Harris Pastoral Epistles

Paul's letters to the church, also known as epistles, are considered some of the most important documents in the New Testament. Paul's writings continue to shape and forge church even today. His letters were written in some of the darkest, most intense moments of Paul's life, but they also celebrate the grace, love, and life changing power of Jesus. Paul's journey in faith is shown in raw, unapologetic honesty, and inspires Christians to maintain a forward momentum, and to run the race Paul speaks so passionately about in Hebrews 12:1. Paul is able to write with both confidence and humility as he writes about the Christian journey.

At the time Paul penned these letters, he finds himself as a prisoner. Most of the “books” that comprise the New Testament are actually letters. These letters are also known as epistles. These Epistles contain both conventional Christian teaching and specific instructions for the congregation to which they were addressed. Paul is writing his letters from a place of extraordinary suffering. Paul does not reflect the then-common background of suffering and sadness which most did in the early church. He does, however reflect one crucial difference: he

Pseudonymity is the practice of creating new works in the name of a famous deceased author that was widespread in both Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity. It is the production of unknown Christians who adopted the Jewish literary convention of writing under an assumed identity. Some of these works have been accepted into the cannon. Someone using the pseudonym of another to write a letter was a common practice in Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity. Today it would be considered intellectual theft for claiming to be someone they are not. In the 1st century, this practice was a way of writing from the position of authority. By using the name of Paul the writer of the letter gets the audience's attention and hopes to communicate

Paul, a missionary, established many Christian communities as he traveled around. One church he founded in Galatia began to stray away from the Christian teachings that Paul left for them. Because of the people abandoning their beliefs, Paul writes letters to the church to set things straight. The letters he wrote to this church is now contained in the book of Galatians in the Bible.

Why would someone using a pseudonym? Imagine: a writer’s family getting embarrassed because of the publications (Eric Blair/George Orwell.) C. S. Lewis published poems as Clive Hamilton because he didn’t want to lose his professor position at Oxford. Lewis Carrol is actually Charles Dodgson who was a mathematician. So, why would someone really want to use a pen name?

The genre of Ephesians 2:1-10 is an Epistle. The Epistles were letters teaching specific churches or groups of people; often inspired by God. They are split into two categories: Pauline Epistles, written by Paul and traditionally Paul was the first word of the book in Greek, and General Epistles, often referred to as the Catholic epistles and were written to the universal Church. The Pauline Epistles consist of: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. The General Epistles consist of: Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, and Jude. The interpretive principles of this genre are that it is meant to be read as a whole and in one sitting in order to get the main idea of the passage, one must view the paragraphs as the main unit of thought in the passage, one must know the structure to understand the letter, and one must do background reading to fully comprehend the main concept and the history and culture of the setting.

According to (Harris, 2014), there are many prominent figures mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, including Abel, Enoch, Abrahams’ wife Sarah, and Rahab; this cast of believers, the author felt, showed true belief in Christ and loyalty to God in a time where there might have been little hope for them. Faith was a very hard job at that time, and those with hope of God’s glory were doing so on completely blind faith in something they never witnessed with their eyes. Through blind faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice over Cain’s, Enoch set examples for others by walking and living for God (MacArthur, 1972). Sarah learned to trust fully in God when He promised her a son and lastly, Ragar, a Canaanite prostitute, seemed to show her faith by harboring

1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, also known as the Pastoral Epistles, attempt to describe proper hierarchy in the early church. They reject the idea of having women being significantly involved in the community. Libertarian theology interprets Christianity through the viewpoint of the poor. Leftist theology is a more liberal political party. It advocates equality and rejects the idea of social hierarchy. These three ideas were considered heterodidascalia, or “the other teachings,” in the early church (Menendez, 185). The Pastoral Epistles attempted to limit the number and type of people who could have power and authority, and they did this by “[addressing] specific church leaders and [targeting] specific groups” (Menendez, 186). By narrowing the gap between the secular and religious groups, it is possible to “deepen the national dialogues” (Menendez, 187). Based on the conservative, Pastoral interpretations of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, there is no room for equality amongst the people and it seems to me like they are taking certain rights away from these different groups of people. If the Pastorals were more sensitive to the three issues stated above, it could allow a better understanding between the state and church.

If they were told A Known Scribbler: Frances Burney On Literary Life is an epistolary novel without knowing she existed, there is no way the reader could state the difference between this and Evelina. Or, if someone argued Evelina is fictitious because there is no records of her anywhere, by categorizing Evelina as an autobiography is enough authority to make her authentic. Therefore, because there is no other distinguishing characteristic besides choice, the very identities of life-writing and fiction are compromised. Because the genres could blend with each other, it becomes difficult to confidently determine whether a literary work is based on the real or created from the mind.

Pseudonymity was practiced in the Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity religion by creating new works under the name of a famous deceased author. Around 200 B.C.E to 200 C.E some Jewish writers created some books that were by some of these biblical figures such as Daniel, Enoch, Noah, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Ezra, and Moses (Harris, 2014). There were some of these books that were accepted in the Hebrew bible, but some were not. There are many scholars today who think that several books that are in the New Testament that are pseudonymous. Six of the Pauline letters and seven catholic epistles documents are questioned on the authenticity. In the early church, scholars believe that the pseudonymous authors only wrote to perpetuate the thoughts

The letters to the Ephesians is the 10th book in the New Testament. The texts that were written before and after it, are the letters to the Galatians and the letters to the Philippians respectively. According to tradition, the Apostle Paul wrote the letter while he was in prison in Rome, around 62 AD. Paul wrote the letter to the to Gentile (non-Jewish) followers of Christ, most likely a church in Ephesus. Paul wrote this letter to encourage Gentile believers, and to make it clear that Jews and Gentiles have been brought together as part of one body in Christ. Paul was also wanted his audience to be made aware of the moral laws they may have been  poor in following, or that they were unaware of. The literary form of the Ephesians is of letter form.

I learned that the term epistle means letters, written to encourage followers or churches. Determining the purpose of Paul's epistles, is to declare or define the Christian teaching on a particular matter for the church. In most cases the epistles addressed to particular people at particular times. They were also widely circulated among the churches at large. Philemon was written by Paul to his friend Philemon, asking him to care for his son Osemis. Romans was written to Churches with which Paul was to provide advice and guidance. As a recipient of these epistles, I would consider the value of the message to determine my reaction. Determining

The apostle Paul foresaw at the end of his life a great tsunami of attacks coming against the church of God. He responded with three letters. We call them the Pastoral Epistles: 1, 2 Timothy and Titus. After Paul’s first imprisonment, he visited different places including the Island of Crete, an Island only 160 miles long south of Greece and Turkey in the Mediterranean Sea. He wrote this letter to Titus around 62 A.D. from somewhere in Macedonia. Paul’s main objective is to encourage Titus and give instructions about Godly living as a young pastor. The churches in the Island of Crete needed leadership, correction and order thus Paul could not be everywhere. Paul at some time had visited the island of Crete for he says in Titus 1:5 “I left you

A practice in ancient times called pseudonymity, from the Greek words pseudēs (false) and onoma (name) is understood to be a way someone else wrote to keep the writings of an important figure. However, we wonder, why would an early believer write in Paul’s name? For two basic reasons: (1) to gain immediate credibility for one’s thoughts and document; and (2) to update Paul for a new time and situation, so that Paul’s themes and basic theological commitments could address new people and new life

Our source of knowledge of the apostolic work of Paul comes first from the Book of Acts. The epistles written by Paul serve to further our knowledge of his mission. These letters were written to churches that he had founded or churches that were known to him. Luke’s account of Paul introduces us to the basic facts about this important biblical figure. A more complete understanding of Paul’s journeys can be gleaned from his letters. These epistles were written almost at the time they occurred and they comprise some of the earliest works contained in the New Testament.