Greece - Day 3 Corinth Oct 29, 2016

Today after breakfast we headed to Corinth. Our comfort / coffee stop was near the Corinth Canal. Their is a strip of land between Athens and Corinth that is quite narrow and in order to shorten routes for ships a canal was dug through this narrow strip of land in 1893. The problem today is that ships are too big to go through it and only smaller vessels can actually go through it.

Our next stop was at Cenchrea. This is an ancient port from which Paul sailed to Syria after his 18 month stay in Corinth. See Acts 18:18. There was a church established at Cenchrea. In Romans 16:1 he commends Pheobe to the church in Rome and calls her a servant or deacon of the church in Cenchrea. According to Hans Weichbrodt the letter to the Romans was probably written during Paul's stay in Corinth and possibly delivered by Phoebe and may even have been dispatched from the very spot on which we were standing.

Next we made our way to the ruins of the ancient city of Corinth. Here we saw some impressive ruins of an ancient Roman city. The Greek city had been destroyed and rebuilt by the Romans. It was a tough city as retired Roman soldiers were given property here and they were tough as they had to survive 25 years in the Roman army. There was also a temple to the goddess Aphroditus here. The city was a very wicked city, yet in that place God started a great work and revival during Paul's ministry there. We saw physical evidence that verified the truth of the New Testament. See the pictures below for examples of these.

We also held a very meaningful communion service.

The Corinth Canal

Ancient port from which Paul sailed to Syria. The Mediterranean Sea here is 1 meter higher here than it would have been in Paul's time. Snorkeling is not allowed here due to the remains of the ancient port under the water. 

Two fragments uncovered at Corinth that point to a Jewish synagogue existing there.

Ruins of ancient Corinth

This was part of the market place where Paul may very well have sold his tents. As mentioned in Acts 18:3 Paul was a tent maker and he worked at his trade while in Corinth.

The inscription says "Bema" which means judgement seat. This is where the proconsul would sit when judicial cases were brought before him. This is where Paul would have been brought when the Jews seized Paul in Acts 18:12-16.

An inscription on a rock in the roadway. This is the Greek name for Erastus, a city official who became a Christian and is mentioned in Romans 16:23