Did Paul write all the epistles?
The apostle Paul was a busy man. As well as traveling, preaching, arguing, getting imprisoned, and surviving shipwreck, he also wrote a lot of letters. Over half the books in the Christian scriptures are commonly attributed to him, and anyone involved in an argument over matters of Catholic teaching is likely, at some point, to quote Paul. This can make things complicated, since some statements attributed to Paul appear to contradict each other. For instance, one passage from 1 Timothy says that women should not exercise authority over men. But elsewhere Paul commends women deacons and leaders, such as Phoebe and Prisca. This raises all kinds of questions, including questions about the origins of these books. Did Paul really write all the letters in the Bible that have been attributed to him—the letters to the Romans, to the Hebrews, to the people of Corinth, and so on? On this episode of the podcast, guest Ferdinand Okorie, C.M.F. talks about the authorship of the Pauline epistles. Okorie is editor-in-chief of U.S. Catholic, a member of the Claretian Missionaries, and vice president and academic dean at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he is also an assistant professor of New Testament studies. He is the author of Favor and Gratitude. Reading Galatians in Its Greco-Roman Context (Fortress Press, 2020), as well as numerous scholarly articles. You can learn more about Paul, and read some of Okorie’s writing, in these links. “What church leaders can learn from St. Paul about race and diversity,” by Ferdinand Okorie, C.M.F. https://uscatholic.org/articles/202006/what-church-leaders-can-learn-from-st-paul-about-race-and-diversity/ “Paul through the eyes of a classicist,” a U.S. Catholic interview https://uscatholic.org/articles/201204/putting-paul-in-his-place-examining-the-apostle-through-the-eyes-of-a-classicist/ “What future did Paul see for his letters?” by Joel Schorn https://uscatholic.org/articles/200908/what-future-did-paul-see-for-his-letters/ “Getting to know Paul,” a U.S. Catholic interview https://uscatholic.org/articles/200807/getting-to-know-paul/ “Who decided what books are in the Bible?” by Alice Camille https://uscatholic.org/articles/201809/who-decided-what-books-are-in-the-bible/ Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries. https://www.claretians.org/