At Corinth, a major crossroads of the Empire, ships were unloaded, dragged over the isthmus, and reloaded for transport around the world. During the loading and unloading of ships thousands of travelers entered the city to revel in her pleasures and bask in her luxury. Roman soldiers, imperial dignitaries, shipmates, slaves, traders, preachers, and prostitutes all passed through the beautiful Roman city nestled in the Greek province of Achaia.

Establishing the Corinthian Church

St. Paul-the rugged traveler and fiery preacher-arrived in Corinth by ship or along the coastal road from Athens, the philosophical and intellectual center of Greece and of the Roman world. He now stood gazing over the Roman capital of Greece, its economic and commercial center. To the south, and majestically rising almost two thousand feet above the city, stood the mountain of Acrocorinth. Here, overlooking the city below, stood the famous temple of Aphrodite.

The finite pagan gods of Greece and Rome were often as immoral as the human residents. People resemble their deities. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, of sexual license and courtesans. The Temple of Aphrodite at one time boasted a thousand temple prostitutes who paraded their "sacred service" in the city and certainly were the cause of St. Paul's exhortation to avoid union with prostitutes (see 1 Cor. 6:15-16).

It was in this newly rebuilt city, under the shadow of the temples of Apollos and Aphrodite, and milling about in the pagan throngs among pagan shrines and deities, that St. Paul preached the word of God. Here he lived for eighteen months and founded a church. It was here that he was dragged to the local judgment seat to make a defense of his gospel (see Acts 18:12), and it is to Corinth that he wrote three letters.

"Wait," you may say, "I know only of First and Second Corinthians. Where do you find a third letter?"

We'll talk about that in a moment.

St. Paul arrived in Corinth about A.D. 51 or 52. He walked up the Lechaion Road through the agora (marketplace) into the heart of Corinth. Two Jews befriended him and invited him to share their trade for making much-needed money. Aquilla and Priscilla were tent-makers, which was St. Paul's trade as well (see Acts 18:3).

With his usual pattern of going to the Jew first, St. Paul "argued in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks" (Acts 18:4). But when the Jews rejected his message he shook out his garments and went out to the Gentiles. God told him to stay in Corinth and not to be afraid, so St. Paul "stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them" (Acts 18:11).

With the help of St. Silas and St. Timothy (see Acts 18:5), the apostle taught them from the Jewish Scriptures and from the rapidly developing Tradition. The New Testament did not yet exist. And when St. Paul eventually left Corinth, he didn't leave them a handbook of the Faith nor a manual for liturgy, but an oral tradition. Years later he would write: "I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you" (1 Cor. 11:2).

The Occasion for the First Epistle

Almost five years after the apostle left Corinth, from Ephesus (see 1 Cor. 16:8) he wrote a lengthy letter back to Corinth-the letter we know as First Corinthians. Yet there was actually an earlier letter written by St. Paul to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 5:9 he recalled: "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral men." This obviously refers to a letter from the apostle that has been lost. Consider how interesting it would be to discover that lost epistle!

St. Paul had taught the Corinthians the Faith and had established the traditions (see 2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6). Now he was writing in response to a letter from them (see 1 Cor. 7:1) and from the witness of problems reported by others (see 1 Cor. 1:11). First Corinthians is actually a "memo" to correct the Corinthian church and bring them back in line with the apostle's tradition.

Was First Corinthians simply a letter of a wise and trusted man, or did St. Paul actually have the mind of God (see 1 Cor. 7:10, 12, 25, 40)? We know, as the Catholic Church has always forcefully taught, that St. Paul's words were inspired by the Holy Spirit, the infallible and inerrant word of God (see the Catechism, par. 105).

No "Golden Age" in the Church

Reading 1 Corinthians reminds us that there has never been a "Golden Age" in the Church. It's easy to look at the contemporary Church and think, "If we could only go back to the good ol' days of the apostles and the early Church." But wait a minute! The church in ancient Corinth had its own set of problems and needed the clear voice of God through the Magisterium-apostolic authority.

St. Peter had been to Corinth, and Apollos had followed St. Paul. It was now reported to St. Paul that the church in Corinth was divided. Some claimed St. Paul, others claimed to follow Apollos or St. Peter.

Still others, attempting to rise above the fray, claimed Christ.

But St. Paul condemned such schisms. He wrote: "I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. . . . Is Christ divided?" (1 Cor 1:10, 13).

The Greek word St. Paul uses here for "dissensions" is actually the Greek schisma, from which we get our word schism. It is the same term used for the tearing of a garment. Because there is only one, singular Church (see Eph. 4:4; Matt. 18:17; 1 Cor. 12:12-13), the apostle condemns divisions - that is, denominationalism.

In this, St. Paul's longest letter, he writes from his heart more than in any other, except possibly for Second Corinthians. The Epistle to the Romans is a doctrinal treatise of powerful theological argument written to largely unknown readers. To the Corinthians, on the other hand, St. Paul pours out his heart to brethren and friends, and infuses his beloved readers with wisdom and correction. His poetic exhortation on love in this letter is one of the most exquisite compositions in any language. In this "Love Chapter" (chapter 13), as it's called, the apostle explains that all the gifts, spiritual or otherwise, eloquence, faith, and sacrifice all melt to nothing compared to charity - the love we show God and one another.

Since immorality is rampant in Corinth, St. Paul addresses the holy life demanded of Christians. Chapter 7 is the "Marriage Chapter," and here we learn much about Christian matrimony, but also about celibacy. The apostle, knowing the difficult sexual situation in Corinth, states: "Because of the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband" (1 Cor. 7:2).

In a culture where men own their wives as property, St. Paul reveals that in Christian marriage "the wife does not rule over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not rule over his own body, but the wife does" (1 Cor. 7:4). This teaching is countercultural and radical, and it lays the foundation for new views of women and society. Far from dominating and repressing women, the words of St. Paul set them free.

The apostle also addresses the unmarried, challenging them to be content in their state of life. Those who are married are concerned about temporal things, while the unmarried can devote themselves fully to the Lord (see vv. 32-34). This passage plays no small part in the Church's teaching on priestly celibacy. The spiritual gifts, public worship, the Lord's Supper, and practical matters of life are discussed in great detail as well.

St. Paul concludes this magnificent letter in chapter 15 with one of the most important passages in the New Testament: the "Resurrection Chapter." Tying the gospel to verifiable history-quite the opposite of the mythical stories of Greek and Roman gods -St. Paul affirms the actual and real bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. If there is no resurrection from the dead, he insists, we are of all men the most to be pitied (see v. 19).

Is the account of Christ's resurrection just a good story, just a mythical episode? No. The apostle tells us of witnesses of the Resurrection, most of them still living (see vv. 3-8). He calls them to the witness stand to testify to the truth of the physical resurrection of Christ. Then St. Paul, the revealer of mysteries, one who has himself visited the third heaven (see 2 Cor. 12:2), explains the power of the Resurrection and the nature of the spiritual bodies we will proudly possess in glory.
The apostle's prayers, letters, traditions, and frequent visits boosted the Corinthian church into the next century. Second Corinthians, which we will discuss in the next issue, is full of personal insights into his life and apostolate and his labor for the Christians of Corinth. We know from writings of the next few centuries that the church there continued faithful to the gospel, though not without continuing problems and difficulties.

Steve Ray has just returned from Corinth, where he spent time in study and filming. You can contact him via his website at www.catholic-convert.com