Corinthians, Second Epistle to the

Second Corinthians is one of Paul's most personally revealing letters, written shortly after First Corinthians, probably in A.D. 55–56 from Macedonia. Paul composed it following the painful reception of the first letter and a subsequent distressing visit, after Titus brought news that the Corinthian church had largely responded with repentance. The letter contains Paul's most extensive defense of his apostolic ministry against opponents who questioned his credentials, and its central section (chapters 8–9) contains the most theologically developed appeal for generous giving in the New Testament.

The letter's distinctive contributions include the theology of the new covenant ministry as surpassing the Mosaic covenant in glory (chapters 3–4), the theology of resurrection and the groaning of the present body for the heavenly dwelling (chapter 5), and Paul's paradoxical account of apostolic weakness as the vehicle of divine power (chapters 11–12). The famous catalog of sufferings in 11:23–29 and the vision of the third heaven in 12:1–10 make Second Corinthians the closest thing in the New Testament to a personal spiritual autobiography of the apostle Paul.