How do we know that the Apostle Paul’s original letters—written between 48 and 64 AD—were accurately transmitted before our earliest surviving manuscript copy from around 200 AD?
In this post, we walk through internal evidence from the New Testament, quotes from early Christian leaders, and even comparisons with other ancient writings. The result is a compelling historical case for the reliable preservation of Paul’s seven undisputed letters: Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon.
Comparing Paul to Other Ancient Authors
Before jumping into Christian sources, let’s compare Paul’s letters with other ancient texts that historians accept without controversy:
| Author | Work | Date Written | Earliest Copy | Time Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josephus | Jewish War | 75–79 AD | 9th century | ~800 years |
| Tacitus | Annals | ~100 AD | ~850 AD | ~750 years |
| Pliny the Younger | Letters | ~100–112 AD | ~850 AD | ~750 years |
| Suetonius | Lives of the Caesars | ~121 AD | 9th century | ~700–800 years |
| Paul the Apostle | 7 Undisputed Letters | 48–64 AD | ~175–200 AD (P46) | ~125–150 years |
Paul’s letters have the shortest gap between composition and manuscript evidence—yet are often treated with far more suspicion. Why?
Internal Evidence from Paul’s Own Letters
Even during Paul’s lifetime, his letters were being circulated and discussed:
1 Corinthians 1:2
“To the church of God which is at Corinth… with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.”
2 Corinthians 1:1
“To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia.”
Galatians 1:2
“To the churches of Galatia.”
These greetings show that Paul’s letters were meant for entire regions, not just local churches.
2 Corinthians 10:10
“For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.”
Even his opponents knew and discussed his letters, plural—during his lifetime.
2 Peter 3:15–16 (likely early 60s AD):
“…as also in all his epistles… as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”
Paul’s letters were already being grouped together and treated as Scripture.
Colossians 4:16 (disputed):
“…see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans…”
Bart Ehrman, agnostic scholar:
“The passage in Colossians suggests that even by the time of its composition—whoever wrote it—there was a custom of circulating Christian letters.” (Forged, 2011)
Early Christian Witness (95–180 AD)
Clement of Rome (c. 95 AD)
“Take up the epistle of the blessed Paul the Apostle. What did he write to you at the time when the Gospel first began to be preached?” (1 Clement 47)
Clement assumes the Corinthians still had Paul’s letter over 40 years later.
David F. Wright (Christian historian):
“The rhetoric and theological framing of 1 Clement are unmistakably Pauline, using patterns found in Galatians and Romans—even where exact verbal citation is absent.” (Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2014)
Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110 AD)
“You are associates in the mysteries with Paul… who in every letter makes mention of you in Christ Jesus.” (To the Ephesians 12.2)
Ignatius refers to “every letter” of Paul, indicating a corpus already known to his readers.
Michael Holmes (Christian textual scholar):
“Ignatius’s epistles are built upon the structure and tone of Paul, especially in areas such as ecclesiology and unity.” (The Apostolic Fathers, 2nd ed.)
Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 110–140 AD)
“The blessed Paul wrote letters to you… which, if you study them, you will be able to build yourselves up in the faith.” (To the Philippians 3.2)
Polycarp speaks of “letters” plural—implying either multiple communications or a collection.
Kenneth Berding (Christian professor of New Testament):
“Polycarp’s theology and phraseology… show clear mimēsis of Pauline thought—not mere influence, but conscious imitation.” (Polycarp and Paul, Brill)
Theophilus of Antioch (c. 180 AD)
“Paul says: ‘If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.’” (To Autolycus 3.14, quoting Romans 10:9)
Theophilus refers to Romans as “Scripture.”
Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 180 AD)
“Paul… ‘There is one God… and one Lord Jesus Christ.’” (Against Heresies 3.12.12, quoting 1 Corinthians 8:6)
Irenaeus quotes all seven undisputed letters and explicitly names Paul.
Canon Lists and Heretical Canons
The Muratorian Fragment (c. 170–200 AD)
“As to the epistles of Paul, they themselves make clear to those desiring to understand which ones they are. First of all, he wrote to the Corinthians, addressing them in two letters. Then to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, to the Galatians, to the Thessalonians—twice, and to the Romans. It is plain that he wrote these letters for the sake of instruction. There is yet another addressed to Philemon, one to Titus, and two to Timothy in affection and love. These are held sacred in the esteem of the Church and form part of the universal Church’s discipline and teaching.”
Marcion’s Canon (c. 140 AD)
The first known Christian canon was created by a heretic—and it included 10 Pauline letters.
Bart Ehrman:
“Marcion’s canon shows that the letters of Paul were already being collected and circulated as a group by the early second century.” (Lost Christianities, 2003)
The Importance of John’s Long Life
Irenaeus (c. 180 AD):
“Then John, the disciple of the Lord… lived on until the times of Trajan.” (Against Heresies 3.1.1)
Polycrates of Ephesus (c. 190 AD):
“John… being a priest, wore the high-priestly plate.”
If John was 20 years old in 30 AD, he would have been about 90 when Trajan’s reign began in 98 AD—allowing him to influence and oversee the preservation of apostolic teaching decades after Paul’s death.
Richard Bauckham:
“The Beloved Disciple… may well have been quite young during Jesus’ ministry. This possibility makes good sense of the tradition that he lived to extreme old age.” (Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 2006)
Bart Ehrman:
“It is certainly possible—indeed plausible—that John was very young when he followed Jesus, which would help explain the later traditions about his longevity.” (How Jesus Became God, 2014)
Conclusion: Proven by Perseverance
We don’t have Paul’s original letters.
And we don’t have an unbroken chain of manuscripts from 50 to 200 AD.
But what we do have may be even more compelling:
A generation of people who lived and died for Paul’s message.
They didn’t preserve his letters in silence.
They preserved them through suffering.
They weren’t philosophers in libraries—they were men and women who had seen their lives overturned. Enemies became brothers. The immoral became upright. The fearful became fearless. And when persecution came, they didn’t flinch. They held to Paul’s gospel of Christ crucified and risen—because they had seen its power.
They copied Paul’s words because they were living what those words described.
They circulated them because they believed others could encounter the same Spirit they had.
And they called them Scripture because, to them, no other explanation made sense.
Miracles were reported. Communities of mutual love sprang up where none had existed. Even skeptics were forced to admit: something had changed.
If you’re agnostic, this doesn’t demand blind faith.
It invites a hard look at the kind of people who believed Paul’s words—and what happened when they did.
We’re not just trusting that the church preserved his letters.
We’re trusting why they preserved them.
Because those letters changed lives.
Living the Bible 