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Pauline epistles - Wikipedia

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Books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle

The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest extant Christian documents. They provide an insight into the beliefs and controversies of early Christianity. As part of the canon of the New Testament, they are foundational texts for both Christian theology and ethics.

Most scholars believe that Paul actually wrote seven of the thirteen Pauline epistles (Galatians, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians), while three of the epistles in Paul's name are widely seen as pseudepigraphic (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus).[1] Whether Paul wrote the three other epistles in his name (2 Thessalonians, Ephesians and Colossians) is widely debated.[1] These latter six epistles are believed by some scholars to have come from followers writing in his name, using material from Paul's surviving letters and letters written by him that no longer survive.[2] The Epistle to the Hebrews, although it does not bear his name, was traditionally considered Pauline (although Rome questioned its authorship), but from the 16th century onwards opinion steadily moved against Pauline authorship and few scholars now ascribe it to Paul, mostly because it does not read like any of his other epistles in style and content and because the epistle does not indicate that Paul is the author, unlike the others.[3]

The Pauline epistles are usually placed between the Acts of the Apostles and the catholic epistles (also called the general epistles) in modern editions. Most Greek manuscripts place the general epistles first,[4] and a few minuscules (175, 325, 336, and 1424) place the Pauline epistles at the end of the New Testament.

Beginning of the Greek manuscript by Huldrych Zwingli of the Pauline epistles, written in 1517, preserved in the Zentralbibliothek Zürich

In all of these epistles, except the Epistle to the Hebrews, the author and writer does claim to be Paul. The contested letters may have been written using Paul's name, as it was common to attribute at that point in history.[5]

Locations where Paul's letters were sent

Seven letters (with consensus dates)[6] considered genuine by most scholars:

The three letters on which scholars are about evenly divided:[1] If these letters are inauthentic, then the consensus dates are probably incorrect.

The letters thought to be pseudepigraphic by many scholars (traditional dating given):[1] The content of these letters strongly suggests they were written a decade or more later than the traditional dates.

Finally, Epistle to the Hebrews, although anonymous and not really in the form of a letter, has long been included among Paul's collected letters. Although some churches ascribe Hebrews to Paul,[7] neither most of Christianity nor modern scholarship does so.[1][8]

Paul's use of secretaries[edit]

A number of scholars have argued that from biographic details from Paul, he likely suffered from some physical impediment such as vision loss or damaged hands. Paul explicitly states in multiple epistles that he used secretaries, sometimes mentioned by name, a potential explanation for seemingly non-Pauline epistles.[9][10][11][12] The six disputed epistles are believed by some scholars to have come from followers writing in his name, using material from Paul's surviving letters and letters written by him that no longer survive.[2] Paul used scribal secretaries and may have had a team of readers, which adds layers to how Paul's letters were composed.[13] Candida Moss has argued that enslaved and formerly enslaved secretaries played a significant but overlooked role in the production of early Christian texts such as the Pauline epistles, urging a broader and more ethical recognition of their contributions to authorship beyond traditional assumptions.[14]

In the order they appear in the New Testament, the Pauline epistles are:

This ordering is remarkably consistent in the manuscript tradition, with very few deviations. The evident principle of organization is descending length of the Greek text, but keeping the three pastoral epistles addressed to individuals in a separate final section. The only anomaly is that Galatians precedes the slightly longer Ephesians.

In modern editions, the anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews is placed at the end of Paul's letters and before the general epistles. This practice was popularized through the 4th century Vulgate by Jerome, who was aware of ancient doubts about its authorship, and is also followed in most medieval Byzantine manuscripts with hardly any exceptions.

The placement of Hebrews among the Pauline epistles is less consistent in the manuscripts:

Lost Pauline epistles[edit]

Paul's own writings are sometimes thought to indicate several of his letters that have not been preserved:

Pseudepigraphic epistles[edit]

Several other epistles were attributed to Paul during the course of history but are now considered pseudepigraphic:

Collected epistles[edit]

David Trobisch finds it likely that Paul first collected his letters for publication himself.[29] It was normal practice in Paul's time for letter writers to keep one copy for themselves and send a second copy to the recipient(s); surviving collections of ancient letters sometimes originated from the senders' copies, at other times from the recipients' copies.[30] A collection of Paul's letters circulated separately from other early Christian writings and later became part of the New Testament. When the canon was established, the gospels and Paul's letters were the core of what would become the New Testament.[29][page needed]

  1. ^ a b c d e New Testament Letter Structure, from Catholic Resources by Felix Just, S.J.
  2. ^ a b Sanders, E.P. (27 December 2019). "Saint Paul, the Apostle". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  3. ^ The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, publ. Geoffrey Chapman, 1989, chapter 60, at p. 920, col. 2 "That Paul is neither directly nor indirectly the author is now the view of scholars almost without exception. For details, see Kümmel, I[ntroduction to the] N[ew] T[estament, Nashville, 1975] 392–94, 401–03"
  4. ^ Metzger, Bruce M. (1987). The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance (PDF). pp. 295–96. ISBN 0198261802. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-01.
  5. ^ Joseph Barber Lightfoot in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians writes: "At this point [Gal 6:11] the apostle takes the pen from his amanuensis, and the concluding paragraph is written with his own hand. From the time when letters began to be forged in his name (2 Thess 2:2; 3:17) it seems to have been his practice to close with a few words in his own handwriting, as a precaution against such forgeries... In the present case he writes a whole paragraph, summing up the main lessons of the epistle in terse, eager, disjointed sentences. He writes it, too, in large, bold characters (Gr. pelikois grammasin), that his handwriting may reflect the energy and determination of his soul."
  6. ^ Wall, Robert (2002). New Interpreter's Bible. Vol. X. Abingdon Press. p. 373.
  7. ^ Arhipov, Sergei, ed. (1996). The Apostol. New Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon's Seminary Press. p. 408. ISBN 1-878997-49-1.
  8. ^ Ellingworth, Paul (1993). The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistle to the Hebrews. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eardmans Publishing Co. p. 3.
  9. ^ Moss, Candida R (29 April 2023). "The Secretary: Enslaved Workers, Stenography, and the Production of Early Christian Literature". The Journal of Theological Studies. 74 (1): 20–56. doi:10.1093/jts/flad001.
  10. ^ Blumell, Lincoln H. (2006). "Scribes and Ancient Letters Implications for the Pauline Epistles". Brigham Young University. How the New Testament Came to Be: The Thirty-fifth Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, ed. p. 208-226.
  11. ^ Marshall, Dr Taylor (30 January 2015). "The Secretaries of Peter, Paul and John". Taylor Marshall.
  12. ^ Richards, E. Randolph (1991). The Secretary in the Letters of Paul. Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 3161455754.
  13. ^ Longenecker, Bruce W. (2020). The New Cambridge Companion to St. Paul. Cambridge University Press. p. 9-11. ISBN 9781108529204.
  14. ^ Moss, Candida R (2023-04-01). "The Secretary: Enslaved Workers, Stenography, and the Production of Early Christian Literature". The Journal of Theological Studies. 74 (1): 20–56. doi:10.1093/jts/flad001. ISSN 0022-5185.
  15. ^ ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway. 2008. pp. 1806–1807. ISBN 978-1-4335-0241-5. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023.
  16. ^ Digital Vatican Library (DigiVatLib), Manuscript – Vat.gr.1209
  17. ^ "Lost Books of the Bible?". Archived from the original on 2006-06-23. Retrieved 2006-06-29.
  18. ^ a b "Are There Lost Books of the Bible?". Reason & Revelation. 23 (12). Apologetics Press. 1 December 2003. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  19. ^ 1 Corinthians 5:9
  20. ^ 2 Corinthians 2:4
  21. ^ 2 Corinthians 7:8–9
  22. ^ Ephesians 3:3–4
  23. ^ Colossians 4:16
  24. ^ Charlesworth, James H.; McDonald, Lee Martin (2014-04-24). Sacra Scriptura: How "Non-Canonical" Texts Functioned in Early Judaism and Early Christianity. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-567-29668-9.
  25. ^ Olshausen, Hermann (1851). Biblical Commentary on St. Paul's First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians. T. & T. Clark.
  26. ^ a b c Ehrman, Bart (2012). Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics. Oxford University Press. p. 452–458. ISBN 9780199928033.
  27. ^ "Letters of Paul and Seneca". www.earlychristianwritings.com. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  28. ^ a b Trobisch, David (1994). Paul's Letter Collection. Minneapolis: Fortress. ISBN 978-0800625979.
  29. ^ Reece, Steve. Paul's Large Letters: Pauline Subscriptions in the Light of Ancient Epistolary Conventions. London: T&T Clark, 2016.[page needed]
Bibliographic resources[edit]

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