Scholars have sought to explain these preachers’ impure motivations in various ways. Jewett portrays the apostle’s rivals as proclaimers of a kind of prosperity-gospel via which they sought to score points against Paul.1 Evidence for this view, however, is lacking. Ollrog has suggested that these preachers deemed Paul’s imprisonment to have a damaging impact on the proclamation of the gospel.2 Schenk prefers to explain the controversy along psychological lines: these preachers knew they were no match for Paul; hence the rivalry between Paul and a number of his colleagues.3 According to Müller Paul might have been inclined toward martyrdom, as would later be the case with Ignatius of Antioch.4,5
15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.