Let us continue with the ideas of the Dutch theologian, W Van Manen:
So...Syria in the second century, not Greece or Rome in the first.
Quote:Van Manen locates the home of Paulinism at Antioch or perhaps Asia Minor beginning at the end of the first century or the start of the second and thriving by 150 CE.[37] Fragments from this Gnostic Pauline circle were later compiled into the familiar epistles, each and all of which are in their present form redactional compositions, finally receiving a catholicizing overlay. “We do not know by whom the collection was made, nor yet what influence his work had upon the traditional text. Perhaps we may suppose that it led to some changes.
Probably the collection was not wholly the work of one person, but arose gradually through additions.”[38] Van Manen’s theory belongs with the others we have lumped together under the paper-apostle approach in that it tends to minimize the interval between the writing of the letters and their collection. In this case, both the writing and the collecting are seen as occurring early in the second century.
So...Syria in the second century, not Greece or Rome in the first.
