Corpus-Paul

["David ATTBI" <davidinglis2 AT attbi.com>]

As far as I can tell, it seems to be generally accepted that Paul's churches
kept the letters that were sent to them, that over time they became aware of
the letters from Paul to other churches and individuals, created copies of
these other letters so as to create their own 'mini collections', and that
these collections form the basis of the collection of Pauline epistles that
we know today.  However, these assumptions seem to me to be based on no
evidence whatsoever, and indeed, what evidence there is from the MSS
suggests the opposite: that there were no 'mini collections', but instead
that a single early collection of either 10 or 13 letters forms the basis of
all later Pauline collections.

To quote David Trobisch "If the view I grew up with was right, that
Christian congregations started out with some letters and gradually tried to
complete their collection of Paul's letters independently from each other,
then each editor of the collection would face the problem of arranging the
letters. And how likely is it that each one came up with exactly the same
arrangement as is given in the New Testament?"  His conclusion (with which I
agree), is that it is very unlikely.  Now, I'm fully aware that not everyone
(!) will agree with me, so I would like to examine one particular aspect of
this, which is: "How likely is it that Paul's churches actually kept and/or
created copies of the letters sent to them?

Perhaps the best place to start is to consider letters sent to multiple
destinations.  In Acts we read about the letter from the Jerusalem council:
"They sent this letter with them:" (v. 15:16); "...after gathering the
entire group together, they delivered the letter. When they read it
aloud..." (vv. 15:30-31); "As they went through the towns, they passed on
the decrees..." (v. 16:4).  From these verses I take the following:

1) The letter was read aloud in front of the recipients;
2) There is no mention of delivering multiple copies, one to each group;
3) There is no mention that each group created their own copy.

If this was 'standard practice', then I think it unlikely that Paul created
multiple copies of Galatians, and also that whoever delivered Galatians kept
the original (which therefore probably was returned to Paul).  Also, if it
was standard practice to read the letter out loud when it was delivered
(which surely would be the case given that many people wouldn't be able to
read the letter), then what evidence is there that the recipients would take
the trouble to create their own copy of Paul's letters to them?  For example
if 2 Cor is a composite of two original letters, wouldn't we expect to see
evidence of those individual letters in church collections?  The fact that
we don't either suggests that 2 Cor is not a composite (which appears
unlikely) or that the recipients never created copies.

Please could I ask listers whether they think the evidence points to the
recipients keeping copies or not.

David Inglis
davidinglis2 AT attbi.com
3538 O'Connor Drive
Lafayette, CA, USA