The Olympiad - The Isthmian Games - The Agonies #29

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth (see 2 Corinthians 4) and used the sporting terms of their Isthmian Games called "the Agones" (from where we derive the English word "agonies") to illustrate the struggle of the Christian life and how we must fight evil and win. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the "Isthmian Games, in ancient Greece, [was] a festival of athletic and musical competitions in honour of the sea god Poseidon, held in the spring of the second and fourth years of each Olympiad at his sanctuary on the Isthmus of Corinth." Paul's Corinthian church family were as familiar with this cultural phenomenon as they were opposed to its cavalier disregard for human life. By learning from the wrestling terminology the apostle used to denote the spiritual battle they faced, Paul, ironically, provided the Corinthian church with the very principles they would employ to eventually defeat the existence of Isthmian Games themselves. The celebration of this demonic festival died out when Christianity finally became dominant in the 4th century AD. These lessons given to the ancient Corinthian church remain as valid today as they were when Paul first taught them. If you live on planet Earth, you, too, are in a struggle for eternity. Learn from Pastor Gordon as he expounds on the teachings of the Chief Apostle, and learn how to win your family's wrestling match against evil!