Benefit of the Doubt

This is another Paul post.  You might be thoroughly sick to death of them.  I am working out some issues here, and maybe this is not the right place.

So I made it through 1 Corinthians and am onto II Corinthians and now realize I have always lumped the 2 together in my mind.  But in the second chapter of second Corinthians something intriguing happens: Paul says it was agonizing having to write the letter that was I Corinthians.  (Any Bible scholars out there probably knew this already).  I have pictured him holier-than-thou about it, not heartbroken and reluctant.

Fascinated, I skimmed through the rest of II Corinthians, and noted that it has a bit of a different tone.  Or tries to.  Toward the end of this letter, it becomes apparent that Paul has a difficult relationship with the Corinthians.  He brings up his first letter to them again, and admits that he has seen that its affect on them has caused repentance.  And then there's this weird stuff about them thinking Paul scammed them and he's defending himself.

 This is a better place than I've been in for awhile with Paul's writings.  I seriously, for years, have pretty much concentrated any Bible reading on non-Paul writings of the New Testament.  Maybe exploring this from a different angle has been the key.

Not that this is a new concept.  It is, in fact, standard advice in reading scripture.  Or studying anything.  In different points of my life I have had different ideas about God and faith.  Doubt and exploration has been something I thought was unacceptable.  Now I think doubt in some form accompanies authentic faith, and that people with all the answers haven't thought of all the questions.  It means you're thinking, exploring, and trying.  Struggle is an indication of the presence of life.

The Corinthians had a complicated relationship with Paul too.  They are kind of the pariahs of the New Testament, but do they look that different than a lot of us American church goers?  Somehow, it made me feel better than other Christians (even if they were "bad" ones), didn't think Paul was the bees knees either.