Dick Harfield does it again

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Who authored Titus, 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy?

Dick Harfield goes to great lengths to say it was not the Apostle Paul, based on Marcion's gathered letters. 

Paul authored all three letters—1 Timothy and Titus after his release from his first Roman imprisonment (around A.D. 62–64), and 2 Timothy during his second Roman imprisonment (around A.D. 66–67), shortly before his death.1

These letters were directed to his apostolic representatives Timothy and Titus, who were overseeing churches in Ephesus and Crete respectively, and Paul provided them with guidance on managing those congregations.1

The authorship question has generated significant scholarly debate. While external evidence supports Pauline authorship, some modern commentators have questioned whether Paul wrote these letters.2 Critical scholars have challenged Pauline authorship, proposing instead that a second-century follower of Paul composed all three epistles.1 

However, early Church Fathers—including Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Irenaeus—accepted these books as canonical and written by Paul.3 Early allusions to and quotations of these letters appear remarkably early: Clement of Rome’s Letter to the Corinthians (c. 95) references them, as do Ignatius, Polycarp, and later church fathers.2

Interestingly, some scholars who deny Pauline authorship of 1 Timothy and Titus still affirm that Paul wrote 2 Timothy.4 The internal evidence of all three books supports Pauline authorship, as each begins with the claim that Paul the apostle is the writer.3


1 Gregory Brown, First Timothy: Becoming a Good Minister of Christ Jesus, The Bible Teacher’s Guide (BTG Publishing, 2018), 11.

2 Aída Besançon Spencer, 1 Timothy: A New Covenant Commentary, ed. Michael F. Bird and Craig Keener, New Covenant Commentary Series (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2013), 2–4.

3 Robert G. Gromacki, New Testament Survey (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1974), 291.

4 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2335.

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