Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:1)

Luke tells us in this verse that Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. We might think that he left Athens immediately without seeming to help the small group of disciples in Athens. But it is not likely that they were left alone quickly. Sometimes, we need to engage in detective work and compare biblical details.

Acts 17:15 tells us that Paul had given instructions that Silas and Timothy should come to him in Athens. Luke does not mention that they did, but Paul does in 1 Thessalonians 3:1 where he says that he and Silas sent Timothy back to Thessalonica from Athens to see how the church in Thessalonica was getting on. 

 

Paul then went on to Corinth, where he expected Silas and Timothy to join him (Acts 18:5). Where was Silas when Timothy went to Thessalonica and Paul went to Corinth? He may have gone somewhere else, or he may have waited in Athens. In any case, Paul did not leave Athens immediately after his talk to the Athenians, and he may have remained a couple of weeks or a month there. 

 

There is something else that we can notice about Paul’s going to Corinth and that is the speed by which the gospel was brought to the major cities of ancient Greece. Three or four months’ earlier, he had his friends had arrived in Philippi in the north and planted a church there. Then they had gone inland to Thessalonica and planted a church there. Then they went further south to Berea and a church was planted there as well. 

 

From there, Paul went to Athens and a small congregation commenced there. Now he was in Corinth, and before long a church would be there. We also know from 1 Thessalonians 1 that the new church there was taking the gospel to other places in the country. So within a few months, the gospel had borne fruit. In Presbyterian language, they could have started to meet as a presbytery.

 

So God was at work in all the difficulties and hindrances and concerns that Paul and his team experienced. Now they were to see what God would do in Corinth because they probably had not seen such a place before. Corinth was infamous for its immorality.