Creating a Scene in Corinth: A Simulation

Creating a Scene in Corinth imaginatively draws readers into Chloe’s house church, which has just received a letter from their church planter, the apostle Paul. Using group simulation, the book brings to life scholarly research on how the gospel penetrated the Roman Empire. As participants role-play early believers and debate with each other, they gain new insights and will never read 1 Corinthians the same way again.

First-century Corinthians were just as human as church people today. They did not consider Paul’s letters authoritative Scripture when he wrote them, so lively group discussion and debate are encouraged. This method of Bible study works for many levels, from youth groups to Sunday school classes, or in college and seminary courses.

SUPPLEMENTARY WEB RESOURCES

1. A Visit to Ancient Corinth (slide presentation) (9 MB)
2. Time Travel to Ancient Corinth (slide presentation) (12 MB)
3. Publicity Announcement for Adult Sunday School Simulation of 1 Corinthians (64 KB)
4. Representative Speeches from Chloe's House Church (66 KB)
5. Worshiping with the Corinthians (684 KB)
6. A Visitor's Guide to Corinth (59 KB)
7. Extra Material for Character Development in Corinth (64 KB)
8. Using Creating a Scene in Corinth: A Simulation in College or Seminary (123 KB)
9. Corinthian Characters in Chloe's House Church (104 KB)
    

In 2009, Reta Halteman Finger retired from teaching in the Biblical Studies and Religion department at Messiah College, Grantham, Pennsylvania. Today she occasionally teaches at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, as affiliate associate professor of New Testament. The former editor of the Christian feminist magazine, Daughters of Sarah, Reta has published three other books including Roman House Churches for Today. She maintains an active writing ministry through Sunday School columns in the Mennonite World Review, Sojourners magazine, her Bible study blog at the Christian Feminism Today website, and other venues. She holds a master's degree from Garret-Evangelical Seminary and a PhD from Northwestern University.

George D. McClain was born in Berne, Indiana of a Mennonite mother and a Methodist fasther. A graduate of Yale University and Union Theological Seminary, he also received a DMin from New York Theological Seminary and The College of New Jersey. He is author of Claiming All Things for God: Prayer, Discernment, and Ritual for Social Action (1998) and is one of the coauthors, with his wife, Tilda Norberg, of The Call: Living Sacramentally—Walking Justly (2013).