WHB Home : All Blogs : Recent Blogs : Paul's Undisputed Letters - 10/24/2008
Paul's Undisputed Letters
by Wyatt Houtz   October 23, 2008 4:50pm v.7 Rating: Status: Hidden
Leave a comment: no comments ~ Printable Version
PREV383 of 459NEXT

Thirteen of the New Testament books internally claim to be written by the Apostle Paul. The Epistle of the Hebrews is anonymous, and is considered inspired, but very few theologians believe it was authored by Paul. We have found many other letters outside of the bible that claim to be authored by Paul, but they are likely pseudopygrapha ("false writings.") In the academic community, only seven of these fourteen books are undisputed as authored by Paul. First Thessalonians, Romans, First Corinthians, Second Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Philemon.

If a scholar has rejected six of Paul's New Testament letters as pseudopygrapha, then I don't think you will change their mind, but its still valuable to know. Some of the disputed letters have a dubious history, but by comparing the word-choices, themes, phrases, and theological arguments to those in the undisputed letters we can use textual criticism to prove that the disputed letters are rightly placed in the New Testament canon.

Aside from apologetics, knowing that letters like Romans are undisputed allows me to take every word as if it came directly from Paul. I read 1 Timothy today, and there are several verses that Paul wrote to Timothy that if taken alone, apart from the undisputed letters, may lead you to believe in Pelagianism or even Universal salvation! This is also applicable to other non-Pauline passages of scripture like Mark 16, where some have developed strange doctrines about poisonous snakes.

Very few people have read the extra-biblical letters of Paul (part of the New Testament Apocrapha) and just because they are not in the bible, doesn't mean they have no value. The most important thing about Pseudopygrapha is that the author wants you to believe that Paul wrote their false letter, so they will write in a believable way that may reveal several facts along with their lies. By considering the way they argue, or what they are arguing, we can learn about the problems of the time period or some revealing details of contention that may give interesting background info toward understanding the undisputed letters better.

Non-canonical Pauline Epistles:

  1. Third Epistle to the Corinthians (canonical for a time in the Armenian Orthodox)
  2. Epistle to the Laodiceans (found in Codex Fuldensis)
  3. Epistle of the Corinthians to Paul (addressed to Paul, not written by him)
  4. Epistle to the Alexandrians

Non-epistle text claiming Pauline authorship:

  1. Acts of Paul and Thecla
  2. Acts of Peter and Paul
  3. Apocalypse of Paul
  4. Coptic Apocalypse of Paul
  5. Prayer of the Apostle Paul
  6. Epistle to Seneca the Younger

Last of all, there is certainly a chance that one day an archeologist will discover a previously unknown letter by Paul. There are many lost books that are referred to in the bible, including several Pauline letters. If one of these were unearthed, we may find it very valuable, even if it is never included in our bibles! Here's a list of lost Pauline epistles:

  1. The first Epistle to Corinth (cf. 1 Cor 5:9)
  2. The third Epistle to Corinth aka "Severe Letter" (c.f 2 Cor 2:4; 7:8-9)
  3. The Earlier Epistle to the Ephesians (cf. Eph 3:3-4)
  4. The Epistle to the Laodiceans (cf. Col 4:16)

 

Last Update: October 24, 2008 10:30pm
Tags: paul, undisputed letters, apocrapha, 1 timothy, hebrews, pseudopygrapha
PREV383 of 459NEXT
Leave a comment: no comments[Hide Comments]Printable Version

Add a comment:

Name:
Email:
WWW:
AIM:
Location:
Comment:

 

 

BACK TO COLUMNS ©2026 http://www.houtz.tv by Wyatt Houtz LOGIN
http://www.houtz.tv/cgi-bin/columns.cgi?writer=0×tamp=20081023165059