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Rating: 
Summary: A great look at the humanity of Paul
Review: As with most other books in this series (New Testament Theology), Murphy-O'Connor's 2 Corinthians is a fine piece of craftsmanship. O'Connor gets good marks first off by breaking out of the stifling four-chapter set-up that seems to plague most books in this series (intro, theology, book in NT canon, book for today) by following the flow of the book. This approach is much preferred for most NT books since they present their ideas from argumentation. Following the argument and progression of the book is better for readers since it helps to relate the book as a whole to its underlying ideas, rather than just having theology done in a vacuum. O'Connors strongest praise comes from his ability to present Paul as a frustrated and insecure man and not just as an apostle. And this probably owes to the nature of 2 Corinthians as it seems to be one of the most personal of his extant letters. The whole of the letter (or letters) is concerned with Paul presenting a view of right ministry, characterized by weakness as much as it is by power. And in defending his claim to apostleship we see Paul at his most vulnerable. The background given for this letter is intriguing, if not entirely convincing. Claiming that there are two groups of people at Corinth - the "Spirit-people" who betray signs of early gnosticism and over-realized eschatology, and the Judaizers, who are attempting to enforce their pattern of law-abiding Christianity on the church - O'Connor presents 2 Corinthians as an attempt to turn the one group against the other while maintaining the one's allegiance to the church. It sounds complicated and at times some of the exegesis from the text appears to be stretched, but it is a fascinating hypothesis and, if true, seems to hold its own from the text. The look at how Paul would attack the one group to gain favor with the other group all the while defending his own unique calling from the risen Christ makes for a very interesting read. Most interesting of all, as mentioned above, is the look into Paul's fears about his church and himself and the mistakes made in his attempt to present himself fully to his church. In the end, such a display of humanity commends itself to relevance for today in both private life and ministry and the connections to both that O'Connor make are not hard to come by. Overall, this book has more than met my expectations regarding this series and I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A great look at the humanity of Paul
Review: As with most other books in this series (New Testament Theology), Murphy-O'Connor's 2 Corinthians is a fine piece of craftsmanship. O'Connor gets good marks first off by breaking out of the stifling four-chapter set-up that seems to plague most books in this series (intro, theology, book in NT canon, book for today) by following the flow of the book. This approach is much preferred for most NT books since they present their ideas from argumentation. Following the argument and progression of the book is better for readers since it helps to relate the book as a whole to its underlying ideas, rather than just having theology done in a vacuum. O'Connors strongest praise comes from his ability to present Paul as a frustrated and insecure man and not just as an apostle. And this probably owes to the nature of 2 Corinthians as it seems to be one of the most personal of his extant letters. The whole of the letter (or letters) is concerned with Paul presenting a view of right ministry, characterized by weakness as much as it is by power. And in defending his claim to apostleship we see Paul at his most vulnerable. The background given for this letter is intriguing, if not entirely convincing. Claiming that there are two groups of people at Corinth - the "Spirit-people" who betray signs of early gnosticism and over-realized eschatology, and the Judaizers, who are attempting to enforce their pattern of law-abiding Christianity on the church - O'Connor presents 2 Corinthians as an attempt to turn the one group against the other while maintaining the one's allegiance to the church. It sounds complicated and at times some of the exegesis from the text appears to be stretched, but it is a fascinating hypothesis and, if true, seems to hold its own from the text. The look at how Paul would attack the one group to gain favor with the other group all the while defending his own unique calling from the risen Christ makes for a very interesting read. Most interesting of all, as mentioned above, is the look into Paul's fears about his church and himself and the mistakes made in his attempt to present himself fully to his church. In the end, such a display of humanity commends itself to relevance for today in both private life and ministry and the connections to both that O'Connor make are not hard to come by. Overall, this book has more than met my expectations regarding this series and I highly recommend it.
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