1. Pastoral Epistles: "The Pastoral Epistles are three in number—viz., I Timothy, II Timothy, and Titus. They are so called because they bear upon pastoral duties. From the earliest times they have been ascribed to Paul, and received as of canonical authority by the Church. They all belong to the same period, and they were all written towards the close of the Apostle's life. If the apostle had been released from imprisonment for a time and then imprisoned a second time, the epistles belong to the interval between his release from his first imprisonment in Rome and his death—an interval during which he had paid a brief visit to the churches he had founded in the east." (Bagster Bible Helps, p. 76.)
2. Timothy—Paul's Disciple: "Timothy resided at Lystra (Acts xvi: 1). He was the son of a Greek father and a Jewish mother named Eunice, from whom, as also from his grandmother, Lois, he had received a devout training in the Old Testament (II Tim. i: 5; iii: 14, 15). Paul calls him his 'true son in the faith,' whence it is inferred that he had received the gospel through Paul's preaching during his first sojourn in Lystra. At all events, on the apostle's second visit to Lystra, he found the mother and son already converted, although the father continued an unbeliever. As Timothy was well reported of by the brethren, Paul circumcised him and took him as one of his chosen companions (Acts xix: 22). The connection continued intimate and unbroken till the close of the apostle's career." (Bible Treasury, p. 146.)
3. I Timothy: "The time and place of writing cannot be certainly fixed. The former must have been between the years 64 and 67 A. D. But the occasion and purport of the epistle are very plain. Heretical teachers had arisen at Ephesus, where Timothy was stationed, and the Apostle gives directions which the young man required, and which have a permanent value for all youthful ministers. No systematic order of thought, such as is found in Romans and Ephesians, meets us here, but a free outpouring of the apostle's heart. The letter has been justly compared to pearls of varied size and color loosely strung on one thread." (Bible Treasury, p. 146.)
4. II Timothy: "This epistle was written from Rome during Paul's second imprisonment, probably about 67 A. D., and is the last of his extant writings. After the address and a fervent thanksgiving for Timothy's early training (ch.. i: 1-5), he exhorts him to boldness and fidelity (ver. 6-14), adducing two examples—one of desertion, the other of faithfulness (ver. 15-18); summons him to exercise fortitude (ii: 1-13), to reprove 'profane babblings' (ver. 14-21), and to guard well his own conduct (ver. 22-26.)" (Bible Treasury, p. 146.)
5. Titus: "Of Titus, to whom this epistle is addressed, we know nothing, except what we learn of him in Galatians, II Corinthians, II Timothy, and this epistle, for he is not once mentioned by name in the Acts of the Apostles. From these sources we conclude that he was a Greek by birth, and a convert of Paul, that he accompanied Paul and Barnabas to the first Council at Jerusalem (Acts xv), and that he was one of those converts from heathenism on whose behalf the council issued its decree exempting such from the obligation to observe the Mosaic law. From the date of this event he appears to have been a constant companion of Paul, and to have been from time to time sent by him on missions of importance to the infant churches (comp. II Cor. vii: 6-13; viii: 6; xii: 18). Titus was with Paul during his imprisonment at Rome, and seems together with Timothy, to have accompanied him after his release in the brief visit he paid to the churches in the East." (Bagster's Bible Helps, p. 77.)
6. The Story of Onesimus: It is remarkable how great the small things of life sometimes become. Perhaps there is no letter or single Christian document that reveals so much of the character of the times of St. Paul as this brief personal note given to the runaway slave, Onesimus—meaning "Profitable"—whom Paul is returning to his master with so much courtesy. The following account of the Epistle by Prof. Marcus Dodds, in the Bible Treasury, is worthy the space we here give it:
"It is interesting to find this short note, on a merely domestic matter, preserved among the epistles of St. Paul. It was written to intercede for a runaway slave with his master, and it illustrates the multifarious services the Apostle was invited to render. It is only one sample of numberless letters which must have been written to his many friends and disciples by one of St.. Paul's eager temperament and warm affections in the course of a long and chequered life.' Philemon was resident in Colossae (Col. iv: 9). He had been brought to the faith by St. Paul (Philem. 19) and as it seems that as yet St. Paul had not visited Colossae, it is probable that Philemon had heard him in Ephesus. He was a thorough-going Christian (4-7), loving and helpful, and the disciples in Colossae, or a section of them, met in his house (2); Apphia was probably his wife, and Archippus his son. Philemon's slave Onesimus (or 'Profitable,' a common name for a slave) had run away, not empty-handed (18); and, having found his way to Rome, and being somehow brought into contact with St. Paul he was by him persuaded to abandon his old mind and his old ways (10). Paul had devoted and active friends around him in Rome; but this energetic slave, trained to watch a master's wants and to execute promptly what was entrusted to him, became almost indispensable to the Apostle (11, 13). 'Profitable,' who was aforetime unprofitable to thee, now is profitable to thee and to me.' Paul would gladly have retained his services, but he acknowledged the claim of his master, and, besides, would not deprive Philemon of the pleasure of voluntarily sending him to minister to him (14). The note, short as it is, is valuable in two respects: 1. It gives us a clear view of the uprightness and courteousness of Paul. Nothing could be more winning and persuasive, nothing more sympathetic and considerate, than the terms he used in restoring the runaway to his master's good graces. 2. But the letter shows us Christianity at work in connection with slavery. No institution was more deeply rooted in the ancient world, and none more alien to the spirit of Christ. Yet St. Paul does not set himself to uproot it. Rather he might seem to give it his countenance by thus restoring a runaway to his master. But Christianity (and Paul as its representative), by admitting slaves to the brotherhood of the Church, and by appealing to the brotherly feeling of the masters, introduced principles which would not be stayed in their operation till slavery was seen to be unchristian, and abolished. The Christian spirit does not work the less surely because it works indirectly." (Bible Treasury, p. 146-7.)
7. The Catholic Epistles—General View: "Seven epistles are now designated 'general' or 'catholic.' The term was first applied to three of these (James, I Peter, and I John), and afterwards to II Peter and Jude, the brief letters, II and III John, being finally classed with the five others for convenience. The designation implies that the letter was originally addressed to a wider circle of readers than the members of a single community of Christians. In Greek Mss. these epistles were usually placed immediately after the Acts of the Apostles. This group of writings presents great variety in style and diction, in date, and in maturity of doctrinal teaching." (Bible Treasury, p. 149).
8. Epistle of James: "James the Less, brother, or near relation, of our Lord, an Apostle, had the oversight of the Church at Jerusalem (Acts xv: 13), where he remained until his martyrdom (A. D. 62). This epistle, generally attributed to him, shows evident tokens of a degeneracy in the tone of Jewish Christians, to whom it is addressed, stimulating them to the exercise of higher principles. It reproves the prevailing vices of his countrymen,—hypocrisy, presumption, censoriousness, love of riches; and insists that true faith necessitates good works. It is remarkable for its eminently practical nature, the homeliness and aptness of its illustration, and the bold, plain-spoken rebukes of the wealthy oppressors of the poor. It was probably written near the close of his life, and is addressed to the whole 'twelve tribes.'" (Oxford Bible Helps, p. 29.)
9. St. Peter—Protestant View: "Simon Peter, son of Jonas, a fisherman at Bethsaida, was one of the foremost Apostles, by whom three thousand were converted on the Day of Pentecost (Acts ii), and the first Gentile family admitted by baptism into Christianity (Acts x: 47, 48). He is said to have preached to the Jews scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, i. e., the countries of Asia adjacent to the Black Sea, to whom he addressed this epistle from Babylon, probably about A. D. 63. Its general design was to comfort them under afflictions." (Oxford Bible Helps, p. 29.)