Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Corinth

This week, we're going to be a series on another book by Kenneth E. Bailey: Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes. This book focuses specifically on the book of 1 Corinthians, and how the Early Church would have viewed His words to them through their cultural lenses.

First, like with Ephesus, Philippi, and Laodicea, it's important to know the setting of Corinth itself. A Roman colony, "Corinth was the largest international commercial city in the Eastern Mediterranean. The faith could move out across the region from Corinth in ways that could not have been possible from Athens" (page 105), even though Athens was technically the intellectual center of the Mediterranean world. 

Destroyed in 146 B.C. by the Romans for having opposed them, Corinth became a Roman colony in 44 B.C. to facilitate the movement of goods across the isthmus of Corinth and as a center of trade. As a commercial town composed of various ethnic communities, it was thriving in the first century, and the 3 groups that would have naturally dominated the young Christian community would have been the Romans, the Greeks, and the Jews" (page 69). 

photo of Corinth today by viator.com

Bailey points out that Paul uses language language of a tent-maker, or a brass-maker, which is interesting because Corinth was famous for its brass work. In Chapter 1, verse 2, the word 'agree' literally means 'fit together'. Bailey points out, "Pieces of canvas must 'fit together' or the tent will leak. If the canvas 'splits', the tent is worthless.... and no one will buy a brass pot with a handle that does not fit tightly to the pot" (pages 68-69). 

This letter is 1 of 3, the first one being lost (mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:9), and was written between AD 53-55. Paul was towards the end of his 3rd missionary journey, based in Ephesus, which was also a major port city.

We'll take more about this in a future post (hello, 1 Corinthians 13!) but for now, how does knowing the setting of Corinth help place you in the mindset of the Corinthians and other Early Church readers?