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Acts 18:1–4
“Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade” (vv. 1–3).
Not many people in Athens believed in the Lord Jesus Christ after Paul preached Christ at the Areopagus, though Luke does say that a few did become Christians (Acts 17:32–34). The Apostle would see a much greater harvest at Corinth, where he planted the church that would later receive his Corinthian epistles.
In Acts 18:1–4, Luke describes the beginnings of Paul’s ministry in Corinth. The ancient city of Corinth stood about forty miles west of Athens, sitting on a land bridge that connected the Peloponnesian peninsula in southern Greece with central Greece. With its two ports and location at the junction of several trade routes, Corinth was a thriving commercial center through which people from all over the known world passed. A thriving church in Corinth would be well placed strategically to evangelize many people, so it is understandable that Paul made the city his next stop on his second missionary journey.
When Paul arrived in Corinth, he met a Christian couple, Aquila and Priscilla, who had recently come there from Italy. Aquila was of Jewish heritage and Priscilla may have been so as well, though we cannot be sure. They were in Corinth because Emperor Claudius had expelled the Jews from the city of Rome. This refers to the emperor’s edict in AD 49 that forced Jews out of the city because of the disturbances resulting from arguments among them about one “Chrestus.” Almost certainly this refers to disputes about Christ between Christian Jews and non-Christian Jews in the synagogues of Rome that disrupted the city’s peace. Aquila and Priscilla were likely among the initial members of the church of Rome, and they shared with Paul the craft of tentmaking, which meant that they worked in all manner of leather goods (vv. 1–3). Priscilla and Aquila became important co-laborers with Paul in ministry, though Paul preferred to refer to Priscilla by her more formal name, Prisca (Rom. 16:3; 1 Cor. 16:19; 2 Tim. 4:19).
Finally, Paul’s work in Corinth demonstrates that Christian ministry works by way of reasoned argument, not force (Acts 18:4). Matthew Henry comments, “See in what way the apostles propagated the gospel, not by force and violence, by fire and sword, not by demanding an implicit consent, but by fair arguing; they drew with the cords of a man, gave a reason for what they said, and gave a liberty to object against it, having satisfactory answers ready.”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Paul ministered by reasoned argument, not force. Seeking to make converts at the point of a sword is unbiblical, and what’s more, it betrays insecurity about the truth of one’s message. Christians do not need to spread the gospel by demanding that people convert under the threat of death because the gospel is true and will persuade all those whom God has chosen before the foundation of the world.
For further study
- Proverbs 25:9–10
- 2 Corinthians 5:11
- 2 Corinthians 10:4–6
- 1 Peter 3:15–16
The bible in a year
- Psalms 85–87
- Romans 9:1–10:4