We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 August 2009
So far we have seen that the apostle Paul views his ministry in exceedingly glorious terms. We have yet to discover why his critics do not. An important clue may be found in 2 Corinthians 4:3: ‘our gospel is veiled … among those who are perishing’. According to Paul, a veil lies over the eyes of his critics, hiding from their view the glory of his ministry and consigning them to destruction. In this chapter we shall seek to unravel the precise nature of this veil.
A useful place to start is with Paul's own pre-conversion blindness. It is no secret that the apostle himself was once veiled to the glory of the Christian gospel. On a number of occasions he concedes that he was both an enemy of Jesus and a persecutor of the church (cf. Galatians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 15:9; Philippians 2:6). It was only when his heart was penetrated by divine light that the veil was lifted and his eyes were opened to the truth about Christ. If we can discover what it was that once darkened Paul's heart, perhaps we shall be able to appreciate the nature of the veil which now blinds the Corinthians.
The law
It would seem that Paul's initial hostility to Christians was the result of his intense devotion to the law of God.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
