Authentic and Disputed Letters of Paul

Letters/Epistles Letters could be written in different ways  Sometimes by the sender’s own hand and sometimes dictated  Each syllable might be copied by a recording secretary With an editor introduced to correct mistakes  A scribe was almost a coauthor, to create the final form of the letter. Pauline letters were meant to be read aloud in order to persuade.  Like speeches, they can be judged as rhetoric, in terms of the authority of writer, the quality of the writings, and the desired effect on the audience.

Background Information The letters attributed to Paul make up approximately one-half of the New Testament These letters are best described as pastoral (apostolic):  basic function was to speak/teach in the absence of the apostle The majority of the letters are written to churches Paul had already established  Intention was church maintenance

Authentic and Disputed Letters of Paul Authentic:  1 Thessalonians  1 Corinthians  2 Corinthians  Philippians  Galatians  Philemon  Romans Disputed:  2 Thessalonians  Colossians  Ephesians  1 Timothy  2 Timothy  Titus

Disputed Letters:  Style  Vocabulary  Ideas  content slightly different or more developed than traditional Paul Authentic letters  Language: vocabulary and style  Theology  Historical Situation

Pseudonimity (false name) The attachment of a famous name to a book  Common phenomena amongst the ancients who had no concept of intellectual property  Fostered by writers that revered or venerated the person who bore these names  It is not plagiarism or an attempt to mislead it is suggested of a school mentality: students know their master’s teachings intimately and therefore feel qualified to reproduce it in their absence

Paul’s Modus Operandi How did a Christian missionary like Paul, after arriving in a new city where he had no contacts, actually go about meeting people and talking to them about religion in an effort to convert them? Paul arrived in town as a complete stranger, he would simply stand on a crowded street corner and preach to those passing by, hoping to win converts by his sincerity and charisma and by the appeal of his message.  This was the method followed among some of the philosophers in the Greco-Roman world; BUT Paul gives no indication that this is how he proceeded.

Paul’s Modus Operandi In Acts, Paul invariably makes new contacts by going to the local synagogue, where as a traveling Jew he would be quite welcome, and sung the worship service there as an occasion to speak of his belief in Jesus as the messiah come in fulfillment of the Scripture. Recent scholars have realized that Paul  Literally means that the had been working full time and had used his place of business as a point of contact with people to proclaim the gospel.  Paul preached while on the job.

Ephesus

Colossae

Philippi

Corinth

Thessalonica

How did Paul die? How did Peter die?