In Person I Can Be Stern, as in My Letters (2 Cor. 10:1–5)

Necessary Explanations in Refutation of Evil Speeches Spread About the Holy Apostle and in Exhortation to Those Not Yet Corrected to Correct Themselves (Chapters 10–13)

The ill-wishers of the holy Paul spread false rumors and opinions about him in Corinth. When such cases did not harm the work of the Gospel and the steadfastness in faith of those who believed, the holy Paul paid no attention to them; but when this caused harm, he considered it his duty to clear himself and his works of all reproach. What exactly was said against him disadvantageously in Corinth can be judged from his own apologetic words. Titus heard this either himself or from sincere followers of the Apostle and reported it to him. There were few such reproachers; the whole church revered the holy Paul with reverence and was ready to listen with obedience to all his instruction and carry out all his arrangements. Up to this point he had directed his discourse to these worshippers of his—corrected Christians, and this discourse was quiet, warm, benevolent. From now on he begins to speak against the reproachers, and it is stern and bears the mark of apostolic authority.

The holy Paul was not imposing in appearance and his health was weak. His speech in personal preaching was distinguished by gentleness and meek persuasiveness. He entreated people to believe in the Crucified One, not presenting a command from heaven for them to believe. But in his letter, when writing already to believers, his word was stern and powerful. His opponents took this difference as the starting point for censure. They said: “he is humble in person,” but behind his back “he dares… his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible” (2 Cor. 10:1, 10). This would not have been so disturbing, but in explanation of this difference was inserted something by which some could consider the holy Paul as “living according to the flesh.” Therefore such speech could not be left without explanation. The holy Paul attends to it with all care. His answer to this is: I am in person the same as in writing – stern, when need requires; my apostolic rank, entrusted to me from on high, authorizes me to this. Therefore I entreat you beforehand: do not force me to use this sternness, correct yourselves; for if, coming, I find you unrepentant, I will not spare. All this apostolic self-defense occupies four chapters: 10–13. In it are three points: I am stern in person just as in writing; my apostolic rank authorizes me to this; I will come – I will not spare. But the space these points occupy is not equal: 1) the first – properly 11 verses of chapter 10; 3) the third – the last three verses of chapter 12 and 10 verses of chapter 13; 2) the middle, – two and even three times more space – is occupied by the defense of apostolic dignity. Surely, extreme necessity pressed in this, although it is not possible to indicate it definitely. We cannot but note that, by this order, the last part of the epistle is similar to the first. As there a lengthy discourse on Christian revelation, or the economy of grace, is inserted into another brief speech which embraces it by its beginning and end, so here a lengthy discourse on the apostolic dignity of the holy Paul and his apostolic activity is inserted into another even briefer speech which also embraces it by its beginning and end. Meanwhile, both subjects, as if involuntarily breaking into the epistle, or bursting forth from the soul of the holy Paul, constitute the most important sections of this epistle.

1. I am Stern Even in Person as Well as in Writing (2 Cor. 10:1–11)

A) Bringing forward these speeches about himself, that he is humble in person but bold in absence, verse 1, and hinting lest those speaking thus experience the opposite, verse 2, b) The Apostle explains that one cannot judge him by appearance, for his power is not external but spiritual, strong by God, verses 3–6; c) equipped with this power, I can, he says, appear among you as stern as I am in the letter, verses 7–11.

2 Cor. 10:1. I, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face-to-face with you, but bold toward you when absent.

“I, Paul.” With this he connects his discourse with the preceding. He speaks as it were: as regards my messengers, I have said everything to you; but as regards myself, I must say to you this. The expression “I, Paul” is full of importance. St. Chrysostom says: “Do you notice how much weight is here? How much dignity? Much force and weight in these words. He uses similar expressions in other places, for example: ‘Now I, Paul, say to you’ (Gal. 5:2). And again: ‘as Paul the aged, I appeal to you’ (Phm. 1:9, 10). So here: ‘I, Paul’ (as if saying: I am an Apostle, teacher of the world—Oecumenius). ‘I appeal to you.’ It is important already that he himself asks, but far more important is what is added: ‘by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.’ For, wishing to shame them more, he mentions meekness and forbearance, and thus gives his request still greater force. He speaks as if to say: be ashamed of the meekness of Christ by which I beseech you. He said this to show that although they a thousand times provoke him to sternness, yet he himself is more inclined to meekness and does not punish them not because he lacks power but because he is meek and because this is how Christ acted. — ‘I who am humble when face-to-face with you, but bold toward you when absent!’ What does he mean by this? Either he speaks ironically with their own words, for they said about the holy Paul that when he is personally with them, then he does not look important, but in his absence from them he is proud, conducts himself majestically, attacks them and threatens. To this the Apostle hints and later on, saying: ‘his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible’ (2 Cor. 10:10). So either he speaks ironically, expressing great sorrow: I am a humble and insignificant man at personal meetings, as they say, and in absence—high; or, although he speaks of himself with importance (‘I, Paul’!), not from conceit but in reliance on them.’ — ‘Or he truly says this about himself, that I, when being with you, am humble and meek to you, but now, although I say something great about myself, I do this not from conceit but with confidence in you’ (Theophylact); ‘relying on your love, I dare write thus’ (Oecumenius).”

2 Cor. 10:2. I beg you that when I am present I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some who think we are acting according to the flesh.

The structure is: “do not presume”—depends on “I may dare’;” “in confidence, which I think,” τι πεποιθησει η λογιζομαι, by the self-confidence (in power), which (confidence) they ascribe to me (in my absence, or when I am absent); λογιζομαι in the passive voice; η λογιζομαι, by which I am reckoned to be acting in my absence. — I beseech you, he says, do not put me in the necessity and even when present with you in person to act according to the self-confidence in power which is ascribed to me when absent, to act in regard to those who think we are acting according to the flesh, that is, against those very ones who speak thus of me. The holy Chrysostom says: “He means to say the following: I beseech you, do not force me and do not permit me to use my power against those who demean us and think we live according to the flesh.” This is expressed here more strongly than what was said as a threat to the Corinthians in his first letter: “What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?… when I come, I will not be lenient” (1 Cor. 4:18–21). And here he both shows his power and wisdom and patience, when with such care he asks them not to drive him to the necessity of coming and showing his awesome power, that is, to smite them, torment them and subject them to the utmost punishment. He gives this to understand by the words: “I beseech you that when I am present I may not…toward some.” Do you notice how much indignation is expressed in these words and what clear condemnation? I beseech you, he says, do not force me to prove that I, and even being personally with you, am strong and have power, since some of you said that I, not being with you—using their own words—am bold and elevated, then I beseech you, do not force me to use my power. For this is what the words mean: “I may not have to be as bold.” So, do me a favor, he says, do not force me to show you that and even at personal meeting I can act boldly with whomever I should, that is, I can subject them to torment and punishment. Do you see how he was not ambitious, did not do anything from vanity, when even by necessity to act sternly, he calls his sternness boldness? The chief duty of a teacher is not immediately to punish but to correct, to wait and be slow in punishment. Who then are these some whom he threatens? Those, he says, who think we are acting according to the flesh. For they slandered Paul as if he were a hypocrite, deceitful and proud.

Below St. Chrysostom expresses about this walking according to the flesh also such a thought: they think that our preaching is a work of man, and our means too are human means; in general they see nothing special in us compared to ordinary human agents. From this came to them the idea that since the holy Paul conducts his affairs as do all men, then, appearing meek in person and stern in writing, he uses ordinary human cunning: he flatters in person, seeks favor, and then, as if having acquired power through that, acts more boldly in his letters. This is exactly what the holy Paul denies about himself in the next verse.

2 Cor. 10:3. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

As it were: “Look at us, we are the same as all people, but in deed we are quite different. ‘We walk in the flesh,’ in human form and body, with human speech and powers; but what we do and what means we use are all not human. True, we are clothed in flesh, I do not deny this; but we do not live according to the flesh. We reason about preaching, showing that it is not human work. Therefore he did not say: we do not live according to the flesh, but he says: ‘we do not wage war according to the flesh,’ that is, we wage war and have entered into battle; we do not fight with fleshly weapons and without any assistance from men.” (St. Chrysostom).

2 Cor. 10:4. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

“What are fleshly weapons? – Wealth, glory, power, eloquence, high-sounding speech, schemes, flatteries, hypocrisy and other such things. But our weapons are not of this sort. What are they then? – ‘Mighty through God.’ He did not say: we are not fleshly – but ‘our’ ‘weapons’; because, as I have noted, he reasons for now about preaching, ascribing all its power to God; and he does not say: our weapons – are spiritual, although it would have been fitting to say so in opposition to the word: ‘fleshly’; but ‘mighty’ (‘through God’), thereby giving to understand that they are spiritual, and at the same time showing that fleshly weapons are weak and powerless. See then how far removed he is from pride! He did not say: we are mighty, but ‘our’ ‘weapons are mighty through God.’ Not we made them such, but God Himself. Since they were being tormented, driven out, endured countless and most severe calamities, and all this revealed their weakness; therefore, wishing to show God’s power, he says: ‘but mighty through God.’ For His power is especially revealed in the fact that it overcomes by means of them. Although we bear these weapons, yet God Himself fights and acts by means of them. After this the Apostle expands in praise of the weapon, saying: ‘for the destruction of strongholds.’ And so that one, hearing about strongholds, would not imagine something physical, he adds: ‘casting down arguments.’ By metaphor he gave force to the speech, and by explaining it he shows that their warfare is spiritual. For these strongholds strike at souls, not bodies. And since he is far stronger than material strongholds, therefore better weapons are needed. And by strongholds he means the pride of the Greeks, and the power of their sophisms and syllogisms, and at the same time all weapons used against them (the Apostles).” (Saint Chrysostom).

The weapons of apostolic warfare—all with which the holy Apostles were armed to overcome delusions, impiety, sin. All united an exceeding outpouring of the grace of the Most Holy Spirit upon them, who, filling them, both taught and strengthened them, how in each case to act, now with one word, now beyond that with the manifestation of extraordinary powers. Theodoret writes: “Our weapons, says the Apostle, are spiritual gifts, by means of which we become victorious and subject those resisting to the Master.” But in this action of apostolic weapons, with all their extraordinariness and their divine power, there is nothing mechanical. True, they do demolish, but through self-building of our spirit, and they do take captive, but through free submission to God’s truth.

The Apostle expressed the manner of this action as ‘to demolish strongholds: We demolish arguments.’ “The Apostle as he called the holy ones temples of God, so the enslaved in impiety he calls strongholds of the devil” (Theodoret). As unbelief with impiety, so sin with selfishness and passions build around themselves a fortress, composed of reasonings by which they think to justify both their way of thinking and their way of life. Wrapped in such reasonings, they cherish the assurance that they sit firmly and securely not only from demolition but from attacks. But here comes the Apostle with the gracious word and begins discourse. The sound of the word the ear receives; the thought expressed in the word, the mind receives; and the grace that came in the word inspires the sleeping or buried spirit. The awakened spirit perceives fear of God and by this fear awakens conscience. And both together, strengthened by God’s grace, scatter the fortress that constrained them and lay upon them, so that not one reasoning of those which before seemed so firm and solidly standing endures: all is demolished. Unbelief with impiety flee before the face of fear of God; sin with selfishness and passions—before the face of conscience. Having remained masters alone, these powers of the spirit then mysteriously clothe themselves in Christ. And so—a Christian! Thus what always comes from the demolition of soul strongholds through the overthrow of reasonings by the spirit graced with grace.

2 Cor. 10:5. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

“And every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God”—thus also demolishing. “The metaphor continues so as to give greater force to the speech. And strongholds and towers and anything else, he says, all yield to our weapons.” (St. Chrysostom). In the demolition of the stronghold of unbelief and sin, the demolition of arguments is one half of the work; the other is constituted by the overthrow of every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. The first means the overthrow of all upon which unbelief and sin think to be based, and the second—the overthrow of all by which unbelief and sin dare to rise up against the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God is God’s truth, preached by the Apostles, about salvation in the Lord Jesus by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Against this from the very beginning the enemy of truth instilled into the minds of the unbelieving and into the hearts of the sinful many objections which to some seemed irrefutable. These were and are pretensions against the knowledge of God. We demolish them, says the Apostle, with the weapons given us. How?—Through the confirmation of the word by following signs (Mk. 16:20). The gracious action of the Gospel is sufficient for those in whom the elements of natural spiritual life are not entirely deadened. But they could be knocked off the path by delusions led only by low-moving rational inductions. To help the former and to strike the latter, God was pleased in the work of preaching to bring forth signs. Before them all objections fell by themselves. Those who believed were finally established in their faith by them; those who did not believe were struck, and part of them too believed; the other, remaining in stubborn unbelief, fell silent. Thus every pretension against the knowledge of God was and continues to be overthrown.

“And we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” The stronghold of unbelief and impiety, sin and passions is demolished through the overthrow of arguments and every pretension against the knowledge of God. What next? — The spirit that was there in captivity, vivified by God’s grace, arises and, as a new hidden man of the heart, comes forth to freedom, comes forth, but not otherwise than through voluntary and joyful surrender into captivity of obedience to Christ. Consciousness and freedom bind themselves by the commands of Christ the Savior and give themselves to him as slaves with readiness to sacrifice all for him, even life itself. This is the taking captive of every thought in obedience to Christ. Thought, νοημα, self-acting consciousness. It gives itself into obedience to Christ in confidence that through this alone are preserved both true life and freedom. Thus within occurs demolition, but for building up; captivity, but for freedom. This captivity is the transition ‘from slavery to freedom, from death to life, from destruction to salvation. For we came not only to overthrow opponents, but to bring them to truth’ (St. Chrysostom). ‘Them, like certain captives, leading from the field of battle, we present to the King of all, and bring to the point that they willingly follow his laws’ (Theodoret).