This week we are reading through the first two chapters of Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. If you’d like to get a bit of background, you might do a quick perusal through 1 Corinthians to familiarize yourself with the community Paul is writing to. Some questions to ponder about the Corinthian community might be: are they a persecuted community? What is the social make-up of the church in Corinth? Why might Paul have written to them multiple times? What might be some of the questions the Corinthian church posed to Paul after he left?
As you read through the first chapter of 2 Corinthians, note what Paul emphasizes in the opening verses. Is Paul merely reporting news, or does he have a reason for talking about his trials? Some other questions to reflect on: What might “worldly wisdom” mean in a 21st-century context? Is every one of God’s promises a “yes” as Paul claims in 1: 20? What might the Holy Spirit as “a first installment” mean?
Moving into chapter two, why do you think Paul’s last visit to the Corinthian church was “painful”? What might have happened that caused such pain? How does Paul react to the apparent problems in the Corinthian church? What lesson (if any!) might Paul’s handling of the Corinthian church have for Christian communities today? What might it mean to be a “peddler of God’s word”?
We will try to get our bearings in first-century Greek culture, as well, which I can assure you will be a lot more fun than it may sound! We’ll also get a handle on why 2 Corinthians seems to jump around a bit and how modern scholarship explains some of the discontinuity that comes through in the letter. Above all, though, we will pay close attention to how and why Paul’s experience of the resurrected Jesus led him to be such an effective evangelist.
Looking forward to it!
In Christ,
Rob Donehue
For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason, it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God. But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.
2 Corinthians 1:20-22