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  • From: Richard Fellows <rfellows AT intergate.bc.ca>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Paul's boasting in 2 Cor 8&9
  • Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 01:10:11 -0800


Jim West and I have both speculated that the boasting of Paul to the
Macedonians about the Corinthians preceded the arrival of Titus from
Corinth. If we are right, and I think we are, then there are far reaching
implications, for it would show that Paul was confident about the
Corinthians even before he received news about the outcome of the tearful
letter, and this is in conflict with the conventional interpretation of
events.

The common understanding, based on the assumption that Titus and Timothy
were different people, is that Paul made a sorrowful visit to Corinth,
cancelled a visit in order to spare them, wrote a letter in great distress,
and was anxious about them in Troas. In such circumstances is it really
likely that he would boast about them to the Macedonians?

If, on the other hand, Titus was Timothy, then 1 Corinthians had been
Paul's most recent contact with the Corinthians when he arrived in
Macedonia. It is then entirely natural that he should boast about their
enthusiasm for the collection since they had written to him asking how to
proceed with the collection (1 Cor 16:1-3).

So, Jim, could you explain how you would reconcile the boasting of Paul on
arrival in Macedonia with your assumption that Titus was not Timothy? What
is your reconstruction of events leading up to Paul's arrival in Macedonia?

Secondly, could you explain why you are not yet convinced of the
Titus-Timothy proposal? Please engage with the argument given above and
with the numerous arguments that have been advanced in previous posts to
this list.

Richard Fellows

I had written:
>>Now, it seems to me that these problems disappear when we recognise that
>>the boasting in question was initiated BEFORE the arrival of Titus from
>>Corinth (2 Cor 7). From the time when he arrived in Macedonia Paul boasted
>>about the Corinthians in good faith. But when Titus arrived with news that
>>the Corinthians had lost their initial enthusiasm, he had the choice of
>>either withdrawing his boast or sending Titus back to Corinth to get the
>>collection going again. It would have been embarrassing to withdraw his
>>boast since it was precisely that boasting which had motivated the
>>Macedonians, so he decided to sent Titus back.

Jim replied
>thats is certainly quite possible.
[snipping]
>in fact i made that very suggestion in a course on 2 corinthians i taught
>here to local lay folk. but, alas, my notes for that series were lost when
>my computer hard drive crashed irrecoverably.
[snipping]
>im not convinced of the titus = timothy line of thought.






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