In his post Secrets and lies and the deeper scandal of the evangelical mind, Fred Clark poses this hypothetical exchange:
Question: Who wrote the second epistle to Timothy in the New Testament?
Fundamentalist preacher: Paul.
Biblical scholar: We don’t know, but Paul was long dead by the time it was probably written, so not him.
Evangelical pastor: (glances over both shoulders warily, leans in, whispering) Who’s asking?
The point he’s making here (and in the rest of his post) is important, and one that I generally agree with. However, in his eagerness to draw distinctions between varying approaches to the Bible, Clark oversimplifies the issue of the authorship of 2 Timothy. (more…)