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Name of the fifteenth book of
the New Testament, written by the apostle Paul, most likely toward the
end of his ministry, i.e. somewhere between 62-67 AD. It is also known
as the First Epistle of Paul to Timothy, or simply as First Timothy.
First Timothy is one of three letters in the New Testament, which are
often grouped together as the Pastoral Epistles, the other two being 2
Timothy and Titus, because it deals with instructions on the forms of
worship and organization of the church.
The epistle is addressed to Timothy, one of Paul's
apprentices, and consists mainly of tutorial advice and instructions
regarding Timothy's ministry in Ephesus, including counsel about the
hierarchical organization of the church, both locally and ecumenically.
However, some scholars dispute its authorship and
authenticity, and date the epistle some time in the late 1st century or
even the first half of the 2nd century AD, suggesting that it is written
to contend against growing Gnosticism, which developed primarily in the
latter 1st century AD.
The main problem is that historical evidence suggested within this
epistle does not seem to fit in with any of the data supplied by Acts
nor within its chronological framework, which suggests that it may have
been written after Acts, a possibility already mentioned by Eusebius in
his Historia Ecclesiastica, a chronological account of the development
of Early Christianity from the 1st to the 4th century AD.
Another problem suggested is that the manner in
which the author speaks of the doctrine of salvation in First Timothy is
in contrast with other Pauline letters, i.e. with less authority.
However, this can easily be explained by the
fact that most other Pauline letters, except for Philemon, were written
to churches, to be read aloud and thus to function as authority, whereas
the Pastoral Epistles are of a private nature and were written to those who themselves already knew
fully the content of Paul’s gospel, and thus did not need this air of
authority.
1 Timothy Chapter 1;
2;
3;
4;
5;
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