Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis: 1 Corinthians — Full Book Doctrine Matrix
This document executes PRD Phase 1 Step 4. It provides the complete doctrine matrix for 1 Corinthians, chapters 1–16, extending and never contradicting the baseline Romans doctrine_risk_registry.json and remaining fully consistent with the curriculum-specific assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json produced for this book (same 30 doctrines, same risk tiers, same review routing). The core passage, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, is the theological anchor of the curriculum but the scope of this analysis is the entire book.
Per PRD mandate: every chapter is addressed below, either through active doctrine assignments or an explicit “reviewed — no new doctrinal load” note. No chapter is silently omitted.
Part 1 — Full Doctrine Matrix
| # | Doctrine | Marathi Doctrine Name | Risk | Supporting Passages (1 Corinthians) | Translation Risk Notes | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Resurrection of Christ | ख्रिस्ताचे पुनरुत्थान | Critical | 15:3-8, 12-17, 20 | पुनरुत्थान reused exactly; never पुनर्जन्म/पुनर्भव. ὤφθη (“appeared”) must never render as दर्शन दिले, which would recast bodily eyewitness testimony as devotional darshan. | Human theologian |
| 2 | The Bodily Resurrection of Believers | विश्वासणाऱ्यांचे शारीरिक पुनरुत्थान | Critical | 15:12-19, 35-49, 50-58 | अविनाशी (“imperishable”) parallels Hindu ātman-eternality; Paul’s argument is the reverse — the perishable body itself is transformed. आत्मिक शरीर is a true transformed body, not a ghost-state. | Human theologian |
| 3 | Christian Unity versus Factionalism | ख्रिस्ती एकता आणि गटबाजीविरुद्ध शिकवण | High | 1:10-13; 3:3-9; 11:18-19; 12:24-27 | फूट risks mapping Corinthian party-loyalty onto Maharashtra’s caste/sect (jāti/sampradāya) group-identity experience; must read as rebuke of immaturity, never as normalizing faction identity. | Human theologian |
| 4 | The Cross as Wisdom and Power | ज्ञान आणि सामर्थ्य म्हणून क्रूस | High | 1:17-25, 30; 2:1-8; 3:18-20 | ज्ञान is the identical lexeme used for Gita jñāna-mārga and Buddhist prajñā (self-attained insight); this doctrine argues the opposite — God’s wisdom is disclosed in a crucified deliverer and appears as foolishness. | Human theologian |
| 5 | Church Discipline and Holiness | मंडळीतील शिस्त आणि पवित्रता | High | 5:1-13; 6:9-11; 6:18-20 | व्यभिचार and discipline language must retain moral clarity plus restorative aim (5:5); Marathi honor-shame dynamics could turn this into unqualified condemnation without restoration. | Human theologian |
| 6 | Restorative Church Discipline (Deliver to Satan) | सुधारणाभिमुख शिस्त | High | 5:3-5 | सैतानाच्या स्वाधीन करणे must be taught as restorative discipline aimed at ultimate salvation (5:5b), sharply distinguished from folk exorcism/curse-removal (jādū-ṭonā). | Human theologian |
| 7 | The Body as Temple of the Holy Spirit | पवित्र आत्म्याचे मंदिर म्हणून शरीर आणि मंडळी | High | 3:16-17; 6:19-20 | मंदिर is the everyday word for a Hindu shrine housing a मूर्ती; must be explicitly taught as the Spirit’s personal indwelling, not darshan-site or yogic energy-vessel. | Human theologian |
| 8 | Marriage and Singleness | विवाह आणि अविवाहितपण | High | 7:1-9, 10-16, 25-38 | अविवाहित must not be read through Maharashtrian social pressure treating unmarried adults as deficient; Paul commends singleness as a valid grace-gift. पाचारण (7:17-24) must not imply fixed caste-like social station. | Human theologian |
| 9 | Christian Liberty and Idol Meat | मूर्तींना अर्पिलेल्या अन्नाबाबत ख्रिस्ती स्वातंत्र्य | Critical | 8:1-13; 10:19-33 | मूर्तींना अर्पिलेले अन्न must never render as नैवेद्य/प्रसाद (positively-loaded Hindu devotional terms); the ethical argument depends on this food being spiritually neutral-but-associated-with-false-worship. | Human theologian |
| 10 | Idolatry and Demonic Powers | मूर्तिपूजा आणि दुष्ट आत्मिक सामर्थ्ये | Critical | 10:7, 14, 19-22 | मूर्तिपूजा is the exact descriptive term Hindu neighbors use for their own worship; render with full seriousness, no gratuitous polemic. भूत collides with rural bhūt-pisāch folk-spirit/exorcism framework; requires explicit teaching. | Human theologian |
| 11 | The Lord’s Supper | प्रभूभोजन | High | 10:16-21; 11:17-34 | Keep doctrinally distinct from a merely social meal and from Hindu prasad-distribution rituals; preserve seriousness (self-examination, discerning the body, divine judgment, 11:27-30). | Human theologian |
| 12 | Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ | आत्मिक कृपादान आणि ख्रिस्ताचे शरीर | High | 12:1-31; 14:1-40 | ख्रिस्ताचे शरीर carries direct resonance for caste-hierarchy-experienced readers (Hindu or Ambedkarite Buddhist background); 12:22-24’s “less honorable” reversal must be taught plainly. अन्यभाषा rendered literally, no denominational presupposition. | Human theologian |
| 13 | Love as the Greater Way | प्रीती — सर्वश्रेष्ठ मार्ग | Critical | 8:1; 13:1-13; 16:14, 24 | प्रीती fixed against प्रेम (romantic drift) and भक्ति (devotee-to-deity reverence, per Romans baseline grace precedent); must remain covenantal, self-giving agapē throughout. | Human theologian |
| 14 | Order in Worship | उपासनेतील सुव्यवस्था | High | 11:2-16; 14:26-40 | सुव्यवस्था must be taught as service to mutual edification (उन्नती), not conformity to ritual-purity/caste-based ordering conventions associated with temple worship protocol. | Native speaker review |
| 15 | Head Covering and Gender Order in Worship | मस्तकावरील आच्छादन आणि पुरुष-स्त्री व्यवस्था | High | 11:3-16 | शीर्ष/मस्तक sits at the center of a live complementarian/egalitarian debate; render the κεφαλή metaphor accurately without pre-resolving “source” vs. “authority-over” beyond the Greek text itself. | Human theologian |
| 16 | Women’s Role in Worship Assemblies | उपासनेतील स्त्रियांची भूमिका | High | 14:34-35 | मौन धारण करावे sits in unresolved tension with 11:5; scope/application is contested across the Marathi Christian interpretive tradition itself — translators must not resolve this unilaterally. | Human theologian |
| 17 | Apostleship | प्रेषितपण | Medium | 1:1; 9:1-2; 15:9-10 | प्रेषित risks collapsing into a generic guru/social-reform-leader role; Paul’s “least of the apostles… by the grace of God” must retain sent, commissioned, grace-dependent office. | Native speaker review |
| 18 | Apostolic Suffering and Stewardship | प्रेषितांचे दुःखसहन आणि कारभारीपण | Medium | 4:1-13; 9:1-27 | कारभारी must be a trustee accountable to an owner (God), not an independently authoritative guru; Paul’s foregone rights (ch. 9) are gospel-motivated self-denial, not merit-generating renunciation (tapasya). | Native speaker review |
| 19 | Sainthood (Called to be Holy) | पवित्र जन होण्याचे पाचारण | High | 1:2; 6:11 | All believers are पवित्र जन corporately; संत (Warkari poet-saint category) must never be used per Romans baseline precedent. | Human theologian |
| 20 | Inspiration of Scripture | पवित्रशास्त्राची प्रेरणा | High | 2:9-13; 15:3-4, 54-55 | God-breathed Scripture, cited as authoritative basis for the gospel’s death-burial-resurrection content, distinct from Warkari abhang poetry and from Buddhist Tripitaka/Ambedkar’s Dhamma writings, which claim teaching authority, not divine revelation. | Human theologian |
| 21 | Fulfillment of Prophecy | भविष्यवाणीची पूर्तता | High | 15:3-4, 54-55 | Linear, one-time, historically anchored fulfillment must not be assimilated to Hindu yuga cycles or the Buddhist wheel of dependent origination. | Human theologian |
| 22 | Faith | विश्वास | High | 2:5; 15:2, 11, 14, 17; 16:13 | Personal trust in Christ’s historically-anchored death and resurrection (15:14, 17); not Warkari bhakti/śraddhā toward Vitthal, nor confidence in a self-cultivated path. | Human theologian |
| 23 | Grace | कृपा | Critical | 1:3-4; 3:10; 15:10; 16:23 | 15:10 is a prime teaching text: Paul’s apostolic identity and labor attributed to unearned favor; must not read as bhakti-cultivated favor, and must be positively built up for Buddhist-background readers (self-cultivation framework). | Human theologian |
| 24 | Salvation | तारण | Critical | 1:18; 3:15; 5:5; 15:2 | 15:2’s “you are being saved” (present passive) must not read as self-achieved ongoing progress akin to Eightfold Path cultivation, but as God’s continuing preservation on the fixed historical gospel content of 15:3-4; never मोक्ष/मुक्ती/निर्वाण. | Human theologian |
| 25 | Deity of Christ | ख्रिस्ताचे ईश्वरत्व | Critical | 8:6; 15:24-28 | Christ’s co-equal, undiminished divine nature (“through whom are all things”) must not read as a beloved personal deity like Vitthal within a devotee’s pantheon, nor as an enlightened human teacher elevated in memory. | Human theologian |
| 26 | Sonship of Christ | ख्रिस्ताचे पुत्रत्व | Critical | 15:24-28 | The Son’s eternal, unique relationship to the Father in 15:28’s subjection language must not diminish Christ’s co-equal deity nor collapse into an honorific title for a devoted/enlightened figure. | Human theologian |
| 27 | Lordship of Christ | ख्रिस्ताचे प्रभुत्व | Critical | 1:2-3; 8:6; 12:3; 16:22-23 | 12:3’s confession must convey exclusive, supreme, presently-reigning Lordship — not one more beloved personal deity alongside Vitthal within bhakti practice. | Human theologian |
| 28 | Christian Fellowship | ख्रिस्ती सहभागिता | Low | 1:9; 10:16-20 | Shared participation in Christ and fellow believers through the Lord’s Supper; standard low-risk term, though 10:16-20 pairs it with the idol-feast contrast — cross-check against higher-risk entries #9-11. | Automated review |
| 29 | Church as God’s People | देवाची प्रजा म्हणून मंडळी | Medium | 1:2; 11:16; 14:33-34; 15:9 | मंडळी is God’s gathered new covenant community, never देऊळ/मंदिर; Paul’s former persecution “of the church of God” (15:9) underscores a people, not a building. | Native speaker review |
| 30 | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | यहूदी आणि अन्यजातीय यांची एकता | High | 1:22-24; 10:32; 12:13 | 12:13’s “one Spirit… one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free” directly challenges caste-based spiritual hierarchy; must be translated with full clarity, not softened, given resonance with the 1956 Ambedkarite Buddhist conversion memory. | Human theologian |
Risk summary (must match assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json): Critical = 10, High = 16, Medium = 3, Low = 1. Total requiring theologian review = 25; total requiring native speaker review = 4; total automated-only = 1.
Part 2 — Chapter-by-Chapter Doctrine Coverage Log
Every chapter of 1 Corinthians (1–16) is logged below. Chapters are cross-referenced to the doctrine numbers in Part 1. Where a chapter contributes no doctrine beyond what is already logged for an earlier chapter, or contributes no new theological load-bearing content at all, this is stated explicitly rather than omitted.
Chapter 1 — Salutation, Divisions, Christ the Wisdom and Power of God
- Active doctrines: #3 Christian Unity versus Factionalism (1:10-13); #4 Cross as Wisdom and Power (1:17-25, 30); #17 Apostleship (1:1); #19 Sainthood (1:2); #23 Grace (1:3-4); #24 Salvation (1:18); #27 Lordship of Christ (1:2-3); #28 Christian Fellowship (1:9); #29 Church as God’s People (1:2); #30 Unity of Jews and Gentiles (1:22-24).
- Notes: Highest doctrinal density chapter outside ch. 15. Establishes the letter’s theological vocabulary (called, saints, grace, fellowship, Lord) that recurs throughout; translators must lock renderings here first since 1:1-9 functions as a template salutation across the curriculum.
Chapter 2 — The Spirit-Revealed Wisdom of God
- Active doctrines: #4 Cross as Wisdom and Power (2:1-8); #20 Inspiration of Scripture (2:9-13); #22 Faith (2:5).
- Notes: ज्ञान/wisdom collision with jñāna-mārga and prajñā is most acute here; “the Spirit searches even the depths of God” (2:10) requires care that पवित्र आत्मा retains a personal, revealing agent, not an impersonal cosmic consciousness.
Chapter 3 — Fellow Workers, Foundation, and the Temple of God
- Active doctrines: #3 Christian Unity versus Factionalism (3:3-9); #4 Cross as Wisdom and Power (3:18-20); #7 Body as Temple of the Holy Spirit (3:16-17); #23 Grace (3:10); #24 Salvation (3:15).
- Notes: First occurrence of मंदिर for the corporate congregation; must be distinguished from मंडळी and taught against the Hindu shrine/मूर्ती association from its first appearance.
Chapter 4 — Stewards of the Mysteries of God
- Active doctrines: #18 Apostolic Suffering and Stewardship (4:1-13).
- Notes: कारभारी (steward) introduced here; reviewed for consistency with #17 Apostleship. No Critical-tier doctrine newly introduced; routed as Medium/native speaker per registry.
Chapter 5 — Church Discipline Concerning Sexual Immorality
- Active doctrines: #5 Church Discipline and Holiness (5:1-13); #6 Restorative Church Discipline (5:3-5); #24 Salvation (5:5).
- Notes: “Christ our Passover” (5:7) and “leaven” imagery require OT Exodus/Passover background explanation per the core glossary; flagged for theologian review alongside the discipline doctrines.
Chapter 6 — Lawsuits, Sexual Purity, and the Body as Temple
- Active doctrines: #5 Church Discipline and Holiness (6:9-11, 18-20); #7 Body as Temple of the Holy Spirit (6:19-20); #19 Sainthood (6:11, sanctified in Christ Jesus).
- Notes: Vice list (6:9-10) requires care that “kingdom of God” exclusion language is not softened; “bought with a price” (6:20) ties to atonement imagery already flagged Critical under the escalation rules in
12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Chapter 7 — Marriage, Singleness, and Calling
- Active doctrines: #8 Marriage and Singleness (7:1-9, 10-16, 25-38).
- Notes: पाचारण (calling) reused from Romans baseline is applied here to marital/social state (7:17-24); explicit teaching required that this does not endorse a fixed, caste-like social station.
Chapter 8 — Food Offered to Idols and the Law of Love
- Active doctrines: #9 Christian Liberty and Idol Meat (8:1-13); #25 Deity of Christ (8:6); #27 Lordship of Christ (8:6); #13 Love as the Greater Way (8:1, foreshadowing ch. 13).
- Notes: 8:6’s “one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things” is a foundational Christological confession alongside 8:4’s monotheistic “no God but one”; must be handled with the same rigor as 15:24-28.
Chapter 9 — Paul’s Apostolic Rights Foregone
- Active doctrines: #17 Apostleship (9:1-2); #18 Apostolic Suffering and Stewardship (9:1-27).
- Notes: No new Critical/High doctrine introduced beyond what chapters 1 and 4 already establish; reviewed as continuation of #17/#18, routed Native speaker review per registry.
Chapter 10 — Warnings from Israel’s History; Idolatry and the Lord’s Table
- Active doctrines: #9 Christian Liberty and Idol Meat (10:19-33); #10 Idolatry and Demonic Powers (10:7, 14, 19-22); #11 The Lord’s Supper (10:16-21); #28 Christian Fellowship (10:16-20); #29 Church as God’s People (10:32); #30 Unity of Jews and Gentiles (10:18, 32).
- Notes: Highest concentration of Critical-tier syncretism risk in the book (idol meat, idolatry, demons) alongside the Lord’s Supper’s first mention; requires cross-referencing all three doctrines together per the escalation matrix.
Chapter 11 — Head Covering, Order in Worship, the Lord’s Supper
- Active doctrines: #3 Christian Unity versus Factionalism (11:18-19); #11 The Lord’s Supper (11:17-34); #14 Order in Worship (11:2-16); #15 Head Covering and Gender Order (11:3-16); #29 Church as God’s People (11:16).
- Notes: 11:3-16 (κεφαλή/head) is the single most interpretively contested passage in the curriculum; routed Human theologian per the registry’s explicit instruction not to pre-resolve the complementarian/egalitarian question through word choice.
Chapter 12 — Spiritual Gifts and One Body
- Active doctrines: #12 Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ (12:1-31); #27 Lordship of Christ (12:3); #30 Unity of Jews and Gentiles (12:13); #3 Christian Unity versus Factionalism (12:24-27).
- Notes: 12:3’s confession formula must be checked for verbatim consistency with the Romans baseline’s 10:9 “Jesus is Lord” rendering per the cross-document consistency rules.
Chapter 13 — The Way of Love
- Active doctrines: #13 Love as the Greater Way (13:1-13).
- Notes: Single-doctrine chapter but Critical risk throughout; प्रीती must be locked here as the fixed rendering before any other chapter’s occurrences of “love” are finalized, since this chapter is the definitional anchor for the term across the whole curriculum.
Chapter 14 — Prophecy, Tongues, and Order in the Assembly
- Active doctrines: #12 Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ (14:1-40); #14 Order in Worship (14:26-40); #16 Women’s Role in Worship Assemblies (14:34-35); #29 Church as God’s People (14:33-34).
- Notes: 14:34-35 must be flagged for theologian review independent of 11:3-16, per the registry’s explicit instruction that the two passages’ tension must not be resolved unilaterally by translators.
Chapter 15 — The Resurrection of Christ and of Believers (Core Passage)
- Active doctrines: #1 Resurrection of Christ (15:3-8, 12-17, 20); #2 Bodily Resurrection of Believers (15:12-19, 35-49, 50-58); #17 Apostleship (15:9-10); #20 Inspiration of Scripture (15:3-4, 54-55); #21 Fulfillment of Prophecy (15:3-4, 54-55); #22 Faith (15:2, 11, 14, 17); #23 Grace (15:10); #24 Salvation (15:2); #25 Deity of Christ (15:24-28); #26 Sonship of Christ (15:24-28).
- Notes: The theological anchor of the entire curriculum (1 Corinthians 15:1-11 specifically). Ten of the thirty registry doctrines are active in this single chapter, nine of them Critical or High tier. Every occurrence of πυνρuत्थान, appeared/ὤφθη, grace, faith, and the Father-Son subjection language in 15:24-28 requires theologian review without exception, per the escalation rules.
Chapter 16 — The Collection, Final Instructions, and Greetings
- Active doctrines: #27 Lordship of Christ (16:22-23, Maranatha and grace benediction); #23 Grace (16:23); #28 Christian Fellowship (16:15-18, greetings); #29 Church as God’s People (16:19, “churches of Asia”).
- Notes: The collection (16:1-4) and greetings/holy kiss (16:19-20) carry no Critical/High doctrine beyond what is already logged; reviewed as consistent with #23/#27/#28/#29 continuations. “Maranatha” (16:22) is transliterated per the Abba precedent established in the Romans baseline; “anathema” (16:22) must not be confused with folk-curse (jādū-ṭonā) practice, consistent with the idolatry/demonic-powers caution already flagged for ch. 10.
Part 3 — Coverage Confirmation
All sixteen chapters of 1 Corinthians have been reviewed. Chapters 4, 9, and 16 introduce no new Critical or High risk doctrine beyond continuations of doctrines already logged in earlier chapters (#17, #18, #23, #27, #28, #29) and are explicitly confirmed here as reviewed rather than silently omitted. The core passage, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, remains embedded within full chapter 15 coverage as the theological anchor, consistent with the PRD mandate that the core passage inform but never narrow the scope of full-book analysis.
This document is fully consistent with assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json: identical 30 doctrines, identical risk tiers, identical review routing assignments, and identical risk summary totals (Critical = 10, High = 16, Medium = 3, Low = 1).
This document extends, and must never contradict, the baseline Romans doctrine_risk_registry.json and translation_memory.json, and the curriculum-specific analysis/08_core_glossary.md and assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json for 1 Corinthians.
Critical Risk Doctrines
The Resurrection of Christ
Marathi name: ख्रिस्ताचे पुनरुत्थान
Key terms: raised, resurrection, appeared, third day, according to the Scriptures
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: पुनरुत्थान reused exactly; never पुनर्जन्म or पुनर्भव. In 1 Corinthians, the appearance verb ὤφθη (15:5-8) must never be rendered दर्शन दिले, which would recast Christ’s bodily, historically-witnessed resurrection appearances (to Cephas, the Twelve, 500 brothers, James, all apostles, Paul) as one more Warkari/Hindu devotional darshan-experience granted by a deity, rather than verifiable historical eyewitness testimony to a real, once-for-all event.
The Bodily Resurrection of Believers
Marathi name: विश्वासणाऱ्यांचे शारीरिक पुनरुत्थान
Key terms: natural body, spiritual body, imperishable, raised imperishable, firstfruits
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: अविनाशी (imperishable) closely parallels the Hindu concept of an eternal, imperishable ātman escaping a discarded perishable body; Paul’s argument is the reverse — the very body sown perishable is raised imperishable by God’s power. आत्मिक शरीर (‘spiritual body’) must never be taught as a ghost-like, immaterial existence, but as a true, transformed, tangible body empowered by the Spirit — a positive claim requiring explicit teaching for readers formed by either Hindu soul-escape or Buddhist anatta frameworks.
Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
Marathi name: मूर्तींना अर्पिलेल्या अन्नाबाबत ख्रिस्ती स्वातंत्र्य
Key terms: food sacrificed to idols, idol, knowledge, conscience, stumbling block
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: मूर्तींना अर्पिलेले अन्न must never be rendered नैवेद्य or प्रसाद, the standard positively-loaded Marathi/Hindu devotional terms for food ritually offered to and received back from a deity as a blessing (central to Warkari, Ganpati, and broader Hindu household practice); the passage’s ethical argument depends entirely on this food being understood as spiritually neutral-but-associated-with-false-worship, and a devotional loanword would reverse the very point being made.
Idolatry and Demonic Powers
Marathi name: मूर्तिपूजा आणि दुष्ट आत्मिक सामर्थ्ये
Key terms: idolatry, demons, cup of demons, table of demons
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: मूर्तिपूजा is the exact, everyday descriptive term Hindu neighbors themselves use for their own image-worship practice, so the biblical prohibition must be rendered with its full seriousness intact without gratuitous polemical embellishment. भूत (demon) is the everyday term for a malevolent folk ghost-spirit in rural Maharashtra’s bhūt-pisāch belief system, complete with its own appeasement/exorcism practices; Paul’s point — real spiritual powers stand behind idol worship and are to be fled from, not ritually managed — requires explicit teaching to avoid readers assimilating this to folk-exorcism assumptions.
Love as the Greater Way
Marathi name: प्रीती — सर्वश्रेष्ठ मार्ग
Key terms: love, patient, kind, not puffed up, greatest of these is love
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Marathi has three candidate words for ‘love’ — प्रेम (common, often romantic/affectionate), भक्ति (devotional reverence directed at a deity, already loaded with Warkari devotion toward Vitthal per the Romans baseline grace entry), and प्रीती (the term with the strongest established Marathi Christian Bible usage for covenantal, self-giving agapē). प्रीती must be fixed and never allowed to drift to प्रेम’s romantic connotation or भक्ति’s devotee-to-deity reverential connotation.
Grace
Marathi name: कृपा
Key terms: grace of God, by the grace of God I am what I am, grace was not in vain
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: 15:10 is a prime teaching text: Paul’s entire apostolic identity and labor are attributed to unearned favor, not merit — कृपा must not read as devotional favor cultivated through bhakti toward Vitthal, and for Buddhist-background readers (whose ethical framework is entirely self-cultivation along the Eightfold Path) the concept of an externally given, unearned gift needs to be built up positively, not merely contrasted with a rejected alternative.
Salvation
Marathi name: तारण
Key terms: saved, being saved, salvation
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: तारण in 15:2’s present-passive ‘you are being saved’ must not be read as self-achieved ongoing spiritual progress akin to Eightfold Path cultivation, but as God’s continuing preservation of those he has already delivered through the fixed, historical gospel content of 15:3-4; never मोक्ष, मुक्ती, or निर्वाण.
Deity of Christ
Marathi name: ख्रिस्ताचे ईश्वरत्व
Key terms: one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, God over all
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Christ’s co-equal, undiminished divine nature (‘through whom are all things,’ 8:6) must not read as a beloved, humbly-postured personal deity like Vitthal within a devotee’s chosen pantheon, nor as an enlightened human teacher elevated in memory, the closest available Buddhist category.
Sonship of Christ
Marathi name: ख्रिस्ताचे पुत्रत्व
Key terms: the Son himself will be subjected, Son of God
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: the Son’s eternal, unique relationship to the Father in 15:28’s climactic subjection language must not be read as diminishing Christ’s co-equal deity, nor collapsed into a title of honor bestowed on an especially devoted or enlightened figure.
Lordship of Christ
Marathi name: ख्रिस्ताचे प्रभुत्व
Key terms: Jesus is Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, Lord of all
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: 12:3’s confession (‘no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit’) must convey exclusive, supreme, presently-reigning Lordship — not one more beloved personal deity alongside Vitthal within a devotee’s bhakti practice, however sincere that devotion is.
High Risk Doctrines
Christian Unity versus Factionalism
Marathi name: ख्रिस्ती एकता आणि गटबाजीविरुद्ध शिकवण
Key terms: divisions, schisms, I follow Paul/Apollos/Cephas, body of Christ, no division in the body
Review routing: Human theologian
फूट (division/schism) risks mapping the Corinthian party-loyalty problem onto Maharashtra’s living experience of caste and sect-based group identity (jāti/sampradāya loyalty); translators must ensure the passage reads as a rebuke of spiritual immaturity around Christ’s singular Lordship, never as normalizing faction-based social identity as a natural or acceptable category.
The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Marathi name: ज्ञान आणि सामर्थ्य म्हणून क्रूस
Key terms: wisdom, foolishness, power of God, cross, word of the cross
Review routing: Human theologian
ज्ञान (the only available Marathi rendering for σοφία) is the identical lexeme used for the Bhagavad Gita’s jñāna-mārga (self-attained liberating knowledge) and Buddhist prajñā (wisdom cultivated through disciplined meditative insight); this doctrine’s argument runs precisely opposite to both — God’s wisdom is disclosed in a crucified deliverer and appears as foolishness by every human wisdom-standard, not self-discovered through inquiry or meditation. Requires explicit contrastive teaching wherever ज्ञान appears.
Church Discipline and Holiness
Marathi name: मंडळीतील शिस्त आणि पवित्रता
Key terms: sexual immorality, leaven, judge those inside, purity
Review routing: Human theologian
व्यभिचार (sexual immorality) and church discipline language must be rendered with moral clarity while retaining the restorative aim of discipline (5:5); Marathi honor-shame social dynamics could otherwise turn the passage into unqualified public condemnation without hope of restoration, contrary to Paul’s intent.
Restorative Church Discipline (Deliver to Satan)
Marathi name: सुधारणाभिमुख शिस्त
Key terms: deliver to Satan, destruction of the flesh, spirit may be saved
Review routing: Human theologian
सैतानाच्या स्वाधीन करणे (handing over to Satan) must be clearly taught as a severe but restorative act of church discipline aimed at the offender’s ultimate salvation (5:5b), and must be sharply distinguished from folk exorcism or curse-removal practices (jādū-ṭonā) that are part of the wider Maharashtrian religious landscape, where ‘handing someone over’ to a spiritual power carries a very different, occult connotation.
The Body as Temple of the Holy Spirit
Marathi name: पवित्र आत्म्याचे मंदिर म्हणून शरीर आणि मंडळी
Key terms: temple, dwells in you, body is a temple
Review routing: Human theologian
मंदिर is the everyday Marathi word for a Hindu temple/shrine housing a मूर्ती (idol); Paul’s own deliberate OT-sanctuary metaphor is doctrinally correct here but requires explicit teaching that the congregation (3:16) and the individual believer’s body (6:19) are God’s dwelling-place through the Spirit’s personal indwelling presence, not a site housing a venerated image approached for darshan, nor a yogic ‘energy vessel’ cultivated through ascetic practice.
Marriage and Singleness
Marathi name: विवाह आणि अविवाहितपण
Key terms: marriage, virgin, unmarried, divorce, calling
Review routing: Human theologian
अविवाहित (unmarried/singleness) must not be taught through the lens of strong Maharashtrian social pressure that treats an unmarried adult as socially deficient or incomplete; Paul commends singleness as a valid, even advantageous, grace-gift (7:7), not a lesser state. पाचारण (calling, reused from the Romans baseline) applied to one’s marital/social state (7:17-24) must not be misread as endorsing a fixed, unchangeable caste-like social station.
The Lord’s Supper
Marathi name: प्रभूभोजन
Key terms: Lord’s Supper, this do in remembrance, discerning the body, cup of the Lord
Review routing: Human theologian
प्रभूभोजन is the established sacramental term but must be kept doctrinally distinct both from a merely social shared meal and from Hindu prasad-distribution rituals (where blessed food is received back from a deity); the passage’s seriousness (self-examination, discerning the body, divine judgment for careless participation, 11:27-30) must be preserved rather than softened into a purely commemorative social custom.
Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ
Marathi name: आत्मिक कृपादान आणि ख्रिस्ताचे शरीर
Key terms: spiritual gifts, body of Christ, members, tongues, one Spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
ख्रिस्ताचे शरीर (Body of Christ) is this book’s central unity metaphor and carries unusually direct resonance for readers with lived caste-hierarchy experience, whether Hindu or Ambedkarite Buddhist background; 12:22-24’s claim that ‘less honorable’ members receive greater honor and no member is dispensable must be taught as a direct doctrinal reversal of any hierarchy-of-worth model. अन्यभाषा (tongues) is doctrinally contested across denominational traditions and must be rendered literally without presupposing a cessationist or continuationist reading.
Order in Worship
Marathi name: उपासनेतील सुव्यवस्था
Key terms: order, decently and in order, edification, prophecy and tongues in worship
Review routing: Native speaker review
सुव्यवस्था (order) as the guiding criterion for worship practice must be taught as service to mutual edification (उन्नती), not conformity to an external ritual-purity or caste-based seating/ordering convention some readers may associate with traditional temple worship protocol. Cultural sensitivity around worship-order metaphors warrants native speaker review rather than a purely doctrinal escalation.
Head Covering and Gender Order in Worship
Marathi name: मस्तकावरील आच्छादन आणि पुरुष-स्त्री व्यवस्था
Key terms: head, headship, head covering, glory of man/woman
Review routing: Human theologian
शीर्ष/मस्तक (head/headship) sits at the center of a live complementarian/egalitarian interpretive debate; translators must render the κεφαλή metaphor accurately without pre-resolving ‘source’ vs. ‘authority-over’ beyond what the Greek text itself supports. Must be routed for theologian review per gender-sensitive escalation rules rather than settled by translator word choice alone.
Women’s Role in Worship Assemblies
Marathi name: उपासनेतील स्त्रियांची भूमिका
Key terms: women keep silent, let them ask their own husbands at home
Review routing: Human theologian
मौन धारण करावे (let women be silent) sits in significant, unresolved tension with 11:5 (which assumes women pray and prophesy aloud in worship); the scope and application of 14:34-35 is contested across the Marathi Christian interpretive tradition itself, and translators must not resolve this tension unilaterally through word choice.
Sainthood (Called to be Holy)
Marathi name: पवित्र जन होण्याचे पाचारण
Key terms: saints, called to be holy, sanctified in Christ Jesus
Review routing: Human theologian
All believers are addressed corporately as पवित्र जन; संत (the revered Warkari poet-saint category — Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Namdev, Chokhamela) must never be used, per the Romans baseline precedent, since it names an elite spiritual-literary class rather than the status of every believer in Corinth.
Inspiration of Scripture
Marathi name: पवित्रशास्त्राची प्रेरणा
Key terms: according to the Scriptures, it is written, the Spirit searches
Review routing: Human theologian
God-breathed Scripture, cited as the authoritative basis for the gospel’s death-burial-resurrection content (15:3-4), must be distinguished from both the devotional abhang poetry of the Warkari sant-poets (treasured wisdom, not claiming God’s own spoken word) and the Buddhist Tripitaka/Ambedkar’s reinterpreted Dhamma writings, which claim authority as teaching rather than divine revelation.
Fulfillment of Prophecy
Marathi name: भविष्यवाणीची पूर्तता
Key terms: according to the Scriptures, death is swallowed up in victory
Review routing: Human theologian
The linear, one-time, historically anchored fulfillment claimed in 15:3-4 (and the Isaiah/Hosea citations of 15:54-55) must not be assimilated to the cyclical cosmic time of Hindu yuga cycles or the Buddhist wheel of dependent origination, in which no single historical moment carries unrepeatable, final significance.
Faith
Marathi name: विश्वास
Key terms: faith, believe, stand firm in the faith
Review routing: Human theologian
विश्वास is personal trust in Christ’s historically-anchored death and resurrection specifically (15:14, 17 — ‘if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile’), not the devotional reverence (bhakti/śraddhā) a Warkari devotee directs toward Vitthal, nor confidence placed in a self-cultivated path.
Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Marathi name: यहूदी आणि अन्यजातीय यांची एकता
Key terms: Jews and Greeks, one body, one Spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
12:13’s ‘in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free’ directly challenges caste-based spiritual hierarchy and must be translated with full theological clarity, not softened; this claim has unusually direct resonance for readers whose community memory includes escaping caste hierarchy through the 1956 Ambedkarite Buddhist conversion.
Medium Risk Doctrines
Apostleship
Marathi name: प्रेषितपण
Key terms: apostle, called to be an apostle, least of the apostles
Review routing: Native speaker review
प्रेषित risks collapsing into a generic guru or social-reform-movement leader role; Paul’s self-description as ‘least of the apostles… by the grace of God’ (15:9-10) must retain the sent, commissioned, grace-dependent nature of the office, not a self-attained teaching authority.
Apostolic Suffering and Stewardship
Marathi name: प्रेषितांचे दुःखसहन आणि कारभारीपण
Key terms: steward, fools for Christ’s sake, we have become as the scum of the world
Review routing: Native speaker review
कारभारी (steward) must be understood as a trustee accountable to an owner (God), not an independently authoritative guru-figure; Paul’s voluntary foregoing of apostolic rights (ch. 9) must be taught as gospel-motivated self-denial, not merit-generating renunciation (tapasya).
Church as God’s People
Marathi name: देवाची प्रजा म्हणून मंडळी
Key terms: church of God, body of Christ, the churches of the saints
Review routing: Native speaker review
मंडळी is God’s gathered new covenant community, never देऊळ/मंदिर (a Hindu temple building); Paul’s own former persecution ‘of the church of God’ (15:9) underscores this is a people, not a building or ritual institution.
Low Risk Doctrines
Christian Fellowship
Marathi name: ख्रिस्ती सहभागिता
Key terms: fellowship, called into fellowship with his Son, participation in the blood of Christ
Review routing: Automated review
Shared participation in Christ and with fellow believers through the Lord’s Supper; standard low-risk term, though 10:16-20 pairs it with the idol-feast contrast and should be cross-checked against the higher-risk idolatry and Lord’s Supper doctrine entries.
Referenced passages