Pseudo-Paul's Analysis

Most scholars believe that the letters to Timothy and Titus were not actually written by Paul, but instead are the work of one or more later writers attempting to appropriate Pauline authority. There are two common opinion about the nature of Pauline pseudonymity. The first argues that it was a deliberate attempt to hoodwink readers, trying to falsely acquire respect for a position by attributing it to an authoritative source. The second viewpoint is that in many ancient philosophical and religious contexts, followers would write what they thought were the ideas of a deceased leader under the name of that leader as a way of honoring him or her. In either case, [Paul] (or pseudo-Paul, sometimes abbreviated ps.-Paul) reflects not the early stage of Christianity of Paul 's life time, but instead a later evolution of the Church into something more convention and hierarchical.

Rather than focusing on gifts appropriate to activities such as preaching and teaching, as Paul himself did in 1 Corinthians, these letters tend to emphasize external respectability, orthodoxy, and conformity, marking a shift from a charismatic to an institutional church. They are also notable in emphasizing a level of gender inequality not found in the Pauline epistles, in which individual gifts are more important than gender and women are present as deacons. A second important shift we see here is in the attitude towards marriage. While Paul himself was celibate and saw marriage as second best to celibacy, these letters favor