Christ and Him Crucified

This stone structure in the centre of ancient Corinth is called the bema and it was the place where trials were held and public speeches arranged. Public speaking was a growth industry in Corinth in the first century AD. Speaking well so as to gain the respect and applause of others was seen as very important. It was less what you said that mattered, and more how you said it.

Paul may well have spoken from this platform but his approach was very different. Reflecting a few years later on his visit he wrote,

'When I came to you brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom but on God's power.' (1 Cor 2:1-5)

Paul could have wowed the Corinthians with the apologetic technique that he used in Athens. But in a culture of clever speaking and self-important people he knew he needed to focus on the gospel of the cross of Christ, that great leveller in which all people are confronted with their own sin and need for a Saviour. And he knew he needed to preach this message not with impressive rhetoric but in simple terms with a clear reliance on the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of his hearers.

And, wonderfully, that gospel bore fruit. Luke tells us in Acts 18:8 that many people come to faith from all sorts of backgrounds. Paul enjoyed a fruitful ministry in Corinth for eighteen months, serving together with Silas and Timothy, who had joined him from Berea, and Priscilla and Aquila who were tent makers like Paul and had come to faith through his ministry.

It seems that by the time Paul left Corinth the church was really flourishing. The question was: what would happen next?