Churches Established By A.D. 52 – Part 2

Church History: Churches Established By A.D. 52

Cenchrea– Established during Paul’s Second Missionary Journey; Act 18:18
A port of Corinth, now called Kikries, whence Paul sailed for Ephesus. It was a place of some commercial note, and the seat of an early church, Romans 16:1. It was situated on the eastern side of the isthmus, eight or nine miles east of the city. The other port, on the western side of the isthmus, was Lechaeum.10

Corinth – Established during Paul’s Second Missionary Journey; Act 18:1
Corinth is a Grecian city, on the isthmus which joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. It is about 48 miles west of Athens. The ancient city was destroyed by the Romans (B.C. 146), and that mentioned in the New Testament was quite a new city, having been rebuilt about a century afterwards and peopled by a colony of freedmen from Rome. It became under the Romans the seat of government for Southern Greece or Achaia (Ac 18:12-16). It was noted for its wealth, and for the luxurious and immoral and vicious habits of the people. It had a large mixed population of Romans, Greeks, and Jews. When Paul first visited the city (A.D. 51 or 52), Gallio, the brother of Seneca, was proconsul. Here Paul resided for eighteen months (Ac 18:1-18). Here he first became acquainted with Aquila and Priscilla, and soon after his departure Apollos came to it from Ephesus. After an interval he visited it a second time, and remained for three months (Ac 20:3). During this second visit his Epistle to the Romans was written (probably A.D. 55). Although there were many Jewish converts at Corinth, yet the Gentile element prevailed in the church there.11

Galatia – Established during Paul’s Second Missionary Journey; Act 18:23
Galatia has been called the "Gallia" of the East, Roman writers calling its inhabitants Galli. They were an intermixture of Gauls and Greeks, and hence were called Gallo-Graeci, and the country Gallo-Graecia. The Galatians were in their origin a part of that great Celtic migration which invaded Macedonia about B.C. 280. They were invited by the king of Bithynia to cross over into Asia Minor to assist him in his wars. There they ultimately settled, and being strengthened by fresh accessions of the same clan from Europe, they overran Bithynia, and supported themselves by plundering neighboring countries. They were great warriors, and hired themselves out as mercenary soldiers, sometimes fighting on both sides in the great battles of the times. They were at length brought under the power of Rome in B.C. 189, and Galatia became a Roman province B.C. 25.
This province of Galatia, within the limits of which these Celtic tribes were confined, was the central region of Asia Minor.
During his second missionary journey Paul, accompanied by Silas and Timothy (Acts 16:6), visited the "region of Galatia," where he was detained by sickness (Galatians 4:13), and had thus the longer opportunity of preaching to them the gospel. On his third journey he went over "all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order" (Ac 18:23). Crescens was sent thither by Paul toward the close of his life (2Timothy 4:10).11

Neapolis – Established during Paul’s Second Missionary Journey; Act 16:11
Neapolis was a new city, a town in Thrace at which Paul first landed in Europe. It was the sea-port of the inland town of Philippi, which was distant about 10 miles. From this port Paul embarked on his last journey to Jerusalem (Acts 20:6). It is identified with the modern Turco-Grecian Kavalla.1