At least I think it’s a theological question.
A lot of books in the Bible are letters written by Paul.
Do you think Paul knew as he was writing these letters that they would later become scripture?
I’m quite interested to see what kind of responses I get.
I would recommend reading "Jesus, Interrupted." But I'm scared to do that.
I often know when God is speaking through me (add to the list of things that sound crazy), but I almost never know the results. I think he thought he was writing what God told me to, but he probably thought his words would only outlive him by at most a generation or two. I don't think he would have put himself in the league as the OT writers he looked up to. He considered himself fortunate (given his background as a persecutor of the church) to be involved in Jesus' message at all.
Paul
Oops. I meant "what God told him to".
I know this will sound crazy but I think it was more of diary type thing.
Taking into account the fact that letters were inspired by God through the Holy Spirit (I Tim 3:16), I definitely think Paul was aware that his words would have an impact on people for many years. If God told me to write something, I would think it was pretty important enough that it would be around for awhile.
2 Peter 3:15-16 (HCSB)
15 Also, regard the patience of our Lord as ⌊an opportunity for⌋ salvation, just as our dear brother Paul has written to you according to the wisdom given to him.
16 He speaks about these things in all his letters in which there are some matters that are hard to understand. The untaught and unstable twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.
The phrase "rest of the scriptures" seems to indicate that Peter knew – I would think Paul might have also known.
No. He had no way of knowing they were future scripture. 1 Tim 3:16 says nothing about that
Paul wrote other letters not found in scripture
The New Testament was compiled centuries after it's authorship
Paul's letters are the oldest and the ones we know of are the ones that survived the longest
I'm sure that if they found one of the other letters to the Corinthians, it would be in there too
Depends on what you mean by Scripture. I think that Paul knew that his writings would influence churches and people long after He was gone. Did he know that they would be included with other Holy Spirit inspired books to form the Bible. I doubt it. But then again, Paul had a unique relationship with Jesus beacuse of his apostleship and the role that he played in the formation of the early church.
Put me down as a firm maybe.
Depends on what you mean by Scripture. I think that Paul knew that his writings would influence churches and people long after He was gone. Did he know that they would be included with other Holy Spirit inspired books to form the Bible. I doubt it. But then again, Paul had a unique relationship with Jesus beacuse of his apostleship and the role that he played in the formation of the early church.
Put me down as a firm maybe.
So when Paul writes to Timothy he makes a oft quoted statement that "All scripture is inspired by God." When this phrased was used in my church growing up it was an obvious reference to the Bible. However, it's pretty clear that since the Bible was yet to be canonized that Paul is referring to the Hebrew Scriptures. I find the word "inspired" fascinating.
The word Paul uses there is θεόπνευστος (Theopneustos), and since I love big words it is considered a 'hapax legomenon' which is a fancy way of saying it is used only once. Not just once in the New Testament but in all of known greek literature of the period. I kind of imagine Paul searching for a way to describe how the Hebrew Scriptures were divine since it encompasses a wide variety of writing and coming up with a new compound word: God-breathed.
When this was translated into Latin it was translated as literal as possible:
θεόπνευστος == God breathed == divinitus inspirata
See the word there? Inspired. It meant 'to breathe', and interestingly, it still does. In hospitals when someone is choking and losing oxygen they're said to be 'aspirating' (not breathing). But today when we say "inpire" we think of things like love and poetry and art in the sense that one who is "inspired" is influenced by some outside source. I would argue the only reason we use the word inspired in that way is because Paul used it in this one phrase. Although, the idea may have been developing I think that the current meaning of the word "inspired" actually was influenced by the English usage of the Latin based on a literal translation of the Greek. Neat huh?
(Cont)
So, here's the point. Okay two points. First, I like translations that stick with 'God Breathed' because we read back in our definition of "inspired" when we look at that verse. The word 'inspired' makes people think that the Bible authors were inspired the same way musicians are inspired. Conversely, it makes people think that when they "feel inspired" by God, or when "God speaks through me" that it has the same level authority of that of the Scripture, and it just doesn't.
Second, when Paul uses that word he is acknowledging that God did something special and unique to bring about what we call the Old Testament. Not just the prophetic works, or the Theological works, or the poetic works but all of it. He is claiming that, knowing or not, what was written down was what the Holy Spirit intended to be written down. The prophets heard from God directly so it's easy to say "inspired." But the guy who recorded all the boring lineage stuff… inspired too- or rather, God-breathed.
So, back to the original question… did Paul know that what he was writing was inspired? Based on the above, can I change the question to, "Did Paul know that what he was writing was God-Breathed?" I think saying it that way differentiates it from when we say things like, "I was prompted by the Holy Spirit", or "God was speaking through me." My opinion, is No, but I don't really have a problem with Yes either. In the same way the lineage guy was merely writing "so-and-so begat so-and-so" I think Paul was merely (!!) writing letters of encouragement and instruction and explanation to people who believe that Jesus is the Messiah. In both cases the words in those letters also happened to be the words that the Holy Spirit "super-intended" to be written down.
And now we know why George has been christened BibleScholarGeorge by Geeding!
Well written, George.
I'll echo some of what Chris wrote. I believe that Paul firmly knew that his writings were authoritative for church instruction (he seems to indicate this numerous times in his letters, often testifying to his credentials as an apostle of Christ). It would so follow that he must have intended for them to be preserved and used for future opportunities of instruction in the churches (much in line with his rabbinical upbringing, Paul would be familiar with the Jewish use of the Talmud as an accessory to the study of Torah). In this regard, I have to disagree with Sharon that his letters were merely for his own personal recollections – he intended for them to be read and shared among the churches.
I also disagree with George's opinion that Paul didn't believe that his writing was "God-breathed." His sense of his own apostleship, in my opinion, points to a belief that his writing carried the authority of Christ, although there are instances in his letters where he clarifies what is his opinion versus what is Christ's teaching.
Did he know that his writings would be canonized as Scripture? My guess is that he had no particular inkling that there would be a "New Testament"or that what he knew as Scripture would become the "Old Testament" so the question may be impossible to answer. Did he know that his writings should be preserved for the churches as authoritative instruction? I think yes.
Brent, I'm convinced. I think my initial intent was to try to distinguish the Biblical doctrine of Inspiration from today's ideas of inspiration which is really just me acting out on a pet peeve. I agree with your disagreement of my opinion. I suppose looking back I was attempting to express what you did in your last paragraph, "canonized as Scripture" which I think you did nicely.