Who Wrote the Epistles?

- the ESV Study Bible Some scholars have argued that the practice of writing a letter in someone else' s name ("pseudonymity") was culturally accepted in NT times, and hence they clai m that some of the NT letters were not written by the purported authors. For exa mple, it is often claimed that Paul did not write 1-2 Timothy and Titus, or that Peter did not write 2 Peter. But the evidence is lacking that pseudonymity was accepted in letters that were considered to be authoritative and inspired. For i nstance, in 2 Thessalonians 2:2 Paul specifically criticizes those who claim to write in his name, and he concludes the letter with assurance that the writing i s authentically his (3:17). The author of the NT apocryphal book Acts of Paul an d Thecla was removed from his post as bishop for writing the book as if it were by Paul, even though he claimed that he had written out of love for Paul (Tertul lian, On Baptism 17). In the same way, the Gospel of Peter was rejected as an au thoritative book in a.d. 180 by Serapion, the bishop of Antioch, because it was not authentic, even though the author claimed that it had been written by Peter. Serapion said, "For our part, brethren, we both receive Peter and the other apo stles as Christ, but the writings which falsely bear their names we reject, as m en of experience, knowing that such were not handed down to us" (Eusebius, Eccle siastical History 6.12.1-6). There is no convincing evidence, then, that pseudonymous writings were accepted as authoritative. Indeed, if Peter did not write 2 Peter, then the author is gui lty of deceit and dishonesty because he claims to have been an eyewitness of the transfiguration (2 Peter 1:16-18) and identifies himself as Peter at the beginn ing of the letter (2 Peter 1:1). In the same way, the Pastoral Epistles (1-2 Tim othy and Titus) all claim to be by Paul and communicate many details from his li fe, which would be quite deceptive if Paul did not, in fact, write the letters. Some of the authors may have employed a secretary (amanuensis) to assist them in writing, which might account for some of the stylistic differences in the lette rs. Still, each letter would have been carefully dictated and reviewed by the ap ostolic author. Taken from the ESV Study Bible copyright (2008). Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Il 60187, www.crossway.or g.

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