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From: smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Paul's words only his alone?
Message-ID: <719@ulysses.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 28-Nov-83 22:52:06 EST
Article-I.D.: ulysses.719
Posted: Mon Nov 28 22:52:06 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 30-Nov-83 02:25:34 EST
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	From: dob@ihuxj.UUCP
	Subject: Paul's words only his alone?
	Message-ID: <297@ihuxj.UUCP>
	Date: Sun, 27-Nov-83 19:51:58 EST

	As Byron Howes pointed out, the writer of ROMANS was
	Paul, and so, ROMANS contains Paul's words, but his
	words are not unneccessarily those of God's. Howes no doubt
	has forgotten most of his New Testament that deals with
	NT authorship. Consider the following verses from
	Scripture (New American Standard Bible).

You miss Byron's point.  You're assuming that the New Testament is
divinely inspired, then quoting it to prove your point.  (You even
quote Paul on the inspiration of his own writings -- clearly circular.)
Without such an assumption -- which I and many others are not necessarily
prepared to make -- the most one can conclude is that someone named Paul
claimed that certain thoughts were of divine origin.  It isn't even overly
skeptical to say that all we can ascertain is that these writings are
*attributed* to Paul, rather than actually being written by him -- certainly,
that can be said of the Gospels.  Archaeological and/or textual evidence
may say more on this matter.  But without an act of faith -- which is not
necessarily wrong or unfounded, but certainly is not objective evidence --
one cannot go any further.  What we are left with is a set of writings which
make certain value judgements.  What attention one pays to these judgements
depends almost exclusively on one's assumption as to their origin -- and
Byron is not necessarily willing to accept your assumptions.

						 Remember to look
	it up yourself in your own Bibles. Never take someone's word
	for what the Bible says. Compare translations for difficult
	passages. Know that the LIVING BIBLE is not. It is an interpretation
	not a translation. Always use a good translation, King James Bible,
	New American Standard Bible, New Internation Version, Revised
	Standard, etc.

I agree completely.  And check the best that modern scholarship has to
offer on the meaning of obscure words, idiomatic expressions, etc.