May 27, 2026

Persecution in Corinth

Treasures

The Book of Acts records three separate missionary journeys that took the Apostle Paul through Greece, Turkey, and Syria. The events in the account that follows occurred during Paul’s second missionary journey.

The year was approximately AD 50, some 20 years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Under the dynamic and inspired leadership of the Apostle Paul, Christianity was spreading throughout the Roman Empire. But preaching the gospel was a hazardous and dangerous mission that required a great deal of courage and faith in God.

Almost everywhere Paul went, people from every walk of life—including the ruling classes, government officials and merchants, as well as the common people, laborers and slaves—received the Word of God with joy (Acts 17:11). But Paul and the believers also faced much opposition and persecution, stirred up by religious rivals (1 Thessalonians 1:6), as was the case in Paul’s second missionary journey. After religious persecution arose in Thessalonica, the disciples sent him to Berea (Acts 17:1–10), and subsequently Paul sailed across the Aegean Sea to Athens, Greece (Acts 17:14–15), where he gave his famous address at the Areopagus (Acts 17:22–30).

From Athens, Paul journeyed nearly 50 miles down the Grecian peninsula to the city of Corinth. Corinth was at the center of the Roman Empire’s trade routes, and was one of the largest, wealthiest, and most influential cities of the day—both politically and economically. As the capital of the Roman province of Achaia, it served as a bustling, multicultural commercial hub controlling key trade routes between the Ionian and Aegean Seas.

After only a short time there, Paul met a Jewish couple named Aquila and Priscilla, who had recently come to Corinth from Italy, because Claudius had ordered that all Jewish people were to leave Rome (Acts 18:1–2). Paul went to see them because they were tentmakers by trade, as was Paul, and he stayed with them and worked with them (Acts 18:2–3). They readily came to faith in Christ and every Sabbath went with him to the local Jewish synagogue, where he preached and tried to persuade the Jews that Jesus was their Messiah—the Son of God (Acts 18:4).

However, many of the local Jewish people rejected Paul’s message, and opposed and reviled him, so Paul determined to take his message to the Gentiles instead. Paul did not completely give up on witnessing to the Jews of Corinth, as he stayed with a Gentile Christian named Titius Justus whose home was next door to the synagogue (Acts 18:6–7). Paul’s witness had a transformative effect, as the chief ruler of the synagogue, a man named Crispus, and his entire household came to faith in the Lord, as well as many of the Corinthians who heard Paul and believed and were baptized (Acts 18:8).

But there were other Jewish leaders who did not receive the truth and were vocal with their opposition and threats toward Paul. Paul brought the situation to the Lord in prayer. “Lord,” he cried out, “There are hundreds of thousands of people in this city who have never had the opportunity to hear about You and Your message. Consider all these people who won’t hear the gospel of salvation and who will be left in darkness if our opponents are successful in their campaign.”

One night, the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” Encouraged by this message and promise from the Lord, Paul boldly stood up and continued preaching the gospel and teaching the Word of God among the people in Corinth for the next year and a half (Acts 18:9–11). It was during this time that he wrote First and Second Thessalonians.

It is not known whether Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, had left his position or was expelled due to his conversion to Christianity, but a few verses later in this chapter, we read that a man named Sosthenes was the leader of the synagogue (Acts 18:17). Apparently threatened by Paul’s message and Jewish conversions to Christianity, the Jews of Corinth, led by Sosthenes, made a united attack on Paul (Acts 18:12). Paul was seized by the mob and dragged down the streets of the city to the great marble palace where the Roman governor’s judgment seat was situated. As this city was under Roman rule, the Roman court was the ultimate authority in major disputes.

Now the proconsular governor of Greece was Junius Annoeus Gallio, the younger brother of the famous Roman senator Seneca. Upon hearing allegations of a serious crime committed, he admitted the angry mob into his court. When the people had assembled before the governor, several of them stepped forward and presented their accusations against Paul.

“This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law” (Acts 18:13). As one accusation after another was brought against Paul, the governor was increasingly puzzled. From the few reports he had received, Paul had been doing good works in the city.

Suddenly Gallio smiled wryly as he realized what was happening. “This is nothing more than religious rivalry and arguments over tradition and doctrinal differences,” he thought. “And yet they’re attempting to pressure me to pass judgment on this man by accusing him of having broken a law under our legal system.”

Before Paul had the opportunity to speak in his defense, Gallio rose to his feet and said, “If you were making a complaint about some actual misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But since it involves questions about words and names and things having to do with your own religious laws, settle the matter yourselves! I will not be a judge of such matters” (Acts 18:14–15). Gallio’s judgment in this case established the legal precedent that those who were teaching and practicing Christianity were not transgressing Roman law.

Motioning to the guards, Gallio then had the entire mob driven out of the court. Seeing Paul still standing there, he said to him quietly, “You are free to go.” As Paul emerged from the court building and descended its great steps after the mob had been expelled, he witnessed how the crowd there turned on Sosthenes and beat him in front of the proconsul. And yet Gallio showed no concern whatever and did not intervene in any way (Acts 18:16–17). Unexpectedly, the outcome of the mob’s allegations against Paul, led by Sosthenes, had shifted against the leader of the synagogue himself.

There is a later mention in 1 Corinthians of a man named Sosthenes: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:1–2). It is not known whether this Sosthenes is the same person as the man who opposed Paul in this account. If indeed it is the same Sosthenes, whom Paul intentionally referred to here as “a brother,” this account provides further evidence of the transformative power of the gospel message.

Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time after this, teaching and preaching the Word of God and bringing people to faith in Christ. He founded a substantial church in Corinth during his 18-month stay, consisting of both Jewish and Gentile converts. His epistles to the Corinthians in the New Testament serve not only as important historical and theological documents, but also as a model for the application of the gospel to real-life issues and promoting love and unity among believers.

From a dramatized Bible story series published by the Family International in 1987. Adapted and republished May 2026.

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