Now Is the Day of Salvation

Timothy Milinovich is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and the Pastoral Institute at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.

'Milinovich places the text of 2 Corinthians at the centre and analyses its structure to see how those Christians in Corinth in AD 55 (or whenever) would have responded to Paul's letter. [...] this is still an important contribution to understanding the first part of 2 Corinthians.' Geoffrey Turner in Heythrop Journal, Vol. 54 (1), January 2013."...this is a valuable and engaging study."Robert S. Dutch, Journal for the Study of the New Testament Booklist, Vol. 35.5, August 2013"This detailed analysis of a key section of 2 Corinthians perceptively demonstrates how an audience-oriented close listening to the text not only contributes to an ongoing trend to view this Pauline letter as a unified composition, but provides a model that can be profitably applied to other problematic parts of the New Testament. Its theme of renewal and reconciliation is as relevant for us today as it was for Paul and the Corinthians."John Paul Heil, Professor of New Testament, The Catholic University of America"This arrangement is intended to show what the authorial audience heard, offering a new way of understanding how Paul's letter would have been received - not based on modern thematically determined paragraphs, but on oral patterns consonant with the cultural context of the author and audience. Milinovich offers insight on the audience response to the climactic exhortation to reconciliation with the apostle in 5:16-6:2." Theological Book Review (tbr), Vol. 25, No.2, 2013"I applaud Milinovich for utilising a historically and linguistically grounded approach to establishing the structure of 2 Corinthians."Seth M. Ehorn, University of Edinburgh, in The Expository Times, Vol 125, No 6'Timothy Milinovich examines 2 Corinthians as an orally performed correspondence and from the point of view of its intended audience.'Church Times, (17th April, 2014) [...]this clearly written study is a valuable addition to the corpus of critical scholarship devoted to Paul's letter. Now is the Day of Salvation advances the discussion regarding the structure of 2 Corinthians 1:1-6:2. As such, scholars, students, and serious readers of Paul will be well served by Milinovich's close reading of the letter. This is a timely and important book in other ways as well, reflective of the growing awareness in New Testament studies that the mixed media culture of Greco-Roman antiquity raises new questions about the composition and reception of a given biblical text. The innovative audience-oriented approach employed in this book could usefully be applied to other ancient texts, whether canonical or otherwise. Milinovich displays significant sensitivity to the aural reception of 2 Corinthians by often establishing chiasms based on repeated sounds in the public performance of the letter.Daniel M. Yencich, Reviews in Religion and Theology vol. 22, issue 2 , March 2015

• PrefaceAcknowledgments List of AbbreviationsIntroduction1 Method and Perspective2 Chiastic Structure in 2 Corinthians 1:1-6:23 Audience Response to 1:1-2:134 Audience Response to 2:14-4:145 Audience Response to 4:15-5:156 Audience Response to 5:16-6:27 Summary and Conclusions Bibliography