The epistles were written to guide the early church in applying the Gospel to the contemporary culture (which is consistent with God's contextual approach in Isaiah 29:23–29). A number of passages, such as 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 and 1 Peter 2:13, indicate that the writers were concerned that Christianity should be seen as a moral and virtuous religion.
Some theologians believe that the first four "pastoral epistles", which are ascribed to Paul (that is, the ones written to individuals such as Timothy rather than churches such as Ephesians), were not actually composed by Paul, though it is clear that they were written by the same person. For example, when Paul talks about Faith he means relationship which is quite different from the Pastoral Epistles' idea of the Faith as a body of Doctrine and Moral Discipline, or again of the idea of Faith in Hebrews which is about "stickability" and "stiff upper lip", like courage in going to the dentist. Also there is a much more corporate idea about Christianity; Paul addresses individuals but the pastorals talk about a "body of faith".
In Ministry Leadership Teams, on page 14, Andrew Dawswell comments that regarding the Pastoral Epistles as being in conflict with the uncontested Pauline epistles often leads to the Pastorals being seen as "a regrettable departure from Paul's charismatic ideal" and "effectively denies any real authority to the Pastoral Epistles—which are, after all, still recognized throughout the Christian church as part of the New Testament canon. Indeed it could be argued that these should be given greater weight than the earlier material, because they represent a more mature reflection... He does not appeal to the role of local leaders because he is still trying to exercise a direct control over the life of the church".
© David Billin 2002–2022