It is a fact: we are ‘the unforeseen readers’ of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, which moreover was written ‘more for the ear than the eye’. The present article follows the epistle through from beginning to end, taking account of those things that our academic habits sometimes make us forget. Attention is directed, among other things, towards the manner in which the apostle – conscious of his lack of authority over some of his audience – is seized from the outset of the epistle by the need to convince the Corinthian community that they must be true to themselves, following the call of the God who has ultimately chosen to make himself known by Christ crucified. For each of the themes addressed by Paul throughout the epistle a range of impressions, questions or hypotheses are noted.
