LITERARY READING
Using the following outline, write a one sentence summary of each point and one question or observation about that point as it relates to your faith life.
I. Introduction (1:1-2:17)
II. The Ministry of the Apostle (3:1-4:6)
III. Hope and Suffering (4:7-5:11)
IV. Reconciliation (5:12-7:16)
V. The Collection for Jerusalem (8:1-9:15)
VI. Paul Defends His Ministry (10:1-12:13)
VII. Conclusion (12:14-13:13)
Or, using short concrete details from the text, attempt to recreate the Corinthian “story” as it is revealed in this letter (consider referring back to 1 Corinthians as well).
HISTORICAL READING
Why do you think this letter was written? What question(s) are addressed?
What implied political or social realities should we consider?
What can you learn about the relationships between the church at Corinth from this letter?
What can you learn about the apostle Paul, and his relationship with the Corinthians?
DEVOTIONAL READING
What does this letter have to say to the United States? To the global community?
What does this letter have to say to you? To your community or church?
What images or feelings come to mind as you read this letter?
Does anything remind you of past experiences or concerns of your own?
• What is the “thorn” in your life that continues to harass you (12:7)?
• What motives you most when you’re asked to make contributions for those in need (8-9)
• What worries you must when you think of death? What encourages you most? (5:1-10)
What would change in you if you took Paul’s words seriously? What would you be concerned about? What person or situation would you see differently than you see now?
LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL READING
In what ways do you hear Paul’s words as law? What demands are being made on the Corinthians (and on us)? What judgments?
How does this text confront you with your own sins? (see 5:9-10; 6:14-7:1; 12:20-13:6)
In what ways do you hear Paul’s words as gospel? (see 1:3-5; 2:5-11; 3:7-11, 17-18; 4:6-14; 5:14-6:2; 7:9-11; 10:17-18; 17:8-10)
How do you hear God’s good news of forgiveness of your sins, of grace, of promise to be with you, of the gift of Christ Jesus given for you?
In what ways does 2 Corinthians point you or lead you to Christ?
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THE INTERLUDE BETWEEN 1 AND 2 CORINTHIANS
While 1 Corinthians deals with a number of questions that address the living out of Christian life within the Christian community and the world, the overarching theme of 2 Corinthians has to do with a more internal question – apostleship, namely, who has authority (and from whom) to interpret the Gospel? The need for this letter arose out of a series of events that occurred between Paul and the Church at Corinth in between the two letters.
(1) Paul visited the church at Corinth for the first time since its founding (2 Cor. 12:14; 13:1)
(2) Paul had intended to visit Corinth again on his way to Macedonia, but sent Titus with a tearful letter instead (2 Cor. 1:15-2:4; 7:5-9)
(3) Paul was troubled until he met Titus in Macedonia (2 Cor. 1:8-11; 2:12-13; 7:5-9)
All of this travel would have taken at least 6 months to complete. Paul also states that a new year had begun between the writing of these two letters (2 Cor. 8:10). Depending upon how this is interpreted, then, there would have been between 6 – 18 months between the writing of 1 and 2 Corinthians, during which time, Paul both visited Corinth again and sent them another (lost) letter.
In the meantime, other Christian Missionaries had come to Corinth and challenged the authority of Paul, performing miracles and boasting of their merits (2 Cor. 10:7-18; 11:4-5, 21-30; 12:11-17).
THE NEW COVENANT
The New Covenant in 2 Cor. 3:6 is elsewhere in Jer. 31:31-34, Luke 22:20, 1 Cor. 11:25, Hebrews 8:13 and 9:15. The Greek word, “kainos” can mean: (1) “unused” (as in wineskins, Luke 5:38); (2) not previously present, “unknown,” or “strange” (as in Christ – a new kind of man, Eph. 20:1); (3) in contrast to something old (as in the new person in Christ, 2 Cor 5:17). Consequently, this verse can be read as either a continuation of God’s lasting covenant with Israel or a supercession of that covenant.
Some interpret 2 Cor. 3:6 to intend a contrast, in which the old covenant has become obsolete. This is especially supported by the Hebrews passages and Paul’s use of such strong language as “ministry of death” and “condemnation” in reference to the covenant of the law. Others interpret 2 Cor. 3:6 to point towards the renewing of God’s covenant, and indeed, all of creation at the end of times. This renewal was begun, but is not yet completed, in the Christ event. Such interpretations point to other images of renewal in Scripture, particularly the promise of the “new heavens and the new earth” (Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1, 5) and the “new person” (Col. 3:10; Eph. 2:15; 4:24). In response to Paul’s strong language, they suggest that Paul (himself a Jew) is using the rhetorical device of contrast to move from lesser to greater in his comparison of the two covenants. In other words, the glory Moses reflected is true glory, but pales in comparison to the glory of Christ.
Reading 2 Cor. 3:6-8 within this framework of end times renewal, removes the comparison between the two covenants in a temporal sense (in which one covenant is better than the other) and moves the conversation to a contrasting of two different types of promises. In the first “old covenant” God makes historical promises to people within history in a particular time and place. In the second “new covenant” God contrasts that which is fleeting with that which is eternal – the renewal of all creation, begun in Christ.
Boring and Craddock offer the following outline of Paul’s understanding of the covenant :
(1) God made a covenant with Israel to be a special elect people among all the peoples of the world (who are also God’s people by creation). Israel’s election and covenant were not to privilege but to mission.
(2) Israel did not live up to the responsibilities of the covenant, and in this sense broke the covenant, but God did not revoke it. Israel’s unfaithfulness did not nullify God’s faithfulness (Rom. 3:2).
(3) The old covenant was associated with external, written laws that spelled out Israel’s responsibility.
(4) The Law itself was holy and good, but was commandeered by the evil power of sin, which perverted it from its original good purpose and function (Rom. 3:31; 7:7-25).
(5) By the Christ event God overthrows the power of sin and renews the covenant in such a way that God’s law is no longer an external constraint that rules and condemns, but an internal power that accomplishes God’s will in the believer by the power of the Spirit. It is not just an internal attitude (as in the phrase “the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law”), but the eschatological gift of the Holy Spirit at work in the life of the church. The new covenant is distinguished by a series of contrasts based on Jer. 3:31-33 and Ezek. 16:59-62; 34:25-26. These are letter vs. Spirit; death vs. life; glory vs. more glorious; condemnation vs. justification; temporary vs. permanent.
OTHER THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS
• According to Paul, who determines the authority and action of an apostle and, for that matter, the whole church? (See 2 Cor. 1:3-5; 2:14-17; 4:7, 15; 5:17-19; 8:16; 9:12-15). What does this mean for us as members of Christ’s church?
• Many scholars question the literary integrity of 2 Corinthians as a single letter – suggesting that it is a compilation of several letters written by Paul to the church at Corinth over a period of time. Do you notice any sharp changes in the flow of the letter? (See esp. breaks between chapters 9 and 10, and 6:14-7:1).
• Read 2 Cor. 5:1-10, 17-21. What does this reveal to you regarding the end times? Regarding life after death? If we take these words seriously, what do they mean for our life together?
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