Corinth and the Corinthian Church

Corinth and the Corinthian Church
Corinth was one of the most important port cities of the known world at the time of Paul’s writing. It boasted of some of the greatest trade goods that the world had to offer, the temple to the goddess of love, Aphrodite, and some of the vilest debauchery the world had known. On top of a hill overlooking the great city, was the temple to Aphrodite which boasted over a thousand priestesses who were no more than glorified prostitutes. At night the priestess of Aphrodite would converge on the city. In a historical sense of the depiction of the average Corinthian, plays showed the citizens as drunkards or just plain morally depraved human beings.
Corinth was “refurbished” under Julius Caesar and had a pronounced Roman influence. Several gods were worshipped here. Poseidon was the chief god, Isis was revered amongst women, Demeter, Dionysus, and Aphrodite was most revered due to her worshippers licentious and debauched practices.
Initially, a military town, Corinth became a center later for commercial trade due to its strategic location within the isthmus of Greece. This is the backdrop for the Church at Corinth. A church composed of many of the converts of that region: Tradesmen, slaves, poor. Paul writes this letter (I Corinthians) to address issues in the church and to break up the divisions and advocate the unity of Christ.