Why did Paul send to collect the offering from the Corinthians?

Answer 1

In Galatians 2:10, 'Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do', Paul seems to be passing on and supporting a request by the Jerusalem brethren to send relief to the Judeans. 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 refers to the support of the Galatians for a collection to assist the poor of Judea, and asks very directly that the Corinthians contribute as well. The Corinthians may have needed some prompting, since the request was repeated at some length in 2 Corinthians.

There is no suggestion that the collection was an ongoing tithe, in fact there is a sense of some urgency and a recognition that the congregations would face difficulty in meeting what was demanded of them. So, Paul invested considerable effort and goodwill in solving a specific problem for the Jerusalem brethren.

Paul mentioned the collection in Romans, listing only Macedonia and Achaia as contributing, to the obvious exclusion of the Galatians, as well as other churches with which he must have been in contact. Either the Galatians and others were unable to assist, having their own problems, or we need to devise a leadership issue to explain their unwillingness to have anything further to do with Paul. A reasonable inference is that Judea faced an economic crisis, and that the crisis affected all of the world in which Paul worked. Such a crisis was the famine that occurred between 44 and 48 CE. This famine would explain the Jerusalem brethren seeking assistance, the importance Paul placed on the collection and his comparative lack of success, particularly in Galatia, geographically relatively close the Judea and therefore likely to have suffered from the famine to a similar extent. It could also explain why, in his missionary career of at least 25 years, Paul wrote so few epistles, and why those considered by scholars to have really been written by Paul were all written close in time.

Acts 11:28‑29 supports that proposition, although it avoids giving any credit to Paul, very clearly describing him as having been sent away before the issue of the famine arose: "And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea."

AnswerA helper was sent to collect the offering in order to observe due process in the handling of money given to the Lord.