Best dinner on the trip? Hands down it was last night at the hotel we stayed at in Olympia. Overlooking a beautiful valley, we sat outside under a grape arbor as we laughed, shared the favorite experiences of our journey and ate fabulous Greek food!Olympia
This morning we traveled to Olympia and toured the place of the ancient Olympic games. On the grounds is a huge temple dedicated the Zeus. The pillars of this temple were made of limestone. Temples for the gods and goddesses faced typically faced east, inside the temple would be a statue of the god or goddess. As the sun rose early in the morning, the
god or goddess would be illuminated by the first rays of the sun. In this temple (see picture to the left of the ruins of the temple) dedicated to Zeus in Olympia, the statue was said to be 12 meters in height. Based on writings of the time, the 
temple was built in the 1st half of the 5th century BCE while the statue of Zeus was completed in the second half of the 5th century. The statue was made of ivory and gold. Zeus was seated on a throne and in his had he held a small replica of Nike the winged god of victory. The picture to the right is a painting of what the statue was said to look like.
We ran (at least the competitive women ran and I've got proof in the picture to the right!) the length of the stadium where the first foot races of the ancient Olympic games were held. The men watched and cheered us on. They said they were the judges!!?!At the altar of the temple of Hera, the wife of Zeus, we saw where the Olympic flame is lit every four years for our modern Olympic games.
While you may wonder what this has to do with the journeys of Paul, let me remind you that in several of his letters, Paul uses the imagery of athletic competition as he writes to the small house churches encouraging them to stay strong in the faith. In 1st Corinthians 9:25 he reminds them “athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.” The picture is our group standing in the stadium of the first Olympic games.
Corinth
During the time of Paul, Corinth was an active port city because of the small isthmus. On one side was the Aegean Sea and on the other is the bay of Corinth (part of the Ionic Sea). Ships would do one
of two things, they would off load their cargo and it would be carried to the other side to put on ships to head Italy or other places along the Ionic Sea or they would literally put the ship on rollers (like a trailer) and the entire ship would be hauled to the other side. Now there is a canal cut through the isthmus, in the picture on the right, you can see a sail boat making its way through the canal.
It was here that Paul stayed for 18 months, working in the trade of tent making with Prisca and Aquilla. We walked the streets of the ancient city noting where the shops were located, seeing a beautiful area where fountains and gardens (pictured on the left) would have been and the public square where public 
discourse would have taken place. It is here that Paul was taken before the tribunal for “persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the law.” (Acts 18: 13) We saw the bema (in English this word translates as “podium”) where Paul would have defended himself and testified that Jesus was the Messiah. (me in front of the bema)Our travels here in Corinth, as in other places along the way, opened our eyes to the many gods and goddesses that were worshiped in Corinth, Athens and the many other places to which Paul traveled.
In Corinth, there was a large temple to the goddess Athena (left picture)as well as an active cult dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of love (right picture). Read again 1st 
Corinthians 6:12-20 and as you do think about the pagan worship of the goddess Aphrodite and you will hear Paul’s words in a new light or read 1st Corinthians 10 again concerning the worship of idols. Remember now that the sailors who came through Corinth often brought with them the pagan deities that they worshiped and established in Corinth. Around every corner you would discover shrines to gods and goddesses. Pagan worship was everywhere. It is in the midst of this culture of pagan worship that Paul came proclaiming the good news of Christ.Thanks be to Paul for his zeal and witness to the Corinthians and to each of us as he faithfully reminded us; we who are many are one in the body of Christ.
Tomorrow: Ephesus and Patmos. Until then, in the words of Paul; “my love be with all of you in Christ Jesus!Suzy
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