide any guidance for appropriate socialization in the church today, or is this specific to the Corinthians?
Where are the specific places where class, economic and educational distinctions in our churches are evident today? What can we take and apply from Paul’s teachings for our own contexts?
If you were to rethink the practice of the Lord’s Supper in your church on the basis of 1 Corinthians 11, what—if anything— would you do differently?