1 Corinthians 15:33 – Moral and civilization

Be not deceived: evil conversations are corrupting kind characters.

With the “evil conversations” Paul is referring to the preaching (Gr. Homilia) and conversations among the believers. If lies remain undisputed and mislead people there, the consequences will not be absent. Decay enters. It is the same effect that we also know of sourdough. Already a little bit of sourdough makes the whole bread perishable.

Evil conversations spoil “kind characters”. Let’s take a closer look at that term. The word for “kind” (Gr. Chrestos) means useful. Also in the sense of pleasant or good. The “characters” here (Gr. Ethos) indicate habits and customs. We immediately recognize our word “ethics” in it. Ethics is about “useful customs “. It is striking that Paul blames the spoilage of “useful customs” not on dealing with ‘immoral ones’ but on ‘evil conversations.’ We noted earlier that he was referring to the claim that there would be no resurrection of the dead (: 12). That is not only untrue but also deadly for “useful customs”. Because it derails in both thinking and behavior.

But formulated positively: nothing that contributes so much to ‘useful customs’ as good conversations. The Good Message possesses the quickening power that contributes to morality (= moral courage) and civilization!

Delen: