NTS 523 Pastoral Epistles
Class I: Introduction to Pastoral Epistles
© Dr. Esa Autero
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
1.1 Introduction
• What is meant by “Pastoral Epistles” (PE)?
• Why the name “Pastoral Epistles”?
• What are some of the main themes in PE?
• In your experience…
• How often do you hear sermons from PE – what themes dominate?
• What doctrines and practices are justified by PE? How?
• What do you hope learn in the class of PE?
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Some controversial issues in Pastoral Epistles
• Relationship to other Paul’s letters
• Esp. authenticity (pseudonymity)
• Church structure – more “rigid” than e.g. 1 Corinthian “charismatic”
• Meaning of presbyteros/episkopos & diakonos
• Relationship to Roman societal values – more accommodating?
• Role women in ministry and at home
• Issue of apostasy
• Other short phrases/issues – e.g. meaning of “husband of one wife”
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
2.1 Introductory Issues in Pastoral Epistles
• The title “Pastoral Epistles”
• “Pastoral Epistles” – name coined in the 18th century
• 1 Tim, 2 Tim, and Tit grouped together due to…
• Common themes & similar theology (leadership & pastoral life)
• Similar audience – letters to leaders in Pauline congregation
• 2 Tim more personal
• Common literary style and argumentation
 Most critical scholars think PE not written by Paul
 Has resulted in marginalization of PE in many liberal churches
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Three ways to approach PE:
1) Canonical order (1-2 Tim & Tit) – cf. G. Fee 1984
2) Each letter independently
3) “Narrative order” (Tit, 1-2 Tim) – cf. Gloer & Stepp 2008
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• The class follows the “narrative order” approach because:
• Tit 1:1-4 points “beyond” Titus to other PE
• 1 Tim develops themes mentioned in Titus
• Muratorian Fragment 60-62 retains the order Tit-1-2 Tim
• Canonical order “later” when “letters to individuals” were collected
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Pastoral Epistles and the importance of “Succession”*
• Succession in PE not same as traditional “apostolic succession”
• Apostolic succession = tracing a line (“genealogy”) back to Apostles to validate
authority or office – esp. bishops
• Assumes that office/authority fully transmitted through laying-on of hands
• Succession in the ancient world included – passing on
• Leadership roles – in academies, military, government
• Responsibilities & tasks – religious service, important work, role of
prophet or specific agenda of a ruler
• Possession or inheritance
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Succession could be
• Strong – full authority & replacement (Elijah-Elisha; 1Kgs 19-2Kgs 2)
• Weak – limited commission & authority (cf. delegation; Esth 10:2 LXX)
 Continuum b/w the two poles
• Specific succession terminology
• Succession would embody objectives, such as
• Making one a successor and legitimate heir (David & Solomon)
• Empowering successor to achieve a goal (Moses & Joshua)
• Enabling to complete a work/objectives (Diod Sic 17-18)
• Guarantee the health of an organization (Pliny, Nat.Hist. 30.2.4-5)
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• “Succession” helps one understand that
• PE follow succession patterns and terminology
• Paul to Titus – “weak” succession – limited time/authority (1:5; 3:12)
• Paul to Timothy – “strong” succession (e.g. 2 Tim 2:1-2)
• Succession in PE functions to
• Legitimate the authority of Titus and Timothy
• Empower them to a task
• Continue Paul’s ministry and work after his death
• Ensure the continuity & health of Paul’s congregations
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• The story of Pastoral Epistles – emphasis on narrative
• Story of Paul’s departure – withdraws step by step
• What will happen to Paul’s churches? To the gospel? (Acts 20:29-30)
• Titus and Timothy as delegates & successors
• Crete (Titus 1:5) – “left you behind in Crete…put in order”
• New churches need to be organized and empowered
• Internal and external pressures
• Titus to organized and establish leadership
• Titus – an open letter to Titus to be “overheard” by congregations
• Legitimate Titus’ authority for time and place (1:5; 3:12)
• Artemis and Tychicus to “take over”
• Titus to meet Paul in Nicopolis
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Ephesus (1 Timothy)
“on my way to Macedonia…remain in Ephesus…command
certain people not teach different doctrine” (1:3)
• Paul had to return to Macedonia – Timothy left to Ephesus
• Timothy to confront “face teachers” and church leaders
• Escalating and serious problem – Timothy is hesitant, unsure, afraid
• Paul hopes to return to Ephesus (3:14) – degree of uncertainty
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Paul from Roman prison to Ephesus (2 Timothy)
• Did Paul ever make it back to Ephesus per 1 Tim 3:14? Cf. 2Tim 4:13
• Paul’s coworkers & opponents (2Tim 4:9-21; 1:15-17)
• Concern: what happens to the gospel and church after his death?
• Timothy to i) suffer ii) teach & preach iii) equip others
 Timothy becomes Paul’s successor – keeper of the Apostle’s gospel
• Paul at the end of his life
• Ministerial success – shackles awaiting martyrdom
• Fame factor – “all deserted…Lord stood by my side” (4:16)
• “only Luke is with me” (4:11)
• Paul is triumphant – “The Lord will rescue…save me” (4:18)
• Asks Timothy to come to Rome (4:9) – did he ever make it?
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Authorship of Pastoral Epistles
• Who wrote the Pastoral Epistles?
• All PE indicate that Paul is the author
• Currently most critical scholars hold PE to be pseudonymous
• i.e. written under “false name”
• Most – not all – evangelical scholars hold Paul as the author
• Theories of composition
• Paul as the author
• Paul +coworker and/or amanuensis with lesser degree of freedom
• Free amanuensis (e.g. Luke) – latitude of style & some content
• Allonymity – indirectly Pauline (no intention to deceive)
• Pseudonymity – partial or full element of deceit
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Challenges to Pauline authorship
• First questioned by E. Evanson (1792); Schleiermacher (1807)*
• PE story invented based on Acts narrative for the purpose of
addressing issues of later time and use Paul’s authority in this.**
• Letters treated as false on three levels
• Authorship – not Paul but somebody writing in his name
• Recipients – not real Timothy/Titus and the congregations therein
• Letters are not really three separate letters
 Do we have documents in NT that are falsely attributed to Paul?
 Would pseudonymity been a problem for ancient audience?
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Main arguments to support pseudonymity
• Language and style
• Church structure
• Theology
• Historical setting
 The debate is ideologically charged
 Any theory must avoid “selective evidence”
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Some arguments used for and against pseudonymity
• Language and style*
• Uniform style and language of PE – different from other Paulines
• E.g. “this is a trustworthy saying” (1 Tim 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim 2:11; Tit 3:8)
• Large amount of words not found elsewhere in NT
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176 hapax legomena [902 different words found in PE overall]
13-16/page in PE contra 4-6 in undisputed Pauline [per NA27]**
Hellenized vocabulary – epiphaneia, soter, eusebeia
More Latinisms than other Paulines (charin echo = gratiam habeo)
Typical particles and connecting words absent in PE (since, because etc.)
• Vocabulary similar to a number of 2nd century authors***
• Different style from undisputed – non-argumentative
• No interest with dialogue – or diatribe
• PE more focused on monologue and exhortation & commands
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Specifics of occasion accounts for style & vocabulary
• What letters to use as “control group” – what is “typical Pauline”?
• Vocabulary & style function of content – not vice versa*
• “typical Pauline” style/vocabulary is sporadic in many undisputed letters
• “un-typical Pauline” vocabulary in subject matter that’s unique to PE
• E.g. instructions concerning elders and widows
• Latinisms found mostly in 2 Tim – written in Rome
• Connecting words missing b/c PE less argumentative
• PE more like Phil & 1 Thess than Rom & Gal
• More extensive use of traditional/hymnic materials
• Letters for individuals – not congregations
• Mandata principis style and succession language for a specific purpose
• PE do argue** – not to persuade, but to instruct pastoral leaders
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Church structure – Pauline or post-Pauline?
• Three-partite structure only AD 2nd century (bishop, elder, deacon)
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Timothy as bishop governing over elders & deacons
Well-defined church structure – e.g. “council of elders” (1Tim 4:14)
Sound more like Ignatius of Antioch (c. AD 110-115) or Didache
More restrictive on woman’s ministry (esp. 1 Tim 2:11-15)
• Paul appointed elders to every church early on (Acts 14:23)
• Modelled by synagogue and Greco-Roman collegia
• PE focus on character/function, not specific tasks/“job description”
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PE far from the idea of later monarchial bishop in Ignatius
Timothy & Titus not pastors but apostolic delegates on an assignment*
Presbyteroi, episkopio, diakonoi found elsewhere in Paul’s epistles**
Restrictions to women temporal (cf. 1 Cor 11:3-16)
Paul’s concern for more structure toward the end of his career
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Theology of PE
• Lack important Pauline themes
• God as Father, life “in Christ”, spiritual gifts & work of the Spirit,
urgent eschatological expectation
• Unique use of theological vocabulary
• “faith” – doctrine to accepted (not personal trust)
• Righteousness (to be pursued, not given)
• Good works, godliness, self-control; epiphaneia vs. Parousia
 Overall more Hellenized religious terminology
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Virtuous behavior/good works in undisputed Paulines (Gal 5:166:10; Rom 12:9-13; 1 Cor 6:9-20; Phil 4:8-9; 1 Thess 4:1-12; 5:14-15)
• Good works (Rom 2:6-7; 13:2; 2 Cor 5:10; Col 1:10)
• Eschatological urgency & false teachers (1Tim 4:1-5)
• Related to apostasy as eschatological woes (cf. 2 Tim 3:1)
• Key Pauline themes in PE that are similar to undisputed
• Salvation is by grace through faith (Tit 2:11; 3:5; 2Tim 1:9)
• Suffering leads to glory (1 Tim 2:3-6, 10; 4:6-8)
• Importance of gentile mission (1 Tim 2:7; 3:16; 2 Tim 4:17)
• Paul as an example (1 Tim 1:15-16; 6:12; 2 Tim 1:8, 13; 3:10-17; 4:7)
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• History in Pastoral Epistles
• Difficult to square with Acts and rest of Paul’s letters
• E.g. Paul in Crete or Timothy assigned to Ephesus
• No evidence in Acts or undisputed Paulines
• No evidence of Jewish-Christian controversy, like e.g. Galatians
• False teachers 2nd century Gnostics (e.g. gnosis, 1 Tim 6:20)
• Myths and genealogies sound gnostic (1 Tim 1:4; Tit 3:9)
• Gnostic eschatology – “resurrection already happened” (2 Tim 3:17-18)
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Acts is “selective history” – Paul’s letters occasional
• E.g. Acts doesn’t mention Paul’s trip to Illyricum (Rom 15:19)
• Multiple imprisonments or sufferings (2 Cor 11:23-7 vs. Acts 16:22-34)
• PE indicate problems w/ Jewish-Christians (1 Tim 1:4-11; Tit 1:10; 3:9)
• Circumcision, application of Law, genealogies etc.
• Gnostic elements consistent w/ incipient Gnosticism (Gal 4:3, 9-11)
• Confusion about resurrection in Corinth/Thessalonica (1Cor 15; 2 Th 2:1-12)
• Paul continued ministry after first Roman imprisonment (1 Cl 5:7)
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Authorship in the ancient world* - TASTA
• Copyright laws very different in the ancient world
• Was there a concept of “acceptable plagiarism”?
• What was “acceptable” and what considered forgery?
• What counts as “authorship”?
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What if the document is composite? Who is the author?
E.g. Gospels (Matt & Lk using Mark); 2 Pet using Jude
Paul known to use secretaries (Rom 16:22; cf. 1 Pet 5:12)
“This is the distinguishing mark in every letter” (2 Thess 3:17; Col 4:18)
Scope and flexibility of ancient authorship
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Possible multiple stages of authorship
• Paul – a missionary on the move
• Responded quickly to difficult situations in various places
• Writing time-consuming and materials expensive (see next slide)
• Could Paul have authorized a secretary to write on his behalf?
• Paul had freedom to write (or had amanuensis) in Philm & Phil
• Is the situation more difficult/urgent in PE?
• Esp. house arrest vs. full imprisonment – but see 1 Tim & Tit
• Similarity of vocabulary b/w PE and Luke-Acts (cf. Witherington)
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Cost of letter writing & sending*
• Papyrus 4 denarii/roll
• Scribes charged app. 25 denarii/10,000 lines (P.Lond. Inv. 2110)
• 400 lines/day w/ 1 denarius/day
• All but poorest could send brief letters (few lines)
• Cost app. ½ denarius
Book
No of % of standard Cost in
lines scroll
denarii
Cost in
$US
App.** time
to write
Rom.
979
136%
20.68
$2,275
2.5 days
Phil.
221
31%
4.68
$515
½ day
6%
.92
$101
1-2hrs.
Philem 44
 NT documents – expensive & time consuming to write
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Pseudepigraphal works in early Judaism & Christianity
• 1-2 Enoch (Jewish); Apocalypse of Peter etc. – apocalyptic writings
• Jews commonly wrote in the name of an authoritative ancient figure
• PE not apocalyptic writings – ad hoc letters w/ specific
circumstances
• Jewish and Christian pseudepigraphal letters
• 4 Ezra (AD 90); Letter of Aristeas (c. 150BC); Epistle to Laodiceans
(AD 2nd century)
• Difference between anonymous and pseudonymous writings
• E.g. Hebrews
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• How did the early Christians (& Jews) view pseudonymity?
• “A text is pseudonymous when it is not by the person whose name it
bears in the sense that it is written after his death by another person
or during his by another person who was not in some way
commissioned to do so.” (Marshall 1985: 1 in Witherington KE: 8668)
• Acceptable (in general) in Jewish apocalyptic works
• Used esp. of ancient figures of distant past (Enoch, Abraham etc.)
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Early Christian views of pseudepigrapha
• Could PE be written in the “spirit of Paul” and not be deceptive?
• As part of legacy or “school” of Paul?
• See e.g. disciples of Pythagoras wrote in his name (Vit. Pyht 158, 198)
 But Pythagoras’ disciples wrote philosophical treatise, not a letter
• PE full of personal & situation specific details (cloak, books etc.)
• No evidence of “schools” by Paul or other disciples
• Many NT authors not “prominent apostles” – e.g. Mark, Luke
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Early Christians opposed pseudepigrapha
• Many pseudonymous works existed in the 2nd century AD
• Rejected if spurious and led to bishop’s removal from office
• Muratorian canon (c. AD 170)
As for the Epistles of (40-1) Paul, they themselves make clear to those
desiring to understand, which ones [they are], from what place, or for
what reason they were sent. …[Paul also wrote] out of affection and love
one to Philemon, one to Titus, and two to Timothy; and these are held
sacred (62-3) in the esteem of the Church catholic for the regulation of
ecclesiastical discipline. There is current also [an epistle] to (64) the
Laodiceans, [6b] [and] another to the Alexandrians, [6c] [both] forged in
Paul's (65) name to [further] the heresy of Marcion, and several others
(66) which cannot be received into the catholic Church (67)— for it is not
fitting that gall be mixed with honey.
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• 3 Corinthians as a forgery (Tertullian, On Bapt. 17)
in Asia, the presbyter who composed that writing, as if he were
augmenting Paul’s fame from his own store, after being convicted, and
confessing that he had done it from love of Paul, was removed from his
office. (Tert. On Bapt. 17)
• Bishop Serapion of Antioch (c. AD 200; Eccl. Hist. 6.12, 3-6)
• Approved Gospel of Peter – then rejected as used to support docetism
• Paul’s concern regarding his letters
that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either
by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of
the Lord has come (2 Thess 2:2; 3:17; 1 Cor 16:21)
 There was a concern for forgeries from the very beginning
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Ancient world did have a “copyright” law – not like ours though
• Unethical to damage others by using another person’s name or work
• E.g. Galen On His Own Books to distinguish forgeries & his own
• See also Quintilian, Inst. 7.2.24; Herodotus, Hist. 2.116-117
• Ancient works could be protected by
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Invoking a curse for those who changed them (cf. Rev 22:18-19)
Using seal/acrostic to bind authorial attribution
Making known the document’s size (e.g. number of lines; cf. Ant.)
Informing others of what the work contained
Using trusted friends to circulate it
Using a personal signature (e.g. Rom 2 Thess 3:17)
• Full pseudonymity was not a typical and accepted practice
• Paul and Early Christian concern for truth and theology
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Could PE have been written by some other than Paul?
• If yes – what are the implications, if any, for
• Interpretation of PE
• Development of early Christian thought and theology
• Canon of the New Testament
• Theology and practice for us
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Greatest obstacles to viewing PE pseudonymous
• Specific nature and circumstances of PE
• 14x distinct names in specific circumstances
• Odd details: “bring my cloak, books, and parchments” (2 Tim 4:13)
• Why three pseudonymous letters w/ such varying circumstances*
• Early Christian practice & pseudonymous epistles
• Early attestation of PE in the 2nd century
• Polycarp (Phil. 4:1// 1Tim 6:7, 10); 1 Cl knows Tit[?]; Ignatius knows PE**
• Tertullian first to quote directly in Marc. 5.21
• Ethical and theological problems w/ pseudonymity
• This depends on exact theory that one adopts
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Date and provenance of PE
• Hypothesis for this course – author is Paul
• Language and style differences due to
• Specific circumstances and occasion of PE
• Freedom of amanuensis – possible final editing
• Reflects faithfully and authoritatively Paul’s thought and heart
• 2 Tim – the last of PE
• Written from Roman imprisonment c. AD 64-68
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Possibilities for 1 Tim and Tit
• Mid 50s if placed into the framework of Acts (L.T. Johnson)
• If after Paul’s first Roman imprisonment, c. AD 63-65 (B.
Witherington)
• Titus written from Nicopolis (or the way there)
• 1 Tim written from Macedonia – possibly Philippi few months after
Titus
• If pseudonymous – unknown provenance, written AD 80s-120
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
• Genre and style of PE
• 1 Tim and Titus similar
• Mandata principis style – order from superior to a delegate
• To carry out a task within certain framework of authority
• For an individual – but “overheard” by others (here church)
• To legitimate Timothy’s and Titus’ authority and give instructions
• 2 Tim on its own – more personal character
• 2 Tim as testament of Paul – testament literature common
• Instructions, moral lessons, predictions
• 2 Tim only loosely resembles other ancient testaments – it is a letter w/
specific circumstances
• More like personal exhortation letter to Timothy to continue Paul’s
legacy
Intro to Pastoral Epistles
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