On to Corinth . . .

ON TO CORINTH
Today, we walk into the little church of Corinth, located in a city by the same name in southern Greece, about 50 miles from Athens. If the church was representative of the people of Corinth, it was no doubt quite a colorful community!

Corinth was established several hundred years before the time of Christ, but has been destroyed and rebuilt many times since. Her location attracted travelers by land and sea, which accounted for her bustling population of 80,000+, and her commercial success. Though Corinth was a center of political and business activity in Greece, and the home of the Isthmian games, her legacy is one of immorality and drunken debauchery. Maybe somewhat ironic to the scenario Paul found in Corinth was that the temple on the hill heavily influenced this immorality—the temple of Aphrodite, (goddess of love), who boasted 1000 temple prostitutes. So, besides rampant homosexuality and other abhorrent behavior, prostitutes came down the hill and into town to ply their trade at night. Whatever you were looking for, whatever you were ‘in to’, it could be had in Corinth. Yet, Paul was drawn there -- why? Because she was a people who needed the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

I concur with the dating of New Testament scholar, F.F. Bruce, who places Paul’s penning of the letters to the church at Corinth between 54 and 56 A.D., meaning they were written even before the gospels. The dating of Scripture is really interesting, using both the recorded history and scientific evidence such as archaeology to shore up the dating. For instance, we can arrive at the date of Jesus’ birth because Luke set it during the Roman reign of Caesar Augustus, and the Syrian government of Quirinius, which are referenced by Roman historian, Tacitus, and Jewish historian, Josephus. I highly recommend Bruce’s book, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? if you are interested in seeing evidence and documentation for the reliability of the New Testament. Truly, it is fascinating reading.

We are so fortunate to have the letters of Paul because they reveal so much of the heart and soul of this amazing human being. (With the advent of e-mail, letter writing has suffered a dramatic drop-off, and is really a lost and dying art. Unfortunately, we miss the opportunity of receiving soul-full letters from our acquaintances.) Anyway, here is some of what awaits us in the first of these two marvelous letters—dealing with division; the contrast of God’s wisdom and power with that of man’s; humility vs. pride; marriage; the church and the world; the Lord’s Supper; the body of Christ; the gifts of the Spirit; the supremacy of love; Jesus’ resurrection and why that is paramount to our entire faith! And so much more. . .

I can’t help but think of the similarities of first-century Corinth to today’s world, as most of us know it. Sex, money, success, knowledge, and power are the counterfeit gods of our day, just as they were in Paul’s day, and in Western cultures, we might add individual freedom, self-discovery, and fulfillment to the list. God’s wisdom has been made inferior to man’s ‘enlightened’ thinking, and there are as many cults and ‘isms’ as there are bona fide religions. So, as truth-seeking people, let’s set out to do what Paul instructed Timothy to do—
Let’s study to show ourselves approved~
workmen that need not be ashamed,

rightly dividing the Word of truth. (2 Timothy 2.15)

Truly, it is God’s wisdom that will redeem mankind. A European intellectual who had devoted her whole life to the innate goodness of human nature, finally deduced, “I have staked all on the essential goodness of human nature . . . yet I realize how permanent are the evil impulses and instincts in many—how little you can count on changing some of these—for instance the appeal of wealth and power—by any change in social machinery. . .”1 In reality, “the only way to free ourselves from the destructive influence of counterfeit gods is to turn back to the true one. The living God, who revealed himself both at Mount Sinai and on the Cross, is the only Lord who, if you find him, can truly fulfill you, and if you fail him, can truly forgive you.”2

And so, we shall study Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians, and in so doing, glean much to apply to our own lives, I believe.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ~
Christine

Podcast: www.pastorwoman.com


1 - ”Beatrice Webb’s Diaries, 1924-1932,” Margaret I. Cole., ed.
2 - Counterfeit Gods, Timothy Keller, Dutton, 2009.