How bad was the immorality in 1 Corinthians 5:1 compared to the Gentiles?
The immorality was gross: it was reported commonly that fornication existed among them of a kind not even named among the Gentiles, the pagans the Jews viewed as low as dogs. It was the Corinthian church's most major problem, and it exceeded pagan standards.
Les explains that in 1 Corinthians 5, along with other problems at Corinth—divisions over Christ, Apollos, Peter, and Paul, and lawsuits in pagan courts—the most major problem was gross immorality. Verse 1 says it was reported commonly that there was fornication or immorality among them as such as not so much as named among the Gentiles, the pagans the Jews thought were as low as dogs. So the immorality was worse than what even the Gentiles practiced.
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
More Questions
Why was the sin in 1 Corinthians 5 so shocking?
Paul reports that the immorality in the Corinthian congregation was so gross that even the Gentiles did not do anything that low, specifically a man having his father's wife.