Now I entreat you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to cultivate a spirit of harmony –all of you– and that there be no divisions among you, but rather a perfect union through your having one mind and one judgement.
What I mean is that each of you is a partisan. One man says »I belong to Paul;« another »I belong to Apollos;« a third »I belong to Peter;« a fourth »I belong to Christ.«
for, in the first place, when you meet as a Church, there are divisions among you. This is what I am told, and I believe that there is some truth in it.
you are still unspiritual. For so long as jealousy and strife continue among you, can it be denied that you are unspiritual and are living and acting like mere men of the world?
For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may not find you to be what I desire, and that you may find me to be what you do not desire; that perhaps there may be contention, jealousy, bitter feeling, party spirit, ill-natured talk, backbiting, undue eulogy, unrest;
he is puffed up with pride and has no true knowledge, but is crazy over discussions and controversies about words which give rise to envy, quarrelling, revilings, ill-natured suspicions,