With this agrees, too, the fact that the Second Epistle of Peter, which alone in the New Testament makes mention of Paul’s literary activity,_(_97_)_ and which itself certainly belongs to the period of the struggle with Gnosticism, treats it as something in the nature of a “gift from the Greeks.”_(_98_)_ In any case, in view of the silence of Justin, the _Shepherd_ of Hermas, the _Didache,_ and the _Epistle of Barnabas,_ the attestation of the Pauline letters is no better than that of the Johannine literature._(_99_)_ Great stress is laid on the fact that among the Gnostics the Epistles existed in a shorter form than in the Church, as appears from the reckoning which Tertullian holds with Marcion._(_100_)_ If this shorter text can be reconstructed [pg 129] and proves to be the better, this would show that the Epistles passed from the hands of the Gnostics into that of the Church, and underwent in the process an expansion of a certain “tendency.” In the hope of showing this, van Manen in the year 1887 reconstructed the Marcionite text of the Epistle to the Galatians._(_101_)_ In regard to the other Epistles he does not attempt this, as Tertullian’s indications are insufficient. The examination of the internal arguments takes the following form. These “Ultra-Tübingen” critics analyse the letters and point out all the difficulties which come to light in the course of exegetical study. They triumphantly establish the fact that there are many seams and divisions between the various verses and sections, that an ethico-mystical doctrine is found alongside of the juridical doctrine of justification, that the view of the law is subject to remarkable vacillations, and that it is not possible to weld together the different parts of the Epistles to the Romans and Corinthians, to determine the proper address of the Epistle to the Galatians, whether to the district or the province, to decide whether Romans presupposes Jewish-Christian or Gentile-Christian readers, and various questions of that kind. The next point is to discover, if possible, some kind of system in the difficulties, inconsistencies, and contradictions. Steck and van Manen profess to be able to show that there is such a system. What the letters tell us regarding the conversion, the life and work of Paul is not, according to them, to be considered earlier and more authentic than Acts, but is [pg 130] based on information which either coincides with the reports there given or points to an earlier common source. The material supplied by Acts is worked up in the letters under the influence of a tendency.