It has been a long time since I've blogged about our trip to Turkey, Greece and Rome. I left off at
The Acropolis. So, in continuation....
......on this day, we took the bus to Corinth. It was interesting to see grafitti very similar to the kind we see on the trains that pass through our town.
We stopped to see a canal. It is the Isthmus Canal and Corinth is close by (see map below. Korinthos is right under the canal). Sometimes it is referred to as the Corinthian Canal.
Before the canal was dug, they used to put boats on wheels with timber and pull them across the land. The same company that built the Suez Canal, dug this one. The company went bankrupt and the Greek government ended up having to finish it.
Ancient Corinth.
Corinth was a Roman imperial colony and capital of the province of Achaea. Paul arrived mid 1st century AD and took up lodging and worked as a tentmaker alongside Aquilla and Priscilla.
"In 1929, this inscription was found mentioning Erastus as the one who paid for the paving of the street in return for his appointment as a city officer. It is likely that this is the same Erastus mentioned by Paul as sending greetings to the church at Rome (Romans 16:23). If so, Paul's influence apparently extended to wealthy and influential Roman citizens of Corinth." Bibleplaces.com
Paul reasoned and preached the Gospel to the city's large Jewish community. Because of strong opposition, he began to devote his attention to the conversion of the Gentiles. Paul lived in Corinth 1 1/2 years and established a strong and well-organized church.
"I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" 1 Corinthians 9:16
In 1990, 285 objects were stolen from this museum at Corinth. They were found in Miami in 1999.
Black-glaze alabastron for grave offerings
Corinth is in the shadow of this big hill; atop this hill was
the temple to Aphrodite (goddess of sexual love).
Many temple prostitutes worked there. Because there were 2 harbours closeby, these occult prostitutes served the sailors pleasures. (The wall there are remains from the Byzantine era, not Biblical times. )
These prostitutes were the Madonnas of the day and many women wanted to emulate these fashion icons. The term to "do like the Corinthians" meant to be immoral. Corinth was the Las Vegas of the day. A den of sin. The temple of Aphrodite looming over the city on the hill, the temple of Apollos on the other hill overlooking the marketplace. And the biggest slave market in the Mediterranean. It was to this city that Paul spoke of the freedoms we have in Christ.
When Paul urged women against the braiding of hair, it is not because it is wrong to braid hair today, but it was telling the women of that culture not to dress like those women.
Paul is saying, be modest. In today's term, "don't dress like a prostitute." You are misrepresenting who you are in your culture! We are to live in the world but don't mix and be like them. The Corinthians were assimilating into the culture. We tend to do that too, don't we. But we are to shine as lights in the dark.
Romans 12:1-2New Living Translation (NLT)
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
In this area was the venue for public ceremony from which assembled citizens were addressed by the procounsul of Corinth.
The Apostle Paul was brought to the Bema (judgment seat or tribunal) by the elders of Corinth's synagogue who accused him of subversive teaching against Mosaic Law. The procounsul Gallio, however, judged that the teaching did not constitute an offense against Roman law, but considered it a mere religious dispute among the Jews.
In the Byzantine era, a church was erected on the site of Paul's trial.
On either side of the Bema are the main shops of the Forum
public restrooms - water from the fountains ran underneath.
The trough was to wash your sponge for cleaning
They brought musicians in to hide the noises!
temple of Apollos
"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple, and that God's Spirit lives in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16
Lechaion Road
A famous passage even non-believers seem to know is 1 Corinthians 13. The Love chapter.
Love is patient, love is kind....
A good way to put this is to insert your name where the word "love" appears.
Or "I am patient"
"I am kind"
"I do not envy, do not boast, am not proud."
Hmmm. Look it up and do this! Then ask the Lord to help you to BE 1 Corinthians 13! Don't we all need help here?
