Paul’s eighteen month ministry in Corinth began during the time when Gallio was proconsul, which tells us that he was there from mid to late 50 to early 52. He then ministered in Ephesus for three years, from 52 to 55, and toward the end of that period and while still at Ephesus wrote canonical 1 Corinthians. In that letter he references an earlier letter he had written after having left Corinth (1 Cor 5:9). Then in 2 Corinthians he refers to a “sorrowful
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