Fourteen books--Romans, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians,
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First and Second Thessalonians,
First and Second Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews--are ascribed,
some correctly, some doubtfully, and others falsely, to Paul. They
were all written, it is claimed, between 52 and 65 A.D.
Genuine Epistles.
The genuine Epistles of Paul, those whose authenticity is conceded
by nearly all critics, are Romans, First and Second Corinthians, and
Galatians. The term "genuine" is applied to the books as originally
written, and not to the text as it now exists. It is probable that they
have undergone various changes since they left Paul's hand. The last
two chapters of Romans are believed to be interpolations. The fifteenth
consists chiefly of irrelevant matter which detracts from the symmetry
of the work. The sixteenth is mostly filled with salutations. In these
several women are given a prominence in church affairs that is wholly
at variance with Paul's attitude toward woman. The subscription to
the First Epistle to the Corinthians states that it "was written from
Philippi." The 19th verse of the last chapter shows that Paul was in
Asia instead of Europe, while the 8th verse expressly declares that
he was at Ephesus. The Second Epistle to Corinthians, it is declared,
"was written from Philippi" also. That this is doubtful is admitted
even by the most orthodox authorities. The subscription to Galatians
reads as follows: "Unto the Galatians, written from Rome." This book
was written between 52 and 55 A.D.; Paul did not go to Rome until 61
A.D. This epistle was written from Ephesus.
While critics are nearly unanimous in acknowledging the genuineness
of these books, a few, including Professor Thudichum of Germany,
Prof. Edwin Johnson of England, and W. H. Burr of this country,
pronounce them forgeries, and contend that the Paul of the New
Testament is a myth.
Doubtful Epistles.
The doubtful Epistles, those whose authenticity is accepted by some
critics and rejected by others, are Philippians, First Thessalonians,
and Philemon. Sixty years ago to this list of doubtful books critics
would have added three others--Ephesians, Colossians, and Second
Thessalonians; but the critical labors of the Tubingen school and
others have relegated these to the already burdened shelf of spurious
Bible books.
In regard to Philippians, Ferdinand Baur, for thirty years head of
the Tubingen school and unquestionably the greatest of Bible critics,
says: "The Epistles to the Colossians and to the Philippians ... are
spurious, and were written by the Catholic school near the end of
the second century, to heal the strife between the Jew and Gentile
factions" (Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ).
Baur also rejects First Thessalonians. He contends that this, as well
as the Second Epistle, contains teachings quite at variance with the
teachings of Paul. The German critic Schrader is confident that Paul
did not write First Thessalonians.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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