Introduction to 2 Corinthians

Corinth Corinth was an important commercial centre in what is now southern Greece. Its history was somewhat chequered having been destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC. It was rebuilt, as a Roman city, about 100 years later and it was this Roman city that Paul came to (see Acts 18:1-18a). It was a city which had Roman, Greek and Jewish inhabitants and Corinth one of the early converts was Crispus, the leader of the synagogue (Acts 18:8). Old Corinth had a reputation for immorality and while we cannot simply apply this reputation to new Corinth, it seems that the city was not very different from any large port or commercial centre of that time or any other. Paul and Corinth As the account in Acts 18 makes clear, Paul is instrumental in the planting of the church in the city. He was not working alone, though. Priscilla and Aquila work with him, having

been thrown out of Rome along with all other Jews by the emperor Claudius in 49 1; he is later joined by both Silas and Timothy. But a reasonable way of understanding some of the issues Paul tackles in 1 Corinthians is that other people also stopped off in the city; these included Peter and Apollos (1 Cor 1:11-12). Pauls time there can be dated quite precisely, both from the evidence of Acts and from other historical records, to his arriving in the late summer or early autumn of AD 50 and staying for at least 18 months (Acts 18:11, 18). It can be difficult to be precise about dates concerning Pauls missionary work and his visits to various churches, but the table below gives a fair idea of the years surrounding his visits to Corinth.
Date
47-48 48/9 49

Event
First missionary journey Disturbance by Judaisers Apostolic council in Jerusalem Return of Paul to Antioch

Acts
13:1-14:28 15:1-3 15:4-29 15:30-35 15:36-18:22 18:1-18

49-52 Early 50 52

Second missionary journey Paul arrives in Corinth Paul leaves Corinth Brief visit by Paul to Ephesus

18:19-21 18:22 19:1-21:17 19:1 19:2-20:1 20:1-3a 20:2-3

Summer 52 52-57 Late 52 52-55 55-57 57

Paul visits Jerusalem Third missionary journey Thrip through interior to Ephesus Paul in Ephesus Through Macedonia to Greece Corinth for three? months

Paul probably wrote 1 Corinthians in early AD 54 while he was in Ephesus, and no doubt hoped that this would solve many of the problems that beset the church. Some of the issues addressed, like arguments about the resurrection, eating food sacrificed to idols, and the Corinthians obsession with knowledge appear to have at least subsided. Other issues, though, seem to have arisen in their place; not least among them being the arrival of people from Jerusalem who did not accept Pauls apostolic status while claiming their authority came from the real deal in Jerusalem. Paul, on the other hand, describes these people as pseudo-apostles (2 Cor 11:13). The whole situation causes serious problems in

A detailed discussion of this by FF Bruce can be read here: http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/bjrl/ claudius_bruce.pdf

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the relationship between Paul and the church in Corinth and 2 Corinthians is written, at least to a large extent, to tackle this problem. How many letters are there? Very little about the structure and make up of 2 Corinthians is simple, but some comment needs to be made about what 2 Corinthians actually is and where it fits with the other letters Paul mentions. There is much debate about this, and detailed discussions will be found in any of the good commentaries. The biggest issue is the clear difference in tone between chapters 1-7 and chapters 10-13. Chapters 1-7 seem very concerned with bringing about reconciliation between Paul and the church, whereas chapters 10-13 are much less positive and seem to suggest that problems thought solved have reappeared. Some people even suggest that the order of the sections should perhaps be reversed in historical terms, with chapters 10-13 being the letter that caused the church sorrow (2 Cor 7:8). Others suggest that this letter has in fact been lost. A third theory is that it refers to 1 Corinthians. However, there is nothing in the letter which demands that it is a collection of letters or that they have been put together in the wrong order. It is equally feasible - and indeed more likely, that we have a single letter, but one which may have been written over a period of days as more news and information arrives with Paul. It is this new information that the letter then deals with and which can account - in a much less complicated way for the change in tone we have already mentioned.2 It is this form of the letter that has come down to us through the process of canonisation and it is this unified letter that we will be dealing with in our series. Structure There are different ways of structuring the letter and in our series on 2 Corinthians we are following a version of that suggested by Warren W. Wiersbe in his commentary on 2 Corinthians, Be Encouraged. Down but not Out ..............................2 Cor 1:1-11 You Dont Have to Fail .......................2 Cor 1:12-2:17 From Glory to Glory ...........................2 Cor 3 Courage for the Conflict ....................2 Cor 4:1-5:8 Motives for Ministry ...........................2 Cor 5:9-21 Heart to Heart ....................................2 Cor 6-7 The Grace of Giving - Part 1 ..............2 Cor 8 The Grace of Giving - Part 2 ..............2 Cor 9 Ministerial Misunderstandings ...........2 Cor 10 Something to be Proud of .................2 Cor 11 The Vision and the Thorn...................2 Cor 12: 1-10 Preparation for Service ......................2 Cor 12:11-13:14

See Harris detailed discussion 5-51

For today There is much in the two letters to the church in Corinth that can seem difficult to apply to today. However, there are a number of vitally important aspects in this second letter that have continued relevance for us today (adapted from Marshall, Travis and Paul, 103). The concern and love of a misunderstood church leader: The combination of weakness and authority; The concern for the people despite their lack of appreciation. The outward fragility and inward stability of Christian existence. The nature of reconciliation, divine and human. A theology of generosity. Further Reading There are a number of excellent books on the letters to the church in Corinth. These below are just a suggestion. Those marked * are more advanced and detailed commentaries. *Barrett CK, 1973, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, A&C Black, ISBN: 0-7136-1400-5 *Harris MJ, 2005, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, Paternoster, ISBN: 0-85364-580-9 Lamb J, 1999, Discovering 2 Corinthians, Crossway, ISBN: 978-1-8568-4192-4 Wiersbe WW, 1994, Be Encouraged, Victor Books, ISBN: 978-1-4347-6633-5 Wright T, 2003, Paul for Everyone 2 Corinthians, SPCK, 0-281-05306-5 For a general introduction to the letters in the New Testament, it is difficult to beat: Marshall H, Travis S & Paul I, 2002, Exploring the New Testament Volume 2 The Letters and Revelation, SPCK, ISBN: 0-281-05434-7

Copyright 2012 Simon Marshall

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