Instructor(s)

Course Description

An exegetical theological analysis of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, with emphasis on their implications for maintenance of Christian orthodoxy, Practical Ecclesiology and Pastoral Theology in the Ghanaian context . 

Course Objectives

At the end of the course, the student should be able to perform the following tasks, which will also serve as the pool of essays for the course assessment (2,500 words):

1. Critically evaluate the similarities and differences between the socio-historical and cultural context of First Timothy and your own context and explain their pastoral implications for your ministry [See Asumang 2024; Pages 2-45].

2. Employ the Pastoral Epistles to write a strategic paper setting out the pastoral theology which should guide your church’s leadership team [See Asumang 2024; Pages 538-609].

3. Using appropriate examples from each of the Pastoral Epistles, demonstrate the various ways in which these letters underline the divine status of Jesus [See Asumang 2024; Pages 254-317].

4. Use appropriate examples from each of the Pastoral Epistles to explain the strategies for Timothy and Titus to implement in order to restore and maintain orthodoxy in Ephesus and Crete [See Asumang 2024; Pages 480-537].

5. Evaluate the extent to which Titus 2:11-14 may be considered as a summation of some key elements of Paul’s theology [See Asumang 2024; Pages 174-209]. 

Course Content

The lecture topics that are covered during the course are:

1. Introduction to the Pastoral Epistles: This will address questions of the history of the reception of these texts, their authorship, socio-historical, cultural and religious backgrounds germane to their interpretation and their genre and literary structures.
2. Expositional Survey of the Pastoral Epistles (Part 1): This is an expositional survey through 1 Timothy, highlighting how its messages addressed the first century contexts. Some difficult verses will be addressed during the survey but in-depth examination of more trenchant ones will be left for a later session
3. Expositional Survey of the Pastoral Epistles (Part 2): This session surveys 2 Timothy and Titus highlighting their key messages and theological relevances
4. Christology in the Pastoral Epistles: This session will examine how the doctrine of Christ, both His divinity and humanity are embedded in the theological thought structure of the Pastoral Epistles and the implications for contemporary pastoral reflections.
5. Ecclesiology in the Pastoral Epistles: This session will exegetically examine, synthesize and analyze how the Pastoral Epistles shape our understanding of the nature and function(s) of the Church. Attention will also be given to how the Pastoral Epistles relate to the rest of the New Testament in this regard. The contribution of the analyses to contemporary self-perception of the nature and role of the Church in Ghanaian society will also be discussed.
6. Restoring and Maintaining Christian Orthodoxy and the Pastoral Epistles: This section will concentrate on the role of the Pastoral Epistles in formulating the Church’s structural order and polity and how that enables its function of maintain Christian orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Questions as to how this relates to the rest of the New Testament and contemporary application will also be analyzed. It also examines the strategies and procedures for maintaining the Church as a body, and believers as individuals in orthodoxy and orthopraxy. The organization of the Christian public worship and the role of its different elements and how they ensure the church's function, as well as the role of the social welfare programmes, in maintaining Christian orthodoxy and orthopraxy according to the Pastoral Epistles will be examined. Questions as to the roles of discipline of erring believers especially in contemporary contexts of apparent competition of ministries will also be discussed.
7. Pastoral Theology in the Pastoral Epistles: This session will focus on how the Pastoral Epistles shape the self-understanding, formation, practical functions, and maintenance of the inner and outer life of the Christian worker. A key emphasis will be on the development of a contemporary theology of spiritual leadership development and mentorship based on the Pastoral Epistles.
8. Doctrine of Scripture and the Pastoral Epistles: One of the major contributions of the Pastoral Epistles is in the development of the Christian doctrine of Scripture, that is, definition of the nature, roles and uses of Scripture. This is unsurprising given the programme of maintaining orthodoxy that the Pastoral Epistles sets out to achieve with these letters in their contexts. Yet few understand not just the nature of the doctrine itself, but also how Paul himself employs it within the Pastoral Epistles. This session will be an exercise in analyzing how the Scriptures function within the Pastoral letters themselves just as much as how they are to function in the formulation and application of Christian theology and praxes today.
9. Theological Ethics in the Pastoral Epistles: A key concern of Paul in the Pastoral Epistles is ensuring a Christian missionary impact in the world through distinctive and recognizable behaviour that is commensurate with the Gospel. In other words, Christian witness through appropriate Christian Theological Ethics. As it is in Paul’s other letter’s, ethics in the Pastoral Epistles is presented as natural outcome to Christian theological framework and convictions. This phenomenon is however slightly different in the Pastoral Epistles in which the theological framework is stated in matter-of-fact ways without explications and the ethical imperatives are heightened. Thus, the theological ethics of the Pastoral Epistles is at the same time a channel for understanding how Paul distilled his theological framework and convictions in his communication with his co-workers. This session will examine the ethics of the Pastoral epistles from this perspective. It will in particular examine how the Christology, Soteriology, and Eschatology shape and are in turn shaped by Paul’s ethical concerns for the church. The implications of this in contemporary Christian behaviour will also be highlighted.
10. Review and Revision: This final session will be in two parts. The first part will be in-depth analysis of interpretations of a number of difficult passages in the Pastoral Epistles with the view of highlighting further areas of research. The second part will review the course by discussing some of the questions (including the essays and multiple-choice questions) and other issues arising from the course.       

Mode of Delivery

Through lectures, demonstrated examples, class interaction, group discussion, reading and assignments.