Corpus-Paul

[Jim West <jwest AT highland.net>]

At 01:02 PM 4/22/99 +1000, you wrote:

>In Acts ch 20 Luke writing in the early 60's looking back to the previous
decade says that in Ephesian church there were
>Overseers and Elders and Pastors whose function is very similar to the
situation that 1st Timothy, (also at Ephesus). 

What?  You date Acts to 60?  Why?

>
>Are you referring to deacons/servants ? - as a role/title we have precedent
in Paul's uncontested earlier letters, eg Phoebe
>in Romans ch.16.

The meaninging of diakonos in Rom 16 is quite different than in the
pastorals.  In Rom it is clearly non-titulary, while in the Pastorals it is
an office in the strictest meaning of the word.  There is clearly a
difference between the occurances.

>  
>Are you referring to the supposed "order" of widows ? I suspect that Paul
is *not* describing a formal role/title but rather
>encouraging a responsible attitude to the needs of the destitute - again
there is plenty of precedent with Paul's careful
>administatration of the collection of money for the poor of Jerusalem from
all the gentile churches - one can read about in
>2 Corinthians etc.

What one reads about in 2 Cor is a collection for ALL the destitute
Christians in Judea; not a group within that body which needs special 
attention.

>
>The view that for the pastoral epistles Luke was the emanuensis for a very
elderly and probably nearly blind Paul deserves

This is just pure speculation.  Luke the amanuensis???  Where is this even
partly indicated?  Paul elderly and nearly blind?  If he was born around 10
CE (which seems reasonable) in the 60's he would have only been 50.  If you
date the Pastorals to 70- he still would only be 60 (had he not died under
Nero- which I suspect you believe did happen).  He was not the doddering old
cripple here presented.

>serious consideration. Second Timothy says that only Luke was with Paul as
he awaited exectution. Such proposals have been
>argued in detail elsewhere by others as anyone familiar with the large body
of literature on this topic should know.
>

Indeed- and the notion that Paul wrote the Pastorals is clearly the minority
position among NT scholars.

>Yours sincerely, Errol Smith  

Best,

Jim

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jim West, ThD
Petros Baptist Church- Pastor
Quartz Hill School of Theology- Adjunct Prof. of Bible

fax- 978-231-5986
email- jwest AT highland.net
web page-  http://web.infoave.net/~jwest