Our next study will focus on the New Testament Pastoral Epistles of I Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus. They are referred to as Paul’s Pastoral Epistles because Timothy and Titus were respectively pastors in the Roman city of Ephesus and on the Island of Crete, which is located in the eastern portion of the Mediterranean Sea. We begin with an introduction of I Timothy.
I Timothy is the first of two inspired (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21) epistles Paul wrote to his beloved son in the faith. Timothy means “one who honors God,” or “honoring God.” His mother Eunice, and grandmother Lois, were devout Jews who became believers in Christ (2 Tim. 1:5). They taught Timothy the Old Testament (OT) Scriptures from his childhood (2 Tim. 3:15). His father was a Greek (Acts 16:1) who may have died before Timothy and Paul met.
Timothy was from Lystra (Acts 16:1–3), a city in the Roman province of Galatia (part of modern Turkey). Paul led Timothy to Christ (1 Tim. 1:2, 18; 1 Cor. 4:17; 2 Tim. 1:2). This occurred during Paul’s ministry in Lystra during his First Missionary Journey (Acts 14:6–23). Revisiting Lystra on his Second Missionary Journey, Paul chose Timothy to accompany him (Acts 16:1–3).
Although Timothy was young, since about 15 years later Paul still called him a young man (1 Tim. 4:12), Timothy had a reputation for godliness (Acts 16:2). Timothy was Paul’s disciple, friend, and co-laborer for the rest of the apostle’s life. He ministered with Paul in Berea (Acts 17:14), Athens (Acts 17:15), Corinth (Acts 18:5; 2 Cor. 1:19), and accompanied him on his trip to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4).
Timothy was with Paul in his first Roman imprisonment and went to Philippi (Phil. 2:19–23) following Paul’s release. Paul frequently mentioned Timothy in his epistles (Rom. 16:21; 2 Cor. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1; Philem. 1). Paul often sent Timothy to churches as his representative (1 Cor. 4:17; 16:10; Phil. 2:19; 1 Thess. 3:2). 1 Timothy finds the young man serving as pastor of the church at Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3). According to Heb. 13:23, Timothy was imprisoned somewhere and later released.
Dr John MacArthur states, “Many modernist critics delight in attacking the plain statements of Scripture and, for no good reason, deny that Paul wrote the Pastoral Epistles (1, 2 Timothy, Titus). Ignoring the testimony of the letters themselves (1 Tim. 1:1; 2 Tim. 1:1; Titus 1:1) and that of the early church (which is as strong for the Pastoral Epistles as for any of Paul’s epistles, except Romans and 1 Corinthians), these critics maintain that a devout follower of Paul wrote the Pastoral Epistles in the second century.”
“As proof, they offer five lines of supposed evidence:( 1) the historical references in the Pastoral Epistles cannot be harmonized with the chronology of Paul’s life given in Acts; (2) the false teaching described in the Pastoral Epistles is the fully developed Gnosticism of the second century;( 3) the church organizational structure in the Pastoral Epistles is that of the second century, and is too well developed for Paul’s day; (4) the Pastoral Epistles do not contain the great themes of Paul’s theology; and (5) the Greek vocabulary of the Pastoral Epistles contains many words not found in Paul’s other letters, nor in the rest of the NT.”
What is the response to these objections to Pauline authorship? Note the following.
(1) Historical incompatibility is valid only if Rome never released Paul from his Roman imprisonment (Acts 28). However, he was released since Acts does not record Paul’s execution, and he also expected to be released (Phil. 1:19, 25–26; 2:24; Philem. 22). The historical events in the Pastoral Epistles do not fit into the narrative of Acts because they occurred after the conclusion of the Book of Acts.
(2) While there are similarities between the heresy mentioned in the Pastoral Epistles and second-century Gnosticism, there are also distinct differences. Unlike second-century Gnosticism, the false teachers in the Pastoral Epistles were still in the church (cf. 2 Tim. 1:3–7) and their teachings were from Jewish legalism (1 Tim. 1:7; Titus 1:10, 14; 3:9).
(3) The church organizational structure referred to in the Pastoral Epistles is consistent with what Paul established (Acts 14:23; Phil. 1:1).
(4) The Pastoral Epistles do mention the essential themes of Paul’s theology: the inspiration of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:15–17); election (2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:1–2); salvation (Titus 3:5–7); the deity of Christ (Titus 2:13); Christ’s mediatorial work (1 Tim. 2:5), and substitutionary atonement (1 Tim. 2:6).
(5) The subjects in the Pastoral Epistles required a different vocabulary from Paul’s other epistles.
There is more introductory information to come. I encourage you to begin reading I Timothy. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.
Soli deo Gloria!
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