Pauline Church Discipline -- By: D. R. Hall

Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 20:1 (NA 1969)
Article: Pauline Church Discipline
Author: D. R. Hall


Pauline Church Discipline

D. R. Hall

*The Tyndale New Testament Lecture, 1968

*Delivered At Tyndale House, Cambridge, In July, 1968.

Within the last hundred years it has come to be generally accepted that the severe letter, written with many tears, to which Paul refers in 2 Corinthians, cannot be 1 Corinthians. This view is based on three main contentions:

Firstly, that the opponents Paul faces in 2 Corinthians are Jews claiming to be apostles, who have come from elsewhere, but there is no trace of these opponents in 1 Corinthians.

Secondly, that the references in 2 Corinthians to his previous dealings with the Corinthian church require us to assume an intermediate visit and letter between the two canonical letters.

Thirdly, that within 2 Corinthians the emotional tone of chapters 1-7 and of chapters 10-13 makes it difficult to regard both sections as belonging to one letter, or either as related to the same situation as 1 Corinthians.

In reply to these contentions, I shall seek to show:

Firstly, that in both 1 and 2 Corinthians Paul faces the same opponents.

Secondly, that the references in 2 Corinthians to an offender, a severe letter, and other matters are references to 1 Corinthians.

Thirdly, that in dealing with the Corinthians Paul applies a consistent method of church discipline, which accounts for the difference in emotional tone between the different sections of the two letters.1

I. Paul’s Opponents

In this section nine characteristics of Paul’s opponents which are common to both epistles are discussed.

(A) Apostleship

Paul’s opponents in 2 Corinthians were ‘false apostles . . . who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ’ (11:13). They claimed to belong to Christ (10:7), and to be the ministers of Christ (11:23), possessing that authorization by Christ which was the basis of apostolic authority.2 Like all apostles, their commission involved travel from one place to another, and they had evidently come to Corinth from elsewhere (11:4). Had they come to Corinth after 1 Corinthians was written, or is there evidence of their activity in 1 Corinthians itself...

You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe
visitor : : uid: ()