In the New Testament, the Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy, usually referred to simply as Second Timothy and often written 2 Timothy or II Timothy, is one of the three pastoral epistles traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. The three epistles are called "pastoral" because they relate to the conduct of church leaders, thought of as pastors. It is traditionally considered to be the last epistle he wrote before his death. It is addressed to Timothy, a fellow missionary. The Epistle advocates endurance as the main quality for a preacher of the gospel. As a good soldier for Jesus Christ, he is to be pure, noble, and ready to take his share of suffering. In Paul's farewell, he describes himself as at the end of his career and awaiting the crown of righteousness. Although the Pastorals are written under Paul's name, they are different from his other epistles, and since the early 19th century, scholars have increasingly seen them as the work of an unknown student of Paul's doctrine. They are believed to have been written between 90 and 140. They do not address Paul's common themes, such as the believers' unity with Christ, and they reflect a church hierarchy that is more organized and defined than the church was in Paul's time. Some scholars refer to the assumedly pseudonymous author as "the Pastor". Some recent scholarship has concluded that Paul probably used an amanuensis, or secretary, in writing his letters which was a common practice in the first century.
Authorship
Modern critical scholars argue that 2 Timothy was not written by Paul but by an anonymous author, sometime between 90 and 140 AD. The language and ideas of this epistle are notably different from the other two Pastoral letters yet similar to the later Pauline letters, especially the ones he wrote in captivity. This has led some scholars to conclude that the author of 2 Timothy is a different person from 1 Timothy and Titus. Raymond E. Brown proposed that this letter was written by a follower of Paul who had knowledge of Paul's last days. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, however, argued that this epistle was written by Paul and that the other two pastoral epistles were written by someone else using this epistle as a model, and that it is the only still-extant letter written by Paul after Romans.
Content
According to the letter, Paul urges Timothy not to have a "spirit of timidity" and not to "be ashamed to testify about our Lord". He also entreats Timothy to come to him before winter, and to bring Mark with him. He was anticipating that "the time of his departure was at hand", and he exhorts his "son Timothy" to all diligence and steadfastness in the face of false teachings, with advice about combating them with reference to the teachings of the past, and to patience under persecution, and to a faithful discharge of all the duties of his office, with all the solemnity of one who was about to appear before the Judge of the quick and the dead. Paul clearly anticipates his being put to death and realities beyond in his valedictory found in 2 Timothy 4:6–8: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 2 Timothy contains one of Paul's Christological Hymns in 2:11–13: or For a discussion of 2 Timothy 3:16–17 on Biblical inspiration, see. Portions of 2 Timothy parallel the Epistle to the Philippians, also believed to be written near the time of Paul's death. Based on the traditional view that 2 Timothy was Paul's final epistle, chapter 4 mentions about how Demas, formerly considered a "fellow worker", had deserted him for Thessalonica, "having loved this present world". In sharp contrast to his dispute with Barnabas over Mark, which resulted in the two parting ways, Paul now considered Mark to be "profitable to the ministry". The chapter also features the only Biblical mention of Linus, who in Roman Catholic tradition is listed as Peter's immediate successor as Bishop of Rome.
