ACC ~ 2 Corinthians 11 v1 - 11

11:1 | Bearing with Foolishness

BEING FOOLISH. AMBROSIASTER: Paul says that he is being foolish when he starts to talk about himself but that he is forced to do so because these people were harboring unworthy thoughts, when they of all people ought to be thinking well of him. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE FOOLISH ONES. PELAGIUS: Paul calls himself foolish in order to demonstrate that it is those who boast about themselves who really are the foolish ones. COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 11.

FORCED TO BOAST. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul realizes that wise people do not boast of themselves, but he has been forced to do so. COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 340.

11:2 | A Divine Jealousy

OUT OF LOVE. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is making it clear that what he is about to say he will say out of love for them, so that it may be conducive to their progress as much as to his praise and that they may learn from it how to do a favor to their father in the gospel. For to speak ill of a father harms the sons, and the praise of sons is a father’s glory. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

JEALOUSY. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul uses a word here which is far stronger than mere love. Jealous souls burn ardently for those whom they love, and jealousy presupposes a strong affection. Then, in order that they should not think that Paul is after power, wealth or honor, he adds that his jealousy is “divine.” For God is said to be jealous, not in a human way but so that everyone may know that he claims sovereign rights over those whom he loves and does what he does for their exclusive benefit. Human jealousy is basically selfish, but divine jealousy is both intense and pure.

Note the difference between human brides and the church. In the world, a woman is a virgin before her marriage, when she loses her virginity. But in the church, those who were anything but virgins before they turned to Christ acquire virginity in him. As a result, the whole church is a virgin. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 23.1.

A PURE BRIDE. AUGUSTINE: Why does Paul address all these different people as a “chaste virgin,” unless he is referring to their faith, hope and love? FEAST OF THE NATIVITY 188.

THE SPOUSE OF SOULS. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: The souls of all men and women know that they are spouses of Christ if they are willing to preserve both bodily chastity and virginity of heart. For Christ is to be understood as the spouse of their souls, not of their bodies. SERMON 155.4.

A CHASTE VIRGIN. AUGUSTINE: To the same church the apostle says: “For I have promised you to one spouse, that I might present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” … The church, then, like Mary, has inviolate integrity and incorrupt fecundity. What Mary merited physically, the church has guarded spiritually, with the exception that Mary brought forth one Child, while the church has many children destined to be gathered into one body by One. FEAST OF THE NATIVITY 195.2.

THE CHURCH IS A VIRGIN. AUGUSTINE: Do you wish to know how the church is a virgin? Hear the apostle Paul; hear the friend of the Bridegroom who is zealous not for himself but for the Bridegroom: “I betrothed you to one spouse.” He spoke to the church. To which church? To all that his letter could reach. “I betrothed you to one spouse, that I might present you a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear lest,” he said, “as the serpent seduced Eve by his guile … ” That serpent never physically defiled Eve, did he? Yet he did destroy her virginity of heart. On that account Paul said: “I fear lest … your minds may be corrupted from that chastity which is in Christ.” Therefore, the church is a virgin; she is a virgin, may she be a virgin. Let her beware of the deceiver, lest he turn out to be a corrupter. The church is a virgin. Are you, perhaps, going to say to me: “If the church is a virgin, how does she bring forth children? Or, if she does not bring forth children, how did we give our names so that we might be born of her?” I answer: “She is a virgin and she also brings forth children.” She imitates Mary, who gave birth to the Lord. Did not the holy Mary bring forth her Child and remain a virgin? So, too, the church both brings forth children and is a virgin. And if you would give some consideration to the matter, she brings forth Christ, because they who are baptized are his members. CONVERTS AND THE CREED 213.7.

THE PURE VIRGIN BRIDE. NOVATIAN: May purity, then—that purity which goes above and beyond the will and which we should will always to possess—be also given to us for the sake of redemption, so that what has been consecrated by Christ cannot be corrupted. If the apostle states that the church is the bride of Christ, I ask you now to reflect just what purity is required of you, when the church herself is given in marriage as a virgin bride. IN PRAISE OF PURITY 1.

THE CHASTITY OF THE SOUL. ORIGEN: The apostle Paul says, “But I want you all to present yourselves as a pure virgin to one man, Christ. For I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity which is in Christ.” Therefore, Paul wants “all the Corinthians” to present themselves as a pure “virgin to Christ”; certainly he would never want that unless it would seem possible. Whence also it would appear wonderful how these, who although corrupted by diverse sins, came to the faith of Christ, all at once are called “a pure virgin”; a virgin which is so holy and so pure that she is worthy also to be joined in marriage to Christ. However, since we cannot refer these things to the chastity of the flesh, it is sure that they refer to the chastity of the soul, whose “simplicity of the faith which is in Christ,” according to the understanding of Paul himself, was called his virginity. HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 12.5.

11:3 | Led Astray from Devotion to Christ

BEING SEDUCED. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is saying that glory has been given to him not so that he might praise himself but so that he might cast blame on those who, in the name of Christ, were preaching against Christ and by whom the Corinthians were being seduced. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

AS THE SERPENT DECEIVED EVE. PELAGIUS: The serpent deceived Eve by lying to her about God, saying that God merely threatened men with death, but would never actually kill anyone. Likewise, the false apostles in Paul’s day were saying that the gospel was merely added to the Old Testament and that it was therefore necessary to go on keeping the law of Moses as before. In our own time, there are those who claim that hell is merely a threat, either because it does not exist at all or because it is not an eternal punishment—notions which are contrary to the teaching of Scripture. COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 11.

CAUGHT BETWEEN TRUST AND DOUBT. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul does not say that this will happen, but he is afraid that it might. He stands midway between trust and doubt, hoping that they will do the right thing but not being entirely certain of it. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 23.1.

11:4 | A Different Gospel

ADDING TO THE GOSPEL. CHRYSOSTOM: What probably happened was that false teachers appeared from elsewhere and added to what the apostles had already taught. Their claim would have been that the apostles had not said all that there was to say, which Paul is at pains to deny. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 23.2.

11:5 | Superlative Apostles

NOT INFERIOR. AMBROSIASTER: Paul does not think that he is inferior to the other apostles because he has taught the same things and done the same miracles. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

WHO HE IS. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul does not appeal to what he taught but to who he is. His status is at least equal (indeed, it is far superior) to that of those who had led the Corinthians astray. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 23.3.

11:6 | Knowledge Made Plain

RHETORICAL SKILL. AMBROSIASTER: This does not refer to the apostles, who were unlettered men of no eloquence, but to the false teachers whose rhetorical skill the Corinthians preferred. Paul did not mean by this that he did not know how to speak but that commendation did not depend on mere eloquence. A person of little eloquence is not guilty before God, but someone who does not know God is liable to be charged with ignorance, because it was a sin to be ignorant of what is conducive to salvation. It was not eloquence which would commend Paul’s message but the power to save which accompanied it. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

LEARNED IN HEBREW. JEROME: Paul was learned in Hebrew letters and sat at the feet of Gamaliel, whom he was not ashamed to acknowledge, but he showed a contempt for Greek eloquence, or at least he kept quiet about it because of his humility, so that his preaching lay not in the persuasiveness of his words but in the power of his signs. AGAINST RUFINUS 1.17.

UNSKILLED IN SPEAKING. CHRYSOSTOM: The false apostles obviously had the gift of eloquence which Paul lacked. But that means nothing as far as the substance of the preaching is concerned and may even cast a shadow over the glory of the cross, which is anything but superficially attractive. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 23.3.

PAUL’S FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE 2 CORINTHIANS 11:7-11

OVERVIEW: Paul accepted contributions from the Macedonians because they corrected their faults, but he refused anything from the Corinthians because they were less ready to correct theirs (AMBROSIASTER, THEODORET OF CYR). One who accepts payment from sinners loses authority to admonish them (AMBROSIASTER). By indicating love as the motive for his behavior, Paul makes his admonition even more serious (CHRYSOSTOM). Beware of Satan’s disguises (CYPRIAN, CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, AUGUSTINE).

11:7 | Preaching Without Cost

REFUSING PAYMENT. AMBROSIASTER: Paul refused payment for two reasons. He would not resemble the false apostles who were preaching for their own advantage and not for the glory of God, nor would he allow the vigor of his message to become sluggish. For the person who accepts payment from sinners loses the authority to censor them. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

11:8 | Accepting Support from Other Churches

ROBBING OTHER CHURCHES. AMBROSIASTER: Paul makes it clear that not only did other churches encourage him in his ministry to the Corinthians but also that they gave him significant financial support. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

EXAGGERATED FOOLISHNESS. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul is clearly exaggerating for effect, but we must remember that he warned the Corinthians at the beginning of the chapter to bear with a little foolishness as he made his point. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 23.4.

11:9 | Not a Burden to Them

THOSE WHO CORRECTED THEIR FAULTS. AMBROSIASTER: Paul accepted contributions from the Macedonians because they corrected their faults. But he refused anything from the Corinthians because they were less ready to correct theirs. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

FUNDED BY OTHERS. THEODORET OF CYR: This is the greatest condemnation of the Corinthians imaginable. For while he was benefiting them, Paul was being funded by others elsewhere. COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 343.

11:10 | His Boast Not Silenced

REFUSING TO TAKE ANY AID. AMBROSIASTER: Paul urges the whole of Achaia to give aid to the saints, but at the same time he refuses to take anything for himself from any of them. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

11:11 | The Apostle’s Love for Them

A BENEFICIAL LOVE. AMBROSIASTER: Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand that his love for them was beneficial, not harmful. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

LOVE MAKES ADMONITION SERIOUS. CHRYSOSTOM: By giving love as the motive for his behavior, Paul makes his admonition even more serious. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 23.6.