Whatever one wants to say about the apostle Paul, we must at least say this: He took Christianity out of the rural roads and countryside and spread it into the urban experiences in places like Rome, Ephesus, Antioch, and Corinth. We have two of his letters to the church at Corinth, and it was a church that bothered and bewildered him. The city of Corinth had a rough reputation. Prior to its fall to Rome 140 years before the birth of Jesus, its nature as an urban seaport had given rise to a temple to Aphrodite, where over 1,000 prostitutes hooked up the pilgrims with the goddess of love. After Rome took it over, the city was cleaned up a bit, but its reputation remained.

Chapter 18 of Acts tells us that Paul came to Corinth after his sojourn in Athens. We are also told in Acts 18 that it i…