CHAPTER 1 SUFFERING AND CONSOLATION. 2 Corinthians 1:1 (R.V) THE greeting with which St. Paul introduces his Epistles is much alike in them all, but it never becomes a mere formality, and ought not to pass unregarded as such. It describes, as a rule, the character in which he writes, and the chara... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 2 FAITH BORN OF DESPAIR. 2 Corinthians 1:8 (R.V) PAUL seems to have felt that the thanksgiving with which he opens this letter to the Corinthians was so peculiar as to require explanation. It was not his way to burst upon his readers thus with his private experiences either of joy or sorr... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 3 THE CHURCH'S ONE FOUNDATION. 2 Corinthians 1:15 (R.V) THE emphatic words in the first sentence are "in this confidence." All the Apostle's plans for visiting Corinth, both in general and in their details, depended upon the maintenance of a good understanding between himself and the Churc... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 4 CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES. 2 Corinthians 1:21 (R.V) IT is not easy to show the precise connection between these words and those which immediately precede. Possibly it is emotional, rather than logical. The Apostle's heart swells as he contemplates in the Gospel the goodness and faithfulness of... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 5 A PASTOR'S HEART. 2 Corinthians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 2:1 (R.V) WHEN Paul came to the end of the paragraph in which he defends himself from the charge of levity and untrustworthiness by appealing to the nature of the Gospel which he preached, he seems to have felt that it was hardly suffic... [ Continue Reading ]