In the last issue of this article, I began sharing the “criteria” for not only the preservation of early writings but also the acceptance of these writings as inspired and part of the canon of the New Testament (NT). I already shared two reasons.

Third, conformity with the rule of faith was a criterion. Doubts about its millenarianism caused suspicion with regards REVELATION and an gospel attributed to Peter was rejected on doctrinal grounds.

Fourth, to what extent did chance play a role in preservation? Some would argue from a theory of inspiration that chance could have had no role: God would not have inspired a work and then allowed it to be lost. But this argument presumes that every inspired work had to have permanent value. Could not the task for which God inspired a particular work have been accomplished when it was received? A good example may have been the lost letter of Paul that pronounced judgment on an individual at Corinth. Moreover, the argument presumes that God always protects against human vicissitudes the works he has motivated – a presumption that is not verified in the history of Israel and of the Church. Consequently, many scholars do believe that chance had a role in the preservation of less important works, like Philemon, when more important works were lost (i.e., part of the Corinthian correspondence; Matthew’s logia of Jesus in Aramaic).

All of the NT works were probably written before 125 CE; the dates for their collection into fixed groups are much harder to specify. Now some thoughts about the Paul’s writings.
Most of the Pauline letters and epistles were written as instruction and encouragement to churches that Paul himself had evangelized (Romans is an exception).

In the early 50’s 1-2 Thessalonians were written and in the late 50’s the Great Letters (Galatians, 1-2 Corinthians, Romans and perhaps also Philemon). In the early 60’s there were the Captivity Letters (Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians). Traditionally, the Pastoral Letters (1-2 Timothy, Titus) have been dated in the mid-60’s. In all, there were 13 letters or epistles attributed to Paul.

As I am sure all of my readers are aware, all of the writings of Paul pre-date the Gospels and seem to be a foundation upon which much of later Christian writing was based. Out of the 27 books of the NT, 14 are attributed to Paul. More about this to come.