Criswell Theological
Review 4.1 (1989) 119-144.
Copyright © 1989 by The
TRIUMPHALISM,
SUFFERING, AND
SPIRITUAL MATURITY:
AN EXPOSITION OF
2 CORINTHIANS 12:1-10
IN ITS LITERARY, THEOLOGICAL,
AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT
DANIEL
L. AKIN
John
E. Wood has aptly stated,
Let it be said at once that II
Corinthians fills much the same place in the
New Testament as does the book of
Job in the Old. It is a letter written
by one
whose heart has been broken by the many intolerable burdens
heaped on
him: a man struggling with a recalcitrant church and a
malignant
foe. If in Romans and Galatians we see the apostle 'proclaim-
ing' the cross with might and main, in II Corinthians
we see him 'bearing'
the cross,
and bearing it triumphantly.1
Classically,
2 Corinthians has been divided into three major sections:
chaps. 1-7, 8-9, and 10-13. Conceptually and
stylistically challenging,
2
Corinthians 10-13 are perhaps the most intriguing
chapters not only
of this book, but of the entire Pauline corpus.
They contain a re-
sounding affirmation of his apostolic
authenticity and authority in the
face of fierce opposition at
heart and soul of the apostle is laid bare. Yet their
importance does
not stop here. Included are clear and pointed
characteristics of what
1 J. E.
Wood, "Death at Work in Paul," EvQ 54 (Tuly-September
1983) 151.
120
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
constitutes true spirituality and tangible evidence
of progress in Chris-
tian maturity. In addition,
technical questions of literary form, lin-
guistic device, and conceptual
framework add excitement to the
exegete who approaches these chapters seeking to
bridge the horizons
of Paul's day and his/her own. At the apex of these
chapters both
structurally and theologically is 2
Corinthians 12:1-10, "Paul's vision
of paradise and affliction of pain." The
purpose of this study will be to
analyze this text in light of its greater
context biblically, historically,
and theologically. A synthesizing and summarizing
of present-day
research and study will be the guiding principle
which will be
followed.
I. Matters of Introduction
Literary Composition
The literary problem of this epistle
which has received the great-
est attention is the
relationship of chaps. 1-9 to 10-13. That chaps.
10-13
constitute a self-contained unit of thought is almost universally
acknowledged. Further,
the abrupt change in tone between chaps. 9
and 10 is equally evident. These observations have
led scholars to a
number of theories of compilation which will be
briefly noted.2
(1) 2 Corinthians 10-13 constitutes
what is called the sorrowful
letter alluded to in 2 Cor
2:3-4. Therefore, 2 Corinthians 10-13 is
chronologically prior to 2 Cor 1-9. Textually and historically this view
is problematic.
(2) 2 Corinthians is a unity. This
view is supported textually and
historically, but must deal with the
abrupt change in tone between
chaps. 9 and 10.
(3) 2 Corinthians 10-13 was written
sometime after chaps. 1-9 as
a separate letter. This view adequately accounts
for the change of tone
between chaps. 9 and 10 but faces the same
difficulties as view one.
2 This issue is dealt
with in all critical commentaries with various conclusions
being reached. The reader is referred to the
following for adequate discussions of the
issue: C. K. Barrett, A Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (New
(1965)
56-69; F. F. Bruce, I and II Corinthians (London:
Oliphants, 1971); M. J. Harris,
II Corinthians (EBC 10; ed. F. E. Gaebelein; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976); P. E.
Hughes,
The Second Epistle to the Corinthians
(NICNT;
1962);
C. Kruse, II Corinthians (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1987); A. Plummer, A
Critical and Exegetical
Commentary of the Second Epistle of
thians (Edinburgh:
T. and T. Clark, 1915; repr., 1978); A. Plummer, The Second Epistle
of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (
repr. 1923). Our brief
survey will summarize the presentation of D. A. Carson, From
Triumphalism to Maturity: An Exposition of II Corinthians 10-13 (
Baker, 1984).
Akin:
TRIUMPHALISM, SUFFERING AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY 121
(4) 2 Corinthians is formally
unified from its origination but
chronologically separated at chaps. 9 and 10 as to the time of writing.
II Corinthians is a fairly long
letter: few could manage to write it at a
lengthy
single sitting. . . . Paul may well have received additional news
bad news
about the Corinthian church, before he had finished the letter;
and if so,
this would account for the abrupt change of tone at the
beginning
of chapter 10. In short, after finishing the first nine chapters,
but before
actually terminating the letter and sending it off, Paul receives
additional
bad news, and therefore adds four more chapters of rebuke.
II Corinthians is thus a formally
unified letter, but does reflect a sub-
stantial change of perspective in the last four
chapters.3
In light of these historical,
textual, and literary observations, view
four seems reasonable and therefore the position we
advocate.
Discourse and Thematic
Structure
There is remarkably little study
which has been conducted in this
area. However, tentatively and for the sake of
further study, the views
of J. F. Austing are
offered as an initial presentation of the discourse
structure of 2 Corinthians 10-13.4 Austing argues from discourse analy-
sis that "II Corinthians 10:1-13:10
constitutes a single high-level gram-
matical unit called a
division."5 Within this division Austing
identifies
three suprasections
identified semantically and propositionally as fol-
lows: (1) 10:1-18-Paul establishes his authority
against all opposition.
(2)
11:1-12:19-Paul presents his qualifications. (3) 13:1-10-Paul ex-
presses his hope that the Corinthians will
repent.
Austing
expands this three-fold sectioning to a six-fold, and then
proceeds to summarize propositionally the
division via its separate
sections in what he identifies as a theme line
analysis or summary
statement of the division:
Division 10:1-13:10--My authority is
something the Lord gave me
upbuild you not to tear you down.
Section10:1-11—When
I am present, my authority is powerful
BECAUSE (grounds;
advance along theme line)
Section 10:12-18--My limit is that
which God assigned me, to come as
far as you
3
4 J. F. Austing, The Theme-Line
of Second Corinthians (Ph.D. thesis, University
of
5 Ibid.,
136.
122
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
AND
Section
11: 1-15--The reason you should bear with me is your danger of
being led astray from devotion to Christ
THEREFORE (I BOAST THAT) (result and
advance)
Section
11:16-12:10--My chief external qualification is my weakness.
THE REASON FOR BOASTING (reason and
advance)
Section
12:11-21--The reason for speaking of myself is your edification
AND
Section
13:1-10--My motivation in writing while absent is that I may not
have to use the Lord's authority severely when
present.6
Austing
expands his analysis by arguing that the organization of
this division can be arranged chiastically
as follows:
A. Warning (10:1-18)
B. Reasons
for apology (11:1-15)
C.
Apology (11:16-12:10)
B.' Reasons
for apology (12:11-21)
A.' Warning (13:1-10)7
Austing notes,
Along with this chiastic or cyclical
organization there is linear progres-
sion. The thought moves from the false apostle cause
of the Corinthians'
problem in
the first three sections (10:1-11:15), through the minister's
ministry of
apologetics (11:15-12:10) to a final appeal for an appropriate
response in
the last two sections (12:11-13:10)8
He
also observes that if the unity of 2 Corinthians is accepted, division
10-13
can be viewed as a natural continuation of division 2:14-7:4,
especially as viewed against the context of Paul's
opposition at
In
division 2:14ff. the opponents are attacked (1) via negative anti-
thetical statements (2:17; 4:2),
(2) by indirect references to their
doctrine (3:7-11), (3) then by direct
identification (5:12; cf. 11:18).
The rationale behind the theological
argument is to persuade the waver-
ing Corinthians to respond to Paul and not throw
their lot with the false
teachers.
Appeals to the Corinthians from Paul's proper manner of life
6 Ibid.,
149.
7 Ibid.,
150.
8 Ibid.,
150-51.
Akin:
TRIUMPHALISM, SUFFERING AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY 123
and his
sufferings for them also serve to explain the rationale behind Paul's
argument
(2:17; 4:2, 15; 5:11; 6:3-10). These appeals foreshadow the
content of
11:16-12:18 in particular.9
Through discourse analysis, Austing sees as the apex of 2 Corin-
thians 10-13, chiastically structured, Paul's apologia in 11:16-12:10.
From
a literary and theological perspective this insight, I believe, can
be confirmed. Especially is
12:1-10, the text to which we shall give
primary attention, often argued to be the climax
and primary focus of
2
Corinthians 10-13, keeping in mind of course its vital relationship to
11:16-33.
Literary Form of 10-13
Second Corinthians 10-13 is now
generally understood as a Paul-
ine polemic or apology,
vented against recent and disruptive intruders
at Corinth.10 Paul, in what is often designated as a “fool's
speech,”
(11:1-12:10)
refutes these interlopers with a counterattack of sarcasm,
comparison, irony, and self-praise.11 Forbes, building upon the in-
sights of Betz12 yet not following him
uncritically, argues that Paul,
9 Ibid.,
152.
10 The position of this
paper is that the opponents of Paul are Palestinian Christians
engaged in a purposeful and deliberate
anti-Pauline mission. They are to be identified
with the superapostles of
2 Cor 11:5; 12:16, but not with the
helpful and detailed discussions of this issue
the reader is referred to C. K. Barrett,
"Paul's
Opponents in II Corinthians," NTS
17 (1971) 233-54; Carson, Triumphalism to
Maturity, 21-27; E. E. Ellis,
"Paul and his Opponents," Christianity,
Judaism, and Other
Greco-Roman Cults (ed. J. Neusner;
Legitimitat des Apostels" ZNW
41 (1942) 31-71; repr. in
Das Paulusbild in der neueren
deutschen Forschung (ed. K. H. Rengstorf;
11 See W. Baird,
"Visions, Revelation and Ministry: Reflections on II Cor.
12:1-5
and Gal. 1:11-17," JBL 104 (1985) 653; R. Martin, II
Corinthians (WBC 40;
Word,
1986) 390-94; R. P. Spittler, "The Limits of
Ecstasy: An Exegesis of II Corinthians
12:1-10,"
Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic
Interpretation: In Honor of Merrill C.
Tenney (ed. G. F. Hawthorne;
12 See H. D. Betz, Der Apostel Paulus und die sokratische
Tradition: Eine exe-
getische Untersuchung zu
seiner "Apologie"
2 Korinthen 10-13 (Beitruge zur his tori-
schen Theologie
45; Tiibingen: Mohr, 1972) iv-157. This study of 2
Corinthians 10-13
defines the literary form of this text as an
apology which is not formally apologetic at
all. Paul in actuality renounces rhetorical
apologetics, according to Betz, and chooses
rather to appropriate a tradition of philosophical
apologetics which is rooted in the
Socratic tradition. Betz convincingly
identifies parallels of this tradition and Paul's
"fool's speech" in the areas of irony and parody.
However, it is our opinion that his
form-critical conclusions go beyond
the legitimate use of form-critical methodology.
First,
his allowing the "form" to determine "content" moves him to
reject the historical
reality of the paradise rapture. This is an
unwarranted and harmful interpretive move.
Second,
while Betz has discovered genuine parallels, his next step of arguing for
Pauline
dependency upon the tradition remains speculative at best and highly doubtful.
124
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
Responding to his opponents' characterisation of him as inconsistent, and
hence as a
flatterer, and to the invidious comparisons of his opponents,
attacks the
whole convention of self-advertisement by means of a re-
markably subtle and forceful parody of its methods.
He characterises his
opponents
as pretentious and fraudulent, while laying before the Corin-
thian congregation a powerful statement of his own
apostolic position
and
authority. I will not attempt to prove that Paul is directly dependent
on any of
our literary sources, but rather that he makes use of conven-
tions which they also utilise.
. . .13
Spittler adds to these observations when he says,
The narrower context of the '
10 may be called), has been
identified by Windisch as the 'fool's speech'
(Narrenrede)
spanning 11:1-12:13. The major significance of this 'fool's
speech'
lies in Paul's use of it as a polemic instrument: he engages in
self:-praise
only as a fool, but then he (and by designed implication,
they) no
longer speaks Kata Kyrion
(11:17). The issue of apostolic
authority
that thus emerges may, with Kasemann, be taken as the
major
underlying
theme in 10-13, and that theme. . . figures prominently in tpe
paradise
pericope.14
Martin
adds to these insights when he says,
Evidence seems adequate to justify
the conclusion that in Paul's apologia
he is
calling on the idioms and expressions currently being used at
devices
used by philosophers in their debate with the sophists.15
McCant furthers the discussion in the area of genre
when he notes,
"Nowhere
is the proliferation of genres more evident than in 2 Corin-
thians" 10-13.
Autobiographical data are predominant in these four
chapters and it has been identified as Socratic
apology, apologetic or
polemic autobiography, but more accurately as
ironic apology."16
McCant narrowing the scope of his study notes,
Within an integral part of the
apostolic apologia, is another literary form:
the foolish
discourse. . . . The fool's discourse, a device used by the
For
a balanced evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of Betz see A. T.
Lincoln,
"Paul
the Visionary: The Setting and Significance of the Rapture to
thians 12:1-10," NTS 25 (1979) 204-20.
13 C. Forbes,
"Comparison, Self-Praise and Irony: Paul's Boasting and the Con-
ventions of Hellenistic
Rhetoric," NTS 32 (1986) 2.
14 Spittler, "The Limits of Ecstasy," 259.
Sources cited by Spittler are H.Windisch..
Der Zweite Korintherbrief
(
Apostels,"
15 Martin, II Corinthians, 300.
16 J.
W. McCant, "Paul's Thorn of Rejected
Apostleship," NTS.34 (1988)
551-52.
Akin:
TRIUMPHALISM, SUFFERING AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY 125
Platonic Socrates against the
Sophist, allows Paul effectively to employ
kauxh<sij. In the fool's
speech Paul employs other forms. Peristaseis are
provided in
11:23-29 (thirty specific times) and 12:10. In both cases they
fulfill the
principle: 'If I have to boast I will boast of what pertains to my
weakness'
(11:30). Judge suggests that 11:32-33 is a conscious parody of
the
criteria for the Roman award of the corona
muralis and Betz has
found two aretalogies in 12:1-10 which use parody, a literary form in
the
foolish
discourse. A "Himmelfahrt parodiert'
is given in 12:2-4 and a
'Heilvngswunder
parodiert' in 12:7-10. These are forms within forms
and irony
(sometimes even sarcasm!) is employed throughout as a rhe-
torical device.17
Without
endorsing all of McCant's observations (especially
his appar-
ent approval of Betz's
form-critical conclusions), his comments serve
well in pointing out the multifaceted genres and
literary devices
which Paul has masterfully woven together in the
concluding chapters
of 2 Corinthians.
Historical context
C. Forbes has provided a "brief
sketch" which serves well in
aiding us to understand the Sitz im Leben of
Paul at
summarizing Forbes sketch one can frame the
following context.
At some point during Paul's initial
ministry at
offered financial support, possibly by an
influential member(s) at the
church at
tance of such an offer
problematic and so Paul felt it necessary to
reject the offer (1) so as not to become a burden, and
more impor-
tantly (2) to avoid
compromising his position and fostering the flames
of factionalism. By way of an alternative
suggestion Paul proposed
that the model of relationship he desired with the
Corinthian congre-
gation would be (1) that of a
parent and his children whose position is
therefore affirmed by his paternity, and (2) that
of an ambassador
whose position is affirmed by his sender, and not
those to whom he is
sent. Despite his motivational integrity, his
refusal of assistance was
met with hostility and scorn, and a shaky
relationship which had
existed from the start (cf. 1 Cor 2:3ff.) was made worse. Forbes points
out that Paul's first two chapters in 1 Corinthians
revolve around the
dialectic of weakness and power, folly and wisdom
which he ob-
served in the Lord Jesus (1:18-25), in the Corinthian
church (1:26-31),
and also in his apostolic ministry (2:1-5). It is
significant to note at this
point the importance of these themes in 2 Corinthians
10-13, especi-
ally 12:1-10.
17 Ibid.,
552.
126
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
In the midst of this unhealthy
context, the Palestinian interlopers
arrived on the scene probably flaunting
themselves and seeking letters
of commendation. Already prepared for and engaged
in an anti-
Pauline
agenda, these Judaizers of a Palestinian wing found
the
situation at
interlopers ("super apostles" as Paul
calls them in 11:5 and 12:11)
formed an alliance with the opponents of Paul, and
together they
carried on the anti-Pauline polemics in
increasing intensity. Paul was
accused of being inconsistent, strong when
absent but weak when
present. Possibly accusations of insincerity
were leveled, as well as
evaluations of inferiority with respect to
eloquence, personality, and
spiritual experiences. Such a context historically
reconstructed informs
our background understanding of 2 Corinthians
10-13.18
Theological context
Within 2 Cor
12:1-10 and its immediate context several important
theological motifs are present which assist us in
our exposition. These
include the development of a weakness
Christology, the foundation
of apostolic authority, a rebuke of an
over-realized eschatology, the
Christian
life, and the proper place of boasting. This latter
subject is
related to practical theology, yet it is an
equally significant concern of
the apostle. We shall briefly comment on each of
these in final prepa-
ration for our analysis of 12:1-10.
(1) Weakness Christology. In 2 Cor 12:1-10
Paul reluctantly
"boasts" about visions and revelations though he finds
little benefit in
such activity. Though he has been "raptured into
a]rrhta r!hmata, "unutterable
utterances," he could not and would not
boast in his present self (vv 2-5) after the manner
of his opponents.
He
could legitimately boast (he would be telling the truth), but he
"refrained," fei<domai,
because his authority rested in his public, con-
sistent words and witness, and
not in the ecstatic experiences of a
previous day (vv 6- 7a). His thorn in the flesh
was an instrument of
instruction concerning the sufficiency of divine
grace (7b-9a). Further,
Paul
learned (paradoxically, yes!) that at the center of the Christian
life was the principle that perfection (maturity)
comes through weak-
ness, power through humility. This principle itself
is grounded in a
weakness Christology (cf. 13:4), and is that
which gives validity and
significance to 11:23-33, and
counteracts the mindset and claims, of
the interlopers at
Christology
only of du<namij,
"strength," the apostle rightly operated
within the scope of a Christology of a]sqenei<a, "weakness."19 M. Harris
18 Forbes, "Comparison," 552; cf.
also
19 Spittler, "The Limits of Ecstasy," 266.
Akin:
TRIUMPHALISM, SUFFEffiNG AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY 127
provides a helpful and balanced perspective of
this spiritual principle
when he states, "Both weakness and power
existed simultaneously in
Paul's life (note vv 9b, 10b), as they did in
Christ's ministry and death.
Indeed,
the cross of Christ forms the supreme example of 'power-in-
weakness'."20 Thus it is in the
context of a weakness Christology that
Paul
understands and builds his theology of Christian apostleship and,
indeed, the Christian life.
(2) The Foundation of Apostolic Authority. The basis of Paul's
apostolic authority, as we see, is closely
related, indeed rooted in his
weakness Christology (as is his rebuke of
over-realized eschatology
and the proper exercise of boasting). Martin
summarizes the perspec-
tive of Paul when he says,
Paul's weaknesses--whether exhibited
in his suffering for the Gospel or
centered in
the thorn in the flesh--have been his criteria for true apostle-
ship. He
has entered into the fray, not in order to boast of his own
achievement,
but to boast of his weakness. By doing so he has offered
the
Corinthians an alternative to the opponents that harass him. The
alternative
is strength-based-on-weakness, a theme no doubt foreign to
the
opponents of Paul, but one that expressed the heart of his Gospel of
a crucified
Lord. . . . His weakness is the power of the crucified.21
In
this same vein Forbes adds,
For Paul apostolic authority is the
authority of the Gospel itself, mediated
through the
apostle. Since the Gospel is the message of the 'foolishness'
and
'weakness' of God himself (I Corinthians 1:18-25), the apostle, if he
is such at
all, embodies that foolishness and weakness. That is to say, his
life and
work bear the marks of the death of Christ: the physical
sufferings
and the social stigmata which we find enumerated in the
'catalogues
of humiliation.' The pattern is not confined to the apostle, but
it is
preeminently exemplified in him. His congregations are to imitate
him in his
'weakness' as he imitates Christ. Apostolic authority, the
embodiment
of the power of the Gospel in the person of the apostle, is
the
eschatological power of God, which is characteristically revealed
'in
weakness'. This is what his opponents, in their arrogance, have
forgotten.22
Forbes identifies, I believe, the
crux of the matter when he comments
on 12:8-9 by saying, “This then, is why Paul will not
boast of anything
except his 'weakness,' his humiliations and
sufferings: they are to him
the surest marks of his commendation by the
suffering Messiah.”23
Spittler adds his affirmation to these
observations when he comments:
20 Harris, II Corinthians, 347.
21 Martin, II
Corinthians, 394.
22 Forbes,
"Comparison," 22.
23 Ibid.,
21.
128
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
"The
opponents authenticate their apostolic authority by pneumatic
demonstration; Paul paradoxically
accredits his own authority by a
recital of weakness, thus aligning himself with
his Lord who was
crucified from a position of astheneias (13:4)"24
(3) Correcting Overrealized Eschatology. The triumphalism of
Paul's
opponents, as well as their apparent preoccupation with ecstatic
experiences, gives evidence of an over-realized
eschatology in
Contrasting
Paul's paradise vision with the mystery religions,
makes an important point which applies also to Paul's
enthusiastic,
existential, eschatological opponents:
In distinction from the mysteries,
for Paul this experience of heaven had
no soteriological function as a rebirth elevating him to a
higher existence.
There is no hint that he looked at
it as the point of arrival in his search
for
salvation or as that which produced a oneness with the divine and a
share in
God's immortal being. Rather it came to him as someone who
was already
a 'man in Christ', and that he was granted such an extraordi-
nary
personal assurance of the reality of the heavenly dimension through
vision and
revelation was purely of grace.25
Concerning Paul's mystic experience
recorded in 12:2-4, Stewart
notes,
Even in the apostle's own career, it
was quite exceptional. This was not
the level
on which he habitually lived. The rapture and ecstasy came and
passed. . .
. Paul himself--this is the point to be emphasized--would
have been
the first to recognize and insist that such experiences form
only a
comparatively small part of the soul's deep communion with God
in Christ.
. . . It was in the daily, ever-renewed communion, rather than
in the
transient rapture, that the inmost nature of Christianity lay.26
Verse
12:6 embodies the essence of Paul's thinking on this issue when
he informs the Corinthians that it is his present
and continuous public
life and proclamation (note the use of the present
tense) which is his
critical concern, and also his criterion for
vibrant and genuine Chris-
tian experience.
(4) Legitimate boasting in the Christian life. McCant
points out
that Paul's
'Boasting in weakness' is a parody
of boasting and is thus ironical. Under
no
circumstances does Paul wish to engage in what Plutarch calls peri-
autologi% (Paul uses kauxh<sij); it is not pleasing to
the Lord (11:17).
24 Spittler, "The Limits of Ecstasy," 262.
25 Lincoln,
"Paul the Visionary,"217.
26 J. Stewart, A Man in Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker,
Reprinted 1975) 161-62.
Akin:
TRIUMPHALISM, SUFFERING AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY 129
Since it is forced on him, he will
boast 'inoffensively;' and unwittingly he
is consonant
with Plutarch's rules for avoiding the offensiveness
of
self-praise.27
McCant goes on to show that while Paul's use of
"boasting" is consis-
tent with the principles set forth by Plutarch, such
may be only
coincidence. He further adds more importantly that
one should not
neglect the OT as a possible source for the
apostle's ideas and methods
in this area.28 Having laid this
contextual foundation, McCant pro-
ceeds to identify in 2
Corinthians 10-13 aspects of boasting which
may properly be termed "principles of Paul's
theology of boasting."
McCant argues that though Paul does not systematize
them, he
does indeed advocate certain and specific principles
for boasting
(kauxh<sij), a word which in its
various forms appears 24 times in
2 Corinthians, 19 alone in chaps. 10-13, five in 12:1-9.
Note the fol-
lowing observations.
Eight Principles of
Paul's Theology of Boasting
(1) Apologetic kauxh<sij is inappropriate
(12:19).
(2) Boasting is not kata> ku<rion but
kata>
sa<rka
and is thus done
e]n
a]frosu<nh (11:17).
(3) Boasting must not be done a@metra (10:13, 15).
(4) Sugkri<sij
is forbidden (10:12).
(5) Boasting is appropriate if one
boasts of e]n kuri<w (1:30; 12:5,
9,10).
(6) Boasting is appropriate if one
boasts of ta>
th?j a]sqenei<aj
(11:30; 12:5, 9, 10).
(7) Boasting may be done in the role
of an a@frwn (11:1, 10, 16,
17,21,23; 12:11).
(8) Boasting is sometimes necessary
(dei?, 11:30; 12:1a) but it is
useless (ou]
sumfe<ron, 12:1b).29
McCant's summary statement of these principles of
boasting is an
echo of our prior conclusion concerning the primacy
of Paul's "weak-
ness Christology" and the theology of the
cross. He states, "Boasting
in 'weakness' and 'in the Lord' finds its
foundation in Paul's Christo-
logy and theology of the cross."30
27 McCant,
"Paul's Thorn," 558-59; cf. Plutarch, Moralia, "On Praising
Oneself
Inoffensively").
28 Ibid.,
560.
29
Ibid.
30
Ibid.
130
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
II. Exposition of 12:1-10 "Glorying about Revelations
to
His Soul and a Thorn for His Flesh"31
Alford notes that there is no break
between this chapter and the
last.32 Especially is 11:22-33
significant to the passage, for it, along
with the "thorn in the flesh" (12:7-10) pericope, serves to sandwich
the paradise rapture in a context of weakness,
thereby de-emphasizing
via structural context the importance of this
ecstatic experience. Price
notes that "Basically, the thrust of the
'pronouncement story' consti-
tuted by II Corinthians
12:1-10 is that the blessing of God comes only
on the heels of adversity, not in the midst of
ecstasy."33
Spittler
structurally divides the text into five units: v 1, introduc-
tion of subject; vv 2-4, the
paradise/third heaven rapture; vv 5- 7a,
character and grounds for boasting; vv 7b-9a, the sko<loy and its
persistence; and vv 9b-10, strength in weakness.34
We will adjust this
analysis slightly in our exposition.
1.
Spiritual ecstasy: the paradise rapture
(12:1-6)
Verse 1. "I must go on
boasting. Although there is nothing to be
gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from
the Lord." Paul
continues his ironic boasting, and states that it
is morally necessary for
him to do so (kauxa?sqai, pres. inf.), even
though such boasting is
not expedient or beneficial (ou] sumfe<ron me<n).35 The idea seems to be
that such activity is not becoming of the apostle,
and that it is not
profitable for the Corinthians. Such action is not
the best avenue of
spreading and defending the gospel, and Paul would
prefer not to
boast at all.36 Yet as Barrett says,
"It is not expedient to boast, but it
might be even more inexpedient not to boast."37
Thus Paul moves to
"visions and revelations from the Lord." In our text
"visions" and
"revelations" are interchangeable terms, and only a
minor distinction
between the two is warranted. A revelation mayor
may not be via a
vision, and a vision may or may not be a revelation;
Plummer notes
31 Plummer, A Critical Commentary on Second Corinthians,
336.
32 H. Alford, Alford's Greek Testament (4 vols;
2.708.
33 R. M. Price,
"Punished in
12:1-10)," JSNT 7 (1980) 34.
34 Spittler, "The Limits of Ecstasy," 262.
35 Being aware of several
textual variants in this passage, the author feels
that it is
beyond the scope or intent of this paper to deal with
them. In most cases we will
follow the UBSGNT 3rd ed. and NIV.
36 F.
Fisher, Commentary on 1 and 11
Corinthians (Waco, TX: Word, 1975) 424.
37 Barrett, Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 306.
Akin:
TRIUMPHALISM, SUFFERING AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY 131
that except in the apocrypha, o]ptasi<a, "visions" always points to a
vision that reveals something.38 The use of
the plural "visions" and
"revelations" may indicate that Paul intended to share
several experi-
fences of this type, yet the profitless nature of
boasting led him to
recount only one.39 The word kuri<ou should be viewed as a
subjective
genitive/ablative of source. The
visions/revelations are "from the
Lord"
and not "of or about the Lord" (objective genitive). Harris
points out that this interpretation is confirmed
contextually by v 4, as
well as the repeated use of the divinum passivum of vv 2, 4, and 7,
where the unexpressed agent is God.40
Verses 2-4.
"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was
caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the
body or apart
from the body I do not know, God knows. And I know
that this
man--whether in the body or apart from the body I
do not know, but
God
knows--was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things,
things that man is not permitted to tell."
"In solemn and subdued but
rhythmical language, which reads as if it were the
outcome of much
meditation, and which suggests a good deal more
than it states,
comments on these verses are crucial to a proper
understanding of
what Paul is attempting to accomplish. They serve
also as a balanced
perspective, and needed correction to some of the
form-critical con-
clusions made popular by Betz.
Barrett says,
Even when boasting of his own
visions Paul is unwilling to do so
directly,
and tells his story as if it related to someone else, of whom he
speaks in
the third person. We may compare the occasional rabbinic use
of 'this
man' for 'I' ...There is a man who is a visionary, and this man is
in fact
who has
nothing to boast of but his weakness. Betz's account (pp. 84-92)
of verses 2-4
as a parody of an ascension narrative (of which there were
not a few
in the ancient word) is full of useful parallels and of suggestion;
it seems to
me; however, that the passage has an inner motivation that
makes it
essentially independent of the parallels. Paul is not writing a
literary
exercise in a given style.42
38 Plummer, A Critical Commentary on Second Corinthians,
338,
39 Martin, II Corinthians, 396.
40 Harris, II Corinthians, 397. See also R. V.G. Tasker, The Second Epistle of
Paul
to the Corinthians (Tyndale; Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1958) 169-70; Plummer, A
Critical Commentary on
Second Corinthians,
338; Hughes, Lincoln, and Martin suggest
that the genitive may be intentionally ambiguous and
therefore capable of either
meaning or even both.
41 Plummer, A Critical Commentary on Second Corinthians,
339.
42 Barrett, Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 307.
132
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
Paul begins in v 2 by stating oi#da a@nqrwpon (perf.
He
essentially repeats this in v 3. Indeed the word oi#da is significant in
vv 2-3, occurring seven times. Paul describes this
man as e]n xrist&?, a
favorite Pauline designation to describe the
vital union of the Christian
relationship between a believer and
his Lord. This designation, along
with the use of the third person, may be Paul's
means of highlighting
the sacred nature of the experience, or because he
wants to maintain a
distinction between the Paul who was granted this
marvelous experi-
ence and the Paul who will
only boast of his weaknesses (11:30).43 To
argue that "in Christ" means that in this
experience the apostle was
"swallowed up in Christ, so as almost to lose his own
personality,"44 is
to read into the text more than is warranted.
Indeed, Furnish seems to
have the right idea when he says, "The phrase
'in Christ' may simply
mean 'a Christian' (see e,g.,
Rom 16:7); or, more probably, it is used
to identify this person (Paul) as one whose life
has been transformed
and made new through faith in Christ (cf. Rom 6:11;
8:1; 1 Cor 1:30
and especially 2 Cor
5:17)."45
Paul dates the experience as occurring approximately fourteen
years from the time of writing, thus placing the
event in the early
40s.46
He states further that the kind of experience, whether pneumatic
or somatic, is unknown to him. He repeats this
thought with little
variation in 3b, indicating his ignorance, but
also his indifference as to
the mode of the experience, That it actually
happened is certain. The
"how" of it is not of primary concern. Perhaps the
apostle is pur-
posely avoiding the
endorsement of either a Jewish tradition which
almost always presumed a somatic rapture in such
experiences, or a
Hellenistic
tradition which almost always envisioned a pneumatic
rapture in which the body and soul (yuxh<) were separated,47
As far as
identifying this vision with anything specific we
know of the apostle,
we agree with the unanimous consensus of
scholarship that any such
43 Kruse, II Corinthians, 201. For an excellent
discussion of the use of the third
person see v. P. Furnish, II Corinthians (AB; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984)
543-44.
44 Plummer,
Second Epistle to the Corinthians,
116.
45 Furnish, II Corinthians, 524.
46 Hughes would argue for
approximately A.D. 44.
47 Furnish, II Corinthians, 525. For interesting,
helpful, but also some bizarre
ideas of Paul's ascension/rapture experience, 1 would
direct the reader to J. L. Check,
"Paul's
Mysticism in the Light of Psychedelic Experiences," JAAR 38 (1970) 381-89,
who evaluates Paul's experience in light of the psychedelic!
J. W. Bowker, "Merkabah
Visions and the Visions of Paul," JSS 16 (1971) 157-73. He isolates parallels
to "merka-
bah visions," which are based upon meditation
of the heavenly chariot of Ezekiel;
Baird,
"Visions, Revelation, and Ministry," identifies the vision in terms
of apocalyptic
genre, dismissing as unsupported the view that sees
the vision in an OT context of the
prophetic call.
Akin:
TRIUMPHAUSM, SUFFERING AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY 133
identification is nothing more than
speculation. A popular view some-
times advocated is to identify this vision with
Paul's stoning at Lystra
where he was left for dead. Plummer says in this
context "That he
was caught up to heaven when he was lying
apparently dead, after
being stoned at Lystra
(Acts xiv. 19) is a surprising hypothesis."48
Fisher
also notes that this view is "nothing more than conjecture."49 If
we are to be so bold as to set forth any theory,
that to which Hughes
alludes to seems as reasonable as any. He notes
that a number of
scholars (Allo, Zahn, Windisch, Plummer?,
Bachmann, and Words-
worth) have been inclined to identify this experience
with Paul's
commissioning at
ceding his first missionary journey (Acts 11:26;
13:4).50 Regardless of
its identification, our text affirms that the
experience was personal to
Paul,
and intended only for him, his edification and encouragement.
Paul
says of this experience that he was "caught up, raptured"
(a[r-
page<nta, v 2, h[rpa<gh, v 4) into the third heaven
or paradise. The
word a[rpa<zw is also used by Paul in
1 Thess 4:17 to describe the
rapture of believers at the appearance of the
Lord Jesus. The passive
voice indicates that Paul was not the active ,agent
of the experience
but a passive subject. He was literally
"snatched up" by the Lord
himself. This is in keeping with his literary
use of the third person, as
well as his passivity throughout the pericope of 12:1-10. The phrase
"third heaven" is the first of a number of hapax legomena in this text.
While
a great deal of attention has been given to this phrase as
providing insight into the apostle's cosmology,
for our purpose we
find it wise to follow Calvin in his interpretation
when he says, “He
[Paul]
is not here describing fine philosophical distinctions between
the different heavens. . . . The number three is
used as a perfect num-
ber to indicate what is
highest and most complete.”51 Further, we see
48 Plummer, A Critical Commentary on Second Corinthians,
341.
49 Fisher, Commentary on I and
II Corinthians, 425. Bowker ("Merkabah Visions,"
n.
2) points out that we know of at least eight visions of the apostle Paul (I)
Road
(Acts 9); (2) Vision of Ananias (Acts 9:12); (3) the
vision of the Macedonian man
(Acts
16:8); (4) encouragement at
22:17);
(6) of Jesus during the night (Acts 23:11); (7) the angel in the shipwreck
(Acts
27:23); (8) ascension into paradise (2 Cor 12: 1-4). To these we would add his vision to
go up to
50 Hughes, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians,
430-31. Cf- also Martin,
II
Corinthians, 399,
51 J, Calvin, The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the
Corinthians (Grand
Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1964, repr. 1973) 156. Barrett (Second
Epistle to the Corinthians,
310)
follows Calvin, For expanded discussions see Hughes, The Second Epistle to the
Corinthians, 432-34; Martin, II Corinthians, 401-2; Plummer, A Critical Commentary
on Second Corinthians, 343-44.
134
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
in this account one unified vision not two
visions, or one vision of two
parts. The third heaven and paradise are semantically
equivalent, but
the word para<deison does inform us additionally of the apostle's
conceptualization in this area.52
The word "paradise" occurs in the NT
only three times: (1) Luke 23:43, (2) our present
text, and (3) Rev 2:7.
A
Persian word, it originally meant an "enclosure," and was used of a
pleasure garden or park. Barclay says, "When
a Persian king wished
to confer a very special honor on someone dear to
him, he made him
a companion of the garden and gave him the right
to walk in the royal
gardens with him in intimate
companionship."53 Hughes notes that in
the LXX para<deisoj is used for the "garden of Eden (Genesis 2-3)."54
M.
Thrall also points out that "paradise is spoken of as the abode of
God in the Greek versions of Ezekiel (Ezek
28:13; 31:8).
It was
thought of by the Jews as the region where the
blessed, after death,
go to dwell with God until the final
resurrection."55 Thus, from a
theological perspective, Paul's rapture experience
took him to heaven,
to the very presence of God. Lenski
notes that the prophets some-
times described heaven in images drawn from
heaven could be viewed as a "paradise
regained."56 A reading of
Revelation
21-22 will readily confirm Lenski's thesis.
Paradoxically, Paul's vision gives
us no sight into divine mysteries;
his revelation no knowledge of heavenly truths.
Paul simply related
that he heard a@rrhta
r[h<mata. The word a@rrhta is also a hapax
legomenon,
and the phrase itself an oxymoron. Kruse points out that
"Paul's
account of his rapture differs markedly from other such
accounts from the ancient world both in its
brevity and the absence of
any description of what he saw."57
Paul goes on to inform us that
what
he heard is ou]k e]co>n a]nqrw<p& lalh?sai. Hughes says that this
pbrase may mean either
"it is not possible" or "it is not lawful." He
correctly argues the latter, seeing e@cestai appears in the NT an addi-
tional thirty-one times, and
always it seems to have the meaning "it is
lawful."58 Hodge comments that the
revelation to which Paul was
52 See Hughes (The Second Epistle to the Corinthians,
435-39) for an excellent
survey and discussion of the number of visions and the
development, meaning and use
of the word “paradise.”
53 W. Barclay, The Letters to the Corinthians (rev. ed.
1975) 257.
54 Hughes, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 436.
55 M. E. Thrall, The First and Second Letters of Paul to the
Corinthians (
bridge:
56 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of
Corinthians (Minneapolis: Augsburg,
1937, repr. 1963) 1294.
57 Kruse, II Corinthians, 204.
58 Hughes, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 439,
n. 119.
Akin:
TRIUMPHAUSM, SUFFERING AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY 135
privileged was one he was not allowed to make known
to others.59
Barrett
adds that the language here is that of the mystery religions,
but that it would be wrong to draw the conclusion
that Paul was
directly dependent upon them. He further notes
that,
The idea of sealed revelations was
already to be found in the Old
Testament (Isa. 8:16; Dan. 12:4; cf, also 2
Enoch 17; Rev. 14:3). Paul's
revelation
thus falls into a familiar form-familiar no doubt at
a boast of
Paul's rivals. Of this he too can boast; but as throughout these
chapters,
his boasting is twisted into an unusual form.60
Verses 5-6. "I will boast
about a man like that, but I will not
boast about myself except about my weaknesses. Even
if I should
choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because 1
would be speaking
the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more
of me than is
warranted by what I do or say."
Furnish sees here the essence of
Paul's thinking with respect to his
apostolic authority when he says,
Paul will support his apostleship
only by boasting of his weakness (11:30;
12:5, 9b-10): while he is willing to
record this one instance of a private
experience,
he is quite unwilling to claim it as an apostolic credential. . . .
Paul does not want to be known as a
'visionary,' but only as a weak and
suffering
apostle. . . through whom God's incomparable power is dis-
closed
(4:7-15).61
Spittler adds to this when he states,
The paradise pericope
thus continues and sharpens--one may say con-
summates--the
same argument as that of the Peristasenkatalog (11:21b-
33): the physical hardships endured
in the ministry and the skolops-
tempered,
superlative revelations of paradise are no mere quantitative
proofs of
apostolic superiority or even legitimacy. They rather function
as
qualitative inversions to a wholly new ground for kauchesis
(cf. 11:30
with 12:5b
and 12:9b).62
Spittler goes on to point out concerning the
relationship of vv 2-4 to
v 5 that,
It is precisely this esoteric
disclosure in paradise (vss. 2-4) which
illumines
both the third-person character of vss. 2-4 and the
force of
vs. 5 which are interrelated. . . . By
casting his (autobiographical!) report
59 C. Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the
Corinthians (Grand
Rapids:
Baker, 1859; repr. 1980) 28.3.
60 Barrett, Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 311.
61 Furnish, II Corinthians, 544.
62 Spittler, "The Limits of Ecstasy," 262.
136
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
in the
third person, Paul thus distinguishes his present self (the chal-
lenged apostle) from his ecstatic self ('14 years
ago'). About his ecstatic
self (hyper tou toioutou, vs. 5) he will not boast (except in the asthen-
eiais). . . . Both Paul and
his opponents experience ecstasy; the difference
lies in the
use they make of it. For Paul such experiences are theo (I Cor.
14:2 and II Cor.
5:13). For the opponents, ecstasy serves not only for
propagandistic
enticement, but as well for apostolic accreditation. Once
again the
issue of apostolic authority emerges: by his refusal to capitalize
on the arreta rhemata, Paul
rejects apostolic accreditation by ecstasy as
well as the
ecstatic conception of Jesus such a view presupposes.63
These observations inform our
exposition of vv 5-6. Indeed, on
behalf of such a one as the man described in vv 2-4,
Paul will boast
(though we might add he will not tell us anything about his experi-
ences!). But of his present
self only in his a]sqenei<aij
will he boast
(cf.11:22-33;
12:7-10, and note again the strategic location of the
paradise pericope).
Paul is quick to inform us that if he chooses to
boast he would not be a fool (a@frwn), but would be speaking the
truth (a]lh<qeian). Yet to do so would
not be expedient (drawing upon
his opening statement in v 1), and indeed might be
harmful. Religious
experiences, no matter how wonderful, are not the
basis upon which
to establish apostolic authority or spiritual
maturity. Furnish is quite
correct when he says,
His apostleship cannot be
demonstrated by a recitation of his other
worldly
experiences, but only by the effectiveness of his this-worldly
service as
an apostle. The effectiveness of this service, and thus the
legitimacy
of Paul's apostleship, is confirmed by what the Corinthians
can 'see'
and 'hear' of his human frailties (the point of this 'fool's speech')
and of his
apostolic work in establishing their congregation."64
So
the apostle continues, fei<domai
("I refrain"; pres. mid.) lest anyone
ei]j e]me> logi<shtai
(note the word order; "to me reckons, accounts"; it
is a commercial term) beyond what ble<
a]kou<ei ("he hears";
pres.
these two verbs should not be minimized.
Syntactically they probably
function as present progressives, emphasizing the
consistency of life
demonstrated by the apostle.
"Nothing should be reckoned to his
account but what is self evident."65
Short catches the flavor of what
Paul
wishes to communicate. In these verses Paul
63 Ibid.,
264.
64 Furnish, II Corinthians, 546-47.
65 J. Hering,
The Second Epistle of
worth, 1967) 92.
Akin:
TRIUMPHALISM, SUFFERING AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY 137
implies that there is a good deal more which he
could say in defense of
his position as an apostle, if he should adopt that
line of argument. But
he will not give a false impression, or ask people
to judge of his authority
by anything except the life he lives and the
message he preaches. Nothing
else will authenticate him as an ambassador for
Christ.66
Paul says, "Examine my walk and
words." Anything beyond this is
not that on which apostolic authority or Christian
maturity should be
established.
2.
Personal difficulty: the thorn in the
flesh (12:7-9a)
Verses 7 -9a. "To keep me
from becoming conceited because of
these surprassingly great
revelations, there was given me a thorn in
my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.67
Three times I
pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
But he said to me,
'My
grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness'."
Chafin
points out that the immediacy of the "thorn in the flesh"
narrative following the paradise rapture is not
accidental; Paul evi-
dently believed that the two
experiences were significantly related to
each other.68 Exegetically we have chosen
to construct the phrase kai>
t^?
u[perbol^? tw?n a]pokalu<yewn
prospectively with v 7 (following the
NIV),
and not retrospectively with v 6 (UBSGNT, 3rd ed.).
The
proper interpretive move is most difficult to
determine, and scholars
are divided over the issue. That
equally good arguments can be made
for either view should promote humility at this
point of interpretation.
Plummer renders v 7 a as, "And
by reason of the exceeding
greatness of the revelations--wherefore that I
should not be exalted
overmuch. . . . "69
"Exceeding greatness" translates u[perbol^? from
which we get our English word hyperbole. The word may
be taken
quantitatively "abundance"
or qualitatively "excellence" of the revela-
tions.70 Martin also makes this
observation and, though favoring the
qualitative aspect, feels that a sharp distinction
should probably not
be made.71
66 J. Short, IB 5 (ed. G. Buttrick;
67 Unfortunately the NIV
text omits at this point the repetition of i!na
mh> u[per-
ai<rwmai. It receives a [C]
reading in the UBSGNT 3rd ed. It is our judgment that
the phrase is a part of the original text. Therefore
we have an example of inclusio or
framing in v 7 which heightens the significance
of "the thorn in my flesh, the messenger
of Satan to torment me," as a necessary means
of keeping Paul humble.
68
K. L. Chafin, 1, II
Corinthians (Communicators Commentary; ed. L. J. Ogilvie
69 Plummer, A Critical Commentary on Second Corinthians,
347.
70
Short, 407.
71 Martin, II Corinthians, 410.
138
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
Paul proceeds to tell us that the
paradise vision had the potential
for promoting spiritual pride and arrogance.
Therefore, "in order (i!na
introduces the first of three purpose clauses) that
he might not lift
himself up improperly (u[perai<rwmoi pres. mid. sub.),"
there was
given to him a thorn for his flesh. The middle voice
seems significant
in indicating self exaltation. This same word is
also used by Paul in
2 Thess 2:4 with
respect to the "man of lawlessness."
He was given a sko<loy
t^? sarki<. We have again an
example of
the passivum divinum, for it is clear that God is the hidden agent
who
is operative behind the scenes. Paul therefore
sees the "stake, thorn"
(sko<loy is also a hapax legomenon) as originating in God. He pro-
ceeds in the text to further
identify this sko<loy
as a messenger of
Satan
whose purpose is (1) continually to buffet (pres. tense) him
( cf. Matt 26:67 of literal physical blows inflicted
upon Jesus during his
passion), and (2) for the purpose of keeping him
humble. "Messenger
of Satan" is a personification of the sko<loy.72 "Thorn
in my flesh" is
capable of two interpretations. If rendered
"in the flesh" (locative of
place), it becomes likely that a physical disability
is in mind. If it is
interpreted "for the flesh" (dative of
disadvantage), then "flesh" may
be referring to the sin nature or creaturely
weakness.73 It is our view
that the former of these two options is the better
interpretation.
The question of primary interest is,
of course, "What was the
thorn?" Anyone familiar with 2 Corinthians is
well aware of the ex-
tensive discussion on this
subject.74 Our own position is that Paul
suffered physically from a severe opthalmic difficulty. This seems
reasonable in light of Gal 4: 13ff; 6:11. This view
is one we hold
tentatively, recognizing the objections to it, as
well as the apparent
growing popularity and the defensibility of the
thorn as being some
type of persecution.
Paul, in the OT tradition of Job,
sees Satan as the instrument of
suffering in God's hand, accomplishing an end for
him that is bene-
72 M. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (4 vols.;
MacDonald)
355; A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in
the New Testament (5 vols;
73 G.
R. Beasley-Murray, II Corinthians (Broadman Bible Commentary; ed. C. J.
Allen;
74 In the commentaries
see the extensive discussions of Furnish, II
Corinthians,
547-50;
Hughes, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians,
442-46; Plummer; A Critical
Commentary on Second
Corinthians,
348-51; Plummer, Second Epistle to the Corin-
thians,
140-45. Journal articles dedicated to this subject include M. L. Barre, "
and the 'Weakness' of Paul," CBQ 42 (1980) 216-27; McCant, "Paul's Thorn," 550-72;
T.
Y. Mullins, "Paul's Thorn in the Flesh," JBL 76 (1957) 299-303; P. Nisbet,
"The
Thorn
in the Flesh," Exp Tim 80 (1969)
126; D. Park, "Paul's SKOLOY TH SARKI:
Thorn
or Stake (II Cor. XII 7)," NovT 22 (1980) 179-83; R. Price,
"Punished in
409-16.
Akin:
TRIUMPHALISM, SUFFERING AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY 139
ficial (cf. Rom 8:28-30). This
does not prevent him however from
petitioning the Lord "three times" (we
take this literally contra Calvin)
to
remove him a]p ] e]mou< (ablative of
separation). The word tou<tou
we
take as masculine, and therefore referring to the
messenger of Satan.
However
making a fine distinction at this point seems unnecessary.
It is here that Paul reveals a
revelation from the Lord, rather than
in the paradise pericope
which is contextually related to "visions and
revelations" in 12:1-4. Concerning kai> ei@rhke<n ("But he said to
me"
perf. tense),
Vincent says, "A more beautiful use of the perfect it
would be difficult to find in the New
Testament."75 God has spoken in
the past, and that revelation continues even now to
ring in the apostle's
ears. The word order of what follows is again
significant: "'Suffices'
[pres.
power']
in weakness is perfected" (telei?tai pres. pass.
While Betz sees in this section a
miracle or wonder story (parody)
that interestingly contains no miracle (such an
observation we would
think would lead him to question the soundness of his
identification of
literary form), the insights of McCant and also Tasker seem more
promising. They point out a number of parallels
between Jesus (espe-
cially his garden/passion
experience) and Paul. (McCant following
Betz
does, however, call this a "parodic healing
story!"76). Building
upon and expanding their insights, we would not
suggest Paul con-
sciously modeled this narrative
after the experience(s) of our Lord.
However,
the "weakness Christology" we see developed so clearly in
2
Corinthians, as well as the "suffering servant motif," which surfaces
so often in the NT would certainly be influential
for our apostle's self-
understanding of his position and
mission. Those who follow the Lord
Jesus
can expect that they will in many situations and circumstances
relive the mission, and even passion of the Savior.77
"Parallels between Jesus and
Paul in the Context of Affliction"
Jesus Paul
(1)
Jesus faced a cross (stauro<j) Paul faced a thorn/stake
an instrument of death. (sko<loy), possibly an instru-
ment of death (2 Cor 12:7).
(2)
Three times Jesus prays "Let Three
times Paul prays for the
this cup pass" (Mark 14:35f). removal
of the thorn
(2
Cor 12:8).
75 Vincent,
Word Studies, 356.
76 McCant,
"Paul's Thorn," 571.
77 Ibid.;
Tasker, Second
Epistle to the Corinthians,178.
140
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
(3)
Jesus receives an answer to his Paul
receives an answer to his
prayer different from his initial prayer different from his
initial
request. request.
(4)
Jesus prayed, "Not my will but Paul
receives a word from the
thine. . ." (Luke
22:42). Lord
(an oracle?), "For you
my grace is sufficient."
(2
Cor 12:9)
(5)
Jesus is crucified. (Mark 15:24) Paul
receives no healing.
(2
Cor 12:9).
(6)
Jesus was rejected by "his Paul's
"own" church (the
own." (John 1:11). Corinthians)
apparently were
on the verge of rejecting him
(2 Cor 10:14; 12:7-10).
(7)
Jesus was raised from the dead Paul will
live with Christ "by
"by the power of God." the power of God"
(Mark
16:1). (2
Cor 13:4).
(8)
Jesus was rejected as Messiah. Paul was
rejected as an
apostle.
(9)
Jesus was the suffering servant. Paul
was a suffering servant
apostle.
(10)
God saved a world through a God
reached a world through
Christ
crucified in weakness. an apostle daily crucified in
Christ
in weakness.
The comments of Furnish are well
taken and to the point when
he says,
the apostle
is directed to understand his affliction as part of that weakness
in and
through which God's powerful grace is operative. It is clear that
from Paul's
point of view the 'decisive demonstration of the truth' of this
oracular
pronouncement is Christ himself, 'crucified in weakness' but
alive 'by
the power of God' (13:4a, cf. I Cor. 1:17-18,22-24).
This is why
weakness is
the hallmark of his apostleship, because he has been com-
missioned to the service of the gospel through the
grace of
this Christ--a
grace whose power is made present in the cross. Paul
therefore
does not, like the Cynic and Stoic philosophers of his day,
strive to
transcend his weaknesses by dismissing them as trifling. Nor
does he,
like them, hold to the ideal of self-sufficiency, striving to limit
his needs
and therefore his dependency on others. Rather, precisely by
accepting
his tribulations as real weaknesses he is led by them to ac-
knowledge
his ultimate dependence on God (cf. 1:8-9). Thereby his
weaknesses--not
just the frailty which inevitably characterizes his crea-
turely status, but the adversities and afflictions he
has had to bear as an
apostle--have
become a means by which the incomparable power of
Akin:
TRIUMPHALISM, SUFFERING AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY 141
God
is revealed (4:7-15). The oracle he now quotes is therefore but a
special formulation of the gospel itself:
salvation, one's only true suffi-
ciency, is by God's grace and
in God's power (cf. 3:5, 8:9; Rom. 1:16).78
3.
Supernatural sufficiency: The power of
Christ overshadowing
(12:9b-10)
Verses
9b-10. "Therefore will I boast all the more gladly about
my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on
me. That is why
for Christ's sake I delight in weakness, in
insults, in hardships, in
persecutions, in difficulties. For
when I am weak, then I am strong."
Furnish summarizes the essence of
this final section of 2 Cor 12:1-
10
when he states,
Having cited the oracle (v. 9a),
Paul goes on in vv. 9b-10 to show how it
applies to
him, and therefore how it supports what he has been doing in
this
'fool's speech.' Three sentences express essentially the same point in
three different
ways. ...The apostle says that he has now stopped pray-
ing for relief from the thorn in the flesh. Now,
instead, he boasts of his
weaknesses,
including that specific affiiction, because now he
understands
them not as
Satan's work but as the operation of the grace of the
crucified
Christ. . . grace that constitutes the power of Christ.79
@Hdista ou#n ma?llon
kauxh<somai e]n tai?j a]sqenei<aj
"Most gladly
therefore (because of the Lord's reply) will I
rather glory in my
weaknesses (than pray that they may be removed).
The order of the
words is important."80 Also, this is
the last use of kauxh<somai
in this
epistle. Barrett points out that ma?llon is not to be taken with
h@dista,
and that it is awkward that no direct comparison is
expressed.81
Lenski I think demonstrates that though the grammar
may be cloudy,
the thinking of the apostle is clear, especially
when we construct it
with
what follows: i!na
e]piskhnw<sh e]p ]
e]me> h[ du<namij tou? xristou? "in
order that may rest or tabernacle upon me the power
of Christ."
The superlative h@dista is elative: 'very gladly,' 'with exceeding
gladness'.
Ma?llon is distinct, 'the more,' 'rather,' since Paul had received
this word
from the
Lord, which showed him the great value of all his weaknesses
for the
Lord's purpose. . . . All that he had said in 11:30 and 12:5 about
his making
only the weaknesses his boast, all that at first sounds so
paradoxical
and incomprehensible in these statements, is now perfectly
clear.82
78 Furnish, II Corinthians, 550-51.
79 Ibid.,
571.
80 Plummer, A Critical Commentary on Second Corinthians,
355.
81 Barrett, Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 317.
82 Lenski, Paul’s First
and Second Epistles to the Corinthians, 1306.
142
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
Plummer
points out that i!na
e]piskhnw<sh is a "bold
metaphor, which
may possibly be intended to suggest the Shechinah 'that the
strength of the Christ may tabernacle upon
me."83 The word e]pi-
skhvw<sh is the third hapax legomenon in
the pericope.
Paul concludes with a summation in v
10. Paul again includes a
"catalog of hardships," the second such listing in the
"fool's discourse"
(cf.
11:23b-24). This listing is much shorter and more generalized.
Paul
says he is "well pleased, continually delights" (eu]dokw? pres.
progressive) in his weaknesses. The question as to
whether power
through weakness is to be understood revelationally or ontologically
or both is addressed at length by Martin and
especially O'Collins.84 In
our view the last idea is preferred, the thought
being, "Under circum-
stances of 'weakness' something happens (power
intervenes), and
both Paul and others become aware of this new
development."85
Verse 10.
"When I am weak, then I am powerful" is a gnomic
climax to 12:1-10. Paul has exposed his whole ministry
for all to
observe, and he invites others to draw strength
from his experience(s).
Whenever
the Lord's servants humble themselves and acknowledge
their shortcomings, insufficiencies, and weaknesses,
the power of Christ
can flow through them and manifest itself.86
"For whenever I am
weak, then powerful I am."
III.
Conclusion
Baird
states,
What do these exegetical
observations imply for Paul's understanding of
revelatory
experience as ground for ministry? Negatively, they indicate
that Paul refuses
to found his ministry on private, ecstatic religion--even
though he
can claim religious experiences of that sort. At the same time
II Corinthians 12 does say something
positive about ministerial authority.
Paul, after demonstrating the vanity
of boasting in visions, says, 'on my
own behalf
I will not boast, except of my weaknesses' (vs. 5). This
weakness is
epitomized by the experience of the thorn, and the revela-
tion which that experience provided was crucial. In
that revelation, the
power of
Christ was perceived to work in weakness. Paul's ministry,
with its
long catalog of weaknesses (II Cor. 11:24-29), was
designed to
conform to
God's way of working (I Cor. 1:23-24)--as power in
weak-
ness. Paul
refrains from boasting in visions, so that no one may credit
83 Plummer, A Critical Commentary on Second Corinthians,
355. Also see the
discussion of Martin, II Corinthians, 421.
84 Martin, II Corinthians, 421-23; cf. G. O'Collins, "Power Made Perfect in Weak-
ness: II Cor.
12:9-10," CBQ 33 (1971) 528-37.
85 O'Collins,
"Power Made Perfect in Weakness," 528.
86 Martin, II Corinthians, 423.
Akin:
TRIUMPHALISM, SUFFERING AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY 143
me with
more than one sees or hears from me' (II Cor. 12:6).
In other
words,
Paul's ministry is accredited by the public credentials of his
suffering
service.87
Unfortunately, much of Christendom
in 1989 is not far removed
from the mindset of the Corinthians in A.D. 55-57.
Theologically and
practically we, like they, need to rethink biblical
criteria for charac-
teristics which exemplify
spiritual maturity, personally and ecclesio-
logically. Bruner speaks to what Paul would desire
that we learn not
only from 2 Cor 12:1-10,
but indeed the entire Corinthian corpus.
He
states,
The Corinthian letters are a
sustained attempt to formulate what Luther
called a theologia crucis, a
theology of the cross. God's way of working
in the
world--to men an inefficient way, and thus a proof of its divinity--
is the way
of weakness. The crucified Christ himself is this way's classic
content;
the cross its classic form; the struggling church (and church
member) its
classic sphere. Men are saved by believing this content and
serve by
assuming this form in this sphere. But hidden in the cross and
weakness
(corporate and individual) and revealed in the church to faith
is
resurrection power. When. . . weak, then. . . strong.
(II Cor. 12:10)88
Though some might deem a practical
word as inappropriate for a
theological journal, the insights of
fitting conclusion to our study. Seeking to
glean practical and vital
truths from these chapters, truths which will
challenge and strengthen
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ,
observations by way of contemporary
applications/significances.
(1) We should learn something of the
very nature of Christian
leadership. Little is more important in our day
when promoting self
under the guise of promoting Christ has become both
commonplace
and indeed an advocated practice.
(2) We should discover the root of
evil wedded to worldly boast-
ing and its relationship to
the self-centeredness and pride which lies
at the heart of all sin. Modern
"Christian" success stories and formulas
often reveal more about prideful triumphalism
than the humble way
of the Saviors cross which fosters holiness,
character, maturity, and
understanding in the sacred truths of
the Christian faith.
(3) We should seek to emulate the
model of Christian maturity
Paul
exemplifies. Service, humility, conviction, and spiritual depth are
the characteristics that should be our priorities,
our goals.
87
Baird, "Visions, Revelation, and Ministry," 661.
88 F. D. Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970)
319.
144
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
(4) We should be reminded that
Christians individually and cor-
porately are responsible for the
styles of leadership they follow and
honor. The reality that Christian leaders are
responsible before the
Lord
for their conduct and teaching is equally balanced by the truth
that the members of the Christian community are
responsible before
Christ
for choosing what and whom they will follow.
(5) Finally, we should remember
again that the early church like
the modern church was no paragon of perfection.
They, like us, were
those whose allegiance was to the Lordship of Jesus
Christ, but whose
maturity and growth in his sanctifying grace
often fell short of that
which our Lord intends. Indeed we are never to lose
sight of the
reality of Scripture which reminds us that
perfection will be experi-
enced only in the Parousia.89
89
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