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Will the Theologians Please Sit Down  /  Chapter 21: When Fiction is Presented as Fact  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 10
Bercot re-reads Strabo to claim the infamous prostitute-filled Corinth was destroyed and that Paul’s Corinth was a rebuilt Roman colony without that reputation; how should this example affect the level of trust you give to study Bible notes/commentaries, and what practices could your group adopt to resist “counterfeit history” while still learning from teachers?
Another way to ask: Bercot says Paul’s Corinth may not have had the famous “prostitute city” reputation because it had been destroyed and rebuilt. How should that affect how much you trust study Bible notes and commentaries, and what can your group do to avoid bad history while still learning from teachers?

Direct Answer This example should lower automatic trust in confident commentary claims and increase careful checking—especially when notes use history to steer interpretation. Bercot’s warning suggests we can still learn from teachers, but only while verifying claims and prioritizing what Scripture actually says.

Support from Transcript:

  • Bercot notes Barclay calls Corinth “probably the most licentious city,” and traces that to Strabo’s report of Aphrodite’s temple prostitutes.
  • He keeps reading Strabo and shows the earlier Corinth was “razed to the ground,” “remained deserted,” then rebuilt by Julius Caesar in 44 BC.
  • He concludes Paul’s Corinth was “the Roman Corinth,” “had no temple to Aphrodite,” and “no special reputation for prostitutes or immorality.”
  • Strabo’s summary focus shifts: Corinth was known for “skilled… craftsmen” and “land that was not very fertile,” not prostitution.
  • Bercot generalizes: commentaries contain “counterfeit history… to distort what the Scriptures actually teach,” and “there is no such evidence” for many repeated claims.
Discussion Follow-ups Group practices implied by the transcript could include: asking “Where’s the evidence?”, distinguishing what Paul says from what notes say, and being willing to say “we don’t know.” How might your group build that habit without becoming dismissive of all scholarship?

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