Chapter 30

THE EPISTLES OF PAUL--1. General Remarks on the Epistles--2. Paul's Epistles all written in the Prosecution of his Work as the Apostle to the Gentiles--Nature of this Work--3. Paul's Peculiar Qualifications for this Work--His Mode of Procedure--Union in him of Firmness and Flexibility--4. Character of the Apostle's Style--5. Points to be noticed in the Separate Epistles--Notices of Paul's Labors in the Acts of the Apostles--6. Present Arrangement of Paul's Epistles and of the Epistles generally--Chronological Order of Paul's Epistles--Four Groups of these Epistles--I. _Epistle to the Romans_--7. Date and Place of this Epistle--8. Composition of the Roman Church--9. Occasion and Design of the Epistle--Its General Outlines--10. Special Office of this Epistle--II. _Epistles to the Corinthians_--_First Epistle_--11. Place and Time of its Composition--12. Notices of the Corinthian Church--Occasion of the Apostle's Writing--13. General Tone of the Epistle as contrasted with that to the Galatians--_Second Epistle_--14. Place and Time of its Composition--15. Its Occasion--Prominence of the Apostle's Personality in this Epistle and its Ground--Peculiarities of its Diction--Its Office in the Economy of Revelation--III. _Epistle to the Galatians_--16. Historical Notice of Galatia--Missionary Visits of the Apostle to that Province--Date of the Present Epistle and Place of Composition--17. Occasion and Design--18. Outlines of the Epistle--The Historic Part, the Argumentative, the Practical--IV. _Epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon_--19. Contemporaneousness of these Epistles--20. Place and Date--21. Chronological Order of the First Two--_Epistle to the Colossians_--22. Notices of Colosse and the Church there--Occasion of this Epistle--Character of the False Teachers at Colosse--23. Outlines of the Epistle--Its Argumentative Part, its Practical--The Epistle from Laodicca--_Epistle to the Ephesians_--24. Notices of Ephesus--Labors of Paul at Ephesus--Occasion of the Present Epistle--Its General Character--Various Hypotheses respecting it--25. Its Outlines--Its Argumentative Part, its Practical--_Epistle to Philemon_--26. Its Occasion and Design--V. _Epistle to the Philippians_--27. Notices of Philippi and the Formation of the Church there--28. Occasion of this Epistle--Place and Date of its Composition--29. Its Character--General View of its Contents--VI. _Epistles to the Thessalonians_--30. Notices of Thessalonica and the Apostle's Labors there--_First Epistle to the Thessalonians_--31. Date and Place of its Composition--32. Its Occasion and Design--Outlines of the Epistle--_Second Epistle_--33. Place of Writing and Date--Its Design--Its General Outlines--34. Comparison between the Epistles to the Thessalonians and that to the Philippians--VII. _The Pastoral Epistles_--35. The Date of these Epistles and Related Questions--36. Character of the False Teachers referred to in these Epistles--37. Genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles--38. Their Office--_First Epistle to Timothy_--39. Its Date and Place of Composition--Its Occasion and Design--Its Contents--Scriptural Notices of Timothy--_Epistle to Titus_--40. Its Agreement with the Preceding Epistle--The Cretan Church and Titus--_Second Epistle, to Timothy_--41. Its Occasion and Character in Contrast with the Two Preceding Epistles--Its Office--_Epistle to the Hebrews_--42. Question of its Authorship--How it was regarded in the Eastern Church--How in the Western--General Remark--43. Persons addressed in this Epistle--Time and Place of its Composition--Manner of Reference to the Levitical Priesthood and Temple Services--44. Central Theme of this Epistle--Dignity of Christ's Person in Contrast with the Ancient Prophets, with Angels, and with Moses--Divine Efficacy of his Priesthood in Contrast with that of the Sons of Aaron--Design of the Epistle--Its Office in the System of Revelation