This article is the fourth in a seven-part series exploring the historical, literary, and theological reality of the Apostle Paul. Relying on modern historical-critical scholarship, this series unpacks who Paul was, what his core ideas were, and provides a synopsis of every letter attributed to him in the New Testament. Part 4 addresses the mystery of the “pseudepigrapha”—the letters written in Paul’s name by later, anonymous authors.

In the New Testament, thirteen letters explicitly claim to be written by the Apostle Paul. Yet, for over a century, the overwhelming consensus of historical-critical scholars has been that Paul only wrote seven of them.

The remaining six letters present a fascinating historical puzzle. If Paul did not write them, who did? And why are they in the Bible?

To understand these six documents, one must explore the ancient literary practice of pseudepigraphy (writing under a false name) and witness how later generations of Christians attempted to update Paul’s radical apocalyptic message for a world that refused to end.

The Six Disputed Letters

Scholars divide the non-Pauline letters into two distinct categories based on their theology, vocabulary, and historical setting:

1. The Deutero-Pauline Epistles (Colossians, Ephesians, 2 Thessalonians)

These three letters were likely written late in the first century, a generation or so after Paul’s death.

• Colossians shifts Paul’s theology from a future hope to a present reality, arguing that believers are already resurrected with Christ.
• Ephesians is widely considered a later, expanded summary of Colossians, reading less like an urgent letter and more like a theological treatise on the universal church.
• 2 Thessalonians was written to explicitly contradict the apocalyptic urgency of 1 Thessalonians, telling the church not to expect the end of the world anytime soon because certain cosmic events had to happen first.

2. The Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus)

Written even later, likely in the early second century CE, these three letters are addressed to individual pastors rather than entire congregations. Their vocabulary is vastly different from Paul’s, utilizing dozens of Greek words that never appear in his undisputed letters. Their primary concern is establishing a strict, hierarchical church government (bishops, elders, deacons) and fighting off second-century heresies like early Gnosticism.

The Ancient Practice of Pseudepigraphy

To modern readers, writing a letter and signing someone else’s name is forgery—a deceptive, malicious act.

In the ancient Greco-Roman world, however, pseudepigraphy was a relatively common and complex phenomenon. While malicious forgery certainly existed, pseudepigraphy was frequently used as a legitimate literary convention within philosophical and religious “schools.”

When the founder of a school died (like Pythagoras or Plato), their disciples would sometimes write new treatises in their master’s name. It was a way of honoring the founder’s authority while applying their foundational teachings to new, unprecedented situations. Scholars believe a “Pauline school” of disciples operated in this exact way. They faced new crises that the historical Paul had never addressed, so they wrote new letters in his name to channel his apostolic authority into a new era.

The Crisis of the Delayed Return

Why did these later authors need to update Paul’s theology? The answer lies in the passage of time.

The historical Paul was driven by a frantic apocalyptic urgency. He believed Jesus was returning in his own lifetime. Because the end was imminent, Paul did not establish a formal, multi-generational institutional church.

However, decades passed. Paul was executed by the Roman Empire (traditionally around 64 CE), and Jesus did not return. The early Christian movement faced a massive crisis of cognitive dissonance, often called the “Delayed Parousia.” The church suddenly realized it was going to be on earth for a long time. They needed rules, institutional hierarchies, and a way to peacefully co-exist within the Roman Empire. The pseudepigraphical authors provided this stabilizing framework.

The “Domesticated” Paul

The most dramatic evidence that the Pastoral Epistles were written by later authors is how they completely reverse Paul’s social ethics, effectively “domesticating” his radical edge.

In his undisputed letters, the historical Paul operated with remarkable egalitarianism. He famously declared in Galatians that in Christ there is “no male and female.” In Romans 16, he actively praises female deacons (Phoebe) and even a female apostle (Junia). He worked alongside women as equal partners in ministry.

But by the second century, the church was trying to look respectable to the patriarchal Roman Empire. The author of 1 Timothy, writing in Paul’s name, demands something entirely different: “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent.” (1 Tim 2:11-12).

Similarly, the later letters contain “household codes” that explicitly instruct enslaved people to obey their masters and wives to submit to their husbands.

By recognizing the pseudepigrapha, historical-critical scholars untangle a major biblical contradiction. The Paul who commanded women to be silent and demanded strict institutional hierarchy was not the historical Paul at all. It was a later, anonymous writer using Paul’s immense legacy to steer the surviving church into the institutional reality of the second century.

This concludes Part 4/7 of this series. In Part 5 of “The Historical Paul: Life, Letters, and Legacy,” we will tackle the great historical debate: Did Paul invent a new religion? Is he, rather than Jesus, the true founder of Christianity?