Several of the books in the New Testament are epistles (a Greek word, epistole, meaning 'letter') of teaching, counsel and encouragement written by the Apostle Paul to specific churches located around the Mediterranean Sea. Paul, once an enemy of the followers of Jesus, became Christianity's first prominent pastoral theologian after seeing a vision of the resurrected Jesus who asked him, "Why do you persecute me?"
The Mediterranean
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Letter to the Romans (Rome): From a cluster of settlements in the mid-eight century BC situated around seven hills in Italy, came a city-state, then a republic, and then an empire. The city of Rome was the hub of the empire's consolidation of the entire Mediterranean region and thus a melting pot of religion and culture. Paul wrote this letter around AD 56 before he had visited the Christians at Rome face-to-face.
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Letter to the Philippians (Philippi): The city of Philippi rested on a fertile plain in the province of Macedonia along a Roman military and commercial highway. Gold was mined from the mountains outside the city. Paul either wrote this letter from Ephesus in AD 54 or from prison in Rome AD 61-63.1 & 2 Letters to the Thessalonians (Thessalonica): An important Roman city in its region, Thessalonica was a trade center situated along a road connecting Rome to its eastern colonies as far as Byzantium. Both letters were likely written by Paul in AD 51.
1 & 2 Letters to the Corinthians (Corinth): Corinth was a city well-situated for ocean trade. It surpassed Athens as a hub of exchange between Romans, Greeks, Jews, Syrians and Egyptians. It was well known for the value it placed on the accumulation of wealth and was known widely as a city of immorality and frivolousness. The city's Temple to Aphrodite promoted sexual behavior that was opposed by Christians. Paul wrote the first letter to this church around AD 55 and the second around AD 56.
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Letter to the Ephesians (Ephesus): The city of Ephesus was a seaport situated at the intersection of two major overland routes, thriving commercially, and religiously as well due to the Temple of Artemis which housed a statue carved from a meteorite. Likely written by Paul, from prison in Rome, to a cluster of churches around AD 62.
Letter to the Colossians (Colossae): Colossae was a city in the valley of the Lycus river, a branch of the Meander, in southwest Asia Minor. Paul did not directly found this church or know the Christians there, but they were influenced by his teachings. He wrote this from prison in Rome around AD 61.
Letter to the Galatians (Province of Galatia): Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia (in what is now modern Turkey) which was settled by Gaulic or Celtic (from central and western Europe) migrants in the third-century BC. The letter was written by Paul to a group of churches, some of which he had visited, and the date of this letter is less clear--written anywhere between AD 48-55.
Letter to the Colossians (Colossae): Colossae was a city in the valley of the Lycus river, a branch of the Meander, in southwest Asia Minor. Paul did not directly found this church or know the Christians there, but they were influenced by his teachings. He wrote this from prison in Rome around AD 61.
Letter to the Galatians (Province of Galatia): Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia (in what is now modern Turkey) which was settled by Gaulic or Celtic (from central and western Europe) migrants in the third-century BC. The letter was written by Paul to a group of churches, some of which he had visited, and the date of this letter is less clear--written anywhere between AD 48-55.
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