Dr. Sanger walked the footsteps of Paul throughout Greece and Turkey. Join her from Athens, Philippi, Berea, Crete, and Corinth. We apologize for the sound quality from Athens, it was a very windy day.
BEREA - Paul and Silas left Thessaloniki in the middle of the night because the Jews rioted. They came to Berea and found Jews of more noble character. The Jews examined the Word of God to determine if Paul was telling the truth about the Messiah. They discovered his message was true, and many believed. I mispronounced the Greek word for 'examine', it's 'anakrino'. May we be like the Bereans and search the depths of scripture to discover the truth!!Corinth was the wealthiest port city because it had two ports, one on the Aegean Sea and the other on the Bay of Corinth (part of the Mediterranean Sea). This allowed commerce to both Asia and Rome.
CORINTH - Corinth was a wild place filled with licentiousness. The Greek word for 'fornication' was 'korinthiazomai' because the temple brothels of the Corinthians were well-known for being places of fornication. One of the gods the Corinthians worshiped was the god of healing, Asclepius. They would dedicate their body parts to this god. Paul discovered this by walking around the city where he noticed statues with body parts on them. His spiritual mapping equipped him to understand the most effective way to share the gospel and disciple the new believers. I Corinthians 12, Paul describes how we, as believers, are to function as a body. There are many parts, but we all are part of one body in Jesus. The Corinthians would have really resonated with this analogy. Paul met Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth, which turned out to be a divine connection. They traveled with Paul on some of his journeys. They were instrumental in discipling Apollos, who became an effective evangelist. In two centuries, most of the Corinthians converted to Christianity.