By the time St. Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians he had been in the preaching business for about twenty years. (His conversion can be dated to somewhere around 33AD and the letter around 53AD.) His pattern as described in the Acts of the Apostles was first to preach in the local synagogue and then to widen his audience. Corinth was an important commercial center and thus a natural place for Paul to set up shop. He first came to Corinth after preaching in Athens — and that ministry was not successful. He attempted to engage in philosophical discourse to little avail. In Corinth he tried a more successful approach: For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified.
