with which he does so is most easily explained if it was born of that experience of sharing the ‘dying’ of Christ right up to the point of (as it seemed) certain death which inspired the writing of 2 Corinthians. But now it has to be asked whether all this is true of any suffering, or only that which is specifically endured by a Christian, or even by a special Christian such as an apostle. Or (to put it another way), was it necessary that the suffering should be such as could be described as θλῖψις,