Revised by Lois Malcolm (09/25)
Apostolic competence and authority
Rival apostles have been raising suspicions among the Corinthians about Paul’s competence and authority as an apostleDerived from a Greek word meaning “one who is sent,” an apostle is a person who embraces and advocates another person’s idea or beliefs. At the beginning of his ministry Jesus called twelve apostles to follow and serve him. Paul became an apostle of Jesus… More (2 Corinthians 10:8; 2 Corinthians 13:10). In response, PaulThe Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, was the author of several New Testament letters and the founder of many Christian communities. More seeks not only to defend himself but also to mend his broken relationship with the Corinthians. But, most importantly, he seeks both through his letters and through his bodily presence to manifest to everyone’s conscience the presence, or even the “face” (prosōpon), of JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God’s saving act for humanity. More the MessiahThe Messiah was the one who, it was believed, would come to free the people of Israel from bondage and exile. In Jewish thought the Messiah is the anticipated one who will come, as prophesied by Isaiah. In Christian thought Jesus of Nazareth is identified… More, which gives us “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:1-6). Further, he wants the Corinthians to understand that the “proof” that God is speaking through him lies not in his own capacities or some external measure or standard, but in the living presence of the Messiah, crucified and raised from the dead—and they have access to his presence just as much as he does—since while we may be weak in him, through our baptismJesus was baptized (literally, “dipped”) in the Jordan River by John the Baptizer, at which time he was acclaimed from heaven as God’s Son, the Beloved. Much later baptism became one of the sacraments of the Church, the action by which a person is incorporated… More into his death, we are nonetheless powerful in one another through the power of God, which gives us life (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).
Unlike his opponents, who abuse the Corinthians, even as they boast of their spiritual prowess to them (2 Corinthians 11:18-20), Paul’s goal is to build them up so that they can stand in their own integrity in the Messiah rather than to tear them down (2 Corinthians 10:8; 2 Corinthians 13:10). Ultimately, his hope is that they become partners together who share both in the overflowing sufferings of the Messiah for us and their spillover in consolation through us (2 Corinthians 1:5) and thus also in the expansion of grace to more and more people (2 Corinthians 4:15). As he puts it in paradoxical terms, “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (2 Corinthians 6:10).
The letter of tears and letters of recommendation
The Corinthians apparently had two important issues with Paul. First, he wrote burdensome and strong letters, which to them seemed heavy-handed and critical; and second, he had a weak physical presence and poor public speaking skills (2 Corinthians 10:10). The first issue came to a head when, instead of visiting them as he had planned (2 Corinthians 1:15), he wrote them a highly emotional letter—”in much anguish of heart and with many tears”—to deal with an incident that had occurred on a previous visit. They received this letter (along with the cancelled visit) as a rebuke and as an attempt on his part to “lord it over” them (2 Corinthians 1:24-2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:8). The second issue was related to their demand that Paul provide letters of recommendation that would demonstrate his competence as an apostle (2 Corinthians 3:1-3). Rival apostles had arrived in the congregation while Paul was away and were now urging the Corinthians to demand that Paul be compared with other apostles on the basis of some external standard (2 Corinthians 3:1-3; 2 Corinthians 10:12-16).
In response to these issues, Paul seeks neither to defend himself or establish his authority over them, on the one hand, nor to acquiesce to their demand for letters of recommendation, on the other. Rather, he seeks to use both issues as a springboard for depicting what it means to be “servants of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:6). Through the Spirit, we are in a reciprocal relationship with one another—written on one another’s hearts, to live and die together (2 Corinthians 3:2; 2 Corinthians 7:3). Indeed we are together “a letter of the Messiah”—“written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3).
The collection
According to Paul, when the leaders in the Jerusalem church acknowledged his call to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles, they asked for only one thing—that he and his associates would “remember the poor,” that is, collect funds from the wealthier GentileA gentile is anyone who is not Jewish. The term, which is derived from words that the Bible uses to denote the “nations” of the world, reflects beliefs that God had designated Israel as a nation that would be distinct from others, and a blessing… More congregations for the much poorer Jerusalem church, as a sign of their unity in the Messiah (Galatians 2:9-10). Thus, in 1 Corinthians, Paul asked the Corinthian congregation to put aside money for a collection, which would then be sent to Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:1-6; see also Romans 15:25-32).
However, by the time 2 Corinthians was written, they had begun to have suspicions about the collection and the coworkers Paul had sent to administer it (2 Corinthians 12:18). These suspicions were related to the fact that Paul would not receive support from them (2 Corinthians 11:9; 2 Corinthians 12:13-16). He probably wanted to avoid entering into a patron-client relationship with them since—given their wealth and arrogance (1 Corinthians 4:8; 1 Corinthians 4:18)—they would have wanted to use their financial support as a means for controlling his ministry. Instead, he wanted to proclaim the gospel “free of charge,” without strings attached (1 Corinthians 9:18).
In spite of their suspicions, Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand that the collection was not simply about raising funds. It was a matter of grace—the graceGrace is the unmerited gift of God’s love and acceptance. In Martin Luther’s favorite expression from the Apostle Paul, we are saved by grace through faith, which means that God showers grace upon us even though we do not deserve it. More of sharing (koinōnia) in the ministry of the saints (2 Corinthians 8:4), which, in turn, was rooted in the grace of the Lord Jesus the Messiah (2 Corinthians 8:9). And that meant that the very process of raising funds for the collection needed to be one that embodied the equality—and mutuality and reciprocity—entailed in sharing in one another’s poverty and abundance (2 Corinthians 8:13-14).
The “Super Apostles”
After Paul had written 1 Corinthians, a group of apostles arrived in Corinth who raised suspicions about Paul’s competence and urged the Corinthians to demand that letters of recommendation be written that vouched for his legitimacy as an apostle (2 Corinthians 3:1). Although we do not have independent evidence about them, there is much that we can glean from what Paul says about these individuals, whom he called “false apostles” (2 Corinthians 11:13) and “super-apostles” (2 Corinthians 11:5; 2 Corinthians 12:11). They were Hellenistic Jews, who took pride not only in their ethnic identity as “Hebrews” and religious identity as “Israelites,” but also in their being “descendants” of AbrahamGod promised that Abraham would become the father of a great nation, receive a land, and bring blessing to all nations. More, which probably meant they were familiar with more cosmopolitan—and mystical—forms of Judaism (2 Corinthians 11:22). Most importantly, they called themselves “servants of the Messiah” (2 Corinthians 11:23) and even “servants of righteousness’ (2 Corinthians 11:15).
It appears that they valued having a strong physical presence and good speaking skills (2 Corinthians 10:9-10), along with “knowledge” (2 Corinthians 11:6) and displays of “signs and wonders, and mighty works” (2 Corinthians 12:12). Given Paul’s list of hardships in his fool’s speech, they must have valued physical and psychological mastery over adversities of all kinds (2 Corinthians 11:23b-28). Perhaps most significantly, they were familiar with out-of-body heavenly journeys, which played a role in first-century Jewish mysticism (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). In addition, according to Paul, they were competitive, seeking to compare and contrast themselves with one another against some external measurable standard (2 Corinthians 10:12). At the same time, however, they were not interested in starting their own congregations, but instead preferred to exploit and claim for themselves ministries another had started (2 Corinthians 10:13-14).
Although we do not know precisely what these apostles proclaimed about “Jesus,” the “Spirit” and the “gospel” (2 Corinthians 11:4), we can surmise that they used their proclamation as a means for cleverly deceiving the Corinthians so that they would tolerate abuse from them. The abuse they “put up with” consisted of being treated like a slave, preyed upon, taken advantage of, and slapped in the face—even as these apostles continued to exalt themselves at the Corinthians’ expense (2 Corinthians 11:20).
The literary integrity of 2 Corinthians
Many modern scholars have argued that the letter we know as 2 Corinthians is actually a blend of two or more fragments that Paul wrote to the Corinthian congregation. The main reason has to do with the letter’s changes in emotional tone: the first part tends to be more conciliatory (chapters 1-9), while the latter part tends to be angrier and more ironic (chapters 10-13). In addition, the letter seems to have temporal sequences that seem out of place to modern readers. For example, its many references to Titus, Paul’s coworker responsible for the collection, do not follow a linear order (e.g., in the narratives bookending the letter’s main argument, 2 Corinthians 2:13 and 2 Corinthians 7:6-17, in the collection, 2 Corinthians 8:6-23, and in the final section, 2 Corinthians 12:18).
Of the various theories proposed, the most common is that the first nine chapters were written as an initial letter and the last three chapters were added later, as Paul heard about more troubles within the congregation. Another proposal is that 2 Corinthians consists of three separate letters: an apology and plea for reconciliation (chapters 1-7); the appeal for the collection (chapters 8-9); and a letter addressing difficulties concerning the super-apostles and other problems within the community (chapters 10-13). Yet another hypothesis is that the section dealing with the collection is actually two letters.
Nonetheless, a case can be made for the integrity of 2 Corinthians as a single letter, especially if we consider ancient discourse patterns. For one thing, its structure parallels a pattern common for letters of the time that included four parts: (1) an introduction (or exordium) that seeks to establish rapport with the audience (2 Corinthians 1:1-14); (2) a narrative concerning the circumstances that gave rise to the letter (2 Corinthians 1:15-2:13 and its parallel in 2 Corinthians 6:11-7:15); (3) the proofs for the letter’s argument (2 Corinthians 2:14-6:10; 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:15); and finally, (4) a conclusion (or peroration) that summarizes the letter’s main points, but with an emotional intensity that seeks to excite a passionate response in the readers (2 Corinthians 10:1-13:13). For another, Paul’s use of vocabulary, literary conventions and motifs, and biblical themes and allusions make evident echoes and parallels not only within the letters’ various sections but also between them—including links between the first nine chapters and the last three. And finally, the very temporal sequences that seem out of place to modern readers may, in fact, be part of the letter’s design so that readers find themselves involved in a drama that seeks to transform their ways of perceiving and responding to the world in the very act of reading it.
Boasting
References to boasting occur frequently throughout 2 Corinthians. In itself, boasting—that is, expressing pride in one’s self or others—is not inherently bad. At issue, for Paul, is whether such is done solely for one’s own interests, at the expense of others, or whether it is done in a fashion that both relies on God’s grace as the source of one’s boast and works toward a mutual boast in which everyone benefits. Thus, even though Paul boasts in defense of his ministry (2 Corinthians 1:12), he also seeks to have a relationship of reciprocal boasting with the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 1:14)—in which they not only realize that he boasts about them (2 Corinthians 7:4-14; 2 Corinthians 8:24; 2 Corinthians 9:2-3), but also that they boast about him to his detractors (2 Corinthians 5:12). At the same time, Paul is highly critical of those he calls “super-apostles” (2 Corinthians 11:5; 2 Corinthians 12:1) because, unlike Paul, they boast in order to build themselves up and tear others down (2 Corinthians 10:8; 2 Corinthians 12:19). Indeed, in Paul’s view, they have deceived the Corinthians with boasts about their achievements in order to control and abuse them (2 Corinthians 11:20), and have even claimed for themselves the results of others’ labors (2 Corinthians 10:15).
At the heart of this contrast between the two types of boasting is Jeremiah’s distinction between boasting in worldly wisdomWisdom encompasses the qualities of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The Old Testament book of Proverbs, which sometimes invokes a Woman as the personification of Wisdom, is a collection of aphorisms and moral teachings. Along with other biblical passages, it teaches, “The fear of the… More, wealth and power, on one hand, and boasting in Lord’s mercyMercy is a term used to describe leniency or compassion. God’s mercy is frequently referred to or invoked in both the Old and New Testaments. More, righteousness, and justice, on another (JeremiahProphet who condemned Judah’s infidelity to God, warned of Babylonian conquest, and promised a new covenant. More 9:23-24; see 2 Corinthians 10:17; 1 Corinthians 1:31). For Paul, the God’s grace is the basis of any boast we might make—a grace he claims is manifest in the crucified Messiah, who the Wisdom of God (2 Corinthians 1:12; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; cf. Wisdom 24:1-2). Thus, he gladly boasts in his weaknesses (2 Corinthians 11:30; 2 Corinthians 12:5), so that he might rely solely on God’s sufficient grace and that the power of the Messiah might be fully perfected in him (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Affliction and suffering
Alongside its frequent references to boasting, 2 Corinthians also has many vivid descriptions of experiences of suffering and affliction. Most of these depict Paul’s personal suffering. These include the mysterious affliction he experienced in Asia (2 Corinthians 1:8-10) and the “thorn in the flesh” he was tormented by (2 Corinthians 12:7); his emotional anguish over writing the letter of “many tears” (2 Corinthians 2:4) and not finding Titus in Troas (2 Corinthians 2:13); and his being led as a fragrant sacrificeSacrifice is commonly understood as the practice of offering or giving up something as a sign of worship, commitment, or obedience. In the Old Testament grain, wine, or animals are used as sacrifice. In some New Testament writings Jesus’ death on the cross as the… More in a war parade (2 Corinthians 2:14) and “giving up to death” through Jesus in order to manifest Jesus’ life in his body (2 Corinthians 4:10-11). We also find longer multi-dimensional depictions of existential suffering—from the physical, social, and mental forms it can take in our lives (see, e.g., 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 and 2 Corinthians 6:4b-5). And, besides his own personal suffering, he portrays how the Macedonians, during a time of extreme hardship, their overflowing joy and depth of poverty spilled over into a wealth of generosity for others (2 Corinthians 8:2).
Central to all this suffering is the fact it is experienced as a sharing in the Messiah’s “sufferings (pathēma) for us” (2 Corinthians 1:5-7), which encompasses not only his death as the one in whom all die (2 Corinthians 5:14) and his being made sin for our sake (2 Corinthians 5:21), but also his chosen poverty, which makes us rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). Indeed, such suffering plays a crucial role in Paul’s understanding of how the gospel is transmitted or handed over (paradidōmi, 2 Corinthians 4:10-11; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:3).
Given this understanding of suffering, Paul is highly critical of deleterious forms of suffering and affliction. For example, he contrasts “godly grief,” which leads to repentance, with a kind of “worldly grief,” which only leads to despair and death (2 Corinthians 7:10). Moreover, he is especially disparaging of those he calls “super-apostles” for using their capacity to endure all kinds of adversity as both a substitute for God’s grace (2 Corinthians 1:12) and as yet another means for comparing oneself to others so as to establish superiority over them (2 Corinthians 10:12). Especially problematic is the way these false apostles have used their spiritual prowess as a means for abusing the Corinthians—and the fact that the Corinthians have put up with it, tolerating being enslaved, devoured, taken advantage of, and even slapped in the face by spiritual leaders who simply wanted to exalt themselves (2 Corinthians 11:20).
Visions and revelations
In 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, Paul speaks about “visions and revelations” he has received from the Lord. Using the third person, he describes twice how a person was “caught up” in a “third heaven” or “paradise”—whether in the body or out of it, he is not sure—and was told things no human is allowed to repeat (12:2-4). The “third heaven” refers to the highest possible heaven, which is a paradise, which also refers to the bliss of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:29–30). Other biblical figures who have been snatched up in this way include Philip, after his encounter with the Eunuch (Acts 8:39), and in the Old Testament, Enoch (Sir 44:16; 49:14) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). In the ancient world, heavenly journeys—or some form of soul travel or out-of-body experience—often were signs that validated a person’s spiritual authority, which is probably how Paul’s opponents were using these kinds of experiences. Of course, Paul avows that he has had his own share of visions and revelations (2 Corinthians 12:1, 7). He received his call as an apostle through a “revelation” (Galatians 1:12, 2:2), in which the resurrected Christ appeared to him (1 Corinthians 15:8). The Book of Acts provides several accounts of his call story and the vision that accompanied it (Acts 9:1-19; 22:1-21; 26:9-23).
Nonetheless, the word Paul uses in this passage to depict being “caught up” (harpazō) has a double meaning: it can mean some kind of mystical rapture; more commonly, however, it has to do with robbing, plundering, or exploiting something (as in Philippians 2:6, where Paul says that Christ did not consider equality with God as something to “exploit”). In playing on this double meaning, Paul is not dwelling on the importance of visions and revelations; indeed, such things are among the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:6, 26) and throughout Scripture, the ancestors, prophets, and sages have received them. Nonetheless, he does not want to use an experience of private ecstasy, which cannot be communicated, as a means for establishing spiritual authority over others—especially if that kind of authority is also linked with abusing those in one’s care, which is what he accuses his opponents of doing (2 Corinthians 11:20).
Instead, he tells the Corinthians only to consider what they actually have “seen” in him and “heard” from him (2 Corinthians 12:7)—that is, the sufferings associated with his ministry and the gospel that he has declared to them, which is about hope for the resurrection of the dead, which is for all people. Thus, in a fashion that recalls Moses’ own experience of asking to see God and being told that all he would be able to see is God’s backside (Exodus 33:17-23), along with the promise of God’s mercy and grace (Exodus 34:6), Paul maintains that God’s grace is “sufficient” for him (2 Corinthians 12:9a). Why? Because, as he highlights throughout the letter, “power is made perfect in weakness”; thus, he boasts in his weakness so that the power of Christ might dwell in him (2 Corinthians 12:9b).