Tuesday · Jun 30
The City of Corinth
Read Acts 18:1–3; 1 Corinthians 5:9–11; and 1 Corinthians 8:4. What do these verses teach us about business, behavior, and religious life in Corinth?
Corinth was an important center for trade in ancient times. The kingdom of Rome destroyed the city of Corinth in 146 b.c. Julius Caesar rebuilt the city as a Roman colony in 44 b.c. This new colony was the Corinth that Paul wrote about in the New Testament. In Paul’s time, Corinth was one of the most powerful cities, along with Athens. In some ways, Corinth was a more powerful city than Athens. Corinth had two important shipping harbors. These harbors made business easy for people who sell things. These merchants could buy, sell, or trade their goods easily in these harbors.
Paul chose Corinth because it was an important city and was in an excellent location. “God gave Paul success in sharing the Good News in Corinth. The church in Corinth became an important religious center. From there, God’s followers shared the Good News everywhere on earth.”—Ellen G. White, Sketches From the Life of Paul, page 99, adapted.
Paul easily supported himself in Corinth. He made and sold tents for a living while he preached the Good News about Jesus there ( Acts 18:2, 3 ). For sure, Paul’s work for God in that large and rich city wasn’t always easy. The people in Corinth worshiped many gods ( 1 Corinthians 8:5 ). These gods included Apollo, Athena, Aphrodite, and the Egyptian gods Serapis and Isis.
Corinth was also famous for its sex sins. Strabo is a Greek history writer who talks about Corinth’s sex sins. Strabo wrote that 1,000 prostitutes served the god Aphrodite in her temple at Corinth. A prostitute is someone who sells sex for pay. Many Bible thinkers believe that Strabo lied about the number of prostitutes. Why? To make Corinth look bad and to make Athens look good. Whatever the real number is, sex sins were a real problem in Corinth. Sex sins were part of daily life. This information helps us understand much of what happens in 1 and 2 Corinthians.
The city of Corinth was filled with sex sins and the statues of false gods. How different are our cities today from Corinth? What makes our sharing the Good News so hard in our cities and communities today? How can we share the Good News with success in these difficult places?