Hence Paul writes to correct the error into which his converts had fallen, and at the same time he uses strong language as to the treatment to be dealt out to those members of the Church who were given to idleness and insubordination.
Paul's First Letter to Timothy
There has never been any real doubt among Christian people as to the authorship of the three "pastoral" Letters. But definite objections to their genuineness have been made in recent times upon the ground of such internal evidence as their style, the indications they present of advanced organization, their historic standpoint and their references to developed heresy.
Says one scholar, "While there is probably nothing in them to which the Apostle would have objected, they must be regarded on account of their style as the product of one who had been taught by Paul and now desired to convey certain teachings under cover of his name. The date need not be later than 80 A.D."
Yet a thorough examination of the matter does not support such objections. It is certain that the three Letters stand or fall together, and there is no sufficient reason for dismissing the ancient conclusion that they are all the genuine work of Paul, and belong to the last years of his life, 66-67 A.D.
This first Letter was probably written from Macedonia.
Paul's Second Letter to Timothy
The marks of genuineness in this Letter are very pronounced. For instance, the thanksgiving, the long list of proper names—twenty-three in number—the personal details and the manifest tone of sincerity and earnestness. Hence it is accepted as Paul's even by some who reject the former Letter and that addressed to Titus. But it is inseparable from the others, and was probably written from Rome during the Apostle's second imprisonment. It is his last Letter known to us, and its apparent date is 67 A.D.
Paul's Letter to Titus
This Letter was probably written from Ephesus in 67 A.D. Titus, who was a Greek by birth, is mentioned in eleven other places in the Pauline Letters and always with marked approval (2Co 2:13; 7:6,13,14; 8:6,16,23; 12:18; Ga 2:1,3; 2Ti 4:10). He was often a trusted messenger to the Churches, his last errand being to Dalmatia. Tradition confirms the inference commonly drawn from this Letter that he was long the Bishop of the Church in Crete, and regards Candia as having been his birthplace.