Lesson 7
Terms to know:
Isthmus Cenchrea
Acrocorinth Lechaeum
Diolkos Saronic Gulf
Asclepius Corinthian Gulf
Aphrodite Apollo
A. Paul's missionary teams were birthed out of necessity.
1. He took men with him on 2nd missionary trip to disciple them more than anything - but he also has to rely on them later.
B. The second phase of Paul's apostolic gifting is manifested at Corinth.
1. First phase was - itinerant evangelist, support man, then 2nd - head of team, pastor, and later 3rd - coordinator, facilitator and administrator of mission work.
C. This is the first time Paul is the primary leadership of a church. He pastors Corinth church. But why now? Why not in other places? 1-½ years there.
1. Other churches in Galatia were in towns of 10,000 -20,000.
2. Philippi & Thess. - 50,000 to 100,000.
3. Athens - 100,000 to 150,000
4. Each city had impact geographically on their area.
D. Paul ends up at Corinth.
1. What is different about it?
2. Corinth is a city of 250,000 inhabitants.
3. Free people are in a different kind of classification.
4. May have been a city of close to 500,000 total?
5. It had the status of being ranked second in the empire after Rome and before Antioch and Alexandria. It is an "energy center". --- define?
6. Corinth was the chief city of Greece in numbers, while Athens was the eye of the religious/philosophy world –
7. Corinth was the eye of commerce and society.
8. It was the wealthiest city in Greece.
9. Few cities in ancient world could match it's commerce.
E. Corinth was located on isthmus (strip of land bordered by water on two sides) –
1. East side of Saronic Gulf and west side of Corinthian Gulf.
2. Corinth was in the middle of the isthmus.
3. The east port was Cenchrea, 6 miles to the east on the Saronic Gulf.
4. The west port was Lechaeum, 1 1/2 miles on Corinthian Gulf side.
F. CORINTH.
1. A city of Greece at the W end of the isthmus between central Greece and the Peloponnesus, in control of trade routes between N Greece and the Peloponnesus and across the isthmus.
2. The latter was particularly important because much trade was taken across the isthmus rather than round the stormy S promontories of the Peloponnesus.
3. There were two harbors,
a. Lechaeum 2.5 km W on the Corinthian Gulf, connected with the city by long walls; and
b. Cenchreae 14 km E on the Saronic Gulf.
4. Corinth thus became a flourishing center of trade, as well as of industry, particularly ceramics.
5. The town is dominated by the Acrocorinth (566 m), a steep, flat-topped rock surmounted by the acropolis, which in ancient times contained, inter alia, a temple of Aphrodite, goddess of love, whose service gave rise to the city's proverbial immorality, notorious already by the time of Aristophanes.
6. In 46 bc Corinth was rebuilt by Caesar and began to recover its prosperity. Augustus made it the capital of the new province of Achaea, now detached from Macedonia and ruled by a separate proconsular governor.
G. The Peloponnesus was the landmass that the isthmus connected to Achaia.
H. Paul's 18-months' stay in Corinth in his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1-18) has been dated by an inscription from Delphi which shows that Gallio came to Corinth as proconsul in ad 51 or 52 (Acts 18:12-17;
I. A major city of antiquity that controlled the isthmus between mainland Greece and the Peloponnesus.
J. Situated at the foot of the Acrocorinth (altitude 1,886 feet) and later including it within its fortification walls, the city was founded by Dorian Greeks in the tenth century B.C. and had established colonies at Corfu and Syracuse (Sicily) by the eighth century b.c.
1. The Acrocorinth was fortified by the sixth century, but most extant remains there date only from the fourth century b.c.
2. Corinth controlled the ports at Lechaeum on the Gulf of Corinth and at Cenchreae on the Saronic Gulf, drawing much of its wealth from the commerce that passed between the Adriatic and the Aegean seas.
3. The five-foot-wide rock-cut track (Gk. diolkos) for wheeling ships across the isthmus was constructed by the tyrant Periander (ca. 625-585 b.c.).
4. By 400 b.c., long walls connected Corinth to Lechaeum and the population may have approached 100,000.
5. The leader of the Achaian League when Rome demanded its dissolution in 147 b.c., Corinth resisted, but was sacked and utterly destroyed in 146 b.c. by the consul Lucius Mummius, who slaughtered the men and sold the women and children into slavery. For a hundred years, it appears that only a handful of squatters occupied the site.
K. In 44 B.C., Julius Caesar undertook to refound the city, naming it Colonia Laus Julia Corinthiensis and populating it with Italian freedmen (Roman citizens).
1. Latin, indeed, continued to dominate public inscriptions until well into the second century a.d., although most of the citizens must have spoken Greek by the time of Paul’s arrival ca. a.d. 50, due to the influx of Greeks from neighboring areas.
2. Approximately half of the names of people in Corinth mentioned in the nt are Greek, half Latin. In 27 B.C., Corinth was named capital of the senatorial province of Achaia, seat of the ruling proconsul. Probably had two synagogues.
3. Corinth was an immoral city, a sailor town.
a. People came there from traversing all over the world, looking for a good time - and Corinth provided it.
b. The citizens of Corinth could flee to the Acrocorinth during invasion.
c. It was 3/4 mile in width and had a spring as a source for water. A large temple was located on the top of the plateau, called the temple of Aphrodite.
d. It held 1000 temple prostitutes. Corinth had a perverse sexual reputation. To "play the Corinthian", in Latin vernacular, meant to have loose morals.
4. Corinth had 12 temples in the city proper.
a. The temple of Asclepius - God of Healing,
b. Temple of Apollo, - in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and father of Asclepius.
c. A god of prophecy. Also was a gifted musician who delighted the gods with his performance on the lyre.
d. He was a master archer and fleet-footed athlete.
e. He was the special protector of young men, the god of agriculture and cattle and light and truth. He taught humans the art of healing.
L. Acts 18:1 Paul left Athens and went to Corinth, maybe due to it's large size and influence.
1. There he met a Jew named Aquilla and his wife Priscilla.
2. He might have been a Roman citizen from Pontus.
3. Priscilla probably not a Jew, probably Roman.
4. Her family was from Rome, and she was therefore a convert to Judaism.
M. As to whether they were Christians when they met Paul in Corinth - Bruce says yes.
1. Claudius expelled Jews from Rome.
2. Rioting had occurred over Christians.
3. They were in Corinth 4-6 months before Paul arrived.
4. They had set up manufacturing of tents.
5. Merchants in Rome and Ephesus had connections there.
N. Acts 18:3 - Paul worked with them. He reasons in the synagogue to persuade Jews and God-fearers.
O. Acts 18:5 –
1. When Silas and Timothy come down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself completely to word. Silas and Timothy brought money from Macedonian church (Phil. Tells us this).
P. Acts 18:6 –
1. When the Jews resisted, he turns to the gentiles. He shook out his garments - not shoes. First time this is mentioned, and the first time saying "your blood be on our heads”. May indicate Paul is frustrated with them.
Q. Acts 18:7 –
1. Paul goes to Titus Justus, a worshipper of God (God-fearer). Did Paul live in this man's home? How about Aquilla and Priscilla? Seems he lived with A & P and held service at Titus Justus's house next to synagogue - to show Jews.
R. Acts 18:8 –
1. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue converted. This had not happened before.
S. Acts 18:9 –
1. Paul had a vision. Do not be afraid. Paul had confirmation and stayed 18 months there, teaching the word of God.
T. Acts 18:12 - Scene shifts!
1. Gallio was proconsul of Achaia. He came a year after Paul came to Corinth
2. The Jews brought Paul before Gallio - saying, "This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law".
3. They should have brought the same charge the Thess. did - insurrection against government.
U. Acts 18:16 - Gallio drives them away.
V. Acts 18:17 – Then the crowd took hold of Sosthenes, new leader of synagogue replacing Crispus, and beat him.
1. Probably the Greeks and non God-fearers beat him, they hated Jews and used the ruling against them as an opportunity to vent their hatred on Jews - through synagogue leader.
Acts 18:1 After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquilla, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, 3 and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working; for by trade they were tent-makers. 4 And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6 And when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be upon your own heads! I am clean. From now on I shall go to the Gentiles." 7 And he departed from there and went to the house of a certain man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. 8 And Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city. " 11 And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12 But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, 13 saying, "This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law." 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of wrong or of vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; 15 but if there are questions about words and names and your own law, look after it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters. " 16 And he drove them away from the judgment seat. 17 And they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. And Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.
Acts 18:18 – Paul left Corinth for Syria with A & P.
1. He had his hair cut for a vow at Cenchrea.
Acts 18:19 - They went to Ephesus, where he leaves A & P.
1. He goes to synagogue to reason with Jews. The Jews ask him to stay - he refuses.
2. The vow was to fulfill an obligation that he had to go to the temple to do. Bible doesn't say what the vow was.
Acts 19:21 - He leaves Ephesus and goes to Caesarea, then to Jerusalem to fulfill vow, then to Antioch.
The end of the 2nd missionary journey A 3 1/2 year trip.
18 And Paul, having remained many days longer, took leave of the brethren and put out to sea for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquilla. In Cenchrea he had his haircut, for he was keeping a vow. 19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 And when they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent, 21 but taking leave of them and saying, "I will return to you again if God wills," he set sail from Ephesus. 22 And when he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch. 23 And having spent some time there, he departed and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
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