Freed from all anxiety about the Corinthians, Paul confidently declares that he is an apostle of the Lord. In the first letter he said that he was called an apostle, though he was not approved of by those who had been lured away from his teaching. In order to affirm that his apostleship has been ratified, he adds that he has been made an apostle by the will of God. He writes in association with Timothy, from whom he has heard the good news of the changes which have taken place at Corinth, and he associates the people there with believers in other churches, in order to confirm to them that they have made progress.

People ask why it is that Paul puts his own name first, when the normal custom in letters is to put the name of the addressee at the beginning. The reason for this is that he is an apostle who is writing to those who are accountable to him. This is why he adopts the custom of secular judges, who do the same thing when they write to those over whom they exercise authority. Note too that he did not say Paul and Timothy, because they were not both apostles. But in writing to the Philippians Paul did say that, because it was not so necessary for him to stress his authority in that case.^[1]

In his first epistle, Paul said that he would send Timothy with the letter,^[1] but now he associates Timothy with him. Why is this? Evidently Timothy had already accomplished his mission and returned to be with Paul. Having been for some time in Asia, they had crossed into Macedonia, from which he wrote this letter. By associating Timothy with himself, Paul increased respect for him and displayed his own great humility, since Timothy was far less well known than Paul. But love brings all things together.

Timothy and Titus were both sent to Corinth, but Paul did not mention Titus in the letter because he was the one who actually carried it there.

Once more, Paul calls the Corinthians a church, in order to bind them together, and saints, implying that if anyone is impure he is not included in this greeting.

Paul does not always mention other people besides himself in his salutations. I think that he does this when one of his associates is well-known to the intended recipients. With all the saints is ambiguous. Either it means all the saints who were with Paul, or else it means all the saints who were at Corinth.

Why does Paul address the Christians of the entire province, and not merely those of the city? The reason, I think, is that they were all involved in a single, common problem and were therefore all in need of the same remedy.

Since the gift of God and of Christ is one and the same, Paul wants them to be partakers in the grace of God, that is, in the grace of Jesus Christ.

The works that the Father does the Son also does, and the gifts that the Father gives, the Son also gives. It is to be understood from this that although we know God as Father, we are still servants of Jesus Christ. We do not call him brother but Lord. For he is the only begotten Son by nature, not by adoption, and is Lord of all those who have been made children of God.

Paul always speaks in this way, indicating the personhood of the Father and the Son, even though they are of one substance. Now he is giving much relief to people who had been grieved by his rebuke, for when they hear that God is not just the Father of creation but the Father of mercies as well, they will have hope and be assured that they have been rebuked so that they may find the mercy of God, once they have mended their ways. Through repentance they were being born again and made anew, which was not just a pardon but a restoration of their previous state of existence. He puts mercies in the plural because of their many sins, his aim being to console those who have been grieved on account of their faults.

God alone is holy and good, sanctifying others and making them good. He alone is blessed, because he gives blessing and does not receive it from someone else. Likewise, he is the Father of mercies by nature, because he is the source of all mercy and not because he has acquired this from anyone else.

Paul does not begin with suffering but with comfort, giving thanks for that before going on to explain that it came about through suffering.

Christ himself teaches us that God is his Father.^[1]

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For in the thought of God, let the thought of Father be included, so that the glory which we ascribe to the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit may be perfectly free from difference. For the Father has not one glory and the Son another, but their glory is one and the same, since the Son is the Father’s sole-begotten. When the Father is glorified, the Son shares in enjoyment of his glory, because the Son draws his glory from the honoring of the Father. Again, whenever the Son is glorified, the Father of so excellent a Son is greatly honored.

Paul mentions two kinds of consolation. One is the sort by which people who are suffering distress unjustly on account of the name of Christ find consolation in being set free. The other is the consolation of those who, when they are grieved because of sins, receive consolation from the fact that hope of forgiveness is promised to them when they mend their ways. This happens amid a community of those who have received consolation from God and been rescued from distress.

The Corinthians were very upset that the apostle had not come to them, in spite of his promise, and that he had spent all his time in Macedonia, apparently preferring them to the Corinthians. Paul therefore prepares to meet this feeling against him by declaring the cause of his absence, though without stating it directly.

Paul sets this down beforehand because he is about to say that the man who had been condemned because of his sin should be reconciled by God’s comforting power.

But what does it mean to say that the kingdom of God is within us? What else than the gladness which comes from on high to souls through the Spirit? For this is like an image and a deposit and a pattern of everlasting grace which the souls of the saints enjoy in the time which is to come. So the Lord summons us through the activity of the Spirit to salvation through our afflictions and to a sharing in the goods of the Spirit and his own graces. For he says: Who comforts us in our afflictions, that we also may be able to comfort those who are in any distress.

If as the sufferings of Christ abound so also comfort abounds through Christ, let us welcome the great encouragement of Christ’s sufferings and let them abound in us, if we indeed yearn for the abundant comfort with which all who mourn will be comforted, though perhaps it will not be alike for everyone. For if the comfort were alike for everyone, it would not be written, As the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. Those who share in sufferings will share also in the comfort in proportion to the suffering they share with Christ. And we learn this from the one who made such statements with unshaken conviction, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

It is clear that Christ himself, for whose sake we are suffering, is present with us, consoling us and rescuing us from trouble by his divine intervention.

Paul did not want to depress the disciples with an exaggerated account of his sufferings, so instead of that he declares how great the consolation was that he received, reminding them of Christ.

Now by consolation he means theoria, which, being interpreted, is vision of soul. Vision gives birth to consolation.

Because they were suffering persecutions from unbelievers for the sake of believers, they would be set free by God’s help. This was viewed as a consolation to believers, so that they would not desert their faith because of such a stumbling block. The injuries suffered by the apostles were a temptation to believers to abandon their faith. When they saw the preachers overcome by force, they were inclined to wonder whether the promise of Christ might be an empty one.

What humility can compare with this, in that Paul raises to a level of equality with himself those who so obviously fell far short of him. Our salvation is demonstrated more clearly when we bear all things nobly. The work of salvation does not consist only of believing but of enduring evil when it is done to us.

If the apostles suffered, how much more are the others likely to suffer!

See how far they had advanced since Paul wrote his first epistle. Now his hope for them was unshaken by their behavior. Paul also tells them that if he has been comforted, they will be comforted as well. If the Corinthians regarded Paul’s sufferings as their own, then his comfort would also be theirs. By saying this, Paul hoped that he would be able to encourage them and get them to accept his absence from them more easily.

I think that Paul is referring here to the riot at Ephesus which was provoked by Demetrius the silversmith.^[1]

Paul wanted the Corinthians to know what evils he was enduring for the sake of their salvation. That way, they would not take it too badly if their own errors were admonished by people who were enduring such harsh treatment for their sake.

Paul recounts his own sufferings so that the Corinthians will realize that what they are going through is nothing by comparison. The disciple who grieves over his own hurt will be comforted when he sees that his master is suffering far more.

It was very comforting to know what others were doing and what was happening to them. If the news was bad, people would be encouraged to be energetic and thus would be less likely to fall. If the news was good, they could all rejoice together. Here, as we can see, things had been very bad indeed.

Paul means that there was such a violent upsurge of evil against preachers of the faith that death was staring them in the face. But God does not refuse his protection to people in extreme danger, especially when they belong to him. He rescued them when they were in deep despair. Their affliction was so great that they would not have withstood it if God had not been with them.

Paul was expecting death, but things had not come to that point. In the natural course of events, he should have died, but God did not allow that to happen in order that Paul would learn not to trust in himself but in God.

Death itself teaches us that all human help is inadequate and that our only hope is to rely on him who can raise us from the dead.

Perfect renunciation, therefore, consists in not having an affection for this life and keeping before our minds the answer of death, that we should not trust in ourselves. But a beginning is made by detaching oneself from all external goods: property, vainglory, life in society, useless desires, after the example of the Lord’s holy disciples. James and John left their father Zebedee and the very boat upon which their whole livelihood depended. Matthew left his counting house and followed the Lord, not merely leaving behind the profits of his occupation but also paying no attention to the dangers which were sure to befall both himself and his family at the hands of the magistrates because he had left the tax accounts unfinished. To Paul, finally, the whole world was crucified, and he to the world.

Although the resurrection is a thing of the future, Paul shows that it happens every day. When a person is delivered from the gates of death, it is really a kind of resurrection. The same thing can be said of those who have been delivered out of serious illness or unbearable trials.

Paul said this both to stir them up to pray for others and to accustom them to give thanks to God for whatever happened to others. People who do this for others will be much more likely to do it for themselves as well. Paul also teaches them humility and deep, fervent love. For if he, who was so high above them, admitted that he was saved by their prayers, think how modest and humble they should have been as a result.

The boast of Paul’s conscience was simplicity and sincerity, qualities which belong to God’s teaching. In his first letter Paul had criticized teaching based on earthly wisdom, and he alludes to that again here.^[1] He accused preachers of that kind both because they preached according to the wisdom of the world and because they were doing it in order to make money. For that reason, Paul was unwilling to receive any payment from the Corinthians.

The previous consolation was from God, but now it is the fruit of their own behavior. People who live uprightly will see the power of God at work in their lives and be comforted.

Cato is rightly praised more than Caesar, for, as Sallust says of him: The less he sought for glory the more it followed him. However, the only kind of glory they were greedy for was merely the reputation of a good name among men; whereas virtue rests not on others’ judgments but on the witness of one’s own conscience and therefore is better than a good name. Hence the apostle says: For our glory is this, the testimony of our conscience. . . . Therefore, virtue should not pursue the glory, honor and dominion which they sought, even though their good men sought to reach these ends by good means, but these things should follow virtue. There is no true virtue save that which pursues the end which is man’s true good. It follows, therefore, that Cato should not have sought the honors he sought, but his city should have given them to him because of his virtue and without his asking for them.

Earthly wisdom means knowledge of material things. Those who have this kind of wisdom have no room for the wisdom of the Spirit, which they regard as foolishness.

Paul is saying that he teaches only what he has been taught by the grace of God, adding nothing of his own to it.

What Paul says is backed up by his actions. It is through actions that we learn what a person really thinks.

Paul is not boasting. All he is doing is writing facts which the Corinthians themselves would acknowledge to be true.

Paul says that, in spite of the accusations leveled against him, he does not preach one thing and think another. The facts speak for themselves and prove that he is right.

Paul asserts that his boasting over his obedient children is noticed and that this will be to their advantage on the day of judgment.

Paul cuts at the root of the envy which his speech might occasion by making the Corinthians sharers and partners in the glory of his good works.

Paul says that the Corinthians have understood only in part, because they have not yet rejected the false accusations which had been made against him.

This is proof that the Corinthians have mended their ways, because earlier on Paul did not want to see them at all.

The pleasure would be double because it would come both from his writings and from his presence.

Some people think that Paul said this aggressively, because in the first epistle he had promised the Corinthians that he would visit the Macedonians first and then come to Corinth. But as they were not willing to wait for him, he gives them a piece of his mind.

Paul dismisses the charge that he cannot be trusted by telling the Corinthians that he did not change his mind lightly. He had good reasons for not doing what he had originally planned. When a spiritually minded person does not do what he intends to, it is because he has in mind something more providential for the salvation of someone’s soul. The apostle did not carry out his original plan in order that the Corinthians might become better men and women. He delayed his coming specifically because there were some among them who had not purified themselves, and he was waiting for that to happen first. This is spiritual thinking. Carnal thinking, by contrast, makes changes of plan in order to suit personal desires, not in order to do what is beneficial.

The carnal man, who is riveted to the present world and completely caught up in it, is outside the sphere of the Spirit’s influence and has the power to go everywhere, doing whatever he likes. But the servant of the Spirit is led by the Spirit. He cannot just do what he likes. He is dependent on the Spirit’s authority. Paul was not able to come to Corinth because it was not the Spirit’s will for him to go there.

Paul is saying that God’s preaching through him has been faithful. Flatterers, on the other hand, frequently fail to mention things which are true in order not to offend people.

Paul had to explain why he could not keep his promise, so that the Corinthians would not distrust his preaching. In fact, what Paul preached was reliable. His promise to come to them had been from himself, but the message he proclaimed was from God, and God cannot lie.

Competent preachers ought to be unambiguous about what they say. Say nothing that is not beneficial. Given that our human will often tends in ambivalent directions, Paul is insistent that he is not acting according to his will but according to what he knows will be helpful. In Christ, of course, this problem does not exist, because he always wills what is beneficial. Furthermore, Christ’s will never changes and is never uncertain.

I have never unsaid what I said before. My talk was not now this, now that. That would be not faith but a wandering mind.

And when we confess that we have lied, we speak the truth, for we are saying what we know, and we know that we have lied. That Word, however, which is God and more powerful than ourselves, cannot do this. . . . And of himself he does not speak, but of that Father is everything that he speaks, since the Father speaks it in a unique way. The great power of that Word is that he cannot lie, because in him there cannot be yes and no but yes, yes; no, no. For that is not even to be called a word if it is not true.

Paul’s preaching promised many things. He talked about being raised to life again and of being taken up into heaven. He talked about incorruption and those great rewards which awaited them. These promises abide unchanging, unlike Paul’s own promise of coming to them. They are always true.

Paul means that the work of the Father and the Son is one. When the Father gives the Spirit, the Son gives him too, because the Holy Spirit comes from both of them. He is thinking of the Trinity here because he has been speaking about the perfecting of mankind. The whole sum of perfection is found in the Trinity.

Paul is saying that Christ confirms the Gentiles in the faith promised to the Jews, because he has made us both one.

If the root and the fount are properly established, how can it be that we shall not enjoy the fruits which will spring from them? One thing leads inevitably to the other.

After these words, after the renunciation of the devil and the covenant with Christ, inasmuch as you have henceforth become his very own and have nothing in common with that evil one, he straightway bids you to be marked and places on your forehead the sign of the cross. That savage beast is shameless, and when he hears those words, he grows more wild—as we might expect—and desires to assault you on sight. Hence God anoints your countenance and stamps thereon the sign of the cross. In this way God holds in check all the frenzy of the Evil One, for the devil will not dare to look on such a sight. Just as if he had beheld the rays of the sun and had leaped away, so will his eyes be blinded by the sight of your face and he will depart. For through the chrism the cross is stamped on you. . . . And that you may again know that it is not a man but God himself who anoints you by the hand of the priest, listen to St. Paul when he says: It is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ, who has anointed us.

Therefore, you received of the sacraments. . . . Because you have been baptized in the name of the Trinity, in all that we have done the mystery of the Trinity has been preserved. Everywhere the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one operation, one sanctification. . . . How? God, who anointed you, and the Lord sealed you and placed the Holy Spirit in your heart. Therefore, you have received the Holy Spirit in your heart.

God is the source of all good things. He has given us firm faith in Christ. He has anointed us and made us worthy to receive the seal of the Holy Spirit.

Shepherds brand their sheep so as to distinguish the ones which belong to them from others. This is what Christ has done to us.

I have learned from your letter, as well as from the statement of the bearer, that you ardently desire a letter from me, in the belief that it will bring you the greatest consolation. I must not refuse or delay this letter, but you will have to see what good you can draw from it. Let the faith and hope and charity, which are diffused through the hearts of the faithful by the Holy Spirit, be your consolation. We receive a little of it in this life as a pledge to make us learn how to long for its fullness. You must not think of yourself as left alone, since in the interior life you have Christ, present in your heart by faith.

To realize that Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit, and like him all the apostles, and all who after them believe in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, pay attention to the clear words of Paul himself. . . . God who also stamped us with his seal and gave us the Spirit as a pledge.

Here Paul is addressing people who apparently wanted to reform but were not making much of an effort in that direction. It was to spare them until they pulled themselves together that he went elsewhere for the time being. Paul did not want them to think that he despised them as unworthy. Once they realized that, they would mend their ways, and then the apostle would come to visit them.

Paul stayed away from Corinth at least partly because if he had gone there he would have had to take on the role of disciplinarian, which neither he nor they wanted.

Paul says this because faith is not a matter of compulsion but of free will.

Paul did not want to go to Corinth in order to plunge the Corinthians into despair. Instead, he stayed away so that they would reform themselves, fearing what might otherwise happen if he did come.

Paul added this because his authority was evidently what the Corinthians were afraid of.

Paul says that he finds no fault with their faith. However, there are some other things which need to be put right, and he is concerned with those.