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Thomas S. Schreiner has some intriguing comments about Paul\u2019s descriptions of his suffering for the gospel in Paul, Apostle of God\u2019s Glory in Christ <\/i> . For example, he cites 2 Corinthians 2:14, where Paul gives thanks to God as the one who \u201calways leads us to death in Christ and manifests through Him the fragrance of the knowledge of him in every place.\u201d The imagery is drawn from the Roman practice of leading captured enemy soldiers in proceession before taking them to execution, and points out that many commentators resist the obvious sense of the text, which puts Paul in the position of a captive on the way to his death. Schreiner suggests this take on the passage: \u201cThe metaphor is illuminating if Paul refers to his suffering as an apostle. The adversaries charged that Paul\u2019s sufferings disqualified him. Paul responds that his sufferings are chartered by God himself. Not only are his afflictions planned by God, they are the means by which the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ is emitted to the world. It is instructive that Paul shifts from the image of the triumphal procession to sacrificial imagery (2 Cor 2:14-16), for sacrificial language evokes the theme of suffering as well. The fragrant aroma that reaches the world is emitted from Paul as the suffering apostle.\u201d <\/p>\n
Further Schreiner rightly understands the \u201cmarks\u201d that Paul bears on his body as the physical scars from the multiple beatings and attacks he endured (Gal 6:17). These marks, he suggests, are the apostolic alternative to circumcision: \u201cthe marks that Paul bears on his body were inflicted because he refused to submit to the mark of circumcision.\u201d He also points out that \u201cbear\u201d in this passage is the same word that John uses for Jesus bearing the cross. Thus, we have the sequence of circumcision transformed into the circumcision of the cross, which in turns has its analogue in the marks that Paul has on his body because of his service to the Crucified against the circumcision. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thomas S. Schreiner has some intriguing comments about Paul\u2019s descriptions of his suffering for the gospel in Paul, Apostle of God\u2019s Glory in Christ . For example, he cites 2 Corinthians 2:14, where Paul gives thanks to God as the one who \u201calways leads us to death in Christ and manifests through Him the fragrance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-paul"],"yoast_head":"\n