Corpus-Paul

["David C. Hindley" <DHindley AT compuserve.com>]

In response to a post by "Williams, Wes" <Wes.Williams AT echostar.com>

Wes,

Many years ago I undertook a similar sketch. Like you, I made some
assumptions
 based almost exclusively on the chronology of the book of Acts. As others
here 
have noted, there are methodological problems associated with doing that,
but I 
was younger then (by 20 years).

I made a chart of every place and name mentioned in Acts, in their relative
order 
as they appear in the text, and then attempted to relate them to persons
and 
events mentioned in the epistles themselves. 

Since there are personalities and events mentioned in Acts that lend
themselves 
to historical dating, it was possible to create a workable chronological
outline of 
when the epistles were written.

The sketch came out as follows:

1 Thess         Corinth         c. 50-51                2nd missionary tour
2 Thess         Corinth         c. 50-51                2nd missionary tour
Gal             Galatia         c. 51-52                3rd missionary tour
1 Cor           Ephesus         c. 52-53                3rd missionary tour
Rom             Corinth         c. 56           3rd missionary tour
1 Tim           Corinth (?)     c. 56           3rd missionary tour
2 Cor           Troas           c. 56           3rd missionary tour
Phlm            Rome            c. 61-63                Imprisonment
Col             Rome            c. 61-63                Imprisonment
2 Tim           Rome            c. 61-63                Imprisonment
Eph             Rome            c. 61-63                Imprisonment
Phil            Rome            c. 61-63                Imprisonment
Titus           Nicopolis               c. ??           Which Nicopolis?

In those early innocent days this approach made perfect sense. Now I would
not do 
it this way. However misguided my attempt, one of the first things this
exercise taught 
me was that not all the letters could be easily placed in the framework of
Acts (for 
instance Titus and 1 Timothy). 

I was forced to conclude that either Acts was not a complete (or reliable)
historical 
source, or that some of the epistles themselves were not authentic. The
former seemed 
more likely to me than the latter, but I suppose I was hoping to preserve
the epistles as 
windows into the early Christian movement.

Let me ask, then, why did you put the letters in the order you did?

Dave Hindley
Dhindley AT compuserve.com

>Is this a fairly accurate sketch?

Book            Place           Completed

1 Thessalon     Corinth         c. 50
2 Thessalon     Corinth         c. 51
Galatians               Corinth or              c. 50-52
                Syrian Antioch
1 Corinthians   Ephesus         c. 55
2 Corinthians   Macedonia       c. 55
Romans          Corinth         c. 56
Ephesians       Rome            c. 60-61
Philippians     Rome            c. 60-61
Colossians      Rome            c. 60-61
Philemon                Rome            c. 60-61
(for those who hold to a Pauline authorship)
Hebrews         Rome            c. 61
Titus           Macedonia (?)   c. 61-64
1 Timothy               Macedonia       c. 61-64
2 Timothy               Rome            c. 65
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