2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Ancient Lens

What’s the historical context?

Mixed Loyalties

Diving straight into 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 without giving a nod to 2 Corinthians 3:1-4:2 gives a strange impression, because Paul’s point in this section is that the gospel is not veiled.  In fact, he is making a case for confidence, clarity, and competence rather than obfuscation. 

Drawing back even further into the pair of letters to Corinth, we discover that Paul’s initial concern that a perception of rivalry between messengers and messages—the Corinthian community’s initial conflict of the first letter— was not fully resolved.  By now, Paul is even willing to give the “perishing” classification to those who do not understand, either by…