When Paul arrived at the city of Corinth, Greece, the middle of the first century A.D., he knew he had a challenge on his hands. Located on the isthmus between the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf, Corinth was a prosperous port city where boats were transported overland from the Aegean to the Adriatic, thereby cutting many dangerous miles off their voyage. The marketplace abounded with goods and traders from many lands. Though never known as a center of learning, traveling philosophers and teachers attempted to gain a hearing and earn a living. But Corinth was a place of commerce, and the speculative life common to Athens was more difficult to find in Corinth.

There was religion at Corinth, however, plenty of it. Years earlier the city had boasted its giant temple to Aphrodite, fertil…