THE CORINTHIAN QUESTION
Why did the church oppose Paul?
By Paul W. Barnett. Apollos. 243 pages. £11.99
ISBN 978 1 844 745 326
There are already some hints in 1 Corinthians that difficulties had arisen between some members of the church and the apostle; these become more explicit in 2 Corinthians.
What reasons prompted the seemingly increasing opposition to Paul? The author believes that the answer is to be found primarily in a careful study of 1 and 2 Corinthians against the background of what we know about the city and culture of Corinth from other sources. This evidence in turn throws light on the second of three visits Paul made to Corinth — in between the two which are recorded in Acts — and on two letters which have not survived, one (the ‘previous’ letter) written before 1 Corinthians and the other afterwards (the ‘sorrowful’ or ‘severe’ letter).
Infected church
Barnett sees the basic problem as a loss of recognition of Paul’s leadership. He suggests that various factors contributed towards this. They include the arrival of Apollos with his superior eloquence, the visit of Peter whose apostolic credentials were seen as superior to Paul’s and then of those he calls ironically ‘super apostles’.
He also suggests that the church had not only been infected by the immorality for which the city of Corinth was famous, but also reflected the widening gap there between the rich and the poor; this led some of its elite members to disdain the apostle with his continued insistence on supporting himself by manual labour.
Academic
As the Apollos imprint indicates, the book is written at an academic rather than popular level. However, it is very readable and comprehensible. Inevitably some ‘reading between the lines’ results in some conclusions which may be debatable. Not all readers may agree that the crisis in the relationship between Paul and the Corinthians was a casualty of his missionary methods and that greater stability would have been established in the church if he had stayed longer on his first visit. And it seems a little unfair to say that his ‘sorrowful’ letter could have been written more diplomatically when we do not have a copy of it ! Nevertheless this book is a great example of a careful examination of, and reflection on, the text of Scripture which notices the significance of things which we can so easily overlook.
Important lessons
In his conclusion Barnett draws out some important lessons for us today from the example of the apostle and from his teaching in the Corinthian letters. Anybody who wants to get to grips with them and teach them will find this book most helpful background reading. Warmly recommended!
Peter Seccombe,
retired pastor of Wellington Chapel, Hereford
