Corinth

Thursday was a catch-up day; laundry, reorganizing suitcases, etc. On Friday, September 17, Lynette stayed at a CosmoVision Center and relaxed while Rich and Costis, our tour guide, took the train to  the ancient city of Corinth where there we were able to walk through the ruins that were so important in the ministry of the apostle Paul.

Paul’s first visit to Corinth is recorded Acts chapter 18. It is also the site of the church to which he wrote the letters of 1st and 2nd Corinthians. 

As they walked through the ancient site several things came to mind; first of all was the Bema seat which is a place of recognition of an individual by the city leaders. It can be a positive event in which the individual is glorified or it can be a negative event in which an individual is shamed and beaten.

Just in front of the Bema seat stood a small column where the individual had to kneel with the city leaders looking down on him. If he was someone to be honored he could then walk up to the Bema seat to be given his reward. If he was an enemy, the city fathers were ordered his arms be tied to the column and he would be beaten. It gives real meaning to the text which says every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. 

Another interesting fact from the city of Corinth is the Acropolis, where there was a temple full of prostitutes who would all have had their heads shaven so when they would walk through the city everybody knew who they were.

When the apostle Paul wrote to the church we remember that the women had to have their heads covered. The purpose was not to shame anyone or to cause submission to the men but rather to give equality. If they all had their heads covered no one would know a persons background showing that in Christ all were equal.