Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

Paul's letters contain many references to outside opposition. For the congregations in Macedonia and Corinth, Paul identified the Gentile members as former idol worshipers. I suspect the persecutions, opposition, and resistance that Paul and his Gentile converts faced in Macedonia were from neighbor...

And the bottom line is ... none of the 'Acts' represent authentic history. There is little or no difference between the Acts of Paul and the Acts of the Apostles. No problem on this for me beyond perhaps a quibble or two. In my OP, I characterized the story from the Acts of the Apostles as fictiona...

Such a dismissal is an attractive solution for a few. Opinions can vary widely on these issues, but such surety is suspect. The vast majority of scholarship --- from both Christian and non-Christian investigators --- finds some reasonably recognizable version of Paul in the epistles. Granted, that c...

Paul was pursuing an opportunity in Ephesus after evangelizing in Corinth, "But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective ministry has opened to me. Yet many are opposing." (1 Cor. 16:8-9). Then Paul got into trouble, and was imprisoned for a time by local Roman...

I think what he has demonstrated is that, for whatever reason, the letter has been transmitted with and without some combination of chapters 15 & 16. I suspect that there had been some sort of mutilation of one or more exemplars, similar to what happened to Mark, only the full(er) versions of R...

Open questions: Is Paul worried about gospels that are preaching a noncrucified Christ? Or is he worried about gospels that are misinterpreting a crucified Christ? If the former, why does he spend virtually all his time (in Galatians, for example) decrying gentile circumcision rather than more dire...

This passage, and related comment, were posted in another thread (posted by Ben, but used here only as an example to begin this post)--- Romans 16.25-27 NASB: "25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the...

For a very great many, the New Testament Romans is the flagship of the Pauline corpus. Some have hailed Romans as the most important theological work in the entire NT. However, Romans suffers from a troubling textual history. The Textual History of the Letter to the Romans , by Harry Gamble Jr. (197...

... for Paul, this activity was relatively recent (not at the same time as the scriptural writings themselves). I believe I can mount an argument for both, but not here and now. If not now, then when? If not here, then where? I just couldn’t pass-up using those oft used and re-used questions. But s...

Ben, I have rearranged excerpts from your OP to lead-in to my question. Hopefully I have not misrepresented your intent. I suggest that this is similar (not identical) to what I am imagining for the earliest Christians. They came to believe that the Christ had already acted in history, though secre...