The Literature and History of New Testament Times

by J. Gresham Machen

The emphasis which the Pastoral Epistles lay upon sound instruction and upon orderly government is sometimes looked upon with distaste. Orthodoxy and organization are thought to be destructive of religious fervor. In the New Testament, however, the two aspects of the Church's life appear side by side. In the New Testament, enthusiasm and sanity are united. And the New Testament is right. Religion is a concern of every individual soul—the final decision must be made by every man in the immediate presence of his God—but normally no man can do without association with his fellows. The Church is a great permanent community. It is not merely an aggregation, but an institution. To break away from its restraints may be attractive, it may produce a certain temporary impression of zeal and new life; but in the long run the old way is usually best.

The Pastoral Epistles, however, are sometimes thought to indicate an unfortunate change in Paul himself as well as in the Church. Some students would prefer to know only the Paul of Galatians and Corinthians and Romans. This judgment is one-sided. The Pastorals do not contradict, but supplement, the earlier letters. The earlier period, no doubt, is the more inspiring; there is nothing in the Pastoral Epistles like the first few chapters of First Corinthians, or the fifth chapter of Second Corinthians, or the eighth chapter of Romans. These passages are overpowering in the intensity of their eloquence; the later letters are soberer, graver, more matter-of-fact. These latter qualities, however, are much needed in the Church. The Church needs enthusiasm; but she also needs gravity and sanity. Her function is not merely evangelistic; it is also conservative and educational. In both functions Paul was a leader. The quiet gravity of the Pastoral Epistles supplements the glories of Galatians and Romans. Only when these last epistles are added to the others can the many-sided greatness of Paul be fully appreciated. Exaggerations, moreover, should be avoided. The soberness of the Pastorals is not commonplace. Back of the details of organization, back of the concern for sound instruction, there can be detected throughout the glow of the Pauline gospel. The Pastoral Epistles, like the other letters of Paul, are a perennial fountain of Christian life.

The Second Epistle to Timothy was clearly the last of the extant epistles of Paul; but the order of First Timothy and Titus cannot be certainly determined. The difficulty of reconstructing the history implied by the Pastoral Epistles reveals anew the supreme value of The Acts. After the conclusion of the Lucan narrative the historian is almost helpless. From about A. D. 63 on into the second century, the history of the Church is shrouded in profound darkness, with gleams of light only here and there.

1. THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY

At the time when First Timothy was written, Paul had recently made a journey to Macedonia. I Tim. 1:3. Perhaps he had gone thither from Ephesus, though the words do not make that perfectly clear. At any rate, he had directed Timothy to remain in Ephesus, where he hoped to join him before long. In case of delay, however, he writes the epistle. Chs. 3:14,15; 4:13.

On a previous occasion, perhaps by word of mouth when he had been in Ephesus, he had warned Timothy to put a stop to certain false teaching in the Church, and the warning is now reiterated in the epistle. The exact nature of this teaching is somewhat difficult to determine. Apparently it had been concerned with the Jewish law. Ch. 1:7-11. Compare Titus 1:10,14. Like the false teaching at Colossæ, it seems not to have been directly subversive of the truth of the gospel. At least, however, it diverted attention from the great things of the faith to useless questionings. I Tim. 6:4. The myths and endless genealogies, ch. 1:4, compare 4:7, were perhaps elaborations of the Old Testament history. Whether the ascetic tendency which is combated in ch. 4:3,8, is connected with this same teaching, is not certain, but is on the whole perhaps probable.

The first reference to the false teaching, ch. 1:3-10, leads Paul to speak of the norm by which it could be combated. Vs. 11-20. That norm was the gospel with which he had been intrusted. The bestowal of the gospel had changed him from a blasphemer and persecutor into an apostle. The gospel had been bestowed purely by the free grace of Christ, and its content was the salvation which Christ offers. A doxology to God, v. 17, is natural whenever that gospel is mentioned. That gospel will overcome all error, and if attended to diligently will prevent disasters like that which has befallen Hymenæus and Alexander.

In the second chapter, Paul insists upon gravity and order in the public worship of the Church. In the prayers which are to be offered, the civil authority is not to be forgotten, even though it be non-Christian. The sympathies of the Christian must be broad. God desires all men to come to a knowledge of the truth.

The highest regular officers of the Church are in the third chapter called "bishops." It is abundantly evident, however—especially from Titus 1:5,7—that "bishop" is only another name for "presbyter" or "elder." At a later time the term "bishop" was applied to an officer who had the supreme oversight over a church and to whom the elders were subject. These conditions did not prevail at the time of the Pastoral Epistles. At first sight, indeed, it might seem as though Timothy and Titus themselves were "bishops" in the later sense of the word. But this also is false. Timothy and Titus do not appear at all as officers of individual congregations. They had oversight over a plurality of churches, and evidently their authority was special and temporary. They did not fill an office which was intended to become permanent in the Church, but were simply special representatives of the apostle. As the apostles had no successors, so no man after the apostolic age had a right to assume the functions of Timothy and Titus.

The fourth chapter calls attention to the revelation of the Holy Spirit, probably through the lips of Christian prophets, that in the future there would appear apostates from the faith. The errorists who are combated in vs. 7-10 are apparently to be regarded as forerunners, still within the Church, of the more open apostasy which is one day to follow.