Corpus-Paul

[Edgar Krentz <ekrentz AT lstc.edu>]

At 9:08 AM -0500 1/29/01, JERRY SUMNEY wrote:
> 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

Of course, that presupposes that the raising of the city was 
complete; but it was not. the temple to Apollo, the South Stoa, and 
other buildings in the agora (forum) were not destroyed. And some or 
all the temples on AcroCorinth may also have been spared. Certainly 
the gates to AcroCorinth were  not destroed, since one can still see 
them!
--
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Edgar Krentz
Christ Seminary--Seminex Professor of New Testament, Emeritus
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
1100 East 55th Street, Chicago, IL 60615
Tel: 773-256-0773; home phone 773-947-8105
e-mail: ekrentz AT lstc.edu
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GERASKO D' AEI POLLA DIDASKOMENOS
"I grow old, constantly learning many things." [Solon of Athens]
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