First and Second Timothy and Titus: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching

Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching

by Thomas C. Oden, Paul J. Achtemeier (Editor), Patrick D. Miller (Editor)

Thomas Oden provides a modern commentary on the pastoral letters grounded in the classical, consensual tradition of interpretation. Oden uses the best and most accurate research concerning the historical, literary, and philological aspects of the pastoral letters. He addresses tough issues: the role of women in worship, problems of the rich and poor, the relation between servants and masters, policies concerning support of elderly widows, and how to handle church disruptions.

Genres: Reference

190 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Thomas C. Oden was Henry Anson Buttz Professor of Theology and Ethics at Drew University in New Jersey from 1980 until his retirement in 2004. He remained faculty emeritus until his death. He was the general editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and the Ancient Christian Doctrine series as well as the author of Classic Christianity, a revision of his three-volume systematic theology.

Reviews

[Shaun Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this commentary from the Interpretation series, Oden, as is typical of his work (see his Systematic Theology, published in one volume as Classical Christianity as an example), interacts with commentaries and sermons from not only contemporary thinkers, but with people from the patristic period, medieval period, and Reformers like Calvin and Wesley. While Oden does assume Pauline authorship, his study of the Pastorals should not be overlooked. He shows the continuity between Paul's other writings and the Pastorals.

One "issue" I had with Oden's organization of the commentary is that he does not go through each letter from beginning to end. Instead he orders his commentary topically. These passages, however, are listed along with the topics in the table of contents, so if you are teaching through the letters, you can easily see his section on each passage. I highly recommend this commentary, particularly for those who teach in the church, for Oden connects together with an emphasis on the centrality of the biblical text historic theological sources and the worshipping life of the church.

[Steven Bullmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has taken me a while to appreciate the scholarship and the format of this commentary. Oden is very different on two accounts: 1) He doesn't subscribe to the theory that someone other that Paul wrote the Pastoral Epistles, and 2) he organizes his commentary by themes rather than by discrete books. Both of those idiosyncrasies used to make me crazy, but now I get it; and appreciate it. Since my Bible is organized by books not by themes, the thematic format makes for a lot of flipping back and forth; but it also enables me to see how themes are repeated and developed within the collection. As to the position that Paul wrote the Pastorals, I now understand the value of taking that position. Yes, to maintain Pauline authorship you have to postulate a second imprisonment in Rome (something nowhere attested in either Acts or Paul's other letters); but then, Luke wasn't writing a travelogue and Paul's letters were written to address specific, localized issues, not inform future readers of all the places he visited, churches he started, and what he did throughout the Mediterranean. You also have to explain the changes in language, theology, and ecclesiology; which I have come to believe is yet another sign of Paul's genius--he reinvents the church when he realizes that Jesus is not coming back any time soon, and for the church to exist beyond one or two generations of Christians, it will have to be reorganized and re-imagined ... something the Mainline churches of our day have refused to do ... and are now shadows of their former selves. We in the Mainline would do well to learn from Paul's lessons and insights in the Pastorals instead of finding reasons to dismiss them as "fake letters" with limited if any value for today.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oden approaches the pastoral epistles via precritical commentators and he does so unapologetically. This approach gives Oden the freedom to assume certain claims (like Pauline authorship) without any justification. I don't think this weakens the commentary as a whole, so long as the reader understands the limits of the arguments and method.

This approach also affords Oden the ability to focus on aiding the teacher preacher in understanding the text. Oden needn't get bogged down in intricate analysis of extra biblical sources or archeological evidence from Ephesus but simply needs to present Calvin's view on this topic or Luther's understanding of these versus. I did very much enjoy hearing from the church "fathers" on different passages.

The big fault with this book is that it is arrange thematically. The three pastoral epistles (1,2 Timothy and Titus) are broken up and arranged in such a way as to represent themes like "Jesus Christ the Mediator" which contains comments on 1 Tim 2:3-7, 3:14-16, 2 Tim 2:11-13 and Titus 2:11-14. I am not sure why Oden chose to do this. It seems to represent an over identification of the three books that I doubt is the traditional view of these books.

I can't imagine this being a useful arrangement unless one is preaching on the topic of one of the chapter titles. It is a bit cumbersome having to skip around the entire book in order to cover the material in 1 Timothy.

I am still working my way through it. So far I don't regret the purchase. Having access to the precritical commentators in this way is interesting.

[Bradley]

Love this commentary very insightful