Corpus-Paul

["cfjacks" <cfjacks AT attbi.com>]

Richard,

In your response to Vince's posting about the sequence of Paul's
"letters/visits to Corinth,"
you made many useful statements, among which I noticed the following:

> As for the tearful letter, it was clearly written at a time when Paul had
reason to be severe with the Corinthians. Such a time existed BEFORE 1
Corinthians, and before the arrival in Ephesus of Stephanus et al with
reassuring news from Corinth. The news that the Corinthians had ignored the
'former' letter must have given Paul and Timothy some concern. Timothy's
anxiety is reflected in 16:10-11. I propose that the tearful letter was
written at this time and carried by Timothy, who left Ephesus before 1
Corinthians, and took the land route and arrived in Corinth after 1
Corinthians. The tearful letter was to prepare for Paul's visit, which he
had already announced in the 'former' letter. However, Timothy got stuck en
route in the Troad or Macedonia and his delay meant that Paul had to cancel
his own visit ('to spare' them). He had hoped that Timothy's mission would
sort them out so that he could come to them 'with love and a gentle spirit'
instead of 'with a rod'. By the time Stephanus et al arrived with more
reassuring news, it was really too late for Paul to make the planned visit:
there would not have been time for more than a passing visit. Please read 2
Cor 1-9 with the above reconstruction in view, and bear in mind that 'Titus'
was another name used by Timothy. You will see that the former letter is in
view in 2 Cor 1:12-19. Paul's anxiety about what had become of Titus-Timothy
in the Troad or Macedonia is in view in 2:12-13. Timothy's earlier anxiety
about his mission is found in 2 Cor 7. His starting of the collection is
given in 8:6. It all fits.

My attention was seized by your including the statement, "... and bear in
mind that 'Titus' was another name used by Timothy."  Is that true?  If so,
I find myself more than a little embarrassed to have to admit that after
almost fifty years of studying the NT as a trained scholar that I have
not encountered this before, although I have noticed of late several others
(?) mentioning this in one or another posting.

I would appreciate greatly hearing from you (or anyone else) about the
reasons for this - is this
supposition or what?  What are the reasons for this identification?  Is
there some recent scholar
or publication which has presented or championed this idea?  I would love to
have someone give me the back-ground on this, either by a posting or by
private e-mail.

Thanks,

Clive F. Jacks, Th.D. [a.ka. cfjacks AT attbi.com]
Professor of Relgion, Emeritus
Pikeville College,
Pikeville, KY

(... but now happily retired to metro Atlanta)