{"id":90594,"date":"2025-09-17T12:21:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T17:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=90594"},"modified":"2025-09-17T12:21:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T17:21:41","slug":"ii-corinthians-and-paul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ii-corinthians-and-paul\/","title":{"rendered":"II Corinthians and Paul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n

“There are many things I disagree with Paul about…” This was how my grandmother concluded our discussion on being faithful to the teachings of the New Testament. In Paul’s time, not everyone who was converted remained faithful to acknowledging Paul as an apostle of Jesus and thus a writer of inspired letters. So we begin this second letter to the brethren in Corinth.<\/p>\n

It appears that Paul was being viciously attacked by a minority within the church. While the majority of the brethren were faithful, some <\/b>had turned aside from Paul’s instructions. The minority appears to be comprised of both members from the local Corinthian congregation and an itinerant Jewish group. Their charges were:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Paul had impure motives (II Corinthians 1:12)<\/li>\n
  2. Paul was fickle (II Corinthians 1:15ff)<\/li>\n
  3. Paul was weak (II Corinthians 10:10)<\/li>\n
  4. Paul was physically ugly (II Corinthians 0:10)<\/li>\n
  5. Paul was not a good orator (II Corinthians 10:10; 11:16)<\/li>\n
  6. Paul preached for money (II Corinthians 11:7ff; 12:13ff)<\/li>\n
  7. Paul was not a true apostle (II Corinthians 11:5, 13; 12:4)<\/li>\n
  8. Paul was not an orthodox Jew (II Corinthians 11:21ff)<\/li>\n
  9. They had direct revelation, but Paul did not (II Corinthians 12:1ff).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I forgot to note where this list came from, but it is interesting to see that in this list, the one thing that is absent is the actual confrontation of what they understood of Paul’s instructions, and instead, they attacked ‘the man’. This tactic has been used throughout the history of mankind!<\/p>\n

    Yet, in the end, the very existence of this group of believers stood as his ‘approval letter’ to them and the world: “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts?<\/em>” (II Corinthians 3:1-3)<\/p>\n

    Which side of this division would you have taken? Will you continue to stand with Paul’s revelation or <\/b>stand in opposition to his teaching (or at least to the ones you don’t like)?<\/p>\n\t\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Hugh DeLong “There are many things I disagree with Paul about…” This was how my grandmother concluded our discussion on being faithful to the teachings of the New Testament. In Paul’s time, not everyone who was converted remained faithful to acknowledging Paul as an apostle of Jesus and thus a writer of inspired letters.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1058,118],"class_list":["post-90594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-ii-corinthians","tag-paul"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":91726,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/boasting-of-his-weakness\/","url_meta":{"origin":90594,"position":0},"title":"Boasting of His Weakness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: II Corinthians 12:1-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0False teachers of the Jewish persuasion had entered the congregation in Corinth \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They wanted to convince the brethren that they had to follow the Law of Moses to be acceptable to God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The problem was dealing with Paul. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55775,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dealing-with-difficult-brethren\/","url_meta":{"origin":90594,"position":1},"title":"Dealing with Difficult Brethren","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by W. Frank Walton This is a chapter from an upcoming book, \"Behind the Preacher's Door.\" The book deals with challenges that preachers face, with practical, scriptural solutions in doing the work of an evangelist. \"I have been\u2026in danger of false brethren\" (II Corinthians 11:26).\u00a0The apostle Paul faced some difficult\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22754,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/inspiration-and-trivia\/","url_meta":{"origin":90594,"position":2},"title":"Inspiration and Trivia","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Short Talk \u00a0 Question:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How can the Bible claim to be from the mouth of God when it contains so much trivial information, such as Paul\u2019s request to bring his cloak in II Timothy 4:13? Surely, these things cannot be inspired! Answer: I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What superficially appears to be trivial may, upon deeper\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58607,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pauls-fears\/","url_meta":{"origin":90594,"position":3},"title":"Paul’s Fears","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. Guardian of Truth XXXI: 3, pp. 76-77, February 5, 1987 \"For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears\" (II Corinthians 7:5). Paul admitting to fear? This is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fear.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":58617,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pauls-sons\/","url_meta":{"origin":90594,"position":4},"title":"Paul’s Sons","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Earl Robertson via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 8, No. 6, June 2008. The relationship of Timothy and Titus to Paul as sons is spiritual, legitimate, and true -- \"legitimately born, not spurious,\" says Thayer, pg. 119. They were true sons. Paul said Timothy was \"a true child in the faith,\" showing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63236,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pauls-fears-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":90594,"position":5},"title":"Paul’s Fears (Sermon)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: II Corinthians 7:4-7 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What causes you to be afraid? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Most of us face fears at different points of our lives. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Most of our fears come from things that we cannot control or things we cannot foresee. More fear is born of our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}