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1-2 Timothy and Titus: Pastoral Epistles

  1. Lesson One
    Overview of Pastorals (1 Timothy 1–6; 2 Timothy 3–4)
    20 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  2. Lesson Two
    False Teaching (1 Timothy 1; Titus 1–3; 2 Timothy 1–4)
    18 Activities
  3. Lesson Three
    Church Government (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1–2 Review)
    18 Activities
  4. Lesson Four
    Mentoring in Ministry (1 Timothy 1, 6, 2 Timothy 1–4 Review)
    21 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  5. Lesson Five
    Women in Ministry (1 Timothy 2–3, 5, 1 Corinthians 11 Review)
    21 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

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Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

Not only was 1 Timothy important for Paul’s immediate audience, it was important for the early church as a whole, well beyond the time of the New Testament. Some have noted the similarity between its content and portions of the earliest post-New Testament church order, the Didache—“The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles”—outlined in the table below.

Didache1 Timothy
Prayer, Eucharistic prayers (8-10)Prayers, especially for those in authority (2:1)
Ethical requirements of the worship service (14)Ethical requirements of the worship service (2:8)
Bishops and deacons (15:1, 2)Bishops and deacons (3:1)

Reference: Martin Dibelius and Hans Conzelmann, The Pastoral Epistles, 1972, p. 6.

Read the selection below from the Didache, referencing the appointment of church leaders. 

15:1 Appoint, therefore, for yourselves, bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men meek, and not lovers of money, and truthful and proved; for they also render to you the service of prophets and teachers.

 

15:2 Therefore do not despise them, for they are your honored ones, together with the prophets and teachers.

 

15:3 And reprove one another, not in anger, but in peace, as you have it in the Gospel. But to anyone that acts amiss against another, let no one speak, nor let him hear anything from you until he repents. But your prayers and alms and all your deeds so do, as you have it in the Gospel of our Lord. 

Didache quoted from: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-roberts.html. Accessed Nov 3, 2020.

  1. How do these passages from the Didache recall what you’ve heard in the Pastoral Letters? What seems to be the driving, underlying concern for all of these instructions and directives?