Corinth

Corinth lies at the base of the isthmus that connects mainland Greece with the Peloponnesian peninsula. Its location made it strategically important since no one passed between the two regions without going through Corinth. Corinth was allied with Sparta during the Peloponnesian War, which meant Sparta could invade Athens by land but Athens could not invade the Peloponnese except by sea. As a result of Corinth's strategic position, it was one of the major city-states in Greece. Also as a result of being a port city, Corinth was reportedly home to 1000 prostitutes. An old Greek saying went, "See Corinth and die," because Corinth was so fabulous that once you saw it, everything else was downhill.

The Romans eventually destroyed Corinth in 146 B.C. and rebuilt the town as a Roman city. It became the capital of Greece. One Greek structure that was not destroyed was the temple of Apollo. Today only a few columns remain, but enough to give you a sense that it was a magnificent building. You can see the building on your right. The first thing Tamzen asked was, why does a Corinthian temple have Doric columns? We found out that it is because this temple is very old, dating to the mid - sixth century B.C. That is older than any of the structures on the Acropolis in Athens.

Paul came to Corinth and these are the remains of the city he came to as he would have seen it. He had just left Athens with relatively little success. Corinth did not seem as though it would be much better. After all, "Corinthian" was almost synonymous with sexual immorality. The photo on the left shows the Lechaion road, which Paul would have walked down in order to enter the city. At first he went to the synagogue to try to convince the Jews of Corinth that Jesus was the Messiah. As a Jew himself, Paul had a special concern for them. However, their opposition convinced him to go to the gentiles instead.

Acts chapter 18 recounts the story of how the opposition by the Jews led to Paul being brought before the proconsul Gallio. Gallio was the brother of the philosopher and dramatist Seneca, who was the tutor of the Emperor Nero. Gallio heard the complaint, but since it was a religious dispute among different sects of Jews he dismissed the case. The text says that Gallio drove them from the bema. The bema was a raised platform used for public speaking. In the photo on the right you will see the very bema described in Acts chapter 18. Paul would stay in Corinth for a year and a half. Since Gallio was such a prominent politician, his policy of non-intervention in religious disputes probably became a precedent for the Roman world. The book of Acts ends with Paul under house arrest, but "boldly proclaiming the word of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hinderance."