The Pastoral Epistles (The International Theological Commentary | ITC)
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Overview
This commentary offers a verse-by-verse theological interpretation of the First and Second epistles to Timothy and Titus. Bray reads the letters as authoritative scripture, moving beyond questions of whether they are pseudonymous, and of whether or not they are post-apostolic, instead looking closely at how they have been understood in the life of the Church.
Bray engages with the history of commentary surrounding these letters, ranging from the Fathers to contemporary theology and exegesis. He reads the epistles as the authoritative word from God to his people, and through his engagement with the history of interpretation shows the constant thread of witness and confession that unites believers across the ages. In so doing, Bray shows why the Pastoral Epistles have survived the passage of time and have retained the canonical authority that they have always enjoyed.
- Offers a corrective to the widespread pathologies of academic study of the Bible in the modern era
- Includes a thorough introduction to the interpretive and theological issues
- Treats the Pastoral Epistles as an authoritative word from God to his people that speaks today with the same power as they spoke when they were first revealed
Top Highlights
“For Christians, ‘piety’ and ‘impiety’ were spiritual concepts, more closely connected to attitudes of heart and mind than to particular actions.” (Page 101)
“In other words, Paul continued the theme of his own exceeding unworthiness in order to compare and contrast it with the superabundant grace of God. As throughout this passage, Paul’s reasoning was subjective, not objective.” (Page 121)
“For him, God’s oikonomia was the plan, purpose and intention for which he had given the law in the first place” (Page 89)
“According to the ontological scheme, Christ was an intermediate being who was neither fully God nor merely man” (Page 151)
“Open heresy is relatively rare, but subtle distractions are quite common” (Page 90)
As a distinguished church historian and theologian, in this commentary Gerald Bray dares enter where angels fear to tread, since it involves texts at the heart of debates over women’s ministry, ecclesial structure, and other controversies. Many will disagree with his verdicts, but all will learn from this experienced scholar.
—Gerald McDermott, Beeson Divinity School, USA
This is a rare book, a commentary that actually does something new. In addition to sound exegetical sense in the discussions of individual verses, this volume has an expansive vision of the gospel and the character of God. The theological discussion is an important contribution to scholarship on the Pastoral Epistles.
—Simon Gathercole, Reader in New Testament Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
- Title: The Pastoral Epistles
- Author: Gerald L. Bray
- Editors: Michael Allen and Scott Swain
- Series: T&T Clark International Theological Commentary
- Publisher: T&T Clark
- Publication Date: 2019
- Pages: 616
- Resource Type: Commentary
- Topic: Pastoral Epistles
Dr. Gerald Bray is Research Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, AL, and Distinguished Professor of Theology at Knox Theological Seminary, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
He was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, where he did his undergraduate work at McGill University. He completed his doctoral studies at the Sorbonne in Paris and went on to study theology in Cambridge. In 1978 he was ordained in the Church of England and served a parish in London for two years before going on to teach at Oak Hill College in London. He has been at Beeson since 1993.
Dr. Bray is the editor of the Anglican journal Churchman and has published a number of books, including the award-winning Biblical Interpretation: Past and Present (InterVarsity Press, 1996), Yours Is the Kingdom: A Systematic Theology of the Lord's Prayer(InterVarsity Press, 2007), God Is Love (Crossway, 2012), and his most recent work, God Has Spoken: A History of Christian Theology (Crossway, 2014).
Dr. Bray speaks several languages fluently. He has lived in Germany, Greece, and Russia, and he has taught in several European countries and Australia. He can often be found in one of the archives of the Church of England, researching parts of its history, on which he has also published a number of important works. He is also an avid swimmer and cyclist.
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