“After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.”
Acts 18:1-4

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MARCH 24, 2025

Years ago, I spent part of a summer in Amsterdam. I visited ancient cathedrals, walked along the canals, ate some of the best pastries in the world, and listened to voices speaking in dozens of languages. I also observed the Red-light District at night, where I read the “menus” posted outside drug cafes, watched prostitutes solicit, pickpockets steal, and drunks and the drugged stagger down the streets.

Perhaps this is similar to what Paul saw when he went to Corinth. It was a city of great beauty and wealth, visited by people from all over the Roman empire—but a city of great decadence.

It was the wealthiest city in the region, and its population was 20 times greater than that of Athens. It was a multicultural city with residents that included Italians, Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians, Jews, and Asians. The city was known throughout the Roman empire for its athletic games, and for its beautiful art, architecture, and bronze works. In fact, the seventy-five-foot-high doors of the temple in Jerusalem were made of Corinthian bronze and were called “Beautiful.”

Large, ornate temples and shrines could be found throughout Corinth but the building that dominated the skyline, set upon a hill overlooking the city, was the temple dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of fertility and sexuality. Here, temple slaves offered sexual rites to visiting temple devotees. In classic Greek, to “act like a Corinthian,” meant to seek out prostitutes and in Greek plays, Corinthians were depicted as drunk and lecherous.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians he made a list of some of what he observed in the city.

“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were…”
1 Corinthians 6:9-11

It was the multicultural, transient population of Corinth and its great iniquity that was an opportunity for the gospel, an opportunity to establish a church that would influence an empire.

“…But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
1 Corinthians 6:11

Questions for reflection and discussion:

  • When have you been in a place that was both beautiful and sinful?
  • How did you respond?
  • Do you see being in these places as an opportunity to share the good news of Jesus?

 

Church Reading Plan: Exodus 35; John 14