Source/Author: Dr Michael Dalseno

The city of Corinth was indeed a spectacular place situated in a strategic location with a sumptuous appetite for just about anything moral or religious. The believers in this city faced a “collision of culture,” a seismic shaking of the foundations of the Church planted there, and a ruthless campaign of compromise.

Collision of Culture in Corinth

Dr D

The city of Corinth (Gk ‘Korinthos’, "ornament") was indeed a spectacular place situated in a strategic location with a sumptuous appetite for just about anything moral or religious.

Paul, during his life, had written all kinds of epistles to cities and individuals, covering the usual range of themes and topics from the pastoral character in the Pastoral Epistles, to the edification, exhortations and warnings in the Prison Epistles, to other crucial epistles like Romans and Galations teaching correct doctrine and showing a better way. But Corinth was of a different kettle, soon evident with even only a cursory glance through First Corinthians.

The believers in this city faced a “collision of culture,” a seismic shaking of the foundations of the Church planted there, and a ruthless campaign of compromise, syncretism and blurring and blending of the boundaries between truth and lies. Paul was obviously deeply disturbed when he heard about the impact and extent of it all, and wrote forthwith in an attempt to thwart the onslaught.

Corinth lay between two seas, the Aegean on the east and the Ionian (Adriatic) on the west, on which every make of sailor, merchant, religious advocate, local resident, slave, and other hopefuls grouped together to make Corinth a highly diverse and cosmopolitan soup. Hence, serious inroads and incursions were made into the Church, which Paul had to address: divisions in the church (chs 1-3); problems with leadership (Chs 3-4); sexual immorality and incest (ch 5); members suing one another (ch 6); marriage misunderstandings (ch 7); believers sacrificing to idols (chs 8-10); abuses of the Lord’s supper (ch 11); authority conflicting with submission (ch 11); misusing spiritual gifts (chs 12-14); and the like.

This state of affairs is not just the realm of history, nor only a story we read of in the Bible. It is a scenario all too typical of modern life today. All of us face, on a daily basis, a “collision of culture” as we attempt to manage our families, working lives, business dealings, professional relationships, and the entire spectrum of living with the challenges of the 21^st century. We find ourselves frequently asking: “What does the Bible say?” “What would Jesus do?” “What is the right thing to do here?” “How should I respond to this situation?” “Where will this lead if I habitually keep compromising God’s word?” and so on.

As Paul concluded by the end of his letter, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong!” (1Cor.16.13). It is our prayer today that you make the “Bible culture” your priority and default in every life situation.