Though we speak of Paul's first and second letters to the church in Corinth, neither label are correct. They are, however, the only two extant letters of his that we have and so are labelled that way. Paul himself speaks in 1 Cor of having written to the church earlier "not to associate with sexually immoral people" (5:9). The Corinthian Christians had also written to Paul, for Paul refers to "the matters you wrote about" (7:1). Twice in 2 Cor, e.g., Paul speaks of a letter he wrote "out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears" (2:4 & 7:8).
While it is possible to benefit much from reading the two canonical letters on their own, it is obvious that we would miss a great deal and cannot say we have understood much of what Paul meant if we do not make an attempt at reconstructing what had happened and what were the original sequence of the Corinthian correspondence. Let us begin, first, by listing out all the facts that need to be considered that can be gleaned from Acts and Paul's two canonical letters and the accounts of Paul's exploits in the book of Acts.1
1. Paul arrives in Corinth from Athens. Here he meets Aquila and Priscilla and—after being rejected by the Jews—reaches out to the Gentiles of the city, using the home of Titus Justus as a base (Acts 18:7).
2. Paul returns to his home church in Antioch (bringing what we call the Second Missionary Journey to a close) and remains there for a while (Acts 18:18-22). Meanwhile Aquila and Priscilla had met Apollo who after further 'training' by the couple, went to Greece and Corinth where "he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ" (Acts 18:27-28).
3. Paul sets out on the Third Missionary Journey, spending most of the time in Ephesus and also visiting parts of Macedonia and Greece (Acts 19-20). There is, however, no mention in this account by Luke of Paul visiting Corinth. Paul returns from this journey to Jerusalem where he was arrested and ended eventually in Rome where he was placed under house-arrest.
Into this broad scheme of Paul's history with the church, we now need to fit in the following facts. (We have summarized our findings here in a table which you can access through Corinthian Correspondence under Search.
Subsequent Visit/s to the Church
4. In 2 Cor 2:1 Paul speaks of "another painful visit to you" — this suggests that subsequent to 1-3 above, Paul had made at least one more visit to the church in Corinth (V2), and things turned our poorly during the visit. When was this? What had happened during the visit? How does this visit related to the letters we have (and do not have) of Paul?
5. Point 4 is confirmed by 2 Cor 12:14 where Paul speaks of him being "ready to visit you for the third time." He goes on to say (12:20-13:3):
I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.
This will be my third visit to you. "Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others, since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me."
Did Paul make the third visit (V3) he spoke about? If so when, and how does it relate to the various letters?
Other News and Letters To and From the Church
6. Even as he writes 1 Cor Paul, as we noted in the introductory paragraph, Paul mentions a letter he had written earlier (we'll call it EL for 'earlier letter') in which he instructed the Corinthians "not to associate with sexually immoral people" (5:9). (With this we can now make the first link in the sequence: V1 → EL & → 1Cor. But we are still in the dark about how the various visits fit into this sequence.)
7. Sometime earlier also, according to 1 Cor 4:17 Paul had sent Timothy to the church, possibly to act on his behalf (V-Tim). Later in the letter he charges them to take good care of Timothy when the latter arrives (16:10). Paul's remark, "Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you" (4:18), also suggests that at this point he has not re-visited the church again after his initial visit.
8. Paul has also had a visit from Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaichus (V-SFA; 1 Cor 16:17). How much and what they may have shared with Paul about the church, and how what they said shaped Paul's letter (1 Cor) is difficult to tell.
9. Paul also mentions having heard from members of Chloe's household about the quarrels in the church (L-Chloe, 1 Cor 1:11).
10. Sometime, possibly between #7-8, Paul had received a letter from the Corinthians raising several issues to which Paul then replies in 1 Cor (see esp. Chaps 7-14) (CL).
11. With these in the background, Paul then wrote 1 Cor.
12. In 2 Cor 2:4 Paul refers to a letter that he had previously written to the Corinthians, one that was penned "out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears." He refers to this DL in 2 Cor 7:8 with some regret that he had caused them "sorrow" by the letter. The description does not fit 1 Corinthians. When was this "sorrowful letter" (SL) written?
13. Finally, there is 2 Corinthians.
These facts have prompted several attempts to reconstruct the course of events surrounding Paul's correspondence with the Corithian church, almost all of them involve partitioning Paul's two canonical letters on the belief that the lost letters have been incorporated into 1 & 2 Cor. The number of almost equally plausible reconstructions that have been produced indicates that we have no way of deciding which is the most likely reconstruction. Viewing this list of "facts" of the relationship between Paul and the church, it is easier to make sense of the sequence of "communications" and news than it is to resolve when Paul made "painful visit" (V2) and the third visit (if he did so at all). Even if we are not certain of the specifics of the "earlier letter" (EL) or the "sorrowful letter (SL) we now have a broader picture and better appreciation of the tumultuous relationship behind the two canonical letters that we do have. A safe proposal looks something like this:2
V-Tim → EL → CL → V-SFA →
L-Chloe → 1 Cor → SL → 2 Cor
It is also interesting that Paul's trouble with the church in Corinth and his additional visits to the city find no reports in the book of Acts. Luke, of course, could not have not known about them. Two reasons may explain their absence. Firstly, Paul's trouble with the church in Corinth may have remained unresolved by the time the writing of Acts was brought to a conclusion; 2 Cor evinces a measure of reconciliation but a note of uncertainty about the relation between Paul and the church remains (see, e.g., 13:2). Secondly, Luke was, like all good historians, purposefully selective in his reporting. He wrote to report what Jesus continued to do through the Holy Spirit. His purpose was to edify and to build up.There is no edification in church divisions and quarrels, not unless and until the issues are resolved and the parties reconciled. It would have been irresponsible for Luke to even raise a weak echo of the trouble when they remained un-concluded. Some of us reading Acts may think it too long, but here is a case where we wish it is longer.
So, then, when were these letters written? We know with great certainty that Paul first stay in Corinth was in 51-52. This is because an inscription found in Delphi attests to Gallio being proconsul of Achaia from 1 July 51 to 1 July 52 AD. Most commentators affirm that 1 Cor was written in about 54/55. This he did while he was in Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8). 2 Cor was likely written probably within the following year.
We have no material information about how the church in Corinth fared after the accounts of Acts and 2 Cor ended. It is telling, however, that one of the earliest letters written by the generation of leaders who immediately succeeded the apostles—they are known collectively as the Church Father—was addressed to the Corinthian church. It came from Clement of Rome. The church had again broken into divisive disorder, including the sacking of one of her leaders. Clement, who saw himself authorized with the powers to address fellow churches wrote what is called 1 Clements to appeal to them to reconcile and make up, reminding them of the letter they had received from Paul and calling them to make peace (click here ☰ to read Clement's letter). Some churches need more work, and heartaches for those who are called to minister to them, than others. If you are leader in one of these, make sure you are a healer rather than one of the dividers.
Download PowerPoint Presentation
Low C. H.
©Alberith, 2020