Giving

Alice Clemmons was a widow with six children in 1950. She worked as a nursery school teacher in the day and as a janitor in the evening while also attending church on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. One week a couple named Paul and Audrey Reed came to her church’s Wednesday night service raising support to become missionaries to China. Even though Alice was extremely poor she pledged one dollar a month to Paul and Audrey as they were trying to raise enough support to be sent out as missionaries.[1] It did not appear to be a large gift, but Alice would later learn about the significant impact her pledge would make.

            Like the Macedonians that Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, Alice gave even though she did not have much money. Second Corinthians 8:1-9 is a great section to study when we want to learn about giving in the New Testament. In this passage Paul writes about the Macedonian example of giving (vv. 1-5), he gives his own exhortation of giving (vv. 6-8), and explains Jesus’ example of giving (v. 9).

            So what do we know about the response of the Corinthians? Did they give? Did they ignore Paul’s warnings? Did they give to someone else instead of the collection for poor Christians in Jerusalem that had begun (1 Cor 16:1-4)?

            Five months after Paul writes 2 Corinthians he wrote to the Christians in Rome. We now call this the book of Romans. Paul wrote that letter while visiting the believers in Corinth in his third and final visit to the city.[2]

Paul writes to the believers in Rome, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things” (Romans 15:26–27).[3] The word “Achaia”[4] describes the southern region of Greece in which the city of Corinth was located. Based on Romans 15:26-27 the Corinthian believers heeded Paul’s exhortation. They followed through. They gave because of the grace they received.

            In 1980 Paul and Audrey Reed returned to Alice’s town on furlough. It had been thirty years since they were there raising support to become missionaries to China. Alice was sick, so they visited her in her home. In that visit Paul and Audrey told Alice they had trouble raising money back in 1950. They were discouraged and wondered if it was God’s will that they should be missionaries to China. But what they told Alice was important. Paul and Audrey told Alice that the one dollar a month pledge was what encouraged them to keep raising funds to go to China![5]             If Alice had not pledged that one dollar a month, Paul and Audrey might have decided not to be missionaries to China. This is an important story because it shows the sizable impact we can make even if we don’t have much money. We never know how God is going to reach others through our giving even if we think it is small.

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[1] As told by Dr. Thomas Constable, “Acts & Pauline Epistles,” unpublished class notes for BE106 (Dallas Theological Seminary, Online Course Unit 7, video 10).

[2] 2 Cor 12:14; 13:1-2; cf. Acts 20:2-3; Rom 16:23; 1 Cor 1:14.

[3] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

[4] Greece was conquered by the Romans in 168 BC, and later in 27 BC the Romans divided Greece up into two provinces called “Macedonia” in the north and “Achaia” in the south.

[5] As told by Dr. Thomas Constable, “Acts & Pauline Epistles,” unpublished class notes for BE106 (Dallas Theological Seminary, Online Course Unit 7, video 10).

San Francisco has a restaurant exclusively for man’s best friend. At “Dogue” (meant to rhyme with “vogue”) you can take your dog for a seventy-five dollar multi-course dinner. This gourmet experience includes chicken-skin waffles, filet mignon steak, and quail eggs. On one Saturday Dogue hosted three birthday parties for dogs. One attendee, Gledy Espinoza, came with her miniature dachshund, Mason, and remarked, “We’re foodies. I guess he is too, now.”[1] The owner, Rahmi Massarweh, says everything at Dogue is human-made and some of the food specialties for dogs takes as many as two days to prepare.[2]

            Dogue is an example of the extreme wealth we enjoy as Americans and how we not only pamper ourselves, but our pets too. But how does our extreme wealth as Americans effect our giving[3] to the local church? The apostle Paul’s teaching on giving in 2 Corinthians 8-9 is too often neglected when churches and Christian communities discuss giving. In 2 Corinthians 8 Paul begins his instructions on giving with the example of the Macedonian church giving (vv. 1-5), then gives an exhortation of giving for the Corinthians (vv. 6-8), and concludes with the example of the Messiah’s giving (v. 9). Paul writes. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).[4] Let’s slow down and notice a few elements from this verse.

            First, let’s notice the theology contained in this verse.Paul’s theology starts with Jesus who became sin and He died in our place so that we might have life. Paul wrote earlier in this letter that God “made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus gave up everything to help us.

            Second, let’s notice the words contained in this verse. The word “grace” is used four times in nine verses as Paul teaches about giving (vv. 1, 6, 7, 9). Paul defines the nature of Christ’s grace. When we read, “though He was rich” it describes Christ’s glory in heavenly existence. When we read He “became poor” it describes His lowliness and destitution when He lived on earth. Jesus Christ exchanged His royal status as an eternal resident of heaven for a slave’s status as a temporary resident on earth. What Christ did had a purpose. The phrase, “for your sake” is in the emphatic position in Greek text and could be translated as “all for your sake . . . you, yes you.”[5] When we read that Christ was “rich” it describes His spiritual richness; not economic wealth. Then later when we read, “He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” it describes the Corinthians richness of salvation secured by Christ both now and in the future.[6]

            Third, let’s notice the method contained in this verse. Paul wants the Corinthians to do the right thing, but he wants them to do it because they were taking initiative. He wants them to give because of love, not obligation. He wants them to give because of their caring, not coercion.

            What we learn about giving from 2 Corinthians 8:9 is that God’s gift of salvation requires we give Him everything. We find no greater example of sacrificial giving than Jesus Christ. The requirement that we give Him everything is something we should do on our own initiative, not because we are coerced or forced to do so. I agree with Pastor Charles Swindoll who says “all giving should come from a context of grace, not guilt; from love, not compulsion.”[7] Just as Paul wanted the Corinthians to give because of their own desire, God wants us to give because it’s what we want to do.

            When we are prompted to give to God, I think it’s healthy to remember that Americans are extremely rich. We might not take our dog to a seventy-five dollar dinner, but we have other proofs of our wealth. Most of us have a car for each adult in our household, extra bedrooms in our house that no one sleeps in, electronics that we don’t use, animals we call “pets” because they don’t provide us milk to drink or food to eat, and garages full of stuff we don’t use or want. It is from this abundance that we gladly give to God just as Christ gave Himself for us.

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[1] Associated Press, “At San Francisco restaurant, pups chow on filet mignon,” Columbia-Basin Herald, October 27, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/san-francisco-restaurants-dogs-a6c1ba368023209a1bb5afd027b76742.

[2] Ibid.

[3] According to Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts, 26 percent of American evangelicals do not give any money to church. The same study reveals that 42 percent of American evangelicals who do give to church give only 1 percent or 2 percent of their income (“The Tithing Tenth,” Christianity Today, January-February 2022, p. 22).

[4] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

[5] Murray Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2013), 578.

[6] The giving here is not supposed to be so great that they become poor while the Jerusalem believers become rich. Second Corinthians 8:13-15 clarify that this is not a call to give everything away so that they can’t provide for themselves.

[7] Charles R. Swindoll, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, vol. 7 (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2017), 410.

Do you ever see a church asking people for money and think, I could have done that better. Do you wish you were able to help a church make better, more professional, and perhaps less cheesy appeals for money? I think we see an example of what asking for money should look like in 2 Corinthians 8-9. Paul starts this two-chapter section using the Macedonian[1] churches as an example of giving.[2] In this section of 2 Corinthians Paul says the grace of God enabled the churches of Macedonia to give (2 Cor 8:1-2) and even though they were extremely poor they still gave (2 Cor 8:3-5). In light of the surprising generosity of the Macedonian churches (located in the Roman province in north Greece), Paul then turns to the Corinthians (located in the Roman province of Achaia in the south of Greece) to give them instructions on giving (2 Cor 8:6-8). In these three verses we see Paul’s exhortation of giving which is perhaps inserted because a collection to help others had begun but was not complete.

            Paul writes about the beginning of the giving, “So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well” (2 Corinthians 8:6).[3] The word “so” there tells us the result of 2 Corinthians 8:1-5. Specifically, it was the unexpected and enthusiastic giving of the Macedonian church that led Paul to ask Titus to visit Corinth and ask for their help too! When we read, “that as he had previously made a beginning” it reminds the Corinthians that they had began a collection to help, but they had not finished that collection. At one of the three visits Titus made to them Titus had begun this collection.[4]

            Next Paul writes about the resumption of the giving, “But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also” (2 Corinthians 8:7). The word “But” is transitional. It introduces an exhortation with emphasis like “now then.” Notice five things the Corinthians have abundantly: “faith,” “utterance,” “knowledge,” “earnestness,” “love.” Based on these five things Paul provides the reasoning for giving: the Corinthians had experienced God’s grace (just like the Macedonians) and they should dispense God’s grace in the form of giving (just like the Macedonians). The Corinthians had made a pledge for giving (1 Cor 16:1-2), so Paul held them to that pledge.

            Next Paul writes about the motivation of giving, “I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also” (2 Corinthians 8:8).Paul did not bark orders at them. He didn’t command. He didn’t shame. He offered opportunity not obligation. When I served as a pastor in Exeter, California there was a pastor I heard about that would visit church members who were not at church on Sunday and he would leave an empty tithe envelope on their door so they could mail in their tithe to his church. That’s motivation for giving but in the wrong way: coercion. Here when Paul says, “but as proving through the earnestness of others,” Paul was using the Macedonians giving as a benchmark or measuring rod that the Corinthians can use as a way to show Paul, the believers in Jerusalem, and all believers everywhere how genuine their love is. Giving was not a contest among rivals; but an imitation among equals.

            What we learn from Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians about giving is that generosity is required of all believers everywhere. The Corinthians were giving to people they had never met. When we give to a church we give to people and help people that we’ve never met and will never meet. When we give to a local church we help people such as online listeners, missionaries in other countries, and benevolence help given to people locally that need it. All of us are enabled through the grace of Christ to show that grace by giving to others. And when we do that we are unselfishly helping others that we might never meet just like the Corinthians.

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[1] Macedonia was a Roman province north of the city of Corinth that included the churches Paul had been to in Philippi (Acts 16:2-4), Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9), and Berea (Acts 17:10-15). Greece was conquered by the Romans in 168 BC, and later in 27 BC the Romans divided Greece up into two provinces called “Macedonia” in the north and “Achaia” in the south. The cities of Thessalonica, Philippi, Berea, Apollonia, Amphipolis, and Neapolis were all cities in Macedonia. Paul preached the Gospel and had begun churches in Macedonia during his second missionary journey (Acts 15:36-18:22). Those churches in Macedonia had contributed to Paul’s support on several occasions (Phil 4:10, 15-20).

[2] When Paul was in the city of Thessalonica one Macedonian church gave to him on at least one occasion (Phil 1:5; 4:15-16). Paul stayed in Corinth for eighteen months and while there Silas and Timothy brought Paul a gift from the Macedonians (Acts 18:5; 2 Cor 11:9) that sustained Paul and allowed him not to have to receive gifts from the Corinthians. While in Corinth Paul was collecting money to help the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem (2 Cor 8:1-4; Rom 15:26).

[3] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

[4] Titus had experience collecting and distributing money (Acts 11:29-30; Gal 2:1).

It might surprise you to learn that while Americans are some of the richest people in the world, Christian Americans are unlikely to give to their church. According to Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts, 26 percent of American evangelicals do not give any money to church.[1] The same study reveals that 42 percent of American evangelicals who do give to church give only 1 percent or 2 percent of their income.[2] While we are among the richest people in the world, we give very little of that money to a local church to support godly ministries.

            In one of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians[3] he praises one group of churches that did not have much money, yet they gave a lot. The Roman province of Macedonia was an area that Paul visited on his second missionary journey. While on that second missionary journey one of the churches provided substantial financial support to Paul (Phil 4:15-20). When Paul was writing instructions to the Corinthian church about giving, he declares the Macedonian churches a great example of giving based on their circumstances (2 Corinthians 8:1-2). Paul essentially says that even though they were extremely poor, they gave to Paul. Next Paul moves on to describe the Macedonians’ contribution (2 Cor 8:3-5).

            Paul writes that the Macedonian church gave more than necessary, “For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability” (2 Corinthians 8:3a). The word “for” is the Greek word hoti which is a causal word that introduces evidence in 2 Corinthians 8:3-5 for the Macedonian churches’ generosity described in 2 Corinthians 8:1-2.

            Paul then says the Macedonian church gave without anyone asking them, “they gave of their own accord” (2 Corinthians 8:3b). The word “accord” is the Greek word authairetos which is used two times in the New Testament (here and 8:14). This word “pertains to being self-chosen.”[4] It describes a voluntary free-will decision to commit to an action. In other words, the Macedonians gave spontaneously without prompting and without pressure from others.

            Paul continues and declares that the Macedonian churches gave and wanted to continue giving, “begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints” (2 Corinthians 8:4).Apparently the Macedonian churches asked to participate because they wanted to give. They saw giving not as an obligation but a privilege in spite of their poorness (2 Cor 8:2). Have you ever heard someone beg for an opportunity to give? That’s what the Macedonian churches did!

            Paul reveals that the Macedonian churches gave more money than expected and they gave more than just financial aid, “and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God” (2 Corinthians 8:5). Perhaps the Macedonians provided financial aid to Paul but also personally helped him with giving gifts or belongings that he might have needed. They were whole-heartedly dedicated to Paul and the spread of the gospel.

            As we read about the Macedonian example of giving we learn that giving is something we do even when we don’t have much. Paul is using an argument style that was common in Jewish life as well as Greco-Roman life that we now call “from the lesser to the greater.”[5] His message to the church in Corinth was that if the poor destitute churches of Macedonia can give so much from so little, how much more should the Corinthians give from their position of wealth! This is an encouragement for us to give to others no matter how much or how little we have.

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[1] “The Tithing Tenth,” Christianity Today, January-February 2022, p. 22.

[2] Ibid.

[3] The apostle Paul wrote four letters to the believers in Corinth. We don’t have the first letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1 Cor 5:9). The second is 1 Corinthians which was written from Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8). The third was a “sharp letter” Paul wrote and was carried by Titus (2 Cor 7:8-12), but we don’t have it. 2 Corinthians is technically Paul’s fourth letter that was written seven months after 1 Corinthians.

[4] William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 150.

[5] In Hebrew it was called qal wahomer. In Latin it was called a minore ad maius.

When we hear sermons on giving we often feel the preacher making us feel guilty for not giving to church like we should. As a pastor I must admit that I have probably been guilty of making people feel guilty about their lack of giving to the church. But the Apostle Paul took a different approach when addressing the topic of giving in one of his letters[1] to the Corinthians.

            When Paul begins his two-chapter section on giving in 2 Corinthians he praises a group of people in Macedonia that have been a good example of giving. He praises the Macedonians because they have been giving in spite of their circumstances and poverty.

            Paul says the grace of God was seen in their lives, “Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia” (2 Corinthians 8:1). Macedonia was a Roman province north of the city of Corinth that included the churches Paul had been to in Philippi (Acts 16:2-4), Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9), and Berea (Acts 17:10-15). Greece was conquered by the Romans in 168 BC, and later in 27 BC the Romans divided Greece up into two provinces called “Macedonia” in the north and “Achaia” in the south. The cities of Thessalonica, Philippi, Berea, Apollonia, Amphipolis, and Neapolis were all cities in Macedonia. Paul preached the Gospel and had begun churches in Macedonia during his second missionary journey (Acts 15:36-18:22). Those churches in Macedonia had contributed to Paul when he was in Thessalonica at least once (Phil 4:10, 15-20).

            After telling the Corinthians that grace was seen in the lives of the Macedonians, Paul then explains how the grace of God was seen in their lives, “that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality” (2 Corinthians 8:2). In the first century people did not follow a god, but focused on accumulating gods. This is called syncretism and it was common in the Roman Empire because as the Romans conquered more people they acquired more gods. As a community the people gave things to appease those gods or to patronize those gods. If they needed a good crop of grain, they offered something to the grain goddess (“Demeter” was her Greek name and “Ceres” was her Roman name).[2] If a family wanted another child, they would give something to the fertility goddess (“Aphrodite” was her Greek name and “Venus” was her Roman name).[3] This was a community experience in the Roman Empire in which people would do things publicly and corporately to appease and patronize the gods.[4] We could call the first century a “Religious Stew” because of all the different gods, festivals, and cults that existed everywhere.

            But Jesus arrived teaching there was one God, one faith, and one way to heaven: Him (John 14:6). As a result, followers of Jesus Christ were forced to make a hard decision: do I become a Christian and follow Jesus only or do I maintain my place as a participating citizen patronizing the gods of the Roman Empire? When a Christian started following Jesus he or she neglected all the other gods. This caused problems because the Christian abandoned the community obligation to appease those gods and to bring favor from those gods. New Testament scholar Darrell Bock notes, “The idea of a privatized decision for Jesus was almost impossible in the first century.”[5] Because of this Christians were seen as having drawn away from society and were often persecuted because they failed to appease and patronize the many gods of their culture.

            It is within this context that Paul writes that the Macedonians are “in a great deal of affliction” (v. 2a). You could translate that phrase in a literal way like this, “in much testing of troubles.”[6] It is within this context of affliction and persecution that Paul writes that the Macedonians are in “deep poverty” (v. 2b). Lots of people lived in poverty in the first century, so to go into “deep” poverty was extreme. And when Paul writes that their giving “overflowed in the wealth of their liberality” (v. 2c) he’s describing the nature of their generosity: opened hearted and opened handed.

            As we read about the Macedonian example of giving we learn that grace is sufficient for giving.       No matter where we are in life our faith in God provides us the ability to give, and that giving is something we do because of the grace He has shown us. God’s love for us is shown in His grace, and we show that same love by giving to others. We show God’s love for others when we give to others liberally even when we have little, just like the Macedonians did.

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[1] The apostle Paul wrote four letters to the believers in Corinth. We don’t have the first letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1 Cor 5:9). The second is 1 Corinthians which was written from Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8). The third was a “sharp letter” Paul wrote and was carried by Titus (2 Cor 7:8-12), but we don’t have it. 2 Corinthians is technically Paul’s fourth letter that was written seven months after 1 Corinthians.

[2] Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 3^rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003), 154.

[3] Ibid.

[4] See Ferguson’s section on “Civic Cults” (pp. 182-199) in Backgrounds of Early Christianity for how pervasive, institutionalized, and dependent the city and community were on appeasing gods.

[5] Darrell Bock, “New Testament Introduction, ” unpublished class notes for NT 113 (Dallas Theological Seminary, Online Course, 2024).

[6] In America we don’t understand what it means to have “affliction” because of our faith. In America I’ve heard some Christians say that the Charlie Brown “Christmas” show being taken off ABC was “persecution.”

In her book, The Dumb Things People Do with Money, author Jill Schlesinger lists thirteen things that normal everyday Americans do with their money. Jill lists dumb things such as “You Take On Too Much College Debt” (#4), “You Fail to Protect Your Identity” (#7), “You Don’t Have a Will” (#12), and the most enticing “You Try to ‘Time’ the Market” (#13).[1]

Let’s be honest: managing money is hard. Most of us were not taught by our parents how to manage money. Sometimes schools teach money management but we often are not interested to learn at that time. As adults we often have to figure it out on our own.        

Our culture tells us that when it comes to money you never have enough of it, when you get it spend as much of it as you have, if you want more stuff than you have money then borrow so you can get it (TVs, vacations, phones, fancy vehicles), and if you can’t afford the education go into debt knowing you’ll get an awesome job to pay for it.

But Scripture, from time to time, tells Christians how to manage money. The apostle Paul devoted two entire chapters to the topic of money in one of his letters to the believers in Corinth. While money is hard to manage for ourselves, it’s often just as hard to know if we should give it to others, how we should give, or what that should even look like.

The book of 2 Corinthians was Paul’s fourth letter sent to the believers in the city of Corinth[2] and is Paul’s most personal and intimate letter. Paul started the church in Corinth on his second missionary journey and stayed there for eighteen months preaching and establishing the church (see Acts 18:1-17).

            The city of Corinth was a port city and had a booming economy because it had ocean on both sides of the city.[3] Approximately 300,000-600,000 people lived there. Previously the Corinthians had made a pledge to give and help the poor Christians in Jerusalem (1 Cor 16:1-2). With that context in mind carefully read what Paul wrote to the Corinthians about giving.

“Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well. But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also. I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:1–9).

            From this I think we can summarize that giving to God’s people is done abundantly even when in poverty because of the grace we have received. Let’s note that grace is sufficient for giving (vv. 1-2), giving is something we do even when we don’t have much (vv. 3-5), generosity is required of all believers everywhere (vv. 6-8), and God’s gift of salvation requires we give Him everything (v. 9).  

            While the Corinthian church was far from perfect, they were encouraged to get their giving right. We too are far from perfect as Christians, so let’s pray we can do giving to God’s church right.

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[1] Jill Schlesinger, The Dumb Things People Do with Money (New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 2019).

[2] We don’t have the first letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1 Cor 5:9). The second is 1 Corinthians which was written from Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8). The third was a “sharp letter” Paul wrote and was carried by Titus (2 Cor 7:8-12), but we don’t have it. 2 Corinthians is technically Paul’s fourth letter that was written seven months after 1 Corinthians.

[3] It had the Adriatic Sea known as the “Gulf of Corinth” to the northwest of the city and the Aegean Sea known as the “Saronic Gulf” to the southeast of the city. Ships wanting to avoid the long difficult journey south across the dangerous tip of Greece placed their boats on logs and dragged their ships three and a half miles across the land in which Corinth was located.