1 Corinthians 1:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Having thus rebuked those in error, and having added, "I also baptized the household of Stephanas" (1 Cor 1:16), he again casts down their pride with the words, "Beyond that. I do not know whether I baptized anyone else." Here he shows that he did not try to gain honor for himself from the people through such an act, nor did he approach it for glory. Not only by these words, but also by those that follow, he strongly strikes their pride: "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel" (1 Cor 1:17).

"I also baptized the household of Stephanas." That is, all who were in Stephanas’s house. He was a great and very distinguished man in Corinth. "Whether I baptized anyone else, I do not know." Baptizing is so far from flattering to me, he says, that I do not even remember whether I baptized anyone else. How, then, do you boast in baptism?

The holy Apostle also baptized the household, that is, the family, of the virtuous Stephanas, who showed hospitality to Orthodox Christians (1 Cor 16:15). Did I baptize anyone else in Corinth? I do not know, says the holy Apostle.

The Apostle strengthens the accusation with each added word, yet he does not strike the accused severely. He puts his own person in place of the Corinthian teachers. He also gives them to understand that they named themselves not only after teachers, but also after those who baptized them. He then presents the reason why he did not baptize many.

Crispus was the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth, where Paul baptized him with his whole household.

Three men named Gaius are found in Holy Scripture. The first was a Macedonian, Paul's companion in Ephesus (Acts 19:29).

The second was a Thessalonian, who followed him even as far as Asia (Acts 20:4).

The third was his host and the host of the whole Church (Rom 16:23).

Since he says, "none of you," that is, I baptized none of you Corinthians except Crispus and Gaius, it follows that Gaius also was a Corinthian, like Crispus.

From this one may conclude that he is not speaking here of the Macedonian or the Thessalonian, but of the Gaius whom he called his host.

He received both Paul himself when he was in Corinth and all the faithful who came there.

"The household of Stephanas." Stephanas, or more precisely Stephana, was a Corinthian Christian. The Apostle calls his household the firstfruits of Achaia (1 Cor 16:15). Perhaps Epaenetus belonged to this household (Rom 16:5). "Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else." The Apostle could say this not because of the forgetfulness common to all men, but because he did not know for certain which of those baptized by him might still have been in Corinth at that time.

Then the Apostle sets forth how groundless the Corinthian disagreements are (1 Cor 1:13-16).

"Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" (1 Cor 1:13).

By the first question the Apostle wanted to show the Corinthians their groundlessness.

If their various teachers do not preach different Christs, but on the contrary one and the same Christ is the subject of their common preaching, then it is extremely unreasonable to place oneself under the headship of one teacher in preference to another.

By the remaining questions the Apostle directly sets forth the obvious absurdity contained in their thought. Yet this thought could be attributed to the Corinthians because of their divisions, as though their teachers were also their redeemers.

Turning to himself and to similar persons, the Apostle proclaims that the circumstance of who performed the Baptism of this or that person gives no occasion for division.

In entering Christianity, from the human point of view, the more difficult work is not Baptism, but preaching the Gospel and preparing for it.

Thus, when the Apostle Paul sends up thanksgiving to God that he baptized few, he does not diminish Baptism or those who perform it.

On the contrary, he even exalts it, and at the same time removes every possibility of finding in himself an occasion for divisions.

For division according to those who baptize may seem in Christianity to have greater significance than division according to the dignity of teachers.

The Apostle has listed by name all those baptized by him.

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, was the first to believe in the Lord with his whole household. Following his example, many others believed and were baptized.

This happened as soon as Saint Paul left the Jews and began teaching in the house of Justus (Acts 18:8).

In the Apostolic Constitutions it is said that this Crispus was appointed bishop of Egypt (book 7, chapter 46).

Gaius was the one with whom Saint Paul stayed when he arrived in Corinth after this epistle. From his house the Apostle wrote the Epistle to the Romans and conveyed his greeting from him.

"Gaius, my host and the host of the whole Church, greets you" (Rom 16:23).