Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis — 1 Corinthians (Greek Destination Language Package)
Purpose and Scope
This document maps every doctrine in doctrine_risk_registry.json to its supporting passages across the entire book of 1 Corinthians, chapter by chapter, 1 through 16. The core passage (1 Corinthians 15:1-11) is the theological anchor of the curriculum, not its scope boundary — the Resurrection chapter receives the deepest treatment below, but every other chapter is analyzed with equal rigor, and any chapter contributing no new load-bearing term or doctrine is explicitly marked as reviewed rather than silently omitted.
Risk tiers, doctrine names, and review routing below are copied verbatim from doctrine_risk_registry.json and must never be altered independently of that file. Where a doctrine’s supporting passages span multiple chapters, it appears in the table for every relevant chapter, cross-referenced.
Curriculum Doctrine ↔ Registry Doctrine Crosswalk
The ten curriculum doctrine areas supplied in the Phase 1 parameters map onto the finer-grained registry doctrine set as follows. This crosswalk exists so that curriculum authors and Phase 2 reviewers can navigate between the pedagogical grouping (used in lesson planning) and the registry’s granular risk tracking (used in translation QA routing).
| Curriculum Doctrine | Registry Doctrine Key(s) |
|---|---|
| The Resurrection of Christ and Believers | resurrection_of_christ, resurrection_of_believers, gospel_deposit_and_tradition, resurrection_body_and_transformation, victory_over_death, grace_and_apostolic_ministry, faith_grounded_in_resurrection |
| Christian Unity versus Factionalism | christian_unity_versus_factionalism, baptismal_unity |
| The Cross as Wisdom and Power | cross_as_wisdom_and_power, spiritual_versus_natural_discernment |
| Church Discipline and Holiness | church_as_temple, apostolic_stewardship, church_discipline, christ_our_passover, sexual_purity_and_the_body |
| Marriage and Singleness | marriage_and_singleness, divine_calling_in_ones_station |
| Christian Liberty and Idol Meat | christian_liberty, conscience_and_the_weak, idol_meat_and_idolatry, apostolic_rights_and_self_discipline, old_testament_typology_and_warning |
| The Lord’s Supper | the_lords_supper |
| Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ | spiritual_gifts_and_the_body |
| Love as the Greater Way | love_as_the_greater_way |
| Order in Worship | head_covering_and_headship, order_in_worship_tongues_and_prophecy |
| (closing matter, not a named curriculum doctrine but load-bearing) | church_collection_and_generosity, closing_benediction_and_love_for_christ |
Chapter-by-Chapter Doctrine Matrix
Chapter 1 — Factionalism, the Cross, and Calling
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Unity versus Factionalism | 1:10-13 | High | σχίσμα evokes the historical Great Schism (1054); keep referent scoped to congregational personality-cult division, not ecclesiastical-historical commentary. | Human theologian |
| Baptismal Unity versus Personality Allegiance | 1:12-17 | Critical | Paul de-centers baptism from personal allegiance to a minister; must not be silently absorbed into, nor contradict, the fuller Orthodox sacramental doctrine of baptismal regeneration the audience already holds. | Human theologian |
| The Cross as Wisdom and Power | 1:17-25 | Critical | σοφία carries maximal positive Hellenic-philosophical prestige; σταυρός is saturated with devotional/idiomatic use. 1:22-23 names “Ἕλληνες” as the audience for whom the cross is folly — this curriculum’s own readers are the addressees of that verse. | Human theologian |
| Divine Calling (introductory statement) | 1:1-2, 1:9, 1:24, 1:26 | Critical (per divine_calling_in_ones_station/baseline divine_calling) | κλητός/κλήση risk secular bleaching into “phone call/summons”; established baseline guard applies from first verse of the book. | Human theologian |
Chapter note: Chapter 1 introduces four Critical/High doctrines simultaneously (calling, unity, cross, baptism) — the highest doctrinal density of any opening chapter in the curriculum, requiring front-loaded reviewer attention before Phase 2 segment work begins.
Chapter 2 — Spiritual versus Natural Discernment
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cross as Wisdom and Power | 2:1-5 | Critical | δύναμη Θεού paired with σοφία; guard against domesticating the cross into “superior philosophy.” | Human theologian |
| Spiritual versus Natural Discernment | 2:6-16 | Critical | Forbidden-inversion trap: ψυχικός in Modern Greek means “emotional/kind-hearted” — nearly opposite Paul’s negative ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος. μυστήριον collides with the technical term for the seven Sacraments. | Human theologian |
Chapter 3 — Unity, the Temple, and Worldly Wisdom
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Unity versus Factionalism | 3:1-9 | High | σαρκικοί (“fleshly,” 3:3) risks the same body/soul dualism trap as σάρκα generally; the “I follow Paul/Apollos” language must stay scoped to congregational rivalry. | Human theologian |
| The Church as God’s Temple | 3:16-17 | Medium | ναός is the standard modern word for a physical church building; risk of literal-architectural misreading of the corporate-church metaphor. | Native speaker review |
| The Cross as Wisdom and Power (worldly wisdom warning) | 3:18-19 | Critical | Same σοφία/μωρία prestige risk as ch.1; Paul’s “let him become a fool” (μωρός) is a hard turn for a culture that prizes σοφία. | Human theologian |
Chapter 4 — Apostolic Stewardship
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apostolic Stewardship and Judgment | 4:1-5 | Medium | οικονόμος gravitates toward “financial/economic manager” in Modern Greek, risking a reading of gospel ministry as administrative bookkeeping rather than trustworthy custodianship of revealed mysteries (μυστήρια, again colliding with the sacramental sense). | Native speaker review |
No new Critical-tier doctrine originates in chapter 4; the chapter is fully reviewed and its sole load-bearing doctrine (apostolic stewardship) is tracked above.
Chapter 5 — Church Discipline and Christ Our Passover
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Church Discipline | 5:1-13 | High | Disciplinary formula must read as restorative (5:5), not merely punitive; ζύμη (leaven) is a stable proverbial asset. | Human theologian |
| Christ Our Passover Lamb | 5:7-8 | Critical | Πάσχα in Modern Greek is near-exclusively the joyful Resurrection feast — an emotional register nearly opposite the somber Exodus 12 lamb-slaughter Paul invokes. Mandatory Exodus cross-reference note on every occurrence. | Human theologian |
Chapter 6 — The Body as the Lord’s, the Temple of the Spirit
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Church and the Believer’s Body as God’s Temple | 6:19-20 | Medium | Same ναός architectural-literalism risk as 3:16-17, now applied to the individual body — the metaphor shift must be signposted. | Native speaker review |
| Sexual Purity and the Body as the Lord’s | 6:12-20 | High | σῶμα must resist Greek philosophical body/soul dualism, which would treat physical conduct as morally neutral against the “true” inner self — the opposite of Paul’s argument. ἀγοράζω (“bought with a price”) risks a bare-commercial reading detached from the redemption framework; δικαστήριο (lawsuits, 6:1-8) is lexically stable and Low risk. | Human theologian |
Chapter 7 — Marriage, Singleness, and Calling in One’s Station
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marriage and Singleness as Callings | 7:1-40 | Medium | παρθένος risks unintended Marian-title resonance (“Παναγία η Παρθένος”) applied to ordinary unmarried believers; εγκράτεια risks narrowing to a specialized monastic virtue. | Native speaker review |
| Divine Calling in One’s Life Station | 7:17-24 | Critical | The refrain “as God has called each one” is repeated across the whole chapter; sustained repetition of κλήση multiplies the secular-bleaching risk (“phone call/traffic summons”) across an entire teaching unit. | Human theologian |
Chapter 8 — Idol Meat, Conscience, and the Weak Believer
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Liberty | 8:9 | High | ἐξουσία (personal right/permission) must stay distinct from ἐλευθερία (baseline Critical, the Greek national word) and from εξουσία’s dominant political sense (“the authorities”). | Human theologian |
| Conscience and Care for the Weak | 8:7-13 | High | συνείδηση functions identically in ordinary ethical Modern Greek, risking flattening into secular individualist “follow your own conscience” rather than Paul’s relational, God-oriented, communally-responsible category. | Human theologian |
| Idol Meat and the Danger of Idolatry | 8:1-13 | Medium | Lexically stable (είδωλο, ειδωλόθυτο); the principal risk is application-bridging to a culture where literal idol worship is not a live threat. | Native speaker review |
Chapter 9 — Apostolic Rights and Self-Discipline
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Liberty | 9:1-23 | High | Same ἐξουσία/ἐλευθερία distinction as ch.8, now applied to Paul’s own apostolic rights forgone. | Human theologian |
| Apostolic Rights Forgone and Athletic Self-Discipline | 9:1-27 | Medium | στέφανος risks an unintended wedding-crown (στέφανα) association displacing the athletic-victory sense; ἀγωνίζομαι is a living, helpful metaphor asset. | Native speaker review |
Chapter 10 — Old Testament Warning, Idolatry, and Liberty’s Limits
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Liberty | 10:23-33 | High | ”All things are lawful” (ἐξουσία-adjacent) must retain Paul’s immediate qualification (“but not all things build up”); guard against a libertine misreading. | Human theologian |
| Conscience and Care for the Weak | 10:28-29 | High | Same συνείδηση risk as ch.8, applied to table-fellowship scenarios. | Human theologian |
| Idol Meat and the Danger of Idolatry | 10:14-22 | Medium | ”Table of demons” (δαιμόνιο) — secular idiom “genius/talented” is an unrelated but adjacent drift pattern to flag in surrounding prose; κοινωνία (“cup of κοινωνία,” 10:16) must not default to only its Eucharistic sense here without also carrying the general-participation sense the argument needs. | Native speaker review |
| Old Testament Typology and Warning | 10:1-13 | Medium | τύπος carries enormous everyday polysemy (“guy,” “kind of,” printed form); πειρασμός is a stable Lord’s-Prayer asset. | Native speaker review |
Chapter 11 — Head Covering, the Lord’s Supper, and Order
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Unity versus Factionalism | 11:18 | High | Divisions at the shared meal itself; scoped to socio-economic factionalism at the Supper, not general church-life disagreement. | Human theologian |
| Head Covering and Headship in Worship | 11:2-16 | Critical | κεφαλή defaults readily to “leader/chief” in a hierarchical-political sense (head of state); this is a doctrinally contested, gender-sensitive passage, and teaching notes must represent both major interpretive traditions rather than silently resolving the debate through word choice. | Human theologian |
| The Lord’s Supper | 11:17-34 | Critical | Paul’s institution narrative (11:23-25) is quoted nearly verbatim in the anaphora of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom — an extraordinary recognition asset, but risks Paul’s own socio-ethical argument (unity, self-examination, rebuke of excluding the poor) being displaced entirely by sacramental theology proper. | Human theologian |
Chapter 12 — Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Unity versus Factionalism | 12:25 | High | ”No division (σχίσμα) in the body” — applies the ch.1 term to the organic-body metaphor; keep the σχίσμα/διαίρεση (negative/positive-variety) distinction from the glossary intact. | Human theologian |
| Baptismal Unity versus Personality Allegiance | 12:13 | Critical | ”Baptized into one body” reinforces the ch.1 argument; must not be absorbed into sacramental theology at the expense of Paul’s unity point. | Human theologian |
| Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ | 12:1-31 | High | χαρίσματα risks secular “natural talent/personal charisma” drift; μέλος risks flattening the organic-body metaphor (eye, foot, ear) into modern administrative “club membership.” | Human theologian |
Chapter 13 — Love as the Greater Way
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Love as the Greater Way | 13:1-13 | Critical | Modern Greek ἀγάπη is the single all-purpose everyday word for love in every register, including full romantic force (“σ’ αγαπώ”) — the reverse problem from English. Risk is bidirectional: romantic overtones bleeding in, or the term flattening to generic warm sentiment rather than Paul’s specific, active, behaviorally-defined love (13:4-7). | Human theologian |
Chapter 14 — Order in Worship
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order in Worship: Tongues and Prophecy | 14:1-40 | High | γλῶσσα is the completely ordinary word for both “tongue” (body part) and “language”; the technical charismatic-gift sense depends entirely on context. The underlying interpretive debate (known human languages vs. ecstatic utterance) is independently contested and must be flagged regardless of language-specific risk. ερμηνεία and τάξη are stable, transparent terms. | Human theologian |
Chapter 15 — The Resurrection (Core Passage and Full Chapter)
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faith Grounded in the Historical Resurrection | 15:1-2, 15:12-19 | Critical | εἰκῆ (15:2) is a forbidden-substitution trap parallel to the baseline Galatians δωρεάν trap — never render with δωρεάν; the passage’s chain of reasoning (15:14-17) must not be softened. | Human theologian |
| The Gospel as a Received and Delivered Deposit | 15:1-3, 15:11 | High | παραλαμβάνω/παραδίδωμι are technical terms for formal transmission of authoritative tradition; must not flatten into casual “hearing/getting information.” | Human theologian |
| The Resurrection of Christ | 15:1-8, 15:12-20 | Critical | ανάσταση is the same word used every year at Πάσχα; perfect-tense ἐγήγερται (15:4) carries continuing-effect nuance that must not be flattened. Task is doctrinal precision layered onto an already resonant word. | Human theologian |
| Grace as the Ground of Apostolic Ministry | 15:9-10 | Critical | χάρις occurs three times in one verse (15:10) — density itself teaches unmerited favor against Modern Greek χάρη’s drift toward “charm”/“legal pardon.” | Human theologian |
| The Resurrection of Believers | 15:12-23, 15:35-58 | Critical | πνευματικό σώμα risks disembodied-spirit misreading via Greek dualism; κέντρον (15:55) is a forbidden-substitution trap (modern “center” vs. intended “sting”). | Human theologian |
| The Resurrection Body and Final Transformation | 15:35-49 | High | εἰκών collides with the standing technical term for a venerated religious icon; Paul’s sense (bearing Christ’s resurrection likeness) risks being heard through icon-veneration association. | Human theologian |
| Victory over Death | 15:50-57 | Critical | κέντρον (15:55) — correct sense survives only in the verbatim Paschal Canon liturgical quotation heard once a year; greatest liturgical asset and greatest secular-bleaching trap in the book simultaneously. | Human theologian |
Chapter note: Chapter 15 carries seven distinct registry doctrines, six of them Critical or High — by far the highest doctrinal density in the curriculum, consistent with its role as the theological anchor of the entire Phase 1 analysis. Every segment in this chapter must be routed to human theologian review per the escalation rules in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md (Romans/Galatians baseline), extended identically to 1 Corinthians 15.
Chapter 16 — Collection, Closing Greetings, and Benediction
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages | Risk | Translation Risk (Greek-specific) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Collection for the Saints | 16:1-4 | Low | λογία is archaic; “συλλογή”/“έρανος” serve as natural contemporary equivalents. Low doctrinal weight, practical instruction. | Automated review |
| Closing Benediction and Love for Christ | 16:21-24 | Medium | Paul’s deliberate use of φιλέω rather than ἀγαπάω at 16:22 is worth flagging alongside the ch.13 love discussion; ανάθεμα reuses the baseline High-risk guard; Μαρὰν ἀθά retained as untranslated Aramaic transliteration with gloss, structurally parallel to the baseline Αββά convention. | Native speaker review |
Chapter 16 also contains standard greetings (16:5-20) which introduce no new doctrine beyond christian_fellowship/church senses already established in the baseline; reviewed and confirmed to require no additional entries.
Full-Book Coverage Confirmation
All sixteen chapters of 1 Corinthians have been reviewed above. No chapter is silently omitted. Chapters 4 and 16 (collection portion) carry the lowest doctrinal density in the book and are explicitly marked as such rather than skipped. Chapter 15 carries the highest density, consistent with its status as the curriculum’s core passage.
Risk Tier Consistency Statement
Every doctrine, risk tier, and review-routing assignment in this document is copied directly from doctrine_risk_registry.json version 1 (generated 2026-07-10) and introduces no independent risk-tier judgment. This document exists solely to add chapter-level traceability; any future change to a risk tier must originate in the registry and be propagated here, not the reverse.
Critical Risk Doctrines
The Resurrection of Christ
Greek name: η ανάσταση του Χριστού
Key terms: resurrection, raised, appeared, third day
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: ανάσταση is the same word Greek readers use every year at Πάσχα, the paramount feast of the liturgical calendar, and the perfect-tense ἐγήγερται (15:4) carries a continuing-effect nuance that must not be flattened. The task is doctrinal precision (bodily, historical, once-for-all, argued from named eyewitnesses) layered onto an already maximally resonant word, not persuasion toward a concept the audience already holds devotionally.
The Resurrection of Believers
Greek name: η ανάσταση των πιστών
Key terms: spiritual body, imperishable, sting, victory, raised
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: πνευματικό σώμα risks a disembodied-spirit misreading if Greek philosophical body/soul dualism is imported; κέντρον (15:55) is a forbidden-substitution trap where the dominant Modern Greek meaning (‘center’) directly contradicts the intended ‘sting,’ correct only in the verbatim Paschal Canon liturgical quotation heard once a year. Both traps must be actively guarded in every occurrence.
The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Greek name: ο σταυρός ως σοφία και δύναμη Θεού
Key terms: cross, wisdom, folly, power of God, Greeks seek wisdom
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: two compounding risks unique to this audience. First, σοφία carries maximal positive cultural freight from the Greek philosophical heritage, risking either an anti-intellectualist misreading of Paul or a domestication of the cross’s scandal into ‘the best philosophy.’ Second, σταυρός is saturated with devotional and idiomatic use (sign of the cross, ‘my cross to bear’), risking displacement of Paul’s specific wisdom/power argument by ritual-object or generic-suffering associations. 1:22-23 explicitly names ‘Ἕλληνες’ as the audience for whom the cross is folly — this curriculum’s own readers are the addressees of that verse.
Spiritual versus Natural Discernment
Greek name: η πνευματική έναντι της ψυχικής διάκρισης
Key terms: natural person, spiritual person, mystery, revealed by the Spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL, forbidden-inversion class: Modern Greek ψυχικός overwhelmingly means ‘emotional/kind-hearted,’ nearly the opposite valence of Paul’s negative ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος (one who cannot accept spiritual things). μυστήριον also collides with the technical term for the seven Sacraments, risking Paul’s ‘hidden plan now revealed’ sense being displaced by the sacramental sense.
Christ Our Passover Lamb
Greek name: ο Χριστός το Πάσχα ημών
Key terms: Passover, sacrificed, unleavened bread, old leaven
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: in Modern Greek, ‘Πάσχα’ is overwhelmingly and near-exclusively Greek Orthodox Easter, the joyful resurrection feast — an emotional register essentially opposite the somber, substitutionary Passover-lamb slaughter (Exodus 12) Paul actually invokes at 5:7. Unglossed, ‘Χριστός το Πάσχα ημών ετύθη’ risks being heard through the Resurrection-celebration lens rather than the Exodus sacrificial background it is quoting.
Divine Calling in One’s Life Station
Greek name: η θεία κλήση στη ζωική κατάσταση του καθενός
Key terms: called, calling, as God has called, remain as you are
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: the refrain ‘as God has called each one’ (κλῆσις) is repeated across an entire chapter applied to marriage, singleness, and social status; Modern Greek κλήση overwhelmingly means an ordinary phone call or legal/traffic summons in everyday speech, and the sustained repetition multiplies the risk of the doctrine reading as bureaucratically trivial rather than a sovereign, dignifying divine summons over one’s whole life situation.
Head Covering and Headship in Worship
Greek name: η κάλυψη της κεφαλής και η αρχηγία στη λατρεία
Key terms: head, headship, covering, glory of man/woman
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: κεφαλή, in metaphorical/organizational Modern Greek usage, defaults readily to ‘leader/chief’ in a hierarchical-political sense (head of state, head of a company), risking an authoritarian-command connotation into a relationship Paul explicitly qualifies with mutual interdependence (11:11-12). This is a doctrinally contested, gender-sensitive passage; the Greek word choice itself does not resolve the interpretive debate (headship as loving, self-giving source versus hierarchical authority), and teaching notes must represent both major traditions rather than silently settling the question through translation.
The Lord’s Supper
Greek name: το Κυριακό Δείπνο
Key terms: Lord’s Supper, body and blood, remembrance, unworthy manner, discern the body
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL, the single highest-stakes doctrine in the book for this audience: Paul’s institution narrative (11:23-25) is quoted nearly verbatim in the anaphora of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which Greek readers already know by heart from weekly worship. This is an extraordinary recognition asset but risks Paul’s own socio-ethical argument (unity, self-examination, discerning the body, rebuke of the wealthy excluding the poor at the shared meal, 11:17-22, 27-34) being read exclusively through the lens of sacramental theology proper, displacing rather than complementing it.
Baptismal Unity versus Personality Allegiance
Greek name: η βαπτισματική ενότητα έναντι της προσωπολατρίας
Key terms: baptism, baptized into one body, I am of Paul/Apollos/Cephas
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Orthodox sacramental theology holds a strong doctrine of baptismal regeneration; Paul’s own argument (unity produced by Spirit-baptism, and baptism explicitly de-centered from personal allegiance to any minister, 1:13-17) must be presented without either contradicting or being silently absorbed into the fuller sacramental doctrine the audience already holds.
Love as the Greater Way
Greek name: η αγάπη ως ο ανώτερος δρόμος
Key terms: love, the greatest of these is love, love never fails, patient and kind
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Modern Greek ἀγάπη is the single, all-purpose everyday word for love in every register, including full romantic/erotic force (‘σ’ αγαπώ’), the reverse problem from English. The risk is bidirectional — romantic overtones bleeding in from ordinary usage, and the term being read as generic warm sentiment rather than the specific, active, self-giving, patient, non-self-seeking love Paul enumerates (13:4-7) — though Greek’s own classical vocabulary (ἔρως, φιλία, στοργή) offers a contrast a Modern Greek reader can be shown directly, if actively taught.
Victory over Death
Greek name: η νίκη επί του θανάτου
Key terms: sting, victory, swallowed up, thanks be to God
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL, forbidden-substitution class: κέντρον (15:55) means ‘sting’ only in an archaic/liturgical register; in ordinary Modern Greek ‘κέντρο’ overwhelmingly means ‘center,’ and an unglossed rendering risks nonsense or unintended humor. The correct sense survives perfectly, and is instantly recognizable, only because this exact clause is sung every year in the Paschal Canon of St. John of Damascus at the midnight Resurrection service — simultaneously the greatest liturgical asset and the greatest secular-bleaching trap in the book.
Grace as the Ground of Apostolic Ministry
Greek name: η χάρη ως έδαφος της αποστολικής διακονίας
Key terms: grace, least of the apostles, not in vain, grace that was with me
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: χάρις occurs three times in a single verse (15:10), a density that itself teaches Paul’s identity and labor rest entirely on unmerited favor, not achievement — directly resisting Modern Greek χάρη’s secular drift toward ‘charm’ or ‘legal pardon.’ Must be flagged for review whenever grace is contrasted with merit or labor, per the existing baseline escalation rule.
Faith Grounded in the Historical Resurrection
Greek name: η πίστη θεμελιωμένη στην ιστορική ανάσταση
Key terms: if Christ has not been raised your faith is in vain, eyewitnesses, believed in vain
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: εἰκῆ (15:2) is a forbidden-substitution trap distinct from but parallel to the baseline Galatians δωρεάν trap — never render with δωρεάν (‘free of charge’), which would ironically suggest belief was cheaply acquired; the passage’s entire argument (15:14-17) makes faith’s validity contingent on the resurrection’s historicity, a chain of reasoning that must not be softened.
High Risk Doctrines
The Gospel as a Received and Delivered Deposit
Greek name: το ευαγγέλιο ως παραδοθείσα παρακαταθήκη
Key terms: received, delivered, of first importance, gospel
Review routing: Human theologian
παραλαμβάνω/παραδίδωμι are technical terms for formal transmission of authoritative tradition; risk is that Modern Greek’s everyday sense of ‘hearing/getting information’ flattens the formal, fixed, apostolically-unanimous character of the gospel content Paul insists on (15:11, ‘whether I or they, so we preach’).
Christian Unity versus Factionalism
Greek name: η χριστιανική ενότητα έναντι του σχίσματος
Key terms: schism, division, I follow, one body
Review routing: Human theologian
σχίσμα strongly and specifically evokes ‘το Σχίσμα του 1054’ (the Great East-West Schism) for a Greek reader — a genuine teaching asset for naming the sin’s seriousness, but the referent must be kept scoped to congregational personality-cult factionalism, not read as a commentary on that historical ecclesiastical division.
Church Discipline
Greek name: η εκκλησιαστική επιτίμηση
Key terms: hand over to Satan, leaven, do not associate, purge the old leaven
Review routing: Human theologian
The disciplinary formula must be presented as restorative (5:5, ‘that his spirit may be saved’), not merely punitive; Πάσχα’s presence in this same chapter (5:7) carries the major Greek-specific collision described under the Passover-Christology entry below, since the chapter’s climax invokes the Passover lamb in language a Greek reader instinctively hears as the joyful Resurrection feast.
Sexual Purity and the Body as the Lord’s
Greek name: η σεξουαλική αγνότητα και το σώμα ως ιδιοκτησία του Κυρίου
Key terms: sexual immorality, body, bought with a price, temple of the Holy Spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
σῶμα must resist Greek philosophical body/soul dualism, which would treat physical conduct as morally neutral compared to the ‘true’ inner/spiritual self — directly the opposite of Paul’s argument that the body itself belongs to the Lord and matters eternally; ἀγοράζω (‘bought with a price’) risks a bare-commercial reading detached from the redemption/grace framework.
Christian Liberty
Greek name: η χριστιανική ελευθερία
Key terms: liberty, right, authority, all things are lawful
Review routing: Human theologian
ἐξουσία (personal right/permission) must be kept lexically and conceptually distinct both from ἐλευθερία (baseline Critical, the Greek national word) and from Modern Greek εξουσία’s dominant political sense (‘the government/those in power’); Paul uses both words with different nuances across chs.8-10, and conflating them collapses a load-bearing distinction in his argument.
Conscience and Care for the Weak
Greek name: η συνείδηση και η φροντίδα για τον αδύναμο
Key terms: conscience, weak, stumbling block, wound the conscience
Review routing: Human theologian
συνείδηση functions identically in ordinary ethical Modern Greek, risking flattening into a generic, secular, individualist ‘follow your own conscience’ concept, whereas Paul’s concern is specifically the weak believer’s God-oriented conscience being wounded by another’s exercised liberty — a relational, communally-responsible category, not private ethical autonomy.
Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ
Greek name: τα πνευματικά χαρίσματα και το σώμα του Χριστού
Key terms: spiritual gifts, one body, member, varieties
Review routing: Human theologian
χαρίσματα risks the secular ‘natural talent/personal charisma’ drift already flagged in the baseline; μέλος risks flattening Paul’s vivid organic-body metaphor (eye, foot, ear) into the modern administrative sense of ‘club membership,’ losing the interdependent-organism force of the argument.
Order in Worship: Tongues and Prophecy
Greek name: η τάξη στη λατρεία: γλωσσολαλιά και προφητεία
Key terms: tongues, prophecy, interpretation, decently and in order
Review routing: Human theologian
γλῶσσα is the completely ordinary Modern Greek word for both the body part ‘tongue’ and ‘language,’ so the technical charismatic-gift sense is not marked by any special vocabulary and depends entirely on context; the underlying interpretive debate (known human languages vs. ecstatic Spirit-given utterance) is independently contested and must be flagged for theological review regardless of the language-specific risk.
The Resurrection Body and Final Transformation
Greek name: το αναστημένο σώμα και η τελική μεταμόρφωση
Key terms: spiritual body, perishable, imperishable, image of the heavenly man
Review routing: Human theologian
εἰκών collides with the standing technical term for a venerated religious icon (Christ, the Theotokos, the saints), an extremely live devotional word; Paul’s sense (bearing Christ’s resurrection likeness/nature) risks being heard through the icon-veneration association rather than as a claim about transformed nature and destiny.
Medium Risk Doctrines
The Church and the Believer’s Body as God’s Temple
Greek name: η εκκλησία και το σώμα του πιστού ως ναός του Θεού
Key terms: temple, you are God’s temple, indwelling Spirit
Review routing: Native speaker review
ναός is the standard, concrete modern word for a physical church building, risking a literal-architectural misreading of a metaphor about the gathered church or the individual believer’s Spirit-indwelt body.
Apostolic Stewardship and Judgment
Greek name: η αποστολική διαχείριση και κρίση
Key terms: steward, servant, judge, mysteries of God
Review routing: Native speaker review
οικονόμος gravitates in Modern Greek toward ‘economic/financial manager,’ risking a reading of gospel ministry as financial administration rather than trustworthy custodianship of revealed truth.
Marriage and Singleness as Callings
Greek name: ο γάμος και η αγαμία ως κλήσεις
Key terms: marriage, virgin, self-control, as God has called each one
Review routing: Native speaker review
παρθένος risks unintended Marian-title resonance (‘Παναγία η Παρθένος’) when applied to ordinary unmarried believers; εγκράτεια risks narrowing to a specialized monastic virtue rather than a universal expectation; both need contextual notes, though the underlying lexical stability is otherwise Medium, not Critical.
Idol Meat and the Danger of Idolatry
Greek name: το ειδωλόθυτο και ο κίνδυνος της ειδωλολατρίας
Key terms: idol, food sacrificed to idols, table of demons, flee idolatry
Review routing: Native speaker review
Lexically stable terms (είδωλο, ειδωλόθυτο, δαιμόνιο); the principal risk is application-bridging, since literal idol-worship is not a live cultural threat for a contemporary Greek reader the way it was in Corinth, requiring deliberate curricular framing toward modern analogues rather than a lexical correction.
Apostolic Rights Forgone and Athletic Self-Discipline
Greek name: τα αποστολικά δικαιώματα και η αθλητική αυτοπειθαρχία
Key terms: right to support, crown, run the race, disqualified
Review routing: Native speaker review
στέφανος risks an unintended wedding-crown (στέφανα) association displacing the athletic-victory sense; the surrounding ἀγωνίζομαι/ἀγών vocabulary, by contrast, is a living and helpful asset for teaching disciplined Christian living.
Old Testament Typology and Warning
Greek name: η παλαιοδιαθηκική τυπολογία και προειδοποίηση
Key terms: example, type, these things happened as examples, temptation
Review routing: Native speaker review
τύπος carries enormous everyday polysemy in Modern Greek (a ‘guy/character,’ a printed form), which can crowd out the specific typological-theological sense without a clear contextual anchor; πειρασμός, by contrast, is a stable liturgical asset from the Lord’s Prayer.
Closing Benediction and Love for Christ
Greek name: ο τελικός χαιρετισμός και η αγάπη για τον Χριστό
Key terms: if anyone does not love the Lord, accursed, Maranatha, grace of the Lord
Review routing: Native speaker review
Paul’s deliberate use of φιλέω rather than ἀγαπάω at 16:22 is worth flagging alongside the ch.13 love discussion; ἀνάθεμα here reuses the baseline High-risk guard against both trivialization and institutionalization; Μαρὰν ἀθά is retained as an untranslated Aramaic transliteration paired with a gloss, structurally parallel to the baseline Αββά convention.
Low Risk Doctrines
The Collection for the Saints
Greek name: η συλλογή για τους αγίους
Key terms: collection, on the first day of the week, set aside
Review routing: Automated review
λογία is archaic in Modern Greek; ‘συλλογή’ or ‘έρανος’ serve as natural contemporary equivalents. Low doctrinal weight, mainly practical/administrative instruction.
Referenced passages