Who did Paul send his epistles to?

Answer

Thirteen epistles have been attributed to Paul. Only seven of these epistles are widely considered to be genuine. In fact Fr. Raymond E. Brown, a member of the Vatican's Roman Pontifical Biblical Commission, has expressed his belief that, of the thirteen epistles which say that they were written by Paul, critical scholars have reached a near consensus that only seven are Paul's. However, of the seven, only five have been shown by computer analysis to contain exactly the same writing or dictation style: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Philemon and Galatians.

The two that may, with some confidence, have been written by Paul, but do not match the style of Galatians are Philippians and 1 Thessalonians.

2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus are sometimes referred to as pseudo-Pauline epistles. If they were written by an anonymous author long after the time of Paul, as the majority of critical scholars believe, they were intended to be found and attributed to Paul - they were not really written to the churches whose names these epistles bear. After all, if they were sent to those churches when they were really written, the churches would simply have known that they did not come from the long-dead Paul.

The pseudo-Pauline epistles were written for sound theological reasons, but they were to be read by a wider audience in the times of their real authors. By attributing these epistles to Paul, their authors gained considerable credibility and support for the messages they were trying to convey.

First answer by Dick Harfield. Last edit by Dick Harfield. Contributor trust: 380 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 1 [recommend question]