From Athens Paul went to the busy commercial city of Corinth, capital of the Roman province of Achaea, situated on the narrow isthmus connecting the peninsular part of Greece to the mainland. For centuries Corinth had been famed for its wealth, and though it was looted and burned in 146 B.C., it was rebuilt by a decree of Julius Caesar issued in 44 B.C. By Paul's time it had not only regained but enhanced its former prosperity. Known, like Athens, for its art and architecture, it had also a less pleasant reputation for lack of morals. Nevertheless Paul was to do much successful work in this city and to remain there for at least a year and a half (see Acts 18:1-18).
At Corinth he met a Jew from Pontus in Asia Minor named Aquila, who with his wife Priscilla had been driven out of Italy because of their religion. They may have been Christians already when Paul met them. He took lodgings with them, and he and Aquila worked at their common craft of tentmaking. Doubtless Paul worked far into the night as he did at Thessalonica, but he still found time to teach in the synagogue every sabbath, "and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks."
Two of his fellow missionaries, Silas and Timothy, who had remained in Macedonia while Paul was in Athens, joined him in Corinth. Silas may have brought one of those generous contributions that from time to time the Philippian church sent to Paul, enabling him to devote more of his time to the work of preaching. Timothy came from Thessalonica, bearing news of the situation in the church there and probably a written communication. About this time, A.D. 50 or 51, Paul composed the first of those letters that have immortalized his name, the First Epistle to the Thessalonians.
To read the epistles of Paul as parts of a printed book, divided into chapters and verses, is partially to overlook their lively origin. They were letters written by a busy missionary, sometimes to churches, sometimes to individuals, but always with a definite aim and influenced by a specific historical situation. They include what now may seem to be general remarks on different aspects of Christian life and teaching. But a study of the circumstances under which they were written, the needs they were provided to supply, the local errors they were designed to correct, proves how practical and timely every one of these letters was. This in no sense detracts from their value to us today, but rather heightens it. The forceful vigor that enabled the apostle to grasp and solve the problems of churches such as Philippi and Corinth still clings to the pages of his epistles. It makes them more vital and helpful in any age and under any circumstance than if he had set down generalities without an actual situation in view.
The first of Paul's two epistles to the Thessalonian church, the earliest of his writings that we have, is a typical example. Evidently the church needed encouragement and counsel. Writing on behalf of himself and his two friends Silas (Silvanus) and Timothy, and opening with words of gratitude and praise, he remembers their work of faith, answers some of the accusations brought by his enemies against him and his teaching, encourages these new Christians in the face of persecution, and reiterates a plea for brotherly love and moral purity.
A significant part of the letter deals with the Parousia, the second coming of Christ Jesus, an event expected in the immediate future not only by the Thessalonians but by Paul himself. They need not sorrow, he assures them, for their Christian friends "which sleep"; the promise is for these also. "The dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds" (4:14, 16, 17). However, this expectation had its dangers, as the apostle warned. Idly waiting for deliverance would benefit no one. They should be alert and diligent in the work of faith and love and peace. With further practical advice and a wish that they might keep themselves blameless till the coming of the Lord, he requested that the letter be read to the disciples and closed with a benediction, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you."
This letter was carried by Timothy to Thessalonica, but the church's excitement over the imminence of the Parousia had reached such a pitch that Paul's counsels of patience and common sense seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Timothy lost no time in bearing a report of this to Paul, who wrote his second letter to the Thessalonians, probably in the same year.
The main discussion of this second epistle was about the vexed question of the Parousia. It appears that part of the trouble was caused by a misinterpretation either of Christian tradition or of prophecy, or by an unauthorized letter circulated in Paul's name, so one of his first objects was to clear up this difficulty, showing why, in his view, the second advent would not be so immediate after all. He explained that before the Messiah's return there would "come a falling away first" (2:3) and an open impersonation of lawlessness, eventually to be exposed and destroyed by the brightness of the Lord's coming (cf. Matt., Chap. 24).
In closing he certified the genuineness of this letter, which as usual he had dictated, by adding in his own bold hand: "The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write."
Meanwhile, according to Acts, the apostle's work in Corinth had not been in vain. Many Corinthians were converted, including a synagogue official, Crispus, with his household, and Justus, whose home— adjoining the synagogue—Paul used as a meeting place. Here, encouraged by a vision, he continued to preach fearlessly, so rousing the animosity of Jewish opponents that they arraigned him before Gallio, the new Roman proconsul, or governor, of Achaea. "This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law," they charged, but before Paul could say anything in his own defense, Gallio had grasped the situation and dismissed the case. It was not his province to deal with the religious regulations of the Jews. He would be no judge in such matters, and he had the protesting Jews thrown out of the judgment hall.
In the confusion the Greeks of the city seized the opportunity to lay hold on the Jew Sosthenes, "chief ruler of the synagogue," and beat him before the judgment seat. But the governor refused to get involved. In the words of Acts, "Gallio cared for none of those things"—a sentence often cited to make this man's name a byword for indifference in the matter of religion in general and Christianity in particular. But his famous brother, the Roman philosopher Seneca, in the preface to one of his books, gives a picture of Gallio marked by integrity, kindliness, and sincerity, a picture identifying him as a man of exemplary character, immune to flattery. Actually Gallio had performed no small service for Christianity, for Paul, set free, was able to carry on his ministry at Corinth for some time longer. It was probably about the close of February in the year A.D. 53 that he once more departed on his travels.
