ing to the chronology adopted in our English Bible, all
the Pastoral Epistles were written after Paul's release from his first
imprisonment, and this theory has recently been strenuously advocated by
Conybeare and Howson, Alford, and Ellicott; but their reasonings are
exceedingly unsatisfactory. For, I. The statement of Conybeare and
Howson that "the three epistles were nearly contemporaneous with each
other" is a mere assertion resting on no solid foundation; as
resemblance in style, especially when all the letters were dictated by
the same individual, can be no evidence as to date. II. There is direct
evidence that heresies, such as those described in these epistles,
existed in the Church long before Paul's first imprisonment. See 1 Cor.
iii. 18, 19, xv. 12; 2 Cor. xi. 4, 13, 14, 15, 22, compared with 1 Tim.
i. 3, 7. III. The early Churches were very soon organised, as appears
from Acts xiv. 23; 1 Thess. v. 12, 13; so that the state of
ecclesiastical organisation described in the First Epistle to Timothy
and the Epistle to Titus is no proof of the late date of these letters.
IV. But the grand argument in support of the early date, and one with
which the advocates of the later chronology have never fairly grappled,
is derived from the fact that Paul never was in Ephesus after the time
mentioned in Acts xx. When he wrote to Timothy he intended shortly to
return thither. See 1 Tim. i. 3, iii. 14, 15. It is evident that when
the apostle addressed the elders of Ephesus (Acts xx. 25) and told them
they should "see his face no more," he considered himself as speaking
prophetically. It is clear, too, that his words were so understood by
his auditors (Acts xx. 38), and that the evangelist, who wrote them down
several years afterwards, was still under the same impression. I agree,
therefore, with Wieseler, and others, in assigning an early date to the
First Epistle to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus.

[130:1] 2 Cor. xi. 9, 24-28, 32, 33, xii. 2, 7-9. The Second Epistle to
the Corinthians was written late in A.D. 57.

[130:2] 2 Cor. ii. 4.

[130:3] [Greek: eis ten Hellada], _i.e._, Achaia.

[130:4] Acts xx. 2, 3.

[130:5] Rom. xvi. 1, 2, 23.

[130:6] Rom. i. 8.

[130:7] Rom. xvi. 7, 11.

[130:8] Rom. xvi. 3.

[130:9] Acts xix. 21; Rom. i. 10, 11, xv. 23, 24.

[131:1] Acts xx. 3.

[131:2] Acts xx. 6.

[131:3] Acts xx. 6.

[131:4] Acts xx. 17-35.

[131:5] Acts xx. 36-38.

[131:6] Acts xxi. 8.

[131:7] Acts