How I Study the Bible
26 January, 2024
It has been suggested that Catholics, such as myself, don't read the Bible. That's ridiculous, of course, a mistaken notion grown up over the years since the Reformation.
However, there is a small ring of
truth to it, because what we normally don't do is engage in the modern
version of, “Bible study.” In this activity, one normally cherry-picks snippets of
verse from Scripture, and then makes arguments to support our self-interpretation of these fragments.
We Catholics don't do that much, however, because it is considered a perilous method, fraught with the possibility of error, and Scripture itself does not endorse such individualized perusal. Therefore, we tend to view the entire context of Scriptural
passages to glean meaning and full understanding. Along with this approach, we use scholarly
reinforcement and commentary, often from ancient,
well-studied resources much closer to the original texts than we are, today...
Also, where reference from other parts of Scripture applies, we'll typically call those out as well for further examination.
Along these lines, I thought it might interest a few of you more intrepid souls to see how I might go about it.
Since we
honored Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles yesterday, and HIS most
beloved co-teacher, Timothy, today, I've chosen a chapter section
from Paul's first letter to Timothy for review.
This was selected
because as I was going through it, I stumbled across the very familiar verse about money being the
root of all evil. That will surely get everyone's attention.
Without further ado....
BACKGROUND:
The Letters (Epistles) to Timothy, From Paul, The Apostle To The Gentiles
Also, where reference from other parts of Scripture applies, we'll typically call those out as well for further examination.
Along these lines, I thought it might interest a few of you more intrepid souls to see how I might go about it.
Since we honored Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles yesterday, and HIS most beloved co-teacher, Timothy, today, I've chosen a chapter section from Paul's first letter to Timothy for review.
This was selected because as I was going through it, I stumbled across the very familiar verse about money being the root of all evil. That will surely get everyone's attention.
Without further ado....
BACKGROUND:
The Letters (Epistles) to Timothy, From Paul, The Apostle To The Gentiles
The three letters, First and Second Timothy, and Titus, form a distinct group within the Pauline corpus, and they differ from his others in form and content.
All three suggest they were written late in Paul’s career, with attention given especially to correct doctrine and church organization. Jesus’ second coming recedes into the background, compared to Paul’s earlier letters, and they are addressed to those who shepherd congregations (Latin, pastores).
Called “Pastoral Epistles,” they are all concerned with the work of a pastor in caring for the community, or communities, under his charge.
Todays Reading,
Our passage today comes from the end of the first of the Pastorals, 1 Timothy, where Timothy is apparently administering among the community at Ephesus.
The letter instructs Timothy on his duty to restrain false and useless teaching and proposes principles pertaining to his relationship with the community. Of note in todays readings are the obligations of the wealthier members of the community. This letter also reminds Timothy of the prophetic character of his office and encourages him in his exercise of it.
The central passage of 1 Timothy, in the third chapter, expresses the principal motive that Paul wanted to impress on Timothy's conduct — to preserve the purity of the church’s doctrine against false teaching.
On this same note the letter concludes in chapter 6, wherein today's study takes place.
===== ===== =====
False Teaching and True Wealth
The three letters, First and Second Timothy, and Titus, form a distinct group within the Pauline corpus, and they differ from his others in form and content.
All three suggest they were written late in Paul’s career, with attention given especially to correct doctrine and church organization. Jesus’ second coming recedes into the background, compared to Paul’s earlier letters, and they are addressed to those who shepherd congregations (Latin, pastores).
Called “Pastoral Epistles,” they are all concerned with the work of a pastor in caring for the community, or communities, under his charge.
Todays Reading,
Our passage today comes from the end of the first of the Pastorals, 1 Timothy, where Timothy is apparently administering among the community at Ephesus.
The letter instructs Timothy on his duty to restrain false and useless teaching and proposes principles pertaining to his relationship with the community. Of note in todays readings are the obligations of the wealthier members of the community. This letter also reminds Timothy of the prophetic character of his office and encourages him in his exercise of it.
The central passage of 1 Timothy, in the third chapter, expresses the principal motive that Paul wanted to impress on Timothy's conduct — to preserve the purity of the church’s doctrine against false teaching.
On this same note the letter concludes in chapter 6, wherein today's study takes place.
===== ===== =====
Teach
and Urge These Things.
3. *
Whoever teaches something different and does not agree with the
sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the religious teaching c
4.
is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid disposition for
arguments and verbal disputes. From these come envy, rivalry,
insults, evil suspicions,
5. and
mutual friction among people with corrupted minds, who are deprived
of the truth, supposing religion to be a means of gain. d
6. ** Indeed, religion with contentment is a great gain. e
7. For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it. f
8, If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that. g
9. Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. h
10. For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.
Exhortations to Timothy.*
11. But you, Man of God,* avoid all this. Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. i
12. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses. j
13. I charge [you] before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession, k
14. to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ
15. that the blessed and only ruler will make manifest at the proper time, the King of kings and Lord of lords, l
16. who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal power. Amen. m
Right Use of Wealth.*
17. * Tell the rich in the present age not to be proud and not to rely on so uncertain a thing as wealth but rather on God, who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. n
18. Tell them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share,
19. thus accumulating as treasure a good foundation for the future, so as to win the life that is true life. o
VI. Final Recommendation and Warning*
20. * O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid profane babbling and the absurdities of so-called knowledge. p
21. By professing it, some people have deviated from the faith.
Grace
be with all of you. q
Examination
*
[6:3–10]
Timothy is exhorted to steadfastly maintain the position outlined
in this letter, not allowing himself to be pressured into any other
course. And there were many pressures being felt in those days.
Most of us today imagine that it was... “Well, Jesus came, and
alleluia! We are good to go, now!”
In a word..., no.
There
were many pressures facing the early Christians, from persecution by
both the Romans and Jews, to upstart, heretical, “Jesus cults”
(more on that, below).
Thus, not the least of these pressures
came from false teachers in the day.
So, Timothy is admonished to
discern these false teachers by their pride, envy, quarrelsomeness,
and greed for material gain.... since the false teachers of his time
usually expected payment for their preaching.
** 1Tm
6:6
This
particular verse
is
rather obscure and is interpreted, and therefore translated,
variously. As it fits into the whole, the obvious suggestion is that the important gain from
religion is spiritual, but that there may also be material gain, too,
up to the point of what is needed for physical sustenance (see also 1
Tm 6:17–19).
NOTE
The
word 'contentment' used in the earliest Greek text(s) is,
“autarkeia.”
This
is a Greek philosophical term, one that would be commonly known at
the time. Technically, it describes the virtue of independence from
material goods, and was widely applied by Aristotle, the Cynics and
Stoics, etc.... so it was familiar to the educated writer of this
letter, Paul.
*
[6:11–16]
Timothy’s position demands total dedication to God and
faultless witness to Christ (1Tm
6:11–14),
operating from an awareness, through faith, of the coming revelation
in Jesus of the invisible God (1
Tm 6:15–16).
*
[6:11] "Man of God": here we see a title from Hebrew Scripture, one applied to Moses and the prophets (Dt
33:1;
1
Sm 2:27;
1
Kgs 12:22;
13:1;
etc.), and used, familiarly, as an honorific by Paul, to Timothy.
*
[6:17–19]
Timothy is directed to instruct the rich, advising them to make
good use of their wealth by aiding the poor.
*
[6:20–21]
A final solemn warning against heretical teachers is
delivered, with what seems to be a specific reference to Gnosticism,
the great rival and enemy of the church for two centuries and more
(the Greek word for “knowledge” is gnōsos).
If Gnosticism is indeed being referred to here, it is probable that the
warnings against “speculations,” and “myths and genealogies,”
(see especially 1
Tm 1:4;
Ti
3:9)
point to that heresy.
So, What was Gnosticism? This heresy, Gnosticism, was a Christological cult that existed from the 1st through the 5th centuries. At first, it basically taught that Jesus was never human. But it evolved into an esoteric, complex web of belief that combined near-eastern mythology and, "cosmic consciousness," with some very mixed, and
UN-CHRISTLIKE notions about Jesus.
For example, the early Gnostics denied the humanity of Christ. They preached that Jesus was a "phantom" with no real body. But, since they could not deny those who had actually lived with a very tangible Jesus, they eventually concocted the notion that he was ethereal and luminous – a hologram, if you like.
Either way, the Gnostics held that Christ never possessed a true flesh and blood body.
They also thought that
Christ was not God-Made-Man and consubstantial with God, but rather,
that He was a minor member of a superhuman hierarchy of
intermediaries, called, “auras,” between God and Man. Thus, they
saw Jesus as a kind of angelic bouncer for God, and just one among many.
The
Gnostics also taught that they had access to secret knowledge, the "Secrets of the Universe," and unless one was lucky enough to be chosen to
receive their teachings you could not enter heaven.
This explains why the early doctrine of
Christ as the sole "mediator" between God and man was firmly developed
and emphasized.
Fully developed Gnosticism belonged to the second and
later centuries, and it eventually developed into what amounts to a separate religion of its own.... and The Church would be plagued by it into the Medieval period and beyond. One could even say that todays "New Age-ism" is a continuaton of it.
However, the truly heretical and emergent forms of it, like docetism, belonged to Paul’s own
period.
Further references indicated in the texts:
c. [6:3] Gal 1:6–9; 2 Tm 1:13; Ti 1:1.
d. [6:5] 2 Tm 3:8; 4:4; Ti 1:14.
e. [6:6] 4:8; Phil 4:11–12; Heb 13:5.
j. [6:12] 1 Cor 9:26; 2 Tm 4:7.
l. [6:15] 2 Mc 13:4; Rev 17:14.
q.
[6:21] 1:6; 2 Tm
2:18.
Source: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1timothy/0
Comments made outside the resources indicated are wholly my own, and are just that - clarifying comments
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