The divisions in the Corinthian church are catalogued by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:12: "Each of you says, 'I follow Paul, ' or 'I follow Apollos, ' or 'I follow Cephas, ' or 'I follow Christ.']? White shows how these splits are found in the milieu of 1st-century Graeco-Roman education. By consulting relevant literary and epigraphic evidence, White develops a picture of ancient education throughout the Empire generally, and in Roman Corinth specifically. This serves as a backdrop to the situation in the Christian community, wherein some of the elite, educated members preferred Apollos to Paul as a teacher since Apollos more closely resembled other teachers of higher studies.

White takes a new and different direction to other studies in the field, arguing that it is against the values inculcated through "higher education+? in general that the teachers are being compared. By starting with this broader category, one that much better reflects the very eclectic nature of Graeco-Roman education, a sustained reading of 1 Corinthians 1-4 is made possible.