Keys to First Corinthians is a collection of articles by Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, conveniently reprinted in a single volume. Each of the articles appears in the exact form in which it originally was published; however, to each article, Murphy-O'Connor has attached a helpful postscript, which first clearly restates his original thesis and then reviews how the thesis stands today in light of intervening developments in the field. Most chapters address a very specific unresolved interpretative issue in a particular verse or passage of 1 Corinthians.

Nevertheless, there are some recurring themes. Murphy-O'Connor argues that an ‘over-realized eschatology’ in Corinth has resulted in a devaluation of the physical body for the majority of the members of the Corinthian church (e.g. pp. 22, 80). According to Murphy-O'Connor, the view of the majority stands in direct contrast to the value Paul places on bodies. However, how Murphy-O'Connor knows the majority of Corinthians have an over-realised eschatology seems related to another recurring issue – ‘the need to determine as objectively as possible the positions adopted by the Corinthians’ (p. 20). Murphy-O'Connor refers to these positions as ‘Corinthian slogans’, which he defines as ‘citations of Corinthian statements which occur occasionally in the Apostle's argumentation’ (p. 20). Many chapters in the volume deal with determining whether a particular ‘slogan’ should be attributed to Paul's perspective or to that of the Corinthians.

In chapter 3, for example, Murphy-O'Connor argues that all of 6:13 and 6:18b should be read as ‘Corinthian slogans’, since both verses appear to portray the body as irrelevant (p. 24). But how does one know these verses are ‘Corinthian slogans’? Murphy-O'Connor admits in the postscript to this chapter that there are no external markers to denote ‘Corinthian slogans’. According to him, this is only a problem for those of us who read the text far removed from the original context of the letter; ‘the Corinthians would recognize words that they had spoken’ (p. 26). How, then, can Murphy-O'Connor recognise ‘Corinthian slogans’? In this instance, he bases his argument on Paul's response in 6:14, which he interprets as Paul's positive statement about corporeality in contrast to the Corinthians’ devaluation of the body (p. 23). Therefore, Murphy-O'Connor concludes that Paul himself cannot have held the opinions expressed in verses 13 and 18, since these statements represent the views of the Corinthians and not Paul's views. Yet, it is not entirely clear how Murphy-O'Connor knows which views should be attributed to Paul, since Paul's views also appear without introduction in 1 Corinthians. As a result, some chapters arguing for particular slogans are more convincing than others, depending on whether or not one accepts Murphy-O'Connor's claims about the position of the majority of Corinthians in relationship to Paul's position in a particular verse or passage.

Beyond the interpretation of particular verses, several essays attempt to reconstruct the historical setting of the letter. In the first chapter, Murphy-O'Connor lays out one of his more controversial theses: namely, Sosthenes co-authored 1 Corinthians with Paul. Chapter 12 is an analysis of practical aspects of eucharist at the Corinthian church in light of recent archaeological findings about early house churches and their social structures. The final chapter of the book reviews the evidence for interpolations in the Corinthian correspondence (chapter 16).

While a methodological explanation of how Murphy-O'Connor approaches historical reconstruction (including determining ‘Corinthian slogans’) might have strengthened the volume, the collection, nevertheless, draws attention to key difficulties which remain unresolved in the interpretation of 1 Corinthians. Moreover, Murphy-O'Connor's careful attention to the text and the clarity of his writing demand attention.