October 18, 2026

 If we turn in our Bibles to II Corinthians we find a book consisting of thirteen chapters purported to be composed by Paul to the Christians living and worshiping in the Achaian city of Corinth. The letter contains various discussions all of which relate to Paul’s relationship with these Christians and the strain placed on that relationship because of a few factors. 

• Certain opponents of Paul who have claimed superiority over Paul and gained considerable influence in the congregation.  
• A painful visit in which the congregation sided with some church member engaging in immorality over and against the teaching of the Apostle (2:1-5; 7:5-8). 
• A painful/ severe letter written in response to that situation (carried by Titus from Ephesus) (2:3-4; 7:8-16) in which Paul was quite forceful in his communication. In response to this letter the majority of the church repents as reported by Titus upon meeting Paul in Macedonia (7:5-16). 
• There remains a minority of the group who in allegiance to Paul’s opponents continue to stand against the apostle in promotion of immorality and syncretism. 
• Paul’s desire is for the congregation to turn away from false teaching and immorality and be reconciled to God and to a lesser degree himself. 
• The situation is made more pressing by Paul’s approaching return to Corinth along with some others who will collect the funds gathered for the saints in Judea. Paul wants to ensure the success of this visit and the faithfulness of the Church and so pens 2 Corinthians (Guthrie 437). 

     This is the general outline we can arrive at by a careful reading of the letter along with the book of Acts.

     While this sequence makes sense biblically and logically, there are many who have questioned the unity of 2 Corinthians. These authors have proposed various alternative timelines which suggest various constructions of the book. Most common is to suggest that the letter should end in chapter 9 and that 10-13 consist of a totally different letter perhaps the painful letter mentioned in 2:3-4 and 7:8. These letters are then later edited together to form the one letter of 2 Corinthians that appears in the Bible. 

     There are a few problems with this the two most notable are: First, the letter follows a known form of polemic letter writing from the first century, which by design features a strong, passionate scolding at the end, just like we see in 2 Corinthians. The second problem is that there is not historical evidence to support this suggestion. There are no ancient copies or fragments of 2 Corinthians that reflect the two-letter theory. There are also no mentions of multiple letters from Paul beyond the ones specifically mentioned in the text of the books themselves. 

     Other divisions of the book have been suggested as well.

~ Kevin Cleary