Acts of the Holy Spirit #29 - Acts 18:1-17

In contrast to the majority of other towns and cities that Paul and his companions have visited, Paul leaves Athens in peace and enters Corinth. Corinth had been destroyed during the Roman and Greek wars and rebuilt by the victor Julius Caesar as a Roman colony but developed into the administrative capital of Achaea. Corinth was famous for the Isthmian Games, and infamous in immorality. With a population of 300,000 latin and greek speakers, Corinth also housed 460,000 slaves. Its adjacent ports over the Isthmus provided exceeding wealth and indulgence. Athens disturbed Paul in its overwhelming idolatry, and now he is knee deep in sexual immorality.

Before entering the local synagogue, as is Paul’s custom, Luke uncharacteristically gives a prelude and backstory to introduce Aquila and Priscilla. Aquila is a native of Pontus (Northern Turkey), they are Jewish people without Roman citizenship, Aquila is skilled in tent making as a craft and shares the share the faith of Jesus as the Messiah. How they came to faith is not explained. They had been expelled from Rome by Claudius Caesar. The Roman historian Suetonius records a brief statement in Divus Claudius 25, mentioning riots and disturbances by the Jewish People of Rome at the instigation of Chrestus. Which leads Claudius to expel Jews from the city in 49 AD. Western texts add a lot of details concerning Aquila and of the way Paul engages in the synagogue.

Paul and Luke had come to Corinth alone, they had worked during the week to sustain themselves, working together with Aquila in their tenting trade. With Silas the prophet and Timothy rejoining them from Macedonia, Paul stops working and devotes his time to preaching and teaching. Note - the sharing of the division of work, others take the responsibility for accumulating the money to survive. Paul encounters opposition from some of the Jewish members of the synagogue (like that’s ever happened before) and in anger makes a vow to ‘Go to the Gentiles’. This vow is immediately broken in Ephesus and perhaps should be read as locally pertaining to the city of Corinth and not wider universal ministry. Paul does have success with the Gospel, despite opposition (always the way). The god fearer Titius Justus opens his home for ministry, conveniently located right next door to the synagogue. God fearing Gentiles and Jews are living in the same neighbourhood. The synagogue leader Crispus (Latin) and his household also join the Jesus movement.

We discussed several reasons why we thought Paul was going to leave Corinth, the text does not explain. Paul receives a vision from the Lord (again Silas the prophet does not), with the beautiful words that God is with him and that God has many people (predominately Gentiles) in this sin ridding hotbed of sexual immorality. God has not declared this to Paul for other cities. Paul resides in Corinth for a further 18 months. Verse 12 provides a rare time stamp in Literary Archeology, Gallio was proconsul to Corinth in 51 AD. Gallio is unimpressed with inter Jewish debates and refuses to hear charges concerning Paul and his preaching. Acts hints at a latent anti semitism in Corinth with the beating of the synagogue ruler Sosthenes. Sosthenes and his identity are debated among historians, some identifying him with 1 Corinthians, in which Paul calls him a brother in the faith.