The life and work of St. Paul

SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 403
and which had driven him out of Troas. 1 The Churches were themselves in a
state of affliction, which Paul had naturally to share, 2 and he describes his
condition as one of mental
"
and :
physical prostration Our flesh had no rest,
but we are troubled on every side ; from without fightings, from within
fears." * And this helps to explain to us the actual phenomena of the letter
written amid such circumstances. If HOPE is the key-note of the Epistle to
the Thessalonians, JOY of that to the Philippians, FAITH of that to the
Romans, and HEAVENLY THINGS of that to the Ephesians, AFFLICTION is
the one predominant word in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. 4 The
Epistles to the Thessalonians contain his views on the Second Advent ; the
Epistle to the Galatians is his trumpet-note of indignant defiance to retro-
grading Judaisers ; the Epistle to the Romans is the systematic and, so to
speak, scientific statement of his views on what may be called, in modern
language, the scheme of salvation ; the Epistle to the Philippians is his outpouring
of tender and gladdened affection to his most beloved converts ; the
First Epistle to the Corinthians shows us how he applied the principles of
Christianity to daily life in dealing with the flagrant aberrations of a most
unsatisfactory Church ; his Second Epistle to the Corinthians opens a window
into the very emotions of his heart, and is the agitated self-defence of a
wounded and loving spirit to ungrateful and erring, yet not wholly lost or
5
wholly incorrigible souls."
And this self-defence was not unnecessary. In this Epistle we find St.
Paul for the first time openly confronting the Judaising reaction which
assumed such formidable dimensions, and threatened to obliterate every
distinctive feature of the Gospel which he preached. It is clear that in some
of the Churches which he had founded there sprang up a Judaic party, whose
hands were strengthened by commendatory letters from Jerusalem, and who
not only combated his opinions, but also grossly abused his character and
motives. By dim allusions and oblique intimations we trace their insidious
action, and in this Epistle we find ourselves face to face with them and their
unscrupulous opposition. It differs greatly from the one that preceded it.
St. Paul is no longer combating the folly of fancied wisdom, or the abuse of
true liberty. He is no longer occupied with the rectification of practical dis-
orders and theoretical heresies. He is contrasting his own claims with those
of his opponents, and maintaining an authority which had been most rudely
and openly impugned.
It is not impossible that the attack had boon suggested by St. Paul's
viii. 2.
s
iv. 812. * vii. 5.
<
e.\c>s, e\i'BoM