Paul's "Second" Letter to Corinth

Paul's first letter to Corinth (I Corinthians) addresses divisiveness in that church and a variety of moral failures one might expect from a new church built out of Gentiles who had no strong understanding of the law of Moses.  That letter was written while Paul was in Ephesus for three years.

Apparently a later letter was sent to Corinth, an angry "letter of tears" dealing with the continued fractions and issues within the church. As far as we know, that letter has not survived.

Then, at a later date, Paul wrote an additional letter describing his deep love for the people of that church and his continued concerns.  This letter, now called II Corinthians, is much more positive than the prior unknown letter.  Still Paul sfeels a need to defend his ministry, including his change of plans regarding a visit to Corinth.

In addition to expressing his concern for the people of Corinth, Paul is also active in raising donations for the church in Jerusalem where there has been a devastating famine.

This letter, II Corinthians, is an emotional personal letter.  Reading it, we have insight into Paul's character, including his concerns and frustrations.  Although the letter has significant theological statements, it is primarily a compassionate pastoral letter written to a struggling congregation.

The tone of the letter changes at chapter 10, when Paul becomes more defensive and a little angry. Some have suggested that these last four chapters (10-13) contain the earlier "letter of tears" and have been tacked on to the rest of the letter later.  If that is true, then the chronology would put II Corinthians 10-13 as a separate letter, before the rest of II Corinthians.  The most obvious problem with this viewpoint (in my opinion) is that any standard greetings or conclusions separating that letter has been stripped away; if the last four chapters were a separate letter, we would expect a greeting similar to that at the top of chapter 1.  I find it easier to believe that Paul, writing a personal emotional letter, returns to his previous frustrations and "clears the air" by making it plain that the previous accusations against him were slanderous and unfair.

Resources on this letter may be found in Wikipedia and also in the additional resources at the end of that article.  There is also a nice summary at OverBible.