PAUL'S BODY AS NEW CREATION IN 2 CORINTHIANS

Paul's bodily presence generated some criticism in Corinth. His opponents, relying on the physiognomic conventions of the time, considered that Paul's weak body undermined his claim to apostolic authority. In 2 Cor 2,14 - 7,4, he responded to that criticism by offering another version of the story told by his body. He tried to convince the Corinthians that his troubled body manifested his participation in Jesus' passion. Additionally, he drew on the creation language and compared what was happening in him to what God was fulfilling in creation. Paul's transformation into the divine image, through his participation in Christ's death and resurrection, implied that his body was also a paradoxical epiphany of the new creation. Consequently, we study the connection between the passages in which creation language is used (2 Cor 3,18; 4,6-7; 4,16; 5,17) and Paul's statements about himself and his body. We argue that he was trying to purify the Corinthians' perception so that they could understand that his body, though in the process of dying, was part of the new world.