The Pastoral Epistles, Apostolic Authority, and the Development of The Pauline Scriptures

Abstract

If the Pastoral Epistles do not come directly from Paul but from someone else in the Pauline tradition,1 a number of questions pertaining to the emergence of the Pauline writings as Scripture arise. How does the authority of Paul serve to validate the authority of the Pastoral texts? How does the attempt to emulate the authentic—and earlier—Pauline epistles shape the Pastoral Epistles? Finally, can we see already in the Pastoral Epistles something of the early movement toward the development of a body of Pauline Scriptures and ultimately a Pauline canon?2 If, however, we conclude that the Pastorals are in fact from Paul himself, these questions undoubtedly shift, but not dramatically so in each case. The question of Pauline authority still pertains, and the issue of a developing concept of Pauline Scripture shifts only slightly. If the Pastoral Epistles are authentically Pauline, the issue of emulation does change significantly. Paul, of course, would not emulate himself, as would someone writing pseudepigraphically in the name of Paul. In either case, however, the issue of an emerging concept of Scripture is linked to the theological contour of the Pastoral Epistles, as well as to their relationship with one another and with the larger Pauline corpus.3 The thesis to be developed here is that a Pauline concept of Scripture, the precursor to a full-fledged Pauline canon, can be detected already in the theological and literary patterns of the Pastoral Epistles.