II. The Church and Its Problems

While 1 Corinthians reflects problems between the apostle and the community, 2 Corinthians indicates that these differences escalated into open hostility. The tensions that developed between Paul and the Christian community in Corinth seem to have come to a head in his unexpected visit there between the writing of the two canonical letters. Paul addressed this problem in a “sorrowful letter,” now apparently lost, which partially resolved the friction. Second Corinthians celebrates the restored congenial relations between him and his converts.