Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our savior to Timothy, my true child in faith. The two letters to Timothy and the one to Titus are referred to as the “pastoral epistles.” They put an emphasis on church governance and for this reason nineteenth century scholars (mostly protestant) were reluctant to accept Pauline authorship of these epistles. The epistles exhibited what they called “early Catholicism,” a more structured and organized Church than the scholars attributed to St. Paul’s time. More recent scholarship has come to recognize Paul’s hand since the Church developed at a different pace in different places responding to particular needs. All of which reminds us not to presume that my point of view is the best one.
