Background on the Founding and Organization of the Church at Corinth

St. Paul Founds the Church at Corinth.

St. Paul's first visit to Europe is graphically described by St. Luke (Acts, chapters 16-18). When he reached Troas, at the northwest corner of Asia Minor, on his second great missionary journey in company with Timothy and Silvanus, or Silas (who was a "prophet" and had the confidence of The Twelve), he met St. Luke, probably for the first time. At Troas he had a vision of "a man of Macedonia standing and beseeching him, and saying: Pass over in to Macedonia and help us." In response to this appeal he proceeded to Philippi in Macedonia, where he made many converts, but was cruelly beaten with rods according to the Roman custom. After comforting the brethren he traveled southward to Thessalonica, where some of the Jews "believed, and of those that served God, and of the Gentiles a great multitude, and of noble women not a few. But the Jews, moved with envy, and taking unto them some wicked men of the vulgar sort, set the city in an uproar ... And they stirred up the people and the rulers of the city hearing these things. But the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night to Berea. Who, when they were come thither, went into the synagogue of the Jews, and many of them believed, and of honorable women that were Gentiles and of men not a few." But unbelieving Jews from Thessalonica came to Berea "stirring up and troubling the multitude". "And immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go to the sea; but Silas and Timothy remained there. And they that conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens "—then reduced to the position of an old university town. At Athens he preached his famous philosophical discourse in the Areopagus. Only a few were converted, amongst these being St. Dionysius the Areopagite. Some of his frivolous hearers mocked him. Others said that that was enough for the present; they would listen to more another time.

He appears to have been very disappointed with Athens. He did not visit it again, and it is never mentioned in his letters. The disappointed and solitary Apostle left Athens and traveled westwards, a distance of forty-five miles, to Corinth, the then capital of Greece. The fearful scourging at Philippi coming not very long after he had been stoned and left for dead at Lystra, together with all his ill-treatment by the Jews, as described in 2 Corinthians, must have greatly weakened him. As we are not to suppose that he, any more than his Master, was miraculously saved from pain and its effects, it was with physical pain, nervousness, and misgiving that the lonely Apostle entered this great pagan city, that had a bad name for profligacy throughout the Roman world. To act the Corinthian was synonymous with leading a loose life. Corinth, which had been destroyed by the Romans, was reestablished as a colony by Julius Caesar, 46 B.C., and made the capital of the Roman Province of Achaia by Augustus. It was built on the southern extremity of the isthmus connecting the mainland with the Morea, and was on the great line of traffic between East and West. Its two magnificent harbors, one at each side of the isthmus, were crowded with shipping and were the scenes of constant bustle and activity. Corinth was filled with Greeks, Romans, Syrians, Egyptians, and Jews, many of the last having lately come from Rome on account of their expulsion by Claudius; and its streets were thronged by tens of thousands of slaves. Crowds, too, came from all parts every four years to be present at the Isthmian games. On the summit of the hill to the south of the city was the infamous temple of Venus, with its thousand female devotees dedicated to a life of shame.

It was to this center of traffic, excitement, wealth, and vice that St. Paul came, probably about the end of A.D. 51; and here he spent upwards of eighteen months of his Apostolic career. He took up his residence with two Christian Jews, Aquila and his wife Priscilla (refugees from Rome), because they were of the same trade as himself. Like all Jews he had learned a trade in his youth, and in their house he supported himself by working at this trade, viz., that of tentmaker, as he had determined not to receive any support from the money-loving Corinthians. He began by preaching in the synagogue every Sabbath; `and he persuaded the Jews and the Greeks". Of this period he says that he was with them "in weakness, and fear, and much trembling". The ill-usage he had received was still fresh in his memory, as, writing a month or two later to the Thessalonians, he recalls how he had been "shamefully treated at Philippi". But when he was joined by Silas and Timothy, who brought him pecuniary aid from Macedonia, he became more bold and confident, and "was earnest in testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But they gainsaying and blaspheming, he shook his garments and said to them: Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles." He then began to preach in the house of Titus Justus, adjoining the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, and his family, and several of the Corinthians were converted and baptized. Amongst these were Caius, Stephanas, and his household, and the house of Fortunatus and Achaiqus, "the firstfruits of Achaia" (1 Cor 1:14-16; 16:15). The growing opposition of the Jews, however, and the wicked state of the city had a depressing influence upon him; but "the Lord said to Paul in the night, by a vision: Do not fear, but speak; and hold not thy peace, because I am with thee; and no man shall set upon thee to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city. And he stayed there a year and six months, teaching among them the word of God" (Acts 18:9-11). Many were converted; some of them noble, wealthy, and learned, but the great majority neither learned, nor powerful, nor noble (1 Cor 1:26). During this long period the Faith was planted not only in Corinth but in other portions of Achaia, especially in Cenchre, the eastern port. At length the unbelieving Jews, seeing the ever-increasing crowd of Christians frequenting the house of Titus Justus, next door to their synagogue, became furious, and rose up with one accord and dragged St. Paul before the newly-appointed Proconsul of Achaia, Gallio, the brother of Seneca (A.D. 54). Gallio, perceiving that it was a question of religion, refused to listen to them. The crowd, seeing this and supposing that it was a dispute between Greeks and Jews, fell upon the ring-leader of the latter (Sosthenes, who succeeded Crispus as ruler of the synagogue) and gave him a sound beating in the very sight of the judgment seat; but Gallio pretended not to notice. His treatment must have cowed the Jews, and St. Paul "stayed yet many days". Comely is of opinion that at this time he made his journey as far as Illyricum, and that his first visit to them "in sorrow" was when he returned. Others, with greater probability, place it later. St. Paul, at last taking leave of the brethren, traveled as far as Ephesus with Priscilla and Aquila. Leaving them there he went on to Jerusalem and came back by Antioch, Galatia, and Phrygia, where he confirmed all the disciples. After having thus traversed the "upper coasts" he returned to Ephesus, which he made his headquarters for nearly three years. It was towards the end of that period that the First Epistle was written.

Authenticity of the Epistles.

Little need be said on this point. The historical and internal evidence that they were written by St. Paul is so overwhelmingly strong that their authenticity has been frankly admitted by every distinguished writer of the most advanced critical schools. They were contained in the first collections of St. Paul's Epistles, and were quoted as Scripture by early Christian writers. They were referred to as authorities by the early heretics and translated into many languages in the middle of the second century. The unique personality of St. Paul is impressed upon their every page. Baur, the rationalistic founder of the Tubingen School, and his followers, held the two to the Corinthians, Galatians, and Romans to be unassailable. One or two hypercritical writers, of little weight, brought some futile objections against them; but these were scarcely meant to be taken seriously; they were refuted and brushed aside by such an renowned writer as Kuenen. Schmiedel, one of the most advanced modern critics, says (Hand-Kommentar, Leipzig, 1893, p. 51) that unless better arguments can be adduced against them the two Epistles must be acknowledged to be genuine writings of St. Paul. The Second Epistle was known from the very earliest times. There is a trace of it in that portion of "The Ascension of Isaiah" which dates back to the first century (Knowling, "The Testimony of St. Paul to Christ", p. 58; Charles, "The Ascension of Isaiah", pp. 34, 150). It was known to St. Polycarp, to the writer of the Epistle to Diognetus, to Athenagoras, Theophilus, the heretics Basilides and Marcion. In the second half of the second century it was so widely used that it is unnecessary to give quotations.

Organization of the Church at Corinth as Exhibited in the Two Epistles.

There is nothing in either Epistle which enables us to say what was the precise nature of the organization of the Church at Corinth. In 1 Cor 12:28, we read: "And God indeed hath set some in the church; first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly doctors; after that [the gift of] miracles; then the graces [charismata] of healings, helps, governments [or wise counsels], kinds of tongues, interpretations of speeches. Are all apostles? ... Are all workers of miracles? Have all the grace of healing?" From the whole context it is clear that this passage is nothing other than an enumeration of extraordinary gifts, and that it has no bearing whatsoever on church government. The word apostle is probably used here in its broad sense, not as meaning the Apostles of Jesus Christ, but the apostles of the Church. If it is meant to include the former, then the reference is not to their ruling power, but to their supernatural gifts, upon which the whole argument turns. St. Paul thanked God that he spoke with all their tongues. Barnabas is called an apostle (Acts 14:4, 14:13). In 2 Cor 8:23, St. Paul calls his messengers "the apostles of the churches". (Compare Romans 16:7; Apoc 2:2.) The Didache, or "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles", which is probably a work of the first century, has the statement that if an apostle remains till the third day claiming support, he is to be regarded as a false prophet. It also says that every true teacher and true prophet is worthy of his support; and it gives one of the rules for detecting a false prophet. "Prophets and doctors" are referred to in Acts 13:1. It is extremely probable that St. Paul had organized the Church at Corinth during his long stay there as carefully as he had previously done in Galatia ("and when they had ordained to them priests in every church"—Acts 14:22) and in Ephesus ("wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops"—Acts 20:7, 20:28). We have these statements on the authority of the author of the Acts, now admitted, even by Harnack, to be St. Luke, the companion of the Apostle. St. Paul had spent six or eight times as long at Corinth as he had at Philippi, yet we find him writing to the latter place: "Paul and Timothy ... to all the saints in Christ Jesus, who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons" (Phil. 1:1; cf. 1 Thess 5:12). The principal office of the bishops and deacons was, according to the Didache, to consecrate the Blessed Eucharist. It is only by accident, as it were, on account of abuses, that St. Paul speaks, in the First Epistle, of the form of consecration used at Corinth, and which is substantially the same as that given in the Gospels. Had the abuses not arisen, it seems clear that he would not have referred to the Eucharist. He says nothing of it in the Second Epistle. In that case there would not be wanting those who would have loudly asserted that the Corinthians "knew nothing of it", and, by implication, that the Apostle's mind had not yet developed to that extent. But as he speaks so clearly we may take it as certain, too, that the ministers of the Eucharist were the same as in other places. There is no evidence that it was ever consecrated without a bishop or priest. These, with the deacons, were the regular ministers in each place, under the immediate jurisdiction of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. From all this we may conclude that the Church in Achaia was as regularly organized as the earlier Churches of Galatia, Ephesus, and the neighboring Province of Macedonia, or as in the Church of Crete (Titus 1:5). There were "bishops" (which word certainly meant priests and perhaps also our modern bishops) and deacons. Later on, Timothy, and Titus, and others were appointed over these "bishops", priests, and deacons, and were monarchical bishops in the modern sense of the word. Other such bishops succeeded the Apostles.

by:
Cornelius Aherne
Professor of New Testament Exegesis
Rector, St. Joseph's College
Mill Hill, London