**N.B. This is a transcript of my complete chapter on 2 Corinthians taken from "Sixty-Six Books - An Overview of the Bible Book by Book"**
Second Corinthians is widely recognized as the most autobiographical of all of Paul’s epistles, it is a truly intensely personal letter.
Author
Like 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians begins by identifying the author as Paul (2 Cor 1:1) says so. Tradition and Church history also both support Pauline authorship.
Recipients
Paul wrote 1 Corinthians on his third missionary journey during his last year at Ephesus, which was probably in the early spring of 57 AD. Apparently 2 Corinthians was written shortly after. All the events between the two epistles probably took place in seven or eight months. Thus, the date of 2 Corinthians is reckoned to be the autumn of 57 AD. Paul left Ephesus and went to Troas where he expected to meet Titus, but he did not find him there (2 Cor. 2:12-13). He then departed for Macedonia (2 Cor. 2:13) where he finally did meet him there (2 Cor.7:6, 7), probably at Philippi. Titus informed him that the church supported him, but some extremely critical of Paul were casting doubts in the minds of the Corinthians concerning his integrity. These opponents of Paul were accusing him of walking according to the flesh (2 Cor 1:12,17, 10:2) of being deceitful (2 Cor 2:17, 4:2; 12:16), intimidating people with his letters (2 Cor 10:9-10), unjustly mistreating someone to the point of ruining him (2 Cor. 7:2), and defrauding people (2 Cor. 7:2). saying he did not take money on his first trip but was planning on fleecing the flock under the guise of a collection for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. (2 Cor 8:20). This situation produced several problems. First and foremost, these accusations raised questions in the minds of the Corinthians. Some began to withdraw from Paul spiritually and become discouraged? Therefore, Paul felt he needed to address the situation concerning those who were falsely accusing him.
Message
Second Corinthians is quite different from 1 Corinthians. First Corinthians is systematic, objective, and practical, deliberate in setting out to warn against pagan influences. Second Corinthians is not systematic. It is personal, impassioned, and warns against Judaizes. The message of 2 Corinthians is the true minister. cares for people, collects offerings from people for the ministry, and on occasion corrects people, and sometimes must even be prepared to defend himself.
Structure
The overall structure of 2 Corinthians follows the format of an ancient letter with greetings, thanksgiving, prayer, the main body of the letter, then finally personal greetings, and benediction. In 2 Corinthians this plays out in.
I. 1:1-11 Introduction and encouragement
II. 1:12-2:17 Paul explains his recent actions
III. 3:1-6:13 True Christian service
IV. 6:14-7:16 Concerning previous correspondence
V. 8:1-9:15 Collection for the poor in Jerusalem
VI. 10:1-13:14 Apostolic authority
Purposes
One purpose of 2 Corinthians is to give instructions. There are several minor purposes, including
1) giving needed instruction regarding the penitent offender (2 Cor. 2:5-11), probably the man mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5,
2), furnishing further instruction regarding the offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 9:1-5)
3) Showing his care for them (2 Cor. 7:12).
However, the major motive and purpose of this letter is to defend and vindicate his apostolic authority. Paul’s opponents had made a threefold assault on him. They attacked his person (2 Cor. 10:10, 11:6), his character (2 Cor. 1:11-17, 12:16-19), and his teaching (2 Cor. 2:17, 11:4). He was accused of inconsistency (2 Cor. 1:17, 18, 23), of pride and boasting (2 Cor. 3:1, 5:12), of being unclear in his preaching (2 Cor. 4:3), of weakness (2 Cor. 10:10), of being rude (2 Cor. 11:6), of being a disreputable person (2 Cor. 4:7-10, 6:4-10, 10:10, 12:7-10), of being dishonest (2 Cor. 12:16-19), of not being of sound of mind (2 Cor. 5:13, 11:16-19, 12:6), and of not even being an apostle (2 Cor.11:5, 12:12). Quite a catalogue of accusations. Paul answers each of these charges on his person (2 Cor. 10:7, 13:4) and on his character (2 Cor. 4:1, 2, 1:15-24, 12:14-18, 7:2, 5:13).
Summary:
Paul wrote to the Corinthians to demonstrate his care and concern for them, to give them some further instruction about the collection for the poor, and to defend his authority as an apostle. This tells us that the true Christian minister cares about people, is comforted in ministry, and sometimes must defend himself.