St Paul’s Second Letter to the Church in Corinth is one of the most unusual documents of the ancient world. It displays a painful vulnerability, a sense of personal betrayal expressed with startling honesty. It dwells on all those things in Paul’s career that have caused him humiliation, admitting that the rival teachers who have gained the affection and admiration of the Corinthians are more superficially impressive than he is. It speaks with bitter clarity of the various ways in which the authentic apostle’s ministry is weighed down with false perceptions, projections, gossip and politicking. It contains one of the most heartbreaking moments in Paul’s entire correspondence, when he describes the sacrifices he has made to spare the Corinthians any financial burden, and ends: “Why? Because  I do not love you? God knows I do!”  (2 Cor 11.11)