This verse-by-verse commentary on First Corinthians offers a thorough but very understandable commentary on the entirety of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Since the First Corinthians letter touches on a number of different subjects, this volume also offers some special studies to more fully explore what the Bible says on additional topics like civil government, the role of women in the church, spiritual gifts, etc. If you want to have a better understanding of First Corinthians, this commentary will help you! Here is a small sample of the text: Introduction to First Corinthians 13: Some consider 1 Cor. 13 the “love chapter of the Bible” or a “parenthetical description of love,” but this chapter is actually an integral part of Paul’s discussion about spiritual gifts. Since the Corinthians were rude, jealous, and boastful, it was necessary for them “to go beyond their present pursuit. To the apostle, the development of the character of the person was superior to the exercise of the gift. His contrasts (chap. 13) are clear: gifts without love vs. gifts with love, and the permanence of love vs. the temporal nature of gifts” (Gromacki, p. 159). Stated another way, verses 1-3 affirm that spiritual gifts were worthless without love, verses 4-7 affirm that love was superior to the gifts, and verses 8-13 assert that spiritual gifts were temporal but love abides. Although 1 Cor. 13 may seem familiar to many, this chapter is often one of the most misunderstood parts of the New Testament. The Corinthians’ elevation of spiritual gifts over love is seen in places such as 12:13-25; 14:27-33, 40. It is also found by contrasting the qualities in 1 Cor. 13 with other sections of this epistle. For instance, love “suffers long” (13:4), but tongue speakers at Corinth were impatient (14:27-28). Love does not “envy” (13:4), but the Corinthians envied the gifts of others (chapter 12). Love “is not puffed up” (13:4), but tongue speakers were proud (compare 13:1). Love causes people to act in a kind and orderly way, but some of the Corinthians’ behavior was disorderly (14:23, 40). Love is not “unseemly,” but the Corinthians were at risk of unseemly behavior in their families (1 Cor. 7:36) as well as their Sunday assemblies (1 Cor. 11:2-16, 17-34). Agape love “does not seek its own” (13:5), but these Christians were seeking their own (see 1 Cor. 8 and the discussion about idol meat). Love keeps people from “rejoicing in evil” (13:6), but the Corinthians rejoiced in evil (1 Cor. 5:2, 6). There were various things that “provoked” these brethren (13:5) and it seems they were “keeping a record of evil” (1 Cor. 13:5). It was time for the members of this congregation to show some spiritual maturity and demonstrate the type of love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes in all things, and endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:7).

In this bold and timely work, law professor Jeffrey Shulman argues that the United States Constitution does not protect a fundamental right to parent. Based on a rigorous reconsideration of the historical record, Shulman challenges the notion, held by academics and the general public alike, that parental rights have a long-standing legal pedigree. What is deeply rooted in our legal tradition and social conscience, Shulman demonstrates, is the idea that the state entrusts parents with custody of the child, and it does so only as long as parents meet their fiduciary duty to serve the developmental needs of the child. Shulman’s illuminating account of American legal history is of more than academic interest. If once again we treat parenting as a delegated responsibility—as a sacred trust, not a sacred right—we will not all reach the same legal prescriptions, but we might be more willing to consider how time-honored principles of family law can effectively accommodate the evolving interests of parent, child, and state.

In nineteenth-century America, the law insisted that marriage was a permanent relationship defined by the husband's authority and the wife's dependence. Yet at the same time the law created the means to escape that relationship. How was this possible? And how did wives and husbands experience marriage within that legal regime? These are the complexities that Hendrik Hartog plumbs in a study of the powers of law and its limits. Exploring a century and a half of marriage through stories of struggle and conflict mined from case records, Hartog shatters the myth of a golden age of stable marriage. He describes the myriad ways the law shaped and defined marital relations and spousal identities, and how individuals manipulated and reshaped the rules of the American states to fit their needs. We witness a compelling cast of characters: wives who attempted to leave abusive husbands, women who manipulated their marital status for personal advantage, accidental and intentional bigamists, men who killed their wives' lovers, couples who insisted on divorce in a legal culture that denied them that right. As we watch and listen to these men and women, enmeshed in law and escaping from marriages, we catch reflected images both of ourselves and our parents, of our desires and our anxieties about marriage. Hartog shows how our own conflicts and confusions about marital roles and identities are rooted in the history of marriage and the legal struggles that defined and transformed it.

This set includes the entire collection of the MacArthur New Testament Commentary series: Matthew 1-7, Matthew 8-15, Matthew 16-23, Matthew 24-28, Luke 1-5, Luke 6-10, Luke 11-17, John 1-11, John 12-21, Acts 1-12, Acts 13-28, Romans 1-8, Romans 9-16, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians & Philemon, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter & Jude, 1-3 John, Revelation 1-11, and Revelation 12-22. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary series continues to be one of today's top-selling commentary series. These commentaries from respected Bible scholar and preacher John MacArthur give a verse-by-verse analysis in context and provide points of application for passages, illuminating the biblical text in practical and relevant ways.