1:1; 16:21 and see also 1:12-17; 3:4, 6, 22). The apostle was not only ready to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome (1:15), but he wanted them to have a clear understanding of its meaning and ramifications in all of lifepast (justification), present (sanctification), and future (glorification). Priscilla and Aquila, whom Paul met in Corinth, were Jewish Christian refugees from Rome (see Acts 18:13; Romans 16:34). So the apostle wrote to deal with the condition of idleness or disorderliness which had increased (3:5-15). Corinth was a large metropolis (approximately 700,000; about two-thirds of whom were slaves) located on a narrow isthmus between the Aegean Sea and the Adriatic Sea that connected the Peloponnesus with Northern Greece. It is a cosmic book, presenting the cosmic Christ: the Creator/Sustainer and Redeemer/Reconciler of man and all the universe. Warnings Against False Doctrine (1:3-11), III. Though accused by the Jews before the Roman governor Gallio (a charge that was dismissed) Paul remained 18 months in Corinth (Acts 18:1-17; 1 Cor. Personal: The Private Plans and Affairs of the Apostle (4:7-18). Second, assess and advocate for the science-based measures needed to resume in-person schooling safely because of the vital importance of in-person schooling. Had He forgotten His promises to the Jews? Pauls other early letterssuch as 12 Thessalonians, Galatians, Philippians,[15] 12 Corinthians, and Romanswere written to individuals or congregations, but, like Greek philosophical letters, they were considerably longer than an average ancient letter and were meant to teach and exhort. Justification: The Imputation of Gods Righteousness Through Christ (3:215:21), A. Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy had come to Thessalonica early in the Second Missionary Journey, about AD 50, and had spent only a few weeks in the city where they had established a largely Gentile congregation. The scribe then composed, or in the case of a dictated letter, revised the letter and set it down in a neat, professional hand on a good paper, usually papyrus (for a detailed discussion of the involvement of scribes in the writing of an ancient letter, see Lincoln Blumells chapter in this volume). .), he identified himself with a new, spiritual household and identified his position to emphasize his authority (e.g., Paul, a servant or apostle of Jesus Christ as in 12 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, 12 Timothy, and Titus). To express his plans to join Titus again in Nicopolis for the winter (3:12). The average letter of Paul, however, was 2,495 words long! Important issues discussed in the letter include qualifications for elders (1:5-9), instructions to various age groups (2:1-8), relationship to government (3:1-2), the relation of regeneration to human works and to the Spirit (3:5), and the role of grace in promoting good works among Gods people (2:11-3:8). From 56-60 Paul was slowly making his way through the Roman courts, arriving ultimately at Rome. Web Colossians: A Letter that encourages authentic faith and authentic Christian life in face of the commingling of religions and new ideas. Paul did eventually get to Rome, but as a prisoner. Pauls epistles may be divided into four groups: 1 and 2 Thes. I. In Ephesians and Colossians, however, there are indications that Paul expected the letters to be circulated among a broader audience. On the other hand, Paul may have had a second group of opponents, because his letter later seeks to counter the efforts of those who think that the grace of Christ had made all obedience and law unnecessary. [27], Because parchment and especially finer quality papyrus were expensive, scribes may have first taken notes and even written initial drafts on tablets of wood or ivory coated with wax. The heart of much Catholic and especially Reformation theology, the Pauline epistles frequently prove to be unfamiliar and difficult territory for many Latter-day Saints. Paul then made his third visit to Corinth during the winter of A.D. 56-57 (Acts 20:2-3). Pauls letter to Philemon and his family, for instance, reads very much like a personal letter about a particular subject of concern to the sender and recipientnamely how Philemon should treat his slave, Onesimus, who is also Pauls convert. Provo, UT 84602 55 Ryrie, p. 1875. A 19-year-old TikToker made 6 figures teaching people how to write essays. Instructions Concerning Various Responsibilities (5:1-6:10), E. Concerning the Heretical and Greedy (6:3-10), VII. [7] In this note and subsequent notes, I have given a representative chronological sampling of scholarship from both LDS and non-LDS commentators who consider the occasion of each of the letters briefly discussed here. Polemical: The Heretical Problems in Light of Union With Christ (2:4-3:4a), A. Paul was a prolific and lengthy writer. The Gospel of Grace Came by Revelation (1:10-24), C. The Gospel of Grace Was Approved by the Church in Jerusalem (2:1-10), D. The Gospel of Grace Was Vindicated in the Rebuke of Peter, the Chief of the Apostles (2:11-21), II. was a 1966 graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and a former pastor of 28 years. The Cross And Separation From The World (1 Peter 4:1-6), 7. faith, gospel, word of God, reconciliation, salvation, human resurrection and glorification, the Church as the Body of Christ, Minister, Saints of God. [1] See the representative excerpts of Augustines AD 427 treatise On Grace and Free Will, and Martin Luthers 1531 Lectures on Galatians, in The Writings of St. Paul, ed.Wayne A. Meeks (New York: Norton, 1972), 22050. Paul wrote: (1) to encourage and boost the spirit and courage of Timothy by reminding him of his charge or duty (1:3), of his spiritual gift (4:14), his good confession (6:12), and of the deposit of doctrine entrusted to him (6:20); (2) to give Timothy biblical insight in dealing with the errors of false teachers and to encourage Timothy himself to continue in sound doctrine (1:3-11, 18-20; 4:1-16; 6:3f); (3) to give direction concerning proper church conduct in worship (chap. Although an occasion, or reason for writing, can be identified for all of the letters of the Pauline corpus, the occasional nature is particularly apparent in some of the earliest of the Apostles letters, each of which is a response to specific situations in the early branches of the Church. Most ancient letters followed a standardized format, one that can often be discerned in other letters of the New Testament, but the length of Pauls letters and the fact they would generally be heard rather then read required additional organization. Part of this is a result of the fact that New Testament letters vary according to intended audience and how widely the authors expected them to be circulated beyond their original audiences. Philippians guards against the failure to practice Christ-provided unity and against the failure of believers to rejoice in their blessings and position in Christ (Phil. [28] Such postscripts that are actual parts of the preserved text differ from the postbiblical subscriptions that copyists began to add in the fourth century to note assumed facts about a letter but which are often wrong. Two key words and concepts stand out in this short epistle: sanctification (4:3, 4, 7), and the coming of the Lord, which is referred to in every chapter of the epistle (1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23). Exhortation Regarding the Methods of False Teachers (2:4-5), 2. Directions Regarding Gods Grace (2:11-15), V. Final Instructions and Greetings (3:12-15). Thus, we must seriously take the exhortation to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (6:10). In the Home and Household Life (3:18-4:1), IV. First John does not read like a letter at all but is probably best seen as a theological treatise or a doctrinal homily rather than a letter, although it was sent to a general audience and is usually termed an epistle. The Epistle to the Galatians was the battle cry of the Reformation because it stands out as Pauls Manifesto of Justification by Faith. Not until some time passed after Paul's death were these letters circulated among the churches and read along with the Old Testament Scriptures as a part of regular worship services. The key words or concepts are judgment, retribution, and destruction all revolving around the return of the Lord in the day of the Lord. Further, due to the large portion of these epistles that deal with church order and discipline, the term pastoral is accurate. They promoted their own ideas and at the same time sought to discredit both the person and message of the apostle. Paul lists the keys to an enduring successful ministry: A reproducing ministry (1-2); an enduring ministry (3-13); a studying ministry (14-18); and a holy ministry (19-26).68. WebName the four parts of each of Paul's letters. Objections are based on internal factors rather than on the adequacy of the statements of the church fathers. 17), B. Thanksgiving for Divine Comfort in Affliction (1:3-11), C. The Integrity of Pauls Motives and Conduct (1:122:4), D. Forgiving the Offender at Corinth (2:5-11), E. Gods Direction in the Ministry (2:12-17), F. The Corinthian Believersa Letter From Christ (3:1-11), G. Seeing the Glory of God With Unveiled Faces (3:124:6), I. Tit. The Present Walk of the New Life (4:20-32), 4. In favor of this is the fact that Luke seems to use Galatia only to describe North Galatia (Acts 16:6; 18:23). The Warning Against Legalistic Judaizers (3:1-4a), V. The Peace of the Christian Life: Knowing the Presence of Christ (4:1-23). In harmony with one of the basic doctrines of Judaism, he believed that salvation could be obtained only by obedience to all of the laws that God had given to his people. Notably absent are qualities of worldly success and position. Paul was also a Greek by culture having evidently received a Greek education (cf. This may well account for the period spent in Arabia and Damascus before his first visit to Jerusalem (Gal. It was also included in the canon of Marcion and in the Muratorian fragment.70 As to the internal evidence, Paul refers to himself as the author in verses 1, 9, and 19. The superiority of prophecy over tongues (14:1-25), 5. For those who were themselves illiterate and needed someone to write for them, a scribe usually took down notes regarding the subjects that concerned the sender and then employed a standard format and used conventional expressions to write the letter. As was his custom, Paul first preached in the synagogue but was eventually forced out by Jewish opposition. 1:7; Col. 4:10; Philemon 9). o Is highly complimentary. 2:1). Although the differences in the types of writing found in the gospels, the book of Acts, the book of Revelation, and the various epistles or letters in the New Testament are fairly obvious, distinctions in genre also exist among the various letters themselves. Concerning Elders and Deacons (3:1-13), V. Instructions Concerning Dangers (4:1-16), B. The Prayer That Their Hearts Might Be Established in Holiness (3:13), II. WebThe letters of Paul, written only about 2030 years after the crucifixion, were preserved, collected, and eventually published. In general, they answered questions of churches 1:1-8; 4:9-22; Titus 1:5; 3:12-13).64 Those who question Pauls authorship usually do so on the following grounds: that (1) Pauls travels described in the pastorals do not fit anywhere into the historical account of the book of Acts, (2) the church organization described in them is that of the second century, and (3) the vocabulary and style are significantly different from that of the other Pauline letters. Though death was possible, Paul also seemed confident of his release. What is so significant about that? As to Ones Self and the Church (5:19-21), D. The Believers Walk in Warfare (6:10-20), 2. In 1 Thessalonians, the focus was on Christ coming for His Church (4:13-18) where as in 2 Thessalonians, the focus is on Christ coming with His Church in judgment on the unbelieving world (1:5-10; 2:3, 12). Pauls advocacy before Philemon is parallel to Christs work of mediation before the Father. In addition, Paul was a Roman citizen, being Roman born (Acts 22:28). According to some calculations, Romans (979 manuscript lines) would have cost $2,275 in 2004 U.S. dollars, and even short Philemon (44 lines) would have cost $101! 8-18), III. 5). 19-21). WebPauls epistles fall into two categories: nine epistles written to churches (Romans to 2 Thessalonians) and four pastoral and personal epistles (1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and In 1 Timothy and Titus, Paul was free and able to travel, but here he is a prisoner in a cold dungeon and facing death. After serving this church for a brief period, Paul began a series of missionary journeys to spread the news of salvation offered through Jesus' physical death. In fact, the situation is even worse than that, for the knowledge that one ought not to do certain things often acts as a stimulus creating the desire to do it. Nevertheless, Pauls final doxology, or expression of praise, at the end of his letter to the Romans reminds us that his fervent testimony is as vital and true today as it was then: Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: to God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. The stoning of Stephen was one of these incidents. Yet as Greeks they prided themselves on their intellectualism, although in their case it had degenerated into a crude and shallow type (1:17; 2:1-5) 43. Negative: Emancipation from Ascetic Ordinances (2:20-23), 3. From sender to receiver; highly complementary The power of the cross provides deliverance from the curse of the law, from the power of sin, and from self (1:4; 2:20; 3:13; 4:5; 5:16, 24; 6:14). The early church was unanimous in its testimony that Philippians was written by the apostle Paul (see 1:1). The Illustration of Righteousness (4:1-25), C. The Blessings of Righteousness (5:1-11), D. The Contrast of Righteousness and Condemnation (5:12-21), IV. Application error: a client-side exception has occurred (see the browser console for more information). Onesimus had made his way to Rome, where, in the providence of God, he came in contact with the apostle Paul, who led him to trust in Christ (v. 10). From Macedonia Paul wrote a fourth letter, 2 Corinthians. Since, in reality, all believers are called to full-time ministry in one way or another, this chapter would be more than beneficial for all Christians. A careful study of Acts and the Epistles reveals the following summary of Pauls involvement with the Corinthian church: (1) there was the first visit to Corinth followed by, (2) the first letter to Corinth (now lost). According to these divisions, Galatians, meant to defend both Pauls teaching of the gospel and his own authority, is an example of judicial oratory; 1 Corinthians, intended to correct behavior, is an example of deliberative writing; and Romans, which sought to introduce Paul, affirm his doctrine, and gain the support of the Saints in Rome, serves as an example of demonstrative rhetoric. Rather, three clear purposes unfold for the writing of Romans. Do they show similar dependence on Jewish categories and principles? Two New Testament scribes are identified by name: Tertius in Romans 16:22 and Silvanus in 1 Peter 5:12. This is expressed in a number of ways like, being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose (2:2); standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together (1:27), and be in harmony (4:2). He hunted down the members of this group, had them committed to prison, and threatened them with death. He had denied the Christian claim that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. Rather, as official delegates of Paul, they were sent to assist churches in establishing their ministries pastorally speaking (cf. As declared in 1:1 and 2:18, all evidence (external and internal) supports the claim of the book that Paul is the author of 1 Thessalonians. 1:16-19). Condemnation: The Need of Righteousness Because of Sin in All (1:183:20), A. Briefly analyzing this format and the rhetorical structure of Pauls letters allows a reader to see how Paul used, and in many instances changed, the conventional letter format in order to emphasize certain points. The Past: The Work of Faith (1:1-3:13), A. After being recaptured and once again imprisoned, Paul wrote Timothy a second letter, 2 Timothy. The key word, occurring in one form or the other some 16 times, is joy or rejoice. Unity or oneness is another key idea of the book. In these two chapters Paul demonstrated convincingly that his apostleship and his message came by revelation from the risen Christ. Instead, Paul enumerates character qualities demonstrating that true leadership emanates from our walk with God rather than from achievements or vocational success.67. But as Paul pursued his studies, he became conscious of the fact that a mere knowledge concerning what one ought to do does not produce the desire to do it. Overviews of the reception of Pauls letters in the early church can be found in the relevant volumes of Oden 2001. 61 The outline used here is taken from an outstanding series of 12 studies by Dr. S. Lewis Johnson in Bibliotheca Sacra, Studies in the Epistle to the Colossians, beginning Vol. )[16] This concept of an encyclical, or circular letter, is further developed in 1 Peter and in the other general epistles. Some scholars, in fact, have tried to reserve the term epistle for letters of this type, comparing them to the literary letters of classical authors such as Cicero and Pliny, who, even when they were writing real letters to specific individuals, expected their letters to be more widely published and so often wrote with a broader audience in mind. Vocabulary used to describe church organization, for instance, would be expected to be different from that used to teach the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. It is not surprising, therefore, that even in a book stressing endurance in ministry, the doctrine of Christ is prominent. I. But out of the 13 letters of Paul, skeptical critics like Bart Ehrman say that only 7 of them were truly written by the apostle. Their Love for God Expressed in Sanctified Living (4:1-8), B. In a later epistle, Paul will stress how we are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10). [22] The involvement of Silvanus and Timothy in the Thessalonian correspondence makes particular sense because they had been involved with Paul in the initial evangelizing of Thessalonica, and Timothy was often Pauls messenger to the congregation there, as he was in the case of other letters where he is listed as coauthor. By this, we see much of what believers have through their position in the Savior. [32] The letter was then dispatched, sometimes being carried by a friend or associate traveling to the recipients destination but sometimes just sent with some traveler who was found going to the intended destination. [20] Paul probably stayed with other Christians in his travels and would have enjoyed little privacy. The Charge to Preach the Word (4:1-5), VII. Miller understands the value of an education and the importance for students to graduate. It was written from Corinth, while completing the collection for the poor in Palestine. Even when indicative and imperative sections alternate or are otherwise spread throughout the body of a letter, the modern reader must always keep in mind that Pauls letters not only teach doctrine but also call to action and insist that Christians must live according to the highest ethical and moral standards, that their whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
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