The Pastoral Epistles Through The Centuries

Drawing on scholarly insights and a comprehensive array of texts from the entirety of Christian tradition, The Pastoral Epistles Through the Centuries explores the rich legacy of the Pastorals as it has unfolded over the centuries. Explores the important role of the New Testament letters to Timothy and Titus, known collectively as the Pastoral Epistles, in the development of early Christianity Surveys the many theological, cultural, literary, political, and artistic uses of the Pastorals, and the broader influence these letters have had throughout the ages Considers the Pastorals’ complex influence on issues such as church structure and rites, the roles of women in Christian religious life, the authority of scripture, and the development of monastic orders Examines the many ways in which language and concepts from the Pastoral Epistles (such as “fight the good fight” and “the root of all evils”) have filtered into our cultural vernacular References the works of major theologians and interpreters from all periods, and places special emphasis on traditionally underrepresented interpreters

Drawing on scholarly insights and a comprehensive array of texts from the entirety of Christian tradition, The Pastoral Epistles Through the Centuries explores the rich legacy of the Pastorals as it has unfolded over the centuries. Explores the important role of the New Testament letters to Timothy and Titus, known collectively as the Pastoral Epistles, in the development of early Christianity Surveys the many theological, cultural, literary, political, and artistic uses of the Pastorals, and the broader influence these letters have had throughout the ages Considers the Pastorals’ complex influence on issues such as church structure and rites, the roles of women in Christian religious life, the authority of scripture, and the development of monastic orders Examines the many ways in which language and concepts from the Pastoral Epistles (such as “fight the good fight” and “the root of all evils”) have filtered into our cultural vernacular References the works of major theologians and interpreters from all periods, and places special emphasis on traditionally underrepresented interpreters

Paul's influence on the history of Christian life and theology is as profound as it is pervasive. A brief survey of almost twenty centuries of Christian thought and practice will confirm the enduring importance of Paul for the life of the church in the Roman and Protestant traditions of the West as well as the Orthodox traditions of the East. Even as Christianity, at the dawn of its third millennium, has become increasingly global and traditions have come to develop and intersect in new and complex ways, Paul's place in the story of Christianity remains deeply rooted in the church's theology, worship, and pastoral life. In both past and present, Paul's influence on the Christian church can hardly be overestimated. Among the many intriguing issues generated by the historical Paul, his New Testament letters, and early church history is the question, what happened to Paul after Paul? Whether we think in terms of the reception of Paul's theology, or the ongoing legacy of Paul, or early Christian reinterpretation of his letters, the questions persist: what did the early church do with Paul's memory? How did it reshape his theology? And what role did his letters come to play in the life of the church? The focus of the present discussion is in the early decades and centuries of Christianity, a time when the memory and legacy of Paul came to serve varied and often competing interests in the emerging church. It was a time when Paul's reputation and importance to the church were being reinforced and when his epistles were gaining the authority that would ensure their place in the sacred library of Christianity. It was also the time when the Jesus movement forged itself into Christianity, a process in which Paul played a pivotal role and eventually also became an object of revision and transformation himself. What is virtually indisputable in this process is that Paul, during his lifetime and after, played a critical role in making Christianity what it was to become.

The so-called “New Perspective on Paul” has become a provocative way of understanding Judaism as a pattern of religion characterized by “covenantal nomism,” which stands in contrast to the traditional, Lutheran position that argues that the Judaism against which Paul responded was “legalistic.” This “new perspective” of first-century Judaism has remarkably changed the landscape of Pauline studies, but it has done so in relative isolation from the Pastoral Epistles, which are considered by most critical scholarship to be pseudonymous. Because of this lack of interaction with the Pastoral Epistles this study seeks to test the hermeneutic of the New Perspective on Paul from a canonical perspective. This study is not a polemic against the New Perspective on Paul, but an attempt to test its hermeneutic within the Pastoral Epistles. Four basic tenets of the New Perspective on Paul, taken from the writings of E. P. Sanders, N. T. Wright, and James D. G. Dunn, are identified and utilized to choose the passages in the Pastoral Epistles to be studied to test the New Perspective’s hermeneutic outside “undisputed” Paul. The four tenets are as follows: Justification/Salvation, Law and Works, Paul’s View of Judaism, and the Opponents. Based on these tenets, the passages considered are 1 Tim 1:6–16; 2:3–7; 2 Tim 1:3, 8–12; and Titus 3:3–7.

Leading New Testament scholar Stanley Porter offers a comprehensive commentary on the Pastoral Epistles that features rigorous biblical scholarship and emphasizes Greek language and linguistics. This book breaks new ground in its interpretation of these controversial letters by focusing on the Greek text and utilizing a linguistically informed exegetical method that draws on various elements in contemporary language study. Porter pays attention to the overall argument of the Pastoral Epistles while also analyzing word meanings and grammatical structures to tease out the textual meaning. Porter addresses major exegetical issues that arise in numerous highly disputed passages and--while attentive to the history of scholarship on First Timothy, Second Timothy, and Titus--often takes untraditional or innovative positions to blaze a new path forward rather than adopt settled answers. This commentary will appeal to professors, students, and scholars of the New Testament.

In the church tradition three letters, now known as the Pastoral Epistles, are attributed to the apostle Paul. They are unlike any other letters by Paul. They are written to two of his closest companions, Timothy and Titus, and they instruct those two leaders how to lead gathered Christians in Ephesus and in Crete. The letters contain plenty of instruction for how church leaders at that time, and in those places, were to function. In this commentary, Scot McKnight seeks to explain the major themes of the Pastoral Epistles - church order, false teaching, and failing Christians - and their foundational vision for how Christians could make a good impression in public life. These three brief letters express a view of how Christians were to live in the Roman empire in a way that does not offend public sensibilities. They prescribe a way of public behavior best translated as 'civilized religion.'

In his New Testament letters to Timothy and Titus, the apostle Paul is concerned with church order, defending correct doctrine, and passing on the faith. In this introduction and commentary to both letters, Osvaldo Padilla sets them in their distinct context of Paul's later ministry and draws out their pastoral wisdom. With thoughtful exposition he shows how the lessons Paul imparts to Timothy and Titus are still relevant to us today and how we can learn from them in our own walk with Christ. This Tyndale New Testament Commentary volume examines the text section-by-section—exploring the historical background in which the letters to Timothy and Titus were written, providing a detailed commentary on their content, and then unpacking their theology. The Pastoral Epistles will leave you with a thorough knowledge of what the pastoral epistles say and how they are structured, as well as a better understanding of their meaning for both the original recipients and modern Christians. Clear and compelling, Padilla's introduction to Timothy and Titus will give anyone looking for comprehensive but accessible commentaries on the pastoral epistles a renewed appreciation for the wisdom in these two letters and what they can teach us. The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries are ideal for students and teachers of theology and an excellent resource for preachers and individual Christians looking to broaden their knowledge and explore the riches of Scripture more deeply.

Since the second century, 1-2 Timothy and Titus, often referred to as the “Pastoral Epistles,” have been read and practiced together to help order a Christian congregation’s life and mission. These three letters were likely recognized early on as divinely inspired scripture and were added to the Pauline collection to help train the spiritual leaders of earliest Christianity. However, they are rarely taught in most congregations and seminaries today. Admittedly, the genre of these letters (paraenesis) is hard to preach. The primary reason for their neglect, however, is modern criticism’s silencing of them because most scholars think they were not written by Paul and are not aligned with either his gospel or mission. Moreover, they include instructions that are widely received today as out of sync with our modern social worlds. This Proclamation Commentary on these Pauline letters presumes both their apostolic authority as divinely inspired and human-inspiring scripture and their contemporary relevance in encouraging clergy and teachers to reimagine their roles as ministers of the gospel and spiritual leaders for today’s global church.