A. D. 50: Analysis Of Paul's Letter To A Christian Church

In A.D. 50 the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to a Christian church in the ancient city of Corinth that he founded. This letter was meant to address various issues that were taking place within that local church body. The wisdom and instruction, in how to live as a Christian in an unbelieving world, contained within this letter is still relevant and powerful today. To better understand what Paul was addressing and how it applies to believers today in our cultural context, the background of this ancient city must be looked at. When the geography, economic conditions, politics and philosophy of the city are clearly seen, the meaning of Paul’s words become even more powerful for us today. The first step toward greater clarity for the church today,

The city existed in what is modern day Greece but it was more Roman than it was Greek. Although it’s history can be dated all the way back to eighth century B.C., Corinth was destroyed in 146 B.C. by the Roman, L. Mummius Achaicus, and reestablished as a Roman colony in 44 B.C. by Julius Caesar. It would eventually become the capital of the Roman province of Achaia where the proconsul would reside and have authority. In fact, some of the first inhabitants of the city were veteran Roman soldiers and their families placed there by the Roman government. All of these factors point to the politics and governance of the city being under Roman control, and attributes to some of the issues Paul addresses in his

The location, economic conditions and governance all attributed to the city being a melting pot of different ideals, races and religions. Some of the first inhabitants to the reestablished city were Romans, but eventually because of the affluence and wealth, other immigrants settled there as well. Shortly after it was made into a Roman colony the Greeks started to matriculate back to it. The Greco-Roman influence on philosophy and religion can be seen through the extravagant temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, located on the acropolis of the city. The temple was known for the 1,000 female priestesses that were dedicated to the service of the goddess. This attributed to the “everything goes” mentality of the people. When someone at that time was accused of “acting like a Corinthian” this meant that they practiced fornication. Beyond their sexual ideology, there was also an importance placed on intellect. It was the intellectual center of that region and visited often by philosophers of various espousing their different rhetoric to the people. The Greco-Roman philosophy wasn’t the only philosophy. Corinth also contained a rather large contingent of Jewish settlers. Enough so that it was able to warrant having a synagogue of it’s own. The Jewish believers would have had a completely different set of governing principles in their lives than the rather relaxed sexual views