1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus (The Expositor's Bible Commentary) by Robert L. Thomas & Andreas J. Kostenberger

Author:Robert L. Thomas & Andreas J. Kostenberger [Thomas, Robert L.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: REL006070 Religion / Biblical Commentary / New Testament
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2017-03-06T16:00:00+00:00

6. THE PASTORALS’ ALLEGED PSEUDONYMITY

The authenticity of Paul’s correspondence with Timothy and Titus went unchallenged until the nineteenth century.11 Since then, more and more commentators have alleged that the PE are an instance of pseudonymous writing in which a later follower attributes his own work to his revered teacher in order to perpetuate that person’s teachings and influence.12 The question is primarily a historical one. Is pseudonymous letter-writing attested in the first century? If so, was such a practice as ethically unobjectionable and devoid of deceptive intent as is often alleged?13 Could pseudonymous letters have been acceptable to the early church? If so, is pseudonymity more plausible than authenticity in the case of the PE?14

Attention has frequently been drawn to the differences in style and vocabulary between the PE and the other Pauline letters.15 The PE feature words not used elsewhere in Paul, such as “godliness” (eusebeia), “self-controlled” (sōphrōn), or epiphaneia (“appearing”) rather than parousia (“coming”) to refer to Christ’s return (but see epiphaneia in 2Th 2:8; NIV, “splendor”), while characteristic Pauline terminology is omitted: “freedom” (eleutheria), “flesh” (versus Spirit; sarx), “cross” (stauros), and “righteousness of God” (dikaiosynē theou).

However, conclusions regarding authorship based on stylistic differences are highly precarious because the sample size is too small for definitive conclusions on the basis of word statistics alone.16 Moreover, there is the difference between public letters sent to congregations (the ten other Pauline letters) and personal correspondence such as the PE.17 Also, the fact that Paul, in the latter case, felt that he was nearing the end of his life and that there was an urgent need to ensure the preservation of sound doctrine for the postapostolic period accounts for the PE’s emphasis on qualifications for leadership, church organization, and the faithful passing on of apostolic tradition.

What is more, while pseudonymity was not uncommon for apocalyptic writings, gospels, or even acts, pseudonymous letters are exceedingly rare.18 Of the two extant Jewish sources, the Epistle of Jeremy and the Letter of Aristeas are really misnomers, for neither can properly be classified as an epistle: the former is a homily, the latter an account of the circumstances of the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek.19

In the apostolic era, far from an acceptance of pseudonymous epistles, there was actually considerable concern that letters might be forged (see 2Th 2:2: a “letter supposed to have come from us”). Thus Paul referred to the “distinguishing mark” in all his letters (2Th 3:17; cf. Gal 6:11; 1Co 16:21; Col 4:18; Phm 19). In the second century, Tertullian (Bapt. 17) reports that an Asian presbyter was removed from office for forging a letter in Paul’s name. Both 3 Corinthians and the Epistle to the Laodiceans are transparent attempts, in customary apocryphal fashion, to fill in a perceived gap in canonical revelation (cf. 1Co 5:9; 2Co 2:4; 7:8; Col 4:16).20 The end-of-the-second-century bishop of Antioch, Serapion (d. AD 211), sharply distinguished between apostolic writings and those that “falsely bear their names” (pseudepigrapha; cited in Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.12.3). On

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