The Bare Facts -- Overviews and Outlines --
Bible Studies: Whole Book -- Part of Book -- Thematic --
Sermons -- Bibliographies
Like our churches today, the Corinthian church didn't simply get fixed and stay fixed. Scholars believe that Paul visited Corinth three times and wrote them four letters, the second and fourth of which are the books of 1st and 2nd Corinthians in our Bible. In this, the last of his letters, Paul deals with a maturing church, one that has fruitfully used his direction in the past and is growing in strength. Still, they require some intervention, which he provides in these thirteen chapters.
Left: The ruined temple of Apollo in the old city of Corinth.
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Overviews and Outlines --
Bible Studies: Whole Book -- Part of Book -- Thematic --
Sermons -- Bibliographies
The Bare Facts
Who: The first word of the epistle reveals its author, Paul, who founded the church in Corinth, as related in Acts 18, in about A.D. 50.
Where: Paul is apparently in Macedonia after meeting with Titus and learning of the problems and progress in Corinth.
When: Obviously this letter comes after A.D. 50 and before the death of Paul. The conservative consensus places its date at around 56 or 57, probably in the fall.
What: Once again, Paul attempts to remedy problems within the Corinthian church. This is a letter of encouragement and gentle instruction after his "severe" letter (7:3-16).
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Memorable Passages |
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| 5:1-5 | The earthly tent and the building from God |
| 6:14-18 | Do not be yoked together with unbelievers |
Overviews and Outlines
- An Introduction to 2nd Corinthians
- An outlined overview by David Malick
- 2nd Corinthians: Introduction, Argument, and Outline
- An overview by Daniel B. Wallace
- An Argument of 2nd Corinthians
- A rhetorical outline by David Malick
- Luther Productions
- A very brief overview including key verses.
- The Blue Letter Bible
- An excellent source for text, cross-references, concordance, language helps, commentaries, and more.
- Preaching to an Alien Culture: Resources in the Corinthian Letters
- A "Texts in Context" essay from Luther Seminary's Word and World, by Edgar Krentz.
- Bible Basics
- A very brief list of facts, but it includes a wav file pronouncing the book's title.
- Easton Bible Dictionary
- The article from M.G. Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary.
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Epistles to the Corinthians
- The appropriate entry from the public domain edition of this venerable reference work.
- Columbia Encyclopedia: Corinthians
- A brief article from the 2001 edition of this reference work.
- 2 Corinthians: Pauline Literature
- A review of scholarship by Gregory Bloomquist.
- 2 Corinthians- Introduction and Outline
- An overview by Barry D. Smith
- Bible Explained
- This is a commentary by an energetic fellow named Ted Wade. He provides brief notes on each chapter and most verses for the entire Bible.
Bible Studies: Whole Book
- Religious Affections: A Study of Paul's 2 Corinthian Correspondence
- A seventeen-lesson study by Bob Deffinbaugh
- Love the Lord Bible Studies: 2 Corinthians
- A 16-lesson study with questions from an Arkansas-based ministry. They seem orthodox enough, although the statement of faith makes me wonder if they're not into prosperity gospel teachings.
- Talks for Growing Christians
- A nifty study, which includes a brief sermon, question, and answers. A project from Talks for Growing Christians.
- John Calvin's Commentary
- The commentary of the 16th-century French reformer.
- Geneva Notes
- In 1599, English Puritans, working in Geneva, published the first study Bible. These are the notes from that edition.
- Coffman's Commentary
- A verse-by-verse commentary by Dr. James Burton Coffman, a leading Church of Christ scholar.
- John Wesley Notes
- Over his career, the founder of Methodism maintained notes on the entire Bible.
- JFB Commentary
- The comments of Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown from Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871).
- Clarke's Commentary
- The first chapter for this book from Adam Clarke's nineteenth-century commentary.
- John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
- The commentary of the 17th century Baptist theologian and preacher.
- Scofield Reference Notes
- The notes from the 1917 edition of the great study Bible. From a dispensationalist viewpoint.
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- A combination brief commentary and thorough cross-reference. Developed by R.A. Torrey.
- David Guzik's Commentaries on the Bible
- David Guzik, a former senior pastor at Clavary Chapel Simi Valley in California, provides a verse-by-verse commentary. Currently Guzik directs the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Siegen, Germany.
- Thomas Constable
- A set of expository notes by this Dallas Theological Seminary professor.
- The Jerome Bible Commentary
- A commentary by a Catholic doctor, Jerome Dominguez, M.D. His English isn't perfect, but you have to admire his energy. Although Catholic in orientation, this source has some good material for study.
- Matthew Henry's Commentary
- The relevant section of Henry's great commentary.
- Barne's Notes on the New Testament
- Educated at Princeton seminary, Albert Barnes was a dedicated student of the Bible. Though passed over by the biographical sketches of influential theological writers, his notes on the New Testament continue to be quite popular even today.
- John S. C. Abbott and Jacob Abbott Illustrated New Testament
- Well known throughout the late 1800's for their prolific writings on various subjects, John and Jacob Abbott decided to put to paper their personal study and translation of the original Greek New Testament. Included are 50 woodcut illustrations from the original printing.
- John Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament
- These synopses were originally written and published in French and introduced book-by-book. Only the New Testament is available.
- Introductory Lectures on 2 Corinthians
- Introductory Lectures on the Epistles of Paul by William Kelly
- Comments on Second Corinthians
- A lengthy commentary by L.M. Grant
- Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians
- A commentary by F.B. Hole
- Comments on 2 Corinthians (8-13)
- A commentary by William Kelly
- Mark Browning's Notes
- A Bible Links exclusive. These are notes that I made, one chapter per day, when I read through this book in 2002. They're largely unedited and very lightly researched. As such, I'd recommend them more for their ideas than for hard facts.
Bible Studies: Part of Book
- God's Comfort in Suffering and Our Responsibility (1:1-11)
- A study by Greg Herrick
- Facing an Affliction That's Like a Sentence to Death (1:8-11)
- A study by Hampton Keathley III
- "Jesus, the Fulfillment of God's Promises," (1:18-22)
- A lectionary-based set of notes by Bryan Findlayson.
- God's Yes (1:20)
- A Texts in Context study from Word and World. By Roy Harrisville.
- The Judgment of the Quick and the Dead (2 Corinthians 5:10)
- One piece of E.W. Bullinger's Ten Sermons on the Second Advent.
- 2 Corinthians 3- Paul and the new covenant
- A lesson from the Worldwide Church of God, a denomination with a checkered past but an exciting present.
- The More Excellent Ministry (3:18)
- A sermon by Geerhardus Vos
- Made in the Image of God (3:18)
- A sermon by Bill Green
- Suffering and Eschatology (ch. 4)
- A sermon by Bill Green
- To Every Man's Conscience in the Sight of God (4:1-6)
- A sermon by Jeong Woo Lee.
- The New Creation (2 Cor.5)
- A study by J.N. Darby.
- When What Is Mortal Is Swallowed Up By Life (5:4)
- A sermon by Abraham Kuyper.
- 2 Corinthians 8- The grace of giving
- A lesson from the Worldwide Church of God, a denomination with a checkered past but an exciting present.
- 2 Corinthians 9- Rich in good works
- A lesson from the Worldwide Church of God, a denomination with a checkered past but an exciting present.
- Deception vs. Devotion (11:3)
- A study by Hampton Keathley IV
- "Are They Hebrews?" (11:16-33)
- A sermon by Jeong Woo Lee.
- The Second Thoughts of a Captive Intellect
- "Pastoral Reflections on Paul's Letters to the Corinthians," an essay from Luther Seminary's Word and World, by Jerry Robbins.
- No Noose is Good News
- "Leadership as a Theological Problem in the Corinthian Correspondence," an essay from Luther Seminary's Word and World, by David Fredrickson.
Sermons
- The Message of 2nd Corinthians
- The appropriate sermon from Ray C. Stedman's Adventuring through the Bible series.
- C.H. Spurgeon
- A listing of sermons, some of which are available online, by the great British Baptist.
- Sermon Outlines
- Links to sermon outlines from SermonLinks.
- David Simpson's Sermons
- Text and audio links to this Calvary Chapel pastor's sermons.
- Ken Gehrels
- Links to 4 sermons. Scroll down a bit to find the appropriate entries.
Books and Bibliographies
- Pentecost: Paul the Pastor in 2 Corinthians
- A Texts in Context study from Word and World. By David Fredrickson.
- The Corinthian Letters
- An article by Chuck Missler.
- A Selected Bibliography of 1 and 2 Corinthians
- A list of sources from David Malick.
- Two-Age Bibliography
- A list of recommended sources, mostly scholarly in nature, provided by a website devoted to the "Redemptive Historical" school of theology.
- A Corinthians Bibliography
- A lengthy annotated bibliography from a United Methodist source.