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The Pastorals in NTA 64.3

March 11, 2021 /

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 /
The Invention of the Inspired Text

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 /

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 /

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.”

Berry, They Who Endure to the End: A Primer on Perseverance

February 15, 2021 /

A recent volume provides another “hidden contribution to Pastorals scholarship“:

Berry, Everett. They Who Endure to the End: A Primer on Perseverence. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2020.

The volume includes a biblical-theological treatment of perseverance, followed by an historical-theological discussion of the topic. In his chapter on “Perseverance in the Letters of Paul,” Berry provides a seven-page discussion of “Perseverance in the Pastoral Epistles” (pp. 75-81).

Reviews

February 12, 2021 /

It’s been awhile since we’ve posted recent reviews on monographs and commentaries on the Pastorals (in part or in whole). Here are a number of them that have come to our attention which we have not previously noted; we are limiting the selection to reviews on books published in the last three years (2018-2020).

Gerald Bray, The Pastoral Epistles (ITC; 2019): Reviewed by Michael Lakey, JSNT 42.5 (2020): 105-6; Michael Robertson, RSR 46.3 (2020): 410; Robert Yarbrough, JETS 63.4 (2020): 890-93.

Christopher Hutson, First and Second Timothy and Titus (Paideia, 2019): Reviewed by Alex Teas, Pneuma 42.2 (2020): 315-17 (most of the review is available here).

Nathan Nzyoka Joshua, Benefaction and Patronage in Leadership: A Socio-Historical Exegesis of the Pastoral Epistles (2018): Reviewed by Jin Hwan Lee, RBL (2020).

Elif Hilal Karaman, Ephesian Women in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Perspective (2018). Reviewed by Jill Marshall, RBL (2019); Charles Nathan Ridlehoover, BBR 30.1 (2020): 161-63.

Jermo van Nes, Pauline Language and the Pastoral Epistles (2018): Reviewed by Benjamin White, RBL (2020).

Beck, Witwen und Bibel in Tansania: Eine leserinnenorientierte Lektüre von 1 Tim 5,3-16

February 10, 2021 /

A new volume in the Bible in Africa Studies series provides a study of the passage on widows in 1 Timothy 5.

Beck, Stefanie. Witwen und Bibel in Tansania: Eine leserinnenorientierte Lektüre von 1 Tim 5,3-16. Bible in Africa Studies 27. Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press, 2020.

The volume is the published version of a dissertation completed under Joachim Kügler at the University of Bamberg (Otto-Friedrich-Universität). The table of contents is available here. The entire volume is available online here. The following description is provided:

“After the death of their husbands African women, who are living in patriarchal societies, experience cruel mourning and purification rituals, which they have to undergo and they are often stigmatized and accused of being witches. In this fatal situation, God is often their only anchor, God, who already appears in the Bible as the protector and father of widows and orphan. In the Old Testament, two book are named after widows, the Book of Ruth and Judith, and in the New Testament there are numerous widow stories, primarily in Luke, which are all characterized by a special relationship with God. However, the reality in the ancient world was as follows: there was a large number of widows, working in the churches, which displeased the officials of the communities. They didn’t only take over charitable activities, but they missionized and were even paid for it. 1Tim 5:3–16, which categorizes widows, was read and interpreted by widows in Tanzania. It is demonstrated how they deal with a text, which was written for them as widows. They didn’t allow themselves to be influenced by restrictions, in fact they drew out positive results. It is also highlighted how the widows interpret 1Tim on their cultural background, how they position themselves and see themselves as brides of Christ.”

As a final note, the fact that the dissertation was completed under the direction of Joachim Kügler, and the reference to Tanzanian widows seeing themselves as “brides of Christ” brought to mind the following essay by Kügler:

Kügler, Joachim. “Junge ‘Witwen’ als Bräute Christi (1 Tim 5,11f.). Der Gender-Impuls der Jesus-Tradition und seine Umsetzung in paulinischen Gemeinden vor dem religionsgeschichtlichen Hintergrund religiös motivierter Ehelosigkeit von Frauen.” Pages 483–97 in Erinnerungen an Jesus: Kontinuität und Diskontinuität in der neutestamentlichen Überlieferung. Festschrift für Rudolf Hoppe zum 65. Geburtstag. Edited by Ulrich Busse, Michael Reichardt, and Michael Theobald. Bonner Biblische Beiträge 166. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011.

Falcetta, Early Christian Teachers: The ‘Didaskaloi’ from Their Origins to the Middle of the Second Century

February 8, 2021 /

We have not yet highlighted a recently published monograph in the WUNT series which has a section of substantive interaction with the Pastorals:

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.

Mohr Siebeck provides this summary of the work: “Were the ‘didaskaloi’ tradents of the Jesus material and therefore guarantors of the historical reliability of the Gospels? And why was their fate so different from that of the rabbis? Alessandro Falcetta tackles these and other challenging questions in his study of one of the most intriguing groups in early Christianity – its teachers – and, by surveying all the earliest sources mentioning them, unveils the first century of their history.”

The table of contents indicates that Falcetta provides a 30-page survey of teaching and teachers in the Pastorals (pp. 145-76). I provide here his conclusions (p. 176), which give some of the flavor of the larger work.

“The adversaries of the Pastorals were members of the community and were probably called ‘teachers’ by their followers. These teachers paid attention to some requirements of the law and advocated some form of realised eschatology. They were very active in spreading their views and some of them might have been women. The author(s) of the Pastorals disagreed with their doctrines and might have sensed that they threatened the very existence of the community as separate from the synagogue. In order to oppose these ‘teachers of the law,’ the author(s) presented Paul as the only teacher. The only correct teaching is the one coming from Paul, who has entrusted it to Timothy and Titus, who have entrusted it to reliable and capable people, mainly presbyters and bishops. What is transmitted is a fixed deposit of teaching, whereas the title ‘teacher’ is not transmitted. The reason is simple: disciples who do not become teachers cannot alter the deposit. The development of a community structure similar to the rabbinical one slowly emerging in Judaism was therefore put out of the question. However, the disciples can become presbyters and bishops. These are appointed on account of their talents, but [it] is the appointment, not their talents, that is the basis of their authority.”

Two final notes. First, Falcetta engages Italian-language scholarship in the footnotes, which is not common at all for works on the Pastorals published in English, and will provide some (somewhat dated) guidance in that language for those researching teaching/teachers in the Pastorals. Second, the work is a revision of his 2006 dissertation, so in spite of the 2020 publication date, the secondary literature largely reflects the state of research fifteen years ago; I noticed in the section on the Pastorals only one source which postdated the original work. Aside from the voluminous literature on 1 Tim 2:8-15, with its reference to teaching in v. 12, more current pertinent literature would include especially Claire Smith, Pauline Communities as “Scholastic Communities”: A Study of the Vocabulary of “Teaching” in 1 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus (WUNT 2/335; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012), but also the following:

De Virgilio, Giuseppe. “San Paolo ‘Educatore’: Aspetti e motivi pedagogici nell’epistolario paolino.” Rassegna di Teologia 53 (2012): 357–82. (Note “6. L’accentuazione ‘pedagogica’ nelle comunità delle Lettere Pastorali.”)

Eisele, Wilfried. “Vom ‘Zuchtmeister Gesetz’ zur ‘erziehenden Gnade’ (Gal 3,24f.; Tit 2,11f.): Religiöse Erziehung in der Paulustradition.” Biblische Zeitschrift 56.1 (2012): 65–84.

Krumbiegel, Friedemann. Erziehung in den Pastoralbriefen: Ein Konzept zur Konsolidierung der Gemeinden. Arbeiten zur Bibel und ihrer Geschichte 44. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2013.

Kucharski, J. “Paweł z Tarsu jako nauczyciel według Drugiego Listu do Tymoteusza [Paul of Tarsus as a Teacher according to 2 Timothy].” Pages 961‒84 in vol. 2 of Więcej szczęścia jest w dawaniu aniżeli w braniu: księga pamiątkowa dla Księdza Profesora Waldemara Chrostowskiego w 60. rocznicę urodzin. Edited by B. Strzałkowska. Ad Multos Annos 15. Warsaw: Stowarzyszenie Biblistów Polskich, 2011.

MacDonald, Margaret Y. “Always Be Steady and Endure Suffering (2 Timothy 4,1‒22): Advising the Teacher in the Roman Imperial World.” Pages 87–109 in 2 Timothy and Titus Reconsidered: Der 2. Timotheus- und der Titusbrief in neuem Licht. Edited by Reimund Bieringer. Colloquium Oecumenicum Paulinum 20. Leuven: Peeters, 2018.

Herzer, “Haben die Magier den Verstand verloren? Jannes und Jambres im 2. Timotheusbrief”

February 5, 2021 /

Jens Herzer has published a new treatment of Jannes and Jambres in 2 Tim 3:8:

Jens Herzer, “Haben die Magier den Verstand verloren? Jannes und Jambres im 2. Timotheusbrief.” Pages 129–41 in Religion als Imagination: Phänomene des Menschseins in den Horizonten theologischer Lebensdeutung. Edited by Lena Seehausen, Paulus Enke, and Jens Herzer. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2020.

_______

In conjunction with this recent treatment, I list here previous specialist treatments of the topic in reverse chronological order:

Lichtenberger, Hermann. “‘Wie Jannes und Jambres Mose widerstanden’ (2Tim 3,8).” Pages 207–18 in Gegenspieler: Zur Auseinandersetzung mit dem Gegner in frühjüdischer und urchristlicher Literatur. Edited by Michael Tilly and Ulrich Mell. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 428. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019.

Aceituno, Marcos. Els dos mags del Nou Testament: Jannes i Jambres; Introducció, traducció i notes Marcos Aceituno [The two magicians of the New Testament: Jannes and Jambres; Introduction, translation and notes by Marcos Aceituno]. Literatura Intertestamentària 8. Barcelona: Facultat de Teologia de Catalunya – Associació Bíblica de Catalunya, 2018. [Catalan]

Allison, Dale C., Jr. “Jannes and Jambres: I. New Testament.” Pages 753–54 in volume 13 of Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. Edited by Christine Helmer, Steven L. McKenzie, Thomas Römer, Jens Schröter, Barry Dov Walfish, and Eric Ziolkowski. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2016.

Tronina, Antoni. “Jannes i Jambres (2 Tm 3,8). Historia tradycji [Jannes and Jambres (2 Tim 3:8): History of Tradition].” Pages 339–48 in “Będziecie moimi świadkami”: Księga pamiątkowa dla ks. Józefa Kozyry, Profesora Uniwersytetu Śląskiego, w 65. rocznicę urodzin. Ad Multos Annos 18. Warsaw: Stowarzyszenie Biblistów Polskich, 2012. [Polish]

Tin̆o, Jozef. “Opiera sa 2 Tim 3,8-9 o tradíciu spojenú s Ex 7,8-13? [Does 2 Tim 3:3-9 rely on the tradition associated with Ex 7:8-13?]” Studia Biblica Slovaca 3.1 (2011): 17-24. [Slovak; English-language summary at end]

Tromp, Johannes. “Jannes and Jambres (2 Timothy 3,8–9).” Pages 211–26 in Moses in Biblical and Extra-Biblical Traditions. Edited by A. Graupner and M. Wolter. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 372. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2007.

Martin, Seán C. Pauli Testamentum: 2 Timothy and the Last Words of Moses. Tesi gregoriana, serie teologia 18. Rome: Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 1999. [note the focused discussion of “Jannes and Jambres at 2 Tim. 3:8-9” on pp. 21-23]

Pickering, Stuart R. “2 Timothy 3:8–9: Jannes and Jambres.” New Testament Textual Research Update 3 (1995): 35-38.

Sparks, H. F. D. “On the Form Mambres in the Latin Versions of 2 Timothy iii 8.” Journal of Theological Studies 40 (1939): 257–58.

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