INTRODUCTION TO THE PASTORAL EPISTLES

INTRODUCTION TO

THE PASTORAL EPISTLES

AUTHOR: The Apostle Paul is generally accepted as the author of the two letters to Timothy and one to Titus. Paul had once been a persecutor of Christians but had been gloriously confronted by Jesus Christ himself on the road to Damascus to arrest Christians. After spending time alone with the Lord, he was introduced to church leadership in Jerusalem by a man called Barnabas which means son of encouragement. Although sceptic as first, James (the brother of Jesus) and the others in leadership there accepted him as having been called to salvation and service by Jesus Himself. He dramatically changed from persecutor of Christians to the most avid preacher of the Gospel. The “Pastoral Epistles” are letters Paul wrote to his two “sons in the faith,” Timothy and Titus, who were now preachers themselves. Paul had led both of these men to faith in Jesus and had continued to disciple them both in person and via correspondence.

LETTERS TO TIMOTHY: According to 1 Timothy 1:3, the first letter to Timothy was probably written from Paul in Macedonia to Timothy in Ephesus in the early 60’s A.D.  The second letter was most likely written during Paul’s final imprisonment in Rome just before his execution during the reign of Nero which would have been during the mid-60’s. Paul wrote to encourage Timothy, a young pastor, and to aid him in combatting a false teaching that had arisen among the churches in Ephesus. Timothy had been raised by his mother and grandmother who had both been pious Jews before their own conversions to Christianity. His father was Greek and may have died before Timothy met Paul.

LETTER TO TITUS: In the early 60’s, Titus was serving in Crete and was facing false teaching similar to that in Ephesus where Timothy served. Titus was a gentile convert to Christianity and had been specifically left on in the Island of Crete by the Apostle Paul to lead the churches there. He had spent time with Paul when they were both in Corinth, so he, like Timothy had been discipled by Paul.