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Corinth was the first Gentile city (apart from his home town of Tarsus) in which Paul spent any considerable time. He had many opportunities to preach the Gospel and saw a number of converts to Christianity. He spent at least 18 months in Corinth while he was on his second missionary journey between the years AD 50-51. He established the church there at this time.
While he was resident at Corinth, he had hospitality from a couple who are mentioned several times in the New Testament - Priscilla and Aquilla. This couple had moved to Corinth to escape persecution. They were tentmakers and this was also Paul's own trade when he was living in Tarsus. So Paul worked alongside Aquilla (and his wife whose name was sometimes shortened to Prisca) at tentmaking. There was a textile industry in Corinth which involved making a sort of cloth from goats' hair but it is likely that this term 'tentmaking' applied to a wide variety of materials including leather and was not restricted to making tents. This was hard work and time-consuming and was probably not well paid. However, Paul was keen to be independent and did not want to be accused of living off other people. He could have insisted on being given free board and lodging but he was not wanting to be regarded as a 'sponger.' It seems that times were hard and he experienced poverty and hunger. Again, the Lord provided for him when Christian brothers from Macedonia visited him with supplies of food and maybe money. (See 2 Corinthians 11:9)
Paul did not spend all of his time making tents etc. with a material made from goats' hair. His mission was to evangelise - to spread the good news or the gospel that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah or the Christ. At first he concentrated on Jews because this was his own people and he had a deep affection for them. He had been like them and so steeped in the Jewish religion that he failed to grasp that God had sent the Messiah and that Jesus of Nazareth was this promised One. He had an audience every Sabbath day made up of Jews and Greeks and he reasoned with them and tried to persuade them that Jesus who had been crucified is the Son of God. Paul spoke with conviction because he had personally seen and heard Jesus speaking in a vision of light from heaven. But the Jews would not accept Paul's teaching and they became abusive. This forced Paul to move to another venue to spread the message - the home of a Gentile located next to the synagogue. Paul continued his simple teaching - he did not think that he should make it more attractive or tone it down a bit.
The next Day Share gives some more insight into the opposition Paul encountered from the Jews. Read Acts 18:1-17 to see how the church at Corinth was established. We have a good insight into church planting. It was probably around 50-51 AD that the church at Corinth was established. This does not mean that a building with a steeple and pews was built. Most likely the church would meet in the homes of believers. Paul did not have his own residence and he did not spend his efforts on the building - he was interested in people. We know the names of some of the early members of this church. The household of Stephanus were the first converts in the whole area of Achaia of which Corinth was the capital city. (1 Corinthians 16:15) It is interesting that it is a whole household. Stephanus might have had a wife and a family and he would probably have slaves or former slaves who had been given their liberty. Stephanus seems a Roman or Latin name and it may be that he was descended from the Romans that Julius Caesar had sent to Corinth to populate the old city of Corinth which was in ruins. We discover other names of member of the Church at Corinth - Lucius, Jason and Sopater.
After spending 18 months at Corinth, Paul took his leave of the Corinthians but he maintained contact with them. This was a far more difficult challenge in days before even a postal service or any communication technology such as we have today. While he was spending three years at Ephesus, he received a disturbing piece of news that there was a case of immoral conduct being permitted in the church. He immediately wrote a letter to the church but this letter has got lost. Later Paul received another communication from a member of the Corinthian Church by the name of Chloe describing divisions in the church. And he was about to dictate a letter to deal with these two serious matters, when a delegation arrived from Corinth with a number of questions they wanted him to answer.
So that is the background to the book in the New Testament called Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. In future Day Shares we will briefly study some aspects of this letter and also its sister letter (Second Corinthians). I went into too much detail in previous blogs e.g. John's Gospel so this time I am trying to be more selective.
A word in closing. Every church has a setting in its community. Some Christians have tried to cut themselves off from their neighbours but this is not possible. Just as the Corinthians were affected by their culture, so are we in 21st century Britain. Also, it is important to understand the history and culture of the New Testament era, when we are seeking to understand the written text. Only when we set the letter to the Corinthians in the culture of the first century, will we begin to grasp the significance of Paul's teaching.
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