<p>1:13 <i>For we write no other things to you, than what you read or even acknowledge, and I hope you will acknowledge to the end- </i>This sounds like a reference to the letters being circulated in Paul's name which were not really from him. Hence he concludes some of his letters by signing &quot;with my own hand&quot;. Any who feel they have suffered from slander and abuse within the church should take encouragement from what Paul suffered from the Corinthians. But still he loved them because they were in Christ. Just consider what he was suffering from Corinth alone at this time:</p><p><b>Paul: Victim Of Slander In The Church</b></p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Too physically weak to do the job (2 Cor. 10:10)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Underhanded, cunning (2 Cor. 4:2 RSV)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Tampering with God's word (2 Cor. 4:2 RSV)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Not preaching according to the sanction of the Lord Jesus, but inventing things for himself (in the context of Gentile liberty, Gal. 1:1).</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Preaching himself as the saviour, not Christ (2 Cor. 4:5)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Commending himself, showing himself to be so spiritually strong (2 Cor. 3:1)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Trying to build up his own self-image with his listeners as he preached the Gospel (2 Cor. 4:5)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Trying to domineer over his brethren (2 Cor. 1:24; 8:8 Gk.)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mentally unstable (2 Cor. 5:13)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Causing others to stumble (2 Cor. 6:3)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; An imposter (2 Cor. 6:8- in the context, Paul is saying that the fact he is so maligned is a kind of proof that he really is a genuine worker for the Lord).</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Wronging, corrupting, financially defrauding brethren (2 Cor. 7:2)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Demanding so much money from others that they would become impoverished themselves (2 Cor. 8:13,14 J.B. Phillips)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But not a real apostle, seeing that if he was then he would do as the Lord had bidden and receive &ldquo;hire&rdquo; for being a &ldquo;labourer&rdquo;; if he was worthy, he would have accepted it. The fact he didn&rsquo;t showed he wasn&rsquo;t a hard labourer. This was so untrue. It's a real cruel example of slander in the church.</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He only threatened ecclesial discipline but never did anything in practice- he was all talk and no do (2 Cor. 10:1-6)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What he wrote was in his letters was a contradiction of the person he was in practice (2 Cor. 1:13)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He kept changing his mind over important issues (2 Cor. 1:17-19)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; They were offended that Paul didn't take money from them (2 Cor. 11:7 RSV), and yet also grudged giving money for the Jerusalem Poor Fund because the Corinthian church slandered Paul that he claimed he was only trying to get the money for himself.</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Crafty and a liar, not opening his heart to his brethren&nbsp;(2 Cor. 12:16 cp. 6:11)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Preaching that we can be immoral because God's grace will cover us (Rom. 3:8)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Preached in order to get money and have relationships with women (1 Thess. 2:3-12)</p><p>&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Still secretly preached that circumcision was vital for salvation (Gal. 5:11).&nbsp;</p><p>If you can imagine where Paul might have used quotation marks, this helps to reveal certain phrases which he was probably quoting from their claims. Most of the above slander in the church was from just one ecclesia (Corinth): one can be certain that there were many other such slanders.</p>