Grace Evangelical Society

P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202
  • About
    • Home
    • Beliefs
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • Resources
    • Grace in Focus Magazine
    • Grace in Focus Radio
    • Free eBooks
    • Journal of the GES
    • Book Reviews
    • Partners in Grace Newsletter
    • Audio Messages
    • Videos
    • Blog
    • Su Gracia Gratuita (Spanish Blog)
    • Graça sem limites (Portuguese Blog)
    • Email Subscription
    • Bookstore
    • Online Tracts
  • Store
    • Main Page
    • On Sale
    • Return Policy
    • Your Cart
    • Your Account
  • Events
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Free Grace Church and Bible Study Tracker
    • Free Grace Jobs
    • Ministry Links
  • Donate
    • One Time Donation
    • Monthly Donation
    • Your Account
  • Search
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Home
→
Journal Articles
→
Book Reviews
→
Historical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles

Historical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles

Posted in Book Reviews

Historical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles By William M. Ramsay. Ed. by Mark Wilson. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1996. 160 pp. Paper, $9.99.

Many religious writers have doubted or denied the historical reliability of at least parts of the Bible. Few, however, have gone out to test these theories as did Sir William Ramsay (1851-1939). His good results are known to many, but not to enough, as F. F. Bruce pointed out. Sir William studied at Aberdeen and Oxford and was the first professor of classical art and archaeology at Oxford. He traveled in Paul’s footsteps and found in his archeological research that Luke was very accurate in his use of local terms in the book of Acts. In a sense, this helpful book is a reprint, though it was not originally a book, but 31 essays from 1909-1911 in The Expositor, Seventh Series. By careful editing Wilson has produced a modern, readable, and conservative volume. Ramsay was politically incorrect: He believed Paul wrote these letters.

His view on church leaders is that they were special, but not a separate class in the clergy/laity bifurcation that began to evolve in the late first or early second centuries, especially in Asia (Province). He believed elders held office for life, barring a very major failing. Also, he held that each presbyter must have all the qualifications that Paul lists in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.

Some of the interesting topics that Sir William covers are: False Teachers, the Idea of Motherhood in the Letters of Paul, Deaconesses, Slaves, the Family as the Basis of the Organized Church, and the Pauline Philosophy of History as Expressed in the Pastoral Epistles.

Those who appreciated Ramsay’s classics, St. Paul the Traveller and Roman Citizen, Historical Commentary on Galatians, and The Letters to the Seven Churches, will want this book.

Arthur L. Farstad
Editor
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
Dallas, TX

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • StumbleUpon
Art Farstad

by Art Farstad

Art Farstad (1935-1998) was Executive Editor of the New King James Version of the Bible, co-editor of the Hodges-Farstad Majority Text of the NT, and a gentleman par excellance.

Cart

Recently Added

April 9, 2021

Dios Recompensa a los Que le Buscan

Una de las cosas que realmente aprecio del movimiento de la Gracia Gratuita en general, y de la GES en particular, es cómo nos ha...
April 9, 2021

Romans–Part 2–Romans 1:16 (concl.), Romans 10:1

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. We are currently going through a series, where we look at five books in the new testament, to see...
April 9, 2021

You Can At Least Put Up With One Another (Ephesians 4:2)

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness,...

Grace in Focus Radio

All Episodes

Listen to Stitcher

Listen on Spotify

Grace In Focus Magazine

Grace In Focus is sent to subscribers in the United States free of charge.

Subscribe for Free

The primary source of Grace Evangelical Society's funding is through charitable contributions. GES uses all contributions and proceeds from the sales of our resources to further the gospel of grace in the United States and abroad.

Donate

Bookstore Specials

  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Hardcover) $13.95 $5.00
  • Absolutely Free, 2nd Edition $20.00 $10.00
  • The Grace New Testament Commentary (Revised Edition) $35.00 $25.00
  • Best of Zane Hodges - 2 DVD Set $40.00 $15.00
  • Confident in Christ, 2nd Edition $22.00 $8.00
Grace Evangelical Society
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

(940) 270-8827 / ges@faithalone.org

4851 S I-35E Suite 203, Corinth, TX 76210
P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202

Tweets by GESwebmaster