Foundations of Faith

• Philemon (ca. 52-54 AD)
• First Corinthians (ca. 53-54 AD)
• Second Corinthians (ca. 55-56 AD)
• First Thessalonians (ca. 51 AD)
FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH IN JESUS
M. M. NINAN
These letters are quoted or mentioned by the earliest of sources, and are included in every
ancient canon, including that of Marcion (c. 140 AD) The epistles all share common themes,
emphasis, vocabulary and style; they exhibit a uniformity of doctrine concerning the Mosaic Law,
Jesus, faith, &c. All of these letters easily fit into the chronology of Paul's journeys depicted in
Acts of the Apostles.
The letters thought to be pseudo-epigraphic by the majority of modern scholars include
• Pastoral epistles
o First Timothy
o Second Timothy
o Titus
• Ephesians
The letters on which modern scholars are about evenly divided are:
• Colossians
• Second Thessalonians
An anonymous letter that nearly all modern scholars agree was probably not written by Paul is:
• Hebrews
Unlike the thirteen epistles above, the Epistle to the Hebrews is internally anonymous. Moreover,
scholars have noted the differences in language and style between Hebrews and the other Pauline
writings.
In considering the authorship we should remember that most of the time Paul used a scribe to
write down what he has to say. As a result the style and presentation will be the edited by the
scribe and will differ from the personal style of Paul. It was the practice in that case to add an
end greeting by the original writer to give authenticity. We can see this in 1 Corinthians 16:20-
23
“All the brethren send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting
with my own hand. If any one has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.”
This is the reason why most of the critical analysts see variations in style and dictum. However
all through the collection the underlying theological emphasis are identical.
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