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  • From: Paul Toseland <paul AT toseland.f9.co.uk>
  • To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: The Corinthian Crisis': for review
  • Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 14:21:05 +0000




Richard Fellows wrote:

> Paul,
>
> You have proposed that Timothy arrived in Corinth after 1 Cor and found the
> church in rebellion against Paul, under the influence of the 'false
> brothers'. Timothy, you believe, returned to Paul in Ephesus with the bad
> news, and Paul then sent Titus with the tearful letter and was confident
> that the Corinthians would repent; and they did. But if Timothy, with the
> aid of 1 Corinthians, had failed to solve the problem(s), how is it that
> Titus was so successful? And how is it that Paul was so confident? You
> would have to suppose that Titus was a man of extraordinary grace!

On this one, may I refer you to Chapters 5-8 of the Corinthian Crisis.
Paul's confidence was ot in the 'extraordinary grace' granted to Titus,
but in God's commitment to himself and to the Corinthians.


> How do you explain 2 Cor 7.15, which implies that the Corinthians were no
> longer in rebellion when Titus arrived? Did the crisis end as quickly as
> it began, without the need for any letter at all?

I think it is reasonable to suppose that the Corinthians received Titus
as
Paul's envoy, and that their reception of him was determined by the
nature
of his mission, in particular, by their response to the Letter of Tears.

> We agree that the crisis was essentially over when Paul wrote 2 Cor 7.
> How, then, do you explain 2 Cor 10-13, given that you believe 2 Cor was a
> unity?

I have argued that, given the nature of the crisis and the involvement
of
the 'false apostles', 2 Cor 10-13 provides a much needed 'head to head'
with
these opponents which is lacking elsewhere in the letter, and the
expected
final warning that Paul will not be lenient with continuing offenders
when he
comes (pp 118-120). I would also give some weight to the argument of
Young
and Ford (Meaning and Truth in 2 Corinthians, 1987) that 2 Cor as a
whole
belongs to the genre of forensic rhetoric (though 2 Cor 8-9 is
deliberative),
and that 2 Cor 10-13 provides the expected Peroration.


Paul Toseland
http://www.toseland.f9.co.uk/paul/ccindex.htm




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