Chapter 6 Renewal through Suffering I have argued that Paul’s account of his near-death experience in 2 Corinthians 1:8–10 is to be taken seriously as the record of a critical episode in his life. Whether caused by sickness, accident or persecution—and the conventions of his time would not have encouraged him to recount the details we should so dearly like to have—it is likely to have had profound consequences for him, both in terms of his physical ability to continue in the style of activity and