"Jars of Clay" | Paul + Corinth Background

If you're anything like me, you love doing background research on a Bible passage. Gaining information about who wrote a passage, when and why they wrote it, and to whom, grants us the kind of context we need to better understand what we're reading. In this post, I'm excited to share a bunch of resources with you to help you on your way as we dive into our "Jars of Clay" study of 2 Corinthians 4:7-18.

Who Was Paul?

I spent an entire episode in our "Do Not Be Anxious" series really sharing the story of Paul. I'd love to link that episode for you here so you can enjoy getting a fuller picture than what I could paint here in a post.

Our Visit to Corinth

But first, I'd love to share a personal testimony and some things I've learned. I had the tremendous privilege of walking the ancient streets of Corinth. I've also been to Ephesus where Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians. And I've been to Rome. Paul wrote to the Romans during his second stay in Corinth. In 2023, I sailed to all these places via the Mediterranean Sea, just as Paul would have. I cannot tell you the impact this trip had on my faith. It was life-changing to see the Bible come alive before my very eyes in real places with real history. 

With your permission, I'd love to share the highlights of our tour and what I learned. I'm a visual person, so I'll also include photos for you!

We began our tour at the Corinth canal. This was our first stop in order to begin to illustrate the incredible importance of this region. Corinth "sat on the isthmus connecting the Greek mainland with the Peloponnesian peninsula." To the west was the Gulf of Corinth which continued on to the Ionian and Adriatic Seas. To the east, was the Aegean Sea. This strip of land connected these critical bodies of water that played a pivotal role in ancient trade. Today, a modern canal has been constructed in Corinth. This did not exist during the time of Paul.

Instead, a road had been carved through the landscape where cargo, and even ships would be pulled by slaves and animals between the western port of Lechaion and the eastern port of Cenchreae. We got to walk a section of that ancient road on a glorious Greek morning. You can still see the ruts from the carts that carried the boats and ships over land. It was fascinating!

My friend Yiannis, who was our tour guide in 2023, recently shared this with me regarding the strategic location of Corinth during the time Paul ministered there: 

"Corinth's location is advantageous because it faces the Aegean Sea eastwards and the Gulf of Corinth (and the Adriatic) westwards. These two bodies of water, just 4 miles apart - separated by the isthmus of Corinth, can take you sailing to the eastern world (Asia Minor, The Black Sea, Egypt, and the Middle East) or to the western world (Italy, southern Europe, Spain, Gibraltar). So even since ancient times (7th century B.C.), the Corinthians used the connecting road between the two ports and in 602 B.C. they even built a stone paved road (Diolkos-which means "haul across") to transfer goods and whole ships from east to west and vice versa. That presented a great solution to all captains, since they wanted to avoid sailing south of Greece where piracy from North Africa (specifically Libya) and usually bad weather put their ships, cargo, and even lives at great risk. (Side note: the trip around the Peloponnese was about 200 miles. The Roman geographer Strabo, one said: "Any sailor making that journey twice needs to forget his home.")

Eventually, the popularity of the passage among captains and merchants led Corinth to become the crossroads, the commercial center of the Mediterranean World by the early 6th century. It became very wealthy, prosperous, culturally advanced, artistically innovative, and extremely influential. Even though it was destroyed by the Romans in 146 B.C., it regained its high world influential status. Of course, Paul already knew all that due to his excellent education and fluency in Greek. Therefore, it was a very strategic decision to prioritize Corinth for establishing a Christian church, since it would be the most influential one (especially in addressing the Gentile world."

Some have even said this was the most strategic city to choose for the spread of the gospel in the whole of the Roman Empire. You can see why Paul was so intent on helping the Corinthian church live out the gospel in this critical crossroad city. He wanted them to be a light to the nations and knew the impact could be far-reaching!

Our next stop was the ancient port of Cenchreae to the east. Here, Yiannis painted a picture for us of Paul arriving in this port and working with Phoebe to establish one of the earliest churches in Europe. He told us that this port was dramatically impacted in the first century A.D. as sailors and merchants arrived from the East with tales of a man who had risen from the grave! No wonder a church thrived here!

The ruins of an ancient 4th century church can still be seen here in the port of Cenchreae. Phoebe, a deacon of the church, and co-laborer with Paul would have sailed from this port to Rome, carrying Paul's famous letter to the Romans that he wrote from Corinth.

Paul says in the closing chapter of Romans:

"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well." (Romans 16:1-2, ESV)

After a 15 minute drive, we arrived in Corinth. This would have been about a 2 hour walk in Paul's time when he arrived here on his second missionary journey in 51 A.D. Only about 5% of Corinth has been excavated. Nevertheless, what you are able to see today is breathtaking. 

Above, you'll see a picture of me standing on the "bema", or stone platform, in the center of Corinth where Paul stood trial before Gallio to be judged. We read about this in Acts 18:12-13:

"...when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, saying, 'This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.'" 

Right on this platform is an inscription in both Greek and English. If you're doing our 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 "Jars of Clay" study, you will recognize verse 17:

Paul's afflictions in Corinth and beyond appeared to be anything but momentary and light, but as we study we will come to see how he could have possibly written these words and had this perspective.

Behind me, you can see the Acrocorinth, which was a mountain fortress that housed the temple of Aphrodite. This was the site of horrific practices of temple prostitution, just one example of the sexual depravity and idolatry of this pagan port city Paul chose as a site to plant Christ's church.

Today the site has a spectacular view of the western port of Lechaion on the Gulf of Corinth (and on to the Adriatic and Ionian Seas) and is rilled with ruins of the temple of Aphrodite, as well as other churches, mosques and military installments. Back down in the city, we can still see some remaining elements of Corinth during the time of Paul. This map, from the ESV Study Bible, gives you an idea of the center-most part of the city, the forum. Note the "bema" in the middle of the drawing.

This is a photo of my family in front of the ruins of the temple of Apollo. Note its size and proximity to center of the city. These temples were the site of worship to the gods of Greece and Rome. Sacrifices would have been made and tithes paid to these gods.

Finally, if you locate the "Lechaion Road" label on the ESV city map above, you'll see it pointing to a narrow street that passed through a marketplace of shops and a basilica. Because of Corinth's wealth and prestige as a metropolitan city, this shop-lined street would be filled with ultra expensive and high-end items. It was kind of like 5th Avenue in New York, where the elites would have shopped.

This photo of our family is almost exactly were the label points to on the map. You can see the ruins of the shops of Corinth behind us. The street ends at the forum containing the "bema" and then you can see the 1,886 foot Acrocorinth in the distance.

There are many ways in which we can relate to Corinth today. While the things Paul wrote to the Corinthians can never mean to us what it didn't first mean to them, we can still draw many parallels. Corinth was a critical city for trade and business, for culture and thought, for entertainment, and even a massive biennial sporting event, The Isthmian Games, which were second only to the Olympics in popularity.

Corinth was not just at a critical crossroads, but the critical crossroad, welcoming an amalgamation of people from all over the ancient world - like New York. It was wealthy beyond comparison and the elite class there lived lives set apart from most of the ancient world surrounding them - like Beverly Hills or Bel Air. IPeople were always passing through - and because their stays were temporary and their identities perhaps unknown, they participated in a level of debauchery not normal in other places - like Las Vegas. Perhaps their mentality was one familiar to our modern day one: "What happens in Corinth stays in Corinth." There were many gods and goddesses worshipped in Corinth - including, as was demanded, worship of the Emperor of Rome himself. I liken this to our worship of modern celebrities, athletes, politicians, brands, and influencers. And, power struggles between classes, political ideologies, religions, and nationalities battled on as they do today.

It was to this church that Paul strategically came, albeit worried and afraid, to share the message of the gospel. It was to this church that Paul wrote. This church at Corinth was the church he struggled and wept over. And, it was this church he loved. 

Paul's message to Corinth is still relevant to us today and so, we have much to learn together.

I cannot wait to get into this study with you in our upcoming "Jars of Clay" series. Our study workbook can be purchased in our shop for $10 (digital) or $20 (hardcopy), and will correspond with our new series on The Abidible Podcast.

Additional Resources

For those of you who would like to dig a little deeper into the history of Corinth, the books of 1 & 2 Corinthians, and why Paul chose this city to plant a church, I'm going to include some helpful resources for you below.

READ-ALOUDS

First, if you'd like to listen to the full books of 1 and 2 Corinthians for context, I've created two read-alouds for you to play whenever you have time. Click the image to be redirected to the podcast episode.

(COMING SOON)

3-D MAP OF CORINTH (VIDEO) (6:19)

THE BIBLE PROJECT SUMMARIES (8:47 + 8:38)

SHORT HISTORICAL SUMMARY (PAUL + CORINTH) (3:35)

LONGER HISTORICAL SUMMARY (PAUL + CORINTH) - (36:29)

WHY PAUL WROTE (PAULINE EXPERT - N.T. WRIGHT)

WN.T. Wright's "Paul: A Biography*" (Click on Image)
*As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small commission from your purchase at no additional cost to you.

Bonus Shout-Out

If you listened to our Philippians 4, "Do Not Be Anxious" series on the podcast, and as you'll notice in this new "Jars of Clay" series, I had some help from a very special friend named Yiannis. He was our tour guide in Corinth, an expert on all things Paul. I find it hard to recollect a time when I've been more impressed by the wealth of knowledge of a single human being. Many times throughout our tour, I found myself with tears streaming down my cheeks. Yiannis made Corinth come alive for us, and gave us such insight into the heart and mind of Paul, that I'll never view the apostle in the same way again. Many, many thanks as well as grace and peace to our brother in Christ, the incredible Yiannis! 

πολλά πολλά ευχαριστώ. χάρη και ειρήνη αδελφέ.

Join Us!

I'd like to formally invite you to join us for this exciting upcoming series on 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 in both the workbook as well as the podcast! Make sure you're following us on whatever platform you use for your podcasts so you'll be notified when new episodes drop. And! Grab one of our gorgeous new crewnecks to wear during your study and beyond. This series begins February 24, 2025 and will run through May. See you over there!

(Click any of the images to learn more.)

Let's Abide,

Jason and Kate