paul

 Authenticity of 2 Thessalonians


Exordium Pauline letters. Note that the exordium of 1 Tess and 2 Tess are indentical. None of the other Pauline letters are. The chance in a world without WORD that Paul would remember the exact same words of 1 Tess for his ssecond letter is extremely small. One of the reasons why many scolars reject the authorship of Paul for 2 Tess.


More info

Book

Exordium

Date

Oldest Papyrus

fragments

1 Tess

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Papyrus 46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

2 Tess

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

Papyrus 92 (300 CE)





1 Cor

1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,  2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:  3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Papyrus 46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

2 Cor

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Papyrus 46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)





1 Tim

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

AD 100

This is odd, Paul was martyred in 67 AD

2 Tim

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,  2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

AD 100

This is odd, Paul was martyred in 67 AD





Gal

1 Paul, an apostle-not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead- 2 and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

Papyrus 46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

Eph

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

AD 80-90

This is odd, Paul was martyred in 67 AD

Papyrus 46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

Phil

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Papyrus 46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

Col

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,  2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Papyrus 46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

Titus

1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;  4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

AD 100


This is odd, Paul was martyred in 67 AD

Papyrus 32

(AD 200)

Philemon

1 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:  3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Papyrus 87

(3rd century CE)

Rom

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,  7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Papyrus 46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

 Authenticity of 2 Peter


Is 2 Peter Peter’s?

Possible clues


In Romans 16:22 we read - I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.


2 Thess 3:17 - I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write.


It's quite well possible Paul dictated his letters to a more eloquent writers (plural) which would explain the textural criticism issues  modern scholars made believe certain epistles are not Paul. The same could apply for Peter which makes even more sense since it's unlikely he as a fisherman could write in a time only 1% of the population could write, let alone he could write eloquently.


It's quite some important topic, logically an epistle written by Paul or Peter that begins with a lie makes it hard to believe that is inspired (dictated) by the Spirit of Truth.



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