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  • From: Richard Fellows <rfellows AT intergate.bc.ca>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: 1 Cor 4:15 (was 2 Corinthians: Rhetoric and the Case for Unity)
  • Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 00:08:08 -0700


Bob Macdonald wrote:
>Has anyone ever considered that 1 Cor might have been the severe letter? It
>begins with a strong criticism of divisions in Corinth, treats them as
>infants in ch 3, warns severely in 4:21, is not exactly gentle in ch 5 and
>6. And is quite critical in ch 15 (v 34).

Yes, the view that 1 Cor is the tearful letter was universally held from
Tertullian until modern times. Virtually no-one holds that view today.

However, the proponents of the old view were correct in one respect: the
travel plan of 2 Cor 1:15-16 should be placed before that of 1 Cor 16:10.
Placing it after 1 Cor 16:10 requires implausibly forced reconstructions of
subsequent events.

> Perhaps even this self-commendation in 2 Cor
>is a reflection on his 'fatherhood' to the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:15) as
>gentle rather than as severe.

Yes. The fatherhood theme connects 1 Cor 4:15 with 2 Cor 10-13
(principally 10:13-16). In this verse Paul is asking the Corinthians to be
loyal to him to the exclusion of his rivals, and it is for that reason that
Timothy has been sent (4:17). The same message pervades 2 Cor 10-13, and
this is confirmation that Timothy was carrying 2 Cor 10-13 when 1 Cor was
written. And the proposal that Timothy carried the tearful letter allows us
to let the travel plan of 1 Cor 16:10 take its rightful place before that
of 1:15-16, without requiring us to equate the tearful letter with 1 Cor.
Everything falls into place.

Incidentally, the MURIOUS in 1 Cor 4:15 can be equated with the POLLOI in 2
Cor 2:17.

Richard Fellows
Vancouver
rfellows AT intergate.bc.ca





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