Becoming Justice in the Church

The paper examines instructions of a legal nature contained in the pseudepigraphical Pastoral Epistles and in Paul, with the objective of exploring factors involved in legal education through a comparison of these texts. Since Paul leaves matters of order to be regulated by his communities, the difference between the two does not lie in an alleged dichotomy of charisma and law, but in an "institutionalization process" that has meanwhile advanced. By way of example, this paper examines the rules of "excommunication" (Tit 3,10; cf. 1Tim 1,20), the institution of widows (1Tim 5,3-16) and the remuneration of presbyters including further provisions regarding their office (1Tim 5,17-25). This results in hermeneutic insights regarding the understanding of the Pastoral Epistles, as well as the theological place of law in the church.