Athens to Corinth

 Third Tuesday in Easter

Lectionary Texts:

Acts 4:1-12

John 10:6 -10

As we return to our Acts Bible Study, please read Acts 18:1-4.

Paul travels west from Athens to Corinth. I have made this trip many times (probably about 8), usually on a tour bus, once in a taxi that was a Mercedes stretch limo. It takes about an hour and a half. It took Paul a lot longer. The scenery is beautiful in summer. You can see some smaller Greek islands and the Bay of Salamis, where the decisive naval battle was fought in 479 B.C., which ended the Persian War and began the Golden Age of Greece. You cross the Isthmus of Corinth, including a bridge over the canal now. There was no canal in Paul's day. 

Corinth was an ancient city going back to the 6th century B.C. The Romans destroyed the city in 146 B.C.  during the Fourth Macedonian War. All that was left was the beautiful Temple of Apollo, which looks out on the Gulf of Corinth. In the other direction it looks up to the fortress of Acro-Corinth. I thought I would never get up there, since the dirt road is too small for buses. I mentioned this to our taxi driver that one time we weren't on a bus. He said, "Oh, I can take you up there." The road ends about 300 feet from the summit. Marianne and I walked/climbed the rest. The view was incredible. I think I may be getting more into a travelogue here, so let me get back to Paul.

 

When Paul arrived in Athens in 50 or 51 A.D., there were already at least two Jewish believers in Christ there, the wife and husband, Priscilla and Aquila. They had come from Rome, after the emperor Claudius expelled all the Jews from Rome in 49 A.D. Paul and Aquila went into business together. They were tentmakers. Corinth was a newly built "modern" city when Paul arrived. The archaeological ruins of Corinth are from this time. We can see the ruins of rows of shops, one of which my have been their tent shop. Paul stayed with Priscilla and Aquila for a year and a half, well longer than he would be in any other place during his missionary travels. I think he may have intended to settle down there and watch the church which he, Priscilla, and Aquila were establishing, grow in both number and influence. A conflict with Jewish authorities and the failure of the Governor, Gallio, to mediate the conflict, forced them to leave. The church they established did endure. Paul would later write at least three letters to the Church at Corinth. Two are in the NT. 1 Corinthians refers to a previous letter Paul had written to the Church at Corinth (I call it 0 Corinthians), which we don't have. 

 

Corinth was a major seaport with an excellent natural harbor. With many ships from many provinces putting in to port there, Corinth was a cosmopolitan city. Many languages were spoken, many cultures were represented, and of course many religions. The Corinthians were used to new people and new ideas. Corinth was a fertile ground for this new religion of Christianity. 

 

Luke writes far fewer verses on Paul's time in Corinth than in other cities where Paul spent much less time. He was not with Paul in Corinth. Perhaps his sources were more limited. More likely, things went smoothly for Paul in Corinth, at least until the few days. There were likely no great escapes or wondrous miracles. It was just an ordinary time for church growth in a great city, at least until Paul's last few weeks there. Luke, like most historians, was much more inclined to write about exciting events than everyday living. 

 

The rapid growth of the Corinthian church would lead to a variety of internal problems after Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila left. Those problems would be the principal subjects of 1 and 2 Corinthians, which Paul wrote from Ephesus in the couple of years after he left. 

God of all peoples, planets, and galaxies,

We have been enduring a difficult time with the pandemic. Bring us back to the blessed ordinary, when we can grow our churches once again. Amen.

Faithfully,

Christian