To understand a New Testament letter well, it is often helpful to gain a brief overview of the historical, cultural and geographical background of the city in which the addressees lived. First Corinthians ultimately revolves around the question “what it means for a Christian community to live as the body of Christ in the midst of a culture with competing ideas, spiritualities and gods. Each of the many topics and questions that Paul addresses in the letter is connected to the challenges the Corinthian believers faced as they lived out their faith in Greco-Roman society.”[1] But what did that culture look like?
Geographically
Corinth in Paul’s day was a major city, not least because of its strategically advantageous location. The city formed the transition “from the Greek mainland to the Peloponnese and also controlled the connection between the Ionian and Adriatic Seas in the west and the Aegean and Levantine Seas in the east.”[2]
Its harbours on both sides of the Isthmus — that narrow strip of land connecting the mainland with the peninsula — led to a vigorous trade,[3] which would also be reflected in its culture and society. Accordingly, many trade routes crossed in Corinth, since merchants often preferred the route across the isthmus in order to avoid “the rocky, storm-battered capes at the southern tip of the Peloponnese.”[4] Witherington therefore writes: “Corinth was thus the central crossing point for Mediterranean trade to the east and west and — to a lesser degree — for goods shipped from Egypt or other parts of North Africa to places north of Corinth.”[5]
Historically
The history of Corinth probably reaches back at least to the sixth millennium BC. Especially in the period before Paul, in the second century BC, it was a wealthy Greek city and even “a leading city of the Achaean League.” In 146 BC, however, it was destroyed under the command of the general Lucius Mummius because of its resistance to Rome, and its population was sold into slavery; the city remained unsettled until it was rebuilt in 44 BC by order of Julius Caesar.[6]
Now, however, it was rebuilt as a Roman city, with Caesar settling the colony with three groups: (1) freedmen, (2) his own veterans and (3) urban tradespeople and labourers.[7] The “entrepreneurial spirit” and “ambitious drive” of these people ensured that “the colony became a flourishing commercial centre within two generations.”[8] This openness surely also played a role in Paul’s decision to leave Athens and go to Corinth. While Athens was “essentially a university town” that, deeply rooted in its past, met new ideas “with reserve,” Corinth was considerably more cosmopolitan.[9] “The civic community and the urban culture of Corinth” were thereby “shaped according to a Roman rather than a Greek model.”[10] Thus the architecture of the city took on a Roman appearance, and it was governed by a Roman form of administration with Roman officials.[11] In summary, then, the city was Greco-Roman in character.[12]
Culturally
Corinthian culture was surely quite challenging for a congregation that wanted to follow Jesus faithfully.
Tourism
Corinth also formed an important cultural centre in the world of that time, not least through the Isthmian Games. These were among the great panhellenic festivals; they “were celebrated every two years and brought the city considerable income”[15] — among other things because they created a great deal of short-term work and boosted the sale of items such as tents.[16] These games encompassed “the entire athletic programme as well as horse races and competitions in the arts (theatre, literature, painting).”[17]
In general one can say that Corinth in that period had a cosmopolitan character. The coin finds from a wide variety of regions, presumably owing to its far-reaching trade, underline this.[18]
Economic advancement and boasting
A further very important aspect of Corinthian culture was shaped by the city’s economic situation, which we have already touched on above. Thiselton writes: “The core community and the formative tradition of the urban culture were marked by trade, commerce and entrepreneurial pragmatism in the pursuit of success — even if some paid a high price for business failures or for the lack of the right contacts or the right opportunities.”[19] Along with this went a culture characterised by self-display and boasting, in sharp contrast to the apostle Paul and his humble bearing there. This becomes especially visible in 2 Corinthians in the attitude of Paul’s opponents: “Paul’s ‘self-humbling, his adoption of a servant role’ stood in direct contradiction to the expected and accepted values of Corinthian urban culture. ‘In a city where social advancement was a chief preoccupation, Paul’s deliberate descent in apparent status was perceived by many as disturbing, repellent and even provocative.’”[20]
Rhetoric and truth
A final interesting aspect of Corinth’s cultural background is its relationship to rhetoric, precisely because of the role this would play in Paul’s conflict with a group in Corinth. In contrast to earlier approaches, rhetoric had become a “reductive and contrived ‘instrumental’ rationality and rhetoric that seeks not truth but applause and success” — and yet it was probably valued most highly in Corinth. Thus it was often more about oratorical self-display and the desire for admiration than about the matter itself.[23]
Religion
Fitting the overall picture of the city, Corinth was also religiously diverse. “In Corinth we find temples for Apollo, Aphrodite, Poseidon, Asclepius, Demeter and Kore. Other gods played a prominent role as well. Magic was doubtless popular, and mystery cults abounded, including the worship of Isis and Sarapis.”[24] The imperial cult, too, probably played an important role in Corinth, since “freedmen could take a prominent role in this cult, by which they gained social status.”[25] Converting to Christ, however, required breaking away from such connections (cf. 1 Thess 1:9–10).[26]
Conclusion
Some readers will surely notice the parallels to our own Western society today. “[T]he self-sufficient, self-satisfied culture of Corinth,” paired with “an obsession with prestige within one’s own peer group, competitive success, its devaluation of tradition and universals, as well as a near-contempt for all those without standing in whatever value system has been chosen,” presents in many respects a frighteningly similar picture to our present-day Western society, even if one must of course take the historical distance and the differences into account.[27] Accordingly, the Corinthian letters probably speak into a culture that is more similar to ours than we were likely aware.
