By: Obed Pineda
On a Grecian neck land connecting the Peloponnese with Macedonia and Thrace, there sat the ancient city of Corinth. The establishment of Corinth on this isthmus quickly proved valuable having control of a lucrative land trade route from northern to southern Greece and being surrounded by the Saronic Gulf on the east and the Gulf of Corinth on the west. Cape Malea (known today as Cape Matapan) was a treacherous and dangerous sea route avoided by most of the sailors. According to historians, the Greeks would say that if anyone planned to circumnavigate the Grecian southern coast of Cape Malea, it was best for him to forget his home and insure his will had already been made. Therefore, to evade making that perilous journey, captains preferred to sail up the Saronic Gulf to the isthmus where they would then drag their sea vessels across a five mile “ship railroad” to the other sea. Taking this route was not only safer than navigating Cape Malea, but it also saved them time since it spared them from making a two hundred and two mile trip around the cape. There is no doubt that having access to land connecting the north and the south of Greece and an easier sea route often preferred by ship captains for sailing primed the “neck of Corinth” for great commercial prosperity. Indeed, history reveals that Corinth was a very wealthy and important city for the Roman Empire. It had been designated by Rome as the capitol of Achaia and the city had transformed into a thriving metropolis with a population easily ranging from 600,000 to 700,000 residents. People from all over the ancient world knew Corinth for its brass, architecture, intellectual development, its Isthmian Games, vast luxury and wealth. Lamentably, Corinth had also garnered its reputation as a city of drunken and immoral debauchery. One way to better understand its infamy, is knowing that Corinth held the title of “Sin City,” long before Las Vegas did. Major cities of the ancient world were commonly dedicated to a god or goddess, like Athens to the goddess Athena or Ephesus to Diana. Corinth had been devoted to the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite (Venus in Roman mythology) and above the isthmus, on the hill of the Acropolis, a temple housing 1,000 “priestess” had been erected for her. These “priestess” were in actuality prostitutes who at evening time would descend from the Acropolis to “worship” their goddess with their bodies. Corinth’s atrocious depths of vulgarity had been heralded across the ancient world to the point that the word “Corinthian” become synonymous with promiscuity and “to Corinthianize” meant to live in constant immorality. This was the corrupt condition that the city of Corinth had been immersed in, when the apostle to the Gentiles arrived, around 51 A.D. (c.f. Acts 18:1-17). Prior to arriving Corinth, Luke informs his readers that Paul had been at Athens addressing the Areopagus about the “Unknown God” they had been worshiping, but did not have the outcome he would have preferred (Acts 17:22-18:1). Knowing that Paul had encountered a difficult audience at Athens and now entered a city given over to licentiousness and revelry, it becomes abundantly clear why the apostle expressed to the Corinthians, “I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling” (1st Corinthians 2:3, emphasis added). Additionally, Paul had entered into this deprave city alone without his companions, Silas and Timothy, having escaped the Jews from Thessalonica who persecuted him to Berea (Acts 17:14-15, 18:1-5). Even though the moral state of Corinth was alarmingly obsolete, this did not dissuade the apostle from preaching the Gospel to them. On the contrary, it was the regrettable state of immorality in Corinth that reminded Paul of the Lord’s words, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32, emphasis added). It is worthy to note that despite the depravity plaguing the city, Paul achieved tremendous success with the Gospel, laboring there for eighteen months (Acts 18:11). Although Paul had been opposed by the Jews who dwelled there at Corinth, Holy Scripture records the apostle’s triumphant campaign by detailing that “then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized” (Acts 18:8, emphasis added). Paul’s refusal to allow past disappointments detain him from continuing onward, reveals the profound devotion the apostle had for spreading the glad tidings of salvation. The might of his character is unveiled as well when the deplorable moral state of the Corinthians is manifested. It is undeniable that to go to a city completely given over to lust and to speak about the jeopardy of dying in that terrible condition requires an astonishing amount of boldness and love for the souls. There is a high probability that anyone else would have silently determined that preaching the Gospel at a city like Corinth would be unfruitful, and thus inadvisable to do so. Witnessing how sin was no longer shunned, but avidly encouraged, would have convinced a numerous amount to move on to the next city. Yet, those who do so, forget that at one time “such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1st Corinthians 6:11). Paul never lost sight of such precious grace that had been shown to him by the Savior. It was the very fuel that fed the ardent fire of his inner man, that encouraged him to exclaim, “woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel” (1st Corinthians 9:16, OKJ, emphasis added)! The dire thirst for salvation at Corinth is made apparent by the readily acceptance of the Gospel brought to them by Paul. Although the city was overrun by profligacy and debauchery, it could not withstand the magnificent power of God’s Word. When we recall the congregation that Paul and his co-laborers (Aquila, Priscilla, Silas, and Timothy) were able to build at Corinth, it beautifully confirms the wisdom of the Master’s encouragement to Paul: “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10, emphasis added). From a filthy, corrupt city, an amazing congregation blessed with the majority of spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit was able to rise. It could even be said that in a way, the Corinthian church has a unique resemblance to their “father’s” story (1st Corinthians 4:14-16).