Paul's salutation is found at the beginning of his epistles.
When writing an epistle/letter, the salutation is always before the letter's body.
Dictionary:
Main Entry: sal·u·ta·tion
The word or phrase of greeting (as Gentlemen or Dear Sir or Madam) that conventionally comes immediately before the body of a letter
2 Thessalonians 3:17-18, Paul writes: “The salutation [aspasmos] of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle; so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
In setting up these polls, how come you don't have a choice for "other?" I dragged your last poll off into an argumentive tangent when I expressed my "other" opinion. I may do the same here as well...
Paul's salutation is found at the beginning of his epistles.
When writing an epistle/letter, the salutation is always before the letter's body.
Dictionary:
Main Entry: sal·u·ta·tion
The word or phrase of greeting (as Gentlemen or Dear Sir or Madam) that conventionally comes immediately before the body of a letter
Quote:
Originally Posted by James Griffin
2 Thessalonians 3:17-18, Paul writes: “The salutation [aspasmos] of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle; so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Wouldn't you say that the formal "salutation" was in 2 Thess. 1:1 and the "informal" salutation "with my own hand" came near the end? The "informal being kind of like a personal "sign off" of the epistle.
Paul's salutation is found at the beginning of his epistles.
When writing an epistle/letter, the salutation is always before the letter's body.
Dictionary:
Main Entry: sal·u·ta·tion
The word or phrase of greeting (as Gentlemen or Dear Sir or Madam) that conventionally comes immediately before the body of a letter
Except the one you quoted, 2Thes. 3:17-18 is the last two verses of the letter. So, in this sense it is a greeting. The reason 2Thes. 3:17-18 is important is this:
17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Many, myself included, would argue that Paul actually wrote the last few verses here with his "own hand," and further that the distinguishing mark is not his name but rather: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all
You see (from a paper I wrote many years ago):
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheLayman
Lastly, as I said in the beginning, Paul’s name is not affixed to the Hebrew Epistle. However, can we be completely certain that Paul did not sign this letter without using his name? In 2 Thes. 3:17-18 Paul says:
17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.
I would argue that the “mark” Paul speaks of is not his name, but his benediction and Apostolic salutation which is, in varying forms, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.” Every writing of Paul’s ends with this benediction. Hebrews also ends with, “Grace be with you all.” Although Paul’s name is not affixed to the book of Hebrews, I believe he did affix his mark to it.
As you can see in Hebrew 13:
18 Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably. 19 But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. 20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 22 And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words. 23 Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly. 24 Greet all those who rule over you, and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you. 25 Grace be with you all. Amen.
Actually, there are many things just in those few verses that are evidence of Pauline authorship, but I will not go into them here. A few more quick points from that old paper (I would add here that the link posted by James Griffin is very good):
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheLayman
The earliest external (historical) evidence regarding the authorship of Hebrews is decidedly Pauline. Dr. J. Sidlow Baxtor writes, “by about 150 A.D. Pantaenus, the then leading teacher of Alexandria, was referring to it as a generally accepted epistle of Paul-which means that in only 70 years after Paul’s death it was generally accepted as his! The point is not merely that Pantaenus himself believed it to be Pauline, but that at so early a date it was viewed as such.”
Clement of Alexandria writes in 195 A.D., “By the style of writing, Luke may be recognized both to have composed the Acts of the Apostles and to have translated Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews.”
John MacArthur quotes Origen saying, “No one knows.” However, Origen also wrote, “Someone hard pressed by this argument may have recourse to the opinion of those who reject this Epistle [to the Hebrews] as not being Paul’s. Against such ones, I must at some other time use other arguments to prove that is Paul’s.” Origen (c. 240, E), 4.388.
Not only do I find the earliest authorities believed Paul to be the author of Hebrews, but also that these authorities testified that this tradition had been handed down to them by those who were older. Based on this historical evidence I have every reason to believe that the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews. It would seem counter-intuitive to dismiss the affirmative testimony of these earliest authorities in favor of those further removed in time who have little more than their own doubts as evidence against what had already been established as true...
There is a great deal of internal (Biblical) evidence for Pauline authorship. Let us turn to 2 Pet. 3:15-16:
15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 speaking of this as he does in all his letters.
There are several important, and weighty facts to be gleaned from what Peter has said which are:
1.) According to Peter, Paul has written a letter to the same audience to which Peter has directed this, his second epistle. Please note that Peter states that Paul wrote a letter to “you.”
2.) We know that Peter’s second epistle was intended for the same audience as his first epistle, “this is now my second letter to you.” (2 Pet. 3:1)
3.) Peter identified his intended audience in his first letter as those Hebrew Christians in Asia Minor (1 Pet. 1:1).
4.) Peter distinguishes the letter of Paul’s he was referring to in 2 Pet. 3:15 from all of Paul’s other letters in that he says, “So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you,…speaking of this as he does in all his letters.” Clearly Peter has distinguished one of Paul’s letters from all other letters, the one written to the same audience that Peter writes to now.
The only book in the N.T. that Paul could have written which meets all these criteria is Hebrews. I find this evidence compelling.
If I were to here take the position that Paul did not write Hebrews, I would then necessarily have to conclude:
1.) That Paul wrote a letter to the Hebrew Christians in Asia Minor which they had received.
2.) That Peter was aware of and acquainted with this letter.
3.) That no copy of this letter was preserved.
4.) That this letter was so completely lost to oblivion that not even a single memory of it is preserved in church history or tradition.
5.) That the tradition in Alexandria of Paul having written Hebrews (where one would expect such a tradition to arise based on Peter’s words) is completely coincidental and without merit.
While this is theoretically possible it would seem extraordinarily improbable.
Linear Mode
