THE PROBLEM OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES:
AN IMPORTANT HYPOTHESIS RECONSIDERED
Jermo van Nes
Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, Belgium
1. Introduction
From the end of the eighteenth century onwards,1 most critical study of
the letters to Timothy and Titus, collectively known as the Pastoral Epistles
(PE), has been predominated by the question of authorship.2 One of the
studies which for many contemporary scholars continues to be deci-
sive in this regard is that of P. N. Harrison, The Problem of the Pastoral
Epistles.3 In this landmark study, Harrison by means of statistical analyses
argued that the PE are based on some genuine Pauline fragments but in
their final shape are the product of a Paulinist living in the early years
of the second century ce. The lasting impact of Harrison’s work is evi-
denced by the ongoing scholarly use of his statistical argument to sup-
port the (semi-)pseudonymous authorship of the PE.4 Even recently, it
was described in one of the premier New Testament introductions as a
1 It is customary among contemporary scholars (e.g., J. Roloff, “Pastoralbriefe,” in TRE
[Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1996], 51; R. F. Collins, “Pastoralbriefe,” in RGG [Tübingen: Mohr
Siebeck, 2003], 989) to mark the beginning of the nineteenth century as the start of mod-
ern criticism of the PE’s authenticity, but it was the British scholar E. Evanson who at the
end of the eighteenth century first questioned the Pauline authorship of Titus. See his
epoch making study The Dissonance of the Four Generally Received Evangelists and the Evi-
dence of Their Respective Authenticity Examined (Ipswich: George Jermyn, 1792), 267–69.
2 For a chronological overview, see L. T. Johnson, The First and Second Letters to Timo-
thy (AB 35A; New York: Doubleday, 2001), 42–54. For a comprehensive account of all criti-
cal issues involved, see W. D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles (WBC 46; Nashville, TN: Thomas
Nelson, 2000), lxxxiii–cxxix.
3 P. N. Harrison, The Problem of the Pastoral Epistles (London: Oxford University Press,
1921). Another influential study in this regard is that of the German exegete H. J. Holtzmann,
Die Pastoralbriefe, kritisch und exegetisch behandelt (Leipzig: Engelmann, 1880). Cf.
M. Gourgues, Les deux lettres à Timothée, La lettre à Tite (CbNT 14; Paris: Cerf, 2009), 48.
4 Cf. e.g., J. Roloff, Der erste Brief an Timotheus (EKK XV; Zurich: Benziger Verlag, 1988),
28 n. 39; J. D. Quinn, The Letter to Titus (AB 35; New York: Doubleday, 1990), 3; J. M. Bassler,
1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus (ANTC; Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1996), 19; J. D. Quinn
and W. C. Wacker, The First and Second Letters to Timothy (ECC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
2000), 4; L. Oberlinner, Der erste Timotheusbrief, der zweite Timotheusbrief (HTHKNT;
Freiburg: Herder, 1994–1995; repr. 2002), xxxvii n. 31; R. F. Collins, I & II Timothy and
Titus: A Commentary (NTL; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 4–5, 7, 9;
A. Weiser, Der zweite Brief an Timotheus (EKK XVI/1; Zurich: Benziger Verlag, 2003), 58,