Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis
1 Corinthians 1–16 | Full Doctrine Matrix (French Destination Language)
This document extends the baseline Romans doctrine risk framework to the 1 Corinthians curriculum. It is fully consistent with doctrine_risk_registry.json (same 21 doctrines, same risk tiers, same review routing). The core passage (1 Corinthians 15:1-11) is the theological anchor of the curriculum, but this matrix covers the entire book, chapter by chapter, so no content is silently omitted.
Risk tiers (baseline definitions, unchanged):
- Critical — mistranslation destroys/alters essential doctrine; mandatory human theologian review, every occurrence.
- High — mistranslation creates significant theological confusion or denominational-conflation risk; mandatory human theologian review.
- Medium — mistranslation reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning; native speaker review recommended.
- Low — mistranslation causes minor misunderstanding; automated review sufficient.
Part A: Full Doctrine Matrix
| # | Doctrine | Risk | Supporting Passages (1 Corinthians) | Translation Risk Summary | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Resurrection of Christ and Believers | Critical | 15:1-11, 15:12-19, 15:20-28, 15:35-49, 15:50-58 | Secular-naturalist flattening of “résurrection” into metaphor (legacy, renewal); opposite risk of Gnostic-flavored dualist misreading of “corps spirituel” as non-physical. This is the doctrinal center of the curriculum’s core passage. | Human theologian |
| 2 | Christian Unity versus Factionalism | High | 1:10-17, 3:1-9, 3:18-23, 11:18-19, 12:12-27 | ”Divisions” (never “schisme”) must convey internal party-quarrel, not a formal institutional rupture — a live risk given France’s own history of ecclesial schisms. | Human theologian |
| 3 | The Cross as Wisdom and Power | High | 1:17-25, 1:26-31, 2:1-5 | ”Scandale” for σκάνδαλον risks the modern media/moral-scandal sense rather than a theological stumbling block; “croix” risks secular decorative/jewelry flattening. | Human theologian |
| 4 | Testing of Ministry-Works by Fire (Purgatory Collision) | Critical | 3:10-15 | Historic French Catholic/Protestant flashpoint: risk of importing purgatorial purification-of-the-person theology onto Paul’s testing-of-ministry-works image; v.15’s salvation-is-not-in-question must remain unambiguous. | Human theologian |
| 5 | Apostolic Authority and Stewardship | Medium | 4:1-5, 4:9-13, 9:1-2, 9:16-23, 15:9-10 | ”Intendant” preserves delegated, accountable managerial trust; risk is minor conflation with generic clerical-hierarchical authority given French cultural associations. | Native speaker review |
| 6 | Sainthood (Called to be Holy) | High | 1:2, 1:9, 6:1-2, 14:33 | French “les saints” evokes canonized intercessors; mandatory clarifying gloss “tous les croyants” required at every occurrence, especially forceful at 6:1-2 (ordinary believers as future judges). | Human theologian |
| 7 | Church Discipline and Holiness | High | 5:1-13, 6:9-11, 16:22 | ”Le livrer à Satan” risks importing developed Catholic canon-law excommunication procedure; “anathème” (16:22) collides with Trent’s condemnation-formula; “la Pâque”/“Pâques” orthographic collision is a French-specific proofreading risk. | Human theologian |
| 8 | Sexual Holiness and the Body as Temple | High | 6:12-20 | Individual believer’s body as “le temple du Saint-Esprit” must stay distinct from ch. 3’s corporate temple; “achetés à un prix” needs slave-market redemption background to avoid a routine-commercial flattening. | Human theologian |
| 9 | Marriage and Singleness | Medium | 7:1-40 | Modern French civil divorce law/procedure differs from the first-century background of 7:10-15; referent of “vierge” (7:25-38) varies by verse and needs careful handling. | Native speaker review |
| 10 | Christian Liberty and Idol Meat | High | 8:1-13, 9:19-23, 10:14-33 | ἐξουσία is context-sensitive (personal right vs. governing authority) across chs. 8-9 and 11; “connaissance” must never become “gnose” (anachronistic Gnostic association); idol-as-demon language (10:20-21) meets secularizing skepticism. | Human theologian |
| 11 | The Lord’s Supper | Critical | 10:16-21, 11:17-34 | ”Corps et sang” is used identically by all major French eucharistic traditions despite deep real-presence/memorial disagreement; must remain theologically neutral; “la Cène” preferred over “l’Eucharistie”; “calice” rejected for ποτήριον. | Human theologian |
| 12 | Gender and Head-Covering Order in Worship | Critical | 11:2-16, 14:34-35 | κεφαλή (“tête” vs. “chef”) sits at the center of a live complementarian/egalitarian debate cutting across French Catholicism and Protestantism; 14:34-35 additionally involves text-critical questions about manuscript location. Must not be silently resolved. | Human theologian |
| 13 | Apostolic Tradition and the Fixed Gospel Deposit | High | 11:2, 11:23, 15:1-3 | Direct collision with French Catholic “la Tradition” (capital T) as a co-authoritative doctrinal source; Paul’s usage is a closed, fixed apostolic-era deposit, not an ongoing magisterial category. | Human theologian |
| 14 | Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ | High | 12:1-31 | Ecclesial “corps du Christ” (12:12-27) must stay distinct from ch. 11’s sacramental “corps du Christ”; Spirit-baptism (12:13) and tongues (12:10, 28-30) intersect live French denominational and charismatic/non-charismatic divides. | Human theologian |
| 15 | Love as the Greater Way | Critical | 12:31, 13:1-13 | Parallel to the baseline’s “justification” flashpoint: “charité” (historic Vulgate/Crampon rendering) has narrowed in modern French to organized almsgiving; “amour” is required but must be a documented, deliberate decision for theologian sign-off. | Human theologian |
| 16 | Order in Worship | High | 11:2-16, 14:1-40 | Tongues/prophecy regulation intersects the same charismatic/cessationist divide as spiritual gifts; women’s-silence instruction (14:34-35) is among the most actively debated passages across French denominational lines; must remain literal, resolution left to commentary. | Human theologian |
| 17 | Substitutionary Atonement | High | 15:3-4 | Parallels the baseline’s Romans 3:25 propitiation escalation rule; “est mort pour nos péchés” must preserve vicarious substitution, not merely sympathetic or exemplary death. | Human theologian |
| 18 | Fulfillment of Prophecy and Inspiration of Scripture | Medium | 10:1-11, 15:3-4 | Low OT literacy across all three target reader groups (lapsed/cultural Catholic, evangelical minority, secular unchurched) requires cross-referencing in teaching material rather than translation changes. | Native speaker review |
| 19 | The Resurrection Body and Eschatological Hope | High | 15:35-49, 15:50-58 | Guards against two opposite French errors: Gnostic-flavored dualist misreading of “corps spirituel” as non-physical, and secular-naturalist dismissal of bodily resurrection as poetic metaphor; “le dernier Adam” requires Genesis literacy not assumable across readers. | Human theologian |
| 20 | Grace as the Sole Cause of Apostolic Ministry | High | 15:10 | Prime candidate for the baseline’s grace-versus-works escalation rule; “grâce” must remain the sole causal agent of Paul’s labor, not a co-equal enabling context alongside his own effort — directly touching the Catholic sacramental-grace vs. Reformed sola gratia tension. | Human theologian |
| 21 | Unity of Apostolic Testimony | Medium | 15:11 | The unified content of apostolic proclamation regardless of speaker directly serves the Christian Unity vs. Factionalism doctrine; “prêchons/proclamons” must be rendered consistently across 1:23, 9:27, 15:11-12. | Native speaker review |
Part B: Chapter-by-Chapter Full-Book Coverage
Every chapter of 1 Corinthians (1–16) is reviewed below. Chapters contributing no new doctrine beyond what is already tracked are explicitly noted as reviewed, never silently omitted.
| Ch. | Active Doctrines (from matrix above) | Key Passages | Coverage Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sainthood and Calling (6); Christian Unity vs. Factionalism (2); The Cross as Wisdom and Power (3) | 1:1-9 (calling, sainthood); 1:10-17 (divisions); 1:17-31 (cross, wisdom, foolishness) | Opening chapter introduces three of the curriculum’s highest-risk doctrine clusters simultaneously; sets the register for the whole book. |
| 2 | The Cross as Wisdom and Power (3) | 2:1-5 (power of God in preaching); 2:6-16 (wisdom of the Spirit, the “natural man”) | 2:6-16’s Spirit/no-Spirit contrast (πνευματικός/ψυχικός) anticipates ch. 12’s spiritual-gifts vocabulary; tracked under Cross as Wisdom doctrine but flagged as a bridge term. |
| 3 | Christian Unity vs. Factionalism (2); Testing of Ministry-Works by Fire (4); Apostolic Authority and Stewardship (5, minor) | 3:1-9 (carnal divisions); 3:10-15 (fire testing); 3:16-17 (corporate temple); 3:18-23 (worldly wisdom) | 3:16-17’s corporate “temple of God” must be distinguished from ch. 6’s individual-body temple statement; noted in both places. |
| 4 | Apostolic Authority and Stewardship (5); Christian Unity vs. Factionalism (2, continued) | 4:1-5 (stewards, judgment); 4:9-13 (apostolic suffering); 4:14-21 (fatherly exhortation) | No new doctrine beyond stewardship/unity already tracked; reviewed in full. |
| 5 | Church Discipline and Holiness (7) | 5:1-8 (deliver to Satan, leaven/unleavened, Passover typology); 5:9-13 (congregational discipline boundaries) | Full chapter reviewed; establishes the discipline-and-holiness doctrine that recurs at 6:9-11 and 16:22. |
| 6 | Sainthood and Calling (6, at 6:1-2); Church Discipline and Holiness (7, continued at 6:9-11); Sexual Holiness and the Body as Temple (8) | 6:1-2 (saints as judges); 6:9-11 (vice list, washed/sanctified/justified); 6:12-20 (body as temple, bought with a price) | Three doctrines converge in one chapter; each tracked independently in the matrix to prevent conflation in review. |
| 7 | Marriage and Singleness (9) | 7:1-9 (marriage duties); 7:10-16 (separation/divorce); 7:17-24 (state-of-life calling); 7:25-40 (virgins, the unmarried) | Full chapter reviewed under a single doctrine; “appel”/“appelé” here carries the exceptional occupational-state sense flagged in the baseline glossary. |
| 8 | Christian Liberty and Idol Meat (10) | 8:1-3 (knowledge and love); 8:4-6 (one God, one Lord); 8:7-13 (conscience, causing a brother to stumble) | Full chapter reviewed; opens the three-chapter idol-meat unit continuing through ch. 10. |
| 9 | Apostolic Authority and Stewardship (5); Christian Liberty and Idol Meat (10, continued) | 9:1-2 (apostolic credentials); 9:16-23 (voluntary forgoing of rights); 9:24-27 (self-discipline, disqualification) | 9:27’s “disqualifié” (ἀδόκιμος) requires care to avoid importing Reformed double-predestination freight via “réprouvé”; tracked as a lexical flag under Apostolic Authority. |
| 10 | Christian Liberty and Idol Meat (10, concluded); Fulfillment of Prophecy and Inspiration of Scripture (18); The Lord’s Supper (11, anticipatory) | 10:1-11 (wilderness types); 10:14-22 (table of the Lord, table of demons); 10:23-33 (liberty and the neighbor’s conscience) | 10:16-21’s “table du Seigneur” is the direct bridge into ch. 11’s Lord’s Supper vocabulary; tracked under both doctrines to preserve continuity. |
| 11 | The Lord’s Supper (11); Apostolic Tradition and the Fixed Gospel Deposit (13); Gender and Head-Covering Order in Worship (12) | 11:2 (traditions delivered); 11:3-16 (head-covering, κεφαλή); 11:17-34 (institution of the Supper, discerning the body) | Highest doctrinal-density chapter in the book alongside ch. 15; three Critical/High doctrines converge and require full theologian review before Phase 2. |
| 12 | Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ (14) | 12:1-11 (varieties of gifts); 12:12-27 (one body, many members); 12:28-31 (gift lists, ranking) | Full chapter reviewed; establishes the ecclesial “corps du Christ” sense that must remain distinct from ch. 11’s sacramental sense. |
| 13 | Love as the Greater Way (15) | 12:31 (transition); 13:1-3 (gifts without love are empty); 13:4-7 (love’s character); 13:8-13 (love’s permanence) | Full chapter reviewed under a single Critical doctrine; “amour” vs. “charité” decision applies throughout. |
| 14 | Order in Worship (16); Gender and Head-Covering Order in Worship (12, at 14:34-35); Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ (14, continued) | 14:1-25 (tongues and prophecy compared); 14:26-33 (order in the assembly); 14:34-35 (women’s silence instruction) | 14:34-35 is tracked under both Order in Worship and Gender/Order doctrines given its text-critical and interpretive sensitivity; resolution left to commentary, not translation. |
| 15 | The Resurrection of Christ and Believers (1); Substitutionary Atonement (17); Grace as the Sole Cause of Apostolic Ministry (20); Unity of Apostolic Testimony (21); Fulfillment of Prophecy and Inspiration of Scripture (18, at 15:3-4); The Resurrection Body and Eschatological Hope (19) | 15:1-11 (core passage: gospel received, Christ’s death/burial/resurrection/appearances); 15:12-19 (consequences if no resurrection); 15:20-28 (Christ the firstfruits); 15:29-34 (practical implications); 15:35-49 (resurrection body); 15:50-58 (victory over death) | The doctrinal center of the curriculum. Six tracked doctrines converge in this single chapter; every verse from 15:1-11 (the core passage) requires theologian review per the escalation rules below. |
| 16 | Church Discipline and Holiness (7, at 16:22); Apostolic Authority and Stewardship (5, at 16:1-4 collection) | 16:1-4 (the collection); 16:13-14 (closing exhortations); 16:19-24 (greetings, Maranatha, anathema, holy kiss) | Closing chapter reviewed; “Maranatha” preserved as transliteration per the baseline’s “Abba” precedent; “anathème” flagged under Church Discipline doctrine. |
Part C: Escalation Rules Specific to This Curriculum
Building on the baseline’s escalation rules, the following segments in 1 Corinthians automatically require human theologian review (do not mark as approved without it):
- Any segment containing 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (the core passage), in its entirety, regardless of which individual term triggers a flag
- Any segment containing κεφαλή (“head”) in 11:2-16, pending explicit theologian ruling on “tête” vs. “chef”
- Any segment containing 14:34-35 (women’s silence)
- Any segment containing 11:23-26 (Lord’s Supper institution words) or 10:16-21 (table of the Lord)
- Any segment containing ἀγάπη in 13:1-13 or 12:31, to confirm “amour” (not “charité”) is retained
- Any segment containing 3:10-15 (fire/testing), to confirm no purgatorial-purification-of-the-person reading is introduced
- Any segment containing 5:1-5 (“deliver to Satan”) or 16:22 (“anathema”)
- Any segment containing 15:3-4 (substitutionary death) or 15:10 (grace as sole cause)
- Any segment containing “saints” (1:2, 1:9, 6:1-2, 14:33) without the mandatory “tous les croyants” clarifying gloss
This document is consistent with doctrine_risk_registry.json (same 21 doctrines, same risk tiers, same review routing) and extends the baseline Romans 11_doctrine_analysis.md framework to the 1 Corinthians curriculum.
See 08_core_glossary.md for term-level detail and 04_comparative_theology.md for cross-tradition interpretive analysis.
Critical Risk Doctrines
The Resurrection of Christ and Believers
French name: la résurrection du Christ et des croyants
Key terms: resurrection, raised, appeared, resurrection of the dead, spiritual body, firstfruits
Review routing: Human theologian
Chief risk is secular-naturalist flattening of ‘résurrection’ into metaphor (renewal, legacy, ‘sa pensée vit encore’) rather than a bodily, historical, future event affecting Christ and all believers. A secondary, opposite risk unique to French readers with residual dualist/spiritualist intuitions is treating ‘corps spirituel’ (15:44) as denying real embodiment. Both errors must be guarded against; this is the doctrinal center of the curriculum’s core passage.
Testing of Ministry-Works by Fire (Purgatory Collision)
French name: l’épreuve par le feu de l’oeuvre de chacun
Key terms: fire, test, gold silver precious stones, wood hay straw, he himself will be saved
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL, historically significant French Catholic-Protestant flashpoint: this passage has long been cited in French Catholic tradition as scriptural support for le purgatoire, a post-mortem purifying fire cleansing the individual believer’s remaining sin, while Reformed/evangelical exposition reads it as testing of ministry-works (not personal sin) at Christ’s judgment seat, with salvation itself never in question (v.15). French rendering and teaching material must avoid wording implying purification of the person rather than testing of the work.
The Lord’s Supper
French name: la Cène du Seigneur
Key terms: Lord’s Supper, body and blood, remembrance, cup, discern the body, table of the Lord, judgment
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: ‘corps et sang’ is used identically by all major French-speaking eucharistic traditions (Catholic transubstantiation, Lutheran real presence, Reformed real spiritual presence, evangelical/Zwinglian memorial view) despite deep doctrinal disagreement about what those words mean. The translation must remain theologically neutral/literal throughout, and ‘la Cène’ (not ‘l’Eucharistie’, which imports Catholic Mass framing) is the recommended term-of-art. ‘En mémoire de moi’ must not be silently glossed toward either a bare-recollection or an active-representation theology. Reject ‘calice’ for ποτήριον, which imports Catholic Mass vessel-terminology.
Gender and Head-Covering Order in Worship
French name: l’ordre entre hommes et femmes dans le culte
Key terms: head, kephalē, authority, cover the head, be silent
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: κεφαλή (‘tête’/‘chef’) sits at the center of a live complementarian/egalitarian debate cutting across French Catholicism and Protestantism/evangelicalism alike, independent of the Catholic/Protestant divide itself. French ‘chef’ carries strong contemporary institutional-command connotations (chef d’entreprise, chef d’État) risking an overstated hierarchical reading, while ‘tête’ better preserves ambiguity but may underspecify authority. The related 14:34-35 silence instruction is separately one of the most actively debated passages in contemporary French Christianity, further complicated by text-critical questions about its manuscript location. Requires explicit theologian ruling before Phase 2; must not be resolved silently.
Love as the Greater Way
French name: l’amour, la voie par excellence
Key terms: love, agapē, patient, kind, perfect/complete
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL, directly parallel to the baseline’s ‘justification’ flashpoint: older French Catholic Bible tradition (Crampon, following the Vulgate’s ‘caritas’) rendered ἀγάπη ‘charité’, while the Protestant Segond tradition and now most ecumenical translations render it ‘amour’. Contemporary French ‘charité’ has narrowed almost entirely to organized almsgiving (une association caritative), which would trivialize Paul’s comprehensive term into a single act of financial generosity. The choice of ‘amour’ over ‘charité’ must be a documented, deliberate decision presented to theologians, since Catholic-formed reviewers may expect or request ‘charité’.
High Risk Doctrines
Christian Unity versus Factionalism
French name: l’unité chrétienne face à l’esprit de parti
Key terms: divisions, schisma, sagesse, wisdom, carnal, fleshly
Review routing: Human theologian
French ‘divisions’ (never ‘schisme’, which implies a formal, permanent institutional rupture) must convey internal party-quarrels within a single congregation. Given France’s own ecclesial history of formal schisms (Orthodox-Catholic, post-Vatican II traditionalist splits), readers may over-read a permanent institutional rupture into Paul’s language if ‘schisme’ were used; the established French Bible tradition’s ‘divisions’ avoids this but requires reinforcement in teaching material given the cultural salience of institutional schism-language in France.
The Cross as Wisdom and Power
French name: la croix, sagesse et puissance de Dieu
Key terms: cross, wisdom, foolishness, stumbling block, power of God
Review routing: Human theologian
Modern French ‘scandale’ (for σκάνδαλον) overwhelmingly denotes a media/moral/political scandal, an erosion pattern parallel to the baseline’s documented drift in ‘péché’ and ‘élection’; readers risk hearing the cross as merely embarrassing/disreputable rather than a fundamental theological stumbling block. Additionally, contemporary secular French culture heavily assimilates ‘croix’ as decorative jewelry or generic historical symbol, further diluting the scandal/power tension Paul intends.
Sainthood (Called to be Holy)
French name: la sainteté de tous les croyants
Key terms: saints, called to be holy, sanctified, called
Review routing: Human theologian
Direct occurrence of the exact collision the baseline documents: French ‘les saints’ overwhelmingly evokes canonized intercessors (feast days, statues, patronage), not Paul’s sense of every believer set apart. Especially forceful at 6:1-2, where ordinary Corinthians (‘the saints’) are described as future judges — a use that could otherwise sound like a reference to an elite, venerated class rather than the whole congregation. Mandatory clarifying gloss ‘tous les croyants’ required.
Church Discipline and Holiness
French name: la discipline de l’Église et la sainteté
Key terms: deliver to Satan, sexual immorality, leaven, unleavened, Passover, anathema
Review routing: Human theologian
‘Le livrer à Satan’ (5:5) risks importing the later, formally developed Catholic canon-law excommunication procedure onto Paul’s simpler congregational, restorative act. Separately, ‘anathème’ (16:22) collides with the Council of Trent’s technical condemnation-formula (‘anathema sit’), carrying heavier institutional freight in French than Paul’s solemn but simpler apostolic curse. Also flag the ‘la Pâque’ / ‘Pâques’ orthographic distinction (5:7-8) as a French-specific proofreading risk affecting the Passover-typology argument for holiness.
Sexual Holiness and the Body as Temple
French name: la sainteté sexuelle et le corps comme temple
Key terms: body, temple of the Holy Spirit, bought with a price, sexual immorality, member(s)
Review routing: Human theologian
The individual believer’s body as ‘le temple du Saint-Esprit’ (6:19) must be kept distinct from ch. 3’s corporate temple statement, or Paul’s specific argument (sexual immorality defiles one’s own body as the Spirit’s individual dwelling) is blurred. ‘Achetés à un prix’ (6:20) requires slave-market redemption background so French readers do not flatten it into a routine modern commercial transaction.
Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
French name: la liberté chrétienne et la viande sacrifiée aux idoles
Key terms: food sacrificed to idols, idol, knowledge, conscience, right/liberty, cause to stumble, demon, idolatry
Review routing: Human theologian
‘Ἐξουσία’ (right/authority/liberty) is context-sensitive across chs. 8-9 (personal right one may voluntarily forgo) and ch. 11 (disputed authority sense); every occurrence must be checked, following the baseline’s precedent for ‘called’. ‘Connaissance’ must never be rendered ‘gnose’, which imports an anachronistic Gnostic-heresy association foreign to Paul’s plain vocabulary for doctrinal understanding. Idol-sacrifice-as-demon-worship (10:20-21) requires care given a secularizing French readership’s skepticism toward the demonic register.
Apostolic Tradition and the Fixed Gospel Deposit
French name: la tradition apostolique et le dépôt fixe de l’Évangile
Key terms: tradition, delivered, received, handed down
Review routing: Human theologian
Direct collision with French Catholic doctrinal vocabulary: ‘la Tradition’ (capital T) is a formal, co-authoritative source of doctrine alongside Scripture in Catholic theology, a central Reformation-era point of division. Paul’s usage is historically a fixed, closed apostolic-era deposit, not an ongoing, developing magisterial category; French readers formed in Catholic catechesis may import the developed doctrine onto this simpler concept. Mandatory clarifying gloss recommended.
Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ
French name: les dons spirituels et le corps du Christ
Key terms: spiritual gifts, body of Christ, member, baptized, tongues, healings, manifestation
Review routing: Human theologian
The ecclesial ‘corps du Christ’ (12:12-27) must be clearly distinguished from the sacramental ‘corps du Christ’ of ch. 11, or ecclesiology and sacramentology are conflated in French, where the phrase is identical in both contexts. Spirit-baptism language (12:13) intersects live French denominational disagreement over baptismal mode and subject (Catholic/Reformed infant baptism vs. believer’s baptism vs. charismatic post-conversion Spirit-baptism); tongues (12:10, 28-30) intersects the continuationist/cessationist and charismatic (Renouveau charismatique)/non-charismatic divide within French Catholicism and Protestantism alike.
Order in Worship
French name: l’ordre dans le culte
Key terms: order, tongues, interpretation, prophecy, be silent, edification
Review routing: Human theologian
The tongues/prophecy regulation intersects the same continuationist/cessationist and charismatic/non-charismatic divide noted under Spiritual Gifts; the women’s-silence instruction (14:34-35) is separately one of the most actively debated passages across French denominational lines. Both require the base translation to remain literal, with interpretive resolution left explicitly to curriculum doctrinal commentary, never silently resolved in translation.
Substitutionary Atonement
French name: l’expiation substitutive du Christ
Key terms: Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, buried
Review routing: Human theologian
Directly parallels the baseline’s escalation rule for Romans 3:25 propitiation language. French rendering must preserve Christ’s death as vicarious and substitutionary (‘est mort pour nos péchés’), not merely sympathetic or exemplary (‘à cause de nous’ read non-substitutionarily); this is the doctrinal foundation for the entire core-passage resurrection argument.
The Resurrection Body and Eschatological Hope
French name: le corps de la résurrection et l’espérance eschatologique
Key terms: spiritual body, natural body, perishable, imperishable, last Adam, victory, sting
Review routing: Human theologian
Must guard against two opposite errors in French: a Gnostic-flavored dualist misreading of ‘corps spirituel’ as non-physical/ghostly, and a secular-naturalist dismissal of any bodily resurrection as merely metaphorical or poetic. The typological force of ‘le dernier Adam’ additionally requires Genesis literacy not assumable across target readers.
Grace as the Sole Cause of Apostolic Ministry
French name: la grâce, seule cause du ministère apostolique
Key terms: grace, not I but the grace of God, labored
Review routing: Human theologian
Prime candidate for the baseline’s grace-versus-works escalation rule: Paul attributes his entire transformation and subsequent labor to grâce (‘not I, but the grace of God with me’), directly touching the Catholic sacramental-grace vs. Reformed sola gratia tension the baseline documents. French rendering must preserve grace as the ultimate causal agent of Paul’s labor, not merely its enabling context alongside his own effort as a co-equal cause.
Medium Risk Doctrines
Apostolic Authority and Stewardship
French name: l’autorité apostolique et l’intendance
Key terms: steward, apostle, judge, servant of Christ, least of the apostles
Review routing: Native speaker review
‘Intendant’ preserves delegated managerial trust and accountability to God, avoiding a generic ‘serviteur’ reading; low risk of denominational conflation but requires clarity that apostolic authority is derivative and accountable, not autonomous, given some French readers’ cultural association of church authority with clerical hierarchy.
Marriage and Singleness
French name: le mariage et le célibat
Key terms: marriage, virgin, unmarried, separate/divorce, gift (state-of-life), calling
Review routing: Native speaker review
Contemporary French civil divorce law and procedure differ substantially from the first-century background of 7:10-15; ensure Paul’s pastoral instruction is not read as commentary on modern civil-law divorce specifically. The referent of ‘vierge’ at 7:25-38 (unmarried woman generally vs. betrothed daughter/fiancée) varies by verse and requires careful native-speaker handling given genuine interpretive range among commentators.
Fulfillment of Prophecy and Inspiration of Scripture
French name: l’accomplissement de la prophétie et l’inspiration de l’Écriture
Key terms: according to the Scriptures, type/example, written for our instruction
Review routing: Native speaker review
Low OT literacy among all three target reader groups (lapsed/cultural Catholic, evangelical minority, secular unchurched) requires explicit cross-referencing (e.g. Isaiah 53, Psalm 16, the wilderness narratives) in teaching material rather than the translation itself; no live denominational-conflation risk distinct from the baseline’s existing treatment.
Unity of Apostolic Testimony
French name: l’unité du témoignage apostolique
Key terms: proclaim, preach, whether I or they
Review routing: Native speaker review
The unified content of apostolic proclamation, regardless of which apostle speaks it, directly serves the Christian Unity vs. Factionalism doctrine; ‘prêchons/proclamons’ must be rendered consistently across the whole book (1:23, 9:27, 15:11, 15:12) so French readers perceive the same single, authoritative gospel message throughout.
Referenced passages