Lukan authorship: Ignatius and Luke: Doesn’t mention Paul’s death refutation: Plural ‘procnsuls’ and Silanus: Doesn’t mention Paul’s death refutation pt2: Troftgruben shows that ancient works had a variety of endings. Suffice it to say, the notion that ancient writers would necessarily wrap up all the loose ends of a narrative is simply not supported by…

So Paul talks about his conversion in his 7 authentic letters. It’s not in much detail as it is in Acts. But for Acts, there’s some inconsistencies in this story.For instance:This presents some problems. According to Paul’s own letters, he was a Pharisee, whereas the High Priest in Jerusalem would have been a Sadducee. Pharisees…

Dennis E. Smith & Joseph B. Tyson (editors), “Acts & Christian Beginnings: The Acts Seminar Report”, blurb:“The Acts of the Apostles is not history. Acts was long thought to be a first-century document, and its author Luke to be a disciple of Paul – thus an eyewitness or acquaintance of eyewitnesses to nascent Christianity. Acts…

Acts is a book of the New Testament that describes the activities of Jesus’ apostles, particularly Peter and Paul. The book is written by a single author, and it emphasizes the unity of the apostles. This unity is shown through the endorsement of Paul’s mission by the leaders of the Jerusalem church, including Peter and…

Similarly, the deutero-Paulines presuppose concrete situations and address specific communities or individuals (e.g., the Colossians, Timothy). Since these letters ‘were probably not sent … as part of a continuing relationship of direct and indirect communication’ (Lieu 2014: 129), however, recent studies caution against incorporating these details into historical reconstructions. The same details are more likely…

In contrast to the realized eschatology of Colossians and Ephesians, 2 Thessalonians displays an exclusive interest in the parousia as a future event. The manner in which apocalyptic eschatology figures in the document is at the heart of the hotly debated issue of authorship. The context of 2 Thessalonians involves persecution (2 Thess 1: 4,…

2 Thessalonians as a Forgery The Relationship to 1 Thessalonians Over a century ago, Wrede showed that there are many significant parallels between 1 and 2 Thessalonians, which operate on various levels. These parallels have been confirmed and strengthened by later scholars such as Krenz. However, rather than indicating that Paul wrote both letters, these…

Probably the majority of scholars today understand Ephesians and the Pastoral Epistles as the works of authors intending to bring Paul’s legacy to bear on a later generation. Comparison to the Acts of the Apostles has often figured prominently in discussions of this body of literature, for Acts represents yet another way that the legacy…

Starting Argument That the writing style of Ephesians stands out within the traditional Pauline corpus was seen already by Erasmus: “Certainly the style is so different from several of Paul’s letters, that it might seem to be by another, were it not for the fact that the spirit and nature of the Pauline mind altogether…