1 Corinthians
Paul's authorship of 1 Corinthians is one of the most solidly attested pieces of Christian literary history--it really is not in any serious dispute. (we have attestation as early as 1 Clement 47, written in the first century).
However, there are textual reasons for believing that the specific prohibition in 1 Corinthians 14 is a gloss (an addition by a later hand):
- It is marked as such in Codex Vaticanus
- The discussion of women preaching rather abruptly interrupts the discussion of prophets, which resumes after this passage.
Although we do not have the autographical text of 1 Corinthians, on balance, I believe the scribe of Codex Vaticanus is correct, the prohibition against women preaching does not fit well with the surrounding message and is probably a gloss.
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1 Timothy
There is not, to my knowledge, a text-critical argument against the originality of 1 Tim. 2:12--unlike in the case of 1 Cor. 14:34, this passage really does appear to have been part of the letter when it was written. The question for 1 Timothy, then, is whether Paul is the author of the letter at all.
I do not find arguments against Pauline authorship of 1 Timothy to be convincing:
- Differences in vocabulary are to be expected when writing in a different time & place and with a different amanuensis
- Differences in content are to be expected when writing a public statement to a congregation vs. a private letter to an individual church leader
- The Patristic writers had no difficulty believing the Paul wrote the letters to Timothy, and they quote the letters regularly. Early quotations of both letters are found in Polycarp, Irenaues, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and others (source)
- The letters to Timothy are included in early collections of Paul's letters (see a much more detailed discussion of the collection of Paul's letters in my post here)
- The letters claim to be written by Paul, and go out of their way to provide personal details regarding Paul and his associates. While a student of Paul may have collected Paul's teachings at a later date, the author of these letters is very much claiming to be Paul--the biographical details are either true contemporary statements by Paul, or deliberate falsifications designed to deceive. Such deliberate deception is not only inconsistent with the message of the letters, but it is unlikely that someone like Polycarp would have considered the letters worth quoting if they were known forgeries written in Polycarp's own lifetime. Polycarp's testimony provides evidence that 2nd generation Christians accepted these letters as authentic; if 2nd generation Christians believed they were authentic...they probably were.
A more extensive treatment of and argument for Pauline authorship of 1 Timothy by Robinson can be found on pp. 74-78 here.
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Conclusion
While I do not claim certainty, my view of the evidence is that:
- 1 Corinthians 14:34 was not written by Paul
- 1 Timothy 2:12 was written by Paul. My thoughts on the meaning of this passage are shared on this site here.
