Biography
Sosthenes of Corinth
About Sosthenes of Corinth
Paul names Sosthenes alongside himself in the greeting of First Corinthians, calling him a brother. Acts tells of a synagogue leader named Sosthenes who was beaten before Gallio’s tribunal at Corinth. The episode follows the dismissal of a complaint against Paul. Gallio does not intervene in the assault. The passage gives no account of the injured man’s subsequent life.
Whether these two references concern the same person remains uncertain. Biblical scholar Angelo Penna distinguishes the possibility of a shared identity from the equally important possibility that the men simply bore the same name. A story of conversion linking the two passages therefore depends on an identification that cannot be assumed.
Another strand of remembrance connects Sosthenes with the Seventy disciples. Eusebius records this as a tradition while observing that no complete list of that group was available to him. His wording preserves the association without presenting a contemporary roster. It is evidence for how early Christians remembered Sosthenes, rather than a detailed account of his ministry.
The Orthodox Church in America honors him among the Seventy and commemorates him on 30 March, 8 December and 4 January. Its March account remembers him as a bishop at Colophon. The same church’s December account instead places his episcopate at Caesarea. That disagreement cautions against giving his later ministry a precise location. His liturgical memory is established, while much of the biography surrounding it remains dependent on tradition.
Wondering how to weigh the stories and sources? Learn how to read a saint biography.