In this episode of the Alabaster Jar Podcast, Dr. Lynn Cohick and Dr. Josephine Stringer introduce a 5-part series on the book of 1 Corinthians by setting the historical and cultural scene of ancient Corinth. Dr. Cohick explains Paul’s 18‑month ministry there, the city’s significance as a hub for the Isthmian Games, and how its love of rhetoric, status, and public performance shaped the church’s problems and priorities. She also highlights the presence and agency of influential women such as Junia Theodora, Phoebe, and Priscilla, challenging assumptions about women’s roles in Corinth and the early church. They also sketch Paul’s multi‑letter, sometimes painful relationship with the Corinthian church and preview key theological themes of the series: the cross and resurrection, the church as the body of Christ, Christian love, and living in the “now and not yet” between Christ’s resurrection and his return.

Resources Mentioned:

The Satires by Juvenal

The Visual Museum of Women in Christianity

The Center for Women in Leadership

Episode Sponsor:

The Alabaster Jar is brought to you by The Center for Women in Leadership, a newly formed 501©3 nonprofit organization whose purpose is to equip women in a context that is biblically rooted, theologically robust, and ethnically diverse to thrive as leaders in the academy, the marketplace, and the Church. Follow them on Instagram @leadershipwithoutapology.

S6 E41 | 1 Corinthians Part 1: Setting the Stage for Corinth