For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
All Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 11:18 Go To 1 Corinthians 11
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
For first of all . . . I hear that there be divisions among you. Observe the word "Church," which shows that, in the time of S. Paul, there were places set apart for worship. For the early form of churches, their paintings, use of the Cross, the separation of the sexes, &c, see Baronius in his commentary on this verse.
The Apostle here passes from the subject of the veiling of women to correct the abuses of the Corinthians in the Eucharist.
For there must also be heresies among you. Looking at the fickleness, pride, newness in the faith, and quarrelsomeness of the Corinthians, who were saying, "I am of Paul, I of Apollos," which God permitted to prove them, it was necessary that there should he heresies. So Cajetan, Ambrose, Chrysostom. "Heresies" here denotes the divisions on points of faith and manners, which existed among the Corinthians about the Eucharist, e.g, where they should sit, when the Supper should begin, about the food and drink, about the persons they should sit down with. In the Lord"s Supper and the agap, the rich Corinthians excluded the poor and had their meat by themselves.
That they which are approved may be made manifest among you. In the time of heresy and schism, we see who are built on the foundation of faith and piety, as here amongst the Corinthians was seen the patient constancy of the poor, who were scorned by the rich, and also the modesty and charity of the rich who hated divisions, and invited the poor to their feasts and their agapæ. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, Å’cumenius.
