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Paul’s Places – Part 5: Corinth 2
Episode 164 – Paul’s Places – Part 5: Corinth II
Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.
Script:
Several people from Chloe's family have already reported to me that you keep arguing with each other. They have said that some of you claim to follow me, while others claim to follow Apollos or Peter or Christ.
1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verses 11 & 12, Contemporary English Version
********
VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re very glad to be with you today. We are in the midst of a series on Anchored by Truth that we are calling “Paul’s Places.” By “Paul,” of course, we’re referring to the Apostle Paul who wrote at least 13 of the books out of the 27 books that comprise the New Testament. Most people know that the Apostle Paul was the foremost apostle to the gentiles as part of his ministry he wrote a number of letters to various churches. Many of those letters have been preserved in the books of the New Testament. In fact, God used Paul to write almost half of the New Testament including first and second Corinthians. In our last episode of Anchored by Truth we started looking at these letters to the Corinthians and we’re going to conclude that look today. In the studio today we have RD Fierro, an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, why don’t you remind us of what this series “Paul’s Places” is all about and give us a brief summary of where we are?
RD: Well, I’d like to start by thanking our listeners for joining us here today. As our longtime listeners know Anchored by Truth is focused on helping people develop a solid understanding of why they may be confident that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Well, one of the key points to people having that confidence is to see that the books of the Bible are trustworthy from the standpoint of history. In our opinion any book claiming to be the word of an almighty and perfect God would have to meet two criteria. First, the book would have to be consistent with what we know about the history of the natural world and the history of humanity. Second, the book would have to contain evidence of a supernatural point of origin.
VK: And you cite four lines of evidence that the Bible meets those two criteria: reliable history, remarkable unity, fulfilled prophecy, and redeemed destinies.
RD: Right. So, we believe that any book claiming to be the word of God would have to be consistent with what we know about human history in the parts of the Bible upon which the Bible reports.
VK: And, in the case of the New Testament, the history with which the Bible is primarily concerned is the history of the Roman Empire. The books of the New Testament were all written during latter portion the first century AD. At that time the Roman Empire was the dominant power in Europe, the Mideast, and North Africa. At its height the Roman Empire extended all the way from modern day India to England and included most of the Mediterranean Coast of North Africa.
RD: Yes. And since Jesus lived, died, and rose in what is today modern day Israel that was the point of origin of Christianity. In essence, Christianity began in Jerusalem and spread outward through the rest of Palestine, the adjoining nations, through the eastern part of the Roman Empire, and, of course, ultimately throughout the world. But, as you noted the books of our New Testament were all written in the latter half of the first century AD. During that time the gospel had gone from Jerusalem and through such modern day nations as Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. Those are the nations in which the New Testament territory was primarily occurring. So, one question that can be reasonably asked is whether the books of the New Testament give evidence that they were authentic letters written to people who lived in those places at that time.
VK: And that’s why we’re doing this “Paul’s Places.” We’re looking at the content of the New Testament letters and seeing whether that content makes sense from the standpoint of what we know about the geography, culture, and people of that time. And last time we saw that first and second Corinthians do contain a great deal of evidence that the concerns Paul expressed would have been legitimate concerns for a city like Corinth. For instance, we saw that Corinth is located on an isthmus that joins northern and southern Greece. As such it was a very active city for trade and commerce. It was literally the meeting place where east met west in terms of the Roman Empire. It had two port cities that serviced it – one on its east and one on its west. Ships would arrive in those ports and off load their goods. Those cargoes were then taken to Corinth and sold or exchanged for something else. Then the ships were reloaded with the new merchandise and headed back to another port usually in the opposite direction. So, Corinth was not only filled with merchants and trader but also sailors, buyers, and travelers.
RD: And the most prominent Roman goddess worshipped in Corinth was Venus. Venus was the Roman version of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Aphrodite was the ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion and procreation. There was a huge temple dedicated to Venus on the south side of the city and there were a thousand prostitutes that served as priestesses at the temple.
VK: In short, sexual immorality was a prominent feature of life in Corinth. From the fifth century BC onward the expression ‘to Corinthianize’ meant to be sexually immoral.” Given all that, you would expect that when Paul was writing to the Corinthians he might have to pay special attention to the problem of avoiding sexual immorality – and he did. Paul devoted more attention to the problem of dealing with sexual immorality in 1 Corinthians than he did in any other of his epistles. Epistle is just another word for letter. Often, the books of the New Testament that Paul wrote are referred to as “Pauline epistles.”
RD: Yes. So, the fact that Paul spent almost 3 chapters out of the 16 chapters of 1 Corinthians dealing with sexual immorality is strong evidence that the letters to the Corinthians are authentic communications to believers in Corinth during the 1st century AD. We know the city was well known within the Roman world as a city where temptation abounded, money was often made and lost quickly, and the believers were living in a licentious and dissolute society. In other words, the character of the letter matches perfectly with what we know of the character of the city. And that was true in other respects besides just sexual immorality.
VK: What are you thinking about?
RD: Corinth was not only a thoroughly immoral city but it was also a very competitive one. In a city where goods and merchandise are coming in and going out every day, where ships are on schedules they want to meet, where money is changing hands every minute of every day, and where the velocity of the economy is tied to the prosperity of the empire, obviously, the competition to be among the best is going to be fierce.
VK: Last time we noted that Corinth was sort of the Roman Empire’s version of Las Vegas. And anyone who has ever been to Las Vegas can see the evidence of competition all around them. No sooner is one giant hotel or casino built than another developer comes along who wants to build something bigger and grander. One brilliant light display is quickly eclipsed by another. Every Vegas show competes with every other show. It seems like each new project must be bigger, grander, and showier than the last.
RD: Right. Corinth was Vegas without the electricity. It would have been that way just based on the geography, economy, and culture. But as if all that weren’t enough, Corinth was also the site of one of the most famous of the ancient Greek sporting events. It was the site of the Isthmian Games. The Isthmian Games were similar in size and scope to the Olympic Games.
VK:. The Isthmian Games were one of the so-called Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. And the Isthmian Games were named after the Isthmus of Corinth, where they were held. The Isthmian Games were held both the year before and the year after the Olympic Games while another set of games, the Pythian Games, were held in the third year of the Olympiad cycle
RD: Panhellenic Games was the collective term for four separate sports festivals that were held in ancient Greece. The four festivals were the Olympics, the Isthmian Games, the Pythian Games, and the Nemean Games. The Olympics started the cycle. The Olympics and Pythian Games were held every four years whereas the Isthmian and Nemean Games were held every two years.
VK: In other words the ancient Greeks were very fond of their sports. I guess that isn’t too much different from today. And also like today the cities that hosted the games would have benefitted economically from the games as well as well as being proud of their status as a host city. I see what you’re getting at. There was a highly competitive atmosphere present in Corinth because of its status as an important commercial and trading center. But beyond that, the fact that of one of the ancient world’s premier sporting events was regularly conducted in Corinth would have added to that atmosphere of competitiveness.
RD: Exactly. So, in continuing our look at how the culture and geography were reflected in the letters that Paul sent to various church congregations we can see that this competitive atmosphere was present not just outside the Corinthian church but also inside it.
VK: I’m sure one of the passages in 1 Corinthians that you have in mind is what we heard in our opening scripture. This is verses 11 and 12 of the first chapter of 1 Corinthians. Those verses say, “For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” That’s from the New Living Translation.
RD: Yes. These verses tell us that rather than being unified around the gospel the members of the Corinthian church had begun to identify with specific personalities. In other words at least some members of the church were drifting into a cult of personality. They had lost their focus on Christ and apparently on Christ’s command that the way the world would know his followers was by their love for each other. So, the church was being split by this competition among the members where the members were more focused on specific figures rather than being unified by their love and commitment to Christ. They were becoming unduly focused on personalities.
VK: In other words you think that what Paul was observing was that those people who were claiming loyalty to Peter or Apollos were doing so in the spirit of “one-upsmanship.”
RD: Yes. That was what his rebuke that followed his observation pointed out. He said in verses 13 through 15, “Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, for now no one can say they were baptized in my name.” Evidently the Corinthians had started bragging about who had baptized them as though the person who baptized them made a difference. Paul said I’m glad I only baptized a couple of them, not because he didn’t want the Corinthian church to grow, but because he was, in effect, saying “don’t draw me into your contentions. I’m not interested in being part of your competition.”
VK: Rather like people often do today some of the Corinthians were competing by identifying who performed their baptism as if that person were a sports star or celebrity. And Paul would have none of it. Paul knew that people being the way they are this inevitably leads to a spirit of competition as each group claims that its star is the greatest. Kind of like arguing over which quarterback or tennis player is the greatest.
RD: Right. So, this baptismal competition was one example that the competitive culture that pervaded Corinth had entered the church in an unhealthy way.
VK: Are there other examples in 1 Corinthians that showed that this competitive culture was present among the Corinthian believers?
RD: Unfortunately, yes. Let’s take a look at 1 Corinthians, chapter 14, verses 26 through 39. In that section Paul is giving the Corinthians instructions about how to conduct their worship services. Apparently, there was a substantial amount of disorder during their communal worship because the believers were competing with one another over who got to give a message or present a revelation. Apparently, some of the Corinthians had come to think so highly of themselves that some saw themselves almost at the level of being an apostle and receiving new revelations.
VK: In fact in verses 36 and 37 Paul actually asked them, “… do you think God’s word originated with you Corinthians? Are you the only ones to whom it was given? If you claim to be a prophet or think you are spiritual, you should recognize that what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself.” That’s also from the New Living Translation. The Amplified Bible puts it this way. “Did the word of the Lord originate from you [Corinthians], or has it come to you only [so that you know best what God requires].”
RD: Exactly. So, chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians makes it clear that this spirit of competition was manifesting itself in disorder in their worship. And chapter 11 makes it clear they were competing in the food they brought to their services. Apparently, a part of their communal worship was to have a meal – which is fine when it’s done appropriately – but in the case of the Corinthians, it wasn’t. Let’s take a quick look at verses 20 through 22 of chapter 11.
VK: The New Living Translation of those verses says, “When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. … do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!”
RD: And just one more example of how this spirit of competition had infected the church is that the Corinthians were apparently competing in what is often termed “gifts of the spirit.” That is apparent from chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians.
VK: Paul summed up his assessment of how the Corinthians had been behaving with respect to spiritual gifts in verses 29 and 30 of chapter 12. The New Living Translation of those verses says, “Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not!”
RD: Yes. The general culture of Corinth contained a strong strain of competitiveness because of the nature of the economy and the regular conduct of the Isthmian games in the city. So, from all these examples we can see that this spirit of competition had entered the Corinthian church. As a result the Apostle Paul had to deal with the divisions this spirit was producing when he wrote his letters to the church there. This again provides strong evidence that the letters we know as 1 and 2 Corinthians were authentic communications from Paul, who was the most prominent apostle sent to the gentiles, to a group of believers in Corinth during the 1st century AD. The letters reflect the kinds of concerns that would have been prominent in a city like Corinth during that period in history.
VK: But oddly enough – providentially really – as only God can do God used the occasion of the divisions that were cropping up within the Corinthian church to produce some of the most important teaching in scripture. In response to the competition among the Corinthians to have better “spiritual gifts” than their fellow church members Paul wrote chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians which is well-known as the classic chapter on Christian love in the Bible. And in response to the spirit of competition over the food being consumed at the church meals Paul wrote one the clearest statement in the Bible about one of the most important sacraments, the Lord’s Supper.
RD: Exactly.
VK: And as we saw in our last episode of Anchored by Truth we saw that Paul used the temptation to sexual immorality present within the city to give very clear directions to the church about how to deal with such temptation. Said differently, God used the problems that were confronting the Corinthian church to provide clear guidance that would help believers for the next 2,000 years. God turned evil into good as only God can.
RD: Absolutely. God took the problems present within the church – that were largely there because of the nature of the surrounding culture – and instead of letting the evil and temptation dominate He brought eternal benefits. This is a dramatic illustration of the nature of God’s grace. He doesn’t let the evil of man overcome His intentions to produce good for His people. And the fact that the Corinthian believers did respond to Paul’s admonitions is evident from the content of 2 Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians Paul took great pains to begin providing comfort to the Corinthians rather than rebuke.
VK: And one of the points you wanted to make today was that even though our Bible contains two of the letters Paul wrote to the Corinthian church it’s plain from 1 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 9 that Paul wrote as least one more letter to them. The Contemporary English Version of that verse says, “In my other letter I told you not to have anything to do with immoral people.” Since this verse is contained in 1 Corinthians it’s apparent Paul had sent them an earlier version that has not been preserved.
RD: Right. And many scholars actually believe that Paul had sent the Corinthian church another letter between the letters we call first and second Corinthians. Many scholars refer to the letter as the “severe letter.” It is thought that this letter resulted from a quick trip Paul made to Corinth from Ephesus when Paul was poorly treated by the church or at least some people within the church. Many scholars think the spirit of repentance that Paul recognized in 2 Corinthians came from this “severe letter.” If Paul did send this “severe letter,” this letter has also not been preserved.
VK: And that also helps demonstrate the authenticity of the letters that we do have doesn’t it? It shows that the people who were involved in this back and forth were real people. When real people send real communication to one another sometimes some of it gets lost. God ensured the preservation of those letters that He determined were to be part of His inspired Word. But the material in 1 and 2 Corinthians shows that just because an Apostle or prophet wrote or said something that did not automatically mean it was intended to be part of the Bible.
RD: Yes. One of the big points we’re making in this Paul’s Places series is that unlike the assertions of some Bible critics the Bible is not filled with “myths and fairy tales.” The Bible contains a record of real people doing real things in real places during the real history of the world. During that real history Christian leaders were dealing with real problems – and very often those problems were created or exacerbated by the places in which those struggling Christians were living. That is how God deals with us. We live in a real world and have real problems but God’s transcendent power is still available to help us.
VK: And we should add one final note before we close for today. Competition does not have to create division. Properly understood and used competition can help people, teams, and companies improve their performance and the lives of others.
RD: Right. Throughout history Christians have been very successful in sports and business – in other words they have been good competitors as well as good Christians. But a good competitor is one who strives to do his or her best while encouraging others to also do their best. We used to recognize this. And we used the term “good sportsmanship” to refer to a competitor who did their absolute best but always played fair, was willing to congratulate another on their victory, and was humble when they came out on top. Sadly, in today’s sports, business, and political worlds these kinds of people are increasingly rare. Today you hear things like “win at all costs” or “2nd place is 1st loser.” Good natured ribbing has given way to obscene “trash talk” and gracious winners are almost unknown. This is extraordinarily sad because it deprives our kids of knowing that it is possible to be a strong competitor while also being kind and generous in victory or loss.
VK: We used to know all this. But as competition for attention has grown within our own culture it seems as though we have lost some of what used to be time-honored wisdom. Well, one of the best ways for us to reclaim this time-honored wisdom is for parents to begin to immerse themselves in the word of God so they can begin to teach their kids how to develop Godly characters. This sounds like a great time for a prayer. Since Father’s Day is almost here, today let’s listen to a prayer for fathers. Godly fathers are certainly one of the best gifts any child can receive – and no matter their age we should take time to reach out and let our fathers know we love them. And for those who were not blessed with a Godly father it’s always a good idea to pray for them to come to Jesus. Our prayers for our family members can move hearts and change eternal destinies.
---- PRAYER FOR FATHERS
VK: Before we close we’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes in this series or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.”
If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!”
(Opening Bible Quote from the Contemporary English Version)
1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verses 11 & 12, Contemporary English Version
1 Corinthians 1 Barnes' Notes (biblehub.com)
Since the games' inception, Corinth had always been in control of them. When Corinth was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC, the Isthmian games continued, but were now administered by Sicyon. Corinth was rebuilt by Caesar in 44 BC, and recovered ownership of the Games shortly thereafter, but they were then held in Corinth. They did not return to the Isthmus until AD 42 or 43. The Isthmian Games thereafter flourished until the mid-4th century at least. A possible late literary reference dates to 362. The circumstances of their demise are unknown. Imperial pressure against pagan rituals was heightened at the end of the 4th century, but some polytheistic cult practices certainly continued at Corinth into the 6th century.
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Episode 164 – Paul’s Places – Part 5: Corinth II
Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.
Script:
Several people from Chloe's family have already reported to me that you keep arguing with each other. They have said that some of you claim to follow me, while others claim to follow Apollos or Peter or Christ.
1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verses 11 & 12, Contemporary English Version
********
VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re very glad to be with you today. We are in the midst of a series on Anchored by Truth that we are calling “Paul’s Places.” By “Paul,” of course, we’re referring to the Apostle Paul who wrote at least 13 of the books out of the 27 books that comprise the New Testament. Most people know that the Apostle Paul was the foremost apostle to the gentiles as part of his ministry he wrote a number of letters to various churches. Many of those letters have been preserved in the books of the New Testament. In fact, God used Paul to write almost half of the New Testament including first and second Corinthians. In our last episode of Anchored by Truth we started looking at these letters to the Corinthians and we’re going to conclude that look today. In the studio today we have RD Fierro, an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, why don’t you remind us of what this series “Paul’s Places” is all about and give us a brief summary of where we are?
RD: Well, I’d like to start by thanking our listeners for joining us here today. As our longtime listeners know Anchored by Truth is focused on helping people develop a solid understanding of why they may be confident that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Well, one of the key points to people having that confidence is to see that the books of the Bible are trustworthy from the standpoint of history. In our opinion any book claiming to be the word of an almighty and perfect God would have to meet two criteria. First, the book would have to be consistent with what we know about the history of the natural world and the history of humanity. Second, the book would have to contain evidence of a supernatural point of origin.
VK: And you cite four lines of evidence that the Bible meets those two criteria: reliable history, remarkable unity, fulfilled prophecy, and redeemed destinies.
RD: Right. So, we believe that any book claiming to be the word of God would have to be consistent with what we know about human history in the parts of the Bible upon which the Bible reports.
VK: And, in the case of the New Testament, the history with which the Bible is primarily concerned is the history of the Roman Empire. The books of the New Testament were all written during latter portion the first century AD. At that time the Roman Empire was the dominant power in Europe, the Mideast, and North Africa. At its height the Roman Empire extended all the way from modern day India to England and included most of the Mediterranean Coast of North Africa.
RD: Yes. And since Jesus lived, died, and rose in what is today modern day Israel that was the point of origin of Christianity. In essence, Christianity began in Jerusalem and spread outward through the rest of Palestine, the adjoining nations, through the eastern part of the Roman Empire, and, of course, ultimately throughout the world. But, as you noted the books of our New Testament were all written in the latter half of the first century AD. During that time the gospel had gone from Jerusalem and through such modern day nations as Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. Those are the nations in which the New Testament territory was primarily occurring. So, one question that can be reasonably asked is whether the books of the New Testament give evidence that they were authentic letters written to people who lived in those places at that time.
VK: And that’s why we’re doing this “Paul’s Places.” We’re looking at the content of the New Testament letters and seeing whether that content makes sense from the standpoint of what we know about the geography, culture, and people of that time. And last time we saw that first and second Corinthians do contain a great deal of evidence that the concerns Paul expressed would have been legitimate concerns for a city like Corinth. For instance, we saw that Corinth is located on an isthmus that joins northern and southern Greece. As such it was a very active city for trade and commerce. It was literally the meeting place where east met west in terms of the Roman Empire. It had two port cities that serviced it – one on its east and one on its west. Ships would arrive in those ports and off load their goods. Those cargoes were then taken to Corinth and sold or exchanged for something else. Then the ships were reloaded with the new merchandise and headed back to another port usually in the opposite direction. So, Corinth was not only filled with merchants and trader but also sailors, buyers, and travelers.
RD: And the most prominent Roman goddess worshipped in Corinth was Venus. Venus was the Roman version of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Aphrodite was the ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion and procreation. There was a huge temple dedicated to Venus on the south side of the city and there were a thousand prostitutes that served as priestesses at the temple.
VK: In short, sexual immorality was a prominent feature of life in Corinth. From the fifth century BC onward the expression ‘to Corinthianize’ meant to be sexually immoral.” Given all that, you would expect that when Paul was writing to the Corinthians he might have to pay special attention to the problem of avoiding sexual immorality – and he did. Paul devoted more attention to the problem of dealing with sexual immorality in 1 Corinthians than he did in any other of his epistles. Epistle is just another word for letter. Often, the books of the New Testament that Paul wrote are referred to as “Pauline epistles.”
RD: Yes. So, the fact that Paul spent almost 3 chapters out of the 16 chapters of 1 Corinthians dealing with sexual immorality is strong evidence that the letters to the Corinthians are authentic communications to believers in Corinth during the 1st century AD. We know the city was well known within the Roman world as a city where temptation abounded, money was often made and lost quickly, and the believers were living in a licentious and dissolute society. In other words, the character of the letter matches perfectly with what we know of the character of the city. And that was true in other respects besides just sexual immorality.
VK: What are you thinking about?
RD: Corinth was not only a thoroughly immoral city but it was also a very competitive one. In a city where goods and merchandise are coming in and going out every day, where ships are on schedules they want to meet, where money is changing hands every minute of every day, and where the velocity of the economy is tied to the prosperity of the empire, obviously, the competition to be among the best is going to be fierce.
VK: Last time we noted that Corinth was sort of the Roman Empire’s version of Las Vegas. And anyone who has ever been to Las Vegas can see the evidence of competition all around them. No sooner is one giant hotel or casino built than another developer comes along who wants to build something bigger and grander. One brilliant light display is quickly eclipsed by another. Every Vegas show competes with every other show. It seems like each new project must be bigger, grander, and showier than the last.
RD: Right. Corinth was Vegas without the electricity. It would have been that way just based on the geography, economy, and culture. But as if all that weren’t enough, Corinth was also the site of one of the most famous of the ancient Greek sporting events. It was the site of the Isthmian Games. The Isthmian Games were similar in size and scope to the Olympic Games.
VK:. The Isthmian Games were one of the so-called Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. And the Isthmian Games were named after the Isthmus of Corinth, where they were held. The Isthmian Games were held both the year before and the year after the Olympic Games while another set of games, the Pythian Games, were held in the third year of the Olympiad cycle
RD: Panhellenic Games was the collective term for four separate sports festivals that were held in ancient Greece. The four festivals were the Olympics, the Isthmian Games, the Pythian Games, and the Nemean Games. The Olympics started the cycle. The Olympics and Pythian Games were held every four years whereas the Isthmian and Nemean Games were held every two years.
VK: In other words the ancient Greeks were very fond of their sports. I guess that isn’t too much different from today. And also like today the cities that hosted the games would have benefitted economically from the games as well as well as being proud of their status as a host city. I see what you’re getting at. There was a highly competitive atmosphere present in Corinth because of its status as an important commercial and trading center. But beyond that, the fact that of one of the ancient world’s premier sporting events was regularly conducted in Corinth would have added to that atmosphere of competitiveness.
RD: Exactly. So, in continuing our look at how the culture and geography were reflected in the letters that Paul sent to various church congregations we can see that this competitive atmosphere was present not just outside the Corinthian church but also inside it.
VK: I’m sure one of the passages in 1 Corinthians that you have in mind is what we heard in our opening scripture. This is verses 11 and 12 of the first chapter of 1 Corinthians. Those verses say, “For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” That’s from the New Living Translation.
RD: Yes. These verses tell us that rather than being unified around the gospel the members of the Corinthian church had begun to identify with specific personalities. In other words at least some members of the church were drifting into a cult of personality. They had lost their focus on Christ and apparently on Christ’s command that the way the world would know his followers was by their love for each other. So, the church was being split by this competition among the members where the members were more focused on specific figures rather than being unified by their love and commitment to Christ. They were becoming unduly focused on personalities.
VK: In other words you think that what Paul was observing was that those people who were claiming loyalty to Peter or Apollos were doing so in the spirit of “one-upsmanship.”
RD: Yes. That was what his rebuke that followed his observation pointed out. He said in verses 13 through 15, “Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, for now no one can say they were baptized in my name.” Evidently the Corinthians had started bragging about who had baptized them as though the person who baptized them made a difference. Paul said I’m glad I only baptized a couple of them, not because he didn’t want the Corinthian church to grow, but because he was, in effect, saying “don’t draw me into your contentions. I’m not interested in being part of your competition.”
VK: Rather like people often do today some of the Corinthians were competing by identifying who performed their baptism as if that person were a sports star or celebrity. And Paul would have none of it. Paul knew that people being the way they are this inevitably leads to a spirit of competition as each group claims that its star is the greatest. Kind of like arguing over which quarterback or tennis player is the greatest.
RD: Right. So, this baptismal competition was one example that the competitive culture that pervaded Corinth had entered the church in an unhealthy way.
VK: Are there other examples in 1 Corinthians that showed that this competitive culture was present among the Corinthian believers?
RD: Unfortunately, yes. Let’s take a look at 1 Corinthians, chapter 14, verses 26 through 39. In that section Paul is giving the Corinthians instructions about how to conduct their worship services. Apparently, there was a substantial amount of disorder during their communal worship because the believers were competing with one another over who got to give a message or present a revelation. Apparently, some of the Corinthians had come to think so highly of themselves that some saw themselves almost at the level of being an apostle and receiving new revelations.
VK: In fact in verses 36 and 37 Paul actually asked them, “… do you think God’s word originated with you Corinthians? Are you the only ones to whom it was given? If you claim to be a prophet or think you are spiritual, you should recognize that what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself.” That’s also from the New Living Translation. The Amplified Bible puts it this way. “Did the word of the Lord originate from you [Corinthians], or has it come to you only [so that you know best what God requires].”
RD: Exactly. So, chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians makes it clear that this spirit of competition was manifesting itself in disorder in their worship. And chapter 11 makes it clear they were competing in the food they brought to their services. Apparently, a part of their communal worship was to have a meal – which is fine when it’s done appropriately – but in the case of the Corinthians, it wasn’t. Let’s take a quick look at verses 20 through 22 of chapter 11.
VK: The New Living Translation of those verses says, “When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. … do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!”
RD: And just one more example of how this spirit of competition had infected the church is that the Corinthians were apparently competing in what is often termed “gifts of the spirit.” That is apparent from chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians.
VK: Paul summed up his assessment of how the Corinthians had been behaving with respect to spiritual gifts in verses 29 and 30 of chapter 12. The New Living Translation of those verses says, “Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not!”
RD: Yes. The general culture of Corinth contained a strong strain of competitiveness because of the nature of the economy and the regular conduct of the Isthmian games in the city. So, from all these examples we can see that this spirit of competition had entered the Corinthian church. As a result the Apostle Paul had to deal with the divisions this spirit was producing when he wrote his letters to the church there. This again provides strong evidence that the letters we know as 1 and 2 Corinthians were authentic communications from Paul, who was the most prominent apostle sent to the gentiles, to a group of believers in Corinth during the 1st century AD. The letters reflect the kinds of concerns that would have been prominent in a city like Corinth during that period in history.
VK: But oddly enough – providentially really – as only God can do God used the occasion of the divisions that were cropping up within the Corinthian church to produce some of the most important teaching in scripture. In response to the competition among the Corinthians to have better “spiritual gifts” than their fellow church members Paul wrote chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians which is well-known as the classic chapter on Christian love in the Bible. And in response to the spirit of competition over the food being consumed at the church meals Paul wrote one the clearest statement in the Bible about one of the most important sacraments, the Lord’s Supper.
RD: Exactly.
VK: And as we saw in our last episode of Anchored by Truth we saw that Paul used the temptation to sexual immorality present within the city to give very clear directions to the church about how to deal with such temptation. Said differently, God used the problems that were confronting the Corinthian church to provide clear guidance that would help believers for the next 2,000 years. God turned evil into good as only God can.
RD: Absolutely. God took the problems present within the church – that were largely there because of the nature of the surrounding culture – and instead of letting the evil and temptation dominate He brought eternal benefits. This is a dramatic illustration of the nature of God’s grace. He doesn’t let the evil of man overcome His intentions to produce good for His people. And the fact that the Corinthian believers did respond to Paul’s admonitions is evident from the content of 2 Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians Paul took great pains to begin providing comfort to the Corinthians rather than rebuke.
VK: And one of the points you wanted to make today was that even though our Bible contains two of the letters Paul wrote to the Corinthian church it’s plain from 1 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 9 that Paul wrote as least one more letter to them. The Contemporary English Version of that verse says, “In my other letter I told you not to have anything to do with immoral people.” Since this verse is contained in 1 Corinthians it’s apparent Paul had sent them an earlier version that has not been preserved.
RD: Right. And many scholars actually believe that Paul had sent the Corinthian church another letter between the letters we call first and second Corinthians. Many scholars refer to the letter as the “severe letter.” It is thought that this letter resulted from a quick trip Paul made to Corinth from Ephesus when Paul was poorly treated by the church or at least some people within the church. Many scholars think the spirit of repentance that Paul recognized in 2 Corinthians came from this “severe letter.” If Paul did send this “severe letter,” this letter has also not been preserved.
VK: And that also helps demonstrate the authenticity of the letters that we do have doesn’t it? It shows that the people who were involved in this back and forth were real people. When real people send real communication to one another sometimes some of it gets lost. God ensured the preservation of those letters that He determined were to be part of His inspired Word. But the material in 1 and 2 Corinthians shows that just because an Apostle or prophet wrote or said something that did not automatically mean it was intended to be part of the Bible.
RD: Yes. One of the big points we’re making in this Paul’s Places series is that unlike the assertions of some Bible critics the Bible is not filled with “myths and fairy tales.” The Bible contains a record of real people doing real things in real places during the real history of the world. During that real history Christian leaders were dealing with real problems – and very often those problems were created or exacerbated by the places in which those struggling Christians were living. That is how God deals with us. We live in a real world and have real problems but God’s transcendent power is still available to help us.
VK: And we should add one final note before we close for today. Competition does not have to create division. Properly understood and used competition can help people, teams, and companies improve their performance and the lives of others.
RD: Right. Throughout history Christians have been very successful in sports and business – in other words they have been good competitors as well as good Christians. But a good competitor is one who strives to do his or her best while encouraging others to also do their best. We used to recognize this. And we used the term “good sportsmanship” to refer to a competitor who did their absolute best but always played fair, was willing to congratulate another on their victory, and was humble when they came out on top. Sadly, in today’s sports, business, and political worlds these kinds of people are increasingly rare. Today you hear things like “win at all costs” or “2nd place is 1st loser.” Good natured ribbing has given way to obscene “trash talk” and gracious winners are almost unknown. This is extraordinarily sad because it deprives our kids of knowing that it is possible to be a strong competitor while also being kind and generous in victory or loss.
VK: We used to know all this. But as competition for attention has grown within our own culture it seems as though we have lost some of what used to be time-honored wisdom. Well, one of the best ways for us to reclaim this time-honored wisdom is for parents to begin to immerse themselves in the word of God so they can begin to teach their kids how to develop Godly characters. This sounds like a great time for a prayer. Since Father’s Day is almost here, today let’s listen to a prayer for fathers. Godly fathers are certainly one of the best gifts any child can receive – and no matter their age we should take time to reach out and let our fathers know we love them. And for those who were not blessed with a Godly father it’s always a good idea to pray for them to come to Jesus. Our prayers for our family members can move hearts and change eternal destinies.
---- PRAYER FOR FATHERS
VK: Before we close we’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes in this series or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.”
If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!”
(Opening Bible Quote from the Contemporary English Version)
1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verses 11 & 12, Contemporary English Version
1 Corinthians 1 Barnes' Notes (biblehub.com)
Since the games' inception, Corinth had always been in control of them. When Corinth was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC, the Isthmian games continued, but were now administered by Sicyon. Corinth was rebuilt by Caesar in 44 BC, and recovered ownership of the Games shortly thereafter, but they were then held in Corinth. They did not return to the Isthmus until AD 42 or 43. The Isthmian Games thereafter flourished until the mid-4th century at least. A possible late literary reference dates to 362. The circumstances of their demise are unknown. Imperial pressure against pagan rituals was heightened at the end of the 4th century, but some polytheistic cult practices certainly continued at Corinth into the 6th century.