Insofar as answers to these questions are possible at all, they must be based on a careful survey of the evidence present in the Corinthian correspondence. In gathering and assessing the data from these letters, several important methodological principles must be observed (compare the remarks on method by Dahl 1967:317–18; Machalet 1973:190; Hanson 1980:23; Berger 1980). (a) The evidence from Letter D (2 Cor 1–9) and Letter E (2 Cor 10–13) must be examined independently, and without presuming anything
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