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.
The majority of 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).New Testament Letter Structure, from Catholic Resources by Felix Just, S.J. Whether Paul wrote the three other epistles in his name (2 Thessalonians, Ephesians and Colossians) is widely debated, with 2 Thessalonians having strong support for its authenticity. These latter seven 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. Though for Colossians, it has been noted that Colossians has indisputably Pauline stylistic characteristics, found nowhere else in the New Testament.Kümmel, W.G. Introduction to the New Testament. 1966, p. 241: 'Pleonastic "kai" after "dia touto" (Col 1:9) is found in the NT only in Paul (1 Thess. 2:13; 3:5; Rom. 13:6)..."hoi hagioi autou" Col 1:25=1 Thess. 3:13, 2 Thess. 1:10, "charixesthai"=to forgive (Col 2:13, 3:13) only in 2 Cor 2:7, 10, 12:13' etc. Advocates of Pauline authorship also argue that the differences between Colossians and the rest of the New Testament are not as great as they are purported to be.P. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon, WBC (Waco, Tex.: Word, 1982), xiv 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.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"
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, and a few minuscules (175, 325, 336, and 1424) place the Pauline epistles at the end of the New Testament.
Authenticity
In all of these epistles, except the Epistle to the Hebrews, the author and writer claims 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.Joseph Barber Lightfoot in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians writes: "At this point [] 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 (; ) 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."
On the letters where scholars are divided or think are pseudepigraphic, their arguments often rely on internal evidences (e.g. style, vocabulary, subject matter) which tend to be subjective, rather than external and historical evidences (e.g. extant manuscripts, reception of ancient authors, early canonical lists, letter titles, early translation collections of the New Testament). Early Christians consistently rejected forged writings and pseudepigraphers were unlikely to succeed since such writings did not circulate extensively compared to the writings contained in the New Testament, which have external evidence of being recognized as Pauline directly or indirectly.
Seven letters (with consensus dates) considered genuine by most scholars: Galatians (c. 48 AD) First Thessalonians (c. 49–51) First Corinthians (c. 53–54) Second Corinthians (c. 55–56) Romans (c. 55–57) Philippians (c. 57–59 or c. 62) Philemon (c. 57–59 or c. 62)
The three letters on which scholars are about evenly divided: If these letters are inauthentic, then the consensus dates are probably incorrect. Second Thessalonians (c. 51–52) Colossians (c. 57–59 or c. 62) Ephesians (c. 62)
The letters thought to be pseudepigraphic by many scholars (traditional dating given): The content of these letters strongly suggests they were written a decade or more later than the traditional dates. First Timothy (c. 62–64) Second Timothy (c. 62–65) Titus (c. 66–67)
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, neither most of Christianity nor modern scholarship does so.
Ancient letter collecting and publishing practices Paul's use of secretaries 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. 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. Paul used scribal secretaries and may have had a team of readers, which adds layers to how Paul's letters were composed. 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. Paul's secretaries and close associates often delivered and routed his letters to churches and other destinations, as he mentions in some of his letters, and they helped distribute news from other churches as well.
Letter structure and publishing norms Paul was not different than other ancient authors that wrote, collected, and published letters, which was a specific literary genre. Cicero, Seneca, Pliny the Younger, Ignatius of Antioch offer comparable examples to Pauline letter publishing. Among the practices of ancient letter publishing, authors played a role in assembling and preparing their letters for circulation, letters were not typically arranged chronologically but by addressee or subject, letter collections were sometimes expanded over time even with pseudepigraphic writings after the author's death, and scribes or secretaries made duplicate copies for their clients.
The letters of Paul follow a Greco-Roman conventional structure, with some modification: opening, thanksgiving or blessing, body, and closing.
Order In the order they appear in the New Testament, the Pauline epistles are:
Name Addressees Greek Latin Abbreviations Full Min. Romans Church at Rome Rom Ro 1 Corinthians Church at Corinth 1 Cor 1C 2 Corinthians Church at Corinth 2 Cor 2C Galatians Churches in Galatia Gal G Ephesians Church at Ephesus Eph E Philippians Church at Philippi Phil Phi Colossians Church at Colossae Col C 1 Thessalonians Church at Thessalonica 1 Thess 1Th 2 Thessalonians Church at Thessalonica 2 Thess 2Th 1 Timothy Saint Timothy 1 Tim 1T 2 Timothy Saint Timothy 2 Tim 2T Titus Saint Titus Tit T Philemon Saint Philemon Philem P Hebrews* Hebrew Christians Heb H
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.
+Chronological order of Paul's letters Date Name Location of authorship 48 Galatians Antioch (uncertain) 49–51 1 Thessalonians Corinth 49–51 2 Thessalonians Corinth 53–551 CorinthiansEphesus 55–562 CorinthiansMacedonia 57RomansCorinth 62EphesiansRome 62PhilippiansRome 62ColossiansRome 62PhilemonRome 62–641 TimothyMacedonia 62–64TitusNicopolis 64–672 TimothyRome
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: between Romans and 1 Corinthians (i.e., in order by length without splitting the Epistles to the Corinthians): Papyrus 46 and minuscules 103, 455, 1961, 1964, 1977, 1994. between 2 Corinthians and Galatians: minuscules 1930, 1978, and 2248 between Galatians and Ephesians: implied by the numbering in B. In B, Galatians ends and Ephesians begins on the same side of the same folio (page 1493); similarly 2 Thessalonians ends and Hebrews begins on the same side of the same folio (page 1512).Digital Vatican Library (DigiVatLib), Manuscript – Vat.gr.1209 between 2 Thessalonians and 1 Timothy (i.e., before the Pastorals): א, A, B, C, H, I, P, 0150, 0151, and about 60 minuscules (e.g. 218, 632) after Philemon: D, 048, E, K, L and the majority of minuscules. omitted: F and G
Lost Pauline epistles Paul's own writings are sometimes thought to indicate several of his letters that have not been preserved: A first, or "zeroth", epistle to Corinth, also called A Prior Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, or Paul's previous Corinthian letter, possibly referenced at 1 Corinthians 5:9. A third epistle to Corinth, written in between 1 and 2 Corinthians, also called the Severe Letter, referenced at 2 Corinthians 2:4 and 2 Corinthians 7:8–9 An earlier epistle to the Ephesians referenced at Ephesians 3:3–4 A possible Pauline Epistle to the Laodiceans, referenced at Colossians 4:16
Pseudepigraphic epistles
Several other epistles were attributed to Paul during the course of history but are now considered pseudepigraphic. They are not considered canonical by most Christian denominations, but some do appear in some Bibles. Third Epistle to the Corinthians, a correspondence of two letters allegedly sent by the Corinthians to Paul, and then a reply letter allegedly sent by Paul to the Church of Corinth. It was considered genuine for some time by the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church, but is now widely dated in the second half of the 2nd century CE. Epistle to the Alexandrians, an alleged epistle written by Paul to the Church of Alexandria. It is mentioned in the Muratorian fragment (2nd century CE), which denounces it as a spurious work forged by Marcion of Sinope. Its text has been lost and nothing is known about its content. Non-Pauline Epistle to the Laodiceans versions: