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The Epistle was a literary form which emerged in the 4th Century BC; it was a work intended for publication and reading by the general public; NT Epistles are therefore a modification of this. Pauline and other NT Epistles were intended for individuals and individual churches but they were copied and later collected. In the First Century it was common for writers to outline an Epistle to a professional secretary but Paul seems to have dictated verbatim.
- Romans 16 may be a letter to the Ephesians introducing Phoebe
- 1 Corinthians may be at least two letters
- 2 Corinthians appears to consist of at least three letters
- Philippians may have been two or three letters
Marcion (later a notorious heretic) was the first to collect the Epistles c140 as follows:
- Modified Luke (which he attributed to Paul)
- Galatians/Corinthians (combined)
- Romans/Thessalonians (combined)
- Lacodiceans (Ephesians), Colossians, Philippians, Philemon.
c200 Rome added:
c400 the church universally settled on the 13 canonical Epistles of Paul included in all Bibles.
Most conservatives accept Paul's authorship of all 13, c65, because he asserts authorship and they believe in Biblical Inerrancy. Some scholars believe some material as late as c 150 was interpolated.
Most liberal theologians hold in respect of Paul's authorship:
- Romans, 1/2 Corinthians, Philemon, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians - definite
- Colossians doubtful
- 2 Thessalonians - unlikely
- 1/2 Timothy, Titus - definitely not.
Father Raymond Brown, the foremost Roman Catholic New Testament scholar sums up the situation among scholars as follows:
- Romans, 1/2 Corinthians, Philemon, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians - near 100% chance
- 2 Thessalonians - 45%
- Colossians - 40%
- Ephesians - 20%
- 1/2 Timothy, Titus - 10%.
The Muratorian Fragment lists the 13 Epistles in the following order:
- Corinthians
- Ephesians
- Philippians
- Colossians
- Galatians
- Thessalonians
- Romans
- Philemon
- Titus
- Timothy.
Partly taken from
- Brown, Father Raymond E.: Responses to 101 Questions on the Bible, Paulist Press, 1990, pp49-51.
- Hahneman, Geoffrey Mark: The Muratorian Fragment and the Development of the Canon, OUP, 1992.
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Added: 23rd April 2007
Added: 9th February 2007