Why did St. Paul never once send greetings to the wives (and children) of SS. Timothy and Titus?

[raumzeitmc2]

From Wikipedia:

“The Pauline epistles are also noteworthy for the personal relationships they mention. Paul greets many individuals by name, often giving details about the value of these friendships and the encouragement they gave him.” - Pauline epistles.

Nevertheless, in none of his epistles does Fr. Paul ever once mention either the wives or children of his “beloved” sons, SS. Timothy and Titus! Yet at the beginning of his second epistle to St. Timothy for example, we find St. Paul mentioning both Timothy’s grandmother and mother – and both by name!

“I remember that unfeigned faith of thine, which dwelt in thy grandmother Lois and in thy mother Eunice, and dwells, I am certain, in thee also.”

But search the entire Pauline corpus all you please; nowhere will you find so much as a whisper about wives or children of his “beloved sons!”

Very curious, especially given that Timothy and Titus were bishops, and, at least according to some folks, such bishops had to be married!

Anyone else find this strange?

 

[gelsbern]

Hrmm, all the time my boss sends out emails, he never mentions any of my co-workers wives and children and that’s odd because I know my co-workers are married. In fact I don’t think he has ever mentioned wives or children in any written letter he has sent to my co-workers. I asked, and was answered with the question “why would he mention them, they don’t work for him?”

 

[DCNBILL]

To believe that we have all of the letters that Paul wrote, I think would be a misconception.

 

[KathleenGee]

He was writing to those with whom he had a working relationship.

 

[elvisman]

Hrmm, all the time my boss sends out emails, he never mentions any of my co-workers wives and children and that’s odd because I know my co-workers are married. In fact I don’t think he has ever mentioned wives or children in any written letter he has sent to my co-workers. I asked, and was answered with the question “why would he mention them, they don’t work for him?”

**And your boss isn’t St. Paul.
Paul often asked about these sorts of relations - as was pointed out.
He saw his “co-workers” as part of his family in Christ - NOT simply “employees”.

 

[Major_Minor]

What is the point of the question? Are you inferring there was some lack of acknowledgment of wives in general because Paul is a misogynist?

A) Paul acknowledged and sent several greetings to women in scripture.

1. Maybe the wives of the people mentioned had not converted to Christianity, then what would be the point of their having to be acknowledged in a pastoral letter to a church?
2. Where would this need to greet logically end? What if he had acknowledged all of the wives of the people that you mentioned… would the next problem be that he didn’t include nieces?

 

[KathleenGee]

What is important is that we are recognizing the work of the Holy Spirit, not gender issues.

 

[Reepicheep]

As DCNBILL points out, we don’t know whether we have all of Paul’s letters.
In fact I think we have good reason to believe we do not. After all he must have written many such letters in his lifetime, more than appear in the Scriptures.
In any case, at best this is lack of evidence – and lack of evidence is not evidence of lack.

 

[Major_Minor]

Where do you get this idea that Bishops -had- to be married?

 

[josephdaniel29]

From Wikipedia:

“The Pauline epistles are also noteworthy for the personal relationships they mention. Paul greets many individuals by name, often giving details about the value of these friendships and the encouragement they gave him.” - Pauline epistles.

Nevertheless, in none of his epistles does Fr. Paul ever once mention either the wives or children of his “beloved” sons, SS. Timothy and Titus! Yet at the beginning of his second epistle to St. Timothy for example, we find St. Paul mentioning both Timothy’s grandmother and mother – and both by name!

“I remember that unfeigned faith of thine, which dwelt in thy grandmother Lois and in thy mother Eunice, and dwells, I am certain, in thee also.”

But search the entire Pauline corpus all you please; nowhere will you find so much as a whisper about wives or children of his “beloved sons!”

Very curious, especially given that Timothy and Titus were bishops, and, at least according to some folks, such bishops had to be married!

Anyone else find this strange?

Honestly I don’t get the point.

 

[Hesychios]

Very curious, especially given that Timothy and Titus were bishops, and, at least according to some folks, such bishops had to be married!

Had to be? I doubt that.

Anyone else find this strange?

The letters to Timothy and Titus were probably not written by Paul. The authorship of both is disputed, and the inconsistency you point out could be some additional evidence to strengthen that contention.

 

[raumzeitmc2]

Hrmm, all the time my boss sends out emails, he never mentions any of my co-workers wives and children …

Someone should have a word with your boss! LOL

And your boss *isn’t *St. Paul.
**Paul often **asked about these sorts of relations - as was pointed out.
He saw his “co-workers” as part of his family in Christ - NOT simply “employees”.

That’s exactly how I see it! Bishops were not merely “co-workers” to St. Paul; they were his family, and members of the Body of Christ! The apostle had an intensely “personal relationship,” not only with Christ, but also with his body, the Church. In other words, he had a deep and personal relationship with, to use Augustine’s phrase, “the whole Christ,” Head and members! And in fact, anything short of that kind of relationship would be unchristian!

Major Minor,

Where do you get this idea that Bishops -had- to be married?

From Protestants! But of course, that wouldn’t be the first time they’ve been wrong …

Major Minor,

What is the point of the question? Are you inferring there was some lack of acknowledgment of wives in general because Paul is a misogynist?

Not at all!! *Furthest *thing from my mind!

josephdaniel29,

Honestly I don’t get the point.

Point is that Timothy and Titus were St. Paul’s “beloved sons,” that Paul often greeted many people by name, that if Timothy and Titus had in fact, been married, it would have been (so it would seem) an *unpardonable affront *for anyone - but especially the holy apostle himself - to not send greetings to their families. On the other hand, if they were unmarried bishops, then Paul’s silence would make perfect sense.

Hesychios,

The letters to Timothy and Titus were probably not written by Paul. The authorship of both is disputed, and the inconsistency you point out could be some additional evidence to strengthen that contention.

Well, that’s definitely for another thread …