Corinthian Matters

Category: Religion, St. Paul

  • Corinthiaka

    The latest Corinthiaka appearing in my google alerts and blog subscriptions The American School of Classical Studies has posted a save-the-date for a C.K. Williams lecture on Corinth next may. From Athens News: Wildfires in Achaia, Corinth A new Corinth entry published in About.com that could be expanded to incorporate more archaeological evidence. The best…

  • Preaching Corinthians from Historical and Archaeological Background: Some Resources

    How important is understanding cultural and social background for preaching and teaching on 1 and 2 Corinthians?  In late July, I stumbled upon Michael Bird’s post at Evangelion on the importance of understanding background for effective preaching.  He comments on video discussion (reposted below) between D.A. Carson and John Piper about whether a pastor whose…

  • Historical Fictions

    Since antiquity, the Corinthia has formed a rather fitting stage for imaginative narratives and outright fictions.  In the long Roman era, we have frequent examples of writers (e.g., Apuleius, Lucian, Libanius, and Themistius) placing their fictional characters and events in Corinth and the Isthmus. And in the modern era, scholars have often turned to the…

  • Corinthian Scholarship (August 2011)

    Archaic-Hellenistic: Corinth gets some attention in the newest Mediterranean history book: David Abulafia, The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean, Oxford 2011: Oxford University Press. Also in this book: Victor Davis Hanson (ed.), Makers of Ancient Strategy: From the Persian Wars to the Fall of Rome, Princeton 2010: Princeton University Press. Late Antiquity …

  • Corinthiaka

    I take a break from uploading images of the Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey to drop some Corinthiaka that have come through my feed in the last month.  Matt Malcolm at cryptotheology has recent posts on John Chrysostom and 1 Corinthians, part 1 of a review of Barnett’s The Corinthian Question (with comments), and the interpretation…

  • The Search for the Historical Erastus

    In case you missed it, the feast day of St. Erastus, friend and associate of the apostle Paul, came and went three weeks ago in the western church calendar (July 26).  And in case you missed him, Erastus is a relatively minor figure mentioned only three times in the New Testament: 1) In Acts 19.22,…

  • Corinthian Scholarship (July 2011)

    Archaic-Hellenistic Corinth D. Obbink and R. Rutherford (eds.), Culture in Pieces: Essays on Ancient Texts in Honour of Peter Parsons, Oxford 2011: Oxford University Press, has several Corinthiaka: a fragment of the archaic poet Eumelus of Corinth, discussions of Pindar’s Thirteenth Olympian and Posidonius of Corinth, a chapter on the Argo adventure J.A. Agnew, J.S.…

  • Corinth in Context at Society of Biblical Literature, London 2011

    Last week I spent conferencing in London at the international meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature.  With the exception of one rainy day, the weather was cool and beautiful.  My own visit was improved by the presence of my wife, Kate, and toddler son James, who ensured that I spent more time at London’s…

  • SBL – Day 3-4

    More good 1 and 2 corinthians papers today at the SBL International: Kar-Yong Lim, Seminari Theoloji Malaysia, “Paul’s Use of Temple Imagery in the Corinthian Correspondence and the Formation of Christian Identity: A Contextual Reading from the Perspectives of A Chinese Malaysian” Jeremy Punt, Universiteit van Stellenbosch – University of Stellenbosch, “Foolish Rhetoric in 1…

  • SBL – Day 1-2

    Corinthianmatters is on the road again, this time in London for the Society of Biblical Literature 2011 international meeting. The conference started yesterday with a session called the “Corinthian Correspondence”: Wayne Coppins, University of Georgia, “Paul’s Concern with the Nature and Location of Eating Meat Sacrificed to Idols in 1 Cor 8-10: A Response to…