1 Timothy - Introduction

Introduction

1 Timothy is one of the “pastoral epistles”, 2 Timothy and Titus being the other two. They were all written by Paul. Unsurprisingly, their authorship is disputed, but we will see later that Pauline authorship is the most sensible option.

My primary source of information is
The Pastoral Epistles, D Guthrie, TNTC 1957.

They were written to Timothy and Titus to give advice, instruction and encouragement in pastoring the church. Timothy had been left to take charge of the church in Ephesus. Paul had been hoping to return to Ephesus, but then it seemed that this would not be happening he sent this letter to Timothy. There seem to have been quite a variety of heretical teachings that were a possible danger to the church, these were:

• Incipient gnosticism
• Decadent Judaism
• False asceticism

The letter was written some time after the events of Acts 28.

The objections can be summarised briefly as:

1. The background events cannot be fitted into those related in Acts
2. The theology differs from that in Paul’s others letters, and church organisation is much more advanced than could have been the case in the mid-late first century.
3. There are literary differences.

None of these objections hold much water and can be dealt with as follows:

1. The letters were written after the time reached in Acts 28, and Acts 28 does not record Paul’s death.
2. I can’t say I have ever noticed any conflict between the theology of the pastorals and that found in Paul’s other letters. The church organisation really isn’t much more advanced than found in Paul’s other letters or Acts. Essentially we have elders and deacons.
3. There is no surprise at all in their being literary differences. Letters written to a close friend and colleague are bound to be different from one written to a church or churches. Many years ago I wrote many letters to my future wife (this was long before the days of email, texts and social media - oh happy days!). I have since written many papers that have been published in scientific and engineering journals. You will notice an amazing difference in the vocabulary and style! However, both were most certainly written by me.

I mention these doubts and the counter arguments as it is important that we realise that the arguments of the doubters are in reality very weak. One further point to note is that they can never come up with a plausible alternative to who wrote the letters, they certainly cannot produce any names! So, as is always the case, the best, simplest, and most well-attested solution is to go with what the Bible says.