How Poor were the Corinthian Churches?
There is something of a debate about the socio-economic location and stratification of the Corinthian house churches.
On the one hand, Paul can say to the Corinthians, “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth” (1 Cor 1:26). Remarks which suggest that the Corinthians were from non-elite backgrounds, artisans, freedom, slaves, and even destitutes. Given what we know about economic scales in agrarian societies and the concentration of resources in the hands of urban elites, it is not hard to imagine the majority of the Corinthian churches were drawn from the ranks of people on near-subsistence levels of existence.
On the other hand, there seems to have been at least one household head in Stephanas among the Corinthian assemblies (1 Cor 1:16; 16:15, 17). Plus, the intra-Corinthian divisions transpired on the basis of socio-economic disparities (i.e., class) evidenced by richer members taking poorer members to court (1 Cor 6:1-8) and inequalities exhibited in shared meals (1 Cor 11:17-22). Also, if the Corinthians were able to contribute to the collection for the Jerusalem churches, then they must have had some disposable income or moderate surplus resources.
So were the Corinthians a “messianic proletariat” of the lower-classes or were they socially stratified with some wealthier members from the upper echelons of Corinthian society?
This is where the end of Romans, written from Cenchraea on the western side of Corinth helps us out!
Towards the end of the epistle to the Romans, Paul conveys greetings on behalf of several people: “Timothy, my coworker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my fellow Israelites. I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord. Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you” (Rom 16:21-23).
What can we conclude about the economic stratification of the Corinthians based on Romans?