The canon of the New Testament includes 27 books, 14 of which belong to the pen of the Apostle Paul. A natural question arises, why does the works of the "apostle of the nations" occupy such an honorable place in the New Testament writing?
Missionary activity of the apostle Paul
The Apostle Paul was from the Asia Minor city of Tarsus of Cilician (Acts 21:39). The Hebrew name of the apostle was Saul or Saul, while another name - Paul (paulus - small), may have been given to him at birth as a Roman citizen. As a Jew, Saul was educated in the local synagogue and in the rabbinic school in Jerusalem by Gamaliel himself (Acts 22: 3), but he was also well acquainted with Greek culture. Initially, Saul persecuted Christians with special religious intolerance. On the way to Damascus, where Saul went to look for Christians, Christ appeared to him, and this meeting radically changed his worldview. Baptized around 34, Paul became a zealous preacher of the doctrine he had persecuted. At the command of the Holy Spirit, Paul was directed to the work of preaching to the nations of the world (Acts 13: 2). During his life (from 44 to 67 BC)) the apostle made four missionary journeys to the cities of Asia Minor and Europe, converting pagans to Christians and establishing early Christian churches. The apostle was a supporter of the liberation of those entering the Church because of the need to adhere to the Old Testament rites (Acts 15:22). Paul opened a free entrance to the Church for all who believed in Christ, regardless of nationality or religion. The missionary path of the apostle was not easy enough. Paul was often persecuted by the Jews, accused of desecrating the temple, and was imprisoned several times, and in 67, during the persecution of Christians under Nero, he was executed. The apostle was a supporter of the liberation of those entering the Church because of the need to adhere to the Old Testament rites (Acts 15:22). Paul opened a free entrance to the Church for all who believed in Christ, regardless of nationality or religion. The missionary path of the apostle was not easy enough. Paul was often persecuted by the Jews, accused of desecrating the temple, and was imprisoned several times, and in 67, during the persecution of Christians under Nero, he was executed. The apostle was a supporter of the liberation of those entering the Church because of the need to adhere to the Old Testament rites (Acts 15:22). Paul opened a free entrance to the Church for all who believed in Christ, regardless of nationality or religion. The missionary path of the apostle was not easy enough. Paul was often persecuted by the Jews, accused of desecrating the temple, and was imprisoned several times, and in 67, during the persecution of Christians under Nero, he was executed.
The Epistles of the Apostle Paul and Their Place in the Canon of the New Testament
The boundaries of the New Testament canon remained somewhat vague for several centuries, and its formation was influenced by different forces and opinions. For a long time, the Eastern and Western Churches had a different number of books, and the conviction in canonicity was based on literary, liturgical, theological criteria related to the authorship, content and use of a particular book. Basically, there are three main prerequisites that make it possible to classify the text as canonical: 1) its compliance with the main Christian traditions, which were considered the norm in the Church; 2) the apostolic origin of the book, real or assumed; 3) recognition and widespread use of the book in the Church. At the end of the II century, lists of books began to be formed, perceived as Christian Holy Scripture. Among the more complete lists of New Testament books, the oldest is the Muratori Canon. In 367, for the first time, it was noted that the declared canon of the New Testament exactly coincides with those 27 books that are now recognized as canonical.
Many biblical scholars believe that the core of the canon was the Gospels, which were soon joined by the Epistles of the Apostle Paul. The Acts of the Apostles were added mainly to confirm Paul's apostolic dignity. There are several answers to the question of how many Epistles were included in the oldest collection. By comparing the sequence of the letters in the ancient lists, scientists came to the conclusion that the oldest corpus Paulinum contained seven letters, namely: 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 and 2 to Thessalonians and Romans. According to another opinion, the letters were collected and even completed by "Pavlov's school", i.e. a group of people who knew the teachings of the Apostle and admired him.
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Since ancient times, all of Paul's epistles have been accepted as authentic. Canon Muratori mentions all 14 Epistles, and in the writings of almost all the Church Fathers there are references to the writings of the Apostle. The order of the Epistles developed gradually in the canon. The Epistles to the Churches were always placed first, only the Epistle to the Hebrews was most often placed at the end, since it was later recognized as canonical. The multitude of Paul's Epistles did not cause difficulties for the ancient leaders of the Church. The question of why the Epistles, addressed to specific churches and on a specific occasion, should be recognized as authoritative for everyone and read everywhere, was solved through theological justification using numerical symbols and through editing the text. Thus, in lines 49-50 of the Muratori canon, it is emphasized that Paul, like John, wrote to the seven churches, and therefore to the entire Church,since the mystical meaning of the number seven meant completeness and completeness. This opinion is found in Cyprian, Quiz Pettau and later authors. After the Epistle to the Hebrews was included in the corpus of Epistles, it became difficult to maintain the idea of seven churches, so the number of Epistles equal to 14 was represented as 7 times 2. The Muratori canon offers a special argument in favor of the conciliarity of the Epistles addressed to individuals. Although Paul wrote out of love for Philemon, Titus and Timothy, all of the Epistles, in the Church's assessment, are sacred and catholic, as they establish the rules of her life (lines 62-63). Another way by which Paul's Epistles acquired the status of church-wide was to correct the texts. For example, the phrase “along with everyone,” which appears out of place in 1 Cor. 1: 2, is often considered to indicate thatthat the Message was intended for a wider ecclesiastical audience.
The modern order of the Epistles is associated with the importance of the issues discussed in them. Therefore, the soteriological Epistles (Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians) are placed first, then the Christological (Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, Hebrews, Philemon), moral eschatological (1 and 2 Thessalonians) and pastoral epistles (1 and 2 Timothy, Titus.) Chronologically, the Epistles are divided into four groups: 1) Epistles from the second journey (53), 1 and 2 Thess.; 2) Epistles from the third journey (c. 57-58), 1 and 2 Cor., Gal., Rom.; 3) Epistles from the first Roman bonds (c. 63-64), Eph., Phil, Col., Flm., Heb.; 4) the pastoral Epistles (1 and 2 Tim, Tit.), Written at the end of the life of the apostle c. 64-67 years
Thus, there were several reasons for including all 14 Epistles of the Apostle Paul into the canon. The Epistles were widely used by the Church to substantiate dogmatic positions, they served as a source for general biblical theology, since they set out all the most important truths of Christianity. In addition, the authority of the Apostle Paul, who conquered many nations of the pagan world to Christ and proclaimed Christianity the religion of freedom, was unshakable in the eyes of Christian theologians. For example, the significance of Mark and Luke was confirmed by the fact that in church tradition they were associated with the apostles Peter and Paul. John Chrysostom argued that "the world will not see another Paul", emphasizing the uniqueness of the personality of the apostle of nations. And Origen wrote: “Among the writings of Paul there is not one that would usually be called the Gospel, but thatwhat he preached and spoke - this is the Gospel."
Yulia Oleneva