ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Authorship of the Pauline epistles

Okay kiddo, so you know how there are many books in the Bible, right? Well, there are some books in the New Testament called "Pauline Epistles". These are letters that were written by a man named Paul, who was an important figure in the early Christian church.

Now, some people have wondered if Paul really wrote all of these letters, or if maybe other people wrote some of them and just put Paul's name on them. This is called the "authorship" of the letters.

To figure this out, scholars look at things like the writing style and the vocabulary used in the letters. They also look at historical information about Paul's life to see if the events mentioned in the letters match up with what we know about him.

There are a few letters that most scholars agree were definitely written by Paul, like Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon. For these letters, the evidence points towards Paul being the author.

However, there are a few other letters, like Ephesians, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians, that some scholars think may have been written by someone else using Paul's name. So, there is some debate and disagreement about who the true author is.

So, in summary, some people think that all the Pauline Epistles were written by Paul, while others think that some of them may have been written by someone else. But either way, these letters are an important part of the Bible and offer guidance and teachings to Christians all around the world.