In the pastoral epistles, as Paul prepares for his own death, he passes the torch to his successors.

Look Inside the Book

This readable new commentary The Pillar of the Truth gives background for 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. Wilson brings out parallels between the Apostolic age and Israel's time in the wilderness, and, in step-by-step fashion, shows how the Apostle Paul was preparing the nascent Church for institutionalization after his death: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim. 4:7-8).

From the Book:

"In the pastoral epistles, the apostle Paul has, near the end of his life, turned to the crucial business of institutionalization. He knows that the institution of the Church is inevitable, and he, more than anyone, knows the temptations that will beset that institution. But the fact that temptations will necessarily come to the best-planned institution is no argument for planning the whole thing poorly. If the temptations finally overwhelm the poor little ecclesiastical functionaries, and they go the way of all flesh, a well-planned set of institutional blueprints (as we find in the pastorals) will provide the marching orders for the inevitable reformers. If the Temple falls into disrepair, we may still take heart—a copy of Deuteronomy remains in its shambles of a library, and Josiah will find it." -From the Introduction