2 Corinthians – Introduction
September 5th, 2008 by Amanda NelsonDanny and I went to small group recently. To be honest, I didn’t want to go. However, my husband is one of the most dedicated and persistent people I know. This is one of the most aggravating and reassuring characteristics about him. The purpose of this small group was to decide if we were going to continue meeting and what we would study. We decided we would continue meeting, and we tossed around a couple of ideas about what we would study. We had to leave early, and I’m not sure if anything was decided. However, the idea for a book study was offered. Danny said that he hoped that we would do a book study because he gets so much out of the bible study he is doing on the book of Luke. I told him that I would love to study any of Paul’s letters because they are filled with such doctrine. I decided I would study Second Corinthians because I knew portions of scripture from First Corinthians, but know very letter about Second Corinthians. It is ironic that I chose this book to begin studying because my initial desire was to learn more of the doctrine that Paul teaches. Second Corinthians is the most biographical of Paul’s letter and contains the least amount of doctrine. In it we are able to see “:the deepest tenderness of affection, wounded feeling, sternness, irony, rebuke, impassioned self-vindication, humility, a just self-respect, zeal for the welfare of the weak and suffering, as well as for the progress of the church of Christ and for the spiritual advancement of its members, are all displayed in turn in the course of his appeal.” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary, 1997) However, I believe that this is a perfect starting place for studying Paul’s letters. It is exciting to get to know Paul as an emotional human instead of simply a great theologian. Perhaps his theology will be easier to understand when we understand Paul as a person. Much of the information that I am relying on to do this study comes from my notes as a sophomore in college. Many of you know have more theological training than I do and I would like to invite you to let me know if you interpret something different than me or if I have overlooked something important.
I thought I should share a very brief background of this epistle with you. Corinth was a prominent center of commerce in the Mediterranean world with a population of 650,000. The city was known for commerce, intellect, and diversity of culture and religion. It was also known as a place for all sorts of evil. Over 300 taverns have been excavated from the ruins of Corinth. In addition, the temple of Aphrodite was located there. This temple hosted 1000 priestesses dedicated to prostitution in the name of religion. It is amazing that a church existed at all in such a city. Yet, this environment did have an effect upon the church in Corinth. Paul had spent a year and a half in Corinth establishing a church, teaching the gospel, exhorting the Christians and challenging them to repent and stand firm in their faith. After leaving this city Paul desired to continue challenging this church to seek the truth and to set themselves apart from the corruption that surrounded them. In the first letter Paul wrote he challenged the Corinthians to repent from their sins and was anxious to hear how the letter was received. About a year after he wrote this letter he received news about its reception from Titus. The report from Titus was encouraging, but evidently it also brought troubling news. Judaizers had caused some members of the Corinthian church to doubt Paul’s authority as an apostle. In response to this doubt Paul speaks emotionally about the meaning of apostleship, the hardships he has experienced as an apostle, and against false apostles. This is a very brief synopsis and I encourage you to do more research, but I feel you have enough information for the purpose of our study.
Scholars debate over how many letters Paul wrote to the Corinthian church. Some say he wrote two letters, some say he wrote four, some say he wrote more. I think that it is more important to understand that Paul was concerned for the people of Corinth. He made three missionary journeys there and when he couldn’t be there in person he wrote letters to teach, exhort, and challenge. These letters follow the typical format of those written during antiquity. This is also the format that I am going to use to write my reflections of the epistle. Some subsections are longer than others and may need me to devote more time to them, but by looking at this outline you can know what the topic of my next reflection as well as the scripture references.
SECTION 1 THE GEEETING (1:1-11)
The greeting generally includes these 4 parts.
1. Sender(s): Paul and Timothy (1:1a)
2. Recipient(s): Church of God in Corinth and all Saints in Achia (1:1b)
3. Greeting: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (1:2)
4. Thanksgiving (or Blessing): (1:3-11)
SECTION 2 THE BODY (1:12-13:10)
The body of the letter generally includes these 4 parts.
1. Initial Exhortation: Reconciliation (1:12–2:13; 7:5-16)
2. Thesis Statement???*
3. Theological Discussions: What is an apostle? (2:14–7:4)
4. Ethical Admonitions: Be aware of false apostles (10:1-13:10)
SECTION 3 LETTER CONCLUSIONS (13:11-14)
The conclusion of the letter generally includes these 4 parts
1. Practical Matters: Paul is coming for another visit & take care of the poor (8:1-24; 9:1-15, 13:1-10)
2. Individual Greetings: Greet one another with a holy kiss (13:11-13)
3. Personal Postscript:???*
4. Doxology (or Prayer):???*
* Since these notes are from undergrad I’m not sure if the ??? are there because they are not in 2 Corinthians, or scholars dispute their location, or there was simply a cute guy walking by at the moment that Dr. Mynatt said these references. If you know could you please let me know? Thanks!
