Adoption into the Canon
Adoption into the Canon
There may be echoes of this letter in 1 Clement and in the letters of Ignatius, though this is disputed. It seems clear, however, that Polycarp quoted some passages. There is not the slightest doubt that Ireneus refers to the letter, citing it as written by Paul to Timothy. Clement of Alexandria does the same, and from these early days, on the letter was universally accepted. Tatian seems to have rejected it along with 1 Timothy, while Marcion did not have any of the Pastorals in his canon—but then he rejected so much of the New Testament that this is not surprising. He probably did not like the high regard for the Old Testament that the letter reveals. None of the Pastorals is found in the Chester Beatty Papyrus p46, which is dated c. A.D. 200, but the codex is incomplete and may originally have contained the letters. If it did not, it is worth noticing that it also omits Philemon, so that the reason may be that the codex contained only letters to churches. All three are included in the Muratorian Canon. The church in general seems to have had little hesitation over accepting 2 Timothy.