Second Epistle to Timothy

The Second Epistle to Timothy is one of the three Pastoral Epistles, traditionally attributed to Saint Paul, and is part of the canonical New Testament.

Authorship and Date

The majority of modern biblical scholars accept the consensus that 2 Timothy, along with the other Pastoral Epistles, was not written by Paul but by an anonymous follower of the Apostle in the first century AD after Paul's death, who also wrote 1 Timothy and Titus. [ [http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Paul-Disputed.htm New Testament Letter Structure] , from [http://catholic-resources.org Catholic Resources] by Felix Just, S.J.] However, the ideas and language of this epistle is notably different from the other two Pastoral letters yet similar to the later Pauline letters, especially the ones he wrote in captivity. This has led at least some scholars to conclude that the author of 2 Timothy is a different person from 1 Timothy and Titus. Raymond E. Brown proposed that this letter was written by a follower of Paul who had knowledge of Paul's last days. [Raymond E. Brown, "An Introduction to the New Testament" (New York: Doubleday, 1997), pp.672-675.]

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, however, would go further than Brown. He noted that a number of pseudepigraphic letters attributed to the Apostle were rejected in antiquity, indicating that there was not "a climate of acceptance, which would make it easy for the forged Pastorals to enter the mainstream of church life." Murphy-Brown continues,: Realistically, the only scenario capable of explaining the acceptance of the Pastorals is the authenticity of one of the three letters. Were one to have been long known and recognized, then the delayed "discovery" of two others with the same general pattern could be explained in a variety of convincing ways. [Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, OP "Paul: A Critical Life" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), p. 357] Murphy-O'Connor then argues, based in part on recent research on the style of this work, that 2 Timothy was the authentic one of the trio. It was not widely known due to its private nature, but eventually published for the benefit of the church. Using it as his model, one of his followers then wrote the other two Pastorals and was able to persuade his fellows that they were also previously unknown letters of Paul. [urphy-O'Connor, OP "Paul", pp. 356-359]

Content

In his letter, Paul urges Timothy to not have a "spirit of timidity" and to "not be ashamed to testify about our Lord" (1:7-8). He also entreats Timothy to come to him before winter, and to bring Mark with him (cf. "Philippians" 2:22). He was anticipating that "the time of his departure was at hand" (4:6), and he exhorts his "son Timothy" to all diligence and steadfastness in the face of false teachings, with advice about combating them with reference to the teachings of the past, and to patience under persecution (1:6–15), and to a faithful discharge of all the duties of his office (4:1–5), with all the solemnity of one who was about to appear before the Judge of the quick and the dead.

ee also

* Pauline epistles
* First Epistle to Timothy
* Epistle to Titus

References

External links

* [http://www.wlsessays.net/authors/W/Wendland2Timothy/Wendland2Timothy.PDF Second Timothy by E.H. Wendland]
* [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/2timothy.html EarlyChristianWritings.com discussion of 2 Timothy]
* [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/1timothy.html EarlyChristianWritings.com further discussion of the Pastorals (on the 1 Timothy page)]
* [http://bibleinternational.com/bible/niv/niv2Ti1.html 2nd Timothy in the New International Version]