Corpus-Paul

[rfellows AT intergate.ca]

Clive Jacks wrote,
>My attention was seized by your including the statement, "... and bear in
>mind that 'Titus' was another name used by Timothy."  Is that true?  If so,
>I find myself more than a little embarrassed to have to admit that after
>almost fifty years of studying the NT as a trained scholar that I have
>not encountered this before, although I have noticed of late several others
>(?) mentioning this in one or another posting.
>
>I would appreciate greatly hearing from you (or anyone else) about the
>reasons for this - is this
>supposition or what?  What are the reasons for this identification?  Is
>there some recent scholar
>or publication which has presented or championed this idea?  I would love to
>have someone give me the back-ground on this, either by a posting or by
>private e-mail.

Clive,

Udo Borse was the first person in modern times to propose that 'Titus' was 
Timothy. He wrote in German in the early and mid 80s and showed that the 
mission of Timothy to Corinth in 1 Cor is one and the same as the mission of 
Titus to Corinth prior to 2 Cor. While his evidence is strong, he has not 
been followed by other scholars. Borse equated the tearful letter with 1 
Corinthians, and I imagine that scholars found this difficult to swallow.

In my own work (R.Fellows, "Was Titus Timothy?", JSNT 81 (2001) p33-58) I 
argue that the Titus-Timothy hypothesis by no means requires that the tearful 
letter was 1 Corinthians. It is much more likely, in my view, that the 
tearful letter was written before 1 Cor and sent by Timothy, who was en route 
to Corinth at the time of 1 Corinthians.

In my view, the Titus-Timothy hypothesis is assured by the fact that it is 
the only way to make sense of the Corinthian correspondence. Without it we 
are forced to place 2 Cor more than a year after 1 Cor and hypothesize all 
sorts of complicated events to fill the gap, and rely on partition theories, 
and so on. The two-person hypothesis creates too many duplications of events 
and changes of travel plans, and multiple journeys etc. etc.. The 
Titus-Timothy hypothesis avoids all that. It is true because it fits.

Having said that, not all the details have yet been worked out. This field of 
research is really in its infancy, and there is a lot to do. The two-person 
hypothesis has not resolved the issues in 2 Corinthians after 200 years of 
scholarship, so we should explore how the jigsaw might be done with the T-T 
hypothesis. One problem that I have had is in finding a place for 2 Cor 10-13 
and the intermediate visit that it mentions. I am now proposing that 2 Cor is 
a unity, and that chapters 10-13 were directed at Athens, and that the 
intermediate visit was before 1 Cor and to Athens only.

Here is my latest thinking with guesses at dates:
34 'conversion' of Paul
early 37 Paul escapes Demascus
48 Jerusalem conference
Oct 50 Paul arrives in Corinth
April 52 Paul leaves Corinth
Sept 53 Paul arrives in Ephesus
April 54 Paul visits Athens, discovers that there is sexual immorality in 
Achaia, and returns to Ephesus.
July 54 Paul (with Silvanus and Timothy) writes 1 Thess.
August 54 Paul (with Silvanus and Timothy) writes the 'former' letter, 
telling them to dissociate themselves from the immoral brothers, and telling 
them to expect a visit in Sept 54.
Sept 54 Chloe's people return to Ephesus with news that the 'former' letter 
has been ignored.
March 55 Paul writes Philippians.
May 55 Paul writes the 'tearful' letter and sends it with Timothy, who leaves 
for the Troad on his way to Corinth. Erastus goes with him, at least as far 
as Athens.
August 55 Timothy was due back in Ephesus at this time, but does not appear.
Sept 55 Paul cancels his visit to Corinth, which had been planned for this 
time. He wanted to spare them. This visit would have been on the way to 
Macedonia.
March 56 Stephanus et al arrive in Ephesus with reassuring news. Still no 
sign of Timothy.
April 56 Paul writes 1 Corinthians and it arrives in Corinth.
April 56 Some of Paul's opponents in Corinth move to Athens.
June 56 Still no sign of Timothy. Paul leaves Ephesus and goes to the Troad, 
and does not find Timothy there, so he goes on to Macedonia.
June 56 Timothy arrives in Corinth and delivers the tearful letter.
August 56 Timothy travels to Macedonia and finds Paul there.
Sept 56 Paul writes 2 Corinthians. Corinth is the intended audience of 
chapters 1-9, while chapters 10-13 are directed at Athens.
March 57 Paul writes Romans.

It all seems to fit, but let me know what you think.

Richard Fellows.