2.

2. Corinth was a cosmopolitan city, refounded as a Roman colony in 46 BCE, a seaport exposed to multiple influences from East and West (see ABD i. 1134–9 s. v. Corinth). According to Acts, Paul spent longer here than in most cities (at least 18 months, Acts 18:11, 18), a fact at least partly explained by the comparative lack of opposition he encountered in the city. The birth of the church also seems to have been unusually peaceful: Paul nowhere indicates any experience of harassment (see Barclay 1992). Paul established a core of believers, both Jews and Gentiles (1 Cor 1:22–4; 7:18), who were baptized in the name of Christ (1:13), received the Spirit (12:13) and started to meet for meals and worship in homes (11:17–34; Rom 16:23). Paul bequeathed to them a variety of credal traditions and practical instructions (15:3–5; 11:2, 23) but two factors combined to lessen his influence on the church once he had left the city. First, some of his own or subsequent converts were people of education and high social standing (see E.1) who developed independent views about the meaning of the Christian message (e.g. in relation to the resurrection of the body and sexual behaviour) and whose integration in Corinthian society made them reluctant to accept Paul’s more sectarian social practices (e.g. in relation to sacrificial food). Secondly, situated at an international crossroads, the church in Corinth was visited by a variety of Christian leaders, some of whom won converts of their own and assisted the church to develop in ways of which Paul disapproved (e.g. Apollos and, probably, Peter/Cephas, 1:12; 9:4–5).