Second Letter to the Corinthians – Part I

In the first letter that Paul sent to the Corinthian Christians, many of the positions held by some people in Corinth, Paul questioned certain behaviors and theological doctrines, proposed corrections indicated the necessary changes to be made in the life of the community and also criticized well-known people in the community. We must imagine, therefore, that when Stephen, Fortunatus and Achaicus, the three persons from Corinth who had gone to Ephesus to speak with Paul, brought the apostle’s answer to the city of Corinth.

The reading of this letter provoked reactions; not everyone was happy with the answers given by Paul; not all accepted his interpretations. Those who felt touched and rebuked by Paul were the most heated and even the most violent, so it is easy to imagine that there was a reaction of rejection and rejection. The first letter to the Corinthians was not appreciated, at least by some who incited the community against Paul.

The second letter that the apostle wrote to the Corinthians is a very complex text. Notable oddities are noted. On the whole, when it is read in the order in which it was transmitted to us, we find jumps, changes of tone, positions that are difficult to understand. It is an open question for scholars. One solution that has been proposed is to recognize in the second letter to the Corinthians, a series of letters, therefore, a collection of various writings with which the apostle addressed the situation after sending the first letter. We can reconstruct some of the letters.

I propose a reconstruction order, following the historical reconstruction of the events of that year, between 56 and 57 and the wording with which the apostle communicates with the Corinthians. To the immediate reaction, Paul responds with a writing that we could call an ‘apologetic letter,’ which we find in chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Second Letter to the Corinthians.

It is a very substantial text in which Paul makes his own apology, a defense. We have to imagine that the protesters at Corinth had said something like this about him: ‘Paul is not an apostle. Who does he think he is? Why does he want to command in Corinth? Let him stay at home. We are in charge here. He has no authority to impose his opinions.’

Probably, some Judaizing preachers had come to the community of Corinth, Christians connected with the Jewish world, with a mentality that we could define as glorious, that is to say, they think they are great people, the community maintains them, they drop their doctrine from above; they boast of being directly connected with the apostolic community of Jerusalem and despise Paul. These people had a notable influence in the Christian community of Corinth, and it was they who despised Paul, denying that he was an apostle; they accused him of being an outspoken, an intruder, someone who goes on his own, and for that reason, he does not deserve to be listened to and respected.

That’s why Paul writes his own apologia defending his ministry, but broadening his horizon, and he speaks of the Christian ministry, of the evangelical ministry, of the apostolic work of evangelization as humble service. Let us read some passages in this section. The apologetic letter begins in the Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 14: “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests through us the odor of the knowledge of him in every place. For we are the aroma of Christ for God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”

Here the contrast begins; the pleasing odor of Christ can be misunderstood. We annoy some. Then he must present his own style: “For we are not like the many who trade on the word of God; but as out of sincerity, indeed as from God and in the presence of God, we speak in Christ.”

Here is the tone of self-defense. Paul’s strength is his confidence in Christ; he speaks of his ministry as a novelty, comparing it with the Old Testament situation. An ancient message, written in letters of stone, on tablets of stone, whereas—he says—the New Covenant is written by the Spirit within the heart. Paul takes up an image of the prophets to contrast the old and the new covenant; between a bound standard simply to the tables of stone, to the exterior, and an interior change of heart.

It means that in the New Covenant there is a change, a transformation, there is an enormous power, even if it is interior, invisible to the naked eye, it is not the manifestation of the power, the glory, that determines the greatness of the New Covenant, but the profound efficacy of this Spirit that changes from within. Then the pretense of clinging to the glory of the Old Testament, of the brightness of the face of Moses, is a mistaken pretense; that is not the glory of the Gospel. There is still a veil over the face; the veil must be lifted to truly behold the glory of Christ.

And the glory of Christ is a glory of service, of weakness. Paul is convinced and proud of it. He pretends to say, ‘I in Corinth labored, I lived as a poor man, I suffered oppression, I was mistreated, and I am still being maltreated even in Ephesus. They put me in prison; I risked a death sentence, but this is not a hindrance to the Gospel; it is not a sign that I am wrong.’ Here is the glory of the Gospel; in the apostle’s weakness, the power of God is manifested.

He is defending himself and is reproaching those preachers who put on human power, in the rich structure, in the efficient Church organization, the proof of the glory of the Gospel. “We hold this treasure in earthen vessels.” It is his concrete person, weak, like an earthen vessel. “That the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.”

Paul is proud of being weak, of his suffering situation; he has a deep conscience; his death, his daily death, his continuous suffering for the Gospel produces a life-giving effect in the community. And he says to those Christians: ‘you must be aware of the regenerating power that my suffering has for you.’ “For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven.”

Scholars have recognized in this passage a decisive turning point in the historical experience of St. Paul. It was precisely in this period that he was arrested in Ephesus and condemned to death. He saw death in the face. For a few moments, he thought his last hour had come. Then, for some reason that we do not know nor can we reconstruct, the apostle was released and sent out of Ephesus. The capital sentence was not carried out, but from that moment on, Paul began to realize that it would be possible to die before the glorious coming of Christ. He changed his perspective; from an imminent expectation of the glorious coming of Christ, he began to consider the possibility of a Church history for a long time.

Indeed, reality has shown that this was the way of God, and his death preceded the glorious coming of Christ. However, the glorification of God also went through his death, conscious of being valued in what he did and in what he suffered. “For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died.” This is a unique phrase that is on the basis of Paul’s apostolic experience. The Cottolengo also chose it as the motto of its life and work. We find it written in the works of this religious family: ‘Caritas Christi urget nos’ = the love of Christ, his agape, impels us, makes us have urgency; the driving force of our life is the agape of Christ. “He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Although we may have known Christ in our earthly life, this is not the important thing. This may be a hint to those who were preaching against Paul at Corinth, saying that they had personally known Jesus during his earthly life and, therefore, were more important than Paul, who had not known him. “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.”

It is an apocalyptic verse; it is written in a language proper for apocalypses. A similar phrase is found in at the end of the Revelation of St. John: ‘If one is in Christ, he is a new creation; new heaven and earth, a new world.’ The union of the person with Christ, the insertion into Christ determines a new creation; the old, archaic things, have passed away; that is, the reality of the natural world has been overcome, new things have appeared. It uses a Greek adjective for ‘new,’ which implies absolute novelty from a qualitative point of view. Things have changed; the newness is Christ, who has created reconciliation between people and God.

Here is the summit of the letter. Paul is defending his own ministry but returns all attention to Christ who is the center; he is the one who works positively and actively to reconcile people to God. Therefore, Paul is simply acting as an ambassador and spokesman for Christ. He writes: “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” For Christ’s sake, we beseech you: Let yourselves be reconciled to God. ‘Let yourselves,’ let God work in you, do not pretend to be the architects of your salvation, accept this word of reconciliation, and therefore, says the apostle, ‘let yourselves be reconciled to God; be reconciled to me also. Let us make peace, do not have this attitude of polemic and rejection.

To you, Corinthians, “We have spoken frankly to you, Corinthians; our heart is open wide. You are not constrained by us; you are constrained by your own affections.” That is, I love you with all my heart. ‘It is you who have no place for us in your hearts. It is you who are small-minded and are unable to see things; you reason with blinders on. You have taken it out on me wrongly. It is not I who have wronged you; it is you who have not understood me.’

The apologetic letter ends with an invitation: ‘make room for me in your hearts, receive me, listen to what I have said to you with a good attitude; I have not written to do you violence, but to help you; take what I have written to you in a good sense.’

At the same time, Paul wrote to the Corinthians and other Christians of the area two separate notes of this situation, which are preserved in chapter 8 and chapter 9 of the Second Letter to the Corinthians. These are two separate texts referring to a collection to help the Christians in Jerusalem. A situation of famine and, therefore, of economic difficulty for the Christians who were living in the mother church had arisen, and Paul wanted to sensitize the Christians in Greece so that they would help the Christians in Jerusalem by recognizing that they are the mother church.

In these two chapters, we find two brief Pauline writings of a practical type, but even at this time the apostle does not forget to be a theologian. He invites people to be generous, to give offerings and to collect some money to help Christians in difficulties, but, for example, in chapter 8 he writes: “For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”

Christ is the fundamental model; Christ, being rich, became poor to go out to meet humanity. He becomes a model; it is not a matter of losing everything, of divesting oneself of everything to become poor and help others, but—Paul says—Christ is the model of equality, of concrete solidarity. Christ is the model of this solidarity.

And in chapter 9, in the other note for the collection, with a moral, exhortative tone, he says: “Consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Once again, the practical proclamation becomes solid with the theological proclamation. There is a style of God who gives with joy, and he who loves imitates this divine style of generous giving.

How was the apologetic letter received? Did they accept Paul, or did they continue to react badly? We will discuss this at the next meeting.