Who was Phoebe?
by
Sister Elizabeth Rees OCV (MA Oxon)
We are told tantalisingly little about
Phoebe in the New Testament. Romans 16.12 describes her as
a benefactor and a helper of many, but both Greek terms are
found nowhere else in the New Testament, so we can only
guess at their meaning. However, we know that she lived and
worked among the Christians of Kenchreai, and we can put
Phoebe in context by visiting the tiny hamlet which
survives on the site of what was once the bustling southern
harbour of ancient Corinth, one of the busiest ports in
southeastern Europe in Roman times.
Excavations here have revealed impressive temples, lavish
private residences, a very large cemetery, and what may be
two early Christian basilicas, one of which is being
excavated this summer. Kenchreai is a gently shelving bay,
in which the foundations of a 4th-century Christian
basilica are gently lapped by the waves of the Aegean Sea.
Phoebe is commemorated as the local saint in a number of
nearby villages.
The New Testament mentions Kenchreai several times in
relation to St Paul’s establishment of the congregation
there and his correspondence with local church members. A
few miles to the east is Isthmia, where the famous Isthmian
Games were held every two years. It had been renovated and
re-opened the year that St Paul visited the Games; here he
could earn his living for a few months, since tents were
required to shelter the many visitors.
At Isthmia, Paul developed his imagery of running in the
race: ‘Do you not know that in a race all the runners
compete, but only one receives the prize? Run so that you
may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all
things. They do it to receive a withered wreath, but we an
unfading one’ (I Cor.9.24-27). At the Olympian Games,
successful competitors were crowned with an olive wreath,
but at Isthmia, olive was evidently not so plentiful as the
wild celery that grew in the river beside the giant
stadium. At Isthmia, therefore, one was crowned with
celery. Fresh celery, however, is not pliable, and so the
crown was made of withered celery, which is why Paul
contrasts our unfading wreath with the withered celery
wreath for which the competitors strove so fiercely.
Seven miles west of Isthmia lies ancient Corinth. Paul
stayed here for 18 months, and we are familiar with the
complex dynamics of its Christian community from Paul’s
letters. Fresh information can be gleaned from studying the
excavated town. For example, Paul describes Christian agape
meals at which the poor went hungry while the rich enjoyed
themselves. In Corinth museum one can see examples of
secular Roman agape tables, each semi-circular, with twelve
or thirteen hollow ‘dishes’ carved round their outer rim,
one for each guest. Among the magnificent ruins, one can
visit the Peirene Fountain. This was surrounded on three
sides by circular spaces in which families could enjoy
their agape meal, close to the splashing fountain. The
agape meal was familiar, therefore, to pagans as well as
Christians.
In order to explore the implications of these early
Christian sites in the northern Peloponnese, the Phoebe
Institute for Religious Studies was established in 2005.
Based at Kenchreai, it offers week-long residential
courses, including lectures, field trips, seminars, shared
worship, and time just to be. The lectures will explore
early Christian symbol and ritual, and the collaboration
between Phoebe and Paul. Further details are available from
Rev. Evelyn Wiseman, tel 01273 494 407;
email:info@phoebeinstitute.org