Paul the Apostle

Why this is disputed. Christian tradition holds that Paul was beheaded in Rome under Nero, a method reserved for Roman citizens; Tacitus's own account of the fire names no individual victims, so this is recorded as tradition rather than as part of his near-contemporary report.

Why this is disputed. Church tradition holds 1 Timothy as Paul's own pastoral instruction to his younger colleague. As one of the three Pastoral Epistles it is widely judged pseudonymous by critical New Testament scholarship, on grounds that include its vocabulary, its concern with church offices such as bishops and deacons that appear more developed than in Paul's undisputed letters, and a historical setting that fits poorly with the movements recorded in Acts. A minority of scholars continue to defend Pauline authorship, some proposing it as a genuinely late letter written near the end of Paul's own career rather than after his death.

Why this is disputed. Church tradition holds 2 Thessalonians as Paul's own letter, written soon after 1 Thessalonians to the same community. It is one of the New Testament's Deutero-Pauline epistles by critical scholarship's own classification: many scholars find its teaching on the end times harder to reconcile with 1 Thessalonians than an authentic sequel should be, and its more formal, less personal tone unlike Paul's undisputed letters, and read it as written by a later follower in Paul's name and tradition. Other scholars, noting how closely it otherwise follows 1 Thessalonians in structure and vocabulary, continue to defend Pauline authorship as the simpler explanation.

Why this is disputed. Church tradition holds 2 Timothy as Paul's final letter, written from prison in anticipation of his death, and its personal, valedictory tone is often cited in its favor. Critical scholarship classifies it with 1 Timothy and Titus as one of the Pastoral Epistles, and while some scholars who doubt Pauline authorship of the other two regard 2 Timothy's more personal material as harder to explain as pure invention, the majority position still treats all three as products of the same later hand writing in Paul's name and tradition, decades after his death.

Why this is disputed. Church tradition holds Colossians as Paul's own letter, written from prison to a community he had not personally founded. Critical scholarship classifies it among the Deutero-Pauline epistles: its vocabulary and sentence structure differ measurably from Paul's undisputed letters, and its more developed cosmic Christology, describing Christ as the invisible God's image sustaining creation, sits closer to later theological development than to Paul's own earlier writing. Defenders of Pauline authorship attribute the differences to the letter's unusual subject matter and possible use of a secretary who shaped its wording.

Why this is disputed. Church tradition holds Ephesians as Paul's own letter, though early manuscripts lack the words to the Ephesians in its opening line, suggesting to some scholars it may have circulated originally as a general letter meant for several congregations. A majority of critical scholars classify Ephesians as Deutero-Pauline, close in date and outlook to Colossians but stylistically the most distant from Paul's undisputed writing of any letter bearing his name, with an unusually long, formal Greek sentence structure. A minority of scholars, mostly outside the historical critical mainstream, continue to defend direct Pauline authorship.

Why this is disputed. Church tradition holds Titus among Paul's genuine letters, addressed to a trusted companion organizing the church on Crete. Along with 1 and 2 Timothy it forms the group critical scholarship calls the Pastoral Epistles, widely judged pseudonymous by the majority of historical critical scholars on the strength of vocabulary substantially different from Paul's undisputed letters, church structures reflecting a later, more institutionalized period, and a theological vocabulary emphasizing sound doctrine unlike Paul's own writing. Defenders of authenticity attribute the differences to subject matter, an amanuensis, or a genuinely late composition within Paul's own lifetime.