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Background
THE LETTERS OF PAUL
Some of the most important—and the oldest—Christian teachings come to us not as narratives about the life of Jesus, like the four Gospels, but in the form of letters, written to early Christian communities or individuals across the Mediterranean world. The first thirteen of these are attributed to the Apostle Paul. Most of these letters are addressed to Christian communities, including those in Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, and Thessalonica, but four are addressed to individuals Paul knew and worked with—Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. The letters are arranged not in order of when they were written, or how important they are, but in order of length, with the longest, Romans, coming first, and the shortest, Philemon, appearing last.
While thirteen letters bear Paul’s name, from as early as the sixteenth century scholars have questioned whether the same person actually wrote all of them. Today, it seems likely that Paul was directly responsible for Romans, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, I Thessalonians, and Philemon. Paul may have written Ephesians, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians, but many scholars believe these were more probably written after his death by someone who admired Paul, perhaps even a close associate or disciple. And most scholars are agreed that Paul did not write 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus.
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