From a team of more than 50 international scholars comes the 'Word Biblical Commentary Series'.

The letter of Paul to Timothy and Titus, commonly known as the Pastoral Epistle, have long been valued by Christians as a resource of instruction on the organisation of the church and its ministries.

Among scholars, Timothy and Titus have evoked controversy concerning their authenticity as genuine letters of Paul. Joining the debate over these disputed letters, William D. Mounce begins his exposition of their meaning with a spirited defense of Pauline authorship, marshalling arguments to support the placement of these letters within the life and theological thought of the apostle.

On the basis of the Acts of the Apostles, extrabiblical traditions from early Christian writers and clues from the Pastoral Epistles themselves, Mounce reconstructs a historical scenario of Paul's later life and the heretical teaching that threatened the churches in Ephesus and Crete. Within this overall framework each letter is then shown to be a tailor-made response to particular circumstances - 1 Timothy as Paul's advice on confronting heretical teachers in the established church at Ephesus; Titus as Paul's instruction on dealing with false teaching that threatened a newly founded church in Crete; and 2 Timothy as Paul's counsel to his trusted associate as he contemplates his own imminent death. Throughout the exposition in the commentary, Mounce affirms the Christian nature and Pauline character of the teaching in the Pastoral Epitstles. He uses word studies to highlight the parallels in usage within the New Testament and early Christian literature in general and the Pauline corpus in particular, as contrasted with the literary and philosophical writings of the Greco-Roman world. More controversially, Mounce also defends a traditional understanding of Paul's instruction regarding the role of women in the church. Pastors will appreciate Mounce's repeated emphasis on the relationship between theology and practical Christian living throughout his exposition. Scholars will benefit from the full bibliographies that provide direction for further study on detailed points of exegesis. All readers will be compelled to reflect on the continuing relevance of the Pastoral Epistles for the life of the church today.