Acts
18:1 ¶ After these things Paul departed
from Athens, and came to Corinth; 2 And
found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with
his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart
from Rome:) and came unto them. 3 And
because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their
occupation they were tentmakers. 4 And
he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the
Greeks. 5 And when Silas and Timotheus
were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the
Jews that Jesus was Christ. 6
And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his
raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am
clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
I already spoke about
Corinth’s predominant sexual sins in the worship of Aphrodite/Venus. Corinth had
been an ancient city-state in Greece well-known in antiquity. Then, upon its
conquest by the Romans in 146BC it was completely destroyed, the men killed and
the women and children sold into slavery. It became a rebuilt colony of Rome in
44BC because of Julius Caesar and prospered as a trading and administrative
center, becoming the capital of the Roman province of Achaea. It was mainly
populated by Romans, Greeks, and Jews.
The expulsion of the
Jews from Rome is also mentioned by the Roman historians Suetonius and Cassius
Dio and a later Christian historian, Paulus Orosius. Jews had been expelled
twice previous to this for their aggressive missionary efforts to gain
proselytes among the pagans. However, it is clear that many returned each time.
No expulsion efforts were ever watertight and foolproof.
Here is proof that Paul
supported himself not by offerings, although he was allowed to and would insist
on that point in 1Corinthians 9, but as a tentmaker, a skilled craftsman. He
found kindred spirits in Aquila and Priscilla, a husband and wife team. Paul also
admonished Christians to;
1Thessalonians
4:11 And that ye study to be quiet, and
to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 12
That ye may walk honestly toward them
that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.
Paul again argues with
the Jews on every sabbath gaining converts among Jew and Gentile but eventually
the stubbornness of his people, the Jews, causes him to declare that from then
on he will go to the Gentiles, implying that he is not going to preach to the
Jews anymore. Of course, we know he does not follow this declaration to the
letter as he has a great burden for the Jewish people.
Romans 9:1 ¶ I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, 2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: 4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
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