This survey of the Pauline epistles provides a brief summary of each letter and the main purpose for its existence.
The Apostle Paul was one of the most influential people in Scripture. There were many things that factored into shaping who Paul was, as Calvin Roetzel puts it:
“It is important, therefore, while reading the letters to remember that Paul was many things at once—a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hellenistic Jew, an apostle of Christ, and a missionary to the Gentiles. Though these aspects of his life did not all hold equal places in Paul’s theology, each of them contributed something.”[1]
Paul wrote the majority of what we know as the New Testament and his writings shaped the truths of Christian doctrine. The Pauline epistles present a broad spectrum Christian thought and address a wide range of issues. “The landscape is as broad as Paul’s theological understanding and as diverse as the needs of the churches.”[2]
Because there are so many topics that could be addressed within each epistle I hope to narrow the focus of the letters by providing a brief summary of each one that includes the main purpose for its existence.
Read more
