The deuteropauline letters to the Colossians and to the Ephesians both represent a theology of memory. After some general remarks on the phenomenon of memory, the article shows first how the Colossian "Paul" reaffirms his Christocentric theology by offering the addressed community a critical perspective on its situation, a perspective marked by a delicate conflict of interpretation (the "Colossian philosophy"). One of the author's strategies is to put forward a highly nuanced understanding of the past in order to reshape the social identity of the readers. The letter to the Ephesians, an example of a non-polemical and "decontextualized" rewriting process of Colossians, strongly underlines not only the dimension of memory, but also the undisputed authority of "Paul," thereby legitimizing the letter's content. This hints at an awareness on the part of the author of Ephesians that the proposed rereading of Pauline theology leads, paradoxically, to its deep transformation. In other words: intentional faithfulness to the foundational tradition sets free a dynamic interpretation that goes way beyond it.