Will Vaus

What does a preacher look like? The photo above shows what I thought a preacher looked like when I was growing up. But ultimately, it does not matter what a preacher looks like. What matters most is what is preached. And that is what we are going to talk about as we examine Paul's Second Letter to Timothy today in our journey along "Route 66"... Author As we saw last week, Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles has been questioned by many modern scholars. But the internal claim to Pauline authorship is clear in each of these letters and the early church was agreed that Paul wrote the Pastoral Epistles. Moreover, as I mentioned last week, I find all the personal references in these letters to be conclusive evidence of Paul’s authorship. I find it difficult to believe that another author would have made up all these references to fit “just so” and deceive his readers into thinking that these letters were written by Paul. Date   I also mentioned last week how many schol...

Today in our journey along Route 66 we come to Paul’s First Letter to Timothy...   Author 1 Timothy is the first of what are called the Pastoral Epistles which include 2 Timothy and Titus. These letters are so called because Paul gives instruction to his disciples, Timothy and Titus, regarding how to care for a local church. Both early tradition and the greetings in each of the Pastoral Epistles confirm that Paul is the author of these letters. However, in modern times many questions have been raised concerning Pauline authorship. Modern scholars who deny Pauline  authorship point to the different vocabulary of these letters and the leadership structure of the church recommended in these letters which seems to suggest a time later in the history of the first century church. However, as we have seen in our study of the rest of Paul’s letters, these differences in vocabulary may be explained by the fact that Paul always dictated his letters to various secretaries. Another explan...

Today in our journey along Route 66 we come to Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians... Author 2 Thessalonians was received as a genuine letter of Paul by the early church fathers. [1]   However, Pauline authorship is questioned by quite a few modern scholars. Some modern scholars who doubt Pauline authorship believe that 2 Thessalonians was written in conscious imitation of 1 Thessalonians by an author writing in Paul’s name. However, I find the arguments of those who doubt Pauline authorship unconvincing. I agree with Tom Wright who has written that such arguments against Pauline authorship are “over-clever and unnecessary”. [2] Paul always dictated his letters to a secretary, and this may help to explain the differences in vocabulary in this letter. While it is possible that Paul did not write this letter (anything is possible) doubting Pauline authorship of this letter seems to me to make a mockery of what the author says at the end of this brief correspondence… I, Paul, wr...