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  • Writer's pictureThomas Gissler

Eschatological Themes and Their Function in the Pastorals

Updated: Nov 25, 2022


While commenting on the relationship between ethics and eschatology in Paul, L. J. Kreitzer asserts, “Paul’s letters demonstrate a close connection between eschatology and ethical exhortation,” [1] and, “Indeed, it is possible to see the whole of Paul’s ethical teaching as providing instruction about how the Christian is to live in the interval between the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and his future parousia. In the evocation phrase of Sampey, Paul’s moral teaching involves teaching the Christian about walking ‘between the times’.” [2] I agree with Kreitzer's analysis, and I think it is safe to suggest that both current (to Paul’s day and ours) and future eschatological realities serve as a core foundation upon which Pauline exhortations are built and established. The following article will focus on just three of those eschatological themes, and trace their function in the Pastorals.


In the Pastoral letters, the following three eschatological themes are central; (1) “hope”, (2) the “latter days”, and (3) Christ’s “appearing.” The eschatological concept of “hope” is established by Paul no later than 1 Tim. 1:1, where Christ is referred to as “our hope” (τῆς ἐλπίδος ἡμῶν), and is referenced three more times in the letter, where in each instance Christians are called to set their hope upon God (4:1; 5:5; 6:17). This Christian hope is directed toward God's faithfulness to quickly bring to fruition those promised realities associated with Christ’s “appearing” (6:14), another eschatological concept prominent in the Pastorals. In fact, these two concepts are intimately connected in Paul, as seen in Titus 2:13, where the “blessed hope” and “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” are found side-by-side, both acting as direct objects for the participle “προσδεχόμενοι,” translated into the English as “looking for.” It is likely that the "hope" here is the "redemption of our bodies" for which we "eagerly wait" (Rom. 8:23-25), and which we will receive at Christ's glorious appearance (ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ [1 Cor. 15:23]). This eschatalogical concept of “hope” is central to Titus as well, twice being explicitly connected to the promise of eternal life to be received in the eschaton (Tit. 1:2; 3:7). In a majority of the instances in which this concept is found in the Pastorals, it is functioning as either the basis for, the evidence of, or the activity which characterizes a life devoted to God. Thus, for Paul, the “hope” of still future salvific realities approaching from the eschaton serves as a primary motivator for godly living, and similarly, a godly life is a primary criterion used to ascertain whether an individual is fixing their hope upon God in Christ or not.


The second eschatological concept central to the Pastorals, or at least the two epistles to Timothy, is the “latter days,” which in 1 Tim. 4:1 is “ὑστέροις καιροῖς,” or, "the last times," and in 2 Tim. 3:1 is, “ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις,” or, "the last days." It is in these last days, which have presumably arrived in Paul’s own day, that wicked men will infiltrate the covenant community and lead many astray with their false teaching (2 Tim. 3:8). It is in light of the presence of these “last-days,” with false teachers and the coming apostasy that will follow them, that Paul calls Timothy to “continue in what you have learned and firmly believed” (2 Tim. 3:14), to “preach the word” (4:2), to “put these things before the brothers” (1 Tim. 4:6), and to “command and teach these things” (4:11). Here we see clearly the close relationship between eschatological realities and ethical exhortation in Paul. The last days have arrived, and the urgency of present, expectant faithfulness is therefore crucial.


The third eschatological concept central to the Pastorals is the “appearing” (ἐπιφάνειαν) of Christ. Christ’s “appearing” is a day of both eschatological judgment and reward (2 Tim 4:1, 8), and is set forth by Paul as a chief basis for faithful and godly living in the present age (1 Tim. 6:14, 2 Tim. 4:1, 8; Tit. 2:12-13). In fact, in the Pastorals, there are two “appearings” set forth, the first referring to the first advent of Christ (2 Tim. 1:9-10; Tit. 2:11), and the second referring to His re-appearance on the final day of judgment and eternal reward (2 Tim. 4:1, 8). According to Paul in Tit. 2:11-14, Christ’s first appearing brought divine grace which instructs us to put away sin, to live godly lives, and to look for His second appearing. Thus, Christ’s second appearing is the focal point toward which godly living extends, and the basis upon which it is pursued.






[1] L. J. Krreitzer, "Eschatology," Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1993), 265.


[2] Ibid, 266.

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