Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

gmx wrote:If Paul didn't normally write his own letters with his own hand, why is there such conjecture about stylistic differences between the "genuine" and "non-genuine" epistles?

"Christianity in its origin was nothing else than a Jewish-Messianic movement ... the figure of Jesus had never existed, but represented a symbolization and personification of thoughts that could only make full headway in the second century. A gnostic messianic community later appeared alongside the Jewish-Christian messianic community. In the period between 70 and 135 CE the two groups opposed one another with bitter animosity.

"Only in the middle of the second century did they achieve a reconciliation, in which the gnostic community had 'Paul' as its representative and the Jewish-Christian community had Peter. The result of this process of reconciliation was the formation of the Roman Catholic Church. ... the letters of Paul are all inauthentic and represent the product of the newly-believing, gnostic-messianic community."

Barnabas and Saul Sent Off
1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

21 " ...Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised... "

27 "The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath ..

32 “ ...We tell you 'the good news': What God promised our ancestors 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by 'raising up' Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:

• “‘You are my son;
  • today I have become your father.’

34 "God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said,

• ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’"

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andrewcriddle wrote:

gmx wrote:If Paul didn't normally write his own letters with his own hand, why is there such conjecture about stylistic differences between the "genuine" and "non-genuine" epistles?

If Paul dictated his letters to a secretary then his style would come through just as much as if he wrote them with his own hand.

andrewcriddle wrote:

gmx wrote:If Paul didn't normally write his own letters with his own hand, why is there such conjecture about stylistic differences between the "genuine" and "non-genuine" epistles?

If Paul dictated his letters to a secretary then his style would come through just as much as if he wrote them with his own hand.

• in Guardians of Letters : Literacy, Power, and the Transmitters of Early Early Christian Literature
  
  • " many writings were likely formed by circles of readers & scribes who transmitted literature individually and privately"
  in 'Textual History and the Reception of Scripture in Early Christianity'
  
  and, in The Early Text of the New Testament

gmx wrote:If Paul didn't normally write his own letters with his own hand, why is there such conjecture about stylistic differences between the "genuine" and "non-genuine" epistles?