Datacja pierwszej misji Pawła w Koryncie

Abstract

The author of the article tries to determine the years of St Paul’s first mission to Corinth. In order to do this he presents a review of the state of research from which it follows that 50- 51 AD is the most often mentioned year. However, there are opinions that the Apostle came to Corinth for the first time at the beginning of the forties. The difference in the opinions results from the two premises on which the above datings are based: the time of Gallio’s proconsulate and expulsion of Jews from Rome at the time of Claudius. Analysing the above historical facts the author comes to the conclusion that the year of expulsion of Jews from Rome (41 or 49) is not unequivocally determined, and hence dating St Paul’s first mission to Corinth as the beginning of the forties is doubtful. The time of Gallio’s proconsulate in the years 51-52 should be considered a sure base for the chronology of St Paul. Since he came to Corinth more than a year before Gallio took office, his first mission to that town would last from February/March 50 to August/September 51. Defining the Apostle’s stay in Corinth also allows pointing to the moment of the beginning of his journey that brought him to the capital of Achaia. Evangelising the previous centres took Paul at least two years, so he set off from Antioch no later than spring 48; however, it is more probable that it happened a year earlier.