Although St. Paul was not one of the original 12 Apostles of Jesus, he was one of the most prolific contributors to the New Testament. Of the 27 books in the New Testament, 13 or 14 are traditionally attributed to Paul, though only 7 of these Pauline epistles are accepted as being entirely authentic and dictated by St. Paul himself. The authorship of the others is debated, and they are commonly thought to have come from contemporary or later followers writing in Paul’s name. These authors likely used material from his surviving letters and may have even had access to letters written by him that no longer survive. Read on to learn which Biblical books St. Paul is known to have authored and which ones he probably did not write himself.
Letter of Paul to the Romans
The sixth book of the New Testament, the Letter of Paul to the Romans, was written by St. Paul while he was in Corinth about 57 CE. It was addressed to the Christian church at Rome, whose congregation he hoped to visit for the first time on his way to Spain. The epistle is the longest and doctrinally most significant of St. Paul’s writings and is more of a theological treatise than a letter. In it he acknowledges the unique religious heritage of the Jews (prior to his conversion, Paul was a Jewish Pharisee) but asserts that righteousness no longer comes through the Mosaic Law but through Christ.
First and Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians
The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians and the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians were both written by St. Paul. The first letter was probably written about 53–54 CE at Ephesus and addresses some of the problems that arose in the new Christian community that he had established in Corinth during his initial missionary visit (c. 50–51). The second letter was written from Macedonia about 55 CE and applauds the Corinthians’ response to his first letter and reaffirms his apostolic authority. The letters deal with a church of Gentile Christians and are therefore the best evidence of how St. Paul operated on Gentile territory.
Letter of Paul to the Galatians
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians, the ninth book of the New Testament, was authored by St. Paul. The letter was likely written between 53–54 CE and addresses division within the Christian community about whether new converts needed to be circumcised and follow the prescriptions of the Mosaic Law. He reaffirms his teaching that Jewish law is no longer the exclusive path to righteousness and argues that Christians have a new freedom in Christ. The letter is very forceful and specific in dealing with the problems concerned and is the only epistle without kindly ingression, thanksgiving, or personal greetings appended to the final blessings.
Letter of Paul to the Ephesians
Although the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians has been attributed to St. Paul, it is more likely the work of one of his disciples. Scholars think the letter was probably written before 90 CE and that the author consulted St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians as a reference. Of the 155 verses in Ephesians, 73 have verbal parallels with Colossians. When parallels to genuine Pauline letters are added, 85 percent of Ephesians is duplicated elsewhere. This and several other contested letters are usually designated as “deuter-Pauline epistles” to indicate that they were probably written by St. Paul’s followers after his death.
Letter of Paul to the Philippians
The Letter of Paul to the Philippians is believed to have been written by St. Paul while he was in prison, probably at Rome about 62 CE. According to several scholars, the canonical work is likely a later collection of fragments of Paul’s correspondence with the congregation in Philippi. Apprehensive that his execution was close at hand, yet hoping somehow to visit the Philippians again, St. Paul explains that he welcomes death for Jesus’ sake but is equally concerned to continue his apostolate.
Letter of Paul to the Colossians
The authorship of the Letter of Paul to the Colossians is debated. For some scholars, the developed theology of the letter indicates that it was composed by St. Paul during his imprisonment in Rome about 62 CE. Others question Pauline authorship on the basis of the distinctive vocabulary and suggest that it is a deuter-Pauline epistle, written by Paul’s followers after his death. Given its similarities to the Letter of Paul to Philemon, some have suggested that a later Paulinist simply changed details to meet a different situation.
First and Second Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians
The first Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians was likely written by St. Paul from Corinth about 50 CE. However, the second letter is possibly deuter-Pauline in origin, though this is debated. Second Thessalonians is obviously an imitation of the style of First Thessalonians but seems to reflect a later time. Additionally, given that there is notable ambiguity about the proximity of Christ’s Second Coming, its authorship by St. Paul is doubted.
First and Second Letter of Paul to Timothy
Neither of the two Letters of Paul to Timothy are thought to have been written by St. Paul. Linguistic facts—such as short connectives, particles, and other syntactical peculiarities; use of different words for the same things; and repeated unusual phrases otherwise not used by Paul—offer fairly conclusive evidence against Pauline authorship and authenticity. Both epistles are usually considered “trito-Pauline,” meaning that they were probably written by members of the Pauline school a generation after his death, likely between 80 and 100 CE.
Letter of Paul to Titus
The authorship of the Letter of Paul to Titus is disputed. Given many of the similarities in content and style to the two Letters of Paul to Timothy, it is possible that this work is also a trito-Pauline epistle, written a generation after the death of St. Paul. In fact, the three letters together are often called Pastoral Letters, as they were written to instruct and admonish the recipients in their pastoral office rather than to address the specific problems of congregations like many of the other Pauline epistles.
Letter of Paul to Philemon
The Letter of Paul to Philemon was probably composed by St. Paul in a Roman prison about 61 CE, though some sources date it earlier. The brief epistle was written to Philemon, a wealthy Christian of Colossae, on behalf of Onesimus, Philemon’s former slave. While passing no judgment on slavery itself, Paul exhorts Philemon to manifest true Christian love that removes barriers between slaves and free people.
Letter to the Hebrews
While the Letter to the Hebrews has traditionally been ascribed to St. Paul, the work does not contain a salutation with the name of the author. The book is still included in the Pauline corpus in the East but not in the West. Given that the thoughts, metaphors, and ideas of Hebrews are distinct from the rest of the New Testament, most scholars doubt that it was written by St. Paul or his followers. Various authors have been suggested over the ages, and it is possible that the work was composed by a Jewish convert among the second generation of Christians suffering persecution.