McGraw-Hill OnlineMcGraw-Hill Higher EducationLearning Center
Student Center | Instructor Center | Information Center | Home
Chapter Outline
PowerPoint Presentations
Multiple Choice Quiz
Web Links
Feedback
Help Center


The New Testament Cover Image
The New Testament, 4/e
Stephen Harris, California State University - Sacramento
Continuing the Pauline Tradition: 2 Thessalonians, Colossians, Ephesians, the Pastoral Epistles, 1 Clement, and the Epistle of Barnabas

Outline


I. Key topics/themes

  1. Letters written in Paul's name after his death
  2. 2 Thessalonians: reinterpretation of Pauline eschatology
  3. Colossians: Jesus Christ as cosmic power living within the believer
  4. Ephesians: Jew and Gentile united in one church
  5. Pastorals: warnings against heresy; importance of adhering to established church tradition
  6. 1 Clement and Barnabas: methods of church organization; interpreting the Hebrew Bible

II. The six disupted Pauline letters

  1. 2 Thessalonians
  2. Colossians
  3. Ephesians
  4. 1 Timothy
  5. 2 Timothy
  6. Titus

III. The problem of pseudonymity

  1. The disputed Pauline letters not "forgeries"
  2. Common for disciples to compose works perpetuating their masters' thoughts
  3. Practice known as pseudonymity
  4. Common in Hellenistic Judaism and in early Christianity

IV. Second letter to the Thessalonians

  1. A different eschatology from 1 Thessalonians
  2. Eschatology at the core of disputes about authenticity of 2 Thessalonians
  3. Persecutors of Thessalonian Christians will soon taste God's wrath
  4. Punishment of the wicked may not be imminent
  5. Placing the Second Coming in perspective
  1. The apocalyptic signs that will precede the Parousia of Christ
    1. The final rebellion against God's rule
    2. Appearance of the "wicked man"
    3. Withdrawal of the "Restrainer"
  1. Traditional (non-Pauline?) signs of the end
    1. Recalls Antiochus Epiphanes, persecutor of the Maccabean Jews
    2. Apocalyptic dualism

V. A disputed letter to the Colossians

  1. A small town
  2. Church founded by Paul's associate Epaphras
  3. Purpose and organization
    1. Christ is superior to all other cosmic powers
    2. Receiving Christ's indwelling Spirit initiates Christians into Christ's mystery cult
  1. Christ the source of cosmic unity
  1. Jesus as the mediator of creation
    1. Christ hymn in 1:15-20
    2. Modeled on biblical and Hellenistic-Jewish concepts of divine Wisdom
    3. Purpose is to assert Christ's present superiority to all rival cosmic powers
    4. Paul's mission: to proclaim God's message of mystical reconciliation through Christ
  1. Mystical initiation into Christ
    1. Baptism a vicarious experience of death and resurrection
    2. Those initiated into Christ's body liberated from observing the demands of rival cosmic powers
  1. Obligation of initiation: living a pure and upright life

VI. Letter to the Ephesians

  1. The case of Ephesians
  1. Closely resembles Colossians' structure
  2. Differs from undisputed letters of Paul
    1. Differences in vocabulary
    2. Differences in style
    3. Differences in theology
  1. Conclusion: Ephesians written by admirer of Paul
  2. May have served as a "cover letter" to Paul's other letters
  1. Date and organization
    1. Date if authentic: 60-64 C.E.
    2. Date if not by Paul: ca. 90 C.E.
  1. God's plan of salvation through the united body of Christ (1:3-3:21)
    1. Main theme: the union of all creation with Christ, manifested on earth by the church's international unity
    2. An aspect of God's preordained plan
    3. The sacred secret--the union of Jews and Gentiles in one church
  1. Instructions for living in the world (4:1-6:20)
    1. Contrasts Christian virtues with Greco-Roman vices
    2. Domestic instructions stress patriarchal social hierarchy
    3. Christians to don "heavenly" armor of Christian virtue to withstand supernatural evil
    4. Christian struggle for virtue an aspect of a cosmic battle between good and evil

VII. The Pastorals: letters to Timothy and Titus

  1. Most scholars: these letters post-Pauline
  2. Author called the "Pastor" because he gives pastoral advice to ostensible recipients Timothy and Titus
  3. Stresses teaching as the norm for Christian ministry
  4. Stresses firm opposition to false teaching
  5. 1 Timothy
  1. Attacking false teachings (heresies)
    1. Nature of heresy in the church unclear
    2. May be some form of Hellenistic Judaism
  1. Qualifications for church offices
    1. Qualifications for bishops ("overseers")
    2. Qualifications for deacons
    3. Qualifications are virtues drawn from secular Hellenistic morality
    4. Distance of these qualifications from the example of Jesus
    5. The institutionalized church as "the pillar and bulwark of the truth"
  1. Rankings within the church membership reflect social order of secular Hellenistic culture
  2. Women
    1. Women restricted from teaching or having authority over men
    2. Women as heirs of Eve, who sinned first and tempted her husband to do likewise
    3. Need to distinguish between "true" widows and younger women unqualified for that status
  1. 2 Timothy
    1. The Pastoral Epistle most closely resembling Paul's undisputed letters
    2. 2 Timothy 4:6-22 has best claim for Pauline authorship
    3. Majority of scholars still see all of book as pseudonymous
    4. Appearance of false teachings as sign of the last days
    5. The Hebrew Bible as the standard for religious orthodoxy
  1. Letter to Titus
  1. Historical Titus: Greek missionary associate of Paul whom Paul refused to have circumcised to satisfy Paul's Jewish Christian opponents
  2. Organization
  3. Qualifications for Christian ministry (1:4-2:15)
    1. Appoint elders in every church
    2. Guard the established set of orthodox beliefs
    3. Correct dissenters ("heretics") by warning them and, if necessary, excommunicating them
  1. Christian behavior in an ungodly world (3:1-11)
    1. All Christians to behave in a way that attracts unbelievers

VIII. The Pastor's contribution

  1. Attempts to promote continuity of authority in the church
  2. Deemphasis on charismatic, Spirit-led religion found in Paul's letters
  3. Emphasis instead on correct doctrine and ecclesiastical authority

IX. 1 Clement

  1. Does not claim to be by Paul
  2. Explicitly appeals to authority of Paul's memory
  3. Written to church at Corinth
  4. Teachings
    1. Warns Corinthians against removing church presbyters ("elders")
    2. Principle of apostolic succession means these Church leaders inherited their authority from Christ and then from his apostles

X. The Epistle of Barnabas

  1. Widely read and considered canonical by some early Christians
  2. Written in name of Barnabas, Paul's early missionary companion
  3. Teachings
  1. Hebrew Scriptures to be understood symbolically as pointing to Christ
  2. Jewish dietary laws not to be taken literally
  3. Contrasts the "Two Ways" of living life
    1. Way of Light
    2. Way of Darkness
  1. Recalls similar language in the Didache

XI. Summary

  1. Pseudonymity Common
  2. 2 Thessolonians and Colossians closer to genuine Pauline thought than Ephesians and the Pastorals








Copyright2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.