Below are the quotes that were used in the video.
Paul’s letter to the saints at Corinth emphasizes the need for unity. He gives inspired counsel on achieving unity in a family and a ward. He encourages saints to be a part of the fellowship of Christ and to learn the things of God. In this week’s readings, he also emphasizes that your body is a temple. I hope you enjoy studying one of my favorite letters from Paul this week!
Corinth
Paul wrote the epistle known as 1 Corinthians near the conclusion of his three-year visit to Ephesus (during his third mission), which likely ended sometime between A.D. 55 and 56 (see Acts 9:10; 20:31; Bible Dictionary, “Pauline Epistles”).
Corinth, the capital of the Roman province of Achaia, was one of the richest and most immoral cities in the world. According to the ancient geographer Strabo, the temple of Aphrodite on Acrocorinth (the high hill overlooking the lower city) boasted a thousand ritual prostitutes involved in aberrant rites of worship. Whether that report is accurate or not, it certainly reflects Corinth's reputation at the time.
“Aristophanes coined the verb korinthiazesthai (note the root Korinth), which means, "to fornicate." Another playwright wrote a play entitled Korinthiastes, "The Whoremonger." Plato used the term korinthia korc, "a Corinthian girl," to mean "a prostitute" (see Anchor Bible Dictionary) 1:1135-36).
Paul is writing to the “saints” (1 Cor. 1:2). Paul reminds these members that they have “the testimony of Christ [that] was confirmed in [them]” (1 Cor. 1:6) by the Holy Ghost. Their experiences with Christ have “enriched” (1 Cor. 1:5) them through what they have learned and spoken (see 1 Cor. 1:5). Paul reminds them that they “were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:9).
Elder Neal A Maxwell: “A slothful heart will not do, and neither will a resentful heart. So being admitted fully to "the fellowship of his sufferings" requires the full dues of discipleship (Philippians 3:10; see also 1 Corinthians 1:9). (in Conference Report, Apr. 2001, 77; or Ensign, May 2001, 60)
President Marion G. Romney: "The way to unity is for us to learn the will of the Lord and then to do it. … The power of the Church for good in the world depends upon the extent to which we, the members thereof, observe this principle" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1983, 22; or Ensign, May 1983, 17).
President Boyd K. Packer: “I sat on a plane next to a professed atheist who pressed his disbelief in God so urgently that I bore my testimony to him. ‘You are wrong,’ I said, ‘there is a God. I know He lives!’
“He protested, ‘You don’t know. Nobody knows that! You can’t know it!’ When I would not yield, the atheist, who was an attorney, asked perhaps the ultimate question on the subject of testimony. ‘All right,’ he said in a sneering, condescending way, ‘you say you know. Tell me how you know.’
“When I attempted to answer, even though I held advanced academic degrees, I was helpless to communicate. …
“When I used the words Spirit and witness, the atheist responded, ‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’ The words prayer, discernment, and faith, were equally meaningless to him. ‘You see,’ he said, ‘you don’t really know. If you did, you would be able to tell me how you know.’
“I … was at a loss as to what to do”
Such an idea came into my mind and I said to the atheist, “Let me ask if you know what salt tastes like.”
“Of course I do,” was his reply.
“When did you taste salt last?”
“I just had dinner on the plane.”
“You just think you know what salt tastes like,” I said.
He insisted, “I know what salt tastes like as well as I know anything.”
“If I gave you a cup of salt and a cup of sugar and let you taste them both, could you tell the salt from the sugar?”
“Now you are getting juvenile,” was his reply. “Of course I could tell the difference. I know what salt tastes like. It is an everyday experience—I know it as well as I know
anything.”
“Then,” I said, “assuming that I have never tasted salt, explain to me just what it tastes like.”
After some thought, he ventured, “Well-I-uh, it is not sweet and it is not sour.”
“You’ve told me what it isn’t, not what it is.”
After several attempts, of course, he could not do it. He could not convey, in words alone, so ordinary an experience as tasting salt.
I bore testimony to him once again and said, “I know there is a God. You ridiculed that testimony and said that if I did know, I would be able to tell you exactly how I know. My friend, spiritually speaking, I have tasted salt. I am no more able to convey to you in words how this knowledge has come than you are to tell me what salt tastes like.
But I say to you again, there is a God! He does live! And just because you don’t know, don’t try to tell me that I don’t know, for I do!” (“The Candle of the Lord,” Ensign, Jan. 1983, 51).
Elder Richard G. Scott: “You can learn vitally important things by what you hear and see and, even more, by what you feel, as prompted by the Holy Ghost. Many individuals limit their learning primarily to what they hear or read. Be wise. Develop the skill of also learning by what you see and particularly by what the Holy Ghost prompts you to feel. Consciously and consistently seek to learn by what you feel. Your capacity to do so will expand through repeated practice. Significant faith and effort are required to learn by what you feel from the Spirit. Ask in faith for such help. Live to be worthy of such guidance.” (“How to Learn by the Spirit,” New Era, Sept. 2014, 48)
President Dallin H. Oaks: "When we seek the truth about religion, we should use spiritual methods appropriate for that search: prayer, the witness of the Holy Ghost, and study of the scriptures and the words of modern prophets. I am always sad when I hear of one who reports a loss of religious faith because of secular teachings. Those who once had spiritual vision can suffer from self-inflicted spiritual blindness. As President Henry B. Eyring said, “Their problem does not lie in what they think they see; it lies in what they cannot yet see” [Henry B. Eyring, To Draw Closer to God: A Collection of Discourses (1997), 143].
"The methods of science lead us to what we call scientific truth. But “scientific truth” is not the whole of life. Those who do not learn “by study and also by faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118) limit their understanding of truth to what they can verify by scientific means. That puts artificial limits on their pursuit of truth. (“Truth and the Plan,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 25)
“Your body is in the image of God—the most glorious, majestic Being in the universe. The scriptures compare our bodies to a holy temple, a place where the Spirit can dwell. Of course, your body is not perfect now. But the experiences you’re having with your body can help you prepare to receive one day a perfect, resurrected, glorified body…
“Treat your body—and others’ bodies—with respect. As you make decisions about your clothing, hairstyle, and appearance, ask yourself, “Am I honoring my body as a sacred gift from God?” Heavenly Father wants us to see each other for who we really are: not just physical bodies but His beloved children with a divine destiny. Avoid styles that emphasize or draw inappropriate attention to your physical body instead of who you are as a child of God with an eternal future. Let moral cleanliness and love for God guide your choices. Seek counsel from your parents.” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/for-the-strength-of-youth/06-body)
1 Corinthians 5:1 - “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you…’
Nine of Paul's fourteen letters contain direct instruction about sexual morality. "Fornication" is derived from the Greek porneia which means any illicit or extramarital sexual relations.
Neal A. Maxwell: "Do not company with fornicators—not because you are too good for them but, as C. S. Lewis wrote, because you are not good enough. Remember that bad situations can wear down even good people. Joseph had both good sense and good legs in fleeing from Potiphar's wife" ("The Stern but Sweet Seventh Commandment," in Morality [1992], 29).
Elder Jeffery R. Holland: “Flee fornication” (1 Cor. 6:18), Paul cries, and flee “anything like unto it” (D&C 59:6; emphasis added), the Doctrine and Covenants adds. Why? Well, for one reason because of the incalculable suffering in both body and spirit endured by the Savior of the world so that we could flee (see D&C 19:15–20). We owe Him something for that. Indeed, we owe Him everything for that. In sexual transgression the soul is at stake—the body and the spirit.
“Secondly, human intimacy is reserved for a married couple because it is the ultimate symbol of total union, a totality and a union ordained and defined by God…
“Thirdly, may I say that physical intimacy is not only a symbolic union between a husband and a wife—the very uniting of their souls—but it is also symbolic of a shared relationship between them and their Father in Heaven.” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2000/10/personal-purity)
President Russell M. Nelson: “With your body being such a vital part of God’s eternal plan, it is little wonder that the Apostle Paul described it as a “temple of God” [ 1 Corinthians 3:16 ; see also 6:19 ]. Each time you look in the mirror, see your body as your temple. That truth—refreshed gratefully each day—can positively influence your decisions about how you will care for your body and how you will use it.” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2013/10/decisions-for-eternity)
Teaching Thoughts:
Corinth
- ca. 1000 B.C. Beginning of continuous settlement
- ca. 700-600 B.C. Corinthian pottery widespread around Mediterranean.
- 44 B.C. Roman colony of Laus Julia Corinthiensis founded by Julius Caesar
- A.D. 52 St. Paul visits Corinth
- A.D. 67 Excavation of Corinth Canal begun
- Population: 14,382 (2021)
- Est. Population at time of Paul: 90,000
Paul wrote the epistle known as 1 Corinthians near the conclusion of his three-year visit to Ephesus (during his third mission), which likely ended sometime between A.D. 55 and 56 (see Acts 9:10; 20:31; Bible Dictionary, “Pauline Epistles”).
Corinth, the capital of the Roman province of Achaia, was one of the richest and most immoral cities in the world. According to the ancient geographer Strabo, the temple of Aphrodite on Acrocorinth (the high hill overlooking the lower city) boasted a thousand ritual prostitutes involved in aberrant rites of worship. Whether that report is accurate or not, it certainly reflects Corinth's reputation at the time.
“Aristophanes coined the verb korinthiazesthai (note the root Korinth), which means, "to fornicate." Another playwright wrote a play entitled Korinthiastes, "The Whoremonger." Plato used the term korinthia korc, "a Corinthian girl," to mean "a prostitute" (see Anchor Bible Dictionary) 1:1135-36).
Paul is writing to the “saints” (1 Cor. 1:2). Paul reminds these members that they have “the testimony of Christ [that] was confirmed in [them]” (1 Cor. 1:6) by the Holy Ghost. Their experiences with Christ have “enriched” (1 Cor. 1:5) them through what they have learned and spoken (see 1 Cor. 1:5). Paul reminds them that they “were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:9).
Elder Neal A Maxwell: “A slothful heart will not do, and neither will a resentful heart. So being admitted fully to "the fellowship of his sufferings" requires the full dues of discipleship (Philippians 3:10; see also 1 Corinthians 1:9). (in Conference Report, Apr. 2001, 77; or Ensign, May 2001, 60)
President Marion G. Romney: "The way to unity is for us to learn the will of the Lord and then to do it. … The power of the Church for good in the world depends upon the extent to which we, the members thereof, observe this principle" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1983, 22; or Ensign, May 1983, 17).
President Boyd K. Packer: “I sat on a plane next to a professed atheist who pressed his disbelief in God so urgently that I bore my testimony to him. ‘You are wrong,’ I said, ‘there is a God. I know He lives!’
“He protested, ‘You don’t know. Nobody knows that! You can’t know it!’ When I would not yield, the atheist, who was an attorney, asked perhaps the ultimate question on the subject of testimony. ‘All right,’ he said in a sneering, condescending way, ‘you say you know. Tell me how you know.’
“When I attempted to answer, even though I held advanced academic degrees, I was helpless to communicate. …
“When I used the words Spirit and witness, the atheist responded, ‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’ The words prayer, discernment, and faith, were equally meaningless to him. ‘You see,’ he said, ‘you don’t really know. If you did, you would be able to tell me how you know.’
“I … was at a loss as to what to do”
Such an idea came into my mind and I said to the atheist, “Let me ask if you know what salt tastes like.”
“Of course I do,” was his reply.
“When did you taste salt last?”
“I just had dinner on the plane.”
“You just think you know what salt tastes like,” I said.
He insisted, “I know what salt tastes like as well as I know anything.”
“If I gave you a cup of salt and a cup of sugar and let you taste them both, could you tell the salt from the sugar?”
“Now you are getting juvenile,” was his reply. “Of course I could tell the difference. I know what salt tastes like. It is an everyday experience—I know it as well as I know
anything.”
“Then,” I said, “assuming that I have never tasted salt, explain to me just what it tastes like.”
After some thought, he ventured, “Well-I-uh, it is not sweet and it is not sour.”
“You’ve told me what it isn’t, not what it is.”
After several attempts, of course, he could not do it. He could not convey, in words alone, so ordinary an experience as tasting salt.
I bore testimony to him once again and said, “I know there is a God. You ridiculed that testimony and said that if I did know, I would be able to tell you exactly how I know. My friend, spiritually speaking, I have tasted salt. I am no more able to convey to you in words how this knowledge has come than you are to tell me what salt tastes like.
But I say to you again, there is a God! He does live! And just because you don’t know, don’t try to tell me that I don’t know, for I do!” (“The Candle of the Lord,” Ensign, Jan. 1983, 51).
Elder Richard G. Scott: “You can learn vitally important things by what you hear and see and, even more, by what you feel, as prompted by the Holy Ghost. Many individuals limit their learning primarily to what they hear or read. Be wise. Develop the skill of also learning by what you see and particularly by what the Holy Ghost prompts you to feel. Consciously and consistently seek to learn by what you feel. Your capacity to do so will expand through repeated practice. Significant faith and effort are required to learn by what you feel from the Spirit. Ask in faith for such help. Live to be worthy of such guidance.” (“How to Learn by the Spirit,” New Era, Sept. 2014, 48)
President Dallin H. Oaks: "When we seek the truth about religion, we should use spiritual methods appropriate for that search: prayer, the witness of the Holy Ghost, and study of the scriptures and the words of modern prophets. I am always sad when I hear of one who reports a loss of religious faith because of secular teachings. Those who once had spiritual vision can suffer from self-inflicted spiritual blindness. As President Henry B. Eyring said, “Their problem does not lie in what they think they see; it lies in what they cannot yet see” [Henry B. Eyring, To Draw Closer to God: A Collection of Discourses (1997), 143].
"The methods of science lead us to what we call scientific truth. But “scientific truth” is not the whole of life. Those who do not learn “by study and also by faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118) limit their understanding of truth to what they can verify by scientific means. That puts artificial limits on their pursuit of truth. (“Truth and the Plan,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 25)
“Your body is in the image of God—the most glorious, majestic Being in the universe. The scriptures compare our bodies to a holy temple, a place where the Spirit can dwell. Of course, your body is not perfect now. But the experiences you’re having with your body can help you prepare to receive one day a perfect, resurrected, glorified body…
“Treat your body—and others’ bodies—with respect. As you make decisions about your clothing, hairstyle, and appearance, ask yourself, “Am I honoring my body as a sacred gift from God?” Heavenly Father wants us to see each other for who we really are: not just physical bodies but His beloved children with a divine destiny. Avoid styles that emphasize or draw inappropriate attention to your physical body instead of who you are as a child of God with an eternal future. Let moral cleanliness and love for God guide your choices. Seek counsel from your parents.” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/for-the-strength-of-youth/06-body)
1 Corinthians 5:1 - “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you…’
Nine of Paul's fourteen letters contain direct instruction about sexual morality. "Fornication" is derived from the Greek porneia which means any illicit or extramarital sexual relations.
Neal A. Maxwell: "Do not company with fornicators—not because you are too good for them but, as C. S. Lewis wrote, because you are not good enough. Remember that bad situations can wear down even good people. Joseph had both good sense and good legs in fleeing from Potiphar's wife" ("The Stern but Sweet Seventh Commandment," in Morality [1992], 29).
Elder Jeffery R. Holland: “Flee fornication” (1 Cor. 6:18), Paul cries, and flee “anything like unto it” (D&C 59:6; emphasis added), the Doctrine and Covenants adds. Why? Well, for one reason because of the incalculable suffering in both body and spirit endured by the Savior of the world so that we could flee (see D&C 19:15–20). We owe Him something for that. Indeed, we owe Him everything for that. In sexual transgression the soul is at stake—the body and the spirit.
“Secondly, human intimacy is reserved for a married couple because it is the ultimate symbol of total union, a totality and a union ordained and defined by God…
“Thirdly, may I say that physical intimacy is not only a symbolic union between a husband and a wife—the very uniting of their souls—but it is also symbolic of a shared relationship between them and their Father in Heaven.” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2000/10/personal-purity)
President Russell M. Nelson: “With your body being such a vital part of God’s eternal plan, it is little wonder that the Apostle Paul described it as a “temple of God” [ 1 Corinthians 3:16 ; see also 6:19 ]. Each time you look in the mirror, see your body as your temple. That truth—refreshed gratefully each day—can positively influence your decisions about how you will care for your body and how you will use it.” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2013/10/decisions-for-eternity)
Teaching Thoughts:
- What did Paul teach that can help your family (or group) become more unified.
- Share how you learning the things of God. What will you do this week to continue to learn these things?
- Go to the mirror and “look in the mirror, see your body as your temple.” Express your gratitude to God for His wonderful gift