Archaeological excavations at Corinth have revealed a wealth of remains that help us understand the New Testament and also demonstrate that the books were written during the middle of the first century AD. We have just returned from filming there for a new series on the Bible – it really brings the Bible to life.
Corinth was an important travel hub for the Roman Empire, sitting on a narrow neck of the Greek mainland. Nowadays a canal joins the Ionian Sea to the Aegean Sea and saves boats a long journey around the coastline. In Paul’s day, boats were dragged overland along a portage road, remains of which can still be seen.
Heavy investment in Corinth led to significant building work during the first century. The theatre, public buildings, courthouse, temples and dock all benefitted from this Roman investment. When archaeologists excavated the site in the 1920s they found a significant inscription on a pavement near to the theatre.
The Erastus inscription
The inscription names Erastus as the city treasurer who had provided from his own wealth for the building of a public pavement. The large letters are still visible today, though the inlaid bronze that would have once made them shine was removed long ago. Who was Erastus? The inscription dates to the mid-first century AD, the same time that Paul was based in Corinth.
Erastus is an unusual name, found only a handful of times in ancient literature. A second of these rare references is also found in Corinth, though dating to the second century. The name appears three times in the New Testament referring to a friend and co-worker of Paul. We cannot be sure they all refer to the same person but there is no compelling reason to doubt that they do. He assisted Paul in mission, and was probably a man of means. In Romans 16:23 Paul sends greetings from Corinth in which he includes Erastus, ‘the treasurer of the city’.The last reference to Erastus comes at the end of Paul’s life, c.67AD, where we are told that Erastus had remained in Corinth (2 Tim. 4:20), suggesting he had settled down in the Christian community there.
The title given to Erastus in the Corinth inscription affirms that he had a role in managing the city finance – in fact it was an even higher political office than the title of ‘treasurer’ that Paul uses in the letter to the Romans.
A public servant
Putting together the inscription with the New Testament references, what could we
Left: Chris filming in Corinth. Right: The Erastus inscription
say about Erastus? We know that he settled in Corinth and served in the local church. But he also used his financial skills to serve in public life. He gained promotion, earned money and, years later, had a significant role in local government and contributed to public building works. So his name remains firmly associated with both the spiritual and civic life of Corinth.
Salt and light
This is a significant reminder that though many of the poor, the fringe and the neglected became Christians, there were also some who came to faith from influential and wealthy backgrounds – not many does not mean not any (1Cor.1:26)! And having come to faith in Christ, those in commerce or politics could continue to serve as salt and light in those places of influence. Erastus didn’t use his faith to write Christian books but he did use his faith to manage public life. No doubt he struggled with the same dangers of compromise as Christians still do in secular and public life. Probably his challenges were even worse when we consider how pagan Corinth was. But the remains of that almost 2,000-year-old inscription can be taken as an encouragement to continue to ‘seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you’ (Jer. 29:7) and leave evidence of the gospel wherever we have been placed.
