Sentence:  To be sure , when this is pointed out , a common response among certain churchmen is to fulminate about `` the little flock '' and `` the great crowd '' and to take solace from Paul 's castigation of the `` wisdom of the wise '' in the <WSD>opening</WSD> chapter of First Corinthians . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  first or beginning