134 andrew w. pitts
the Prison letters (colossians, ephesians, Philippians, Philemon)—also,
often grouped for analysis60—and finally, at the very least 2 timothy, but
potentially 1 timothy and titus. certain places, even in this very loose
chronology, will involve substantial debate. those who believe Paul wrote
2 thessalonians tend to place it a few months after his first interaction
with them (1 thessalonians).61 the date for galatians will vary depend-
ing on whether one adopts the northern or Southern hypothesis, but
even in the northern galatia theory, we would probably still have Paul
composing the letter quite early in his career (55–57 ce?), likely on his
third missionary journey. So, galatians would still group with Paul’s early
letters according to time of composition. although some debate contin-
ues to surround the Prison letters, most place at least Philippians during
Paul’s (first) imprisonment in rome, not least due to the early second-
century marcionite prologue that states that Paul was in rome when
writing Philippians.62 if a pseudonymous setting is not assumed, the best
evidence points to this imprisonment as the context for ephesians, colos-
sians and Philemon as well.63 turning to the Pastorals, if we begin with
the integrity of its claims about authorship and the external evidence’s
corroboration here, we will likely need to posit a second roman impris-
onment, at least in the case of 2 timothy but perhaps for the other two
letters as well.64 Jerome murphy-o’connor, for example, as some have
60 e.g. andrew t. lincoln and a. J. m. Wedderburn, The Theology of the Later Pauline
Epistles (cambridge: cambridge university Press, 1993). on this grouping of earlier and
later Pauline letters, see also, e.g., Karl P. donfried, “the theology of 1 thessalonians,” in
donfried and i. howard marshall, The Theology of the Shorter Pauline Letters (cambridge:
cambridge university Press, 1993), 64.
61 e.g. abraham J. malherbe, The Letters to the Thessalonians (aB 32B; new haven: yale
university Press, 2008), 375, summarizes the date and situation as follows: “Paul’s second
letter to the thessalonians was written from corinth, probably early in a.d. 51, a very few
months after his first letter. Silas and timothy are still with Paul, but other than being
mentioned in the address, they play no role in the letter. Paul had received news that
conditions in the thessalonian church had deteriorated since he wrote the first letter:
persecution of the new converts was continuing, erroneous eschatological doctrine was
being taught, and some of the thessalonians refused to earn their own living. Paul writes
this pastoral letter to encourage the discouraged, correct the doctrinal error, and direct the
church in how to discipline the idlers.”
62 See g. Walter hansen, The Letter to the Philippians (Pntc; grand rapids: eerdmans,
2009), 20 n.79, for a list of the secondary literature in support of this connection.
63 e.g., after he surveys the evidence, frank thielman, Ephesians (Becnt; grand rap-
ids: Baker academic, 2010), 20, concludes that if we are not operating from the assumption
of pseudonymity, the best evidence indicates that “Paul wrote ephesians near the end
of his two-year imprisonment in rome and at roughly the same time as colossians and
Philemon, in ad 62.”
64 See, e.g., Jerome d. Quinn, “Paul’s last captivity,” in elizabeth a. livingstone (ed.),
Studia Biblica 3 ( JSntSup 3; Sheffield: Sheffield academic Press, 1980), 289–99.