Description
Book SynopsisFor a long time, the pastoral epistles were considered evidence of how the Pauline tradition had become flattened after Paul's death and adjusted to the conditions of the world. The research assumed that the three letters came from the pen of a single Paulus student who wanted to call Paul out of the grave and speak into his own time. This comment shows that neither is true. If one reads the pastoral epistles as three independent writings by different authors, one realizes that each individual letter expresses Paul's heritage in such a way that it is heard. If the letter of Titus is aimed at Crete in a debate with Jewish opponents, the 2nd letter of Timothy acts as a document of an inner-Pauline school discourse in Asia Minor. The most recent of the three writings is 1 Timothy; he knows the other two texts and sharpens their content for his antignostic struggle. All three letters feel committed to the Pauline tradition - and at the same time show that whoever wants to remain true to this heritage must change it.
