Introduction to Pastoral Epistles
INTRODUCTION:
1. Generally considered the fourth group of the Pauline
epistles (1st - Thessalonians; 2nd - Corinthians,
Galatians, Romans; 3rd - Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians,
Philippians), they are often referred to as The Pastoral
Epistles.
1. Name was first used in the 18th century, although
referred to in earlier times.
1. Thomas Aquinus, as long ago as 1274, wrote of 1 Timothy,
AThis letter is as it were a pastoral rule which the
Apostle delivered to Timothy.@
2. In his introduction to 2 Timothy he wrote, AIn the first
letter he gives Timothy instructions concerning
ecclesiastical order; in this second letter he deals with a
pastoral care which should be so great that it will even
accept martyrdom for the sake of the care of the flock.@
3. Really became official in 1726 when a scolar by the name
of Paul Anton gave a series of lectures on them under that
title (The Pastoral Epistles).
2. What is the propriety of the use of that name?
1. 1 Timothy is entirely pastoral and perhaps intended to
be of universal application.
2. Titus is mainly pastoral, but also a letter of
commendation and a letter of recall.
3. 2 Timothy is mainly a personal letter, a letter of
recall, and only incidentally pastoral.
2. The books are generally accepted or rejected as a group,
rather than individually, because they are so closely
connected in thought and style.
1. General acceptance in the early church.
1. Marcion[1] is the only early exception to the universal
acknowledgment of the early church to Pauline authorship.
1. Tertullian expressed surprise that Marcion omitted them,
and asserted that it was because of his dislike for the
teachings of the books.
2. He also tells us that Marcion cut them out which says
that Marcion knew them.
2. Eusebious in the 4th Century included them among the A14
epistles of Paul@ which Aare manifest and clear as to
genuineness.@
3. Parallels in the early Apostolic Fathers, Clement of
Rome (ca. 97) and Ignatius (d. ca. 115), but parallel
language does not of itself establish use.
4. Polycarp (70/81B156/167) shows a much closer
acquaintance with the epistles. Generally admitted that he
used them.
5. There are allusions to them in Justin Martyr, Heracleon,
Hegesippus, Athenagoras, Theophilus and Irenaeus, which
show that they were widely known.
6. This attestation is as strong as that for any of Paul=s
letters except Romans and 1 Corinthains.
7. Some object because the Chester Beatty papyri (P46 B ca.
200 A.D.) does not contain them.
1. Beginning and ending are missing.
2. But, as reconstructed, the codex does not contain enough
pages to include them.
3. Not unusual to crowd more lines toward the end.
4. Not unknown for a scribe to add pages.
5. Could have been another codex.
8. Bottom line, Pauline authorship was the unbroken
understanding until the 19th century.
2. The first determined attack against apostolic authorship
was by Schleiermacher (1807) who disputed Paul=s authorship
of 1 Timothy[2] on stylistic and linguistic grounds (gave
rise to modern criticism).
1. Generally admitted that there are differences between
the Pastorals and other epistles of Paul.
2. What can account for difference?
1. Dissimilarity of subject matter undoubtedly accounts for
many new words. Themes not previously dealt with
unavoidably produce a crop of new expressions.
2. Variations due to advancing age must be given due
weight, since style and vocabulary are often affected this
way.
3. Enlargement of vocabulary due to change of environment
may account for an increased use of classical words.
4. The difference in the recipients as compared with the
earlier epistles addressed to churches would account for
certain differences in style in the same way that private
and public correspondence inevitably differs. (Donald
Guthrie, The Pastoral Epistles, rev. ed. [Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1990], 240.
3. The dangers of deciding authorship based on vocabulary
led 19th century lexicographer Joseph Henry Thayer to warn
of the Amonumental misjudgments committed by some who have
made questions of authorship turn on vocabulary alone.@
(Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament [reprint; Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 1970], 689.)
4. Homer Kent rightly observes, AThe uniform testimony of
early history must carry more weight than the variety of
vocabulary.@ (Pastoral Epistles, 67; cf. Guthrie,
Introduction; Pastoral Epistles (especially the Appendix);
Hendriksen, Pastoral Epistles.)
5. Was it the work of a pious forger (if those terms are
not self-contradictory, i.e., if such a thing can exist)?
1. He wasn=t really deceiving anybody because the
recipients knew that he was lying B what then could have
been the purpose for the psuedonym?
2. Contrary to what some urge, the early church did not
approve or forgeries, pious or otherwise.
1. Paul warned of the danger of false letters purporting to
come from him. 2 Thess. 2:2.
2. He took steps to authenticate his letters. 2 Thess.
3:17.
3. Tertullian wrote of a church leader who was removed from
office for forging a document in Paul=s name, although he
did it out of love for Paul.
3. It was not the practice of the early church. According
to some scholars, based on current knowledge there is not
one such letter emanating from anywhere near the New
Testament period.
4. Troublesome questions?
1. Why would he have forged three that cover much of the
same ground.
2. Why did he not create an itinerary that would have fit
in with the record of Paul=s life recorded in Acts?
3. How would he deceive people who lived at the time into
accepting as true things that never happened.
4. How likely is it that a devoted follower of Paul would
describe him as a blasphemer and persecutor, a violent
aggressor, and the foremost of all sinners (1 Tim. 1:13,
15)?
5. Is it not hypocritical to include warnings about
deceivers (cf. 2 Tim. 3:13; Titus 1:10) when he himself was
one?
6. The similarity to Paul is sufficient even after
highlighting the differences, that many who accept the
theory state that the forger had and used many genuine
Pauline writings and incorporated them into his work.
3. The evidence is clear B Paul wrote the Pastoral
Epistles.
3. DATE, PLACE, AND OCCASION OF WRITING.
1. Following his release from Prison[3], Paul revisited
some of the churches where he had preached, including
Ephesus. He then went to Macedonia, leaving Timothy behind
to deal with some problems in the Ephesisan church (I Tim.
1:3.) From Macedonia, Paul wrote this letter, giving
Timothy further instructions to help him carry out his
task.
2. At about this time, he wrote to Titus, who was preaching
on the island of Crete.
3. Rearrested in connection with the outbreak of Nero=s
persecution, Paul wrote his final letter (2 Timothy) while
in prison awaiting execution.
4. It is difficult to say how long after his release Paul
wrote the Pastoral Epistles (affinity of language,
similarity of thought, and likeness of error to combat
indicate that they must all have been written about the
same time). If Paul was released in 61, if we allow one
year for his travels and work in the East and two years for
his work in Spain, we get 64 or 65. This is the probable
date for 1 Timothy. Paul seems to have been executed
shortly before Nero=s death, i.e., before June 8, 68 A.D.
It is clear that 2 Timothy was written shortly before
Paul=s execution. It may, therefore, be dated in the early
autumn of 67 or the spring of 68.
4. Overriding concern in all of the pastoral epistles.
1. Paul=s overriding preoccupation throughout all three is
with the truth, that it may be faithfully guarded and
handed on.
2. The pertinence of this theme at the end of the 20th
century is evident B contemporary culture is being
overtaken and submerged by the spirit of postmodernism.
3. Post-modernism begins as a self-conscious reaction
against the modernism of the Enlightenment, and especially
against its unbounded confidence n reason, science, and
progress.
4. The postmodern mind rejects this naive optimism, but it
then goes further and declares that there is no such thing
as objective or universal truth; that all so-called truth
is purely subjective, being culturally conditioned; and
that therefore we all have our own truth, which has as much
right to respect as anybody else=s, including God=s.
5. Pluralism is an offspring of postmoderism; it affirms
the independent validity of every faith and ideology, and
demands in shrill tones that we abandon as impossibly
arrogant any attempt to convert somebody (let alone
everybody) to our opinion.
6. In contrast to this relativization of truth, it si
wonderfully refreshing to read Paul=s unambiguous
commitment to it.
1. He has been appointed a teacher of the gentiles in faith
and truth. 1 Tim. 2:7.
2. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth. 1 Tim.
3:15.
3. It is the truth that leads to godliness. Tit. 1:1.
4. The false teachers, on the other had, have wandered away
from the truth, and even oppose the truth. 1 Tim. 6:21; 2
Tim. 2:18; 3:8; cf. 4:4.
1. The false teachers are deviationists who have wandered
or swerved from the faith. 1 Tim. 1:6; 4:1; 2 Tim. 2:18.
2. Paul does not mince words B what they are spreading is
not an alternative truth, but lies, godless chatter, myths,
and meaningless talk.
5. He refers to it as the truth, the faith, the sound
doctrine, the teaching, or the deposit.
6. The implication is that a body of doctrine exists which,
having been revealed and given by God, is objectively true.
5. Purpose(s) of 1 Timothy.
1. To encourage him to oppose false teachers (1:3-7, 18-20;
6:3-5, 20, 21).
2. To furnish him with written credentials of his
authorization by Paul (1:3,4).
3. To instruct him as to the manner in which men ought to
conduct themselves in the Church (3:14, 15).
4. To exhort him to be diligent in the performance of all
his ministerial duties (4:6-6:2).
6. Purposes of 2 Timothy.
1. Appeals for brave adherence to the gospel (1:1-3), and
for steadfastness and endurance in the work (2:1-13).
2. Give instructions concerning Timothy=s personal and
ministerial conduct (2:14-26).
3. Warns concerning the grievous times that are coming
(3:1-9).
4. Urges Timothy to follow his example (3:10-13).
5. Encourages Timothy on the ground of his early training
(3:14-17).
6. Appeals for faithful preaching of the Word in the light
of the coming apostasy and his approaching martyrdom
(4:1-8).
7. Expresses his longing for fellowship (4:9-18).
7. Importance of the Pastoral Epistles.
1. They contain a wealth of information concerning
practical matters of church life and organization B how men
ought to behave themselves in the house of God. 1 Tim.
3:15.
2. Public worship, the selection and qualifications of
elders and deacons, the evangelist=s personal life and
public ministry, how to confront sin in the church, the
role of women, the care of widows, and how to handle money
are among the matters discussed. Besides the wealth of
practical information that they contain, they also teach
important doctrinal truths about the Scriptures, salvation,
and the Savior.
8. Paul=s condition was very different when he wrote 2nd
Timothy.
FIRST IMPRISONMENT
SECOND IMPRISONMENT
Accused by the Jews of heresy and sedition.
Persecuted by Rome and treated as a malefactor.
Preached to all who came to him in his own hired house and
a number of his associates carried on missionary activity
in the city and surrounding district.
His friends can see him only with difficulty and none stood
by him in court.
Looked forward to acquittal.
Looked forward to death.
We are to imagine the apostle, Paul the Aged, languishing
in some dark, dank dungeon in Rome, from which there was to
be no escape but death. His own apostolic labors are over.
AI have finished the race,@ he can say. But now he must
make provision for the faith after he has gone, and
especially for its transmission (uncontaminated, unalloyed)
to future generations. So he sends Timothy this most solemn
charge. He is to preserve what he has received, at whatever
cost, and to hand it on to faithful men to in their turn
will be able to teach others also (2 Tim. 2:2).
One writer goes so far as to say that AChristianity . . .
trembled, humanly speaking, on the brink of annihilation.@
Who, the, would do battle for the truth when Paul had laid
down his life? This was the question which dominated and
vexed his mind as he lay in chains, and to which he
addressed himself.
In his first letter he had pleaded with Timothy to keep
safe the deposit. 1 Tim. 6:20. But the situation had
worsened by the time of the second letter, so Paul=s appeal
became more urgent. He reminded Timothy that the precious
gospel was now committed to him, and that it was now his
turn to assume responsibility for it, to preach and teach
it, to defend it against attack and against falsification,
and to ensure its accurate transmission to the generations
yet to come.
It is that message that now comes down to us.
[1]Excommunicated in Rome in 144 A.D. A Gnostic, he
rejected the OT and issued his own NT, which consisted of
an abbreviated Gospel of Luke and 10 Pauline epistles
(exclusing the pastorals) edited on a dogmatic basis. His
Antitheses set forth contradictions between the Testaments.
His positions are known principally from the five-book
refutations by Tertullian, Against Marcion.
[2]Although he rejected only 1st Timothy, it soon became
apparent that the basis of its rejection applied to 2nd
Timothy and Titus as well. By 1835 F.C. Baur had rejected
all three.
[3]Our knowledge of Paul=s life is fragmentary at best.
While there are historical problems, the 2nd imprisonment
accounts for most of them. The imprisonment at the end of
Acts did not end in martyrdom. Some explanation would be
needed for its omission. The leniency of the detention
(unrestricted visitation) is more suggestive of release.
The terms of Agrippa=s declaration, with which Festus
apparently concurred (Acts 26:32), point to the probability
of release. In view of his declaration, his report on Paul
could not have been unfavorable. This, in the normal course
of Roman justice, would have diposed to a successful trial
before Christianity became illegal.
The captivity epistles bear witness to Paul=s expectation
of release. (Phil. 1:25; 2:23,24; Phm 22). Clement of Rom
makes a vague reference to Paul=s having reached the
boundary of the west. Paul expressed a desire to go to
Spain. Rom. 15:24, 28. Whether he got to Spain is
independent of his release B there was activity in the
east.
Last Update: 07/30/00