The Pauline Letters



Dear Catholic Exchange:

Are the 6 Pauline letters written by Paul in the New Testament the only letters preserved by the Church? Or, are there more letters written by him which were not included in the Bible?

I understand that there are 7 letters which were not written by Paul but by his followers, like 2 Thessalonians, and 1 and 2 Timothy? Is this true?

Many blessings,

Rosemarie Rosete

Dear Ms. Rosete,

Peace in Christ!

The New Testament contains thirteen letters traditionally attributed to the Apostle Paul: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, Philemon, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus.

Of these thirteen letters, seven of them are virtually undisputed as to their Pauline authorship, either by his own hand or through scribes working with him. These Proto Pauline epistles are: 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, Philippians, Philemon, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Romans. The remaining six Pauline epistles are referred to by some scholars as Deutero Pauline, meaning that they may have been authored by others (most likely Paul’s followers) in order to convey the thoughts and teachings of the Apostle Paul. This is a scholarly hypothesis that may or may not be true. There are many excellent scholars today who defend the Pauline authorship of all thirteen letters.

In recent times, the Church has neither endorsed nor denied the claim that some of Paul’s letters may have been written by other people. In any case, the question of actual authorship does not change the fact that these letters are inspired Scripture and accurately convey the teaching of the Apostles.

As to your second question, the Church has not preserved any additional letters, outside the canon of Scripture, believed to be written by the Apostle Paul. It is very likely, however, that the Apostle wrote other letters that were not preserved. For example, in 1 Corinthians 5:9, Paul indicates that he wrote a letter to the Corinthian church prior to 1 Corinthians. He may have also written another letter to the Corinthian church between his writing of 1 and 2 Corinthians (see 2 Cor 2:3-9 and 7:8-13). In addition, Paul may have written a separate letter to the Laodiceans, which has not survived (see Col 4:16).

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