simplicity and the later monarchical tendency. If these let- ters are the work of Paul before his first imprisonment, their notes of church polity do n6t consist with those of his other letters written during that period. If they were composed by Paul a few years after his first imprisonment, the period is too early for the change in polity which they indicate.
In view of all these facts, it seems unlikely that these Epis- tles are the work of Paul. The writer was probably a Paul- ine Christian in the early part of the second century, who, in view of the doctrinal errors and moral looseness of his age, desired to emphasise the orthodox doctrine of the church, to advocate a definite ecclesiastical polity as a permanent safe- guard against error, and to enforce practical rules of conduct. These counsels and warnings he issued in the name of Paul, whose letters he evidently knew, whose character he revered, and whose language he tried to imitate. To this he was, per- haps, moved by the fact that contemporary heretics, in some cases, laid claim to the authority of Paul, and in other cases openly repudiated it. It is probable that he based these let- ters upon genuine Pauline material — despatches, or fragments of letters to Timothy and Titus, which had fallen into his hands. It may be conceded that the letters have a Pauline nucleus. The writer probably assumed that the addresses of his letters to Timothy and Titus would attract attention and carry weight, since these teachers were representatives of churches.
To stigmatise such a proceeding as forgery is to treat the conditions of that early time from the point of view of our ownage. No literary fraud was contemplated by the writer or ascribed to him. The practice of issuing a work in the name of some distinguished person was common, and was rec- ognised as legitimate. A whole class of writings, chiefly apocalyptic, and known as pseudepigraphic or pseudonymous, appeared in the times immediately preceding and succeeding the beginning of the Christian era. Such were the Book of Enoch, the Sibylline Oracles, and the Psalter of Solomon. Precedent was furnished by the Old Testament writings. The Psalmists adopted the names of David, Asaph, and the