How do you determine the pseudo-Pauline to proto-Pauline letters?

A:I am not sure what a 'proto-Pauline' letter could be, but those attributed to Paul are considered by biblical scholars to belong in two groups - those believed genuinely to have been written by Paul and those written in his name, but after he died. The epistles considered to be genuine are Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians and Galatians, although some doubt may exist regarding Philippians and 1 Thessalonians. Those written in Paul's name, now known as 'pseudo-Pauline' epistles, are 2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1and 2 Timothy, and Titus.

Scholars look at the vocabulary used, repetition and style, as well as the subject matter of the epistles to ascertain which epistles are genuine and which are not.

Ephesians and Colossians employ a rather elaborate and ornate style and use vocabularies that differ considerably from that of Paul. Since passages in Ephesians seem to be directly copied from Colossians, it can be assumed to have been written somewhat later. Colossians has been dated to the 70s of the first century and could have been used to address a sectarian conflict that had arisen in Asia Minor. Ephesiansis dated to the 80s.

1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus are known as the Pastorals, because they deal with pastoral issues that arose in the Church during the second century, and of which Paul could have known nothing.

Although Philippians, 1 Thessalonians are generally accepted as having been written by Paul, A.Q. Morton carried out a computer analysis of the epistles attributed to Paul and suggests that they were not written by the same author.