I’ve completed Jerome Murphy-O’Connor’s Paul: A Critical Life. It was a great read. He used his vast knowledge of the 1st century Hellenistic world to flesh out Paul’s life. There was much in the book that was very helpful.
He has made me question some of my views. For instance, I had put the Pastoral Letters in the category of inauthentic. His view that 2 Timothy was authentic, however, may be right.
The fact that Philippians and 2 Corinthians are composites (and 1 Thessalonians as well, according to Murphy O’Connor) could mean that Paul edited his own letters. Was that the reason he wanted his parchments brought from Troas?
Also, if we see 2 Timothy as Paul’s, then it looks like a strain of opposition to Paul’s teaching in the form of denial of a future resurrection (2 Timothy 2:18) runs through his ministry from Thessalonica on. (According to…
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James' Ramblings 