The letter of 2 Corinthians is important, Paul Barnett believes, for its magnificent message that God's power is brought to people in their weakness, not in human strength. This momentous theme emerges in a dramatic real-life situation. The apostle confronts shadowy opponents who had recently come to Corinth and formed an alliance with some of the church leaders and members. His letter is a fascinating record of that conflict.
Paul Barnett, former Anglican Bishop of North Sydney, Australia, is a Visiting Fellow in Ancient History at Macquarie University and Teaching Fellow at Regent College, Vancouver and Moore College, Sydney. He is a frequent traveler to Israel, where Christianity began, and to Turkey and Greece, to which it rapidly spread.