Pastor's Letter or Enduring Scripture

John Pavlovitz, in an excellent though mostly unrelated post, referred to the writings of Paul as pastoral letters. I am, in general, not a fan of Paul. I think he tends to say things that are overzealous and mean sprited. However, in the context of pastoral letters, his writings take on a whole different meaning. They are written not as permanent instructions, but to fix problems and raise faith in the present time and place. He is at times a great & poetic writer & his writing is worth keeping & studying for the beauty and history. But it is not and was never meant as instructions for how to live our faith outside of that time and those congregations.