But as for you,
speak the things
which are proper
for sound doctrine:
Speak these things,
exhort, and rebuke
with all authority.
Let no one despise you.
Titus 2:1;15
To embark upon such a journey as is the controversial subject of Spiritual Gifts cannot be taken upon in any light manner for the Church has been divided over this subject for many years, even more so today for there is a hardness in the spirit of people when confronted with a position separate from theirs; so I tread carefully and with some trepidation. Yet, there is a command, one Paul gave to Titus, and applicable to us today, that we are to speak of proper sound doctrine and to rebuke those who do not hold to a sound proper doctrine for to allow such improper doctrine only divides the Church, emasculating the Gospel. This separation among Churches is especially true when it comes to the "sign" gifts; therefore, as was mention in the last blog, I will use the Historical/grammatical method in my approach teach the truth of this subject. Then I will address the sign gifts, and on the subject of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, is there a necessity for a second Baptism? In any attempt to decipher what the Bible is saying, time and much effort is required because we did not live in the days when the Bible was written. The culture of Biblical days must be understood, and the problems faced by the Apostles and others who wrote the Bible must be addressed. Therefore, it is important to use those five important questions when interpreting: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. For instance; What was the purpose of the letter? To whom was it written? When was it written? From where was it written? How are we to apply the principles that the writer wrote? This approach is somewhat cumbersome, and slow, and requires diligence so that the truth may become apparent, so patience is important. The "sign" gifts are only mentioned in the first letter to the Church at Corinth so we must know about Corinth and of the Corinthian people. First principle to be applied in this study is that we are not to see the Corinthians in the light of our culture, our government, our industrialization, rather we are to learn about how they saw life, that which was driving them in their culture to be and do the things that they did. I will then ask an important question: Why only to the Church at Corinth did Paul have a necessity to write about these "sign" gifts. Why not the Church at Thessalonica for this Church was only some 60 miles to the north of Corinth, and Athens, was close in miles? What about the Churches in Galatia, Ephesus, etc? Why Corinth? We begin!
Looking at the history of Corinth.
Corinth is an ancient city and the name for Corinth was derived from pre-Greek; from Pelasgian language and was possibly the site for a Bronze Age Mycenean palace city. In classical times Corinth rivaled Athens and Thebes in wealth. One major reason was the isthmian traffic and the trade associated with this traffic of men from all parts of the world using the isthmus to travel from one sea to the other sea. Corinth was a major exporter of black-figure pottery to cites around the Greek world, although in time the Athenian potters came to dominate the market. Corinth had a great temple that was located on the acropolis, a mount outside the city that as dedicated to Aphrodite. Some report that there may have been more than one thousand temple prostitutes employed at the Temple of Aphrodite. The Isthmian games were held in Corinth. This was a bustling city, an important city in the world and the Corinthian people were a proud people acclaiming their importance. Corinth founded new settlements and was a major participant in the Persian Wars. Remember this important fact that the cities in Greece were city-states and each were separate and at this time not conjoined into one nation. Corinth became an enemy of the city Athens and became an ally of Sparta in the Peloponnesian League. One factor in 431B.C. was a dispute over the Corinthian colony of Corcyra, a dispute held against the city Athens. This led in many ways to the Peloponnesian War.
In 146B.C. Lucius Mummius, a Roman destroyed Corinth during a siege of this city and put all the men to death and sold the women and children into slavery, then he torched the city. Lucius Mummius was given the title of conqueor of the Achaean League. For a time after this destruction some people did inhabit the old city of Corinth. Julius Caesar rebuilt the city of Corinth as Lolonia Iaus Iulia Corinthiensis in 44B.C., just before his assassination. New settlers were drawn from the freedmen of Rome and Corinth became the seat of government for Southern Greece (Acts 18:12-16). Corinth became noted for its wealth, and for its luxuriousness, and its immoral and vicious habits of the people. This city had a large population of Romans, Greeks, and Jews.
Paul visited Corinth (51or 52A.D.), Gallio, the brother of Seneca, was proconsul. Paul resided in Corinth for 18 months (Acts 18:1-18). It was in Corinth that Paul became acquainted with Aquila and Priscilla, then after his departure Apollos came to Corinth from Ephesus. Paul had intended to pass through Corinth on his second jouney before he visited Macedonia, but circumstances caused him, in the absence of Titus that he travel from Troas to Macedonia, then likely after that he passed into Corinth for a "second benefit" (2Corinthians 1:15), and remained in Corinth for three months (Acts 20:3).
Here is what we have learned up to this point: Corinth was an ancient city with much history; destroyed rebuilt and became a wealthy powerful city. Further, we have learned that there was much pagan religious fervor with the Temple of Aphrodite, and of the Temple of Apollos (Not Apollos the Christian) which I have not elaborated upon as it is only necessary to know that paganism, including temple prostitutes was prominent in Corinth. We also learn that people from all over the world would travel to Corinth, some simply to trade with this important city, and others to move their ships from one sea to the other by way of the isthmus.
We have begun our journey to learn about this city and the reason Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church in the manner he wrote. More to come!
My people have been lost sheep.
Their shepherds have led them astray;
they have turned them away on the mountains.
they have gone from mountain to hill;
they have forgotten their resting place.
Jeremiah 50:6
Rejoice and be Glad: Jehovah reigns
Richard L. Crumb
.
No comments:
Post a Comment