Paul and The Pauline Letters: 1 & 2 Timothy

First and Second Timothy and Titus have for many years borne the collective title "The Pastoral Epistles." Both their style and their content make it difficult to locate them within the corpus of Pauline letters, and recent scholarship most often considers them pseudonymous, works that imitate Paul's letters but apply the apostle's teaching to the concerns of a later time, two or more decades after Paul's death. The Pastorals differ from Paul's own letters in being addressed to single individuals, coworkers of Paul who have been placed in charge of particular churches-Timothy apparently in Ephesus, Titus in Crete. They provide instruction for community leaders, both the individual addressees and other leaders whom they will appoint. The specification of certain offices within the local churches is one of the features that appear to locate these works in a later phase of church development. In this commentary Benjamin Fiore, S.J., places the Pastorals in their historical and literary context. The reader will find here a solid introduction to parallel literary forms in Latin and Greek literature and particular descriptions of the way in which these documents use ancient rhetorical forms to achieve their paraenetic and hortatory purpose. Drawing on his parish experience as well as his academic training, Fiore also provides reflections on the contemporary pastoral application of these books, giving readers a renewed appreciation for the "pastoral" label these epistles bear.

The letters of Paul to Timothy, one of his favorite delegates, often make for difficult reading in today's world. They contain much that make modern readers uncomfortable, and much that is controversial, including pronouncements on the place of women in the Church and on homosexuality, as well as polemics against the so-called "false teachers." They have also been a source of questions within the scholarly community, where the prevailing opinion since the nineteenth century is that someone else wrote the letters and signed Paul's name in order to give them greater authority. Using the best of modern and ancient scholarship, Luke Timothy Johnson provides clear, accessible commentary that will help lay readers navigate the letters and better understand their place within the context of Paul's teachings. Johnson's conclusion that they were indeed written by Paul ensures that this volume, like the other Anchor Bible Commentaries, will attract the attention of theologians and other scholars.

Introduction. Authorship ; Genre, character, and sources ; Occasion and context ; Theology and ethics -- Commentary : 1 Timothy. Salutation (1:1-2) ; Preface (1:3-20) ; Body of the letter (2:1-6:19) ; Concluding exhortation and warning (6:20-21) -- Commentary : 2 Timothy. Salutation (1:1-2) ; Body of the letter (1:3-4:8) ; Personal instructions and greetings (4:9-22) -- Commentary : Titus. Salutation (1:1-4) ; Body of the letter (1:5-3:11) ; Travel arrangements and greetings (3:12-15).

This volume, in this series, by this author, needs no commendation: it is an essential component of every scholarly library. Peter Doble, University of Leeds, Theological Book Review--Peter Doble "Theological Book Review "

In this commentary on I & II Timothy and Titus, Raymond Collins furnishes a fresh translation, a bibliography and an introduction to the historical background and literary architecture before providing an exposition of the biblical text.

Notes and comments on the first letter to Timothy. An apostle's greeting (1:1-2) ; The apostolic commission to Timothy : part I (1:3-3:13) ; A piece in pause (3:14-4:5) ; The apostolic commission to Timothy : part II (4:6-6:19) ; Closing summary (6:20-21a) ; Final prayer (6:21b) -- Notes and comments on the second letter to Timothy. An apostle's greeting (1:1-2) ; Thanksgiving prayer (1:3-14) ; Personal note one (1:15-18) ; Testament of Paul (2:1-4:8) ; Personal note two (4:9-21) ; Final prayers (4:22).

Possible sources and the question about the coherence of the pastoral epistles: -- Quotations from and allusions to the Jewish scriptures -- Possible quotations from and allusions to liturgical formulas -- Brief descriptions of virtuous and vicious people, and other influences from Hellenistic writings -- Advice about household management and other relations: bourgeois Christianity? -- Are the final forms of the pastoral epistles coherent? -- Theology, Christology, and ethics: -- Salvation and eschatology -- About leaders -- About women -- About slaves -- Real, potential or conventional opponents -- The implied readers of the pastoral epistles -- Authorship: the problem and possible solutions: -- Pauline authorship -- Further evidence against Pauline authorship -- Paul's use of a secretary -- Fragments of Pauline letters as a basis for the pastorals -- The third volume of Luke-Acts -- An ethical dilemma?

The authorship of the Pastoral Letters has been a matter of intense scholarly debate for almost two hundred years. The letters clearly purport to be written by the apostle Paul to Timothy and Titus, but perceived differences between the literary style, vocabulary, and theology of the Pastorals and those of the genuine Pauline letters suggests that this was not so. For many scholars,if Paul did not write the Pastorals,the author must be a disciple of Paul-a gifted pseudonymist - who composed these letters in Paul's name seeking to propagate Paul's thinking and to continue his effectiveness after his death. Dr. Miller argues that the evidence demands a third solution, and suggests that no single author can be held responsible for much of this material. He presents a wide-ranging review of Jewish and early Christian literature, focusing on the compositional histories of these documents. This is the environment out of which the Pastorals emerged.Many biblical and extra-biblical documents are clearly compilations of materials,brought together by editors who sought to preserve material considered sacred by the communities of faith to which they belonged. Miller's conclusion is that the Pastorals are composite documents based upon brief, but genuine, Pauline notes written to Timothy and Titus. The notes were preserved within the community's archives and later became that literary vehicle upon which other traditional material sacred to the community was loaded.

1 Timothy Reconsidered contains the presentations and deliberations of the nineteenth meeting of the Colloquium Oecumenicum Paulinum, a distinguished group of some thirty-five international and ecumenical Pauline scholars, held at the Abbey of Saint Paul in Rome during September, 2006. 1 Timothy served as the focal point for all eight papers, although the relationship of this text to that of 2 Timothy, Titus and to other Pauline writings was repeatedly considered. Extensive dialogue centered on the methodological issue of pseudonymity and its continued effectiveness as an exegetical tool. Some urged consideration of a broader view of Pauline letter writing, one that involved authorization to, or joint authorship with, co-workers situated in diverse Pauline missionary centers. The volume also contains a major reassessment of theological themes found in 1 Timothy, including the relationship of grace to such heteronomous norms as asceticism, the so-called accomodationist character of the letter, especially the relationship of eusebeia to bourgeois Christianity, and whether the use of the category "household" is, in fact, a misrepresentation of Paul's understanding of the church. Under the presidency of Karl Donfried, presenters included David Horrell, Luke Timothy Johnson, Vasile Mihoc, Margaret Mitchell, Yann Redalié, László Simon and Thomas Sóding.

Originally published under title: Guard the Gospel.

Author Mark Harding gives an overview of recent trends in scholarship as he surveys research on the authenticity and pseudonymity of the letters, studies that have sought to understand them as actualizations of the Pauline heritage and contributions of recent scholars toward the discovery of how these culturally conditioned New Testament documents might be relevant to modern believers.

In this volume, Gloer and Stepp interpret Paul’s letter to Philemon and the Pastoral Epistles—Titus and 1 & 2 Timothy. Philemon tells a simple and straight-forward story of Philemon and his escaped slave Onesimus. How can the story of an escaped slave returned to his master hold any meaning for believers today? Indeed, in Philemon we encounter a practical working out of Paul’s foundational theological ideas—grace, faith, atonement, reconciliation, freedom in Christ, new creation, and the ethical life that stems from these. In their study of the Pastoral Epistles, Gloer and Stepp describe the continuation of Paul’s missionary work, the internal and external conflicts, and Paul’s gradual withdrawal from the work that has defined his life. In Paul’s absence, how will the churches address the conflicts and persecution? They survive and thrive by trusting the successors that Paul provided for them. Like other volumes in this unique series, Reading Paul’s Letters to Individuals focuses on comprehending the major themes of the epistles and their relationship to the understanding of the early Christian communities. With the focus on the work in its entirety rather than a verse-by-verse methodology, this volume will appeal to the professional and nonprofessional alike, as well as to college and seminary students.