St. Paul

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Some of the Biblical epistles listed here are quoted only to clarify references elsewhere in the collection.
AuthorTitleNotes
attributed to Paul the Letter of Paul to the Romans 1 
the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 1 
the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 1 
the Letter of Paul to the Galatians 1 
the Letter to the Ephesians 2   4 
the Letter of Paul to the Philippians 1 
the Letter to the Colossians 2   4 
the First Letter to the Thessalonians 1   5 
the Second Letter to the Thessalonians (not quoted) 2   5 
the First Letter to Timothy 2   6 
the Second Letter to Timothy 2   6 
the Letter to Titus 2   6 
the Letter of Paul to Philemon 1   4 
the Letter to the Hebrews 3 
attributed to Lukethe Acts of the Apostles
Calvin J. RoetzelPaul: The Man and the Myth
Note 1 Authorship is not greatly in dispute. This does not mean a complete absence of scholarly controversy, over portions if not the whole.
Note 2 Considered “deutero-Pauline”; authorship is widely questioned by scholars. This does not constitute proof that Paul is not the author.

If not written by Paul, these probably fall into several groups with different sources. See further notes.

Note 3 Attribution to Paul not well founded, and apparently invented only to claim apostolic origin and justify inclusion in the New Testament canon.
Note 4 Ephesians and Colossians are closely related in tone and apparent context. Scholars find differences in theology from accepted Pauline epistles; these may be genuine, or may be manufactured in the first place by treating these closely-related letters as having a different author.

Oddly, the letter to Philemon is widely accepted, though its context aligns it with these two.

Note 5 Scholars seem to agree that I Thessalonians is genuinely written by Paul and 2 Thessalonians is not. They base this on their similarity, suggesting an unusually close proximity in time, and on perceived disagreement on details of the apocalypse. Regarding the second letter as sent to correct a false impression, which arose from misunderstanding the first, might address these difficulties more simply.

The notion of forged letters from Paul is also raised, but it is not clear why scholars reject only the letter expressing that concern.

Note 6 Except when cribbing phrases from his other writings, the letters to Timothy and Titus do not sound much like Paul.

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