The Crisis in Corinth. The Intermediate Visit
In between his founding visit to Corinth, already described, and his
final visit, still to be discussed, Paul made yet another visit, for a total
of three visits. It is clear from 2 Corinthians 12:14 and 13:1 that the
second visit is past, and the third is contemplated.
This intermediate visit was made with a sense of urgency, as shown by a
change of long held travel plans, in order to make this trip (2 Corinthians 1:15-18; compare
1 Corinthians 16:5-8).
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For further details, click on Intermediate
Visit. |
This change of plans was occasioned partly by
internal issues which were “old business,” but mostly by external issues
which were “new business.” Paul already knew about certain
internal problems before he arrived in Corinth: disorder and immorality
among certain members of the congregation (2 Corinthians 12:20 - 13:2); dissatisfaction over his refusal to accept financial support from them
(hence, they allege, Paul does not love them, and does not claim perquisites
which a genuine apostle would accept, 2 Corinthians 11:7-12); and
rumors concerning possible misappropriation of funds in connection with the
collection project (2 Corinthians 12:16-18).
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The greater threat was external, the presence of rival
teachers, ostensibly Christian, who had come with impressive credentials
(“letters of recommendation,” 2 Corinthians 3:1). They were
preaching another Jesus and another gospel, and the people were receptive
(2 Corinthians 11:4). They likely impressed the Corinthians as skilled
in speaking and in knowledge. From his own observation, he later
characterizes the teachers (ironically) as
“super-apostles,” (2 Corinthians 11:5; 12:11). He calls them
“false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of
Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:13); they are “[Satan’s
ministers, disguising] themselves as ministers of righteousness” (2
Corinthians 11:15). They have made claims of their Jewishness
(2 Corinthians 11:22). A substantial defection to these leaders (or threat of defection) had taken
place.
Thus, Paul must have felt that he had little choice but to make this intermediate
visit to Corinth, to address these problems and confront the false
teachers directly.
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Paul concedes that he is no competition as a speaker
(2 Corinthians 10:10; 11:6), but claims he is able to hold his own in
knowledge.
It is unclear whether these Jewish Christians were in some way connected
with the rigorists of Antioch, Galatia, and perhaps Philippi.
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By the time Paul reached Corinth, the situation was likely already spinning out
of control. The last straw was a nasty incident in which Paul was grievously
wronged by a member of the congregation, a situation made worse by the
people’s failure to come to Paul’s aid and support. It is possible that the
offender was encouraged in this unfortunate act by the rival apostles.
Paul had little alternative but to change his itinerary yet again and
return to Ephesus. But he did not depart Corinth without leaving his
forwarding address (Ephesus instead of Macedonia, as planned); without
sternly admonishing and warning the Corinthians, especially unrepentant
sinners (2 Corinthians 13:2); and without laying upon the congregation
the obligation (at least implicitly) to discipline the offender.
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See 2 Corinthians 2:5-10; 7:12, for a retrospective view of the
episode. Click on offender. |
Letter H = 2 Corinthians 10 - 13
Back in Ephesus, Paul made a serious reality check: he recognized that
face to face confrontation with his opponents had not
worked, and he determined to play his strong suit and write a letter instead.
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2 Corinthians 10:10 For they say, “His letters
are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech
contemptible.”
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• In this
letter he would address the issues as impersonally as possible, not
mentioning the name of the offender who had treated him so shabbily—in hopes
eventually of bringing about reconciliation;
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• He would establish procedures for disciplinary action to be carried
out by the Corinthian believers;
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2 Corinthians 13:1-3. |
• He would speak his mind quite openly about the intrusive teachers,
who were deceiving the people;
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• He would abandon reticence about his own personal gifts and
accomplishments, and would boast of his apostolic credentials; and
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2 Corinthians 10:12 - 12:13. |
• He would plead for a return to obedience, at the same time assuring
them of his continuing love.
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2 Corinthians 10:1-6; 11:11; 13:1-11. |
This, then, is the kind of letter Paul wrote, as defensive and boastful
as he would ever get; the kind of letter which he hoped would assure that
his forthcoming visit would not be another painful visit. What else does the letter have to offer? In truth it
sets no rich banquet of spirituality and theology such as we will find
in the sequel, Letter R. Nevertheless, there are some gems to be found in
the wreckage of this polemical landscape.
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2 Corinthians 10 - 13 is in fact a letter fragment, lacking the
customary letter opening elements. |
Paul, the Mystic
Of particular interest
is the disclosure of the mystical Paul. When he had been pushed to
the wall by the Corinthian controversy, he at last opened up a whole area of his life which would otherwise have
remained unknown to us. He tells of an experience of ecstasy, when he was
caught up to the third heaven (whatever that means). He finds no way to
speak of an experience that was ineffable. With reticence, he can
only refer to himself impersonally, as “a man in Christ.”
2 Corinthians 12:1-10 1It
is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to
visions and revelations of the Lord. 2I know a person in Christ
who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the
body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. 3And I know
that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know;
God knows— 4was caught up into Paradise and heard things that
are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. 5On
behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast,
except of my weaknesses. 6But if I wish to boast, I will not be
a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that
no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, 7even
considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to
keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. 8Three
times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, 9but
he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made
perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my
weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore
I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and
calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am
strong.
The mystical experience
referred to is important in itself, but two other matters in this text
invite brief exploration: Paul’s “thorn in the flesh,” and the
paradox of grace.
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This ineffability is well summarized by Prof. Furnish (1984:545),
“. . . The apostle has provided his readers with very
little information about this extraordinary journey . . . .
How, precisely, he was taken up to Paradise he does not know, what he saw
there he does not say, and what he heard there he must not repeat.” |
Paul’s Illness?
The thorn in the flesh seems to be his way of
referring to a more or less chronic physical malady, possibly related to
the illness which occasioned his first visit to Galatia. Whether it was
epilepsy, or some neurological trauma, or an eye disease, or, somewhat
more likely, malaria with attendant fevers and headaches, we can only
speculate.
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Galatians 4:13. |
Grace Sufficient
Also worthy of note is Paul’s notion of the paradox of grace,
earlier expressed in 1 Corinthians and here elaborated. The paradox
of the cross is clearly the pattern for his experience.
1 Corinthians 15:10 But
by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been
in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was
not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 9but
he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made
perfect in weakness.” 10 . . . For whenever I am weak, then I am
strong.
2 Corinthians 13:4 For [Christ] was crucified in
weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we are weak in him, but
in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.
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Compare Philippians 2:12-13.
Compare 1 Corinthians 1:23-25;
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Personal Reflections
While there is much
that is defensive and boastful in Letter H, these elements actually work
to our advantage in that Paul reveals more details of his life story than
would otherwise be known.
2 Corinthians 11:21-33 “. . . 24Five times I have received from the
Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten
with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a
night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26. . .
[in] danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles
. . . . 33[At Damascus,
during the time of King Aretas,] I was let down in a basket through a
window in the wall . . . .
From this chronicling of his sufferings, we learn a number of things,
not all of which are easy to fit into the conventional view of Paul’s
life and work.
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• Paul did sometimes visit Jewish synagogues, and was thus subject to their
jurisdiction and punishments, especially the thirty nine lashes.
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Though an apostle to the gentiles, Paul does not seem to have cut off
contacts with the synagogue.
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• Paul was sometimes beaten with rods, a punishment from which
Roman citizens are supposed to be exempt.
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It is doubtful whether Paul was a Roman
citizen, as a later discussion notes. |
• The episode of his escape from Damascus during the reign of King
Aretas IV provides us our only
point (and not a very precise one, at that) for establishing an
absolute chronology based on the letters for dating events in his life.
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Click on Aretas
Datum |
Letter H Is Sent
When Paul had completed the letter (Letter H, in the series), he
dispatched it to Corinth, most likely in the care of Titus. It is also
possible that he deputized Titus to provide interpretation for the
Corinthians on any points in the letter that might have been misunderstood, and to assure
them of Paul’s good faith and good intentions. As Paul sends Titus off,
he gives his lieutenant reassurance and encouragement by boasting of
the Corinthians, reminding him that they were basically sound and would get themselves properly
turned around and headed in the right direction.
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2 Corinthians 7:14.
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Paul also gives him directions by which they will rendezvous:
Paul will soon be on his way to Troas, and Titus, after his visit to
Corinth, is to meet him there and
report firsthand on how the Corinthians have responded to this letter. We
do not know whether Paul might have considered calling off his third visit
to Corinth if the news brought by Titus had turned out to be unfavorable. It is clear
that Paul did not want another gut-wrenching, painful visit to Corinth.
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2 Corinthians 2:12-13.
2 Corinthians 2:1, 3.
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Click cumulative Sequence
Chart 3 for a schematic summary of
Paul’s work, through “The Ephesus Years.”
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Click Next
button below to continue, Ephesian Headquarters (7).
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| Revised
March 15, 2003 |
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