Category: Pastoral Epistles (Page 10 of 22)

McKnight, “From Timely Exegesis to Contemporary Ecclesiology”

May 15, 2021 / Chuck Bumgardner

I list here an article which falls under the category of “hidden contributions to Pastorals scholarship”:

Scot McKnight, “From Timely Exegesis to Contemporary Ecclesiology: Relevant Hermeneutics and Provocative Embodiment of Faith in a Corona-Defined World – Generosity During a Pandemic.” HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 77.4 (2021): a6426. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v77i4.6426

The article engages the Pastorals in a discussion of generosity and humanitarian concern for the poor (pp. 2-3). McKnight is slated to produce a commentary on the Pastorals in the New Cambridge Bible Commentary.

Kuruvilla, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus: A Theological Commentary for Preachers

May 5, 2021 / Chuck Bumgardner

Abraham Kuruvilla has produced numerous works meant to strengthen the preaching of God’s word, and I have personally benefited from his work. He has just released a volume on the Pastorals in his series of “theological commentaries for preachers.” You can get a peek at Google Books. A review is commissioned for this blog, and will be forthcoming in due time.

Allen, Discourse Analysis of the Pastoral Epistles

April 12, 2021 / Chuck Bumgardner

Isaiah Allen, “Pastoral Epistles.” Pages 467–519 in Discourse Analysis of the New Testament Writings. Edited by Todd A. Scacewater and Cliff Kvidahl. Dallas: Fontes, 2020.

Recently, Fontes Press released Discourse Analysis of the New Testament Writings. The edited volume provides a discourse analysis of each book of the NT, with each author explaining his or her methodology before putting it to work. The Pastorals are covered in a chapter of about fifty pages by Isaiah Allen, assistant professor of New Testament at Booth University College in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Allen’s discourse analysis of the three Pastoral Epistles goes down to the paragraph level, focusing strongly on the text with minimal interaction with secondary literature. His aim is twofold: to “describe how each paragraph relates to the whole and to its surrounding discursive context” and to “identify logical-semantic structures that have significance for interpretation” (469)—although his presentation seeks to be “interpretively non-committal” (471). His analysis engages relevance theory, which “emphasizes the context-dependency of meaning, which requires an appreciation of discourse structure” (471). Several helpful charts provide visual representation of each letter’s organization.

Van den Heede, “La participation à la mort du Christ par le baptême”

March 27, 2021 / Chuck Bumgardner

A new article of potential interest to Pastorals scholars:

Philippe van den Heede, “La participation à la mort du Christ par le baptême (Rm 6,3–11: Une conception pré-paulinienne (Rm 6,8; 2 Tm 2,11).” Revue Biblique 128.1 (2021): 99–115.

Abstract: “Several scholars are of the opinion that the notion of participation in the death and resurrection of Christ through baptism does not appear before the letter to the Romans (Rom 6:3-11). It would therefore be an original theological creation of Paul. However, comparison of Rom 6:8 with 2 Tim 2:11, which is found in a traditional hymn, shows that this baptismal conception is pre-Paulinian (it is also found in Eph 5:14). Paul therefore inherited this tradition which he integrated and developed in his theological reflection.”

Bibliography of 2020 (and Early 2021) Publications on the Pastorals

March 26, 2021 / Chuck Bumgardner

We have compiled our annual bibliography of recent publications on the Letters to Timothy and Titus, covering contributions from all of 2020 and early 2021. Over 100 items long, and international in scope, the list contains monographs, journal articles, and commentaries, as well as lists of conference presentations and dissertations on the letters. It is available for viewing and downloading here.

King and Lee, “Lost in Translation: Rethinking Words about Women in 1–2 Timothy”

March 20, 2021 / Chuck Bumgardner

A new article in the Scottish Journal of Theology may be of interest to researchers in the Pastorals:

King, Fergus J., and Dorothy A. Lee. “Lost in Translation: Rethinking Words about Women in 1–2 Timothy.” Scottish Journal of Theology 74.1 (2021): 52–66.

Abstract: “St Paul and the tradition which follows in his wake have often fallen victim to the circumstances and ideologies of their interpreters: used as ambassadors for patriarchy by some and rejected as misogynistic by others. This article reviews some of the contentious passages in 1 and 2 Timothy and concludes that they both challenge the mores of their environment and resonate with other (deutero-)Pauline teachings. To ensure that such claims do not fall prey to circularity in their arguments, a methodology is developed and applied in which claims of resonance are not predicated on the content of other writings.”

The Pastorals in NTA 64.3

March 11, 2021 / Chuck Bumgardner

The current issue of New Testament Abstracts lists the following entries which substantively engage the Letters to Timothy and Titus:

1026. Becker, Matthias. “Ekklesiologie der sanften Macht. Der 1. Timotheusbrief und die antike Fürstenspiegel-Literatur.” Biblische Zeitschrift 64.2 (2020): 277–305.

1027. De Wet, Chris L. “Slavery and Asceticism in 1 Timothy.” Neotestamentica 53.2 (2019): 395–419.

1028. Marossy, Michael David. “The Rule of the Resurrected Messiah: Kingship Discourse in 2 Timothy 2:8–13.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 82.1 (2020): 84–100.

1029. Keener, Craig S. “Greek Versus Jewish Conceptions of Inspiration and 2 Timothy 3:16.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 63.2 (2020): 217–31.

(p. 438) Van Nes, Jermo. “Doing Good Deeds: Titus and the Shaping of Early Christian Identity.” Pages 33–46 in Drawing and Transcending Boundaries in the New Testament and Early Christianity. Edited by Jacobus Kok, Martin Webber, and Jermo van Nes. Beiträge zum Verstehen der Bibel 38. Zurich: Lit, 2019.

(pp. 439–40) Vollenweider, Samuel. “‘Einer ist der Mittler‘ (1 Tim 2,5): Mittleraussagen der neutestamentlichen Briefliteratur in ihren frühjüdischen und hellenistischen Kontexten.“ Pages 209–28 in Vermittelte Gegenwart: Konzeptionen der Gottespräsenz von der Zeit des Zweiten Tempels bis Anfang des 2. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. Edited by Andrea Taschl-Erber and Irmtraud Fischer. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 367. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016. Reprint, pages 257–74 in Samuel Vollenweider, Antike und Urchristentum: Studien zur neutestamentlichen Theologie in ihren Kontexten und Rezeptionen. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 436. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.

(p. 458) Falcetta, Alessandro. Early Christian Teachers: The ‘Didaskaloi’ from Their Origins to the Middle of the Second Century. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2/516. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020. [note the section on the Pastorals, pp. 145–76]

Poirier, The Invention of the Inspired Text

February 22, 2021 / Chuck Bumgardner

Of interest to students of the Pastorals, and particularly those who study the theology of the letters: I received notice of a new volume forthcoming in the LNTS series, which mounts a challenge to the traditional understanding of θεόπνευστος in 2 Tim 3:16 and elsewhere in the early centuries of Christianity, advocating a meaning of “life-giving.”

Poirier, John C. The Invention of the Inspired Text: Philological Windows on the Theopneustia of Scripture. Library of New Testament Studies 640. New York: T&T Clark, 2021.

Here is the publisher’s overview of the book: “John C. Poirier examines the ‘theopneustic’ nature of the Scripture, as a response to the view that ‘inspiration’ lies at the heart of most contemporary Christian theology. In contrast to the traditional rendering of the Greek word theopneustos as ‘God-inspired’ in 2 Tim 3:16, Poirier argues that a close look at first- and second-century uses of theopneustos reveals that the traditional inspirationist understanding of the term did not arise until the time of Origen in the early third century CE, and that in every pre-Origen use of theopneustos the word instead means ‘life-giving.’

“Poirier thus conducts a detailed investigation of theopneustos as it appears in the fifth Sibylline Oracle, the Testament of Abraham, Vettius Valens, Pseudo-Plutarch (Placita Philosophorum), and Pseudo-Phocylides, all of whom understand the word to mean ‘life-giving.’ He also studies the use of the cognate term theopnous in Numenius, the Corpus Hermeticum, on an inscription at the Great Sphinx of Giza, and on an inscription at a nymphaeum at Laodicea on the Lycus. Poirier argues that a rendering of ‘life-giving’ also fits better within the context of 2 Tim 3:16, and that this meaning survived late enough to figure in a fifth-century work by Nonnus of Panopolis. He further traces the pre-Origen use of theopneustos among the Church Fathers. Poirier concludes by addressing the implication of rethinking the traditional understanding of Scripture, stressing that the lack of ‘God-inspired’ scripture ultimately does not affect the truth status of the gospel as preached by the apostles.”

The entire first chapter appears to focus on the seminal text, being titled “Is ‘All Scripture … Inspired’? The Meaning of Theopneustia in 2 Timothy 3:16.”

Worship in the PE, a New Essay

February 19, 2021 / Ray Van Neste

I was pleased to have the opportunity to write the chapter on the Pastoral Epistles in Biblical Worship: Theology for God’s Glory which is due out next week. I like mining a specific text, seeking what it has to say on a specific topic, and interestingly the Pastorals are not often quizzed for what they have to offer on worship. People note that preaching is upheld in these letters, but not much else. I ended up titling the chapter, “The Word, Prayer, and Practice: Worship in the Pastoral Epistles,” trying to point out key categories of worship mentioned in the PE.

My aim was to draw out what these letters offer concerning a theology of worship and then to suggest some applications to current church life. I’ll let you read the chapter, but I suggest we should give more attention to our own ethics as worship and even to dying as worship (2 Tim 4:6). Furthermore, while prayer is readily acknowledged as a key aspect of worship, it does not feature as prominently in corporate worship in many of our churches as it appears to in these letters. Lastly, though I do not develop this point as much, the comments on worship in the PE regularly are seen as aids to perseverance. If we want to persevere well, we need the sort of formative worship portrayed in the Pastorals (and elsewhere in the NT).

The Pastorals at the 2021 Tyndale Fellowship Conference

February 17, 2021 / Chuck Bumgardner

Two presentations on the Pastorals are slated for the New Testament Study Group at the 2021 Tyndale Fellowship Conference (to be held virtually), provided here with abstracts. They are scheduled for June 25.

Jermo van Nes, “The Letters to Timothy and Titus: Second-Century Writings?” Abstract: “Many contemporary New Testament scholars consider 1-2 Timothy and Titus, collectively known as the Pastoral Epistles (PE), to be pseudonymous writings. Some of them do so on the basis of the PE’s comparatively large number of hapaxes, which they believe is closer to the writings of the Apostolic Fathers and early Apologists dating from the second century AD. The aim of this presentation is to reconsider this influential thesis as once advocated by P.N. Harrison (1921). It will be argued that the (statistical) evidence presented by Harrison is flawed as he gives no proper definition of hapaxes and early Apologists, unevenly compares the PE collectively to individual writings, and does not use any criteria to show how his results are statistically significant. By way of alternative, this presentation will (1) provide a proper definition of hapaxes, (2) count how many of these hapaxes recur in all Greek religious second-century writings listed as such in the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae database, and (3) by means of (simple) linear regression analysis determine whether or not 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and/or Titus in comparison to each of the other Pauline letters share significantly more hapaxes with these second-century writings.”

John Percival, “Rhetorical and Theological Strategy in the Narrative Substructure of 2 Timothy.” Abstract: “This paper demonstrates that an examination of the narrative substructure of 2 Timothy sheds light on its rhetorical and theological strategy. Narrative approaches to Pauline literature and theology have borne much fruit over the last 35 years, but the letters to Timothy and Titus have, as is often the case, been largely overlooked. Rather than looking at the Pastoral Epistles as a homogenous corpus, in this paper we will consider the distinctive contribution of 2 Timothy. Focus falls on four areas: God’s pre-temporal action, the time of ‘the Scriptures,’ the first appearing of Christ, and the second, eschatological appearing of Christ. By analysing the way these areas are presented, and how they fit together into a coherent, salvation-historical whole, we illuminate the rhetorical and theological strategy employed in 2 Timothy. Addressed to a church leader dealing with false teaching and opposition, the narrative of God’s plan of salvation offers unique resources affirming God’s eternal commitment to his people, culminating in them sharing Christ’s eschatological reign. Problems occur when narrative elements become dislocated, for example, by claiming the resurrection has already occurred.”