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The story of the ups and downs of the Jerusalem collection at Corinth may
be summarized as follows:
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• Not long after the Jerusalem conference, and probably soon after Paul
had set up shop in Ephesus, he sent Titus to Corinth to get the
collection project there under way.
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2 Corinthians 8:6. |
• The Corinthians subsequently asked Paul for advice on how to
administer the offering, and he responded with a proposal which he had
already made for Galatia, namely, weekly contributions.
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1 Corinthians 16:1-2. |
• But when the controversy with Corinth began to heat up, work on the
collection appears (not surprisingly)to have lapsed .
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• When the storm had subsided, Paul judged that it was time to revive
the collection work in Corinth. 2 Corinthians 1 - 9
concludes, in chapters 8 and 9, with some upbeat encouragement to get on
with the good work. Titus and the two brothers were sent back to
Corinth, with the letter, to bring the project to completion.
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We cannot settle the question here of whether chapter 9 is a follow-up
collection letter subsequent to chapters 1 - 8.
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• By the time Paul wrote Romans, these efforts had achieved their
purpose, and the Achaia/Corinth collection was ready, along with the
Macedonian collection.
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Romans 15:26. |
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It is plain that during the Ephesus years the collection was a major
concern for Paul, along with the supervision of his churches.
1 Corinthians 16:1-4 1Now
concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I
gave to the churches of Galatia. 2On the first day of the week,
each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that
collections need not be taken when I come. 3And when I arrive, I
will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem. 4If
it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.
2 Corinthians 8:1-6, 10, 14 3[The
churches of Macedonia] voluntarily gave according to their means, and even
beyond their means, 4begging us earnestly for the privilege of
sharing in this ministry to the saints . . . . 6[We
have urged Titus] that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should
also complete this generous undertaking among you. . . . 10[It
is best for you now to complete what a year ago you began
(RSV)]. . . . 14[It is a question of a fair
balance between] your present abundance and their need, so that their
abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.
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2 Corinthians 8
Once again, as earlier
in the Philemon letter, we see here an example of the fine art of persuasion:
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• The generous example of the Macedonians, giving beyond their means,
and quite spontaneously;
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2 Corinthians 8:1-5. |
• Flattery of the Corinthians;
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2 Corinthians 8:7. |
• Theological motivation, i.e. the generosity of Christ: “For you
know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was
rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you
might become rich;” this is the pastoral application of an important
Christological affirmation, the pre-existence and incarnation of
Christ;
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2 Corinthians 8:9. |
• A plea for deed and intention to match, and an argument based upon
the principle of reciprocity between the Jews of Jerusalem and the
gentiles; and
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2 Corinthians 8:10-12, 13-15. |
| • Scrupulous protection of the people’s offerings from fraud, by
provision for the “auditing committee” of the two brothers
to accompany Titus.
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2 Corinthians 8:16-23.
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2 Corinthians 9
This chapter takes a somewhat different approach from the line of
persuasion followed in chapter 8. Instead of boasting to the Corinthians
about the generous example of the Macedonians (8:1-5), Paul says that he
has been boasting to the Macedonians about the Corinthians (9:1-5), to the
effect that the latter have been ready “since last year,” surely an
overstatement; if the Macedonians, some of whom will be traveling with
Paul to Corinth, discover that the Corinthians are not ready, Paul will be
humiliated, and by implication perhaps the Corinthians, too. So Paul says
he is sending “the brethren” (9:3), to communicate this sense of
urgency.
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It is important that we not foreclose the possibility that
2 Corinthians 9 is the fragment of a separate, “Follow-up
Letter,” which we might label Letter F. In
this case we would have to provide a slightly different scenario from the
present one. To avoid complicating the present discussion any further,
however, we shall assume that chapter 9 is a part of
Letter R.
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Beyond this,
• Paul appeals to the self-interest of the Corinthians—a bountiful
return is promised (2 Corinthians 9:6, 8-11);
• He reminds them that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians
9:7); and
• He gives thanks to God for his inexpressible gift, Jesus
Christ (2 Corinthians 9:15).
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Thus what survives of Letter R (2 Corinthians 1 - 9)
draws to a close. Titus was then sent off to Corinth a third time, to
complete work on the collection, with this letter in hand.
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Corinth Re-visited: Looking East, Looking
West
At an earlier stage of the Corinthian correspondence, Paul had
expressed the hope of spending the winter in Corinth, but several things,
which we have earlier discussed, conspired to delay that final visit.
There had been several changes of plans since then. He had spent a period
of time in prison, and he had been obliged to make the painful visit to
Corinth, with the successive changes in plans which that entailed.
On the basis of the available evidence, it is doubtful whether he
wintered in Corinth. He may have spent
that winter, not in Corinth, but in Macedonia—or even in prison, in
Ephesus, if it was a quite extended imprisonment.
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1 Corinthians 16:6.
See 2 Corinthians 1:15-18.
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Now,
with his work in Macedonia coming to an end, the stage is set for the closing scene of the last act of Paul’s
story, as he tells it, a time dominated by a difficult dilemma. His third
and final visit to Corinth, about which the letters say nothing directly,
was probably the occasion for a cordial reunion, after the heated exchanges
during his intermediate visit and the strong language of Letter H (2 Corinthians 10–13). At Corinth the collection gathered
from Macedonia and Achaia had been successfully completed, and Paul was
making preparations for its delivery to Jerusalem.
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But as much as he felt an obligation to deliver the collection, in
fulfillment of the terms of the Jerusalem agreement, Paul’s missionary
vision was to push westward, beyond Illyricum, to establish an advance
based in Rome, and to preach the gospel in Spain. Reluctantly
turning back eastward, he devoted his last weeks in Corinth to the
preparation of a letter to Roman Christians which would pave the way for
the visit he had been eagerly anticipating.
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Romans 15:25-28.
Romans 15:19.
Romans 15:23-29.
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Though likely the last of his
surviving letters to be written, Romans stands appropriately in our Bibles
at the head of the Pauline corpus; monumental in conception and
realization, ever renewing the life of the Christian community through an
Augustine, a Luther, a Wesley, or a Barth.
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In Romans Paul introduces himself and his gospel to a church which he
had neither founded nor visited. Paul implicitly acknowledges the
awkwardness in his laboring in Rome, since it was not one of his
foundations, and since it was his policy not to work where the gospel had
already been preached.
The origins of Christianity in Rome are obscure.
Had believers from Judea or Syria visited or migrated to Rome? or had
residents of Rome returned from Judea or Syria with some knowledge of the
gospel, having traveled in the imperial administration, or the legions, or
in commerce? We may suppose that from such chance encounters Christians
gathered to form a church, or churches, in Rome.
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Romans 15:20.
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We may also suppose that
the earliest Christian community in Rome would have reached out to make
converts of Jews who were resident there, as well as from the
immense gentile population.
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The archeological evidence from first century Rome documents a
substantial Jewish population, assembling in a number of different
synagogues.
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“To the Jew first, and also to the Greek . . .”
The debate continues over whether the Roman church (or churches) was
Jewish Christian or Gentile Christian. The letter itself seems to reflect
an audience which is at least in part Jewish Christian, with an occasional
nod toward non-Christian Jews. But other parts of the letter seem to
presuppose a gentile audience. Lacking any other evidence, we may
reasonably conclude that the Roman church was an inclusive congregation
(or congregations) of both Jews and gentiles, and/or that there were
congregations which were all or mostly Jewish, and some which were all or
mostly gentile.
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Jewish readers (whether Christian or non-Christian) seem to be implied in
Romans 2:17-29; 3:1-6; 7:1; 9:1-5; 10:1-2; and 11:1.
A gentile audience is implied in 1:13-15; 11:13; 15:15-16.
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The extended discussion of food, days, and clean and unclean in Romans
14:1 - 15:6 gives further support to the existence of an
inclusive church, not unlike the Antioch church before the rigorists
arrived from James. Paul may have gotten wind of some problems in the
Roman church between Jewish and gentile Christians, and these problems may
have prompted his pastoral suggestions. He may have offered this advice in
order to forestall the possible influence of such rigorists in Rome.
Romans 7:1 Do you not know,
brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that
the law is binding on a person only during that person’s lifetime?
Romans 11:13-14 13Now I am speaking to you
Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my
ministry 14in order to make my own people jealous, and thus
save some of them.
Romans 14:1-2 1Welcome those who are weak in
faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. 2Some
believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.
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Galatians 2:11-14. |
“The Righteousness that comes from God . . . ”
(Romans 10:3)
In Romans Paul provides a comprehensive theological undergirding for
his gospel, beginning with a statement of the letter’s theme, and
following with discussions of reason in theology, sin, atonement,
Christology, the Holy Spirit, Israel past and future, and moral advice.
Romans 1:16-17 16For
I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For
in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it
is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”
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Romans 1:16-17. |
Reason in Theology
“Natural theology,” as it is often called, seeks to establish
certain beliefs about God and his demands, apart from “special
revelation” through prophets and scriptures and Jesus Christ. Whether
Paul would feel at home with this terminology, he does argue that certain
things can be deduced from the existence of the created world, especially
God’s invisible nature, and his eternal power and deity. Because human
beings can know these things about God, they are accountable to God for
their actions. Their idolatry and immorality are therefore inexcusable,
and they are liable to the divine judgment. It would not be surprising if
this line of reasoning was representative of Paul’s customary message to
intellectuals in the gentile world.
Romans 1:19-25 19For
what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to
them. 20Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power
and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and
seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; 21for
though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him
. . . . 22Claiming to be wise, they became
fools; 23and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for
images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or
reptiles. . . . 25They exchanged the truth about
God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
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See Romans 1:18-32.
We need not quibble if this God allegedly known by reason alone turns
out for Paul to be indistinguishable from the God of Israel, revealed to Moses and
prophets and psalmists! |
Revised
December 17, 2004
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Click Next
button below for continuation of Romans, in Closing Months (4).
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