Saint of the Day – 28 November – St Sosthenes (1st Century) Bishop

Saint of the Day – 28 November – St Sosthenes (1st Century) the first Bishop of Colophon, Asia Minor, probably a Martyr, Jewish Ruler in Corinth, converted by St Paul and became his disciple, who is mentioned by him in his First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:1–2) and by St Luke in Acts 18:12–17. Also known as –
Sosthenes of Corinth, Sosthenes of Colophon, Sostene…

The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Corinth, the birthday of St Sosthenes, fisciple of the blessed Apostle Paul, who is mentioned by that Apostle in his first Epistle to the Corinthians. He was chief of the synagogue when converted to Christ and, as a glorious beginning, consecrated the first fruits of his faith by being scourged in the presence of the Proconsul, Gallio.”

During the long stay of the Apostle St Paul in Corinth, an event occurred which was not only sensational but, at least for us, difficult to explain, although reported with the usual clarity by St Luke, the Chronicler of the Acts of the Apostles:

“Gallio, being then Proconsul of Achaia (i.e. of the region in which Corinth was located) – we read – “the Jews, all in agreement, rose up against Paul and took him to the Tribunal, saying:
‘This man persuades the people to give God a cult, contrary to the law.’
And as Paul was there ready to speak, Gallio said to the Jews:
‘If it were a question of some crime, of some serious misdeed, I, Jews, would listen to you as reason dictates but, since it is a question of questions of words and names and they belong to your law, think about it – I do not want to be judge of these things!’ And he sent them away from the court.
They all then took Sosthenes, the Ruler of the Synagogue and beat him before the tribunal and Gallio did not care at all. ”

The first part of the episode is quite clear – the Roman Proconsul, in a City which, after all, was in Greece and not in Palestine, cleverly refuses to be the judge of a doctrinal question which interests and concerns, only a minority of his subjects.

It is, again, the tactic of washing one’s hands, adopted by Pilate towards Jesus, with the difference that Corinth was not Jerusalem and, therefore, the “abstaining, so to speak, of the Roman Governor, saves Paul from accusations and threats of his enemies, without the Apostle even opening his mouth.

Except, here’s the unexpected fact – instead of Paul, his accusers, in that same Court, take and beat our Saint Sosthenes, who had nothing to do with Paul and who was, indeed, the Ruler of the local Synagogue.
Why did this happen? Why was Sosthenes beaten instead of Paul? Scholars have failed to give a convincing answer to this question. Probably, the head of the Synagogue was the one who had incited his fellow Jews to demonstrate against Pau, and the Jews released their fury upon him when they saw that their entire design to attach St Paul had been destroyed by the Governor.

According to some, however, the resentment of the Jews related to the fact that Sosthenes’ converssion by St Paul had alreay taken place and was known by his fellow Jews.

But the Acts do not mention the conversion of Sosthenes, Ruler of the Synagogue of Corinth. Shortly afterwards, however, his name appears again in the address of the letter twhich St Paul wrote from Ephesus to the restless Christians of Corinth and, of which, Sosthenes seems to have been the bearer.

“Paul, called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Sosthenes, a brother, To the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in every place of theirs and ours.” – 1 Corinthians 1:1-2

It was so natural to think that the ancient leader of the Synagogue, beaten by his fellow believers, was actually converted by Saint Paul, becoming his disciple, responsible for maintaining contacts between the Apostle and the community of Corinth, where he was well known and respected.

This hypothesis, is probable but not certain, was accepted by the compilers of the Martyrologies, who today remember Sosthenes among the Saints, as a disciple of Saint Paul and former Ruler of the Synagogue of Corinth. With the beatings before the tribunal, he would have “consecrated the first fruits of his faith with a glorious beginning”, and then matured that faith as Bishop of Colophonia, in Asia Minor. But this is traditional understanding which no historical testimony is completely able to confirm.