The Questor

The Wild Gospel..… ….. In the Wicked City

Shortly after making his speech to the Areopagus in Athens, Paul moved on to Corinth which is about 50 miles to the west of Athens. The city had been founded by Julius Caesar in 44BC and had become a very prosperous place. The key to its prosperity was its location on the narrow stretch of land known as the Isthmus of Corinth.

In those days, people who wished to travel between the Adriatic and the Aegean Seas had two options. One was to sail around the southern tip of Greece and risk the violent storms which were common in that area. The other was to travel overland through the Isthmus of Corinth. That meant either offloading the ships and carrying the goods by cart or pack animal – or, in some cases, towing the whole boat across the Isthmus.

Pretty well everyone who chose the overland route would have to stop off at Corinth making it a very cosmopolitan place. You can imagine what a bustling place it was with people from all over the known world travelling through; some of them staying and bringing their own local customs and religions with them. The principal groups of people were Greeks, Romans – it was a Roman colony – and Jews. Emperor Claudius (41 – 54AD) had recently expelled all Jews from Rome and Corinth was geographically easy for them to get to. The amount of business being transacted there also made it attractive to them.

So when Paul went to Corinth around 50AD he found a lot of refugees and plenty of work for a tent maker like himself. He soon met a Jew called Aquila and his wife Priscilla who had recently been expelled as a result of Claudius’ edict. They were also tent makers so Paul joined forces with them and went to live with them.

He found himself in a very diverse and challenging environment with all the temptations you would associate with a city full of sailors and traders and the people who exploit them – in fact the people of Corinth had a reputation as an unruly, hard drinking, sexually promiscuous bunch. He was still in Greece – or Achaia as it was known at that time – so there was a healthy appetite for philosophical debate. There was also the worship of the full range of Greek and Roman gods which took its place alongside the worship of the imperial family – and money.

Paul followed his usual practice of going to the synagogue on the Sabbath and tried to persuade the Jews that Jesus was the