As we ease into this, it is important to remember that Paul was raised in a devout Jewish home, he was a Pharisee by training, and he was both Greek and a Roman citizen.  So, he was very well equipped to understand the culture of Rome and or Corinth.  In terms of 1 Corinthians, this letter was written about 18 years after Jesus’ resurrection and Acts 18 lays out some background on when Paul came to Corinth and Priscilla and Aquila.  It seems like this is the place where Paul’s ministry really pivoted from the Jews to the Gentiles there in Corinth.  There were thought to be around 100 people in this church there in Corinth.  Paul stayed in Corinth for about a year and a half and it was about 2 years later, after leaving Corinth, while Paul was in Ephesus, that this letter was actually written.

Corinth was one of the most important cities in the ancient world.  In 146 BC, the Romans decimated the city and it laid bare for about a hundred years until Julius Caesar issued a decree to rebuild it in about 46 BC.  Roman soldiers were given land there, Greeks flocked there to rebuild it, and immigrants from all over landed there because of its central location between major shipping lines and Rome in general, and Egypt and North Africa.   The population was about 100,000 people, 5 times bigger than Athens, and Corinth was about 100 years old when Paul showed up.

Interesting tidbit; when people wanted to sail around the peninsula just south of Corinth, The currents and the winds were so bad that what they would often do he’s come in and dark on the South side of Corinth, unload all of their cargo from the ship, have some of the crew carry or push the cargo across the 4 mile bridge that was the width of Corinth, and they would sell the ship around the peninsula empty to avoid shipwrecks, or at least to protect the cargo if there is one.  Sometimes they might even try to pull the boat itself across the land to avoid the journey around the Southern tip.  This was a busy place, metropolitan, a place where slaves could earn their freedom and become wealthy, a melting pot of cultures, and there was even an athletic event called the Isthmian Games.  These were like the Olympics, second only to the Olympics and popularity, and they took place right there in Corinth.  And Corinth didn’t have shelter for all the people who would flock to these - they would utilize tent makers.  That puts Paul and his hosts, Pricilla and Aquila, in the midst of all of that.  In fact, Paul apparently witnessed at least one of these games while he was there in Corinth, and it is thought that this influenced some of Paul’s writing; think about 1 Cor 9:24.  That sounds like it draws from that setting, athletic games, doesn’t it?

So, it is easy to see that Corinth really resembles America in a lot of ways.  And it places this letter, and the second, into a context that really applies to us.  I am looking forward to diving into this tomorrow!