Second Timothy
Second Timothy (or the Second Epistle to Timothy) is a book in the New Testament, traditionally considered to have been written by St Paul to his companion and assistant Saint Timothy
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2 Tim was probably written at the end of Paul's period of house arrest in Rome (if it was written by him at all
Dilemma
The epistle presents a dilemma to many conservative bibliolaters who believe doctrine should come straight out of the book and not "tradition" because in 2 Tim 2:2 Paul specifically orders Timothy: "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."
But Paul redeems himself a few verses later when he says "Study to shew thyself approved unto God...rightly dividing the word of truth." to the eternal bliss of the self-appointed bible interpreters who alone are capable of "rightly dividing" the Word.
In verse 3:16 Paul says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". The Bible worshipers have a brain fart here and interpret the word "profitable" as "sufficient" in order to further deprecate Paul's order to use oral tradition to commit the faith to following generations (an order which is reinforced in 2 Thessalonians 2:15).
Apostolic Succession
Second Timothy is notable for containing the only mention in the New Testament of Linus. According to Catholic tradition
Date and authorship
The traditional date, assuming Pauline authorship, and based on the epistle's references to what may be Paul's imprisonment in Rome and what we know of Paul's life, would be around 64-67 CE.[1][2] On the other hand, Helmut Koester has suggested it may reference Paul's imprisonment in Philippi, northern Greece, not Rome (while probably not actually written by Paul, but by a follower who pretended it was Pauline).[3]
If Paul didn't write it, we need other evidence to date it. It's believed that the Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
There's not really any evidence who did write it. Whatevs.
See also
- RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/2 Timothy
References
- Intro to 2 Timothy, Biblica
- Introduction to 2 Timothy, ESV.org
- Was 2 Timothy written in Philippi?, Michael F Bird, Patheos, 2016
- Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, Polycarp, New Advent
- See the Wikipedia article on Pastoral epistles.