by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n
The city of Corinth was a beehive of religious ideas and practices. This included the traditional Greek gods, the Roman gods and civic religion, the worship of the Emperor and imperial family, and the many differing religious practices brought by travelers and immigrants. As a result, there were many temples, shrines, altars, images, sacrifices, and various religious festivals.<\/p>\n
Out of this, Paul would write, “... for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him…<\/em>” (I Corinthians 8:6). The beginning of the church there began with Paul preaching in the synagogue.\u00a0Then, being rejected, he turned to preaching to the Gentiles of the city. Thus, “many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized<\/em>” (Acts 18:8).<\/p>\n We then have this small group of disciples left in the midst of a tremendously idolatrous city. This was a huge obstacle to their faith and morals! They had <\/strong>been part of that scene, but had been washed, sanctified, and justified (I Corinthians 6:11). With that conversion came the teaching of transformation. They no longer could participate in such a lifestyle of immorality and idolatry. Here in chapter 10, Paul states clearly, “Do not be idolaters<\/em>…,” and “flee from idolatry<\/em>” (I Corinthians 6:7, 14).<\/p>\n Being a disciple is not just about being forgiven, although it most surely includes that. It involves the demand to be transformed, to have one’s very character changed. We see this in all of the moral admonitions (some call it the ‘moral code’) included in almost every New Testament letter! It will always be said, “that such were <\/strong>some of you<\/em>,” but it should never <\/strong>be said ‘such are <\/strong>some of you.” Which phrase speaks of your <\/strong>lifestyle?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Hugh DeLong The city of Corinth was a beehive of religious ideas and practices. This included the traditional Greek gods, the Roman gods and civic religion, the worship of the Emperor and imperial family, and the many differing religious practices brought by travelers and immigrants. As a result, there were many temples, shrines, altars,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[328,304],"class_list":["post-97780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-corinthians","tag-idolatry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53065,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/christians-in-first-century-corinth\/","url_meta":{"origin":97780,"position":0},"title":"Christians in First Century Corinth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong We live (lived, past tense, as our world is quickly changing), in a time when Christianity (the basic principles) is the majority belief. The concept of one god is accepted. Such was\u00a0not\u00a0true back in the first century. The pagan world was\u00a0full\u00a0of gods. Such were woven into the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/GreekGods-300x210.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45738,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-are-chakras\/","url_meta":{"origin":97780,"position":1},"title":"What are chakras?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What are chakras? Are they evil or bad? Is there anything in the Bible that goes against them? Thank you in advance. Answer: Chakra is a part of the Hindu religious system. A chakra is supposed to be an energy point in the body. Exactly what a chakra represents\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":97518,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-corinthian-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":97780,"position":2},"title":"The Corinthian Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong The Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized into Christ. Thus, by the Spirit they were baptized into one body. They were washed, sanctified, and justified (cf. I Corinthians 6:9-11). Paul could write to them as the 'saints in Corinth'. Yet, they had problems. They began as we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87379,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/and-man-created-god-in-his-own-image\/","url_meta":{"origin":97780,"position":3},"title":"And Man Created God in His Own Image","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Floyd Chappalear via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 17 No. 1, 31 March 1991 Yes, we are well aware that the Bible states that God created humans in His own image (Genesis 1:27), but there is something to be said for the title of this piece. You see, \"every way of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Buddah-idol-300x200.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":58607,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pauls-fears\/","url_meta":{"origin":97780,"position":4},"title":"Paul’s Fears","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. Guardian of Truth XXXI: 3, pp. 76-77, February 5, 1987 \"For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears\" (II Corinthians 7:5). Paul admitting to fear? This is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fear.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":55775,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dealing-with-difficult-brethren\/","url_meta":{"origin":97780,"position":5},"title":"Dealing with Difficult Brethren","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by W. Frank Walton This is a chapter from an upcoming book, \"Behind the Preacher's Door.\" The book deals with challenges that preachers face, with practical, scriptural solutions in doing the work of an evangelist. \"I have been\u2026in danger of false brethren\" (II Corinthians 11:26).\u00a0The apostle Paul faced some difficult\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97780"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97783,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97780\/revisions\/97783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}