The first place we arrived at was the Bema. The Bema is a step located in the Agora, which is the very center of all ancient Greco/Roman towns. Literally, the commercial buildings, administrative buildings, and religious temples all faced the agora. Any Greek citizen in the agora could ascend the Bema and say whatever he wanted to in front of the crowd. The Bema was where people received recognition for good things or judgment for bad things. 

The Roman empire took the Bema and made it 3 meters high and carried the authority of Rome. The Bema then became the place were announcements for all deeds were made known to the population at large. I think you see the application here. 

When we stand before the judgment seat (bema) of Christ all our deeds will be announced to all our brothers and sisters in the Lord. One more thing about the Bema, the Bema was not a seat but an elevated step where announcements were made from. The Bema had a marble post in front of it to secure law breaker’s while they are being whipped. Just like what was seen in the movie the passion of Christ. However, in the movie, Christ was depicted as whipped in a private place. If our Lord was scourged at the Bema it would have been a public place so everyone had to know about it. 

The second fact we learned was that Corinth was world famous for their worship of Aphrodite, the goddess of love/sex. The followers of Aphrodite--temple prostitutes-- lived high above Corinth in Acrocorinth, which resembled a fortress and was later turned into a fortress by the Romans. The cult of Aphrodite had a choke hold on Corinth, which had to be frustrating for believers, which is probably why Paul said that our weapons are mighty for the tearing down of strongholds. I am sure that the Corinthians clearly understood that imagery. When you see the pictures you will see what I mean. 

Our final stop in Corinth was a fountain out of pure rock. The ancient Corinthians had found a spring that originated from rock. The Corinthians would totally understand Paul if he told them that Christ is the rock that provides use with spiritual water. 

We then went to the temple of Apollo. At the back of the temple we found what was left of a giant barbeque pit for offerings. The pit could barbeque about 100 cattle at a time. The sacrificial offering to Apollo was distributed as the following; 1/3 to the god (in edible portions mostly), 1/3 to the priests, 1/3 to the owner. 1/3 of 20 roasted cattle is a lot of beef. Whatever the priests couldn't eat that day was sold in the market. The meat was precooked and dirt-cheap. This is our famous "food sacrificed to idols,” that Paul addresses in I Corinthians chapter 8. 

The next day we saw the temples on the Acropolis in Athens and ascended Mars hill. It was on Mars hill that we discussed the history of Christianity as a family. Paul had 3 missionary journeys starting in Jerusalem, going to Syria, Turkey, Greece, Crete, Sicily, Malta, Italy, and finally Rome. Why is the Christian witness all but extinct in the Middle East? Somewhere along the line, believers tried to mix Christ with political muscle. Our weapons are mighty and can tear down strong holds. Why do we feel the need to justify the validity of Christianity with politics? 

It was either Spurgeon or Moody who said that you don't defend a lion, you just need to set it loose. The truth is, Jesus did die on the cross for the sin of the entire world and all we have to do is accept this one factual act by faith to be declared righteous before God. Salvation by faith in Christ sounds too simple and too good to be true but that is exactly how the Bible presents it. This good news about Christ is exactly what the 1st century church proclaimed. We don't need to intellectualize, apologize, or justify the truth; we as Christians just need to present it, accurately, according to the scriptures.