What was the ethnic composition of the Corinthian church?
The Corinthian church was probably a mixture of some Jews, but still mostly Gentiles. Paul addresses them as largely Gentile believers while acknowledging a Jewish minority, and he defends his apostolic authority as the God-ordained apostle of the Gentiles against accusations from those who compared him to Peter, James, and John.
Les explains that the Corinthian church was probably a mixture of some Jews, but still mostly Gentiles. He notes that Paul constantly reminded the Corinthians, and us, that he was the God-ordained apostle of the Gentiles. Even the Corinthians bombarded Paul with accusations that he lacked the authority Peter, James, and John had, because they had been with Christ for three years. Les teaches that Paul had to defend his apostleship, showing he also had direct contact with Christ, though not by walking the dusty roads of Palestine. In verse 22, Paul argues that the twelve had nothing over him: Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. So regarding genealogy, they had nothing over Paul.