First Corinthians is a “Responsa”
Reading Time: 5 minutesUnderstanding that First Corinthians is a “responsa” will help you better understand what Paul is saying. A “responsa” is, according to Merriam Websters Online Dictionary: “a written decision from a rabbinic authority in response to a submitted question or problem.” Remember Paul was a Jew who had studied under a very prominent Jewish teacher and was probably on track to become such a teacher, what we would call a rabbi, himself.
Philippians 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;