Editing Paul the Apostle (section)

== Writings ==
{{Paul}}
{{Catholic philosophy}}
{{Main|Pauline epistles}}
[[File: Paulus San Giovanni in Laterano 2006-09-07.jpg|thumb|upright=1|A statue of St. Paul in the [[Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran]] by [[Pierre-Étienne Monnot]]]]
Of the 27 books in the New Testament, 13 identify Paul as the author; seven of these are widely considered authentic and Paul's own, while the authorship of the other six is disputed.{{sfn|Aune|2010|p=9}}{{sfn|Dunn|Rogerson|2003|p=1274}}{{sfn|Perkins|1988|pp=4–7}} The undisputed letters are considered the most important sources since they contain what is widely agreed to be Paul's own statements about his life and thoughts. Theologian Mark Powell writes that Paul directed these seven letters to specific occasions at particular churches. As an example, if the Corinthian church had not experienced problems concerning its celebration of the [[Agape feast|Lord's Supper]],<ref>{{Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|11:17–34}}</ref> today it would not be known that Paul even believed in that observance or had any opinions about it one way or the other. Powell comments that there may be other matters in the early church that have since gone unnoticed simply because no crises arose that prompted Paul to comment on them.{{sfn|Powell|2009|p=234}}

In Paul's writings, he provides the first written account of what it is to be a Christian and thus a description of Christian spirituality. His letters have been characterized as being the most influential books of the New Testament after the Gospels of Matthew and John.{{sfn|Sanders|2019}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Sanders|2019}}: "Paul [...] only occasionally had the opportunity to revisit his churches. He tried to keep up his converts' spirit, answer their questions, and resolve their problems by letter and by sending one or more of his assistants, especially Timothy and Titus.

Paul's letters reveal a remarkable human being: dedicated, compassionate, emotional, sometimes harsh and angry, clever and quick-witted, supple in argumentation, and above all possessing a soaring, passionate commitment to God, Jesus Christ, and his own mission. Fortunately, after his death one of his followers collected some of the letters, edited them very slightly, and published them. They constitute one of history's most remarkable personal contributions to religious thought and practice.}}

=== Date ===
Paul's authentic letters are roughly dated to the years surrounding the mid-1st century. Placing Paul in this time period is done on the basis of his reported conflicts with other early contemporary figures in the Jesus movement including James and Peter,{{sfn|Wiley|2002|p=21}} the references to Paul and his letters by [[Clement of Rome]] writing in the late 1st century,{{sfn|Donaldson|2010|p=53}} his reported issues in Damascus from 2 Corinthians 11:32 which he says took place while [[Aretas IV Philopatris|King Aretas IV]] was in power,{{sfn|Donaldson|2010|p=39}} a possible reference to [[Erastus of Corinth]] in Romans 16:23,{{sfn|Bitner|2015|p=268}} his reference to preaching in the province of [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]] (which dissolved in 80 AD),{{sfn|Andria|2012|p=271}} the lack of any references to the Gospels indicating a pre-war time period, the chronology in the Acts of the Apostles placing Paul in this time, and the dependence on Paul's letters by other 1st-century pseudo-Pauline epistles.{{sfn|Dunn|2010|pp=170–71}}

=== Authorship ===
{{Main|Authorship of the Pauline epistles}}
[[File: Probably Valentin de Boulogne - Saint Paul Writing His Epistles - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1|''Paul Writing His Epistles'', a 17th portrait by [[Valentin de Boulogne]]]]
[[File:Paul Apostle.jpg|thumb|upright=1|[[Russian Orthodox]] [[icon]] of the Apostle Paul, an 18th-century [[iconostasis]] of [[Transfiguration of Jesus|Jesus' transfiguration]] in the [[Kizhi]] Monastery in [[Karelia]], Russia]]
Seven of the 13 letters that bear Paul's name, [[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]], [[1 Corinthians]], [[2 Corinthians]], [[Epistle to the Galatians|Galatians]], [[Philippians]], [[1 Thessalonians]] and [[Epistle to Philemon|Philemon]], are almost universally accepted as being entirely authentic and dictated by Paul himself.{{sfn|Sanders|2019}}{{sfn|Aune|2010|p=9}}{{sfn|Dunn|Rogerson|2003|p=1274}}{{sfn|Perkins|1988|pp=4–7}} They are considered the best source of information on Paul's life and especially his thought.{{sfn|Sanders|2019}}

Four of the letters (Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) are widely considered [[pseudepigraphical]], while the authorship of the other two is subject to debate.{{sfn|Aune|2010|p=9}} Colossians and 2 Thessalonians are possibly "Deutero-Pauline" meaning they may have been written by Paul's followers after his death. Similarly, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus may be "Trito-Pauline" meaning they may have been written by members of the Pauline school a generation after his death. According to their theories, these disputed letters may have come from followers writing in Paul's name, often using material from his surviving letters. These scribes also may have had access to letters written by Paul that no longer survive.{{sfn|Sanders|2019}}

The authenticity of Colossians has been questioned on the grounds that it contains an otherwise unparalleled description (among his writings) of Jesus as "the image of the invisible God", a Christology found elsewhere only in the Gospel of John.{{sfn|MacDonald|Harrington|2000|p=58}} However, the personal notes in the letter connect it to Philemon, unquestionably the work of Paul. Internal evidence shows close connection with Philippians.{{sfn|Prat|1911}}

Ephesians is a letter that is very similar to Colossians but is almost entirely lacking in personal reminiscences. Its style is unique. It lacks the emphasis on the cross to be found in other Pauline writings, reference to the [[Second Coming]] is missing, and [[Christian views of marriage|Christian marriage]] is exalted in a way that contrasts with the reference in 1 Corinthians.<ref>{{Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|7:8–9}}</ref> Finally, according to [[Raymond E. Brown|R. E. Brown]], it exalts the Church in a way suggestive of the second generation of Christians, "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" now past.{{sfn|Brown|1984|p=48}}

The defenders of its Pauline authorship argue that it was intended to be read by a number of different churches and that it marks the final stage of the development of Paul's thinking. It has been said, too, that the moral portion of the Epistle, consisting of the last two chapters, has the closest affinity with similar portions of other Epistles, while the whole admirably fits in with the known details of Paul's life, and throws considerable light upon them.{{sfn|Aherne|1908}}

Three main reasons have been advanced by those who question Paul's authorship of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, also known as the [[Pastoral Epistles]]:
# They have found a difference in these letters' vocabulary, style, and [[Christian theology|theology]] from Paul's acknowledged writings. Defenders of the authenticity say that they were probably written in the name and with the authority of the Apostle by one of his companions, to whom he distinctly explained what had to be written, or to whom he gave a written summary of the points to be developed, and that when the letters were finished, Paul read them through, approved them, and signed them.{{sfn|Aherne|1908}}
# There is a difficulty in fitting them into Paul's biography as it is known.{{sfn|Barrett|1963|pp=4ff}} They, like Colossians and Ephesians, were written from prison but suppose Paul's release and travel thereafter.{{sfn|Prat|1911}}
# 2 Thessalonians, like Colossians, is questioned on stylistic grounds with, among other peculiarities, a dependence on 1 Thessalonians—yet a distinctiveness in language from the Pauline corpus. This, again, is explainable by the possibility that Paul requested one of his companions to write the letter for him under his dictation.{{sfn|Prat|1911}}

===Acts===
Although approximately half of the Acts of the Apostles deals with Paul's life and works, Acts does not refer to Paul writing letters. Charles Williams believes that the author of Acts did not have access to any of [[Pauline epistles|Paul's letters]]. He claims that one piece of evidence suggesting this is that Acts never directly quotes from the Pauline epistles. Further, discrepancies between the Pauline epistles and Acts could also support this conclusion.{{sfn|Williams|1957|pp=22, 240}} The scholarly consensus was indeed that the author of Acts did not know the Pauline epistles, but such consensus got superseded.{{sfn|Mount|2022|p=32}}

British Jewish scholar [[Hyam Maccoby]] contended that Paul, as described in the Acts of the Apostles, is quite different from the view of Paul gleaned from his own writings. Some difficulties have been noted in the account of his life. Paul as described in the Acts of the Apostles is much more interested in factual history, less in theology; ideas such as justification by faith are absent as are references to the Spirit, according to Maccoby. He also pointed out that there are no references to [[John the Baptist]] in the [[Pauline Epistles]], although Paul mentions him several times in the Acts of the Apostles.

Others have objected that the language of the speeches is too Lukan in style to reflect anyone else's words. Moreover, George Shillington writes that the author of Acts most likely created the speeches accordingly and they bear his literary and theological marks.{{sfn|Shillington|2007|p=18}} Conversely, Howard Marshall writes that the speeches were not entirely the inventions of the author and while they may not be accurate word-for-word, the author nevertheless records the general idea of them.{{sfn|Marshall|1980|p=42}}

[[Ferdinand Christian Baur|F. C. Baur]] (1792–1860), professor of theology at Tübingen in Germany, the first scholar to critique Acts and the Pauline Epistles, and founder of the [[Tübingen School]] of theology, argued that Paul, as the "Apostle to the Gentiles", was in violent opposition to the original 12 Apostles. Baur considers the Acts of the Apostles were late and unreliable. This debate has continued ever since, with [[Adolf Deissmann]] (1866–1937) and [[Richard Reitzenstein]] (1861–1931) emphasising Paul's Greek inheritance and [[Albert Schweitzer]] stressing his dependence on Judaism.