Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis: 2 Corinthians — Full Book Doctrine Matrix (English → Persian)
Purpose
This document is the PRD Phase 1 Step 4 doctrine matrix for the 2 Corinthians curriculum, destination language Persian. It is built as a direct extension of the Romans baseline Language Package and is fully consistent with assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json: same 29 doctrines, same risk tiers (12 Critical / 11 High / 4 Medium / 2 Low), same review routing. This document adds the chapter-by-chapter coverage and translation-risk reasoning that the registry’s compact JSON schema does not carry, per the PRD’s full-book-coverage mandate. The core passage, 2 Corinthians 5:11-21, is the theological anchor of the curriculum, not its scope boundary — every chapter of 2 Corinthians (1–13) is reviewed below, including chapters that contribute no new Critical/High doctrine, which are explicitly noted as reviewed rather than silently omitted.
Risk tier definitions follow the baseline exactly:
- Critical — Mistranslation alters or destroys essential doctrine. Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
- High — Mistranslation creates significant theological confusion or syncretism risk. Human theologian review required.
- Medium — Mistranslation reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning. Native speaker review recommended.
- Low — Mistranslation causes minor misunderstanding or imprecision. Automated review sufficient.
Part 1 — Chapter-by-Chapter Doctrine Coverage
2 Corinthians 1
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suffering and Comfort in Ministry | High | 1:3-11 | God as “Father of mercies… God of all comfort” (تسلی) must read as an active, personal, consoling agent, not endurance framed by fatalistic taqdir/sabr. | Human theologian |
| Sincerity and Apostolic Authority | High | 1:12, 1:17-20 | Paul’s “yes/no” integrity claim and rejection of worldly cunning must be positioned against taqiyyeh (تقیه), the sanctioned Shia doctrine of permissible concealment. | Human theologian |
| Conscience and Transparency | Medium | 1:12 | وجدان must retain its accountability-before-God sense, not flatten into social/honor-shame conscience. | Native speaker review |
| Trinitarian Benediction (seal/guarantee of the Spirit background) | Critical | 1:21-22 | The Spirit as “seal” (مهر) and “guarantee/down payment” (ضامن/پیشپرداخت) of inheritance connects directly to the baseline’s Critical adoption entry (Iran’s weaker sarparasti legal default); full inheritance implication must be retained. | Human theologian |
Reviewed, no additional new doctrine: 1:1-2 (epistolary greeting — apostle, saints, grace/peace reused from baseline), 1:23-24 (apostolic visit plans).
2 Corinthians 2
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forgiveness and Church Discipline | Medium | 2:5-11 | بخشش is compatible with shared Islamic mercy vocabulary (e.g., “Bakhshande” as a divine epithet) but must be anchored to Christ’s atoning work rather than a free-floating divine attribute. | Native speaker review |
| Spiritual Warfare and Satan | Medium | 2:11 | شیطان is shared Quranic vocabulary (Iblis); must remain the personal cosmic adversary, not the internal nafs (ego) of Sufi ethics. | Native speaker review |
| Sincerity and Apostolic Authority | High | 2:17 | ”Not peddlers of God’s word” — sincerity of motive in ministry, same taqiyyeh contrast as ch.1. | Human theologian |
Reviewed, no additional new doctrine tier beyond above: 2:1-4 (the “sorrowful letter”), 2:12-16 (triumphal procession / fragrance imagery — flagged Low-Medium in glossary Section B as an unfamiliar Roman image requiring explanatory framing rather than a distinct doctrinal collision; routed with Suffering and Comfort in Ministry material).
2 Corinthians 3
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The New Covenant versus the Old | Critical | 3:1-18 | Islamic naskh (abrogation) doctrine risks confirming that the NT itself has since been abrogated by the Quran; عهد جدید must be taught within Paul’s own redemptive-historical argument, not as one more link in a naskh chain. | Human theologian |
| Letter versus Spirit | High | 3:6-11 | Sufi ẕāher/bāṭen (outer law/inner truth) offers a partial teaching bridge but must not collapse into generic mystical exoteric/esoteric spirituality accessible by contemplative technique. | Human theologian |
| Veil and Spiritual Blindness | Critical | 3:13-16 | حجاب is forbidden absolutely — the single most politically charged word in contemporary Iranian public life (mandatory hijab law, protest movement) — پوشش/نقاب required instead to preserve the theological meaning. | Human theologian |
| Unity of Jews and Gentiles (baseline, Israel) | High | 3:7, 3:13 | ”Sons of Israel” (اسرائیل) inherits the baseline’s caution re: Iran’s state anti-Israel political messaging; must not be read as commentary on present politics. | Human theologian |
Reviewed: 3:2-3 (“letters written on hearts” — mutual edification, Low risk per baseline).
2 Corinthians 4
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light of the Gospel Revelation | High | 4:4-6 | نور collides with the Islamic doctrine of Nur-e Mohammadi (pre-existent light of Muhammad, prominent in Shia/Sufi devotional literature) and Quran 24:35; must be anchored concretely to Christ’s specific historical revelation (4:6), including “image of God” (صورت/شبیه) read as Christ’s own deity, not a created intermediary likeness. | Human theologian |
| Suffering and Comfort in Ministry | High | 4:7-12, 4:16-18 | ”Treasure in jars of clay,” inner/outer man (انسان باطنی/ظاهری), and “eternal weight of glory” (جلال ابدی) — renewal must be credited to the Spirit, not generic inward cultivation compatible with zaher/baten categories. | Human theologian |
| Bodily Resurrection and Hope | Critical | 4:14 | Shares the Quran’s crucifixion-denial (4:157) and the Shia Mahdi-centered eschatology that subordinates Jesus’s own resurrection to a supporting role; must not be diluted here as the ground of Paul’s confidence. | Human theologian |
Reviewed: 4:1-3, 4:13, 4:15 (ministry integrity and thanksgiving, both already-covered categories).
2 Corinthians 5 (Core Passage)
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fear of the Lord and Accountability | High | 5:11 | خداترسی is positively-loaded everyday Persian piety centered on shari’a-transgression fear; must be anchored specifically to accountability before Christ’s judgment seat (5:10), not generic religious piety. | Human theologian |
| Conscience and Transparency | Medium | 5:11 | وجدان retains accountability-before-God sense; see ch.1 note. | Native speaker review |
| Eschatological Judgment and Reward | Critical | 5:10 | Islamic mizân (deeds-weighing scale) risks assimilating the judgment seat of Christ into a salvation-determining framework; must be taught as an already-justified believer’s accounting for ministry/reward, categorically distinct from the sin-versus-righteousness verdict already settled at the cross. | Human theologian |
| Bodily Resurrection and Hope | Critical | 5:1-5, 5:15 | Tent/body (خیمه) imagery paired with resurrection hope; “died for all… that those who live… live for him” (5:15) is the letter’s key reorientation text and must not be displaced by Mahdi-centered eschatology. | Human theologian |
| Substitutionary Atonement | Critical | 5:14-15, 5:21 | Christ’s death “in the place of” (بهجای, not merely برای) all must be categorically distinguished from the Karbala/Hussein martyrdom-intercession pattern (baseline Critical “salvation” entry) — a superficially similar but doctrinally distinct pattern. | Human theologian |
| New Creation in Christ | Critical | 5:17 | Risks collapse into fitrah-restoration or tazkiyeh-ye nafs (self-purification); خلقت تازه must be taught as God’s unilateral, fresh creative act, not a return to innate original goodness, and kept distinct from reincarnation-adjacent readings. | Human theologian |
| Reconciliation with God | Critical | 5:11-21 (whole unit) | Mainstream Sunni/Shia theology has no equivalent doctrine of estrangement from God requiring God’s own unilateral, costly initiative; آشتی (never مصالحه, a negotiated settlement between equals) must keep God as explicit initiating agent throughout, with the passive imperative of 5:20 taught as response to an accomplished work. | Human theologian |
| Imputation of Sin and Righteousness | Critical | 5:19, 5:21 | The identical forensic-accounting verb family (logizomai) governs both non-imputation of sin (5:19, “not counting trespasses” — گناهان را به حساب نیاوردن) and crediting of righteousness (5:21); حساب کردن must be used consistently across both directions as one unified doctrine, never عدالت کسبشده (“earned righteousness”). | Human theologian |
| Ministry of Reconciliation and Ambassadorship | High | 5:18-20 | سفیر (“ambassador of Christ”) must be qualified as strictly delegated, non-self-originating authority, given competing claims to authoritative religious office (apostleship vs. Imamate succession) already documented in the baseline. | Human theologian |
Note: Per the glossary, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 stacks multiple Critical-risk terms and doctrines simultaneously (reconciliation, imputation, substitution, new creation, judgment) and must be routed as a single high-density Critical review block in Phase 2, not assessed term-by-term in isolation.
2 Corinthians 6
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temple Indwelling and Holiness | High | 6:14-7:1 | معبد/هیکل خدا must remain clearly metaphorical (the people, not a physical building), especially given restricted Persian congregational worship in Iran; the call to separation (6:14-17) must not be overapplied into total social withdrawal. | Human theologian |
| Suffering and Comfort in Ministry | High | 6:4-10 | The extended hardship catalogue reinforces the ch.1/4 caution: purposeful, comfort-producing suffering, not fatalistic endurance. | Human theologian |
| Sincerity and Apostolic Authority | High | 6:3, 6:6-7 | ”Purity, knowledge, patience… genuine love” as marks of true ministry; same taqiyyeh-contrast logic as chs.1-2. | Human theologian |
Reviewed: 6:1-2 (echoes reconciliation “now is the favorable time” — already covered under Reconciliation with God).
2 Corinthians 7
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repentance and Godly Grief | High | 7:8-11 | توبه is the central Islamic repentance term within a deeds-and-mercy framework where repentance is a human achievement securing forgiveness; here it must be taught as Spirit-produced fruit of godly grief flowing from an already-reconciled relationship (ch.5), not an independent meritorious act. | Human theologian |
| Suffering and Comfort in Ministry | High | 7:4-7 | Titus’s arrival and comfort in affliction (تسلی/رنج) continue the ch.1 pattern. | Human theologian |
| Fear of the Lord and Accountability | High | 7:15 | ”Obedience” and “fear and trembling” received Titus with — tied to the same خداترسی caution as 5:11. | Human theologian |
| Forgiveness and Church Discipline | Medium | 7:8-12 | Continuation of the ch.2 offender narrative; بخشش anchored to restored relationship, not bare mercy. | Native speaker review |
2 Corinthians 8
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Generosity and Grace in Giving | High | 8:1-15 | Iranian Shia religious life includes well-developed, quota-based religious giving (zakât, and the distinctively Shia khoms); Paul’s voluntary, grace-motivated model must be actively distinguished from this default. | Human theologian |
| Grace (baseline, reused) | High | 8:1, 8:9 | فیض applied to giving; baseline emanation caution (automatic metaphysical overflow vs. freely willed gift) extends to this new context. | Human theologian |
| Incarnation (baseline, “poverty of Christ”) | Critical | 8:9 | فقیر شدن مسیح anchors to the specific historical incarnation event; Sufi faqr offers only a partial, non-equivalent bridge. | Human theologian |
Reviewed: 8:16-24 (Titus and the collection delegates — practical logistics, no new doctrinal risk beyond above).
2 Corinthians 9
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Generosity and Grace in Giving | High | 9:1-15 | ”Cheerful giver” (بخشندهٔ خوشحال) must be distinguished from obligatory, quota-based zakat/khoms religious-tax framework; giving flows from grace, not religious duty. | Human theologian |
| Grace (baseline, reused) | High | 9:8, 9:14 | فیض describing God’s overflowing provision for generosity; same emanation-caution as ch.8. | Human theologian |
| Thanksgiving (baseline, reused) | Low | 9:11-12, 9:15 | شکرگزاری; low independent risk. | Automated review |
2 Corinthians 10
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genuine versus False Apostleship | Critical | 10:1-18 | Rival authority claims begin here; must not be mapped onto Sunni-Shia succession disputes rather than the unique NT foundational apostolic office. | Human theologian |
| Boasting in the Lord | Medium | 10:17-18 | Sharp distinction between sinful self-glorying and legitimate boasting “in the Lord” must be preserved consistently through ch.12; no independent Islamic-doctrinal collision. | Native speaker review |
2 Corinthians 11
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genuine versus False Apostleship | Critical | 11:1-15 | ”False apostles” (رسولان دروغین) and “angel of light” (فرشتهٔ نور) — sensitive within vulnerable house-church accusations of false leadership; angel-of-light imagery reinforces the ch.4 light-imagery caution (counterfeit vs. true light in Christ). | Human theologian |
| Divine Jealousy and Covenant Fidelity | High | 11:2-3 | غیرت is a deeply-rooted Persian/Islamic honor-culture term for a man’s possessive protective zeal over a female relative; God’s jealousy must be read as covenantal faithfulness-love for the whole people, not a possessive, gendered honor-shame dynamic. | Human theologian |
| Spiritual Warfare and Satan | Medium | 11:3, 11:14 | Serpent/Satan disguising as an angel of light; شیطان kept as the same personal adversary, not the Sufi nafs. | Native speaker review |
| Suffering and Comfort in Ministry | High | 11:23-27 | Extended hardship catalogue; رنج required, مصیبت forbidden (Karbala/Muharram mourning-vocabulary collision). | Human theologian |
| Boasting in the Lord | Medium | 11:16-30 | Paul’s paradoxical “boasting” in weakness/hardship continues the ch.10 pattern. | Native speaker review |
2 Corinthians 12
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paradise and Heavenly Vision | Critical | 12:1-4 | بهشت names the extensively developed Quranic Jannah reward-doctrine (reward stage of the mizân system); must be taught as Paul’s immediate personal visionary encounter with God’s presence, not the garden-reward system, even though بهشت remains the only viable Persian lexical choice. | Human theologian |
| Power in Weakness | Critical | 12:1-10 | Iranian honor-shame culture treats weakness/humiliation as shame to be concealed (compare the ta’arof face-management system); Paul’s deliberate public boasting in weakness must not be flattened into false modesty or simple defeat. Sufi faqr/fanâ offer only a partial bridge and must not become self-dissolution. | Human theologian |
| Sufficiency of Grace | High | 12:9 | The baseline’s Illuminationist/Mulla Sadra feyz-as-emanation loading risks reading “my grace is sufficient” as continuous automatic metaphysical overflow rather than personal, responsive divine provision sustaining Paul specifically in weakness. | Human theologian |
| Spiritual Warfare and Satan | Medium | 12:7 | ”Thorn in the flesh,” a messenger of Satan; شیطان retained as personal adversary. | Native speaker review |
| Genuine versus False Apostleship | Critical | 12:11-13 | ”Signs of a true apostle” must not be read through folk-Islamic karamat (miracle-worker) framework detached from apostolic office/gospel content. | Human theologian |
| Boasting in the Lord | Medium | 12:1-11 | Continued through the “fool’s speech” and thorn narrative. | Native speaker review |
2 Corinthians 13
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trinitarian Benediction | Critical | 13:14 | One of the NT’s clearest implicit Trinitarian formulas (grace to Christ, love to God, fellowship to the Spirit); inherits full tawhid-collision handling from the baseline’s Critical god/son_of_god/holy_spirit entries. No softening of the three-Persons/one-benediction structure permitted. | Human theologian |
| Sincerity and Apostolic Authority | High | 13:5 | ”Examine yourselves” (خود را بیازمایید) — pastorally sensitive given real cost of self-examination and potential disclosure risk for Muslim-background believers. | Human theologian |
| Mutual Restoration and Unity | Low | 13:9, 13:11 | کامل شوید preferred over اصلاح شوید (Iranian state “eslâh-talab”/reformist political connotation); no independent doctrinal collision. | Automated review |
| Holy Kiss and Church Greeting Practice | Low | 13:12 | بوسهٔ مقدس is a practical cultural-adaptation matter (gender-segregation and public-decorum norms in Iranian house-church settings), not a doctrinal risk in the term itself. | Automated review |
Part 2 — Consolidated Doctrine Matrix (Full Book)
This table restates every doctrine in assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json, in registry order, with supporting passages drawn from across the full book of 2 Corinthians and a summary translation-risk rationale. Risk tiers and review routing are IDENTICAL to the registry; no doctrine, tier, or routing has been altered here.
| # | Doctrine | Risk | Supporting Passages (2 Corinthians) | Translation Risk (summary) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reconciliation with God | Critical | 5:11-21, 6:1-2 | No equivalent estrangement-from-God doctrine in mainstream Sunni/Shia theology; آشتی (never مصالحه) must keep God as explicit initiating agent; 5:20 imperative is response, not achievement. | Human theologian |
| 2 | New Creation in Christ | Critical | 5:17, 5:1-4 | Risk of collapse into fitrah-restoration/tazkiyeh-ye nafs rather than God’s unilateral new creative act; must also avoid reincarnation-adjacent reading. | Human theologian |
| 3 | Suffering and Comfort in Ministry | High | 1:3-11, 4:7-18, 6:4-10, 7:4-7, 11:23-27 | مصیبت (Karbala/Muharram mourning term) forbidden for Paul’s afflictions; رنج required; comfort must be God’s active consoling presence, not fatalistic taqdir/sabr. | Human theologian |
| 4 | The New Covenant versus the Old | Critical | 3:1-18 | Naskh (abrogation) doctrine risks implying the NT has itself since been abrogated by the Quran; veil (3:13-16) must never render حجاب given its acute political charge in Iran. | Human theologian |
| 5 | Sincerity and Apostolic Authority | High | 1:12, 2:17, 4:2, 5:20, 6:14-7:1, 13:5 | Must be taught in explicit contrast to taqiyyeh, the sanctioned Shia doctrine of religiously permissible concealment of belief. | Human theologian |
| 6 | Generosity and Grace in Giving | High | 8:1-15, 9:1-15 | Must be distinguished from Iran’s obligatory, quota-based zakât/khoms giving categories; giving flows from grace, not religious duty. | Human theologian |
| 7 | Power in Weakness | Critical | 11:30, 12:1-10, 13:4 | Iranian honor-shame culture treats weakness as shame to conceal; Paul’s boasting in weakness must not be flattened into false modesty or defeat; Sufi faqr/fanâ only a partial, non-equivalent bridge. | Human theologian |
| 8 | Genuine versus False Apostleship | Critical | 10:1-18, 11:1-15, 12:11-13 | Must not be mapped onto intra-Islamic Sunni-Shia succession disputes; carries real relational/security stakes for accusations of false leadership within vulnerable house-churches. | Human theologian |
| 9 | Imputation of Sin and Righteousness | Critical | 5:19, 5:21 | Identical forensic-accounting verb family (logizomai) must govern both non-imputation of sin and crediting of righteousness consistently; عدالت کسبشده never substituted. | Human theologian |
| 10 | Substitutionary Atonement | Critical | 5:14-15, 5:21 | بهجای (not merely برای) preserves representative substitution; must be categorically distinguished from the Karbala/Hussein martyrdom-intercession pattern. | Human theologian |
| 11 | Ministry of Reconciliation and Ambassadorship | High | 5:18-20 | سفیر (“ambassador of Christ”) must be qualified as strictly delegated authority, given competing apostleship/Imamate-succession authority claims. | Human theologian |
| 12 | Eschatological Judgment and Reward | Critical | 5:10-11 | Islamic mizân risks assimilating the judgment seat of Christ into a salvation-determining framework; must be taught as reward-accounting for the already-justified, distinct from the settled sin-verdict. | Human theologian |
| 13 | Bodily Resurrection and Hope | Critical | 4:14, 5:1-5, 5:15 | Shares Quran’s crucifixion-denial (4:157) and Shia Mahdi-centered eschatology subordinating Jesus’s resurrection/return; must not be diluted or displaced. | Human theologian |
| 14 | Repentance and Godly Grief | High | 7:8-11 | توبه, central Islamic deeds-and-mercy repentance term, must be taught as Spirit-produced fruit of godly grief, not an independent meritorious act. | Human theologian |
| 15 | Forgiveness and Church Discipline | Medium | 2:5-11, 7:8-12 | بخشش must be anchored to Christ’s atoning work, not a free-floating divine-mercy attribute (compatible bridge with “Bakhshande” as divine epithet). | Native speaker review |
| 16 | Spiritual Warfare and Satan | Medium | 2:11, 11:3, 11:14, 12:7 | شیطان shared with Quranic Iblis; must remain the personal adversary, not equated with Sufi nafs (ego). | Native speaker review |
| 17 | Temple Indwelling and Holiness | High | 6:14-7:1 | معبد/هیکل خدا must remain metaphorical (the people, not a building), given restricted Persian congregational worship; separation must not become total social withdrawal. | Human theologian |
| 18 | Divine Jealousy and Covenant Fidelity | High | 11:2-3 | غیرت, a possessive honor-culture term, must be reframed as covenantal faithfulness-love for the whole people, not a gendered honor-shame dynamic. | Human theologian |
| 19 | Paradise and Heavenly Vision | Critical | 12:1-4 | بهشت names the developed Quranic Jannah reward-doctrine; must denote Paul’s immediate-presence vision, not the mizân-linked garden-reward system. | Human theologian |
| 20 | Trinitarian Benediction | Critical | 13:14 | Inherits full tawhid-collision handling from the baseline’s Critical god/son_of_god/holy_spirit entries; three-Persons/one-benediction structure must not be softened. | Human theologian |
| 21 | Boasting in the Lord | Medium | 10:17-18, 11:16-30, 12:1-11 | Distinction between sinful self-glorying and legitimate boasting “in the Lord” must be preserved consistently across chs.10-12. | Native speaker review |
| 22 | Sufficiency of Grace | High | 12:9 | Baseline feyz-as-emanation loading risks reading “sufficient grace” as automatic metaphysical overflow rather than personal, responsive provision. | Human theologian |
| 23 | Veil and Spiritual Blindness | Critical | 3:13-16, 4:3-4 | حجاب forbidden absolutely (mandatory-hijab political charge); پوشش/نقاب required to preserve the theological meaning of spiritual blindness removed only in Christ. | Human theologian |
| 24 | Letter versus Spirit | High | 3:6-11 | Sufi ẕāher/bāṭen offers a partial bridge but must not collapse Paul’s redemptive-historical contrast into generic mystical exoteric/esoteric spirituality. | Human theologian |
| 25 | Light of the Gospel Revelation | High | 4:4-6 | نور collides with Nur-e Mohammadi doctrine and Quran 24:35; must anchor to Christ’s specific historical revelation, not a free-floating cosmic-light category. | Human theologian |
| 26 | Fear of the Lord and Accountability | High | 5:11, 7:15 | خداترسی, positively-loaded everyday shari’a-piety vocabulary, must be anchored specifically to accountability before Christ’s judgment seat. | Human theologian |
| 27 | Conscience and Transparency | Medium | 1:12, 4:2, 5:11 | وجدان must retain accountability-before-God dimension, not flatten into social conscience/honor-shame. | Native speaker review |
| 28 | Holy Kiss and Church Greeting Practice | Low | 13:12 | Practical cultural-adaptation matter (gender-segregation/decorum norms), not a doctrinal risk. | Automated review |
| 29 | Mutual Restoration and Unity | Low | 13:9, 13:11 | اصلاح شوید avoided (reformist political connotation); کامل شوید is the safer default. | Automated review |
Part 3 — Risk Summary (Consistent with doctrine_risk_registry.json)
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 12 | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | 11 | Human theologian review |
| Medium | 4 | Native speaker review recommended |
| Low | 2 | Automated review sufficient |
| Total | 29 | 23 theologian / 4 native speaker / 2 automated |
Part 4 — Full-Book Coverage Confirmation
All thirteen chapters of 2 Corinthians have been reviewed for doctrinal load-bearing content:
- Chapters reviewed with new/extended doctrinal risk: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 (all thirteen).
- Passages reviewed and explicitly noted as carrying no additional doctrinal risk beyond categories already tabulated above: 1:1-2, 1:23-24, 2:1-4, 2:12-16, 3:2-3, 4:1-3, 4:13, 4:15, 6:1-2, 7:8-12 (logistics portions), 8:16-24, 9:11-12/9:15 (thanksgiving, Low risk), 10:1-18 (rhetorical framing beyond apostleship claim itself), 12:1-11 (fool’s-speech framing beyond tabulated doctrines).
- No chapter of 2 Corinthians has been silently omitted from analysis; every chapter contributes to at least one doctrine in Part 1 above.
This document must be loaded alongside assets/translation_memory.json (baseline, Romans), analysis/08_core_glossary.md (2 Corinthians extension), assets/bible_term_registry.json, and assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json for all subsequent Phase 1 and Phase 2 work on this curriculum. It supersedes no baseline entry; it extends the baseline’s doctrine-risk framework to the full text of 2 Corinthians.
Critical Risk Doctrines
Reconciliation with God
Persian name: آشتی با خدا
Key terms: reconciliation, not_counting_trespasses, be_reconciled_imperative, world_kosmos, ambassador
Review routing: Human theologian
Mainstream Sunni and Shia theology has no equivalent doctrine of humanity estranged from God in a way requiring God’s own unilateral, costly initiative to restore; sin is addressed through towbeh (repentance) and rahmat (mercy) rather than reconciliation of a broken relationship. آشتی is retained as the established Persian Bible term over مصالحه (negotiated settlement between equal parties), but every occurrence must keep God as the grammatically explicit initiating agent, and the passive imperative of 5:20 must be taught as response to an already-accomplished work, not a human-achieved act of pacifying God.
New Creation in Christ
Persian name: خلقت تازه در مسیح
Key terms: new_creation, tent_body
Review routing: Human theologian
Islamic fitrah doctrine holds every human is born innately God-oriented and only secondarily corrupted by environment; ‘new creation’ risks being heard as a return to one’s original fitrah through tazkiyeh-ye nafs (self-purification, a major Sufi/Islamic ethical category) rather than God’s unilateral, fresh creative act constituting an entirely new status and nature. Must also be kept distinct from any reincarnation-adjacent reading.
The New Covenant versus the Old
Persian name: عهد جدید در برابر عهد عتیق
Key terms: new_covenant, letter_and_spirit, veil, freedom, covenant
Review routing: Human theologian
Islamic naskh (abrogation) doctrine teaches later revelation supersedes and cancels earlier revelation, and is commonly extended to claim the Quran abrogates both the Torah and the Gospel; ‘new covenant’ language risks confirming this framework and inviting the further inference that the New Testament has itself since been abrogated. Separately, the ‘veil’ of 3:13-16 must never be rendered حجاب, the single most politically charged word in contemporary Iranian public life (mandatory hijab law and associated protests), which would displace the theological meaning with an unavoidable political reading.
Power in Weakness
Persian name: قدرت در ضعف
Key terms: power_in_weakness, thorn_in_the_flesh, power_of_god, boasting
Review routing: Human theologian
Iranian honor-shame culture experiences weakness, humiliation, and public vulnerability as genuine shame to be concealed (compare the ta’arof face-management system); Paul’s deliberate public boasting in weakness risks being flattened into false modesty or simple defeat rather than the specific theological claim that God’s power is displayed through, not merely despite, acknowledged weakness. Sufi faqr/fanâ offer only a partial bridge and must not be confused with Paul’s sustained, personal, ongoing weakness (not self-dissolution).
Genuine versus False Apostleship
Persian name: رسالت حقیقی در برابر رسالت دروغین
Key terms: false_apostles, apostle, signs_of_a_true_apostle, angel_of_light, satan, boasting
Review routing: Human theologian
The baseline’s Shia Imamate succession-claim note gives Persian readers a live category for disputing rival religious authority, which can bridge understanding of why authenticity of apostolic commission mattered, but must not be mapped onto intra-Islamic Sunni-Shia succession disputes, recasting Paul’s argument as a parallel sectarian dispute rather than a unique claim about the foundational NT apostolic office. Also carries real relational and security stakes for accusations of ‘false’ leadership within small, vulnerable house-churches.
Imputation of Sin and Righteousness
Persian name: محسوب شدن گناه و عدالت
Key terms: not_counting_trespasses, imputed_righteousness, righteousness, made_him_to_be_sin
Review routing: Human theologian
The identical forensic-accounting verb family (logizomai) governs both the non-imputation of sin (5:19) and the crediting of righteousness (5:21, and the baseline’s Romans 4 entry); حساب کردن must be used consistently across both directions so learners recognize this as one unified doctrine of legal accounting rather than two unrelated ideas, and عدالت کسبشده (‘earned righteousness’) must never be substituted for عدالت محسوبشده.
Substitutionary Atonement
Persian name: کفارهٔ جانشینی
Key terms: died_for_all, made_him_to_be_sin, love_of_christ, salvation
Review routing: Human theologian
Christ’s substitutionary death ‘in the place of’ (بهجای, not merely برای) all must be distinguished categorically from the Karbala/Hussein martyrdom-intercession pattern already flagged Critical in the baseline’s ‘salvation’ entry — an innocent, honored figure’s suffering benefiting mourners who honor him is superficially similar but doctrinally distinct from a judicial, representative exchange of sin for righteousness.
Eschatological Judgment and Reward
Persian name: داوری و پاداش آخرتشناختی
Key terms: judgment_seat_of_christ, fear_of_the_lord
Review routing: Human theologian
Mainstream Islamic eschatology’s culturally dominant mizân (the deeds-weighing scale) risks assimilating the judgment seat of Christ wholesale into a salvation-determining framework; must be taught as an already-justified believer’s accounting for ministry and reward, categorically distinct from the sin-versus-righteousness verdict already settled at the cross and by faith.
Bodily Resurrection and Hope
Persian name: قیامت جسمانی و امید
Key terms: resurrection, tent_body
Review routing: Human theologian
Shares the Quran’s crucifixion-denial (4:157) with the baseline’s Romans entry, and the Shia Mahdi-centered eschatological expectation that subordinates Jesus’s own resurrection and return to a supporting role; the resurrection referenced as the ground of the believer’s reoriented life (5:15) must not be diluted or displaced.
Paradise and Heavenly Vision
Persian name: بهشت و رؤیای آسمانی
Key terms: paradise, third_heaven
Review routing: Human theologian
Behesht names the extensively developed Quranic Jannah reward-doctrine, functioning as the reward stage of the mizân deeds-weighing system; Paul’s ‘paradise’ must be taught as an immediate personal visionary encounter with God’s presence, not the developed garden-reward system, even though behesht remains the only viable Persian lexical choice.
Trinitarian Benediction
Persian name: برکت تثلیثی
Key terms: trinitarian_benediction, god, son_of_god, holy_spirit, grace, love_of_christ, fellowship
Review routing: Human theologian
One of the NT’s clearest implicit Trinitarian formulas (grace to the Lord Jesus Christ, love to God, fellowship to the Holy Spirit); inherits the full tawhid-collision handling already established for the baseline’s Critical ‘god,’ ‘son_of_god,’ and ‘holy_spirit’ entries. No softening of the three distinct Persons/one benediction structure is permitted.
Veil and Spiritual Blindness
Persian name: پوشش و کوری روحانی
Key terms: veil
Review routing: Human theologian
حجاب must never be used: as the single most politically and socially charged word in current Iranian public life (mandatory hijab law and the associated protest movement), it would immediately be read as a political statement, entirely displacing the theological meaning about spiritual blindness removed only in Christ.
High Risk Doctrines
Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Persian name: رنج و تسلی در خدمت
Key terms: comfort, affliction_suffering, eternal_weight_of_glory, inner_outer_man
Review routing: Human theologian
مصیبت, the term specifically naming Imam Hussein’s Karbala suffering and central to Muharram mourning liturgy, must never be used for Paul’s ministry afflictions (رنج is required instead), or the doctrine will be assimilated into the Shia martyrdom-mourning devotional complex rather than taught as purposeful, comfort-producing suffering flowing from God’s own active consoling presence rather than fatalistic taqdir/sabr endurance.
Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Persian name: صداقت و اقتدار رسولی
Key terms: sincerity, conscience, ambassador, examine_yourselves, unequally_yoked
Review routing: Human theologian
Paul’s insistence on renouncing concealment and cunning must be taught in explicit contrast to taqiyyeh (تقیه), the recognized, religiously sanctioned Shia doctrine permitting strategic concealment of true belief under threat or for advantage — a genuine point of theological distinction, not merely a rhetorical claim.
Generosity and Grace in Giving
Persian name: سخاوت و فیض در بخشش
Key terms: cheerful_giver, equality_in_giving, poverty_of_christ, grace
Review routing: Human theologian
Iranian Shia religious life includes well-developed, religiously obligatory, quota-based giving categories (zakât and the distinctively Shia khoms, historically supporting the clergy/Imamate structure); Paul’s voluntary, grace-motivated, non-quota giving model must be actively distinguished from this default, or house-church readers will likely import a zakât/khoms-shaped mental model of ‘religious giving’ onto the text.
Ministry of Reconciliation and Ambassadorship
Persian name: خدمت آشتی و سفارت مسیح
Key terms: mission, ambassador, reconciliation
Review routing: Human theologian
Apostolic authority as an ambassador (سفیر) must be qualified as strictly delegated, non-self-originating authority (‘ambassador of Christ’), given the baseline’s documentation of competing claims to authoritative religious office (apostleship, Imamate succession) already present in the Persian Shia cultural context.
Repentance and Godly Grief
Persian name: توبه و اندوه الهی
Key terms: repentance, godly_grief
Review routing: Human theologian
توبه is the central repentance term of Islamic piety, situated within a deeds-and-mercy framework where repentance is a human achievement that helps secure forgiveness; here it must be taught as Spirit-produced fruit of godly grief flowing from a relationship already reconciled through Christ (ch.5), not an independent meritorious act.
Temple Indwelling and Holiness
Persian name: سکونت خدا در معبد و تقدس
Key terms: temple_of_god, holy, sanctification, unequally_yoked
Review routing: Human theologian
Ma’bad/heykal must be clearly metaphorical (the people, not a physical building), especially given that Persian-language congregational worship is heavily restricted in Iran and many house-church readers have no physical building at all; the call to separation (6:14-17) must not be overapplied into total social withdrawal, which would contradict the baseline’s own note that biblical separation is devoted engagement with the world.
Divine Jealousy and Covenant Fidelity
Persian name: غیرت الهی و وفاداری عهد
Key terms: divine_jealousy
Review routing: Human theologian
Gheyrat is a deeply-rooted Persian/Islamic honor-culture term for a man’s protective, often possessive zeal over a female relative’s honor; God’s jealousy for his people’s exclusive devotion risks being read through this possessive, gendered honor-shame lens rather than as covenantal faithfulness-love for the whole people of God.
Sufficiency of Grace
Persian name: کفایت فیض
Key terms: grace, power_in_weakness
Review routing: Human theologian
The Illuminationist/Mulla Sadra ‘feyz’ loading already flagged High in the baseline risks reading ‘my grace is sufficient’ as continuous automatic metaphysical overflow rather than personal, responsive divine provision sustaining Paul specifically in his weakness.
Letter versus Spirit
Persian name: حرف در برابر روح
Key terms: letter_and_spirit, new_covenant
Review routing: Human theologian
The Sufi ẕāher (outer law) / bāṭen (inner truth) distinction is a useful teaching bridge but must not collapse Paul’s specific redemptive-historical contrast (old covenant code vs. new covenant Spirit) into generic mystical exoteric/esoteric spirituality accessible by contemplative technique rather than by the Spirit given through Christ’s finished work.
Light of the Gospel Revelation
Persian name: نور مکاشفهٔ انجیل
Key terms: light_of_gospel, image_of_god, angel_of_light
Review routing: Human theologian
Nur is central to the Islamic doctrine of Nur-e Mohammadi (the pre-existent light of Muhammad, prominent in Shia and Sufi devotional literature) and Quran 24:35’s light verse; must be anchored concretely to Christ’s specific historical revelation (4:6) rather than treated as a free-floating cosmic-light category absorbable into the pre-existent-light doctrine.
Fear of the Lord and Accountability
Persian name: ترس خداوند و مسئولیتپذیری
Key terms: fear_of_the_lord, judgment_seat_of_christ
Review routing: Human theologian
خداترسی is positively-loaded everyday Persian piety vocabulary centered on fear of transgressing shari’a in its Islamic usage; must be anchored specifically to accountability before Christ at his judgment seat (5:10), not generic religious piety.
Medium Risk Doctrines
Forgiveness and Church Discipline
Persian name: بخشش و نظم کلیسایی
Key terms: forgiveness
Review routing: Native speaker review
بخشش/بخشیدن is compatible with shared Islamic divine-mercy vocabulary (e.g., ‘Bakhshande’ as a divine epithet), a helpful bridge, but must be anchored to Christ’s specific atoning work rather than treated as a free-floating divine attribute exercised apart from the cross.
Spiritual Warfare and Satan
Persian name: جنگ روحانی و شیطان
Key terms: satan, angel_of_light
Review routing: Native speaker review
Sheytân is shared, well-established vocabulary with the Quranic Iblis figure, but must be taught as the same personal adversary who can disguise himself as an angel of light, not equated with the internal nafs (self/ego) that Sufi ethics often treats as the primary spiritual enemy.
Boasting in the Lord
Persian name: فخر در خداوند
Key terms: boasting
Review routing: Native speaker review
No independent Islamic-doctrinal collision, but the sharp distinction between sinful self-glorying and legitimate boasting ‘in the Lord’ must be preserved consistently across chapters, since it is the letter’s primary rhetorical device for exposing false apostleship.
Conscience and Transparency
Persian name: وجدان و شفافیت
Key terms: conscience, sincerity
Review routing: Native speaker review
وجدان is standard, secular-compatible vocabulary; ensure it is not flattened into mere social conscience/cultural shame (a strong Iranian honor-culture category) but retains its accountability-before-God dimension.
Low Risk Doctrines
Holy Kiss and Church Greeting Practice
Persian name: بوسهٔ مقدس و آداب سلام کلیسایی
Key terms: holy_kiss
Review routing: Automated review
A practical cultural-adaptation matter (gender-segregation and public-decorum norms in Iranian house-church settings) rather than a doctrinal risk in the term itself.
Mutual Restoration and Unity
Persian name: بازسازی و وحدت متقابل
Key terms: be_restored_complete
Review routing: Automated review
اصلاح شوید is avoided as the primary rendering because اصلاح carries Iranian state ‘eslâh-talab’ (reformist) political connotations; کامل شوید is the safer default with no independent doctrinal collision.
Referenced passages