Partition in Pauls Letters
There are certainly qualities of some Pauline letters that lend to difficulties in reading and understanding them, especially as a “whole” document. It is important for us as readers of these letters to take off our “Luther goggles” and look at the evidence critically, bringing no presupposition or bias to the text. ... The goal here is to deal with and gain an appreciation for these difficulties found in Paul’s letters. ... 2 Corinthians There are many difficulties in the text of 2 Corinthians that lead to many partition hypotheses: (1) Between 2 Cor. ... 6:15-7:1 is somewhat different in language and content when compared to Paul’s genuine letters. ... These are a mere few of the many partition hypotheses concerning Paul’s letter to the Romans. Philippians Most scholars consider Philippians to be comprised of three letters: Letter A, 4:10-20, a letter of gratitude for the gift from Philippi; Letter B, 1:1-3:1; 4:4-7; 4:21-23, a report on the situation of the apostle; Letter C, 3:2-4:3, 8-9, a debate with false teachers. Some other scholars divide Philippians into two letters.