1 After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth.
Paul now moves to the city of Corinth (Acts 18:1-17). The apostle ministered in Corinth for one and a half years. Later, on his third missionary journey, he wrote First and Second Corinthians.
1After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth.
The apostle Paul did not make Athens his primary target but soon moved forty miles to Corinth, a major seaport and capital of the Roman province Achaia. Corinth was quite different from Athens, a city of culture and learning. Corinth was commercial, located just south of a narrow isthmus, joining Peloponnesus to Achaia on the north. Trade on land moved north and south through Corinth, and sea trade east and west. Corinth was located near two seaports in Lechaeum (two miles to the west of the Gulf of Corinth opening to the Adriatic Sea and Cenchrea (seven miles southeast), which brought trade from the Aegean Sea. The southern tip of the Peloponnesus Peninsula was too dangerous for ships to travel. Instead, a vessel would put in port at one of the seaports and carry their cargo across the Isthmus for shipping there. Sometimes they would roll small ships across the Isthmus on logs.
Corinth was the Paris of antiquity with its profligate lifestyle; it was also the most cosmopolitan city in Greece. The main temple was for worshiping Aphrodite, the goddess of love, where much of the immorality occurred. One thousand prostitutes inhabited that temple. The term “Corinthianize” became a term for sexually immoral. Corinth shocked even the pagan world’s sense of right and wrong.
PRINCIPLE:
The move toward pagan culture in Western countries can discourage those with little faith.
APPLICATION:
As Christians look at their culture, they see it moving pell-mell away from biblical values. It seems like believers are a voice in the wilderness. However, that is the exact situation Paul found himself. He did not allow the overwhelming forces of paganism to daunt his evangelism of Corinth or any other city he found himself. People who care about their faith cannot allow themselves to become disheartened by the prevailing winds of false belief all around them. Our culture can become a dead weight to our efforts to advance the cause of Christ.
