Daily Lesson for Tuesday 30th of June 2026
Read Acts 18:1-3, 1 Corinthians 5:9-11, and 1 Corinthians 8:4. What can we infer about Corinth’s economy, morality, and religious life?
Corinth was an important center of the ancient world, renowned for its prosperous commerce. The city was destroyed by Rome in 146 b.c. and rebuilt by Julius Caesar as a Roman colony in 44 b.c. It is this Roman Corinth that appears in the New Testament. In the time of Paul, Corinth was one of Athens’ rivals and had even surpassed it in various aspects. Corinth had two important harbors that made the exchange of merchandise and the development of its commerce easy.
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Indeed, Paul chose Corinth because of its importance and advantaged geographic location. “An opportunity was thus presented for the spread of the gospel. Once established at Corinth, it would be readily communicated to all parts of the world.”—Ellen G. White, Sketches From the Life of Paul, p. 99.
In addition, the flourishing commerce of Corinth would make it easier for Paul to support himself by producing and selling tents while proclaiming the gospel in that city (Acts 18:2-3). Obviously, missionary work in a large and wealthy city is not free of challenges. Corinth was marked by a blatant religious pluralism (1 Corinthians 8:5), as evident by its numerous shrines built in homage to such deities as Apollo, Athena, and Aphrodite, among others, and even the worship of such Egyptian gods as Serapis and Isis.
In addition to this religious confusion, Corinth was also known for its sexual licentiousness. Strabo, a Greek geographer and historian, mentions that there were 1,000 sacred prostitutes devoted to the worship of Aphrodite in her temple at Corinth. Although many scholars view this with suspicion and connect this claim to Athenian propaganda against Corinth, ritual prostitution was common in the ancient world. Sexual immorality was a problem in Corinth, as elsewhere. Idolatry and immorality were part of daily life, and this sad reality explains much of the content of 1 and 2 Corinthians.
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In his missionary activity in Corinth, Paul faced the challenge of an idolatrous and licentious society. What challenges in today’s culture can make it hard to preach the gospel? How can we overcome them? How much difference, if any, is there between Corinth and our cities today? |
