Why Did St. Paul Write So Much?

[Exporter]

St. Paul’s writings appear more in the Bible than other apostles. But in terms of pages that’s not true.
In my D-R Bible we think Paul wrote 167 pages but the others wrote 243 pages.

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My question is 1a. Since Paul was a Jew who persecuted Christians and was maybe the last to be accepted, how did he gain so much Christian Doctrine? and 1b. What was Paul’s source of information?

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1c. If Paul got his Christian information from the other apostles, why didn’t the others write more or if they did write more are some of their writings lost or denied?

 

[Ray_Marshall]

Interesting questions.

My Jerusalem Bible says that St. Paul was converted about 34 A.D. and was chosen to be an Apostle by Jesus. It said that he didn’t start really travelling and preaching til about 39 A.D. And it says that his first “missionary journey” was between 45-49. He is thought to have been martyred in 67 A.D.

So he would have had a lot of time to chat with the other Apostles.

And, of course, being specially selected by Our Lord, I suspect that his memory was pretty good.

As to why the other Apostles didn’t write more, to me, that’s another mystery!

 

[Michael_C]

St. Paul’s writings appear more in the Bible than other apostles. But in terms of pages that’s not true.
In my D-R Bible we think Paul wrote 167 pages but the others wrote 243 pages.

My question is 1a. Since Paul was a Jew who persecuted Christians and was maybe the last to be accepted, how did he gain so much Christian Doctrine? and 1b. What was Paul’s source of information?

1c. If Paul got his Christian information from the other apostles, why didn’t the others write more or if they did write more are some of their writings lost or denied?

hi Exporter, These are only my opinions and should be taken as such.
1a. Paul was a pharisee and new the scriptures. It is probably a lot easier to connect the dots knowing the old testament and the prophesies.
1b. We know that he stayed some days with the disciples and he was in Damascus for a long time. They must have helped him along.
1c. Tradition was to spread the Gospel via word of mouth. It is a blessing for us that Paul wrote so much.

This is how Iunderstand it.

 

[CnDWelch]

Paul also probably received revelations directly from God, similar to the way Peter was the first to proclaim that Jesus was the son of the living God and Jesus told him no man revealed this to him, but his Father in Heaven.

 

[beng]

St Paul is hard to understand (2Pet 3:16). His letters are so confusing. Why can’t he be like James or Peter we do not know. But what’s intriguing is that by Divine Providence we have more of his letters than the rest.

Why God can’t be more understandable and somehow someway give us an easier to understand letters?.. I do not know. Maybe He has a purpose.

 

[wisdom_3_5]

Michael C:

.
1a. Paul was a pharisee and new the scriptures. It is probably a lot easier to connect the dots knowing the old testament and the prophesies.

I think also that to be a pharisee you would really have to be literate. To be a fisherman you didn’t. There is much talk in bible studies about how slow Peter and the rest were. Implying they were uneducated.

Another thought is that the Apostles thought that Jesus would come back during their lifetime & didn’t feel the need to record anything.

 

[Todd_Easton]

Exporter:

My question is 1a. Since Paul was a Jew who persecuted Christians and was maybe the last to be accepted, how did he gain so much Christian Doctrine? and 1b. What was Paul’s source of information?

Paul first spent several days after his conversion with the disciples in Damascus (Acts 9:19) and later he met at various times with apostles and elders in Jerusalem. Paul also received special revelations from Jesus.

1c. If Paul got his Christian information from the other apostles, why didn’t the others write more or if they did write more are some of their writings lost or denied?

There could be several reasons for this. Perhaps the other apostles did a better job of instructing their converts than Paul did so that they didn’t need to send their converts the kind of remedial instructions found in Paul’s letters. Or maybe Paul did such a good job in his letters that the apostles just forwarded Paul’s letters instead of writing their own.

Paul was well-educated (Acts 22:3), whereas, when Peter, Andrew, James and his brother John were called by Jesus, they were simple fishermen and probably not very literate.

It seems that at least one of Paul’s letters was lost, “the letter from Laodicea.” (Col 4:16)

 

[Ray_Marshall]

Todd Easton:

Perhaps the other apostles did a better job of instructing their converts than Paul did so that they didn’t need to send their converts the kind of remedial instructions found in Paul’s letters.

Now that I’ve thought about it for a bit, probably the reason that Paul wrote so much, comparatively, is that he visited more places than the others. So he now and then would have to write back to them when he received reports that they weren’t behaving properly.

Others of his letters were to individuals, Timothy, Titus and Philemon, instructing them in their missions.

 

[Pinklady]

Because he had a lot to say.