This letter has completely devolved into Paul’s mad grasp for power. And I’d love to know exactly who the challenger to Paul’s position is. I am pretty sure it is safe to say it is one of the Twelve (“the very chiefest apostles.”) I assumed that Peter was on Paul’s side, as apparently is Timothy. So which of the other Ten is teaching different sermons and pulling people away from Paul?

Paul really truly has lost his sanity in this chapter. He boasts that he will do anything “to deny an opportunity to those people who want an opportunity to be recognized as our equals.”  Paul says straight out that he thinks he is a better follower of Christ: “I am insane to talk like this, but I am a far better [servant of Christ]! I have been involved in far greater efforts, far more imprisonments, countless beatings, and have faced death more than once.” Paul goes on to list all of the abuse and torture and persecution that he endured in Christ’s name.

Here’s my issue with this, and I’ll be that you know what I am about to say, Dear Reader: Paul’s logic is flawed. His basic premise is that he is the strongest servant of Christ because he suffered the most for Christ. Which doesn’t make any sense at all. I am guessing most of the members of the Corinthian church didn’t believe that, either, hence Paul’s need to try and convince everyone that he is the person they should listen to.

Chapter 12
I am actually starting to feel sorry for Paul. The combination of his persecutions from outside the church and power challenges inside the church have left him totally unbalanced. In a way, he kinda reminds me of John Goodman’s character in The Big Lebowski. All he can do is rant and rave and hope that someone will believe him because he is saying everything in a really loud voice.

Paul is reduced to fabrications to try and get some type of attention. He tells of a man that he saw, either in person or in a vision, who was snatched up to “the third heaven.” The man apparently heard many godly things that he should not have. Paul says he has not shared this information before because a spirit of Satan started tormenting him? Umm… really, it isn’t much clearer when I re-read the whole chapter.

Oh, yeah, Paul says he is going to be pissed if he gets there and people are still having sex and stuff. So THERE!

Chapter 13
Paul warns that he is coming back soon, so the Corinthians had better be prepared! And they should test their faith daily, by making sure they live as Paul has told them. ‘cuz it’s all about the Paulianity – er, I mean Christianity!

Conclusion
You know, I found 2 Corinthians oddly entertaining. It is because of the subtext, and the glimpses of the politics in the early church. Paul was definitely feeling challenged by someone, and it seems very probable that the someone was one of the Twelve. I could feel Paul’s anger and desperation growing each chapter. I can picture him dictating the letter, getting angrier and angrier with each paragraph, until he’s to the point that he is yelling at the person transcribing the letter for him.

I am curious: what was being taught by whoever was threatening Paul’s power? Paul hinted that the other church was more permissive, less of a “you’re a sinner if you do this!” message. Less of a “you’re practicing sexual immorality and should be EXCISED!” message. The lesson being taught was something that pleased people when they heard it (hence Paul’s exhortation to avoid those with silver tongues). I am wondering if maybe, just maybe, the Apostle’s message was one that was closer to Christ’s message  and further from Paul’s? I don’t know, because Paul doesn’t say.

There’ve probably been many bible scholars and theologians who have examined this and have come up with an answer, or at least a pretty good idea of who presented the alternate message, and what that message was. Perhaps I’ll look it up some day. Until then, all I have to say is:

Amen!

Chapter 7
Things are definitely not well in the state of Corinth. Apparently, there were major issues raised after Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, and a lot of people felt that they had been slighted or unjustly accused. Paul takes a passive-aggressive approach to this: “If I made you sad with my letter, I do not regret it, although I did regret it then. I see that the letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while.” Paul is happy that their sorrow made them stronger and more willing to follow, or something.I still think that the Corinthians are right to be peeved. Paul was a major ass towards them in his first letter. I’d still be ticked, too.

Chapter 8
“I am not commanding you but testing the genuineness of your love by the enthusiasm of others.” Testing a person isn’t much better than commanding them…

Chapter 9
Give money, don’t be outshone by the churches in Macedonia whose members are in poverty but who give a lot of money anyway. Give money, and it will be multiplied for you. Televangelists love this bit, too.

Chapter 10
Hey, Paul outs himself as a coward! “I who am humble when I am face to face with you but forceful toward you when I am away!” Why wouldn’t he do that the other way around, which would be braver and more productive? Paul admits himself that he hopes he won’t have to find the courage to say this to people face-to-face.

This is actually a very strange chapter. Paul is on an ego trip here. Actually, it’s more like he is trying to force the Corinthians to bow to his will. He also has no problem saying that he is superior to everyone else (“So if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave us to build you up and not to tear you down, I will not be ashamed of it.”) He also has no problems making direct threats against the Corinthians: “We are ready to punish every act of disobedience when your obedience is complete.”

So now, why would the Corinthians follow such a power-hungry man? And one who is so willing to ignore key parts of Christ’s message?

Chapter 4
Paul is trying to re-assure everyone in the church that Paul’s church is the real church, and that Paul’s group doesn’t try and pervert God’s words. Which means that someone was accusing them of doing just that. Who made the accusations? It is not for us to know.Paul (and presumably the other Christians) are being legitimately persecuted at this time, and he is trying to keep everyone’s spirits up. He basically tells the Christians that their tribulations and deaths further glorify the lord. And enduring this suffering and torture, even perhaps death, is worth it to gain an eternity’s worth of grace from God.

Chapter 5
To tell you the truth, I kinda fell asleep half-way into this chapter. Paul has this annoying habit of saying something, then saying it again in slightly different words, then saying it again in slightly different sentences. Once through is enough for me. Reading the same idea three times within a 21-verse chapter?

Anyway, people have a tent here and a heavenly home in god’s kingdom. We want to shed our tent (die) and move off to heaven, but to do that we have to suffer and try and spread god’s word.

Chapter 6
Now, unless I am reading this chapter wrong, Paul is basically saying that the church in Corinth  should not be as welcoming of newcomers as it is (“Stop becoming unevenly yoked with unbelievers”) and should fall into step with what Paul and his follower’s say! (“We have not cut you off, but you have cut off your own feelings toward us.”)

Apparently there is something rotten in the state of Corinth…

For some reason, I was thinking that 2 Corinthians was a short book. I thought it was the start of the smaller epistles, and was looking forward to reviewing just a few chapters. Instead, 2 Corinthians is the last of the extra-long, drawn out letters. Paul loves to go on and on as he tries to coerce people to follow his teachings instead of the teachings of others around him. While the subtext of people deciding which of the former disciples most represents the words of Christ is intriguing, we are reading letters written by the man who won. And the victor gets to write history as he pleases.

Obviously, I am not looking forward to this book. Procrastinating isn’t making things any better, though, so let’s move on to:

Second Epistle to the Corinthians

Chapter 1
Let’s see. We start off with greetings from Paul and Timothy. Paul states that it is good everyone suffered, because then they can help comfort others who are suffering. And apparently everyone is suffering a lot. Paul references the problems he ran into in Asia; it’ll be interesting to see if those are mentioned again.

Chapter 2
The chapter starts off with Paul bemoaning the acts of one of the members of the church in Corinth. Is this the same guy from I Corinthians, or someone else? He then gives hints of a god complex (“what I have forgiven I did in the presence of Christ”) and compares the followers to the “aroma” of Christ. (“Savour” in the KJV) This aroma is good for some and deadly for others.

I dunno… I think that at least half the time, Paul doesn’t understand what he is talking about.

Chapter 3
Paul gets into a glory contest here. Followers of Christ have more glory than followers of Moses do. Jesus has more glory than Moses does. Followers of Moses have a veil covering their hearts when reading what Moses wrote, while anyone who turns to the Lord has that veil ripped away.

Hmmm… sounds to me like there were a lot of Corinthians who didn’t want to give up their beliefs in Judaism. How is Paul going to win them over?

The Wedding Chapter. Everyone knows this one (“love is always patient, always kind…”). Actually, I think everyone knows all of this chapter. Aside from the wedding verses, there’s “When I became a man I gave up my childish ways” (I call bullshit on that, too). There’s also “Faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.”

Lots of information about speaking in tongues. I don’t think that anyone but Pentecostals will care about this chapter, though there is one line that amuses me: “if the whole church gathers in the same place and everyone is speaking in tongues, when uneducated people or unbelievers come in, they will say that you are out of your mind, won’t they?” That’s why I call it the psycho church! 🙂

My god this chapter will not end! 58 verses of Paul trying to prove that resurrection is true. He goes so far as to say anyone who doesn’t believe in resurrection has turned their back on Christ. HARSH! But as we’ve already established, Paul has no problems picking up that first stone and letting it fly.

AMEN!!!! I don’t know what this chapter says yet – I am going to read it for the next paragraph. But for now, I’ll say AMEN for the end of this god-awful letter!

Paul once again finishes up the letter with his travel plans. He’s planning on maybe spending the winter in Corinth, which matches up perfectly with Luke’s description in Acts. Paul also exhorts the church to be nice to Timothy once Timothy gets there. And we are OUT!

Dull. Mind-numbingly dull. And it went on far too long. 16 chapters, one of which was long enough that it should’ve been split into two. A large part of the letter is once again Paul proclaiming himself to be the head of the church, and trying to justify that. And, of course, changing the teachings of Christ to better match up with his own personal beliefs.

All in all, I’d say to skip this book like the plague.

EEEGAH!!!!