The four books of the New Testament known as the Letters to the Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians, are allowed by practically all critics, including some of the most "destructive," to be genuine productions of the Apostle Paul. Opinions vary as to the order of their composition. The latest research tends to put 'Galatians' first, and 'Romans' last, in the period between 53 and 58 A. D. The date generally assigned to the Roman Letter is 58 A.D., but recently Harnack, McGiffert, Clemen and others have shown cause for putting it some four years earlier. The chronology of the period is necessarily very complicated. It must suffice, therefore, to regard this Letter as having been written, at either of these dates, from Corinth, where Paul was staying in the course of his third missionary tour. He was hoping to go to Rome, by way of Jerusalem, and then proceed to Spain (15:24; Ac 24:21).
The object of this Letter was to prepare the Christians in Rome for his visit, and make a clear statement of the new doctrines which he taught. It is probable that the crisis in Galatia, to which the Letter sent thither bears witness, had driven the Apostle's thoughts in the direction of the subject of Justification, and he was apparently much troubled by the persistence of Jewish unbelief. Hence the present Letter has been well termed "the Gospel according to Paul."
We know really nothing about the Christians then in Rome beyond what we find here. It is, however, fairly certain that reports concerning the Saviour would be taken to that city by proselytes, both before and after the events described in Acts 2, and we know that there was a large Jewish population there amongst whom the seed would be sown. Some critics have thought "that a note addressed to Ephesus lies embedded in the 16th chapter," because, they say, it is "inconceivable that Paul could have intimately known so many individuals in a Church like that in Rome to which he was personally a stranger." But this is by no means demonstrated, nor is there evidence that the Church there was founded by any other Apostle.
Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians
The genuineness of the two Letters to the Corinthians has never been seriously disputed. The first was written by the Apostle Paul, probably in the early spring of 56 A.D., just before he left Ephesus for Troas in the course of his third missionary tour (Ac 19). The Church in Corinth had been founded by him during his previous tour (Ac 18). After some hesitation he had been induced to preach in Corinth, and in spite of the opposition of the Jews such great success attended his efforts that he remained there for more than eighteen months. The furious attack upon him which was frustrated by Gallio gave impetus to the new cause, so that when the Apostle left, there was a comparatively strong Church there, consisting mostly of Greeks, but including not a few Jews also. The dangers, however, arising out of the temperament and circumstances of the Corinthians soon manifested themselves. The city was the capital of Roman Greece, a wealthy commercial centre, and the home of a restless, superficial intellectualism. Exuberant verbosity, selfish display, excesses at the Lord's table, unseemly behaviour of women at meetings for worship, and also abuse of spiritual gifts, were complicated by heathen influences and the corrupting customs of idolatry. Hence the Apostle's pleas, rebukes, and exhortations. Most noteworthy of all is his forceful treatment of the subject of the Resurrection of Christ; and this only a quarter of a century after the event. Of the Letter mentioned in 5:9 we know nothing.
Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians
The second Letter to the Corinthians was probably written in the autumn of 56 A.D., the first Letter to them having been sent in the spring of that year. But there are other letters of which we have no clear account. One, lost to us, evidently preceded the first Letter (1Co 5:9). In our "second" Letter we find mention (2:2,4) of a severe communication which could not but give pain. Can this have been our "first" to the Corinthians? Some think not, in which case there must have been an "intermediate" letter. This some students find in 2Co 10 1-8:1O. If so, there must have been four letters. Some have thought that in 2Co 6:14-7:1, and 8, 9, yet another is embedded, making possibly five in all. The reader must form his own conclusions, inasmuch as the evidence is almost entirely internal. On the whole it would seem that our first Letter, conveyed by Titus, had produced a good effect in the Corinthian Church, but that this wore off, and that Titus returned to the Apostle in Ephesus with such disquieting news that a visit of Paul just then to Corinth would have been very embarrassing, alike for the Church and the Apostle. Hence, instead of going, he writes a "painful" letter and sends it by the same messenger, proceeding himself to Troas and thence to Macedonia, where, in great tension of spirit, he awaits the return of Titus. At last there comes a reassuring account, the relief derived from which is so great that our second Letter is written, with the double purpose of comforting those who had been so sharply rebuked and of preventing the recurrence of the evils which had called forth the remonstrance. In this way both the tenderness and the severity of the present Letter may be explained.
Paul's Letter to the Galatians
There is no question as to the genuineness of this Pauline Letter, but unlike most other writings of the Apostle it was addressed to "Churches" rather than to a single community.
Formerly it was not easy to decide the precise meaning of the term "Galatia." Opinions differed on the subject. The "North Galatian theory," contended for by some German scholars, maintained that the Letter was addressed to the Churches of Ancyra, Tavium, Pessinus and possibly to those in other cities. The "South Galatian theory," which now holds the field in English-speaking countries, is to the effect that the congregations intended were those of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Derbe and Lystra; and this is strongly supported by the unique resemblance between this Letter and Paul's sermon in Pisidian Antioch (Ac 13:14-41). In any case the population was very mixed, consisting of Phrygians, Greeks, Romans, Gauls and Jews.