Month: July 2020

Sample Syllabi for Teaching the Pastorals

July 31, 2020 /

This post provides a number of sample syllabi used to teach the Letters to Timothy and Titus at various levels, listed chronologically. All of these examples were either available online (where we link to a pdf of the syllabus, not the online location) or provided by the professor. We will update this post over time as we come across other syllabi. (On a related note, class notes from Michael Theobald, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (2010) are available here).

Please drop me a note on my Academia page if you would like to contribute your syllabus for posting here as well.

Christopher Cone, Tyndale Theological Seminary (2020?)

John Himes and Paul Himes, Baptist College of Ministry (2020)

Liberty University (2020)

Benjamin Merkle, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (2020)

Sean du Toit, Alphacrucis College (2020)

William Barcley, Reformed Theological Seminary (2019)

Andrew Hudson, Maranatha Baptist Seminary (2019)

Carl Hinderager, Briercrest Seminary (2018)

Frank Kovacs, Tyndale University (2017)

George Wieland, Carey Baptist College (2016)

Aída Besançon Spencer, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (2008)

Daniel Leyrer, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (2016)

Bud Talbert, Foundation Baptist College (2015)

Johnny Miller, Columbia International University (2014)

Gary Hendrix, Reformed Baptist Seminary (2013-2014)

Osvaldo Vena, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (2011)

Oral Roberts University (2002)

Bruce Terry, Ohio Valley College (2002)

Becker, “Ekklesiologie der sanften Macht. Der 1. Timotheusbrief und die antike Fürstenspiegel-Literatur”

July 30, 2020 /

Matthias Becker has just published an article of interest to students of 1 Timothy:

Becker, Matthias. “Ekklesiologie der sanften Macht. Der 1. Timotheusbrief und die antike Fürstenspiegel-Literatur.” Biblische Zeitschrift 64.2 (2020): 277–305.

Here’s the abstract: “Did early Christian church leaders and political rulers share common characteristics? By reading the First Epistle to Timothy through the lens of Greek and Roman “mirrors for princes” (specula principum) written in the first and early second centuries AD, this article intends to make a new contribution to this issue. The study’s interpretative focus lies on the idealized depiction of Timothy as a role model for early Christian officeholders as well as on the qualifications for bishops and deacons (1 Tim 3:1–13). The comparison of the features of the ideal ruler with those of ideal church leaders shows that central elements of the ecclesiology of First Timothy tap into the Greco-Roman discourse concerning ideal rulership. Yet not only that, it also helps to understand that the power that is undeniably attributed to officeholders is ultimately meant to be a soft power that serves the cause of “preservation” and “salvation” (σωτηρία).”

A Bibliography of the Letters to Timothy and Titus in Africa

July 22, 2020 /

We have produced a bibliography which aims to list (without summary or evaluation) all scholarly studies on the Letters to Timothy and Titus with a rather direct African connection. Specifically, it includes both (1) works by authors with roots in Africa, even if publishing outside Africa; and (2) anything published in Africa (i.e., theses, dissertations, and journals, most commonly Acta Patristica et Byzantina, HTS Teologiese Studies, In die Skriflig,and Neotestamentica), even if by someone with roots outside Africa (e.g., international students at African schools). The net has been cast quite widely, and works on the Pastorals have been included from a variety of perspectives, approaches, languages, and geographical locations. Works included in the list do not necessarily make reference to the African context; the common denominator is simply that each of the works has both significant interaction with the Letters to Timothy and Titus, and a connection to Africa.

The bibliography may be accessed here.

Kidson, “Fasting, Bodily Care, and the Widows of 1 Timothy 5:3–15”

July 18, 2020 /

Lyn Kidson, whose dissertation on 1 Timothy 1 is forthcoming in WUNT as Persuading Shipwrecked Men: Rhetorical Strategies in 1 Timothy, has produced an article on the widows of 1 Timothy 5:

Lyn Kidson, “Fasting, Bodily Care, and the Widows of 1 Timothy 5:3–15.” Early Christianity 11.2 (2020): 191–205. (Mohr Siebeck)

Here’s the abstract: “In his essay, “Medical Imagery in the Pastoral Epistles,” Abraham Malherbe argued that medical terminology was a conventional polemic used to describe the opponents of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. His identification of this medical schema is the starting point in this article to explore the relationship between the opponents’ commands not to marry and to abstain from foods (1 Tim 4: 2–3)  with “Paul’s” instruction to younger “widows” to marry in 1 Timothy 5: 3–15. This exploration will begin by noting that the writer’s purpose in 1 Timothy is to dissuade certain men and women from teaching the other instruction (1 Tim 1: 3–4), which is the command not to marry. It will then consider the link between fasting and sexual continence in the texts of the contemporary physicians, early Christian writers, and Philo of Alexandria, and make the case that the other instruction is about controlling the desire for marriage through diet. However, it will be demonstrated that contemporary physicians were skeptical about women maintaining control of their sexual desires because of the weakness of their bodies. This suggests that the rhetorical scheme used against the opponents is not only conventional, but is a rhetorical play against the medical advice given by the ascetics in their efforts to comply with the command not to marry.”

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