Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 27:3 (Summer 2013)
Article: Editor’s Reflections
Author: William David Spencer

PP 27:3 (Summer 2013) p. 2

Editor’s Reflections

William David Spencer

The dream of every truly Christian parent is to raise godly offspring—children who live wholeheartedly for Christ no matter what the cost. This dream was fulfilled by the daughters of a father named Pudens.

Pudens makes an undisputed appearance in the New Testament, but he does not figure prominently: a mere two words in Paul’s closing remarks to Timothy, “and Pudens,” in the second letter to Timothy 4:21, as the apostle ends this—his final— letter with greetings from those courageous enough to stand by him in his last imprisonment.

Paul’s penultimate sentence reads like an honor roll: among a group, he specifies three coworking men and one woman, “Eubulus and Pudens and Linus and Claudia.” His last words bless Timothy and all the saints, “The Lord [be] with your spirit. Grace be with all of you (plural),” and Paul falls silent. We know that his legal problems are increasing (2 Tim 4:6, 14, 16). Eventually, he will be transferred to the dreaded cistern, a hole under the pavement in downtown Rome—the final incarceration of the condemned, inaccessible except by lowering by rope. Into this cistern, seasonably, the Tiber River overflows, flooding it and threatening to drown its inmates. It is pitch dark, putrid, mildewed, filled with nothing but vermin and the hopeless moaning of the other condemned.

Roman citizens like Paul await only a jerking up of the rope, a final summary transfer to the Appian Way on the outskirts of the city, and execution by beheading. Noncitizens like Peter, who was also imprisoned there, faced greater tortures, including crucifixion.

To stand by a prisoner thus condemned and run the risk of accusation took uncommon courage. Even Paul’s appreciative letter naming Pudens and the others could have triggered accusation and arrest, trial, and a similar fate. For Claudia, Eubulus, Linus (who went on to become an overseer of the church of Rome and suffer eventual martyrdom), and Pudens to render such assistance put them at great risk. Obviously, they were great heroes of faith. Can we know anything at all about them?

Recently, we had the privilege to search through Rome, culling data about Paul’s last days there and the Christians who stood by him. My wife, the Rev. Dr. Aída Besançon Spencer, professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, was researching her two-volume commentary on the Pastoral Epistles coming this autumn from Cascade’s New Covenant Commentary series. What we learned about Pudens was fascinat...