The life and work of St. Paul

OF THE PASTOBAL EPISTLES.
EXOUBSUS XXVIL (p. 649).
THE GENUINENESS OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES.
As our knowledge of the life of St. Paul, after his first imprisonment, depends entirely
on the decision as to the authenticity of the Pastoral Epistles, I will here briefly examine
the evidences.
I. Turning first to the external evidence in their favour, we find an almost indisputable
allusion to the First Epistle to Timothy in Clement of Rome. 1 That they were
universally accepted by the Church in the second century is certain, since they are found
in the Peshito Syriac, mentioned in the Muratorian Canon, and quoted by Ignatius,
Polycarp, Hegesippus, Athenagoras, Irenseus, Clemens of Alexandria, Theophilus of
Antioch, and perhaps by Justin Martyr. After the second century the testimonies are
unhesitating and unbroken, and Eusebius, in the fourth century, reckons them among
the homologomena or acknowledged writings of St. PauL With the exception of
there seems to have
Marcion, and Tatian, who rejected the two Epistles to Timothy,
been no doubt as to their genuineness from the first century down to the days of Schmidt
and Schleiermacher. On what grounds Marcion rejected them we are not informed. It
is possible that Baur may be right in the supposition that he was not aware of their
existence. 3 But this would be no decisive argument against them, since the preservation
and dissemination of purely private letters, addressed to single persons, must have been
much more precarious and slow than that of letters addressed to entire Churches. But
in such a case Marcion's authority is of small value. He dealt with the Scriptures on
purely subjective grounds. His rejection of the Old Testament, and of all the New
Testament except ten Epistles of St. Paul, and a mutilated Gospel of St. Luke, shows
that he made no sort of scruple about excluding from his canon any book that militated
against his peculiar dogmas. Nor is Tatian's authority of more weight. The only
reason why he accepted as genuine the Epistle of Titus while he rejected those of
Timothy, is conjectured to have been that in the Epistle to Titus the phase of incipient
Gnosticism which meets with the condemnation of the Apostle is more distinctly
identified with Jewish 3
teaching.
But perhaps it may be argued that the Pastoral Epistles were forged in the second
century, and that the earlier passages which are regarded as allusions to them, or
quotations from them, are in reality borrowed from Clemens, Polycarp, and Hegesippus,
by the writer, who wished to enlist the supposed authority of St. Paul in condemnation
of the spreading Gnosticism of the second century. No one would argue that there is a
merely accidental connexion between, "Avoiding profane and vain babblings, and
oppositions [or antitheses] of the knowledge [Gnosis] which is falsely so called" in
1 Tim. vi. 20, and "the combination of impious error arose by the fraud of false
teachers [e-repoSiSao-KcuW, comp. 1 Tim. L 3, cTcpo] who henceforth attempted to
preach their science talsely so called " in 4
Hegesippus. But Baur argues that the forger
of the Epistle stole the term from Hegesippus, and that it was aimed at the Marcionites,
who are especially indicated in the word "Antitheses," which is the name of a book
written by Marcion to point out the contradiction between the Old and New Testament,
and between those parts of the New Testament which he rejected and those which he
retained.* Now, " Antitheses " may mean simply " oppositions," as it is rendered in our
version, and the injunction is explained by Chrysostom and Theophylact, and even by
1 " Let us then approach Him In holiness of soul, lifting to Him pure and unstained hands."
Sp. 1, ad Cor. 29 ; cf. 1 Tim. iL 8. Baur, PastorcJbrieft, p. 138.
8 Tit i. 10, 14 ; iii. 9. Tatian founded a sect of Gnostic Eucratites towards the close of the
second century. Ap. Euseb. E. E. iii. 32.
5 Tort. Adv. Marc. I. 19 ; iv. &c. Baur also (Paul. ii. Ill) dwells on the use of the word
" sound," '
wholesome," by Hegesippus and iu 1 Tim. L 10.