Adoption into the Canon
Adoption into the Canon
This letter is quoted by Polycarp, Athenagoras, and later writers. Clearly it was widely regarded as written by Paul and accepted as canonical. It seems to have been rejected by Tatian (second half of the second century), but he had a very individualistic viewpoint and cannot be regarded as representative of any widely held opinion. Marcion also rejected it along with the other Pastorals (perhaps because of the respect it affords the Old Testament). 43 But he rejected so much that others accepted that we cannot take his omission as significant of wide hesitation in the church of his day. Apart from these idiosyncratic individuals, 1 Timothy seems to have been accepted universally as part of the correspondence of the apostle Paul. In modern times there have been serious doubts raised as to the authenticity of this and the other Pastoral Epistles, but this does not correspond to any widely held opinion in antiquity.