Did Paul Exchange Letters with the Greatest Roman Philosopher of His Day??

[00:00:01] Did Paul exchange letters with the greatest roman philosopher of his day? By Bart D. Ehrman read by John Paul Middlesworth I've mentioned several non canonical letters forged in Paul's name connected with the views of the second century heretic Marcion. There are other letters out there that also falsely claim to be written by Paul, but that were not forged in order to support or pack a particular heretical view in Paul's name. That is almost certainly the case with a set of letters that were accepted as authentically Paul's. Though never accepted as canonical for many centuries down until relatively modern times, Paul's correspondence with the great philosopher and personal tutor and advisor to the emperor Nero. Here's what I say about these letters in my book forged Harper one, 2011 if you want a more thorough analysis of these and all the Pauline forgeries I'm mentioning in these posts, I get gratifyingly down in the weeds at good length in my academic book forgery and counterforgery the use of literary deceit in early christian polemics the letters of Paul and Seneca a completely different agenda is found in a much later forgery of pauline letters that was destined to become quite influential on later christian thinking about Paul. By the end of the second century, many Christians, not just Marcian, considered Paul to be the most important figure in the religion after Jesus. Paul was understood as the great apostle, the great spokesperson, the great theologian of the church. His writings were widely read and his thought was deeply appreciated. But over the years, Christians wondered if Paul was such a brilliant and astute thinker, why do none of the other great thinkers of his day mention him? Why does he appear to have been a great unknown in the roman empire outside of the christian church itself? [00:01:54] Sometime in the fourth century, an unknown author sought to address the issue and did so by forging a series of 14 letters between Paul and the roman philosopher Seneca. Seneca was widely recognized as the greatest philosopher of his day, one of the real intellectual giants of the early Roman Empire. He was in the upper crust of elite and powerful society, as he was the tutor and later the advisor of the emperor Nero. A number of Seneca's philosophical writings were widely read in antiquity, and a good number of them survive until this day. But nowhere in these writings does he mention even the existence of Christianity or refer to Jesus or to any of the great leaders of the new faith. These 14 letters repair the damage. Eight of the 14 are allegedly Seneca's letters to Paul. The other six are Paul's responses. Modern readers of these letters are often a bit disappointed that their contents are so meager, one would hope for some good, juicy gossip between the greatest thinker of the first century and the greatest apostle of the church. But with one exception, the letters are not meant to provide fabricated stories about life in the imperial palace. For example, they are meant to show that Paul was well placed and well respected by intellectuals of his time. [00:03:11] And so Seneca, in his first letter, praises Paul for his, quote, wonderful exhortations to the moral life, unquote, and indicates that these are divine teachings not spoken so much by Paul as through him by God. Paul, in his response, simply indicates that, yes, Seneca has spoken the truth. In another letter, Seneca praises Paul's sublime speech and his most venerable thoughts, and indicates that the emperor Nero himself has read the letters and has been, quote, moved by your sentiments, unquote. All of this, of course, is historically bogus. Seneca had almost certainly never heard of Paul, but it makes for a good story 300 years later in only one letter. Is there any historical reference of interest in letter eleven, sometimes numbered 14, since it appears to be the last one chronologically, Seneca expresses his sincere regret that Paul has been condemned to death, even though he is innocent. This is a reference to the tradition that Paul was among the christians martyred by Nero, who blamed them for starting the fire that burned the city of Rome, which he himself may have started. Seneca states that the fire burned for six days, destroying 132 palaces and 4000 apartment buildings. And he indicates his distress that Christians and Jews were being executed because of it by Nero, an unjust ruler. Quote. Who takes pleasure in murder and uses lies as a disguise, unquote. But the emperor's days were numbered, and he would pay the penalty by enduring eternal torment. Quote. This accursed one will be burned in the fire for all. Unquote. Here we have then, not just a set of forgeries written in the names of Paul and Seneca centuries after they were dead, but also a fabricated account of how such an eminent philosopher both appreciated Paul and held him and his fellow christians innocent in the charges of arson brought against them in 64 CE. Christians of later centuries took these writings with extreme seriousness. It later became a commonplace that Seneca knew the apostle Paul and his christian message, and that the famous philosopher, the greatest mind of his day, was entirely open to the gospel of Christ.