The Structure of Ethical Argument in the Pastorals

Abstract

The growing tendency among scholars to find coherence rather than chaos in the argumentation in the Pastoral Epistles is producing new insights into the letters and is raising interesting questions about their authority. This article provides one example of how the inner logic of the arguments in the letters might be described. In doing so, it will be argued that each individual ethical imperative derives its validity from the credibility of the theological warrants supplied by the author. This suggests that individual ethical commands, such as, "Let women learn in silence with complete submissiveness," are not seen here as self-authenticating. Both for the ancient church and the modem one, their authority depends upon the reliability of the overall theology of the letters, including the deceit of Pauline authorship.