Pastoral epistles Pastoral Epistles

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Genade, “Life in the Pastoral Epistles”

March 5, 2022 /

Aldred A. Genade, “Life in the Pauline Letters (3): Life in the Pastoral Epistles.” Pages 109–27 in Biblical Theology of Life in the New Testament. Edited by Francois P. Viljoen and Albert J. Coetsee. Reformed Theology in Africa Series 6. Cape Town: AOSIS, 2021.

Aldred Genade has contributed a chapter on the Pastorals to a volume presenting a NT theology of life. The volume is open-source and is available in full here.

Genade’s other contributions to Pastorals literature include:

Aldred A. Genade. “The Letter to Titus in Recent Scholarship: A Critical Overview.” Currents in Biblical Research 9.1 (2010): 48–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476993X09360726

________. Persuading the Cretans: A Text-Generated Persuasion Analysis of the Letter to Titus. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2011.

________. “Titus 3:3 as selfvilifikasie: ‘n Retoriese opsie [Titus 3:3 as Self-vilification: A Rhetorical Option].” Verbum et Ecclesia 31 (2010), article 346. https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v31i1.346

Burdukov, “Common Doctrines in the Acts of Paul and the Pastoral Epistles”

March 3, 2022 /

For those trying to plumb the depths of research examining the Acts of Paul and Thecla in relation to the Pastoral Epistles, I note a recent article from a Russian theological journal:

Burdukov, Ilya (Илья Бурдуков). “Общее в учении в Деяниях Павла и Пастырских посланиях [Common Doctrines in the Acts of Paul and the Pastoral Epistles].” Теологический вестник Смоленской православной духовной семинарии [Theological Herald, Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary] 4 (2021): 95–107.

An English-language abstract is provided: “This article will cover topics concerning common positions for the apocrypha “Acts of Paul” and the Pastoral Epistles. This work is a logical continuation of the research on the relationship between the apocrypha and the canonical books of the New Testament. Since it was previously shown that the “Acts of Paul” are most closely related to the Pastoral Epistles of apostle Paul, it was decided to elaborate on this matter in more detail. As a result, due to the comparative analysis, it became possible to identify six thematic blocks, which demonstrate the concurrence of two groups of works. The conducted research gives a greater reason to consider the “Acts of Paul” from the point of view of Orthodox and canonical ideas, to which this apocrypha corresponds to a larger extent than it was previously believed. In this regard, the common ideas and the common language testify to the time and context in which the apocryphal “Deeds” [i.e., “Acts”] were created.”

The six themes found to be common to both works are the Christian as a soldier of Christ, the relationship to civil authority, wealth, false teachers, church officers, and widows and attitudes toward celibacy.

You can view the article here. A rough translation via Google Translate is available here.

The previous article mentioned in the abstract (“it was previously shown …”) appears to be Ilya Burdukov, “Апокриф ‘Деяния Павла’ в Контексте Новозаветной Литературы [The Apocryphal ‘Acts of Paul’ in the Context of New Testament Literature],” in Материалы VII Международной Студенческой Научно-Богословской Конференции Санкт-Петербургской Православной Духовной Академии [Proceedings of the Seventh International Student Theological Conference of the St. Petersburg Orthodox Theological Academy] (St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Theological Academy of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2015).

Schmidt, “Drei aus zweiter Hand: Die Pastoralbriefe und ihre Autoren”

March 1, 2022 /

A lengthy piece has recently been published on the authorship of the Pastoral Epistles:

Schmidt, Karl Matthias. “Drei aus zweiter Hand: Die Pastoralbriefe und ihre Autoren.” Studien zum Neuen Testament and seiner Umwelt A 46 (2021): 71–151.

Abstract: “Within a discussion on the literary form of the Pastoral Epistles becoming more complex this essay gets in line with those interpretations, which assume three pseudepigrapha, written by three different authors. Form and contents suggest that the letter to Titus is based on the Second Letter to Timothy and that the First Letter to Timothy is depending on both predecessors.”

Popa, “Ethic als Vermittlung zwischen Generationen in den Pastoralbriefen”

February 27, 2022 /

Romeo Popa. “Ethic als Vermittlung zwischen Generationen in den Pastoralbriefen [Ethics as Mediation between Generations in the Pastoral Epistles.]” Sacra Scripta 18.1 (2020): 70–96.

Abstract: “In the Pastoral Letters the problem of the relationship between age groups is most clearly expressed in early Christian literature. In the course of the reorganization of church structures resistance against younger leaders is attested (1Tim 4:12–15). New “false doctrines” further fuel the tension between generations because especially “young widows” (1Tim 5:11–15; 2Tim 3,6) show interest in such theological offers. Consequently, they are also given special attention in the paraenesis, whereby the paternalistic tendencies are radicalized. The theological confrontation with the opponents and the development of age-appropriate ethic discourses are illuminated on the background of the relations between generations.”

Schieferstein, “Formation, Deception, and Childbearing: Reading 1 Timothy 2:13–3:1a in Light of Genesis 2–4”

February 25, 2022 /

Another essay has been added to the ocean of literature on 1 Timothy 2:8–15:

Mary Schieferstein. “Formation, Deception, and Childbearing: Reading 1 Timothy 2:13–3:1a in Light of Genesis 2–4.” Presbyterion 47.1 (2021): 112–20.

The paper has no abstract. Schieferstein notes lexical connections between the 1 Timothy and Genesis passages. She finds that “it seems that Paul understands teaching and exercising authority … to be a role for qualified man, rooted in this creational order” (114). She follows Schreiner’s explanation of the situation in Eden: Satan turned the ordered relationship between Adam and Eve on its head, targeting Eve while bypassing Adam, who was present but failed to intervene, abrogating his position of male leadership. In v. 15, it is Eve who will be [spiritually] saved by means of childbearing, and it is Adam and Eve who are in view as continuing “in the virtues which evidence saving faith” (118–19). Being saved by means of childbearing points to the fact that Eve’s giving birth eventuated in the birth of Christ many centuries later; “had Eve never undergone the process of giving birth, there would be no Christ and therefore no salvation” (119).

Schieferstein’s article in Presbyterion comes on the heels of a triad of articles on the larger passage in the same journal:
Marjorie J. Cooper and Jay G. Caballero. “Reasoning through Creation Order as a Basis for the Prohibition in 1 Timothy 2:12.” Presbyterion 43.1 (2017): 30–38.
Marjorie J. Cooper. “The Prohibition in 1 Timothy 2:12 in Light of Eve’s Having Been Deceived (1 Tim. 2:14–15).” Presbyterion 44.1 (2018): 115–25.
Marjorie J. Cooper. “Analysis and Conclusions regarding 1 Timothy 2:9–3:1a.” Presbyterion 45.1 (2019): 96–107.

The Pastorals in New Testament Abstracts 65.3

February 23, 2022 /

The following entries in New Testament Abstracts 65.3 may be of interest to researchers in the Pastorals.

1002. 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. (notice)

1035. Raymond F. Collins. “Paul in the Pastoral Epistles: A Life Well Lived.” The Bible Today 59.5 (2021): 308–15.

1036. Mary Ann Getty. “Elders and Widows.” The Bible Today 59.5 (2021): 301–7.

1037. Romeo Popa. “Ethic als Vermittlung zwischen Generationen in den Pastoralbriefen.” Sacra Scripta 18.1 (2020): 70–96.

1038. Mary Schieferstein. “Formation, Deception, and Childbearing: Reading 1 Timothy 2:13–3:1a in Light of Genesis 2–4.” Presbyterion 47.1 (2021): 112–20.

1039. Edward Mazich. “Lois and Eunice: Faith of Our Mothers.” The Bible Today 59.4 (2021): 242–48.

1040. T. Christopher Hoklotubbe. “Civilized Christ-Followers among Barbaric Cretans and Superstitious Judeans: Negotiating Ethnic Hierarchies in Titus 1:10–14.” Journal of Biblical Literature 140.2 (2021): 369–90. (notice)

1068. Michael Theobald. “Kirche im Neuen Testament.” Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche 117.4 (2020): 377–402. [note Pastorals on pp. 406–7]

(p. 437) Abraham M. Antony and Jose Varickasseril, eds. An Affable Pastor: A Commemorative Volume in Honour of Archbishop Dominic Jala SDB. Shillong, India: Vendrame Institute Publications, 2020. [note the article by Abraham M. Antony on the credentials of the episkopos in 1 Tim 3:1–7 in the context of the Pastoral Epistles]

(p. 438) Benjamin H. Dunning, ed. The Oxford Handbook of New Testament, Gender, and Sexuality. Oxford Handbooks. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. [note Jorunn Økland, “Pauline Letters,” pp. 315–32, with the Pastorals discussed on pp. 325–26]

(p. 444) Robert W. Wall. Studies in Canonical Criticism: Reading the New Testament as Scripture. Library of New Testament Studies 615. London: T&T Clark, 2020. [note “Reading the Pauline Pastorals in Canonical Context,” pp. 93–126, which is excerpted from Wall and Steele, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus]

(p. 454) Martin Wright. The Dividing Wall: Ephesians and the Integrity of the Corpus Paulinum. Library of New Testament Studies 646. London: T&T Clark, 2021.

(p. 455) Jaime Clark-Soles. Women in the Bible. Interpretation Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2020. [note chap. 10, “The Muting of Paul and His Female Coworkers: Women in the Deutero-Pauline Epistles,” pp. 281–306]

(p. 457) E. Elizabeth Johnson. Ecclesiology in the New Testament. Core Biblical Studies. Nashville: Abingdon, 2020.

(p. 457) Dorothy A. Lee. The Ministry of Women in the New Testament: Reclaiming the Biblical Vision. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021. [*Note the treatments of 1 Tim 2:11–15; 3:2–12 in chap. 6, “Paul’s Letters: Key Texts”]

(p. 458) William A. Simmons. The Holy Spirit in the New Testament: A Pentecostal Guide. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2021. [note chap. 13: “The Holy Spirit in the Pastoral Epistles: The Spirit of Power, Love and Self-Control,” 161–72]

(p. 467) Karl-Heinrich Ostmeyer and Adrian Wypadlo, eds. Das Ziel vor Augen: Sport und Wittkampf im Neuen Testament und seiner Umwelt. Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament 226. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2020. [note Thomas Söding, “Der Sport des Apostels: Die Dialektik von Kampf und Seig auf dem Weg von Phil 3 zu 2 Tim 4,” pp. 81–100]

Porter, Pastoral Epistles, forthcoming 2022

February 13, 2022 /

I’ve known of Stan Porter’s forthcoming commentary on the Pastorals, but noticed it “officially” in Baker’s academic catalog today. Here’s the webpage. Per Baker, hardcover will be available in August 2022, e-book in November. Amazon, though, says Kindle version will be available 8/16/22 and hardcover 11/15/22.

Publisher’s blurb:

“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 the Pastoral Epistles 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 each book while also delving into the semantics and lexicogrammar to tease out the textual meaning. Attentive to the history of scholarship on these three controversial works, the commentary addresses the major exegetical issues that arise in numerous highly disputed passages and offers innovative answers to traditional exegetical problems. Professors, students, and scholars of the New Testament will value this substantive work.”

Herzer, Die Pastoralbriefe und das Vermächtnis des Paulus

February 8, 2022 /

An important volume of collected essays on the Pastorals is now available:

Jens Herzer, Die Pastoralbriefe und das Vermächtnis des Paulus: Studien zu den Briefen an Timotheus und Titus [The Pastoral Epistles and Paul’s Legacy: Studies on the Letters to Timothy and Titus]. Edited by Jan Quenstedt. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 476. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022.

Jens Herzer has been writing on the Pastorals for nearly twenty years. It is largely his work which has spurred the continuing discussion about reading the letters individually as opposed to corpus-reading them (Michaela Engelmann, Unzertrennliche Drillinge?, a published dissertation completed under Herzer, should also be mentioned here). As he puts it in the volume introduction, “In my view, a decisive methodological prerequisite for an adequate view of the Pastoral Epistles is to dissolve their all too close ‘relationship’ and to perceive them in their own profile” (“Eine entscheidende methodische Voraussetzung für eine angemessene Sicht auf die Pastoralbriefe besteht aus meiner Sicht darin, ihre allzu enge ‘Verwandtschaft’ aufzulösen und die Briefe in ihrem je eigenen Profil wahrzunehmen”) (3).

Herzer’s scholarly literary output vis-à-vis the Pastorals has brought him to the highest rank in terms of sheer number of publications, a circle which includes Raymond Collins, Giuseppe De Virgilio, Michael Gourgues, Luke Timothy Johnson, Abraham Malherbe, Cesare Marcheselli-Casale, I. Howard Marshall, Yann Redalié, Ceslas Spicq, Michael Theobald, Philip Towner, Manabu Tsuji, and Korinna Zamfir. Students of the Pastorals will recognize that most of these scholars have also built upon earlier publications with a commentary on one or more of the letters (Malherbe was working on the Pastorals volume in Hermeneia at the time of his passing, and Tsuji’s Bokkai Shokan should be available soon). Likewise, Herzer is at work on the Pastorals volume in the Theologischer Handkommentar zum Neuen Testament, replacing the volume by Gottfried Holtz (1965; 5th ed., 1992). Indeed, as Herzer notes in the volume introduction [English translation by DeepL], it was his commission to produce this THKNT volume over twenty years ago which led to his various publications on the Pastorals, which in turn will, of course, inform the commentary.

As will be seen from the table of contents at the end of this post, the twenty essays (with one exception) are in German; English-language abstracts are, however, provided at the end of the volume (523–30). All of the essays have been published previously except the last (“Ethik, Ethos und die Wahrheit”), which is slated for publication in the delayed WUNT volume gathering the proceedings of the 2019 “Ethics in Titus” conference. Because the essays have been slightly revised (though in non-substantive ways) for republication, scholarly work should now normally cite them from this volume if possible, not from their original published locations.

Edited volumes of essays on the Pastorals are not unknown, but not common:

  • Reimund Bieringer, ed. 2 Timothy and Titus Reconsidered / Der 2. Timotheus- und der Titusbrief in neuem Licht. Colloquium Oecumenicum Paulinum 20. Leuven: Peeters, 2018.
  • Giuseppe de Virgilio, ed. Il deposito della fede: Timoteo e Tito. Supplementi alla Rivista Biblica 34. Bologna: Dehoniane, 1998.
  • Karl Paul Donfried, ed. 1 Timothy Reconsidered. Colloquium Oecumenicum Paulinum 18. Leuven: Peeters, 2008.
  • Andreas J. Köstenberger and Terry L. Wilder, eds. Entrusted with the Gospel: Paul’s Theology in the Pastoral Epistles. Nashville: B&H, 2010.
  • Andreas J. Köstenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, eds. Women in the Church: An Interpretation and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9–15. 3rd ed. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016.
  • Ἡ πνευματική παρακαταθήκη τοῦ Ἀποστόλου Παύλου. Ποιμαντικές Ἐπιστολές [The Spiritual Depository of Paul the Apostle: Pastoral Epistles]. Εἰσηγήσεις ΙΑ´ Συνάξεως Ὀρθοδόξων Βιβλικῶν Θεολόγων: Λευκάδα 25–28 Σεπτεμβρίου 2003 (Thessaloniki: privately published, 2004).
  • Hans-Ulrich Weidemann and Wilfried Eisele, eds. Ein Meisterschüler: Titus und sein Brief. Michael Theobald zum 60. Gerburtstag. Stuttgarter Bibelstudien 214. Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 2008.

Fickenscher, “A Rank-Based Analysis of Word Order and Codification in the Greek of the Pastoral Epistles”

January 25, 2022 /

A recent dissertation may be of interest to students of the Pastorals, especially those interested in questions of the authorship of the letters:

James Fickenscher, “A Rank-Based Analysis of Word Order and Codification in the Greek of the Pastoral Epistles.” PhD diss., Concordia Seminary, 2022.

The dissertation was completed under the direction of James Voelz. Voelz is not a specialist in the Pastorals, but I have used his 2-volume commentary on Mark (Concordia Commentaries; 2013, 2019) with profit. Here is the abstract:

“The relationship of word order and clausal structures with meaning, literary style, and authorial considerations in New Testament Greek is an often underdeveloped yet important field for reading, understanding, and interpreting the New Testament text. Navigating between a grammatical-historical and historical-critical reading of the New Testament, this dissertation analyzes the phenomena of word order and clausal structures afresh through the lens of systemic functional grammar, following the work of Michael Halliday. This project contributes a preliminary step forward in constructing a method that can account for and understand the purpose of word order patterns and variance from those patterns within New Testament Greek without presuming that variations are simply for emphasis or that they arise from a priori assumptions of an historical or authorial nature behind the text. As an initial test case, this dissertation explores the Pastoral Epistles, chosen due to their similarity in content, genre, and register, constructing a linguistic profile for each work that includes the codified patterns of word order and structure on the ranks of larger sections of text, individual clauses, and word groups within each clause that have a discrete, syntactical function. It is shown that a fuller understanding of word order, especially where variations or marked syntax occurs, both contributes to an overall analysis of the text, including issues of textual criticism and interpretation, as well as identifies multiple causes for changes in word order beyond simple emphasis. The phenomenon of rank shift, where a clause functions as a single, syntactical element within another clause, also impacts expected patterns of word order and clausal structure. This study then compares the linguistic profiles of Pastoral Epistles to one another and to other select texts of the New Testament, demonstrating both areas of general consistency and difference between the works. This suggests that some patterns under investigation are likely not significant for inter-textual discussions of literary style, provenance, or register, but many areas of word order do have potential import for larger analysis of literary or historical considerations as they are manifested within each work on a strictly linguistic basis.”

The entire dissertation is available here.

The Pastorals in NTA 65.2

January 11, 2022 /

New Testament Abstracts 65.2 lists the following entries which intersect with research on the Letters to Timothy and Titus:

641. Krauter, Stefan. “Genderrollen in den Pastoralbriefen: ein Experiment mit verschiedenen Lesestrategien.” Theologische Literaturzeitung 146.5 (2021): 375–88.

642. 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. DOI: 10.1017/S0036930621000053

643. Towner, Philip H. “2 Tim 1,7, Cowardice, and the Specter of Betrayal: The Intersection of Intertextuality and Paronomasia.” Biblica 101.4 (2020): 577–601. DOI: 10.2143/BIB.101.4.3289121

644. Henriksson, Gustav W. “Grace in Action: Exploring the Intersection of Soteriology and Ethics in the Letter to Titus.” Scottish Journal of Theology 73.4 (2020): 330­-39. DOI: 10.1017/S0036930620000666

684. Ebner, Martin. “Zur Vielfalt neutestamentlicher Gemeindemodelle.” Theologisch-praktische Quartalschrift 169.2 (2021): 115–23.

696. Marius Reiser, “Die Neugestaltung von Ehe und Familie im frühen Christentum.” Theologische Beiträge 52.2 (2021): 109–20. (This article does not appear to address the Pastorals directly, but looks as though it would have implications for the content of the letters vis-a-vis marriage and family.)

(p. 283) Campbell, Constantine R., and Jonathan T. Pennington. Reading the New Testament as Christian Scripture: A Literary, Canonical, and Theological Survey. Reading Christian Scripture. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2020. [chap. 21, “The Pastoral Letters: 1–2 Timothy and Titus”]

(p. 287) Three essays which are part of a recent WUNT volume: 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.
* Herzer, Jens. “Vom Sinn und Nutzen der Polemik: Zur Pragmatik der Gegnerinvektiven in den Pastoralbriefen.” Pages 183–205.
* Lichtenberger, Hermann. “‘Wie Jannes und Jambres Mose widerstanden’ (2Tim 3,8).” Pages 207–18.
* Zamfir, Korinna. “Shipwrecked, Enemies and Deserters? The Opponents and their Function in the Pastoral Epistles and the Acts of Paul and Thecla.” Pages 281–310.

(p. 288) Burnet, Régis. “Petit fait vrai et construction du personnage: Réflexions sur 2Tm 4,13.” Pages 331–42 in La contribution du discours a la caracterisation des personnages bibliques: Neuvieme colloque international due RRENAB, Louvain-la-Neuve, 31 mai – 2 juin 2018. Edited by André Wénin. Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 311. Leuven: Peeters, 2020.

(p. 301) Boring, M. Eugene. Hearing Paul’s Voice: Insights for Teaching and Preaching. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020. [note the section on the Pastorals, pp. 175–207]

(p. 302) Wieland, George M. “Re-Ordering the Household: Misalignment and Realignment to God’s οἰκονομία in 1 Timothy.” Pages 147–60 in Sin and Its Remedy in Paul. Contours of Pauline Theology. Edited by Nijay K. Gupta and John K. Goodrich. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2020.

(p. 304) Johnson, Luke Timothy. The Canonical Paul, vol. 1: Constructing Paul. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020. [note “Letters to Paul’s Delegates Cluster,” pp. 85­–88; opponents in the “Letters to Delegates,” pp. 115–17; “The Texture of Experience” in 1 Tim, 2 Tim, Titus, pp. 219–21]

(p. 304) Johnson, Luke Timothy. The Canonical Paul, vol. 2: Interpreting Paul. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021. [Note chaps. 20–23: “Oikonomia Theou,” “The Shape of the Struggle,” “Second Timothy and the Polemic Against False Teachers,” “The Pedagogy of Grace”]

(p. 310) Kobel, Esther. “Paulus πρεσβύτης: Der alternde Paulus im Kontext antiker Altersdiskurse.” Pages 153–74 in Alter und Altern in der Bibel: Exegetische Perspektiven auf Altersdiskurse im Alten und Neuen Testament. Edited by Malte Cramer and Peter Wick. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2021.

(p. 313) Witt, William G. Icons of Christ: A Biblical and Systematic Theology for Women’s Ordination. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2021. [note esp. chap. 16, “Women’s Ministry in the New Testament: Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons”]

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