Week 27: Paul in Corinth

The Big Picture

Paul’s arrival in Corinth marks one of the most strategically important moments in the expansion of the early church. After his mixed reception in Athens, where philosophical sophistication yielded only a handful of converts, Paul comes to a city that could hardly be more different. Corinth was a booming Roman colony, a commercial crossroads situated on the narrow isthmus connecting mainland Greece to the Peloponnese. Its two harbors – Lechaeum on the Corinthian Gulf and Cenchreae on the Saronic Gulf – made it a gateway between East and West. Goods, people, religions, and vices flowed through Corinth in equal measure. The city’s reputation for moral excess was so widespread that the Greek verb “to Corinthianize” (korinthiazomai) had become a euphemism for sexual immorality. A massive temple to Aphrodite sat atop the Acrocorinth, the imposing hill that dominated the city skyline. Into this environment Paul brings the gospel, and here he will stay for eighteen months – his longest missionary residence to this point.

In Corinth, Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla, Jewish tentmakers recently expelled from Rome by the emperor Claudius. This couple will become among the most important co-workers in Paul’s entire ministry. Paul works alongside them at the tentmaking trade while reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath. When Silas and Timothy arrive from Macedonia, Paul devotes himself fully to preaching, and the inevitable conflict with the synagogue follows. But in Corinth, the opposition leads to a remarkable turn: Crispus, the synagogue ruler himself, believes, and Paul moves next door to the house of Titius Justus. The Lord speaks to Paul in a night vision – “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you” – and promises that “I have many people in this city.” When the Jews drag Paul before Gallio, the Roman proconsul of Achaia, Gallio dismisses the case as an internal Jewish dispute, inadvertently establishing an important legal precedent for the early church.

It is during this Corinthian stay, around 50-51 AD, that Paul writes his two letters to the Thessalonians. Timothy has just returned from Thessalonica with an encouraging report: the young church is standing firm under persecution, growing in faith and love. But they have questions – especially about believers who have died before Christ’s return. Paul’s response in 1 Thessalonians is one of the warmest and most pastoral letters in the New Testament. He reminds them of his ministry among them, expresses his deep affection, and offers both comfort about the dead in Christ and instruction about the Day of the Lord. These are among the earliest documents in the New Testament, written barely two decades after the crucifixion, and they open a window into what the first Christians believed, practiced, and hoped for.

This Week’s Readings

Key Characters

• Paul – Apostle to the Gentiles, now planting a church in one of the Roman Empire’s most important cities
• Aquila & Priscilla – Jewish couple, tentmakers, expelled from Rome, who become Paul’s close co-workers
• Silas & Timothy – Paul’s traveling companions who arrive from Macedonia with support and news
• Crispus – Synagogue ruler in Corinth who believes in Christ
• Titius Justus – God-fearer whose house becomes Paul’s base after leaving the synagogue
• Gallio – Roman proconsul of Achaia who dismisses the Jewish charges against Paul

Key Locations

• Corinth – Major port city on the isthmus, capital of Roman Achaia
• Synagogue in Corinth – Where Paul initially preaches every Sabbath
• Gallio’s Judgment Seat (Bema) – The raised platform in the Corinthian agora where the proconsul heard cases
• Thessalonica – The Macedonian city whose young church Paul addresses by letter

Key Themes

• The gospel in a pagan city – Paul brings the message of Christ into one of the most morally and religiously diverse cities in the empire
• Faithful labor and partnership – Tentmaking, co-workers, and the practical realities of missionary life
• Comfort concerning the dead in Christ – Paul addresses the fear that deceased believers have missed the Lord’s return
• Holy living in an unholy world – Sexual purity, love for one another, and quiet faithfulness as marks of the Christian life
• The second coming of Christ – The return of Jesus is the dominant theme of both Thessalonian letters

Memory Verse

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17