Last week I posted at PastoralEpistles.com on the marginalization of the Pastoral Epistles, drawing from the book, 1 Timothy Reconsidered (edited by K. P. Donfried; Peeters, 2008). The essays by Luke Timothy Johnson and Karl Donfried were my particular focus. Johnson noted that the Pastorals have been “increasingly moved to the edge or even out of the canon of Scripture” (p. 22). Noting how modern interpreters of Paul commonly give no attention to the Pastorals although they do interact with Gnostic writings and apocryphal writings, Johnson quips, “Out of Paul means out of canon, and even out of mind!”(p. 22, n. 11). Donfried largely agrees with Johnson and provides a challenging assessment of the isolated way too much New Testament scholarship is pursued.

You can read the full post here.