Corpus-Paul

[JERRY SUMNEY <JSUMNEY AT LEXTHEO.EDU>]

This question of whether there was sacred prostitution in ancient Corinth
does receive brief attention in various commentaries, including those of Fee
(1 Corinthians) and Furnish (2 Corinthians).  I am sorry that I cannot
recount Conzelmann's argument.  Indeed the foundations of this temple are
far too small to house 1,000 temple prostitutes.  And given the location of
this temple (part way up the slope of the AcroCorinth, the tale of the
sailors running all the way from the port to the temple is unbelievable--if
they ran all that way, they would be in no shape to utilize the services
they had sought).  Of course, even the small temple on the AcroCorinth was
part of the city before it was razed by the Romans in 146 BCE.  So this
temple (and whatever did or did not go on there) was not present in the
rebuilt city that Paul visited.

The reason for the comments about the prostitutes in ancient writers has
sometimes been attributed to the competition between Corinth and Athens,
with Athenians being anxious to show Corinth to be immoral and less than
what a good Greek city ought to be.

Jerry

Jerry L. Sumney
Lexington Theological Seminary
631 S. Limestone
Lexington, KY 40508
(859) 252-0361
jsumney AT lextheo.edu