1

Alex Kollar

November 22, 2015

New Testament Exam Essays

1) Identify the occasions for Pauls writing of the Prison Letters and the purposes

for which he wrote. Which of these letters lacks a knowable occasion?

There are four books in the New Testament that were actually letters that Paul the

Apostle wrote while he as imprisoned: Philemon, Colossians, Philippians, and Ephesians.

The first of Pauls letters was to a fellow Christian, Philemon, asking him to receive

kindly a runaway slave. The slave, Onesimus, had run away from his owner, Philemon,

and sought Paul out for help. When Onesimus found the Apostle, Paul converted him to

Christianity and encouraged him to return to his owner. This letter was intended to

prepare Philemon for the return of Onesimus and ask him to welcome him home with

open arms and a forgiving heart.

Colossians was written as a response to the Colossian heresy that was taking

place in the Colossian Church during Pauls imprisonment. Gundry surmises that

Ephaphras, the believed founder of the church in Colossae, visited Paul in prison to

solicit his advice concerning a dangerous heresy threatening the church. There was

apparently a man named Archippus who was left in charge of the church and was

spreading false teachings. Although Paul had never been to the Colossian church, he was

considered the grandfather of the church and thus his help was enlisted. Paul thus wrote

Colossians to discount this heresy and emphasize the divine person and creative and
 2

redemptive work of Christ and the high Christology. The letter is all about Christ as the

head of the church and warnings against false doctrines.

Philippians is Pauls most intimate and personal letter. The church at Philippi sent

regular financial aid to Paul for his missionary journeys and their most recent gift was

sent with a man called Epaphroditus. Once he arrived to give Paul the financial gift,

Epaphroditus became very sick; so sick he almost died. Paul, sensing Epaphroditus

desire to return home, sends him with a letter expressing Pauls gratitude for the financial

support. In the letter, Paul also writes about the divisions that could surface in the church,

war against Judaizers, and to prepare the church for Timothy.

The letter, Ephesians, was not directed to a single church, rather, to various

churches in the vicinity of Ephesus. This letter was not written as a response to a

particular event or set of circumstances or questions, it was more of a general address to

the church community. The main purpose of Ephesians was to emphasize the church as

Christs body and expresses praise for the unity and blessings shared by all believers

in Christ. This is only letter Paul wrote that lacks a definitive occasion.

2) What are the arguments for and against Pauline authorship of the Pastorals?

The Pastorals consist of first and second Timothy and Titus. They are the letters

that Paul wrote to young pastors, encouraging and enlightening them. Modern scholars,

who, question Pauls authorship, have scrutinized these letters. Some believe that a

pseudonymous writer in the second century used fragments of genuine Pauline letters to

impersonate the Apostle in hopes of using the authority of Pauls name to combat the

rising tide of Gnosticism. More evidence to back the theory of a pseudonymous writer is
 3

that in the early church pseudonymous writing was a widely accepted literary practice (it

was called pious forgery).

In favor of the authorship of Paul, it is unlikely that pious forgery was enlisted

because 2 Thessalonians warns against forgeries in Pauls name. Also, it is improbable

that a late admirer of Paul would be able to use personal fragments from Pauls other

writings, as it is unlikely that such fragments would have been preserved.

Doubters of Pauls authorship use the evidence of the differences in vocabulary

and grammatical style from other Pauline writings. This evidence does not take into

the account the change in style that occurs because of environment, age, experience,

and the sheer passage of time. Paul also used amanuenses to write, so style used depends

on the freedom he gave them.

Doubters also call upon the fact that the Gnostic heretic Marcion omitted the

Pastorals from the New Testament under the defense that Paul did not write them. Also,

the Pastorals seem to attack a kind of Gnosticism that arose only after Pauls lifetime.

In response to the Marcions omission argument, Marcion had a habit of omitting

books, including Matthew, Mark, John, and certain works from Luke. As for the attack

on Gnosticism claim, Paul was not attacking Gnosticism, rather, the old Jewish laws.

Some scholars claim that the Pastorals mention a more highly organized

ecclesiastical structure that developed only after Pauls lifetime. Also, the fact that

orthodoxy is emphasized implies a post-Pauline stage of theological development. In

response to the ecclesiastical structure, the Pastorals only mention elders, bishops,

deacons, and widows, all of whom were mentioned in the Old Testament. As for the
 4

orthodoxy, Paul had always defended traditional Christian orthodoxy, even in his earliest

letters.

The final piece of evidence that doubters of Pauls authorship call upon, is the

conflicting historical and geographical data. They claim that these are the mistakes of a

pious forger. The conflicting data are that Paul left Timothy in Ephesus, that Demas

deserted Paul, and that Paul left Titus in Crete and went to Nicopolis.