,libraries7 ,transcriber's ,note3 ,this e-text is intended for users whose text readers cannot display the ,unicode 7utf-#h7 version of the file4 ,greek words have been transliterated and enclosed in equals signs1 e4g4 didach4 ,italic words in the original have been enclosed in underscores in this version4 ,as the oe ligature cannot be included in this file format1 for consistency both ae and oe ligatures have been replaced with the separate letters throughout4 ,a few minor typographical errors have been silently corrected4 ,some inconsistent hyphenation has been retained4 ,the ,table of ,contents and ,index refer to original page numbers4 ,,the ,,expositor',s ,,bible4 ,,edited ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,w4 ,,robertson ,,nicoll1 ,m4,a41 ,editor of ,the ,expositor4 ,,the ,,pastoral ,,epistles4 ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,alfred ,,plummer1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,,toronto3 ,,willard ,,tract ,,depository ,,and ,,bible ,,dep,t1 ,,corner ,,of ,,yonge ,,and ,,temperance ,,streets4 #ahhh4 ,,the ,,pastoral ,,epistles4 ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,alfred ,,plummer1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d41 ,master of ,university ,college1 ,durham2 formerly ,fellow and ,senior ,tutor of ,trinity ,college1 ,oxford2 ,author of ,the ,church of the ,early ,fathers1 and ,editor of ,the ,gospel and ,epistles of ,st4 ,john1 etc4 ,,toronto3 ,,willard ,,tract ,,depository ,,and ,,bible ,,dep,t1 ,,corner ,,of ,,yonge ,,and ,,temperance ,,streets4 #ahhh4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,,introductory4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,character ,,and ,,the ,,genuineness ,,of ,,the ,,pastoral ,,epistles #c #a ,,timothy4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,timothy ,,the ,,beloved ,,disciple ,,of ,s4 ,,paul4--,,his ,,life ,,and ,,character #ai ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,doctrine ,,condemned ,,in ,,the ,,pastoral ,,epistles ,a ,,jewish ,,form ,,of ,,gnosticism4--,,the ,,gnostic',s ,,problem #cb ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,moral ,,teaching ,,of ,,the ,,gnostics4--,,its ,,modern ,,counterpart #db ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,lord',s ,,compassion ,,in ,,enabling ,a ,,blasphemer ,,and ,a ,,persecutor ,,to ,,become ,a ,,servant ,,of ,,christ ,,jesus ,,and ,a ,,preacher ,,of ,,the ,,gospel #eb ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,prophecies ,,on ,,timothy4--,,the ,,prophets ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,testament ,,an ,,exceptional ,,instrument ,,of ,,edification #fb ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,punishment ,,of ,,hymenaeus ,,and ,,alexander4--,,delivering ,,to ,,satan ,,an ,,exceptional ,,instrument ,,of ,,purification4--,,the ,,personality ,,of ,,satan #gb ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,elements ,,of ,,christian ,,worship3 ,,intercessory ,,prayer ,,and ,,thanksgiving4--,,the ,,solidarity ,,of ,,christendom ,,and ,,of ,,the ,,human ,,race #hb ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,behaviour ,,in ,,christian ,,worship4--,,men',s ,,attitude ,,of ,,body ,,and ,,mind4--,,women',s ,,attire ,,and ,,ornament #id ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,the ,,christian ,,ministry4--,,various ,,certainties ,,and ,,probabilities ,,distinguished #ajd ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,the ,,apostle',s ,,rule ,,respecting ,,second ,,marriages4--,,its ,,meaning ,,and ,,present ,,obligation #aah ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,human ,,conduct ,,to ,,the ,,mystery ,,of ,,godliness #acj ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,comparative ,,value ,,of ,,bodily ,,exercise ,,and ,,of ,,godliness #ada ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,pastor',s ,,behaviour ,,towards ,,women4--,,the ,,church ,,widow #aea ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,the ,,pastor',s ,,responsibilities ,,in ,,ordaining ,,and ,,judging ,,presbyters4--,,the ,,works ,,that ,,go ,,before ,,and ,,that ,,follow ,,us #afd ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,nature ,,of ,,roman ,,slavery ,,and ,,the ,,apostle',s ,,attitude ,,towards ,,it4--,a ,,modern ,,parallel #age ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,gain ,,of ,a ,,love ,,of ,,godliness ,,and ,,the ,,ungodliness ,,of ,a ,,love ,,of ,,gain #ahh ,,titus4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,the ,,epistle ,,to ,,titus4--,,his ,,life ,,and ,,character #bja ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,,the ,,church ,,in ,,crete ,,and ,,its ,,organization4--,,the ,,apostle',s ,,directions ,,for ,,appointing ,,elders #bab ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,,christianity ,,and ,,unchristian ,,literature #bbd ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,meaning ,,and ,,value ,,of ,,sobermindedness4--,,the ,,use ,,and ,,abuse ,,of ,,religious ,,emotion #bcg ,,chapter ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,moral ,,condition ,,of ,,slaves4--,,their ,,adornment ,,of ,,the ,,doctrine ,,of ,,god #bdh ,,chapter ,,xxiii4 ,,hope ,,as ,a ,,motive ,,power4--,,the ,,present ,,hopes ,,of ,,christians #bei ,,chapter ,,xxiv4 ,,the ,,duty ,,of ,,obedience ,,to ,,authority ,,with ,,its ,,limits4--,,the ,,duty ,,of ,,courtesy ,,without ,,limits #bgj ,,chapter ,,xxv4 ,,the ,,co-,,operation ,,of ,,the ,,divine ,,persons ,,in ,,effecting ,,the ,,new ,,birth4--,,the ,,laver ,,of ,,regeneration #bhb ,,chapter ,,xxvi4 ,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,heresy ,,in ,,the ,,new ,,testament ,,and ,,the ,,apostle',s ,,directions ,,respecting ,,heretical ,,persons #bid #b ,,timothy4 ,,chapter ,,xxvii4 ,,the ,,character ,,and ,,contents ,,of ,,the ,,last ,,epistle ,,of ,s4 ,,paul4--,,the ,,nemesis ,,of ,,neglected ,,gifts #cji ,,chapter ,,xxviii4 ,,the ,,heartlessness ,,of ,,phygelus ,,and ,,hermogenes4--,,the ,,devotion ,,of ,,onesiphorus4--,,prayers ,,for ,,the ,,dead #cai ,,chapter ,,xxix4 ,,the ,,need ,,of ,,machinery ,,for ,,the ,,preservation ,,and ,,transmission ,,of ,,the ,,faith4--,,the ,,machinery ,,of ,,the ,,primitive ,,church #cca ,,chapter ,,xxx4 ,,the ,,christian',s ,,life ,,as ,,military ,,service2 ,,as ,,an ,,athletic ,,contest2 ,,as ,,husbandry #cdc ,,chapter ,,xxxi4 ,,the ,,power ,,of ,a ,,belief ,,in ,,the ,,resurrection ,,and ,,the ,,incarnation4--,,the ,,gospel ,,of ,s4 ,,paul #cec ,,chapter ,,xxxii4 ,,the ,,need ,,of ,a ,,solemn ,,charge ,,against ,a ,,controversial ,,spirit1 ,,of ,a ,,diligence ,,free ,,from ,,shame1 ,,and ,,of ,a ,,hatred ,,of ,,the ,,profanity ,,which ,,wraps ,,up ,,error ,,in ,,the ,,language ,,of ,,truth #cfd ,,chapter ,,xxxiii4 ,,the ,,last ,,days4--,,the ,,bearing ,,of ,,the ,,mention ,,of ,,jannes ,,and ,,jambres ,,on ,,the ,,question ,,of ,,inspiration ,,and ,,the ,,errors ,,current ,,in ,,ephesus #cge ,,chapter ,,xxxiv4 ,,the ,,perils ,,of ,,rationalism ,,and ,,the ,,responsibilities ,,of ,a ,,lifelong ,,contact ,,with ,,truth4--,,the ,,properties ,,of ,,inspired ,,writings #che ,,chapter ,,xxxv4 ,,the ,,paradoxical ,,exultation ,,of ,,the ,,apostle4--,,his ,,apparent ,,failure ,,and ,,the ,,apparent ,,failure ,,of ,,the ,,church4--,,the ,,great ,,test ,,of ,,sincerity #cig ,,chapter ,,xxxvi4 ,,the ,,personal ,,details ,a ,,guarantee ,,of ,,genuineness #djf ,,chapter ,,xxxvii4 ,,the ,,apostle ,,forsaken ,,by ,,men ,,but ,,strengthened ,,by ,,the ,,lord4--,,the ,,mission ,,to ,,the ,,gentiles ,,completed4--,,the ,,sure ,,hope1 ,,and ,,the ,,final ,,hymn ,,of ,,praise #dah ,,introductory4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,character ,,and ,,the ,,genuineness ,,of ,,the ,,pastoral ,,epistles4 ,paul1 an ,apostle of ,christ ,jesus4--#a ,,tim4 i2 #b ,,tim4 i4 #a4 ,paul1 a servant of ,god1 and an ,apostle of ,jesus ,christ4--,,titus i4 #a4 ,the first question which confronts us on entering upon the study of the ,pastoral ,epistles is that of their authenticity1 which of late has been confidently denied4 ,in reading them are we reading the farewell words of the great ,apostle to the ministers of ,christ8 ,or are we reading only the well-meant but far less weighty counsels of one who in a later age assumed the name and imitated the style of ,st4 ,paul8 ,it seems necessary to devote the first of these expositions to a discussion of this question4 ,the title ,pastoral ,epistles could hardly be improved1 but it might easily be misunderstood as implying more than is actually the case4 ,it calls attention to what is the most conspicuous1 but by no means the only characteristic in these ,epistles4 ,although the words which most directly signify the pastor's office1 such as shepherd1 feed1 tend1 and flock1 do not occur in these letters and do occur elsewhere in ,scripture1 yet in no other books in the ,bible do we find so many directions respecting the pastoral care of ,churches4 ,the title is much less appropriate to #b ,timothy than to the other two ,epistles4 ,all three are both pastoral and personal2 but while #a ,timothy and ,titus are mainly the former1 #b ,timothy is mainly the latter4 ,the three taken together stand between the other ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul and the one to ,philemon4 ,like the latter1 they are personal2 like the rest1 they treat of large questions of ,church doctrine1 practice1 and government1 rather than of private and personal matters4 ,like that to ,philemon1 they are addressed1 not to ,churches1 but to individuals2 yet they are written to them1 not as private friends1 but as delegates1 though not mere delegates1 of the ,apostle1 and as officers of the ,church4 ,moreover the important ,church matters of which they treat are regarded1 not1 as in the other ,epistles1 from the point of view of the congregation or of the ,church at large1 but rather from that of the overseer or minister4 ,and1 as being official rather than private letters1 they are evidently intended to be read by other persons besides ,timothy and ,titus4 ,among the ,epistles which bear the name of ,st4 ,paul none have excited so much controversy as these1 especially as regards their genuineness4 ,but the controversy is entirely a modern one4 ,it is little or no exaggeration to say that from the first century to the nineteenth no one ever denied or doubted that they were written by ,st4 ,paul4 ,it is true that certain heretics of the second century rejected some or all of them4 ,marcion1 and perhaps ,basilides1 rejected all three4 ,tatian1 while maintaining the ,apostolicity of the ,epistle to ,titus1 repudiated those to ,timothy4 ,and ,origen tells us that some people doubted about #b ,timothy because it contained the names of ,jannes and ,jambres1 which do not occur in the ,old ,testament4 ,but it is well known that ,marcion in framing his mutilated and meagre canon of the ,scriptures1 did not profess to do so on critical grounds4 ,he rejected everything excepting an expurgated edition of ,st4 ,luke and certain ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul1--not because he doubted their authenticity1 but because he disliked their contents4 ,they did not fit into his system4 ,and the few others who rejected one or more of these ,epistles did so in a similar spirit4 ,they did not profess to find that these documents were not properly authenticated1 but they were displeased with passages in them4 ,the evidence1 therefore1 justifies us in asserting that1 with some very slight exception in the second century1 these three ,epistles were1 until quite recent times1 universally accepted as written by ,st4 ,paul4 ,this large fact is greatly emphasized by two considerations4 7#a7 ,the repudiation of them by ,marcion and others directed attention to them4 ,they were evidently not accepted by an oversight1 because no one thought anything about them4 7#b7 ,the evidence respecting the general acceptance of them as ,st4 ,paul's is full and positive1 and reaches back to the earliest times4 ,it does not consist merely or mainly in the absence of evidence to the contrary4 ,tertullian#a wonders what can have induced ,marcion1 while accepting the ,epistle to ,philemon1 to reject those to ,timothy and ,titus3 and of course those who repudiated them would have pointed out weak places in their claim to be canonical1 if such had existed4 ,and even if we do not insist upon the passages in which these ,epistles are almost certainly quoted by ,clement#b of ,rome 7c4 ,a4,d4 #ie71 ,ignatius of ,antioch 7c4 ,a4,d4 #aab71 ,polycarp of ,smyrna 7c4 ,a4,d4 #aab71 and ,theophilus of ,antioch 7c4 ,a4,d4 #ahj71 we have direct evidence of a very convincing kind4 ,they are found in the ,peshitto1 or early ,syriac ,version1 which was made in the second century4 ,they are contained in the ,muratorian canon1 the date of which may still be placed as not later than ,a4,d4 #agj4 ,irenaeus1 the disciple of ,polycarp1 states that ,paul mentions ,linus in the ,epistle to ,timothy1 and he quotes ,titus iii4 #aj with the introduction as ,paul also says4 ,eusebius renders it probable that both ,justin ,martyr and ,hegesippus quoted from #a ,timothy2 and he himself places all three ,epistles among the universally accepted books and not among the disputable writings3 i4e41 he places them with the ,gospels1 ,acts1 #a ,peter1 #a ,john1 and the other ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul1 and not with ,james1 #b ,peter1 #b and #c ,john1 and ,jude4 ,in this arrangement he is preceded by ,clement of ,alexandria and ,tertullian1 both of whom quote frequently from all three ,epistles1 sometimes as the words of ,scripture1 sometimes as of the ,apostle1 sometimes as of ,paul1 sometimes as of the ,spirit4 ,occasionally it is expressly stated that the words quoted are addressed to ,timothy or to ,titus4 ,it would take us too far afield to examine in detail the various considerations which have induced some eminent critics to set aside this strong array of external evidence and reject one or more of these ,epistles4 ,they fall in the main under four heads4 7#a7 ,the difficulty of finding a place for these letters in the life of ,st4 ,paul as given us in the ,acts and in his own writings4 7#b7 ,the large amount of peculiar phraseology not found in any other ,pauline ,epistles4 7#c7 ,the ,church organization indicated in these letters which is alleged to be of a later date than ,st4 ,paul's time4 7#d7 ,the erroneous doctrines and practices attacked1 which are also said to be those of a later age4 ,to most of these points we shall have to return on some future occasion3 but for the present this much may be asserted with confidence4 7#a7 ,in the ,acts and in the other ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul the ,apostle's life is left incomplete4 ,there is nothing to forbid us from supposing that the remaining portion amounted to several years1 during which these three letters were written4 ,the ,second ,epistle to ,timothy in any case has the unique interest of being the last extant utterance of the ,apostle ,st4 ,paul4 7#b7 ,the phraseology which is peculiar to each of these ,epistles is not greater in amount than the phraseology which is peculiar to the ,epistle to the ,galatians1 which even ,baur admits to be of unquestionable genuineness4 ,the peculiar diction which is common to all three ,epistles is well accounted for by the peculiarity of the common subject1 and by the fact that these letters are separated by several years from even the latest among the other writings of ,st4 ,paul4#c 7#c1 #d7 ,there is good reason for believing that during the lifetime of ,st4 ,paul the organization of the ,church corresponded to that which is sketched in these letters1 and that errors were already in existence such as these letters denounce4 ,although the controversy is by no means over1 two results of it are very generally accepted as practically certain4 7#a7 ,the three ,epistles must stand or fall together4 ,it is impossible to accept two1 or one1 or any portion of one of them1 and reject the rest4 7#b7 ,they stand or fall with the hypothesis of ,st4 ,paul's second imprisonment4 ,if the ,apostle was imprisoned at ,rome only once1 and was put to death at the end of that imprisonment1 then these three letters were not written by him4 7#a7 ,the ,epistles stand or fall together3 they are all three genuine1 or all three spurious4 ,we must either with the scholars of the ,early ,church1 of the ,middle ,ages1 and of the ,renaissance1 whether ,roman or ,protestant1 and with a clear majority of modern critics1#d accept all three letters2 or else with ,marcion1 ,basilides1 ,eichhorn1 ,bauer1 and their followers1#e reject all three4 ,as ,credner himself had to acknowledge1 after having at first advocated the theory1 it is impossible to follow ,tatian in retaining ,titus as apostolic1 while repudiating the other two as forgeries4 ,nor have the two scholars#f who originated the modern controversy found more than one critic of eminence to accept their conclusion that both ,titus and #b ,timothy are genuine1 but #a ,timothy not4 ,yet another suggestion is made by ,reuss1 that #b ,timothy is unquestionably genuine1 while the other two are doubtful4 ,and lastly we have ,pfleiderer admitting that #b ,timothy contains at least two sections which have with good reason been recognized as genuine 7i4 #ae-ah and iv4 #i-ba71 and ,renan asking whether the forger of these three ,epistles did not possess some authentic letters of ,st4 ,paul which he has enshrined in his composition4#g ,it will be seen1 therefore1 that those who impugn the authenticity of the ,pastoral ,epistles are by no means agreed among themselves4 ,the evidence in some places is so strong1 that many of the objectors are compelled to admit that the ,epistles are at least in part the work of ,st4 ,paul4 ,that is1 certain portions1 which admit of being severely tested1 are found to stand the test1 and are passed as genuine1 in spite of surrounding difficulties4 ,the rest1 which does not admit of such testing1 is repudiated on account of the difficulties4 ,no one can reasonably object to the application of whatever tests are available1 nor to the demand for explanations of difficulties4 ,but we must not treat what cannot be satisfactorily tested as if it had been tested and found wanting2 nor must we refuse to take account of the support which those parts which can be thoroughly sifted lend to those for which no decisive criterion can be found4 ,still less must we proceed on the assumption that to reject these ,epistles or any portion of them is a proceeding which gets rid of difficulties4 ,it is merely an exchange of one set of difficulties for another4 ,to unbiassed minds it will perhaps appear that the difficulties involved in the assumption that the ,pastoral ,epistles are wholly or partly a forgery1 are not less serious than those which have been urged against the well-established tradition of their genuineness4 ,the very strong external evidence in their favour has to be accounted for4 ,it is already full1 clear1 and decided1 as soon as we could at all expect to find it1 viz41 in ,irenaeus1 ,clement of ,alexandria1 and ,tertullian4 ,and it must be noticed that these witnesses give us the traditional beliefs of several chief centres in ,christendom4 ,irenaeus speaks with full knowledge of what was accepted in ,asia ,minor1 ,rome1 and ,gaul2 ,clement witnesses for ,egypt1 and ,tertullian for ,north ,africa4 ,and although the absence of such support would not have caused serious perplexity1 their direct evidence is very materially supported by passages closely parallel to the words of the ,pastoral ,epistles found in writers still earlier than ,irenaeus4 ,renan admits the relationship between #b ,timothy and the ,epistle of ,clement of ,rome1 and suggests that each writer has borrowed from a common source4 ,pfleiderer admits that the ,epistle of ,ignatius to ,polycarp displays striking points of contact with #b ,timothy4 ,bauer's theory1 that all three letters are as late as ,a4,d4 #aej1 and are an attack on ,marcion1 finds little support now4 ,but we are still asked to believe that #b ,timothy was forged in the reign of ,trajan 7#ih-aag7 and the other two ,epistles in the reign of ,hadrian 7#aag-ach74 ,is it credible that a forgery perpetrated ,a4,d4 #abj-ace would in less than fifty years be accepted in ,asia ,minor1 ,rome1 ,gaul1 ,egypt1 and ,north ,africa1 as a genuine letter of the ,apostle ,st4 ,paul8 ,and yet this is what must have happened in the case of #a ,timothy1 if the hypothesis just stated is correct4 ,nor is this all1 ,marcion1 as we know1 rejected all three of the ,pastoral ,epistles2 and ,tertullian cannot think why ,marcion should do so4 ,but1 when ,marcion was framing his canon1 about the reign of ,hadrian1 #b ,timothy according to these dates1 would be scarcely twenty years old1 and #a ,timothy would be brand-new4 ,if this had been so1 would ,marcion1 with his intimate knowledge of ,st4 ,paul's writings1 have been in ignorance of the fact2 and if he had known it1 would he have failed to denounce the forgery8 ,or again1 if we assume that he merely treated this group of ,epistles with silent contempt1 would not his rejection of them1 which was well-known1 have directed attention to them1 and caused their recent origin to be quickly discovered8 ,from all which it is manifest that the theory of forgery by no means frees us from grave obstacles4 ,it will be observed that the external evidence is large in amount and overwhelmingly in favour of the ,apostolic authorship4 ,the objections are based on internal evidence4 ,but some of the leading opponents admit that even the internal evidence is in favour of certain portions of the ,epistles4 ,let us1 then1 with ,renan1 ,pfleiderer1 and others admit that parts of #b ,timothy were written by ,st4 ,paul2 then there is strong presumption that the whole letter is by him2 for even the suspected portions have the external evidence in their favour1 together with the support lent to them by those parts for which the internal evidence is also satisfactory4 ,add to which the improbability that any one would store up genuine letters of ,st4 ,paul for fifty years and then use parts of them to give substance to a fabrication4 ,or let us with ,reuss contend that in #b ,timothy the whole ,epistle is so completely the natural expression of the actual situation of the author1 and contains1 unsought and for the most part in the form of mere allusions1 such a mass of minute#h and unessential particulars1 that even did the name of the writer not chance to be mentioned at the beginning it would be easy to discover it4 ,then there is strong presumption that the other two letters are genuine also2 for they have the external evidence on their side1 together with the good character reflected upon them by their brother ,epistle4 ,this result is of course greatly strengthened1 if1 quite independently of #b ,timothy1 the claims of ,titus to be ,apostolic are considered to be adequate4 ,with two of the three letters admitted to be genuine1 the case for the remaining letter becomes a strong one4 ,it has the powerful external evidence on its side1 backed up by the support lent to it by its two more manifestly authentic companions4 ,thus far1 therefore1 we may agree with ,baur3 ,the three ,epistles are so much alike that none of them can be separated from the others2 and from this circumstance the identity of their authorship may be confidently inferred4#i ,but when he asserts that whichever of this family of letters be examined will appear as the betrayer of his brethren1 he just reverses the truth4 ,each letter1 upon examination1 lends support to the other two2 and a threefold cord is not easily broken4 ,the strongest member of the family is #b ,timothy3 the external evidence in its favour is ample1 and no ,epistle in the ,new ,testament is more characteristic of ,st4 ,paul4 ,it would be scarcely less reasonable to dispute #b ,corinthians4 ,and if #b ,timothy be admitted1 there is no tenable ground for excluding the other two4 ,,ii4 ,but not only do the three ,epistles stand or fall together1 they stand or fall with the hypothesis of the release and second imprisonment of the ,apostle4 ,the contention that no place can be found for the ,pastoral ,epistles in the narrative of the ,acts is valid2 but it is no objection to the authenticity of the ,epistles4 ,the conclusion of the ,acts implies that the end of ,st4 ,paul's life is not reached in the narrative4 ,he abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling1 implies that after that time a change took place4 ,if that change was his death1 how unnatural not to mention it6 ,the conclusion is closely parallel to that of ,st ,luke's ,gospel2 and we might almost as reasonably contend that they were continually in the temple1 proves that they were never clothed with power from on high1 because they were told to tarry in the city until they were so clothed1 as contend that abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling1 proves that at the end of the two years came the end of ,st4 ,paul's life4 ,let us grant that the conclusion of the ,acts is unexpectedly abrupt1 and that this abruptness constitutes a difficulty4 ,then we have our choice of two alternatives4 ,either the two years of imprisonment were followed by a period of renewed labour1 or they were cut short by the ,apostle's martyrdom4 ,is it not more easy to believe that the writer did not consider that this new period of work1 which would have filled many chapters1 fell within the scope of his narrative1 than that he omitted so obvious a conclusion as ,st4 ,paul's death1 for which a single verse would have sufficed8 ,but let us admit that to assert that ,st4 ,paul was released at the end of two years is to maintain a mere hypothesis3 yet to assert that he was not released is equally to maintain a mere hypothesis4 ,if we exclude the ,pastoral ,epistles1 ,scripture gives no means of deciding the question1 and whichever alternative we adopt we are making a conjecture4 ,but which hypothesis has most evidence on its side8 ,certainly the hypothesis of the release4 7#a7 ,the ,pastoral ,epistles1 even if not by ,st4 ,paul1 are by some one who believed that the ,apostle did a good deal after the close of the ,acts4 7#b7 ,the famous passage in ,clement of ,rome 7,cor4 v47 tells that ,st4 ,paul won the noble renown which was the reward of his faith1 having taught righteousness unto the whole world1 and having reached the furthest bound of the ,west 7to terma ts dyses74 ,this probably means ,spain2#aj and if ,st4 ,paul ever went to ,spain as he hoped to do 7,rom4 xv4 #bd1 #bh71 it was after the imprisonment narrated in the ,acts4 ,clement gives us the tradition in ,rome 7c4 ,a4,d4 #ie74 7#c7 ,the ,muratorian fragment 7c4 ,a4,d4 #agj7 mentions the departure of ,paul from the city to ,spain4 7#d7 ,eusebius 7,h4,e41 ,,ii4 xxii4 #b7 says that at the end of the two years of imprisonment1 according to tradition1 the ,apostle went forth again upon the ministry of preaching1 and on a second visit to the city ended his career by martyrdom under ,nero2 and that during this imprisonment he composed the ,second ,epistle to ,timothy4 ,all this does not amount to proof2 but it raises the hypothesis of the release to a high degree of probability4 ,nothing of this kind can be urged in favour of the counter hypothesis4 ,to urge the improbability that the labours of these last few years of ,st4 ,paul's life would be left unrecorded is no argument4 7#a7 ,they are partly recorded in the ,pastoral ,epistles4 7#b7 ,the entire labours of most of the ,twelve are left unrecorded4 ,even of ,st4 ,paul's life1 whole years are left a blank4 ,how fragmentary the narrative in the ,acts must be is proved by the autobiography in #b ,corinthians4 ,that we have very scanty notice of ,st4 ,paul's doings between the two imprisonments does not render the existence of such an interval at all doubtful4 ,the result of this preliminary discussion seems to show that the objections which have been urged against these ,epistles are not such as to compel us to doubt that in studying them we are studying the last writings of the ,apostle of the ,gentiles4 ,if any doubts still survive1 a closer examination of the details will1 it is hoped1 tend to remove rather than to strengthen them4 ,when we have completed our survey1 we may be able to add our testimony to those who through many centuries have found these writings a source of ,divine guidance1 warning1 and encouragement1 especially in ministerial work4 ,the experience of countless numbers of pastors attests the wisdom of the ,church1 or in other words the good ,providence of ,god1 in causing these ,epistles to be included among the sacred ,scriptures4 ,it is an established fact1 as ,bernhard ,weiss rightly points out 7,introduction to the ,new ,testament1 vol4 i41 p4 #daj71 that the essential1 fundamental features of the ,pauline doctrine of salvation are even in their specific expression reproduced in our ,epistles with a clearness such as we do not find in any ,pauline disciple1 excepting perhaps ,luke or the ,roman ,clement4 ,whoever composed them had at his command1 not only ,st4 ,paul's forms of doctrine and expression1 but large funds of ,apostolic zeal and discretion1 such as have proved capable of warming the hearts and guiding the judgments of a long line of successors4 ,those who are conscious of these effects upon themselves will probably find it easier to believe that they have derived these benefits from the great ,apostle himself1 rather than from one who1 with however good intentions1 assumed his name and disguised himself in his mantle4 ,henceforward1 until we find serious reason for doubt1 it will be assumed that in these ,epistles we have the farewell counsels of none other than ,st ,paul4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,adv4 ,marc41 ,v4 xxi4 #b ,clem4 ,rom4 ,i4 ii41 xxix41 lxi42 ,ign4 ,magn4 viii41 ,pol4 passim2 ,polycarp1 iv2 ,theoph4 ,autol41 ,,iii41 xiv12 ,iren41 ,haer41 ,,iii4 iii4 #c1 #d2 ,euseb4 ,h4 ,e41 ,,iii4 xxv41 #b41 xxvi4 #d41 xxxii4 #h4 #c ,the wealth and mobility of the ,pauline intellect 444 must not be fettered in mode of teaching or expression by a rule taken from a number of older epistles arbitrarily selected4--,,bernhard ,,weiss1 ,introduction to the ,n4 ,t41 i4 p4 #daj 7,hodder3 #ahhg74 #d ,among them ,alford1 ,baumgarten1 ,beck1 ,dllinger1 ,fairbairn1 ,farrar1 ,guericke1 ,herzog1 ,hofmann1 ,huther1 ,klling1 ,lange1 ,lightfoot1 ,neander1 ,oosterzee1 ,otto1 ,plumptre1 ,salmon1 ,schaff1 ,thiersch1 ,wace1 ,wieseler1 ,wiesinger1 ,wordsworth4 #e ,among them ,credner1 ,s4 ,davidson1 ,ewald1 ,hausrath1 ,hilgenfeld1 ,holtzmann1 ,mangold1 ,schenkel1 and on the whole ,de ,wette4 #f ,schmidt and ,schleiermacher followed by ,bleek4 #g ,similar admissions1 which are quite fatal to the view that the three ,epistles are not genuine1 are made by ,hausrath1 ,immer and ,lemme2 while ,ewald1 ,hitzig1 ,krenkel1 and ,weisse think that ,titus contains authentic fragments4 ,see the exposition of #b ,tim4 iv4 #i-ba4 #h ,what forger would have thought of the cloak 7or book-case7 left at ,troas with ,carpus1 or would have been careful to speak only of the house of ,onesiphorus1 and not of himself1 in two places8 #i ,paul1 his ,life and ,works1 ,pt4 ,,ii41 ch4 viii4 ,eng4 ,trans41 p4 #aje4 #aj ,it cannot possibly mean ,rome2 least of all in a document written in ,rome4 ,rome was a centre1 not a frontier4 ,,the ,,first ,,epistle ,,to ,,timothy4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,timothy ,,the ,,beloved ,,disciple ,,of ,,st4 ,,paul4 ,,his ,,life ,,and ,,character4 ,timothy1 my true child in faith4--#a ,,tim4 i4 #b4 ,timothy1 my beloved child4--#b ,,tim4 i4 #b4 ,in the relation of ,st4 ,paul to ,timothy we have one of those beautiful friendships between an older and a younger man which are commonly so helpful to both4 ,it is in such cases1 rather than where the friends are equals in age1 that each can be the real complement of the other4 ,each by his abundance can supply the other's want1 whereas men of equal age would have common wants and common supplies4 ,in this respect the friendship between ,st4 ,paul and ,timothy reminds us of that between ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,john4 ,in each case the friend who took the lead was much older than the other2 and 7what is less in harmony with ordinary experience7 in each case it was the older friend who had the impulse and the enthusiasm1 the younger who had the reflectiveness and the reserve4 ,these latter qualities are perhaps less marked in ,st4 ,timothy than in ,st4 ,john1 but nevertheless they are there1 and they are among the leading traits of his character4 ,st4 ,paul leans on him while he guides him1 and relies upon his thoughtfulness and circumspection in cases requiring firmness1 delicacy1 and tact4 ,of the affection with which he regarded ,timothy we have evidence in the whole tone of the two letters to him4 ,in the sphere of faith ,timothy is his own true child 7not merely adopted1 still less supposititious71 and his beloved child4 ,st4 ,paul tells the ,corinthians that as the best means of making them imitators of himself he has sent unto them ,timothy1 who is my beloved and faithful child in the ,lord1 who shall put you in remembrance of my ways which be in ,christ1 even as ,i teach everywhere in every ,church 7#a ,cor4 iv4 #ag74 ,and a few years later he tells the ,philippians that he hopes to send ,timothy shortly unto them1 that he may know how they fare4 ,for he has no one like him1 who will have a genuine anxiety about their welfare4 ,the rest care only for their own interests4 ,but the proof of him ye know1 that1 as a child a father1 so he slaved with me for the ,gospel 7ii4 #bb74 ,of all whom he ever converted to the faith ,timothy seems to have been to ,st4 ,paul the disciple who was most beloved and most trusted4 ,following the example of the fourth ,evangelist1 ,timothy might have called himself ,the disciple whom ,paul loved4 ,he shared his spiritual father's outward labours and most intimate thoughts4 ,he was with him when the ,apostle could not or would not have the companionship of others4 ,he was sent on the most delicate and confidential missions4 ,he had charge of the most important congregations4 ,when the ,apostle was in his last and almost lonely imprisonment it was ,timothy whom he summoned to console him and receive his last injunctions4 ,there is another point in which the beloved disciple of the ,pastoral ,epistles resembles the beloved disciple of the ,fourth ,gospel4 ,we are apt to think of both of them as always young4 ,christian art nearly invariably represents ,st4 ,john as a man of youthful and almost feminine appearance4 ,and1 although in ,timothy's case1 painters and sculptors have not done much to influence our imagination1 yet the picture which we form for ourselves of him is very similar to that which we commonly receive of ,st4 ,john4 ,with strange logic this has actually been made an argument against the authenticity of the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,myth1 we are told1 has given to this ,christian ,achilles the attributes of eternal youth4 ,timothy was a lad of about fifteen when ,st4 ,paul converted him at ,lystra1 in or near ,a4,d4 #de2 and he was probably not yet thirty-five when ,st4 ,paul wrote the ,first ,epistle to him4 ,even if he had been much older there would be nothing surprising in the tone of ,st4 ,paul's letters to him4 ,it is one of the commonest experiences to find elderly parents speaking of their middle-aged children as if they were still boys and girls4 ,this trait1 as being so entirely natural1 ought to count as a touch beyond the reach of a forger rather than as a circumstance that ought to rouse our suspicions1 in the letters of ,paul the aged#aa to a friend who was thirty years younger than himself4 ,once more1 the notices of ,timothy which have come down to us1 like those which we have respecting the beloved disciple1 are very fragmentary2 but they form a beautiful and consistent sketch of one whose full portrait we long to possess4 ,timothy was a native1 possibly of ,derbe1 but more probably of the neighbouring town of ,lystra1 where he was piously brought up in a knowledge of the ,jewish ,scriptures by his grandmother ,lois and his mother ,eunice4 ,it was probably during ,st ,paul's first visit to ,lystra1 on his first missionary journey1 that he became the boy's spiritual father1 by converting him to the ,christian faith4 ,it was at ,lystra that the ,apostle was stoned by the mob and dragged outside the city as dead3 and there is no improbability in the suggestion that1 when he recovered consciousness and re-entered the town1 it was in the home of ,timothy that he found shelter4 ,in any case ,lystra was to the ,apostle a place of strangely mixed associations2 the brutality of the pagan multitude side by side with the tender friendship of the young ,timothy4 ,when ,st4 ,paul on his next missionary journey again visited ,lystra he found ,timothy already enjoying a good report among the ,christians of that place and of ,iconium for his zeal and devotion during the six or seven years which had elapsed since his first visit4 ,perhaps he had been engaged in missionary work in both places4 ,the voices of the prophets had singled him out as one worthy of bearing office in the ,church2 and the ,apostle1 still grieving over the departure of ,barnabas with ,john ,mark1 recognized in him one who with ,silas could fill the double vacancy4 ,the conduct of the ,apostle of the ,gentiles on this occasion has sometimes excited surprise4 ,previously to the ordination1 ,paul1 the great proclaimer of the abrogation of the ,law by the ,gospel1 circumcised the young evangelist4 ,the inconsistency is more apparent than real4 ,it was an instance of his becoming all things to all men for the salvation of souls1 and of his sacrificing his own convictions in matters that were not essential1 rather than cause others to offend4 ,timothy's father had been a ,gentile1 and the son1 though brought up in his mother's faith1 had never been circumcised4 ,to ,st4 ,paul circumcision was a worthless rite4 ,the question was1 whether it was a harmless one4 ,this depended upon circumstances4 ,if1 as among the ,galatians1 it caused people to rely upon the ,law and neglect the ,gospel1 it was a superstitious obstacle with which no compromise could be made4 ,but if it was a passport whereby preachers1 who would otherwise be excluded1 might gain access to ,jewish congregations1 then it was not only a harmless but a useful ceremony4 ,in the synagogue ,timothy as an uncircumcised ,jew would have been an intolerable abomination1 and would never have obtained a hearing4 ,to free him from this crippling disadvantage1 ,st4 ,paul subjected him to a rite which he himself knew to be obsolete4 ,then followed the ordination1 performed with great solemnity by the laying on of the hands of all the elders of the congregation3 and the newly ordained ,evangelist forthwith set out to accompany ,paul and ,silas in their labours for the ,gospel4 ,wherever they went they distributed copies of the decrees of the ,apostolic ,council at ,jerusalem1 which declared circumcision to be unnecessary for ,gentiles4 ,their true position with regard to circumcision was thus made abundantly evident4 ,for the sake of others they had abstained from availing themselves of the very liberty which they proclaimed4 ,in the ,troad they met ,luke the beloved physician 7as indicated by the sudden use of the first person plural in the ,acts71 and took him on with them to ,philippi4 ,here probably1 as certainly afterwards at ,beroea1 ,timothy was left behind by ,paul and ,silas to consolidate their work4 ,he rejoined the ,apostle at ,athens1 but was thence sent back on a mission to ,thessalonica1 and on his return found ,st4 ,paul at ,corinth4 ,the two ,epistles written from ,corinth to the ,thessalonians are in the joint names of ,paul and ,timothy4 ,at ,corinth1 as at ,lystra1 ,iconium1 and ,philippi1 ,timothy became prominent for his zeal as an evangelist2 and then for about five years we lose sight of him4 ,we may think of him as generally at the side of ,st4 ,paul1 and as always working with him2 but of the details of the work we are ignorant4 ,about ,a4,d4 #eg he was sent by ,st4 ,paul on a delicate mission to ,corinth4 ,this was before #a ,corinthians was written2 for in that letter ,st4 ,paul states that he has sent ,timothy to ,corinth1 but writes as if he expected that the letter would reach ,corinth before him4 ,he charges the ,corinthians not to aggravate the young evangelist's natural timidity1 and not to let his youth prejudice them against him4 ,when ,st4 ,paul wrote #b ,corinthians from ,macedonia later in the year1 ,timothy was again with him1 for his name is coupled with ,paul's3 and he is still with him when the ,apostle wrote to the ,romans from ,corinth1 for he joins in sending salutations to the ,roman ,christians4 ,we find him still at ,st4 ,paul's side on his way back to ,jerusalem through ,philippi1 the ,troad1 ,tyre1 and ,caesarea4 ,and here we once more lose trace of him for some years4 ,we do not know what he was doing during ,st4 ,paul's two years' imprisonment at ,caesarea2 but he joined him during the first imprisonment at ,rome1 for the ,epistles to the ,philippians1 the ,colossians1 and ,philemon are written in the names of ,paul and ,timothy4 ,from the passage already quoted from ,philippians we may conjecture that ,timothy went to ,philippi and returned again before the ,apostle was released4 ,at the close of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews we read1 ,know ye that our brother ,timothy hath been set at liberty4 ,it is possible that the imprisonment to which this notice refers was contemporaneous with the first imprisonment of ,st4 ,paul1 and that it is again referred to in #a ,timothy 7vi4 #ab7 as the good confession which he confessed in the sight of many witnesses4 ,the few additional facts respecting ,timothy are given us in the two letters to him4 ,some time after ,st4 ,paul's release the two were together in ,ephesus2 and when the ,apostle went on into ,macedonia he left his companion behind him to warn and exhort certain holders of erroneous doctrine to desist from teaching it4 ,there were tears1 on the younger friend's side at any rate1 to which ,st4 ,paul alludes at the opening of the ,second ,epistle2 and they were natural enough4 ,the task imposed upon ,timothy was no easy one2 and after the dangers and sufferings to which the ,apostle had been exposed1 and which his increasing infirmities continually augmented1 it was only too possible that the friends would never meet again4 ,so far as we know1 these gloomy apprehensions may have been realized4 ,in his first letter1 written from ,macedonia1 ,st4 ,paul expresses a hope of returning very soon to ,timothy2 but1 like some other hopes expressed in ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles1 it was perhaps never fulfilled4 ,the second letter1 written from ,rome1 contains no allusion to any intermediate meeting4 ,in this second letter he twice implores ,timothy to do all he can to come to him without delay1 for he is left almost alone in his imprisonment4 ,but whether ,timothy was able to comply with this wish we have no means of knowing4 ,we like to think of the beloved disciple as comforting the last hours of his master2 but1 although the conjecture may be a right one1 we must remember that it is conjecture and no more4 ,with the ,second ,epistle to him ends all that we really know of ,timothy4 ,tradition and ingenious guesswork add a little more which can be neither proved nor disproved4 ,more than two hundred years after his death1 ,eusebius tells us that he is related to have held the office of overseer of the diocese of ,ephesus2 and five centuries later ,nicephorus tells us1 that he was beaten to death by the ,ephesian mob for protesting against the licentiousness of their worship of ,artemis4 ,it has been conjectured that ,timothy may be the ,angel of the ,church of ,ephesus1 who is partly praised and partly blamed in the ,apocalypse1 and parallels have been drawn between the words of blame in ,rev4 ii4 #d1 #e1 and the uneasiness which seems to underlie one or two passages in the ,second ,epistle to ,timothy4 ,but the resemblances are too slight to be relied upon4 ,all we can say is1 that even if the later date be taken for the ,apocalypse1 ,timothy may have been overseer of the ,church of ,ephesus at the time when the book was written4 ,but of all the scattered memorials that have come down to us respecting this beautiful friendship between the great ,apostle and his chief disciple1 the two letters of the older friend to the younger are by far the chief4 ,and there is so much in them that fits with exquisite nicety into the known conditions of the case1 that it is hard to imagine how any forger of the second century could so have thrown himself into the situation4 ,where else in that age have we evidence of any such literary and historical skill8 ,the tenderness and affection1 the anxiety and sadness1 the tact and discretion1 the strength and large-mindedness of ,st4 ,paul are all there2 and his relation to his younger but much-trusted disciple is quite naturally sustained throughout4 ,against this it is not much to urge that there are some forty words and phrases in these ,epistles which do not occur in the other ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul4 ,the explanation of that fact is easy4 ,partly they are words which in his other ,epistles he had no need to use2 partly they are words which the circumstances of these later letters suggested to him1 and which those of the earlier letters did not4 ,the vocabulary of every man of active mind who reads and mixes with other men1 especially if he travels much1 is perpetually changing4 ,he comes across new metaphors1 new figures of speech1 remembers them1 and uses them4 ,the reading of such a work as ,darwin's ,origin of ,species gives a man command of a new sphere of thought and expression4 ,the conversation of such a man as ,luke the beloved physician would have a similar effect on ,st4 ,paul4 ,we shall never know the minds or the circumstances which suggested to him the language which has now become our own possession2 and it is unreasonable to suppose that the process of assimilation came to a dead stop in the ,apostle's mind when he finished the ,epistles of the first imprisonment4 ,the result1 therefore1 of this brief survey of the life of ,timothy is to confirm rather than to shake our belief that the letters which are addressed to him were really written by his friend ,st4 ,paul4 ,the friendship between these two men of different gifts and very different ages is full of interest4 ,it is difficult to estimate which of the two friends gained most from the affection and devotion of the other4 ,no doubt ,timothy's debt to ,st4 ,paul was immense3 and which of us would not think himself amply paid for any amount of service and sacrifice1 in having the privilege of being the chosen friend of such a man as ,st4 ,paul8 ,but on the other hand1 few men could have supplied the ,apostle's peculiar needs as ,timothy did4 ,that intense craving for sympathy which breathes so strongly throughout the writings of ,st4 ,paul1 found its chief human satisfaction in ,timothy4 ,to be alone in a crowd is a trial to most men2 and few men have felt the oppressiveness of it more keenly than ,st4 ,paul4 ,to have some one1 therefore1 who loved and reverenced him1 who knew his ways and could impress them on others1 who cared for those for whom ,paul cared and was ever willing to minister to them as his friend's missioner and delegate--all this and much more was inexpressibly comforting to ,st4 ,paul4 ,it gave him strength in his weaknesses1 hope in his many disappointments1 and solid help in his daily burden of anxiety for all the ,churches4 ,specially consoling was the clinging affection of his young friend at those times when the ,apostle was suffering from the coldness and neglect of others4 ,at the time of his first imprisonment the respect or curiosity of the ,roman ,christians had moved many of them to come out thirty miles to meet him on his journey from ,caesarea to ,rome2 yet as soon as he was safely lodged in the house of his gaoler they almost ceased to minister to him4 ,but the faithful disciple seems to have been ever at his side4 ,and when the ,romans treated ,paul with similar indifference during his second imprisonment1 it was this same disciple that he earnestly besought to come with all speed to comfort him4 ,it was not merely that he loved and trusted ,timothy as one upon whose devotion and discretion he could always rely3 but ,timothy was the one among his many disciples who had sacrificed everything for ,st4 ,paul and his ,master4 ,he had left a loving mother and a pleasant home in order to share with the ,apostle a task which involved ceaseless labour1 untold anxiety1 not a little shame and obloquy1 and at times even danger to life and limb4 ,when he might have continued to live on as the favourite of his family1 enjoying the respect of the presbyters and prophets of ,lycaonia1 he chose to wander abroad with the man to whom1 humanly speaking1 he owed his salvation1 in journeyings often1 in perils of every kind from the powers of nature1 and from the violence or treachery of man1 and in all those countless afflictions and necessities1 of which ,st4 ,paul gives us such a touching summary in the second letter to the ,corinthians4 ,all this ,st4 ,paul knew1 and he knew the value of it to himself and the ,church2 and hence the warm affection with which the ,apostle always speaks of him and to him4 ,but what did not ,timothy owe to his friend1 his father in the faith1 old enough to be his father in the flesh8 ,not merely his conversion and his building up in ,christian doctrine1 though that was much1 and the chief item of his debt4 ,but ,st4 ,paul had tenderly watched over him among the difficulties to which a person of his temperament would be specially exposed4 ,timothy was young1 enthusiastic1 sensitive1 and at times showed signs of timidity4 ,if his enthusiasm were not met with a generous sympathy1 there was danger lest the sensitive nature would shrivel up on contact with an unfeeling world1 and the enthusiasm driven in upon itself would be soured into a resentful cynicism4 ,st4 ,paul not only himself gave to his young disciple the sympathy that he needed2 he encouraged others also to do the same4 ,now if ,timothy come1 he writes to the ,corinthians1 see that he be with you without fear2 for he worketh the work of the ,lord1 as ,i also do3 let no man therefore despise him4 ,he warned these factious and fastidious ,greeks against chilling the generous impulses of a youthful evangelist by their sarcastic criticisms4 ,timothy might be wanting in the brilliant gifts which ,corinthians adored3 in knowledge of the world1 in address1 in oratory4 ,but he was real4 ,he was working ,god's work with a single heart and with genuine fervour4 ,it would be a cruel thing to mar that simplicity or quench that fervour1 and thus turn a genuine enthusiast into a cold-blooded man of the world4 ,on their treatment of him might depend whether he raised them to his own zeal for ,christ1 or they dragged him down to the level of their own paralysing superciliousness4 ,the dangers from which ,st4 ,paul thus generously endeavoured to shield ,timothy1 are those which beset many an ardent spirit1 especially in ,england at the present day4 ,everywhere there is a cynical disbelief in human nature and a cold contempt for all noble impulses1 which throw a damp and chilling atmosphere over society4 ,at school and at the university1 in family life and in domestic service1 young men and young women are encouraged to believe that there is no such thing as unselfishness or holiness1 and that enthusiasm is always either silly or hypocritical4 ,by sarcastic jests and contemptuous smiles they are taught the fatal lesson of speaking slightingly1 and at last of thinking slightingly1 of their own best feelings4 ,to be dutiful and affectionate is supposed to be childish1 while reverence and trust are regarded as mere ignorance of the world4 ,the mischief is a grave one1 for it poisons life at its very springs4 ,every young man and woman at times has aspirations which at first are only romantic and sentimental1 and as such are neither right nor wrong4 ,but they are nature's material for higher and better things4 ,they are capable of being developed into a zeal for ,god and for man1 such as will ennoble the characters of all who come under its influence4 ,the sentimentalist may become an enthusiast1 and the enthusiast a hero or a saint4 ,woe to him who gives to such precious material a wrong turn1 and by offering cynicism instead of sympathy turns all its freshness sour4 ,the loss does not end with the blight of an exuberant and earnest character4 ,there are huge masses of evil in the world1 which seem to defy the good influences that from time to time are brought to bear upon them4 ,humanly speaking1 there seems to be only one hope of overcoming these strongholds of ,satan1--and that is by the combined efforts of many enthusiasts4 ,this is the victory which overcometh the world1 even our faith4 ,it will be a grievous prospect for mankind1 if faith in ,god1 in ourselves1 and in our fellow-men becomes so unfashionable as to be impossible4 ,and this is the faith which makes enthusiasts4 ,if we have not this faith ourselves1 we can at least respect it in others4 ,if we cannot play the part of ,timothy1 and go forth with glowing hearts to whatever difficult and distasteful work may be placed before us1 we can at least avoid chilling and disheartening others2 and sometimes at least we may so far follow in the footsteps of ,st4 ,paul as to protect from the world's cynicism those who1 with hearts more warm perhaps than wise1 are labouring manfully to leave the world purer and happier than they found it4 ,,footnotes3 #aa ,paul an ambassador1 and now also a prisoner of ,jesus ,christ is probably right in ,philemon2 but even there ,paul the aged would be true4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,doctrine ,,condemned ,,in ,,the ,,pastoral ,,epistles ,a ,,jewish ,,form ,,of ,,gnosticism4--,,the ,,gnostic',s ,,problem4 ,as ,i exhorted thee to tarry at ,ephesus1 when ,i was going into ,macedonia1 that thou mightest charge certain men not to teach a different doctrine1 neither to give heed to fables and endless genealogies1 the which minister questionings1 rather than a dispensation of ,god which is in faith2 so do ,i now--#a ,tim4 i4 #b1 #c4 ,this ,epistle falls into two main divisions1 of which the first continues down to the #acth verse of chap4 iii4 ,it treats of three different subjects3 ,christian doctrine2 ,christian worship2 and the ,christian ministry4 ,the first of these three subjects is introduced in the words of the text1 which in the original form an incomplete sentence4 ,the last four words1 so do ,i now1 are not expressed in the ,greek4 ,but something must be supplied to complete the sense2 and it is more natural to understand with the ,revisers ,so do ,i now exhort thee1 than with the ,a4 ,v4 ,so do thou tarry at ,ephesus4 ,but the question is not of great moment and cannot be decided with absolute certainty4 ,it is of more importance to enquire what was the nature of the different doctrine which ,timothy was to endeavour to counteract4 ,and on this point we are not left in serious doubt4 ,there are various expressions used respecting it in these two letters to ,timothy which seem to point to two factors in the heterodoxy about which ,st4 ,paul is anxious4 ,it is clear that the error is ,jewish in origin2 and it is almost equally clear that it is ,gnostic as well4 ,the evidence of the letter to ,titus tends materially to confirm these conclusions4 7#a7 ,the heresy is ,jewish in character4 ,its promoters desire to be teachers of the ,law 7ver4 #g74 ,some of them are they of the circumcision 7,tit4 i4 #aj74 ,it consists in ,jewish fables 7,tit4 i4 #ad74 ,the questions which it raises are fightings about the ,law 7,tit4 iii4 #i74 7#b7 ,its ,gnostic character is also indicated4 ,we are told both in the text and in the ,epistle to ,titus 7i4 #ad2 iii4 #i7 that it deals in fables and genealogies4 ,it is empty talking 7ver4 #f71 disputes of words 7vi4 #d71 and profane babblings 7vi4 #bj74 ,it teaches1 an unscriptural and unnatural asceticism 7iv4 #c1 #h74 ,it is ,gnosis falsely so called 7vi4 #bj74 ,a heresy containing these two elements1 ,judaism and ,gnosticism1 meets us both before and after the period covered by the ,pastoral ,epistles3 before in the ,epistle to the ,colossians2 afterwards in the ,epistles of ,ignatius4 ,the evidence gathered from these three sources is entirely in harmony with what we learn elsewhere--that the earliest forms of ,christian ,gnosticism were ,jewish in character4 ,it will be observed that this is indirect confirmation of the genuineness of the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,the ,gnosticism condemned in them is ,jewish2 and any form of ,gnosticism that was in existence in ,st4 ,paul's time would almost certainly be ,jewish4#ab ,professor ,godet has pointed out how entirely the relation of ,judaism to ,christianity which is implied in these ,epistles1 fits in with their being the last group of ,epistles written by ,st4 ,paul4 ,at first1 ,judaism was entirely outside the ,church1 opposing and blaspheming4 ,then it entered the ,church and tried to make the ,church ,jewish1 by foisting the ,mosaic ,law upon it4 ,lastly1 it becomes a fantastic heresy inside the ,church1 and sinks into profane frivolity4 ,pretended revelations are given as to the names and genealogies of angels2 absurd ascetic rules are laid down as counsels of perfection1 while daring immorality defaces the actual life4#ac ,this is the phase which is confronted in the ,pastoral ,epistles3 and ,st4 ,paul meets it with a simple appeal to faith and morality4 ,it is quite possible that the fables1 or myths1 and genealogies ought to be transferred from the ,gnostic to the ,jewish side of the account4 ,and thus ,chrysostom interprets the passage4 ,by fables he does not mean the ,law2 far from it2 but inventions and forgeries1 and counterfeit doctrines4 ,for1 it seems1 the ,jews wasted their whole discourse on these unprofitable points4 ,they numbered up their fathers and grandfathers1 that they might have the reputation of historical knowledge and research4 ,the fables then1 may be understood to be those numerous legends which the ,jews added to the ,old ,testament1 specimens of which abound in the ,talmud4 ,but similar myths abound in ,gnostic systems1 and therefore fables may represent both elements of the heterodox teaching4 ,so also with the endless genealogies4 ,these cannot well refer to the genealogies in ,genesis1 for they are not endless1 each of them being arranged in tens4 ,but it is quite possible that ,jewish speculations about the genealogies of angels may be meant4 ,such things1 being purely imaginary1 would be endless4 ,or the ,gnostic doctrine of emanations1 in its earlier and cruder forms1 may be intended4 ,by genealogies in this sense early thinkers1 especially in the ,east1 tried to bridge the chasm between the ,infinite and the ,finite1 between ,god and creation4 ,in various systems it is assumed that matter is inherently evil4 ,the material universe has been from the beginning not very good but very bad4 ,how then can it be believed that the ,supreme ,being1 infinite in goodness1 would create such a thing8 ,this is incredible3 the world must be the creature of some inferior and perhaps evil being4 ,but when this was conceded1 the distance between this inferior power and the supreme ,god still remained to be bridged4 ,this1 it was supposed1 might be done by an indefinite number of generations1 each lower in dignity than the preceding one1 until at last a being capable of creating the universe was found4 ,from the ,supreme ,god emanated an inferior deity1 and from this lower power a third still more inferior2 and so on1 until the ,creator of the world was reached4 ,these ideas are found in the ,jewish philosopher ,philo2 and it is to these that ,st4 ,paul probably alludes in the endless genealogies which minister questionings rather than a dispensation of ,god4 ,the idea that matter is evil dominates the whole philosophy of ,philo4 ,he endeavoured to reconcile this with the ,old ,testament1 by supposing that matter is eternal2 and that it was out of pre-existing material that ,god1 acting through ,his creative powers1 made the world which ,he pronounced to be very good4 ,these powers are sometimes regarded as the angels1 sometimes as existences scarcely personal4 ,but they have no existence apart from their source1 any more than a ray apart from the sun4 ,they are now the instruments of ,god's ,providence1 as formerly of ,his creative power4 ,st4 ,paul condemns such speculations on four grounds4 7#a7 ,they are fables1 myths1 mere imaginings of the human intellect in its attempt to account for the origin of the world and the origin of evil4 7#b7 ,they are endless and interminable4 ,from the nature of things there is no limit to mere guesswork of this kind4 ,every new speculator may invent a fresh genealogy of emanations in his theory of creation1 and may make it any length that he pleases4 ,if hypotheses need never be verified1--need not even be capable of verification1--one may go on constructing them ad infinitum4 7#c7 ,as a natural consequence of this 7haitines7 they minister questionings and nothing better4 ,it is all barren speculation and fruitless controversy4 ,where any one may assert without proof1 any one else may contradict without proof2 and nothing comes of this see-saw of affirmation and negation4 7#d7 ,lastly1 these vain imaginings are a different doctrine4 ,they are not only empty but untrue1 and are a hindrance to the truth4 ,they occupy the ground which ought to be filled with the dispensation of ,god which is in faith4 ,human minds are limited in their capacity1 and1 even if these empty hypotheses were innocent1 minds that were filled with them would have little room left for the truth4 ,but they are not innocent3 and those who are attracted by them become disaffected towards the truth4 ,it is impossible to love both1 for the two are opposed to one another4 ,these fables are baseless2 they have no foundation either in revelation or in human life4 ,moreover they are vague1 shifting1 and incoherent4 ,they ramble on without end4 ,but the ,gospel is based on a ,divine ,revelation1 tested by human experience4 ,it is an economy1 a system1 an organic whole1 a dispensation of means to ends4 ,its sphere is not unbridled imagination or audacious curiosity1 but faith4 ,the history of the next hundred and fifty years amply justifies the anxiety and severity of ,st4 ,paul4 ,the germs of ,gnostic error1 which were in the air when ,christianity was first preached1 fructified with amazing rapidity4 ,it would be hard to find a parallel in the history of philosophy to the speed with which ,gnostic views spread in and around ,christendom between ,a4,d4 #gj and #bbj4 ,eusebius tells us that1 as soon as the ,apostles and those who had listened with their own ears to their inspired wisdom had passed away1 then the conspiracy of godless error took its rise through the deceit of false teachers1 who 7now that none of the ,apostles was any longer left7 henceforth endeavoured with brazen face to preach their knowledge falsely so called in opposition to the preaching of the truth4#ad ,throughout the ,christian world1 and especially in intellectual centres such as ,ephesus1 ,alexandria and ,rome1 there was perhaps not a single educated congregation which did not contain persons who were infected with some form of ,gnosticism4 ,jerome's famous hyperbole respecting ,arianism might be transferred to this earlier form of error1 perhaps the most perilous that the ,church has ever known3 ,the whole world groaned and was amazed to find itself ,gnostic4 ,however severely we may condemn these speculations1 we cannot but sympathize with the perplexities which produced them4 ,the origin of the universe1 and still more the origin of evil1 still remain unsolved problems4 ,no one in this life is ever likely to reach a complete solution of either4 ,what is the origin of the material universe8 ,to assume that it is not a creature1 but that matter is eternal1 is to make two first principles1 one spiritual and one material2 and this is perilously near making two ,gods4 ,but the belief that ,god made the world is by no means free from difficulty4 ,what was ,his motive in making the world8 ,was ,his perfection increased by it8 ,then ,god was once not fully perfect4 ,was ,his perfection diminished by the act of creation8 ,then ,god is now not fully perfect2 and how can we suppose that ,he would voluntarily surrender anything of ,his absolute perfection8 ,was ,god neither the better nor the worse for the creation of the universe8 ,then the original question returns with its full force3 ,what induced ,him to create it8 ,we cannot suppose that creation was an act of caprice4 ,no complete answer to this enigma is possible for us4 ,one thing we know2--that ,god is light and that ,god is love4 ,and we may be sure that in exercising ,his creative power ,he was manifesting ,his perfect wisdom and ,his exhaustless affection4 ,but will the knowledge that ,god is light and that ,god is love help us to even a partial solution of that problem which has wrung the souls of countless saints and thinkers with anguish--the problem of the origin of evil8 ,how could a ,god who is perfectly wise and perfectly good1 make it possible for evil to arise1 and allow it to continue after it had arisen8 ,once more the suggestion that there are two ,first ,principles presents itself1 but in a more terrible form4 ,before1 it was the thought that there are two co-eternal ,existences1 ,god and ,matter4 ,now1 it is the suggestion that there are two co-eternal1 and perhaps co-equal ,powers1 ,good and ,evil4 ,this hypothesis1 impossible for a ,christian and rejected by ,john ,stuart ,mill1#ae creates more difficulties than it solves4 ,but1 if this is the wrong answer1 what is the right one8 ,cardinal ,newman1 in one of the most striking passages even in his works1 has told us how the problem presents itself to him4 ,starting then with the being of ,god 7which1 as ,i have said1 is as certain to me as the certainty of my own existence1 though when ,i try to put the grounds of that certainty into logical shape1 ,i find difficulty in doing so in mood and figure to my satisfaction71 ,i look out of myself into the world of men1 and there ,i see a sight which fills me with unspeakable distress4 ,the world seems simply to give the lie to that great truth1 of which my whole being is so full2 and the effect upon me is1 in consequence1 as a matter of necessity1 as confusing as if it denied that ,i am in existence myself4 ,if ,i looked into a mirror1 and did not see my face1 ,i should have the sort of feeling which actually comes upon me1 when ,i look into this living busy world and see no reflection of its ,creator4 ,this is1 to me1 one of the great difficulties of this absolute primary truth1 to which ,i referred just now4 ,were it not for this voice1 speaking so clearly in my conscience and my heart1 ,i should be an atheist1 or a pantheist1 or a polytheist1 when ,i looked into the world4 ,i am speaking for myself only2 and ,i am far from denying the real force of the arguments in proof of a ,god1 drawn from the general facts of human society1 but these do not warm me or enlighten me2 they do not take away the winter of my desolation1 or make the buds unfold and the leaves grow within me1 and my moral being rejoice4 ,the sight of the world is nothing else than the prophet's scroll full of 'lamentations1 and mourning1 and woe4' 444 ,what shall be said to this heart-piercing1 reason-bewildering fact8 ,i can only answer1 that either there is no ,creator1 or this living society of men is in a true sense discarded from ,his presence4 ,did ,i see a boy of good make and mind1 with the tokens on him of a refined nature1 cast upon the world without provision1 unable to say whence he came1 his birthplace or his family connexions1 ,i should conclude that there was some mystery connected with his history1 and that he was one1 of whom1 from one cause or other1 his parents were ashamed4 ,thus only should ,i be able to account for the contrast between the promise and condition of his being4 ,and so ,i argue about the world2--if there be a ,god1 since there is a ,god1 the human race is implicated in some terrible aboriginal calamity4 ,it is out of joint with the purposes of its ,creator4 ,this is a fact1 a fact as true as the fact of its existence2 and thus the doctrine of what is theologically called original sin becomes to me almost as certain as that the world exists1 and as the existence of ,god4#af ,but this only carries us a short way towards a solution4 ,why did ,god allow the aboriginal calamity of sin to be possible8 ,this was the ,gnostic's difficulty1 and it is our difficulty still4 ,can we say more than this by way of an answer8 ,god willed that angels and men should honour ,him with a voluntary and not a mechanical service4 ,if they obeyed ,him1 it should be of their own free will1 and not of necessity4 ,it should be possible to them to refuse service and obedience4 ,in short1 ,god willed to be reverenced and worshipped1 and not merely served and obeyed4 ,a machine can render service2 and a person under the influence of mesmerism may be forced to obey4 ,but do we not all feel that the voluntary service of a conscious and willing agent1 who prefers to render rather than to withhold his service1 is a nobler thing both for him who gives1 and him who receives it8 ,compulsory labour is apt to turn the servant into a slave and the master into a tyrant4 ,we see1 therefore1 a reason why the ,creator in creating conscious beings made them also moral2 made them capable of obeying ,him of their own free will1 and therefore also capable of disobeying ,him4 ,in other words1 ,he made sin1 with all its consequences1 possible4 ,then it became merely a question of historical fact whether any angelic or human being would ever abuse his freedom by choosing to disobey4 ,that aboriginal calamity1 we know1 has taken place2 and all the moral and physical evil which now exists in the world1 is the natural consequence of it4 ,this is1 perhaps1 the best solution that the human mind is likely to discover1 respecting this primeval and terrible mystery4 ,but it is only a partial solution2 and the knowledge that we have still not attained to a complete answer to the question which perplexed the early ,gnostics1 ought to banish from our minds anything like arrogance or contempt1 when we condemn their answer as unchristian and inadequate4 ,the end of the charge which has been given to us is not the condemnation of others1 but love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned4 ,,footnotes3 #ab ,f4 ,c4 ,baur himself contends that the false teachers here condemned are ,judaizing ,gnostics1 who put forth their figurative interpretation of the ,law as true knowledge of the ,law4 ,such were the earlier ,gnostics1 such as the ,ophites and ,saturninus 7,protestant ,commentary1 note on #a ,tim4 i4 #g74 #ac ,expositor1 ,july1 #ahhh1 p4 #db4 #ad ,h4 ,e41 ,,vi1 xxxii4 #h4 #ae ,three ,essays on ,religion1 pp4 #ahe1 #ahf4 #af ,apologia pro ,vita ,sua 7,longmans1 #ahfd71 pp4 #cgf-cgi4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,moral ,,teaching ,,of ,,the ,,gnostics4--,,its ,,modern ,,counterpart4 ,but we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully1 as knowing this1 that law is not made for a righteous man1 but for the lawless and unruly1 for the ungodly and sinners1 for the unholy and profane1 for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers1 for man-slayers1 for fornicators1 for abusers of themselves with men1 for men-stealers1 for liars1 for false swearers1 and if there be any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine2 according to the gospel of the glory of the blessed ,god1 which was committed to my trust--#a ,tim4 i4 #h-aa4 ,the speculations of the ,gnostics in their attempts to explain the origin of the universe and the origin of evil1 were wild and unprofitable enough2 and in some respects involved a fundamental contradiction of the plain statements of ,scripture4 ,but it was not so much their metaphysical as their moral teaching1 which seemed so perilous to ,st4 ,paul4 ,their endless genealogies might have been left to fall with their own dead weight1 so dull and uninteresting were they4 ,specimens of them still survive1 in what is known to us of the systems of ,basilides and ,valentinus2 and which of us1 after having laboriously worked through them1 ever wished to read them a second time8 ,but it is impossible to keep one's philosophy in one compartment in one's mind1 and one's religion and morality quite separate from it in another4 ,however unpractical metaphysical speculations may appear1 it is beyond question that the views which we hold respecting such things may have momentous influence upon our life4 ,it was so with the early ,gnostics1 whom ,st4 ,paul urges ,timothy to keep in check4 ,their doctrine respecting the nature of the material world and its relation to ,god1 led to two opposite forms of ethical teaching1 each of them radically opposed to ,christianity4 ,this fact fits in very well with the character of the ,pastoral ,epistles1 all of which deal with this early form of error4 ,they insist upon discipline and morality1 more than upon doctrine4 ,these last solemn charges of the great ,apostle aim rather at making ,christian ministers1 and their congregations1 lead pure and holy lives1 than at constructing any system of theology4 ,erroneous teaching must be resisted2 the plain truths of the ,gospel must be upheld2 but the main thing is holiness of life4 ,by prayer and thanksgiving1 by quiet and grave conduct1 by modesty and temperance1 by self-denial and benevolence1 by reverence for the sanctity of home life1 ,christians will furnish the best antidote to the intellectual and moral poison which the false teachers are propagating4 ,the sound doctrine has its fruit in a healthy1 moral life1 as surely as the different doctrine leads to spiritual pride and lawless sensuality4 ,the belief that ,matter and everything material is inherently evil1 involved necessarily a contempt for the human body4 ,this body was a vile thing2 and it was a dire calamity to the human mind to be joined to such a mass of evil4 ,from this premise various conclusions1 some doctrinal and some ethical1 were drawn4 ,on the doctrinal side it was urged that the resurrection of the body was incredible4 ,it was disastrous enough to the soul that it should be burdened with a body in this world4 ,that this degrading alliance would be continued in the world to come1 was a monstrous belief4 ,equally incredible was the doctrine of the ,incarnation4 ,how could the ,divine ,word consent to be united with so evil a thing as a material frame8 ,either the ,son of ,mary was a mere man1 or the body which the ,christ assumed was not real4 ,it is with these errors that ,st4 ,john deals1 some twelve or fifteen years later1 in his ,gospel and ,epistles4 ,on the ethical side the tenet that the human body is utterly evil produced two opposite errors1--asceticism and antinomian sensuality4 ,and both of these are aimed at in these ,epistles4 ,if the enlightenment of the soul is everything1 and the body is utterly worthless1 then this vile clog to the movement of the soul must be beaten under and crushed1 in order that the higher nature may rise to higher things4 ,the body must be denied all indulgence1 in order that it may be starved into submission 7iv4 #c74 ,on the other hand1 if enlightenment is everything and the body is worthless1 then every kind of experience1 no matter how shameless1 is of value1 in order to enlarge knowledge4 ,nothing that a man can do can make his body more vile than it is by nature1 and the soul of the enlightened is incapable of pollution4 ,gold still remains gold1 however often it is plunged in the mire4 ,the words of the three verses taken as a text1 look as if ,st4 ,paul was aiming at evil of this kind4 ,these ,judaizing ,gnostics desired to be teachers of the ,law4 ,they wished to enforce the ,mosaic ,law1 or rather their fantastic interpretations of it1 upon ,christians4 ,they insisted upon its excellence1 and would not allow that it has been in many respects superseded4 ,we know quite well1 says the ,apostle1 and readily admit1 that the ,mosaic ,law is an excellent thing2 provided that those who undertake to expound it make a legitimate use of it4 ,they must remember that1 just as law in general is not made for those whose own good principles keep them in the right1 so also the restrictions of the ,mosaic ,law are not meant for ,christians who obey the ,divine will in the free spirit of the ,gospel4 ,legal restrictions are intended to control those who will not control themselves2 in short1 for the very men who by their strange doctrines are endeavouring to curtail the liberties of others4 ,what they preach as the ,law is really a code of their own1 commandments of men who turn away from the truth4444 ,they profess that they know ,god2 but by their works they deny ,him1 being abominable1 and disobedient1 and unto every good work reprobate 7,tit4 i4 #ad1 #af74 ,in rehearsing the various kinds of sinners for whom law exists1 and who are to be found 7he hints7 among these false teachers1 he goes roughly through the ,decalogue4 ,the four commandments of the ,first ,table are indicated in general and comprehensive terms2 the first five commandments of the ,second ,table are taken one by one1 flagrant violators being specified in each case4 ,thus the stealing of a human being in order to make him a slave1 is mentioned as the most outrageous breach of the eighth commandment4 ,the tenth commandment is not distinctly indicated1 possibly because the breaches of it are not so easily detected4 ,the overt acts of these men were quite sufficient to convict them of gross immorality1 without enquiring as to their secret wishes and desires4 ,in a word1 the very persons who in their teaching were endeavouring to burden men with the ceremonial ordinances1 which had been done away in ,christ1 were in their own lives violating the moral laws1 to which ,christ had given a new sanction4 ,they tried to keep alive1 in new and strange forms1 what had been provisional and was now obsolete1 while they trampled under foot what was eternal and ,divine4 ,if there be any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine4 ,in these words ,st4 ,paul sums up all the forms of transgression not specified in his catalogue4 ,the sound1 healthy teaching of the ,gospel is opposed to the morbid and corrupt teaching of the ,gnostics1 who are sickly in their speculations 7vi4 #d71 and whose word is like an eating sore 7#b ,tim4 ii4 #ag74 ,of course healthy teaching is also health-giving1 and corrupt teaching is corrupting2 but it is the primary and not the derived quality that is stated here4 ,it is the healthiness of the doctrine in itself1 and its freedom from what is diseased or distorted1 that is insisted upon4 ,its wholesome character is a consequence of this4 ,this word sound or healthy 7hygiainn1 hygis71 as applied to doctrine1#ag is one of a group of expressions which are peculiar to the ,pastoral ,epistles1 and which have been condemned as not belonging to ,st4 ,paul's style of language4 ,he never uses healthy in his other ,epistles2 therefore these three ,epistles1 in which the phrase occurs eight or nine times1 are not by him4 ,this kind of argument has been discussed already1 in the first of these expositions4 ,it assumes the manifest untruth1 that as life goes on men make little or no change in the stock of words and phrases which they habitually use4 ,with regard to this particular phrase1 the source of it has been conjectured with a fair amount of probability4 ,it may have come from the beloved physician1 who1 at the time when ,st4 ,paul wrote the ,second ,epistle to ,timothy1 was the ,apostle's sole companion4 ,it is worth remarking that the word here used for sound 7with the exception of one passage in the ,third ,epistle of ,st4 ,john7 occurs nowhere in the ,new ,testament in the literal sense of being in sound bodily health1 except in the ,gospel of ,st4 ,luke4 ,and it occurs nowhere in a figurative sense1 except in the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,it is obviously a medical metaphor2 a metaphor which any one who had never had anything to do with medicine might easily use1 but which is specially likely to be used by a man who had lived much in the society of a physician4 ,before we call such a phrase un-,pauline we must ask3 7#a7 ,is there any passage in the earlier ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul where he would certainly have used this word sound1 had he been familiar with it8 7#b7 ,is there any word in the earlier ,epistles which would have expressed his meaning here equally well8 ,if either of these questions is answered in the negative1 then we are going beyond our knowledge in pronouncing the phrase sound doctrine#ah to be un-,pauline4 ,contrary to the sound doctrine4 ,it sums up in a comprehensive phrase the doctrinal and moral teaching of the ,gnostics4 ,what they taught was unsound and morbid1 and as a consequence poisonous and pestilential4 ,while professing to accept and expound the ,gospel1 they really disintegrated it and explained it away4 ,they destroyed the very basis of the ,gospel message2 for they denied the reality of sin4 ,and they equally destroyed the contents of the message2 for they denied the reality of the ,incarnation4 ,nor were they less revolutionary on the moral side than on the doctrinal4 ,the foundations of morality are sapped when intellectual enlightenment is accounted as the one thing needful1 while conduct is treated as a thing of no value4 ,principles of morality are turned upside down when it is maintained that any act which adds to one's knowledge is not only allowable1 but a duty4 ,it is necessary to remember these fatal characteristics of this early form of error1 in order to appreciate the stern language used by ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,john respecting it1 as also by ,st4 ,jude and the author of the ,second ,epistle of ,peter4 ,st4 ,john in his ,epistles deals mainly with the doctrinal side of the heresy1--the denial of the reality of sin and of the reality of the ,incarnation3#ai although the moral results of doctrinal error are also indicated and condemned4#bj ,in the ,apocalypse1 as in ,st4 ,paul and in the ,catholic ,epistles1 it is mainly the moral side of the false teaching that is denounced1 and that in both its opposite phases4 ,the ,epistle to the ,colossians deals with the ascetic tendencies of early gnosticism4#ba ,the ,apocalypse and the ,catholic ,epistles deal with its licentious tendencies4#bb ,the ,pastoral ,epistles treat of both asceticism and licentiousness1 but chiefly of the latter1 as is seen from the passage before us and from the first part of chapter iii4 in the ,second ,epistle4 ,as we might expect1 ,st4 ,paul uses stronger language in the ,pastoral ,epistles than he does in writing to the ,colossians2 and in ,st4 ,john and the ,catholic ,epistles we find stronger language still4 ,antinomian licentiousness is a far worse evil than misguided asceticism1 and in the interval between ,st4 ,paul and the other writers the profligacy of the antinomian ,gnostics had increased4 ,st4 ,paul warns the ,colossians against delusive persuasiveness of speech1 against vain deceit1 the rudiments of the world1 the precepts and doctrines of men4 ,he cautions ,timothy and ,titus respecting seducing spirits and doctrines of devils1 profane and old wives' fables1 profane babblings and teachings that will eat as doth a gangrene1 vain talkers and deceivers whose mind and conscience is deceived1 and the like4 ,st4 ,john denounces these false teachers as liars1 seducers1 false prophets1 deceivers1 and antichrists2 and in ,jude and the ,second ,epistle of ,peter we have the profligate lives of these false teachers condemned in equally severe terms4 ,it should be observed that here again everything falls into its proper place if we assume that the ,pastoral ,epistles were written some years later than the ,epistle to the ,colossians and some years earlier than those of ,st4 ,jude and ,st4 ,john4 ,the ascetic tendencies of ,gnosticism developed first4 ,and though they still continued in teachers like ,tatian and ,marcion1 yet from the close of the first century the licentious conclusions drawn from the premises that the human body is worthless and that all knowledge is divine1 became more and more prevalent2 as is seen in the teaching of ,carpocrates and ,epiphanes1 and in the monstrous sect of the ,cainites4 ,it was quite natural1 therefore1 that ,st4 ,paul should attack ,gnostic asceticism first in writing to the ,colossians1 and afterwards both it and ,gnostic licentiousness in writing to ,timothy and ,titus4 ,it was equally natural that his language should grow stronger as he saw the second evil developing1 and that those who saw this second evil at a more advanced stage should use sterner language still4 ,the extravagant theories of the ,gnostics to account for the origin of the universe and the origin of evil are gone and are past recall4 ,it would be impossible to induce people to believe them1 and only a comparatively small number of students ever even read them4 ,but the heresy that knowledge is more important than conduct1 that brilliant intellectual gifts render a man superior to the moral law1 and that much of the moral law itself is the tyrannical bondage of an obsolete tradition1 is as dangerous as ever it was4 ,it is openly preached and frequently acted upon4 ,the great ,florentine artist1 ,benvenuto ,cellini1 tells us in his autobiography that when ,pope ,paul ,,iii4 expressed his willingness to forgive him an outrageous murder committed in the streets of ,rome1 one of the gentlemen at the ,papal ,court ventured to remonstrate with the ,pope for condoning so heinous a crime4 ,you do not understand the matter as well as ,i do1 replied ,paul ,,iii43 ,i would have you to know that men like ,benvenuto1 unique in their profession1 are not bound by the laws4 ,cellini is a braggart1 and it is possible that in this particular he is romancing4 ,but1 even if the story is his invention1 he merely attributes to the ,pope the sentiments which he cherished himself1 and upon which 7as experience taught him7 other people acted4 ,over and over again his murderous violence was overlooked by those in authority1 because they admired and wished to make use of his genius as an artist4 ,ability before honesty was a common creed in the sixteenth century1 and it is abundantly prevalent in our own4 ,the most notorious scandals in a man's private life are condoned if only he is recognized as having talent4 ,it is the old ,gnostic error in a modern and sometimes agnostic form4 ,it is becoming daily more clear that the one thing needful for the regeneration of society1 whether upper1 middle1 or lower1 is the creation of a sound public opinion4 ,and so long as this is so1 ,god's ministers and all who have the duty of instructing others will need to lay to heart the warnings which ,st4 ,paul gives to his followers ,timothy and ,titus4 ,,footnotes3 #ag #a ,tim4 vi4 #c2 #b ,tim4 i4 #ac1 iv4 #c2 ,tit4 i4 #i1 #ac1 ii4 #a1 #b1 #h4 #ah ,the ,revisers as a rule render didaskalia by doctrine1 as here1 iv4 #f1 vi4 #a1 #c2 #b ,tim4 iv4 #c2 ,tit4 i4 #i1 ii4 #a1 #g1 #aj 7but not in iv4 #ac1 #af1 v4 #ag2 #b ,tim4 iii4 #aj1 #af71 while they render didach by teaching1 as #b ,tim4 iv4 #b2 ,tit4 i4 #i1 and frequently in the ,gospels4 ,but didaskalia1 as being closer to didaskalos a teacher1 is teaching rather than doctrine1 and didach is doctrine rather than teaching4 ,see p4 #bch4 #ai #a ,john i4 #h-aj1 ii4 #bb1 #bc1 iii4 #d1 #h1 iv4 #b1 #c1 #ae1 v4 #a1 #e1 #af1 #ag2 #b ,john #g4 #bj ii4 #i1 #aa1 iii4 #ae1 #ag4 #ba ii4 #af1 #ba1 #bc4 #bb ,rev4 ii4 #ad1 #bj-bb2 #b ,peter ii4 #aj-bb2 ,jude #h1 #aj1 #ac1 #af1 #ah4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,lord',s ,,compassion ,,in ,,enabling ,a ,,blasphemer ,,and ,a ,,persecutor ,,to ,,become ,a ,,servant ,,of ,,christ ,,jesus ,,and ,a ,,preacher ,,of ,,the ,,gospel4 ,i thank ,him that enabled me1 even ,christ ,jesus our ,lord1 for that ,he counted me faithful1 appointing me to ,his service2 though ,i was before a blasphemer1 and a persecutor1 and injurious3 howbeit ,i obtained mercy1 because ,i did it ignorantly in unbelief2 and the grace of our ,lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in ,christ ,jesus4--#a ,,tim4 i4 #ab-ad4 ,in the concluding sentence of the preceding paragraph 7vv4 #c1 #aa7 the ,apostle points out that what he has been saying respecting the erroneous teaching and practice of the heterodox innovators is entirely in harmony with the spirit of the ,gospel which had been committed to his trust4#bc ,this mention of his own high commission to preach the ,gospel of the glory of the blessed ,god suggests at once to him some thoughts both of thankfulness and humility1 to which he now gives expression4 ,his own experience of the ,gospel1 especially in connexion with his conversion from being a persecutor to becoming a preacher1 offer further points of contrast between ,gnosticism and ,christianity4 ,the false teachers wasted thought and attention upon barren speculations1 which1 even if they could under any conceivable circumstances be proved true1 would have supplied no guidance to mankind in regulating conduct4 ,and whenever ,gnostic teaching became practical1 it frittered away morality in servile observances1 based on capricious interpretations of the ,mosaic ,law4 ,of true morality there was an utter disregard1 and frequently an open violation4 ,of the one thing for which the self-accusing conscience was yearning--the forgiveness of sin--it knew nothing1 because it had no appreciation of the reality of sin4 ,sin was only part of the evil which was inherent in the material universe1 and therefore in the human body4 ,a system which had no place for the forgiveness of sin had also no place for the ,divine compassion1 which it is the purpose of the ,gospel to reveal4 ,how very real this compassion and forgiveness are1 and how much human beings stand in need of them1 ,st4 ,paul testifies from his own experience1 the remembrance of which makes him burst out into thanksgiving4 ,the ,apostle offers thanks to ,jesus ,christ1 the source of all his strength1 for having confidence in him as a person worthy of trust4 ,this confidence ,he proved by appointing ,paul to ,his service2 a confidence all the more marvellous and worthy of gratitude because ,paul had before been a blasphemer1 and a persecutor1 and injurious4 ,he had been a blasphemer1 for he had thought that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of ,jesus of ,nazareth2 and he had been a persecutor for he had punished believers often-times in all the synagogues1 and strove to make them blaspheme4 ,that is ever the persecutor's aim2--to make those who differ from him speak evil of what they reverence but he abhors2 to say they renounce what in their heart of hearts they believe4 ,there is1 therefore1 thus far an ascending scale in the iniquity which the ,apostle confesses4 ,he not only blasphemed the ,divine ,name himself1 but he endeavoured to compel others to do the same4 ,the third word1 although the ,english ,version obscures the fact1 continues the ascending scale of self-condemnation4 ,injurious does scant justice to the force of the ,greek word used by the ,apostle 7hybrists71 although it is not easy to suggest a better rendering4 ,the word is very common in classical authors1 but in the ,new ,testament occurs only here and in ,rom4 i4 #cj1 where the ,a4,v4 translates it despiteful and the ,r4,v4 insolent4 ,it is frequent in the ,septuagint4 ,it indicates one who takes an insolent and wanton delight in violence1 one whose pleasure lies in outraging the feelings of others4 ,the most conspicuous instance of it in the ,new ,testament1 and perhaps anywhere1 would be the ,roman soldiers mocking and torturing ,jesus ,christ with the crown of thorns and the royal robe4 ,of such conduct ,st4 ,paul himself since his conversion had been the victim1 and he here confesses that before his conversion he had been guilty of it himself4 ,in his misguided zeal he had punished innocent people1 and he had inflicted punishment1 not with pitying reluctance1 but with arrogant delight4 ,it is worth pointing out that in this third charge against himself1 as well as in the first1 ,st4 ,paul goes beyond what he states in the similar passages in the ,epistles to the ,corinthians1 ,philippians1 and ,galatians4 ,there he simply draws attention to the fact that he had been a persecutor who had made havoc of the ,church4#bd ,he says nothing about blaspheming or taking an insolent satisfaction in the pain which he inflicted4 ,this has some bearing on the genuineness of this ,epistle4 7#a7 ,it shows that ,st4 ,paul was in the habit of alluding to the fact that he had been a persecutor4 ,it was part of his preaching1 for it proved that his conversion was directly and immediately ,god's work4 ,he did not owe the ,gospel which he preached to any persuasion on the part of man4 ,it is1 therefore1 quite in harmony with ,st4 ,paul's practice to insist on his former misconduct4 ,but it may be urged that a forger might notice this and imitate it4 ,that of course is true4 ,but if these ,epistles are a forgery1 they are certainly not forged with any intention of injuring ,st4 ,paul's memory4 ,is it likely1 then1 that a forger in imitating the self-accusation of the ,apostle1 would use stronger language than the ,apostle himself uses in those ,epistles which are indisputably his8 ,would he go out of his way to use such strong language as blasphemer1 and insolent oppressor8 ,but1 if ,st4 ,paul wrote these ,epistles1 this exceptionally strong language is thoroughly natural in a passage in which the ,apostle wishes to place in as strong a light as may be the greatness of the ,divine compassion in forgiving sins1 as manifested in his own case4 ,he had been foremost as a bitter and arrogant opponent of the ,gospel2 and yet ,god had singled him out to be foremost in preaching it4 ,here was a proof that no sinner need despair4 ,what comfort for a fallen race could the false teachers offer in comparison with this8 ,like ,st4 ,peter's sin in denying ,his ,lord1 ,st4 ,paul's sin in persecuting ,him was overruled for good4 ,the ,divine process of bringing good out of evil was strongly exemplified in it4 ,the ,gnostic teachers had tried to show how1 by a gradual degradation1 evil might proceed from the ,supreme ,good4 ,there is nothing ,divine in such a process as that4 ,the fall from good to evil is rather a devilish one1 as when an angel of light became the evil one and involved mankind in his own fall4 ,divinity is shown in the converse process of making what is evil work towards what is good4 ,under ,divine guidance ,st4 ,paul's self-righteous confidence and arrogant intolerance were turned into a blessing to himself and others4 ,the recollection of his sin kept him humble1 intensified his gratitude1 and gave him a strong additional motive to devote himself to the work of bringing others to the ,master who had been so gracious to himself4 ,st4 ,chrysostom in commenting on this passage in his ,homilies on the ,pastoral ,epistles points out how it illustrates ,st4 ,paul's humility1 a virtue which is more often praised than practised4 ,this quality was so cultivated by the blessed ,paul1 that he is ever looking out for inducements to be humble4 ,they who are conscious to themselves of great merits must struggle much with themselves if they would be humble4 ,and he too was one likely to be under violent temptations1 his own good conscience swelling him up like a gathering tumour4444 ,being filled1 therefore1 with high thoughts1 and having used magnificent expressions1 he at once depresses himself1 and engages others also to do the like4 ,having said1 then1 that the ,gospel was committed to his trust1 lest this should seem to be said with pride1 he checks himself at once1 adding by way of correction1 ,i thank ,him that enabled me1 ,christ ,jesus our ,lord1 for that ,he counted me faithful1 appointing me to ,his service4 ,thus everywhere1 we see1 he conceals his own merit and ascribes everything to ,god1 yet so far only as not to take away free will4 ,these concluding words are an important qualification4 ,the ,apostle constantly insists on his conversion as the result of a special revelation of ,jesus ,christ to himself1 in other words a miracle3 he nowhere hints that his conversion in itself was miraculous4 ,no psychological miracle was wrought1 forcing him to accept ,christ against his will4 ,god converts no one by magic4 ,it is a free and reasonable service that he asks for from beings whom ,he has created free and reasonable4 ,men were made moral beings1 and ,he who made them such does not treat them as machines4 ,in his defence at ,caesarea ,st4 ,paul tells ,herod ,agrippa that he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision4 ,he might have been4 ,he might1 like ,judas1 have resisted all the miraculous power displayed before him and have continued to persecute ,christ4 ,if he had no choice whatever in the matter1 it was an abuse of language to affirm that he was not disobedient4 ,and in that case we should need some other metaphor than kicking against the goads4 ,it is impossible to kick against the goads if one has no control over one's own limbs4 ,the limbs and the strength to use them were ,god's gifts1 without which he could have done nothing4 ,but with these gifts it was open to him either to obey the ,divine commands or even to fight against ,god--a senseless and wicked thing1 no doubt1 but still possible4 ,in this passage the ,divine and the human sides are plainly indicated4 ,on the one hand1 ,christ enabled him and showed confidence in him3 on the other1 ,paul accepted the service and was faithful4 ,he might have refused the service2 or1 having accepted it1 he might have shown himself unfaithful to his trust4 ,howbeit1 ,i obtained mercy because ,i did it ignorantly in unbelief4 ,these words are sometimes misunderstood4 ,they are not intended as an excuse1 any more than ,st4 ,john's designation of himself as the disciple whom ,jesus loved are intended as a boast4 ,st4 ,john had been the recipient of very exceptional favours4 ,along with only ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,james he had been present at the raising of ,jairus's daughter1 at the ,transfiguration1 and at the ,agony in the ,gethsemane4 ,from even these chosen three he had been singled out to be told who was the traitor2 to have the lifelong charge of providing for the ,mother of the ,lord2 to be the first to recognize the risen ,lord at the sea of ,tiberias4#be ,what was the explanation of all these honours8 ,the recipient of them had only one to give4 ,he had no merits1 no claim to anything of the kind2 but ,jesus loved him4 ,so also with ,st4 ,paul4 ,there were multitudes of ,jews who1 like himself1 had had1 as he tells the ,romans1 a zeal for ,god1 but not according to knowledge4#bf ,there were many who1 like himself1 had opposed the truth and persecuted the ,christ4 ,why did any of them obtain mercy8 ,why did he receive such marked favour and honour8 ,not because of any merit on their part or his3 but because they had sinned ignorantly 7i4e41 without knowing the enormity of their sin71 and because the grace of the ,lord abounded exceedingly4 ,the ,apostle is not endeavouring to extenuate his own culpability1 but to justify and magnify the ,divine compassion4 ,of the whole ,jewish nation it was true that they knew not what they did in crucifying ,jesus of ,nazareth2 but it was true in very various degrees4 ,even of the rulers many believed on ,him2 but because of the ,pharisees they did not confess1 lest they should be put out of the synagogue3 for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of ,god4 ,it was because ,st4 ,paul did not in this way sin against light that he found mercy1 not merely in being forgiven the sin of persecuting ,christ1 but in being enabled to accept and be faithful in the service of ,him whom he had persecuted4 ,two of the changes made by the ,revisers in this passage seem to call for notice3 they both occur in the same phrase and have a similar tendency4 ,instead of putting me into the ministry the ,r4,v4 gives us appointing me to ,his service4 ,a similar change has been made in v4 #g of the next chapter1 where ,i was appointed a preacher takes the place of ,i am ordained a preacher1 and in ,john xv4 #af where ,i chose you and appointed you has been substituted for ,i have chosen you and ordained you4#bg ,in these alterations the ,revisers are only following the example set by the ,a4,v4 itself in other passages4 ,in #b ,tim4 i4 #aa1 as in ,luke x4 #a1 and #a ,thess4 v4 #i1 both versions have appointed4 ,the alterations are manifest improvements4 ,in the passage before us it is possible that the ,greek has the special signification of putting me into the ministry1 but it is by no means certain1 and perhaps not even probable1 that it does so4 ,therefore the more comprehensive and general translation1 appointing me to ,his service1 is to be preferred4 ,the wider rendering includes and covers the other2 and this is a further advantage4 ,to translate the ,greek words used in these passages 7tithenai1 poiein1 k4t4l47 by such a very definite word as ordain leads the reader to suppose these texts refer to the ecclesiastical act of ordination2 of which there is no evidence4 ,the idea conveyed by the ,greek in this passage1 as in ,john xv4 #af1 is that of placing a man at a particular post1 and would be as applicable to civil as to ministerial duties4 ,we are not1 therefore1 justified in translating it by a phrase which has distinct ecclesiastical associations4 ,the question is not one of mere linguistic accuracy4 ,there are larger issues involved than those of correct translation from ,greek to ,english4 ,if we adopt the wider rendering1 then it is evident that the blessing for which ,st4 ,paul expresses heartfelt gratitude1 and which he cites as evidence of ,divine compassion and forgiveness1 is not the call to be an ,apostle1 in which none of us can share1 nor exclusively the call to be a minister of the ,gospel1 in which only a limited number of us can share2 but also the being appointed to any service in ,christ's kingdom1 which is an honour to which all ,christians are called4 ,every earnest ,christian knows from personal experience this evidence of the ,divine character of the ,gospel4 ,it is full of compassion for those who have sinned2 not because1 like the ,gnostic teachers1 it glosses over the malignity and culpability of sin1 but because1 unlike ,gnosticism1 it recognizes the preciousness of each human soul1 and the difficulties which beset it4 ,every ,christian knows that he has inherited an evil nature3--so far he and the ,gnostic are agreed4 ,but he also knows that to the sin which he has inherited he has added sin for which he is personally responsible1 and which his conscience does not excuse as if it were something which is a misfortune and not a fault4 ,yet he is not left without remedy under the burden of these self-accusations4 ,he knows that1 if he seeks for it1 he can find forgiveness1 and forgiveness of a singularly generous kind4 ,he is not only forgiven1 but restored to favour and treated with respect4 ,he is at once placed in a position of trust4 ,in spite of the past1 it is assumed that he will be a faithful servant1 and he is allowed to minister to his ,master and his ,master's followers4 ,to him also the grace of our ,lord has abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in ,christ ,jesus4 ,the generous compassion shown to ,st4 ,paul is not unique or exceptional2 it is typical4 ,and it is a type1 not to the few1 but to many2 not to clergy only1 but to all4 ,for this cause ,i obtained mercy1 that in me as chief might ,jesus ,christ show forth all ,his long-suffering1 for an ensample of them which should hereafter believe on ,him unto eternal life4 ,,footnotes3 #bc ,it is worth while pointing out that the peculiar construction ho episteuthn eg occurs in the ,new ,testament1 only in the ,pastoral ,epistles and in other ,pauline ,epistles1 the genuineness of which is now scarcely disputed--#a ,thess4 ii4 #d2 #a ,cor4 ix4 #ag2 ,rom4 iii4 #b2 ,gal4 ii4 #g4 #bd #a ,cor4 xv4 #h1 #aj2 ,gal4 i4 #ac1 #bc2 ,phil4 iii4 #f2 comp4 ,acts xxii4 #d1 #e1 #ai4 #be ,st4 ,john xiii4 #bc1 xix4 #bf1 xxi4 #g4 #bf ,rom4 x4 #b4 #bg ,comp4 ,acts xxii4 #ad and #b ,cor4 viii4 #ai2 also ,mark iii4 #ad and ,acts xiv4 #bc4 ,see on ,tit4 i4 #e-g4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,prophecies ,,on ,,timothy4--,,the ,,prophets ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,testament1 ,,an ,,exceptional ,,instrument ,,of ,,edification4 ,this charge ,i commit unto thee1 my own child ,timothy1 according to the prophecies which went before on thee1 that by them thou mayest war the good warfare2 holding faith and a good conscience2 which some having thrust from them made shipwreck concerning the faith3 of whom is ,hymenaeus and ,alexander2 whom ,i delivered unto ,satan1 that they might be taught not to blaspheme4--#a ,,tim4 i4 #ah-bj4 ,in this section ,st4 ,paul returns from the subject of the false teachers against whom ,timothy has to contend 7vv4 #c-aa71 and the contrast to their teaching exhibited by the ,gospel in the ,apostle's own case 7vv4 #ab-ag71 to the main purpose of the letter1 viz41 the instructions to be given to ,timothy for the due performance of his difficult duties as overseer of the ,church of ,ephesus4 ,the section contains two subjects of special interest1 each of which requires consideration2--the prophecies respecting ,timothy and the punishment of ,hymenaeus and ,alexander4 #a4 ,this charge ,i commit unto thee1 my child ,timothy1 according to the prophecies which went before on thee4 ,as the margin of the ,r4,v4 points out1 this last phrase might also be read according to the prophecies which led the way to thee1 for the ,greek may mean either4 ,the question is1 whether ,st4 ,paul is referring to certain prophecies which led the way to ,timothy1 i4e41 which designated him as specially suited for the ministry1 and led to his ordination by ,st4 ,paul and the presbyters2 or whether he is referring to certain prophecies which were uttered over ,timothy 7epi se7 either at the time of his conversion or of his admission to the ministry4 ,both the ,a4,v4 and the ,r4,v4 give the preference to the latter rendering1 which 7without excluding such a view7 does not commit us to the opinion that ,st4 ,paul was in any sense led to ,timothy by these prophecies1 a thought which is not clearly intimated in the original4 ,all that we are certain of is1 that long before the writing of this letter prophecies of which ,timothy was the object were uttered over him1 and that they were of such a nature as to be an incentive and support to him in his ministry4 ,but if we look on to the fourteenth verse of the fourth chapter in this ,epistle and to the sixth of the first chapter in the ,second1 we shall not have much doubt when these prophecies were uttered4 ,there we read1 ,neglect not the gift that is in thee1 which was given thee by prophecy1 with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery6 and ,for which cause ,i put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of ,god1 which is in thee through the laying on of my hands4 ,must we not believe that these two passages and the passage before us all refer to the same occasion--the same crisis in ,timothy's life8 ,in all three of them ,st4 ,paul appeals to the spiritual gift that was bestowed upon his disciple by means of prophecy and by means of the laying on of hands4 ,the same preposition and case 7dia with the genitive7 is used in each case4 ,clearly1 then1 we are to understand that the prophesying and the laying on of hands accompanied one another4 ,here only the prophesying is mentioned4 ,in chapter iv4 the prophesying1 accompanied by the imposition of the presbyters' hands1 is the means by which the grace is conferred4 ,in the ,second ,epistle only the laying on of the ,apostle's hands is mentioned1 and it is spoken of as the means by which the grace is conferred4 ,therefore1 although the present passage by itself leaves the question open1 yet when we take the other two into consideration along with it1 we may safely neglect the possibility of prophecies which led the way to the ordination of ,timothy1 and understand the ,apostle as referring to those sacred utterances which were a marked element in his disciple's ordination and formed a prelude and earnest of his ministry4 ,these sacred utterances indicated a ,divine commission and ,divine approbation publicly expressed respecting the choice of ,timothy for this special work4 ,they were also a means of grace2 for by means of them a spiritual blessing was bestowed upon the young minister4 ,in alluding to them here1 therefore1 ,st4 ,paul reminds him ,who it was by whom he was really chosen and ordained4 ,it is as if he said1 ,we laid our hands upon you2 but it was no ordinary election made by human votes4 ,it was ,god who elected you2 ,god who gave you your commission1 and with it the power to fulfil it4 ,beware1 therefore1 of disgracing ,his appointment and of neglecting or abusing ,his gift4#bh ,the voice of prophecy1 therefore1 either pointed out ,timothy as a chosen vessel for the ministry1 or publicly ratified the choice which had already been made by ,st4 ,paul and others4 ,but by whom was this voice of prophecy uttered8 ,by a special order of prophets8 ,or by ,st4 ,paul and the presbyters specially inspired to act as such8 ,the answer to this question involves some consideration of the office1 or rather function1 of a prophet1 especially in the ,new ,testament4 ,the word prophet is frequently understood in far too limited a sense4 ,it is commonly restricted to the one function of predicting the future4 ,but1 if we may venture to coin words in order to bring out points of differences1 there are three main ideas involved in the title prophet4 7#a7 ,a for-teller2 one who speaks for or instead of another1 especially one who speaks for or in the name of ,god2 a ,divine messenger1 ambassador1 interpreter1 or spokesman4 7#b7 ,a forth-teller2 one who has a special message to deliver forth to the world2 a proclaimer1 harbinger1 or herald4 7#c7 ,a fore-teller2 one who tells beforehand what is coming2 a predicter of future events4 ,to be the bearer or interpreter of a ,divine message is the fundamental conception of the prophet in classical ,greek2 and to a large extent this conception prevails in both the ,old and the ,new ,testament4 ,to be in immediate intercourse with ,jehovah1 and to be ,his spokesman to ,israel1 was what the ,hebrews understood by the gift of prophecy4 ,it was by no means necessary that the ,divine communication which the prophet had to make known to the people should relate to the future4 ,it might be a denunciation of past sins1 or an exhortation respecting present conduct1 quite as naturally as a prediction of what was coming4 ,and in the ,acts and ,pauline ,epistles the idea of a prophet remains much the same4 ,he is one to whom has been granted special insight into ,god's counsels1 and who communicates these mysteries to others4 ,both in the ,jewish and primitive ,christian dispensations1 the prophets are the means of communication between ,god and ,his ,church4 ,eight persons are mentioned by name in the ,acts of the ,apostles as exercising this gift of prophecy3 ,agabus1 ,barnabas1 ,symeon called ,niger1 ,lucius of ,cyrene1 ,manaen the foster-brother of ,herod the tetrarch1 ,judas1 ,silas1 and ,st4 ,paul himself4 ,on certain occasions the ,divine communication made to them by the ,spirit included a knowledge of the future2 as when ,agabus foretold the great famine 7xi4 #bh7 and the imprisonment of ,st4 ,paul 7xxi4 #aa71 and when ,st4 ,paul told that the ,holy ,spirit testified to him in every city1 that bonds and afflictions awaited him at ,jerusalem 7xx4 #bc74 ,but this is the exception rather than the rule4 ,it is in their character of prophets that ,judas and ,silas exhort and confirm the brethren4 ,and1 what is of special interest in reference to the prophecies uttered over ,timothy1 we find a group of prophets having special influence in the selection and ordination of ,apostolic evangelists4 ,and as they ministered to the ,lord1 and fasted1 the ,holy ,ghost said1 ,separate ,me ,barnabas and ,saul1 for the work whereunto ,i have called them4 ,then when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them1 they sent them away 7xiii4 #b1 #c74 ,we see1 therefore1 that these ,new ,testament prophets were not a regularly constituted order1 like apostles1 with whom they are joined both in the ,first ,epistle to the ,corinthians 7xii4 #bh7 and in that to the ,ephesians 7iv4 #aa74 ,yet they have this in common with apostles1 that the work of both lies rather in founding ,churches than in governing them4 ,they have to convert and edify rather than to rule4 ,they might or might not be apostles or presbyters as well as prophets2 but as prophets they were men or women 7such as the daughters of ,philip7 on whom a special gift of the ,holy ,spirit had been conferred3 and this gift enabled them to understand and expound ,divine mysteries with inspired authority1 and at times also to foretell the future4 ,so long as we bear these characteristics in mind1 it matters little how we answer the question as to who it was that uttered the prophecies over ,timothy at the time of his ordination4 ,it may have been ,st4 ,paul and the presbyters who laid their hands upon him1 and who on this occasion at any rate were endowed with the spirit of prophecy4 ,or it may have been that besides the presbyters there were prophets also present1 who1 at this solemn ceremony1 exercised their gift of inspiration4 ,the former seems more probable4 ,it is clear from chap4 iv4 #ad1 that prophecy and imposition of hands were two concomitant acts by means of which spiritual grace was bestowed upon ,timothy2 and it is more reasonable to suppose that these two instrumental acts were performed by the same group of persons1 than that one group prophesied1 while another laid their hands on the young minister's head4 ,this gift of prophecy1 ,st4 ,paul tells the ,corinthians 7#a ,cor4 xiv471 was one specially to be desired2 and evidently it was by no means a rare one in the primitive ,church4 ,as we might expect1 it was most frequently exercised in the public services of the congregation4 ,when ye come together1 each one hath a psalm1 hath a teaching1 hath a revelation1 hath a tongue1 hath an interpretation4444 ,let the prophets speak by two or three1 and let the others discern4 ,but if a revelation be made to another sitting by1 let the first keep silence4 ,for ye all can prophesy one by one1 that all may learn and all may be comforted2 and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets4 ,the chief object of the gift1 therefore1 was instruction and consolation1 for the conversion of unbelievers 7#bd1 #be71 and for the building up of the faithful4 ,but we shall probably be right in making a distinction between the prophesying which frequently took place in the first ,christian congregations1 and those special interventions of the ,holy ,spirit of which we read occasionally4 ,in these latter cases it is not so much spiritual instruction in an inspired form that is communicated1 as a revelation of ,god's will with regard to some particular course of action4 ,such was the case when ,paul and ,silas were forbidden of the ,holy ,ghost to speak the word in ,asia1 and when they assayed to go into ,bithynia1 and the ,spirit of ,jesus suffered them not3 or when on his voyage to ,rome ,paul was assured that he would stand before ,caesar1 and that ,god had given him the lives of all those who sailed with him4#bi ,some have supposed that the ,revelation of ,st4 ,john was intended to mark the close of ,new ,testament prophecy and to protect the ,church against unwarrantable attempts at prophecy until the return of ,christ to judge the world4 ,this view would be more probable if the later date for the ,apocalypse could be established4 ,but if1 as is far more probable1 the ,revelation was written c4 ,a4,d4 #fh1 it is hardly likely that ,st4 ,john1 during the lifetime of ,apostles1 would think of taking any such decisive step4 ,in his ,first ,epistle1 written probably fifteen or twenty years after the ,revelation1 he gives a test for distinguishing true from false prophets 7iv4 #a-d72 and this he would not have done1 if he had believed that all true prophecy had ceased4 ,in the newly discovered ,doctrine of the ,twelve ,apostles we find prophets among the ministers of the ,church1 just as in the ,epistles to the ,corinthians1 ,ephesians1 and ,philippians4 ,the date of this interesting treatise has yet to be ascertained2 but it seems to belong to the period between the ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul and those of ,ignatius4 ,we may safely place it between the writings of ,st4 ,paul and those of ,justin ,martyr4 ,in the ,epistle to the ,corinthians 7#a ,cor4 xii4 #bh7 we have ,first apostles1 secondly prophets1 thirdly teachers1 then those who had special gifts1 such as healing or speaking with tongues4 ,in ,ephes4 iv4 #aa we are told that ,christ gave some to be apostles2 and some evangelists2 and some1 pastors and teachers4 ,the ,epistle to the ,philippians is addressed to all the saints in ,christ ,jesus which are at ,philippi1 with the bishops and deacons1 where the plural shows that bishop cannot be used in the later diocesan sense2 otherwise there would be only one bishop at ,philippi4 ,prophets1 therefore1 in ,st4 ,paul's time are a common and important branch of the ministry4 ,they rank next to apostles1 and a single congregation may possess several of them4 ,in ,ignatius and later writers the ministers who are so conspicuous in the ,acts and in ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles disappear1 and their place is taken by other ministers whose offices1 at any rate in their later forms1 are scarcely found in the ,new ,testament at all4 ,these are the bishops1 presbyters1 and deacons2 to whom were soon added a number of subordinate officials1 such as readers1 exorcists1 and the like4 ,the ministry1 as we find it in the ,doctrine of the ,twelve ,apostles1 is in a state of transition from the ,apostolic to the latter stage4 ,as in the time of ,st4 ,paul we have both itinerant and local ministers2 the itinerant ministers being chiefly apostles and prophets1 whose functions do not seem to be marked off from one another very distinctly2 and the local ministry consisting of two orders only1 bishops and deacons1 as in the address to the ,church of ,philippi4 ,when we reach the ,epistles of ,ignatius and other documents of a date later than ,a4,d4 #aaj1 we lose distinct traces of these itinerant apostles and prophets4 ,the title ,apostle is becoming confined to ,st4 ,paul and the ,twelve1 and the title of ,prophet to the ,old ,testament prophets4 ,the gradual cessation or discredit of the function of the ,christian prophet is thoroughly intelligible4 ,possibly the spiritual gift which rendered it possible was withdrawn from the ,church4 ,in any case the extravagances of enthusiasts who deluded themselves into the belief that they possessed the gift1 or of impostors who deliberately assumed it1 would bring the office into suspicion and disrepute4 ,such things were possible even in ,apostolic times1 for both ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,john give cautions about it1 and directions for dealing with the abuse and the false assumption of prophecy4 ,in the next century the eccentric delusions of ,montanus and his followers1 and their vehement attempts to force their supposed revelations upon the whole ,church1 completed the discredit of all profession to prophetical power4 ,this discredit has been intensified from time to time whenever such professions have been renewed2 as1 for example1 by the extravagances of the ,zwickau ,prophets or ,abecedarians in ,luther's time1 or of the ,irvingites in our own day4 ,since the death of ,st4 ,john and the close of the ,canon1 ,christians have sought for illumination in the written word of ,scripture rather than in the utterances of prophets4 ,it is there that each one of us may find the prophecies that went before on us1 exhorting us and enabling us to war the good warfare1 holding faith and a good conscience4 ,there will always be those who crave for something more definite and personal2 who long for1 and perhaps create for themselves and believe in1 some living authority to whom they can perpetually appeal4 ,scripture seems to them unsatisfying1 and they erect for themselves an infallible pope1 or a spiritual director1 whose word is to be to them as the inspired utterances of a prophet4 ,but we have to fall back on our own consciences at last3 and whether we take ,scripture or some other authority as our infallible guide1 the responsibility of the choice still rests with ourselves4 ,if a man will not hear ,christ and ,his ,apostles1 neither will he be persuaded though a prophet was granted to him4 ,if we believe not their writings1 how shall we believe his words8 ,,footnotes3 #bh ,chrysostom in loco4 ,hom4 v4 sub init4 #bi ,acts xvi4 #f1 #g1 xxvii4 #bd2 comp4 xviii4 #i1 xx4 #bc1 xxi4 #d1 #aa1 xxii4 #ag-ba4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,punishment ,,of ,,hymenaeus ,,and ,,alexander4--,,delivering ,,to ,,satan ,,an ,,exceptional ,,instrument ,,of ,,purification4--,,the ,,personality ,,of ,,satan4 ,holding faith and a good conscience2 which some having thrust from them made shipwreck3 of whom is ,hymenaeus and ,alexander2 whom ,i delivered unto ,satan1 that they might be taught not to blaspheme4--#a ,,tim4 i4 #ai1 #bj4 ,in the preceding discourse one of the special charismata which distinguish the ,church of the ,apostolic age was considered1--the gift of prophecy4 ,it seems to have been an exceptional boon to enable the first ,christians to perform very exceptional work4 ,on the present occasion we have to consider a very different subject--the heavy penalty inflicted on two grievous offenders4 ,this again would seem to be something exceptional4 ,and the special gift and the special punishment have this much in common1 that both of them were extraordinary means for promoting and preserving the holiness of the ,church4 ,the one existed for the edification1 the other for the purification1 of the members of the ,christian community4 ,the necessity of strict discipline both for the individual and for the community had been declared by ,christ from the outset4 ,the eye that caused offence was to be plucked out1 the hand and the foot that caused offence were to be cut off1 and the hardened offender who refused to listen to the solemn remonstrances of the congregation was to be treated as a heathen and an outcast4 ,the experience of the primitive ,church had proved the wisdom of this4 ,the fall of ,judas had shown that the ,apostolic band itself was not secure from evil of the very worst kind4 ,the parent ,church of ,jerusalem was no sooner founded than a dark stain was brought upon it by the conduct of two of its members4 ,in the very first glow of its youthful enthusiasm ,ananias and ,sapphira conspired together to pervert the general unselfishness to their own selfish end1 by attempting to gain the credit for equal generosity with the rest1 while keeping back something for themselves4 ,the ,church of ,corinth was scarcely five years old1 and the ,apostle had been absent from it only about three years1 when he learnt that in this ,christian community1 the firstfruits of the heathen world1 a sin which even the heathen regarded as a monstrous pollution had been committed1 and that the congregation were glorying in it4 ,christians were boasting that the incestuous union of a man with his father's wife during his father's lifetime was a splendid illustration of ,christian liberty4 ,no stronger proof of the dangers of lax discipline could have been given4 ,in the verses before us we have instances of similar peril on the doctrinal side4 ,and in the insolent opposition which ,diotrephes offered to ,st4 ,john we have an illustration of the dangers of insubordination4 ,if the ,christian ,church was to be saved from speedy collapse1 strict discipline in morals1 in doctrine1 and in government1 was plainly necessary4 ,the punishment of the incestuous person at ,corinth should be placed side by side with the punishment of ,hymenaeus and ,alexander1 as recorded here4 ,the two cases mutually explain one another4 ,in each of them there occurs the remarkable formula of delivering or handing over to ,satan4 ,the meaning of it is not indisputable1 and in the main two views are held respecting it4 ,some interpret it as being merely a synonym for excommunication4 ,others maintain that it indicates a much more exceptional penalty1 which might or might not accompany excommunication4 #a4 ,on the one hand it is argued that the expression deliver unto ,satan is a very intelligible periphrasis for excommunicate4 ,excommunication involved exclusion from all ,christian fellowship1 and consequently banishment to the society of those among whom ,satan dwelt1 and from which the offender had publicly severed himself4#cj ,it is admitted that handing over to ,satan is strong language to use in order to express ejection from the congregation and exclusion from all acts of worship1 but it is thought that the acuteness of the crisis makes the strength of language intelligible4 #b4 ,but the strength of language needs no apology1 if the delivering unto ,satan means something extraordinary1 over and above excommunication4 ,this1 therefore1 is an advantage which the second mode of interpreting the expression has at the outset4 ,excommunication was a punishment which the congregation itself could inflict2 but this handing over to ,satan was an ,apostolic act1 to accomplish which the community without the ,apostle had no power4 ,it was a supernatural infliction of bodily infirmity1 or disease1 or death1 as a penalty for grievous sin4 ,we know this in the cases of ,ananias and ,sapphira and of ,elymas4 ,the incestuous person at ,corinth is probably another instance3 for the destruction of the flesh seems to mean some painful malady inflicted on that part of his nature which had been the instrument of his fall1 in order that by its chastisement the higher part of his nature might be saved4 ,and1 if this be correct1 then we seem to be justified in assuming the same respecting ,hymenaeus and ,alexander4 ,for although nothing is said in their case respecting the destruction of the flesh1 yet the expression that they may be taught not to blaspheme1 implies something of a similar kind4 ,the word for taught paideuthsi implies discipline and chastisement1 sometimes in ,classical ,greek1 frequently in the ,new ,testament1 a meaning which the word teach also not unfrequently has in ,english 7,judges viii4 #af74 ,in illustration of this it is sufficient to point to the passage in ,heb4 xii41 in which the writer insists that whom the ,lord loveth ,he chasteneth4 ,throughout the section this very word 7paideuein7 and its cognate 7paideia7 are used4#ca ,it is1 therefore1 scarcely doubtful that ,st4 ,paul delivered ,hymenaeus and ,alexander to ,satan1 in order that ,satan might have power to afflict their bodies 7just as he was allowed power over the body of ,job71 with a view to their spiritual amelioration4 ,this personal suffering1 following close upon their sin and declared by the ,apostle to be a punishment for it1 would teach them to abandon it4 ,st4 ,paul himself1 as he has just told us1 had been a blasphemer and by a supernatural visitation had been converted3 why should not these two follow in both respects in his steps8 ,satan's willingness to co-operate in such measures need not surprise us4 ,he is always ready to inflict suffering2 and the fact that suffering sometimes draws the sufferer away from him and nearer to ,god1 does not deter him from inflicting it4 ,he knows well that suffering not unfrequently has the very opposite effect4 ,it hardens and exasperates some men1 while it humbles and purifies others4 ,it makes one man say ,i abhor myself1 and repent in dust and ashes4 ,it makes another will to renounce ,god and die4 ,satan hoped in ,job's case to be able to provoke him to renounce ,god to ,his face4 ,in the case of these two blasphemers he would hope to induce them to blaspheme all the more4 ,we may pass by the question1 ,in what way did ,hymenaeus and ,alexander blaspheme8 ,we can only conjecture that it was by publicly opposing some article of the ,christian faith4 ,but conjectures without evidence are not very profitable4 ,if we were certain that the ,hymenaeus here mentioned with ,alexander is identical with the one who is condemned with ,philetus in #b ,tim4 ii4 #ah for virtually denying the resurrection1 we should have some evidence4 ,but this identification1 although probable1 is not certain4 ,still less certain is the identification of the ,alexander condemned here with ,alexander the coppersmith1 who in #b ,tim4 iv4 #ad is said to have done the ,apostle much evil4 ,but none of these questions is of great moment4 ,what is of importance to notice is the ,apostolic sentence upon the two blasphemers4 ,and in it we have to notice four points4 7#a7 ,it is almost certainly not identical with excommunication by the congregation1 although it very probably was accompanied by this other penalty4 7#b7 ,it is of a very extraordinary character1 being a handing over into the power of the evil one4 7#c7 ,its object is the reformation of the offenders1 while at the same time 7#d7 it serves as a warning to others1 lest they by similar offences should suffer so awful a punishment4 ,to all alike it brought home the serious nature of such sins4 ,even at the cost of cutting off the right hand1 or plucking out the right eye1 the ,christian community must be kept pure in doctrine as in life4 ,these two passages1--the one before us1 and the one respecting the case of incest at ,corinth1--are conclusive as to ,st4 ,paul's teaching respecting the existence and personality of the devil4 ,they are supported and illustrated by a number of other passages in his writings2 as when he tells the ,thessalonians that ,satan hindered his work1 or warns the ,corinthians that even ,satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light1 and tells them that his own sore trouble in the flesh was1 like ,job's1 a messenger of ,satan to buffet him4 ,not less clear is the teaching of ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,john in ,epistles which1 with those of ,st4 ,paul to the ,corinthians1 are among the best authenticated works in ancient literature4 ,your adversary the devil as a roaring lion1 walketh about1 seeking whom he may devour1 says the one3 ,he that doeth sin is of the devil2 for the devil sinneth from the beginning1 says the other4 ,and1 if we need higher authority1 there is the declaration of ,christ to the malignant and unbelieving ,jews4 ,ye are of your father the devil1 and the lusts of your father it is your will to do4 ,he was a murderer from the beginning1 and stood not in the truth1 because there is no truth in him4 ,when he speaketh a lie1 he speaketh of his own3 for he is a liar1 and the father thereof4#cb ,with regard to this last passage1 those who deny the personal existence of ,satan must maintain either 7#a7 that the ,evangelist here attributes to ,christ words which ,he never used2 or 7#b7 that ,christ was willing to make use of a monstrous superstition in order to denounce his opponents with emphasis2 or 7#c7 that ,he ,himself erroneously believed in the existence of a being who was a mere figment of an unenlightened imagination3 in other words1 that the ,son of ,god was manifested that ,he might destroy the works of the devil1 when all the while there was no devil and no works of his to be destroyed4 ,the first of these views cuts at the root of all trust in the ,gospels as historical documents4 ,words which imply that ,satan is a person are attributed to ,christ by the ,synoptists no less than by ,st4 ,john2 and if the ,evangelists are not to be believed in their report of ,christ's sayings on this topic1 what security have we that they are to be believed as to their reports of the rest of ,his teaching2 or indeed as to anything which they narrate8 ,again1 how are we to account for the very strong statements made by the ,apostles themselves respecting the evil one1 if they had never heard anything of the kind from ,christ4 ,the second view has been adopted by ,schleiermacher1 who thinks that ,christ accommodated ,his teaching to the ideas then prevalent among the ,jews respecting ,satan without sharing them ,himself4 ,he knew that ,satan was a mere personification of the moral evil which every man finds in his own nature and in that of his fellow-men3 but the ,jews believed in the personality of this evil principle1 and ,he acquiesced in the belief1 not as being true1 but as offering no fundamental opposition to ,his teaching4 ,but is this consistent with the truthfulness of ,christ8 ,if a personal devil is an empty superstition1 ,he went out of his way to confirm men in their belief in it4 ,why teach that the enemy who sowed the tares is the devil8 ,why interpret the birds that snatch away the freshly sown seed as ,satan8 ,it would have been so easy in each case to have spoken of impersonal temptations4 ,again1 what motive can ,christ have had for telling ,his ,apostles 7not the ignorant and superstitious multitude71 that ,he ,himself had endured the repeated solicitations of a personal tempter1 who had conversed and argued with ,him8 ,those who1 like ,strauss and ,renan1 believe ,jesus of ,nazareth to have been a mere man1 would naturally adopt the third view4 ,in believing in the personality of ,satan ,jesus merely shared the superstitions of ,his age4 ,to all those who wish to discuss with him whether we are still ,christians1 ,strauss declares that the belief in a devil is one of the most hideous sides of the ancient ,christian faith1 and that the extent to which this dangerous delusion still controls men's ideas or has been banished from them is the very thing to regard as a measure of culture4 ,but at the same time he admits that to remove so fundamental a stone is dangerous for the whole edifice of the ,christian faith4 ,it was the young ,goethe who remarked against ,bahrdt that if ever an idea was biblical1 this one of the existence of a personal ,satan was such4#cc ,and elsewhere ,strauss declares that the conception of the ,messiah and ,his kingdom without the antithesis of an infernal kingdom with a personal chief is as impossible as that of ,north pole without a ,south pole4#cd ,to refuse to believe in an evil power external to ourselves is to believe that human nature itself is diabolical4 ,whence come the devilish thoughts that vex us even at the most sacred and solemn moments8 ,if they do not come from the evil one and his myrmidons1 they come from ourselves3--they are our own offspring4 ,such a belief might well drive us to despair4 ,so far from being a hideous element in the ,christian faith1 the belief in a power1 not ourselves1 that makes for wickedness1 is a most consoling one4 ,it has been said that1 if there were no ,god1 we should have to invent one3 and with almost equal truth we might say that1 if there were no devil1 we should have to invent one4 ,without a belief in ,god bad men would have little to induce them to conquer their evil passions4 ,without a belief in a devil good men would have little hope of ever being able to do so4 ,the passage before us supplies us with another consoling thought with regard to this terrible adversary1 who is always invisibly plotting against us4 ,it is often for our own good that ,god allows him to have an advantage over us4 ,he is permitted to inflict loss upon us through our persons and our property1 as in the case of ,job1 and the woman whom he bowed down for eighteen years1 in order to chasten us and teach us that we have not here an abiding city4 ,and he is permitted even to lead us into sin1 in order to save us from spiritual pride1 and to convince us that apart from ,christ and in our own strength we can do nothing4 ,these are not ,satan's motives1 but they are ,god's motives in allowing him to be the ruler of this world1 and to have much power over human affairs4 ,satan inflicts suffering from love of inflicting it1 and leads into sin from love of sin3 but ,god knows how to bring good out of evil by making the evil one frustrate his own wiles4 ,the devil malignantly afflicts souls that come within his power2 but the affliction leads to those souls being saved in the day of the ,lord4 ,it had that blessed effect in the case of the incestuous person at ,corinth4 ,whether the same is true of ,hymenaeus and ,alexander1 there is nothing in ,scripture to tell us4 ,it is for us to take care that in our case the chastisements which inevitably follow upon sin do not drive us further and further into it1 but teach us to sin no more4 ,,footnotes3 #cj ,dr4 ,david ,brown in ,schaff's ,popular ,commentary1 iii41 p4 #ahj4 #ca ,heb4 xii4 #e1 #aa2 comp4 #a ,cor4 xi4 #cb2 #b ,cor4 vi4 #i2 #b ,tim4 ii4 #be2 ,luke xxiii4 #af1 #bb3 ,soph41 ,ajax #eie2 ,xen41 ,mem4 ,i4 iii4 #e4 #cb #a ,thess4 ii4 #ah2 #b ,cor4 xi4 #ad1 xii4 #g2 #a ,pet4 v4 #h2 #a ,john iii4 #h2 ,john viii4 #dd4 #cc ,strauss1 ,der alte und der neue ,glaube1 p4 #bb4 #cd ,herzog und ,plitt1 ,,xv4 p4 #cfa4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,elements ,,of ,,christian ,,worship2 ,,intercessory ,,prayer ,,and ,,thanksgiving4--,,the ,,solidarity ,,of ,,christendom ,,and ,,of ,,the ,,human ,,race4 ,i exhort1 therefore1 first of all1 that supplications1 prayers1 intercessions1 thanksgivings1 be made for all men3 for kings and all that are in high places2 that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity--#a ,,tim4 ii4 #a4 ,the first chapter of the ,epistle is more or less introductory4 ,it repeats what ,st4 ,paul had already said to his beloved disciple by word of mouth1 on the subject of ,christian doctrine1 and the necessity of keeping it pure4 ,it makes a digression respecting the ,apostle's own conversion4 ,it reminds ,timothy of the hopeful prophecies uttered over him at his ordination2 and it points out the terrible consequences of driving conscience from the helm and placing oneself in antagonism to the ,almighty4 ,in this second chapter ,st ,paul goes on to mention in order the subjects which led to the writing of the letter2 and the very first exhortation which he has to give is that respecting ,christian worship and the duty of intercessory prayer and thanksgiving4 ,there are two things very worthy of remark in the treatment of the subject of worship in the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,first1 these letters bring before us a more developed form of worship than we find indicated in the earlier writings of ,st4 ,paul4 ,it is still very primitive1 but it has grown4 ,and this is exactly what we ought to expect1 especially when we remember how rapidly the ,christian ,church developed its powers during the first century and a half4 ,secondly1 the indications of this more developed form of worship occur only in the letters to ,timothy1 which deal with the condition of things in the ,church of ,ephesus1 a ,church which had already been founded for a considerable time1 and was in a comparatively advanced stage of organization4 ,hence we are not surprised to find in these two ,epistles fragments of what appear to be primitive liturgical forms4 ,in the ,first ,epistle we have two grand doxologies1 which may be the outcome of the ,apostle's devotion at the moment1 but are quite as likely to be quotations of formulas well known to ,timothy 7i4 #ag2 vi4 #ae1 #af74 ,between these two we have what looks like a portion of a hymn in praise of ,jesus ,christ1 suitable for singing antiphonally 7iii4 #af2 comp4 ,pliny1 ,epp4 x4 #if73 and also what may be a baptismal exhortation 7vi4 #ab74 ,in the ,second ,epistle we have traces of another liturgical formula 7ii4 #aa-ac74 ,st4 ,paul of course does not mean1 as the ,a4,v4 might lead us to suppose1 that in all ,christian worship intercession ought to come first2 still less that intercession is the first duty of a ,christian4 ,but he does place it first among those subjects about which he has to give directions in this ,epistle4 ,he makes sure that it shall not be forgotten by himself in writing to his delegate at ,ephesus2 and he wishes to make sure that it shall not be forgotten by ,timothy in his ministration4 ,to offer prayers and thanksgivings on behalf of all men is a duty of such high importance that the ,apostle places it first among the topics of his pastoral charge4 ,was it a duty which ,timothy and the congregation committed to his care had been neglecting1 or were in serious danger of neglecting8 ,it may well have been so4 ,in the difficulties of the overseer's own personal position1 and in the varied dangers to which his little flock were so unceasingly exposed1 the claims of others upon their united prayer and praise may sometimes have been forgotten4 ,when the ,apostle had left ,timothy to take his place for a time in ,ephesus he had hoped to return very soon1 and consequently had given him only brief and somewhat hasty directions as to his course of action during his absence4 ,he had been prevented from returning2 and there was a probability that ,timothy would have to be his representative for an indefinite period4 ,meanwhile the difficulties of ,timothy's position had not diminished4 ,many of his flock were much older men than himself1 and some of them had been elders in the ,church of ,ephesus long before the ,apostle's beloved disciple was placed in charge of them4 ,some of the leaders in the congregation had become tainted with the ,gnostic errors with which the intellectual atmosphere of ,ephesus was charged1 and were endeavouring to make compromise and confusion between heathen lawlessness and ,christian liberty4 ,besides which1 there was the bitter hostility of the ,jews1 who regarded both ,paul and ,timothy as renegades from the faith of their ancestors1 and who never lost an opportunity of thwarting and reviling them4 ,above all there was the ever-present danger of heathenism1 which confronted the ,christians every time they left the shelter of their own houses4 ,in the city which counted it as its chief glory that it was the ,temple-keeper of the great ,artemis 7,acts xix4 #ce71 every street through which the ,christians walked1 and every heathen house which they entered1 was full of pagan abominations2 to say nothing of the magnificent temples1 beautiful groves1 and seductive idolatrous rites1 which were among the main features that attracted such motley crowds to ,ephesus4 ,amid difficulties and perils such as these1 it would not be wonderful if ,timothy and those committed to his care had been somewhat oblivious of the fact that behind the mountains also there are people2 that beyond the narrow limits of their contracted horizon there were interests as weighty as their own--,christians who were as dear to ,god as themselves1 whose needs were as great as their own1 and to whom the ,lord had been equally gracious2 and moreover countless hosts of heathen1 who also were ,god's children1 needing ,his help and receiving ,his blessings2 for all of whom1 as well as for themselves1 the ,church in ,ephesus was bound to offer prayer and thanksgiving4 ,but there is no need to assume that ,timothy1 and those committed to his care1 had been specially neglectful of this duty4 ,to keep clearly in view our responsibilities towards the whole human race1 or even towards the whole ,church1 is so difficult a thing for all of us1 that the prominent place which ,st4 ,paul gives to the obligation to offer prayers and thanksgivings for all men is quite intelligible1 without the supposition that the disciple whom he addresses was more in need of such a charge than other ministers in the ,churches under ,st4 ,paul's care4 ,the ,apostle uses three different words for prayer1 the second of which is a general term and covers all kinds of prayer to ,god1 and the first a still more general term1 including petitions addressed to man4 ,either of the first two would embrace the third1 which indicates a bold and earnest approach to the ,almighty to implore some great benefit4 ,none of the three words necessarily means intercession in the sense of prayer on behalf of others4 ,this idea comes from the context4 ,st4 ,paul says plainly that it is prayers and thanksgivings for all men that he desires to have made3 and in all probability he did not carefully distinguish in his mind the shades of meaning which are proper to the three terms which he uses4 ,whatever various kinds of supplication there may be which are offered by man at the throne of grace1 he urges that the whole human race are to have the benefit of them4 ,obviously1 as ,chrysostom long ago pointed out1 we cannot limit the ,apostle's all men to all believers4 ,directly he enters into detail he mentions kings and all that are in high place2 and in ,st4 ,paul's day not a single king1 and we may almost say not a single person in high place1 was a believer4 ,the scope of a ,christian's desires and gratitude1 when he appears before the ,lord1 must have no narrower limit than that which embraces the whole human race4 ,this important principle1 the ,apostle charges his representative1 must be exhibited in the public worship of the ,church in ,ephesus4 ,the solidarity of the whole body of ,christians1 however distant from one another in space and time1 however different from one another in nationality1 in discipline1 and even in creed1 is a magnificent fact1 of which we all of us need from time to time to be reminded1 and which1 even when we are reminded of it1 we find it somewhat difficult to grasp4 ,members of sects that we never heard of1 dwelling in remote regions of which we do not even know the names1 are nevertheless united to us by the eternal ties of a common baptism and a common belief in ,god and in ,jesus ,christ4 ,the eastern sectarian in the wilds of ,asia1 and the western sectarian in the backwoods of ,north ,america1 are members of ,christ and our brethren2 and as such have spiritual interests identical with our own1 for which it is not only our duty but our advantage to pray4 ,whether one member suffereth1 all the members suffer with it2 or one member is honoured1 all the members rejoice with it4 ,the ties which bind ,christians to one another are at once so subtle and so real1 that it is impossible for one ,christian to remain unaffected by the progress or retrogression of any other4 ,therefore1 not only does the law of ,christian charity require us to aid all our fellow-,christians by praying for them1 but the law of self-interest leads us to do so also2 for their advance will assuredly help us forward1 and their relapse will assuredly keep us back4 ,all this is plain matter of fact1 revealed to us by ,christ and ,his apostles1 and confirmed by our own experience1 so far as our feeble powers of observation are able to supply a test4 ,nevertheless1 it is a fact of such enormous proportions 7even without taking into account our close relationship with those who have passed away from this world71 that even with our best efforts we fail to realize it in its immensity4 ,what shall we say1 then1 about the difficulty of realizing the solidarity of the whole human race8 ,for they also are ,god's offspring1 and as such are of one family with ourselves4 ,if it is hard to remember that the welfare of the humblest member of a remote and obscure community in ,christendom intimately concerns ourselves1 how shall we keep in view the fact that we have both interests and obligations in reference to the wildest and most degraded heathens in the heart of ,africa or in the islands of the ,pacific8 ,here is a fact on a far more stupendous scale2 for in the population of the globe1 those who are not even in name ,christians1 outnumber us by at least three to one4 ,and yet let us never forget that our interest in these countless multitudes1 whom we have never seen and never shall see in this life1 is not a mere graceful sentiment or empty flourish of rhetoric1 but a sober and solid fact4 ,the hackneyed phrase1 a man and a brother1 represents a vital truth4 ,every human being is one of our brethren1 and1 whether we like the responsibility or not1 we are still our brother's keeper4 ,in our keeping1 to a very real extent1 lie the supreme issues of his spiritual life1 and we have to look to it that we discharge our trust faithfully4 ,we read with horror1 and it may be with compassion1 of the monstrous outrages committed by savage chiefs upon their subjects1 their wives1 or their enemies4 ,we forget that the guilt of these things may lie partly at our door1 because we have not done our part in helping forward civilizing influences which would have prevented such horrors1 above all because we have not prayed as we ought for those who commit them4 ,there are few of us who have not some opportunities of giving assistance in various ways to missionary enterprise and humanizing efforts4 ,but all of us can at least pray for ,god's blessing upon such things1 and for ,his mercy upon those who are in need of it4 ,of those who1 having nothing else to give1 give their struggles after holiness and their prayers for their fellow-men1 the blessed commendation stands written1 ,they have done what they could4 ,for kings and all that are in high place4 ,it is quite a mistake to suppose that kings here means the ,roman ,emperors4 ,this has been asserted1 and from this misinterpretation has been deduced the erroneous conclusion that the letter must have been written at a time when it was customary for the ,emperor to associate another prince with him in the empire1 with a view to securing the succession4 ,as ,hadrian was the first to do this1 and that near to the close of his reign1 this letter 7it is urged7 cannot be earlier than ,a4,d4 #ach4 ,but this interpretation is impossible1 for kings in the ,greek has no article4 ,had the writer meant the two reigning ,emperors1 whether ,hadrian and ,antoninus1 or ,m4 ,aurelius and ,verus1 he would inevitably have written for the kings and for all in high place4 ,the expression for kings1 obviously means for monarchs of all descriptions1 including the ,roman ,emperor1 but including many other potentates also4 ,such persons1 as having the heaviest responsibilities and the greatest power of doing good and evil1 have an especial claim upon the prayers of ,christians4 ,it gives us a striking illustration of the transforming powers of ,christianity when we think of ,st4 ,paul giving urgent directions that among the persons to be remembered first in the intercessions of the ,church are ,nero and the men whom he put in high place1 such as ,otho and ,vitellius1 who afterwards became ,emperor3 and this1 too1 after ,nero's peculiarly cruel and wanton persecution of the ,christians ,a4,d4 #fd4 ,how firmly this beautiful practice became established among ,christians1 is shown from their writings in the second and third centuries4 ,tertullian1 who lived through the reigns of such monsters as ,commodus and ,elagabalus1 who remembered the persecution under ,m4 ,aurelius1 and witnessed that under ,septimius ,severus1 can nevertheless write thus of the ,emperor of ,rome3 ,a ,christian is the enemy of no one1 least of all of the ,emperor1 whom he knows to have been appointed by his ,god1 and whom he therefore of necessity loves1 and reverences1 and honours1 and desires his well-being1 with that of the whole ,roman ,empire1 so long as the world shall stand2 for it shall last as long4 ,to the ,emperor1 therefore1 we render such homage as is lawful for us and good for him1 as the human being who comes next to ,god1 and is what he is by ,god's decree1 and to ,god alone is inferior4444 ,and so we sacrifice also for the well-being of the ,emperor2 but to our ,god and his2 but in the way that ,god has ordained1 with a prayer that is pure4 ,for ,god1 the ,creator of the universe1 has no need of odours or of blood4#ce ,in another passage ,tertullian anticipates the objection that ,christians pray for the ,emperor1 in order to curry favour with the ,roman government and thus escape persecution4 ,he says that the heathen have only to look into the ,scriptures1 which to ,christians are the voice of ,god1 and see that to pray for their enemies and to pray for those in authority is a fundamental rule with ,christians4 ,and he quotes the passage before us4#cf ,but he appears to misunderstand the concluding words of the ,apostle's injunction1--that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity4 ,tertullian understands this as a reason for praying for kings and rulers2 because they are the preservers of the public peace1 and any disturbance in the empire will necessarily affect the ,christians as well as other subjects1--which is giving a rather narrow and selfish motive for this great duty4 ,that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity1 is the object and consequence1 not of our praying for kings and rulers in particular1 but of our offering prayers and thanksgivings on behalf of all men4 ,when this most pressing obligation is duly discharged1 then1 and only then1 can we hope with tranquil consciences to be able to live ,christian lives in retirement from the rivalries and jealousies and squabbles of the world4 ,only in the attitude of mind which makes us pray and give thanks for our fellow-men is the tranquillity of a godly life possible4 ,the enemies of ,christian peace and quietness are anxiety and strife4 ,are we anxious about the well-being of those near and dear to us1 or of those whose interests are bound up with our own8 ,let us pray for them4 ,have we grave misgivings respecting the course which events are taking in ,church1 or in ,state1 or in any of the smaller societies to which we belong8 ,let us offer supplications and intercessions on behalf of all concerned in them4 ,prayer offered in faith to the throne of grace will calm our anxiety1 because it will assure us that all is in ,god's hand1 and that in ,his own good time ,he will bring good out of the evil4 ,are we at strife with our neighbours1 and is this a constant source of disturbance8 ,let us pray for them4 ,fervent and frequent prayers for those who are hostile to us will certainly secure this much1--that we ourselves become more wary about giving provocation2 and this will go a long way towards bringing the attainment of our desire for the entire cessation of the strife4 ,is there any one to whom we have taken a strong aversion1 whose very presence is a trial to us1 whose every gesture and every tone irritates us1 and the sight of whose handwriting makes us shiver1 because of its disturbing associations8 ,let us pray for him4 ,sooner or later dislike must give way to prayer4 ,it is impossible to go on taking a real interest in the welfare of another1 and at the same time to go on detesting him4 ,and if our prayers for his welfare are genuine1 a real interest in it there must be4 ,is there any one of whom we are jealous8 ,of whose popularity1 so dangerous to our own1 we are envious8 ,whose success--quite undeserved success1 as it seems to us--disgusts and frightens us8 ,whose mishaps and failures1 nay even whose faults and misdeeds1 give us pleasure and satisfaction8 ,let us thank ,god for the favour which ,he bestows upon this man4 ,let us praise our heavenly ,father for having in ,his wisdom and ,his justice given to another of ,his children what ,he denies to us2 and let us pray ,him to keep this other from abusing ,his gifts4 ,yes1 let us never forget that not only prayers but thanksgivings are to be offered for all men4 ,he who is so good to the whole ,church1 of which we are members1 and to the great human family to which we belong1 certainly has claim upon the gratitude of every human being1 and especially of every ,christian4 ,his bounty is not given by measure or by merit4 ,he maketh ,his sun to shine upon the evil and the good1 and sendeth ,his rain upon the just and the unjust3 and shall we pick and choose as to what we will thank ,him for1 and what not8 ,the sister who loves her erring or her half-witted brother is grateful to her father for the care which he bestows upon his graceless and his useless son4 ,and shall we not give thanks to our heavenly ,father for the benefits which ,he bestows on the countless multitudes whose interests are so closely interwoven with our own8 ,benefits bestowed upon any human being are an answer to our prayers1 and as such we are bound to give thanks for them4 ,how much more grateful shall we be1 when we are able to look on them as benefits bestowed upon those whom we love6 ,this is the cause of so much of our failure in prayer4 ,we do not couple our prayers with thanksgiving2 or at any rate our thanksgivings are far less hearty than our prayers4 ,we give thanks for benefits received by ourselves3 we forget to give thanks for all men4 ,above all1 we forget that the truest gratitude is shown1 not in words or feelings1 but in conduct4 ,we should send good deeds after good words to heaven4 ,not that our ingratitude provokes ,god to withhold ,his gifts2 but that it does render us less capable of receiving them4 ,for the sake of others no less than for ourselves let us remember the ,apostle's charge that thanksgivings be made for all men4 ,we cannot give plenty and prosperity to the nations of the earth4 ,we cannot bestow on them peace and tranquillity4 ,we cannot bring them out of darkness to ,god's glorious light4 ,we cannot raise them from impurity to holiness4 ,we can only do a little1 a very little1 towards these great ends4 ,but one thing we can do4 ,we can at least thank ,him who has already bestowed some1 and is preparing to bestow others1 of these blessings4 ,we can praise ,him for the end towards which ,he will have all things work4--,he willeth that all men should be saved 7ver4 #d71 that ,god may be all in all4 ,,footnotes3 #ce ,ad ,scapulam1 ii4 #cf ,apol41 xxxi4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,behaviour ,,in ,,christian ,,worship3 ,,men',s ,,attitude ,,of ,,body ,,and ,,mind3 ,,women',s ,,attire ,,and ,,ornament4 ,i desire1 therefore1 that the men pray in every place1 lifting up holy hands1 without wrath and disputing4 ,in like manner1 that women adorn themselves in modest apparel1 with shamefacedness and sobriety2 not with braided hair1 and gold or pearls or costly raiment2 but 7which becometh women professing godliness7 through good works4 ,let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection4 ,but ,i permit not a woman to teach1 nor to have dominion over a man1 but to be in quietness4--#a ,,tim4 ii4 #h-ab4 ,in the preceding verses of this chapter1 ,st4 ,paul has been insisting on the duty of unselfishness in our devotions4 ,our prayers and thanksgivings are not to be bounded in their scope by our own personal interests1 but are to include the whole human race2 and for this obvious and sufficient reason1--that in using such devotions we know that our desires are in harmony with the mind of ,god1 who willeth that all men should be saved1 and come to the knowledge of the truth4 ,having thus laid down the principles which are to guide ,christian congregations in the subject-matter of their prayers and thanksgivings1 he passes on now to give some directions respecting the behaviour of men and women1 when they meet together for common worship of the one ,god and the one ,mediator between ,god and man1 ,christ ,jesus4 ,there is no reasonable doubt 7although the point has been disputed7 that ,st4 ,paul is here speaking of public worship in the congregation2 the whole context implies it4 ,some of the directions would be scarcely intelligible1 if we were to suppose that the ,apostle is thinking of private devotions1 or even of family prayer in ,christian households4 ,and we are not to suppose that he is indirectly finding fault with other forms of worship1 ,jewish or heathen4 ,he is merely laying down certain principles which are to guide ,christians1 whether at ,ephesus or elsewhere1 in the conduct of public service4 ,thus there is no special emphasis on in every place1 as if the meaning were1 ,our ways are not like those of the ,jews2 for they were not allowed to sacrifice and perform their services anywhere1 but assembling from all parts of the world were bound to perform all their worship in the temple4 ,for as ,christ commanded us to pray for all men1 because ,he died for all men1 so it is good to pray everywhere4#cg ,such an antithesis between ,jewish and ,christian worship1 even if it were true1 would not be in place here4 ,every place is a place of private prayer to both ,jew and ,christian alike3 but not every place is a place of public prayer to the ,christian any more than to the ,jew4#ch ,moreover1 the ,greek shows plainly that the emphasis is not on in every place1 but on pray4 ,wherever there may be a customary house of prayer1 whether in ,ephesus or anywhere else1 the ,apostle desires that prayers should be offered publicly by the men in the congregation4 ,after pray1 the emphasis falls on the men1 public prayer is to be made1 and it is to be conducted by the men and not by the women in the congregation4 ,it is evident from this passage1 as from #a ,cor4 xiv41 that in this primitive ,christian worship great freedom was allowed4 ,there is no ,bishop1 ,president1 or ,elder1 to whom the right of leading the service or uttering the prayers and thanksgivings is reserved4 ,this duty and privilege is shared by all the males alike4 ,in the recently discovered ,doctrine of the ,twelve ,apostles nothing is said as to who is to offer the prayers1 of which certain forms are given4 ,it is merely stated that in addition to these forms extempore prayer may be offered by the prophets4 ,and ,justin ,martyr mentions that a similar privilege was allowed to the president of the congregation according to his ability4#ci ,thus we seem to trace a gradual increase of strictness1 a development of ecclesiastical order1 very natural under the circumstances4 ,first1 all the men in the congregation are allowed to conduct public worship1 as here and in #a ,corinthians4 ,then1 the right of adding to the prescribed forms is restricted to the prophets1 as in the ,didache4 ,next1 this right is reserved to the presiding minister1 as in ,justin ,martyr4 ,and lastly1 free prayer is abolished altogether4 ,we need not assume that precisely this development took place in all the ,churches2 but that something analogous took place in nearly all4 ,nor need we assume that the development was simultaneous3 while one ,church was at one stage of the process1 another was more advanced1 and a third less so4 ,again1 we may conjecture that forms of prayer gradually increased in number1 and in extent1 and in stringency4 ,but in the directions here given to ,timothy we are at the beginning of the development4 ,lifting up holy hands4 ,here again we need not suspect any polemical purpose4 ,st4 ,paul is not insinuating that1 when ,gnostics or heathen lift up their hands in prayer1 their hands are not holy4 ,just as every ,christian is ideally a saint1 so every hand that is lifted up in prayer is holy4 ,in thus stating the ideal1 the ,apostle inculcates the realization of it4 ,there is a monstrous incongruity in one who comes red-handed from the commission of a sin1 lifting up the very members which witness against him1 in order to implore a blessing from the ,god whom he has outraged4 ,the same idea is expressed in more general terms by ,st4 ,peter3 ,like as ,he which called you is holy1 be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living2 because it is written1 ye shall be holy2 for ,i am holy 7#a ,pet4 i4 #ae1 #af74 ,in a passage more closely parallel to this1 ,clement of ,rome says1 ,let us therefore approach ,him in holiness of soul1 lifting up pure and undefiled hands unto ,him1 with love towards our gentle and compassionate ,father who made us an elect portion unto ,himself 7,cor4 xxix74 ,and ,tertullian urges that a defiled spirit cannot be recognized by the ,holy ,spirit 7,de ,orat41 xiii74 ,nowhere else in the ,new ,testament do we read of this attitude of lifting up the hands during prayer4 ,but to this day it is common in the ,east4 ,solomon at the dedication of the temple stood before the altar of the ,lord in the presence of all the congregation of ,israel1 and spread forth his hands toward heaven 7#a ,kings viii4 #bb72 and the ,psalmist repeatedly speaks of lifting up the hands in worship 7xxviii4 #b2 lxiii4 #d2 cxxxiv4 #b74 ,clement of ,alexandria seems to have regarded it as the ideal attitude in prayer1 as symbolizing the desire of the body to abstract itself from the earth1 following the eagerness of the spirit in yearning for heavenly things4#dj ,tertullian1 on the other hand1 suggests that the arms are spread out in prayer in memory of the crucifixion1 and directs that they should be extended1 but only slightly raised1 an attitude which is more in harmony with a humble spirit3 and in another place he says that the ,christian by his very posture in prayer is ready for every infliction4 ,he asserts that the ,jews in his day did not raise the hands in prayer1 and characteristically gives as a reason that they were stained with the blood of the ,prophets and of ,christ4 ,with evident reference to this passage1 he says that ,christian hands must be lifted up pure from falsehood1 murder1 and all other sins of which the hands can be the instruments4#da ,ancient ,christian monuments of the earliest age frequently represent the faithful as standing with raised hands to pray4 ,eusebius tells us that ,constantine had himself represented in this attitude on his coins1 looking upwards1 stretching up toward ,god1 like one praying4#db ,of course this does not mean that kneeling was unusual or irregular2 there is plenty of evidence to the contrary4 ,but the attitude here commended by ,st4 ,paul was very ancient when he wrote1 and has continued in some parts of the world ever since4 ,like so many other things in natural religion and in ,judaism1 it received a new and intensified meaning when it was adopted among the usages of the ,christian ,church4 ,without wrath and disputing3 that is1 in the spirit of ,christian peace and trust4 ,ill-will and misgiving respecting one another are incompatible with united prayer to our common ,father4 ,the atmosphere of controversy is not congenial to devotion4 ,christ ,himself has told us to be reconciled to our brother before presuming to offer our gift on the altar4 ,in a similar spirit ,st4 ,paul directs that those who are to conduct public service in the sanctuary must do so without angry feelings or mutual distrust4 ,in the ,pastoral ,epistles warnings against quarrelsome conduct are frequent2 and the experience of every one of us tells us how necessary they are4 ,the bishop is charged to be no brawler1 no striker2 but gentle1 not contentious4 ,the deacons must not be double-tongued4 ,women must not be slanderers4 ,young widows have to be on their guard against being tattlers and busybodies4 ,timothy is charged to follow after 444 love1 patience1 meekness1 and is reminded that the ,lord's servant must not strive1 but be gentle towards all1 apt to teach1 forbearing1 in meekness correcting them that oppose themselves4 ,titus again is told that a bishop must be not self-willed1 not soon angry1 no brawler1 no striker1 that the aged women must not be slanderers1 that all men are to be put in mind to speak evil of no man1 not to be contentious1 to be gentle1 showing all meekness toward all men4#dc ,there is no need to assume that that age1 or that those ,churches1 had any special need of warnings of this kind4 ,all ages and all ,churches need them4 ,to keep one's tongue and one's temper in due order is to all of us one of the most constant and necessary duties of the ,christian life2 and the neglect cannot fail to be disastrous to the reality and efficacy of our devotions4 ,those who have ill-will and strife in their hearts cannot unite to much purpose in common thanksgiving and prayer4 ,and just as the men have to take care that their attitude of body and mind is such as befits the dignity of public worship1 in like manner the women also have to take care that their presence in the congregation does not appear incongruous4 ,they must come in seemly attire and with seemly behaviour4 ,everything which might divert attention from the service to themselves must be avoided4 ,modesty and simplicity must at all times be the characteristics of a ,christian woman's dress and bearing2 but at no time is this more necessary than in the public services of the ,church4 ,excessive adornment1 out of place at all times1 is grievously offensive there4 ,it gives a flat contradiction to the profession of humility which is involved in taking part in common worship1 and to that natural sobriety which is a woman's fairest ornament and best protection4 ,both reverence and self-reverence are injured by it4 ,moreover1 it may easily be a cause of offence to others1 by provoking jealousy or admiration of the creature1 where all ought to be absorbed in the worship of the ,creator4 ,here again ,st4 ,paul is putting his finger upon dangers and evils which are not peculiar to any age or any ,church4 ,he had spoken of the same thing years before1 to the women of ,corinth1 and ,st4 ,peter utters similar warnings to ,christian women throughout all time4#dd ,clement of ,alexandria abounds in protests against the extravagance in dress so common in his own day4 ,in one place he says2 ,apelles the painter seeing one of his pupils painting a figure thickly with gold colour to represent ,helen1 said to him2 ',my lad1 you were unable to paint her beautiful1 and so you have made her rich4' ,such ,helens are the ladies of the present day2 not really beautiful1 but richly got up4 ,to these the ,spirit prophesies by ,zephaniah3 ,and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the ,lord's anger4#de ,tertullian is not less emphatic4 ,he says that most ,christian women dress like heathen1 as if modesty required nothing more than stopping short of actual impurity4 ,what is the use1 he asks1 of showing a decent and ,christian simplicity in your face1 while you load the rest of your body with the dangling absurdities of pomps and vanities8#df ,chrysostom also1 in commenting on this very passage1 asks the congregation at ,antioch3 ,and what then is modest apparel8 ,such as covers them completely and decently1 and not with superfluous ornaments2 for the one is decent and the other is not4 ,what8 ,do you approach ,god to pray with broidered hair and ornaments of gold8 ,are you come to a ball8 to a marriage-feast8 to a carnival8 ,there such costly things might have been seasonable3 here not one of them is wanted4 ,you are come to pray1 to ask pardon for your sins1 to plead for your offences1 beseeching the ,lord1 and hoping to render ,him propitious to you4 ,away with such hypocrisy6 ,god is not mocked4 ,this is the attire of actors and dancers1 who live upon the stage4 ,nothing of this kind becomes a modest woman1 who should be adorned with shamefastness and sobriety4444 ,and if ,st4 ,paul 7he continues7 would remove those things which are merely the marks of wealth1 as gold1 pearls1 and costly array2 how much more those things which imply studied adornment1 as painting1 colouring the eyes1 a mincing walk1 an affected voice1 a languishing look8 ,for he glances at all these things in speaking of modest apparel and shamefastness4 ,but there is no need to go to ,corinth in the first century1 or ,alexandria and ,carthage in the second and third1 or ,antioch in the fourth1 in order to show that the ,apostle was giving no unnecessary warning in admonishing ,timothy respecting the dress and behaviour of ,christian women1 especially in the public services of the congregation4 ,in our own age and our own ,church we can find abundant illustration4 ,might not any preacher in any fashionable congregation echo with a good deal of point the questions of ,chrysostom8 ,have you come to dance or a leve8 ,have you mistaken this building for a theatre8 ,and what would be the language of a ,chrysostom or a ,paul if he were to enter a theatre nowadays and see the attire1 ,i will not say of the actresses1 but of the audience8 ,there are some rough epithets1 not often heard in polite society1 which express in plain language the condition of those women who by their manner of life and conversation have forfeited their characters4 ,preachers in earlier ages were accustomed to speak very plainly about such things3 and what the ,apostle and ,chrysostom have written in their epistles and homilies does not leave us in much doubt as to what would have been their manner of speaking of them4 ,but what is urged here is sufficient4 ,you are ,christian women1 says ,st4 ,paul1 and the profession which you have adopted is reverence towards ,god 7theosebeian74 ,this profession you have made known to the world4 ,it is necessary1 therefore1 that those externals of which the world takes cognisance should not give the lie to your profession4 ,and how is unseemly attire1 paraded at the very time of public worship1 compatible with the reverence which you have professed8 ,reverence ,god by reverencing yourselves2 by guarding with jealous care the dignity of those bodies with which ,he has endowed you4 ,reverence ,god by coming before ,him clothed both in body and soul in fitting attire4 ,let your bodies be freed from meretricious decoration4 ,let your souls be adorned with abundance of good works4 ,,footnotes3 #cg ,so ,chrysostom in loco3 but this is an exaggeration respecting ,jewish limitations4 #ch ,see ,clement of ,rome1 ,cor4 xli4 #ci ,didache1 x4 #g2 ,just4 ,mart41 ,apol41 #a4 lxvii4 ,justin probably uses the term president ho proests in order to be intelligible to heathen readers4 #dj ,strom41 ,,vii4 vii4 #da ,de ,orat41 xiii41 xiv41 xvii42 ,apol4 xxx42 ,comp4 ,adv4 ,jud41 x4 #db ,vit4 ,const41 ,,iv4 xv4 #a4 #dc #a ,tim4 iii4 #c1 #h1 #aa2 v4 #ac2 vi4 #aa2 #b ,tim4 ii4 #bd2 ,tit4 i4 #g2 ii4 #c2 iii4 #b4 #dd #a ,cor4 xi4 #b-af2 #a ,pet4 iii4 #c1 #d4 #de ,paed41 ,,ii4 xiii4 #df ,de ,cult ,fem41 ,,ii4 i4 ix4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,origin ,,of ,,the ,,christian ,,ministry2 ,,various ,,certainties ,,and ,,probabilities ,,distinguished4 ,if a man seeketh the office of a bishop1 he desireth a good work4 ,the bishop therefore must be without reproach1 the husband of one wife1 temperate1 sober-minded1 orderly1 given to hospitality1 apt to teach2 no brawler1 no striker2 but gentle1 not contentious1 no lover of money2 one that ruleth well his own house1 having his children in subjection with all gravity2 7but if a man knoweth not how to rule his own house1 how shall he take care of the house of ,god87 not a novice1 lest being puffed up he fall into the condemnation of the devil4 ,moreover he must have good testimony from them that are without2 lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil4 ,deacons in like manner must be grave1 not double-tongued1 not given to much wine1 not greedy of filthy lucre2 holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience4 ,and let these also first be proved2 then let them serve as deacons1 if they be blameless4--#a ,,tim4 iii4 #a-aj4 ,this passage is one of the most important in the ,new ,testament respecting the ,christian ministry2 and in the ,pastoral ,epistles it does not stand alone4 ,of the two classes of ministers mentioned here1 one is again touched upon in the ,epistle to ,titus 7i4 #e-i71 and the qualifications for this office1 which is evidently the superior of the two1 are stated in terms not very different from those which are used in the passage before us4 ,therefore a series of expositions upon the ,pastoral ,epistles would be culpably incomplete which did not attempt to arrive at some conclusions respecting the question of the primitive ,christian ministry2 a question which at the present time is being investigated with immense industry and interest1 and with some clear and substantial results4 ,the time is probably far distant when the last word will have been said upon the subject2 for it is one on which considerable difference of opinion is not only possible but reasonable3 and those persons would seem to be least worthy of consideration1 who are most confident that they are in possession of the whole truth on the subject4 ,one of the first requisites in the examination of questions of fact is a power of accurately distinguishing what is certain from what is not certain3 and the person who is confident that he has attained to certainty1 when the evidence in his possession does not at all warrant certainty1 is not a trustworthy guide4 ,it would be impossible in a discussion of moderate length to touch upon all the points which have been raised in connexion with this problem2 but some service will have been rendered if a few of the more important features of the question are pointed out and classified under the two heads just indicated1 as certain or not certain4 ,in any scientific enquiry1 whether historical or experimental1 this classification is a useful one1 and very often leads to the enlargement of the class of certainties4 ,when the group of certainties has been properly investigated1 and when the various items have been placed in their proper relations to one another and to the whole of which they are only constituent parts1 the result is likely to be a transfer of other items from the domain of what is only probable or possible to the domain of what is certain4 ,at the outset it is necessary to place a word of caution as to what is meant1 in a question of this kind1 by certainty4 ,there are no limits to scepticism1 as the history of speculative philosophy has abundantly shown4 ,it is possible to question one's own existence1 and still more possible to question the irresistible evidence of one's senses or the irresistible conclusions of one's reason4 ,a fortiori it is possible to throw doubt upon any historical fact4 ,we can1 if we like1 classify the assassinations of ,julius ,caesar and of ,cicero1 and the genuineness of the ,a,eneid and of the ,epistles to the ,corinthians1 among things that are not certain4 ,they cannot be demonstrated like a proposition in ,euclid or an experiment in chemistry or physics4 ,but a sceptical criticism of this kind makes history impossible2 for it demands as a condition of certainty a kind of evidence1 and an amount of evidence1 which from the nature of the case is unattainable4 ,juries are directed by the courts to treat evidence as adequate1 which they would be willing to recognize as such in matters of very serious moment to themselves4 ,there is a certain amount of evidence which to a person of trained and well-balanced mind makes a thing practically certain3 i4e41 with this amount of evidence before him he would confidently act on the assumption that the thing was true4 ,in the question before us there are four or five things which may with great reason be treated as practically certain4 #a4 ,the solution of the question as to the origin of the ,christian ministry1 has no practical bearing upon the lives of ,christians4 ,for us the problem is one of historical interest without moral import4 ,as students of ,church ,history we are bound to investigate the origines of the ministry which has been one of the chief factors in that history3 but our loyalty as members of the ,church will not be affected by the result of our investigations4 ,our duty towards the constitution consisting of bishops1 priests1 and deacons1 which existed unchallenged from the close of the second century to the close of the ,middle ,ages1 and which has existed down to the present day in all the three great branches of the ,catholic ,church1 ,roman1 ,oriental1 and ,anglican1 is no way affected by the question whether the constitution of the ,church during the century which separates the writings of ,st4 ,john from the writings of his disciple's disciple1 ,irenaeus1 was as a rule episcopal1 collegiate1 or presbyterian4 ,for a churchman who accepts the episcopal form of government as essential to the well-being of a ,church1 the enormous prescription which that form has acquired during at least seventeen centuries1 is such ample justification1 that he can afford to be serene as to the outcome of enquiries respecting the constitution of the various infant ,churches from ,a4,d4 #he to ,a4,d4 #ahe4 ,it makes no practical difference either to add1 or not to add1 to an authority which is already ample4 ,to prove that the episcopal form of government was founded by the ,apostles may have been a matter of great practical importance in the middle of the second century4 ,but1 before that century had closed1 the practical question1 if there ever was one1 had settled itself4 ,god's providence ordained that the universal form of ,church government should be the episcopal form and should continue to be such2 and for us it adds little to its authority to know that the way in which it became universal was through the instrumentality and influence of ,apostles4 ,on the other hand1 to prove that episcopacy was established independently of ,apostolic influence would detract very little from its accumulated authority4 #b4 ,a second point1 which may be regarded as certain with regard to this question1 is1 that for the period which joins the age of ,irenaeus to the age of ,st4 ,john1 we have not sufficient evidence to arrive at anything like proof4 ,the evidence has received important additions during the present century1 and still more important additions are by no means impossible2 but at present our materials are still inadequate4 ,and the evidence is insufficient in two ways4 ,first1 although surprisingly large as compared with what might have been reasonably expected1 yet in itself1 the literature of this period is fragmentary and scanty4 ,secondly1 the dates of some of the most important witnesses cannot as yet be accurately determined4 ,in many cases to be able to fix the date of a document within twenty or thirty years is quite sufficient3 but this is a case in which the difference of twenty years is a really serious difference2 and there is fully that amount of uncertainty as to the date of some of the writings which are our principal sources of information2 e4g41 the ,doctrine of the ,twelve ,apostles1 the ,epistles of ,ignatius1 the ,shepherd of ,hermas and the ,clementines4 ,here also our position may improve4 ,further research may enable us to date some of these documents accurately4 ,but1 for the present1 uncertainty about precise dates and general scantiness of evidence compel us to admit that with regard to many of the points connected with this question nothing that can fairly be called proof is possible respecting the interval which separates the last quarter of the first century from the last quarter of the second4 ,this feature of the problem is sometimes represented by the useful metaphor that the history of the ,church just at this period passes through a tunnel or runs underground4 ,we are in the light of day during most of the time covered by the ,new ,testament2 and we are again in the light of day directly we reach the time covered by the abundant writings of ,irenaeus1 ,clement of ,alexandria1 ,tertullian1 and others4 ,but during the intervening period we are1 not indeed in total darkness1 but in a passage the obscurity of which is only slightly relieved by an occasional lamp or light-hole4 ,leaving this tantalizing interval1 about which the one thing that is certain is that many certainties are not likely to be found in it1 we pass on to look for our two next certainties in the periods which precede and follow it4 #c4 ,in the period covered by the ,new ,testament it is certain that the ,church had officers who discharged spiritual functions which were not discharged by ordinary ,christians2 in other words a distinction was made from the first between clergy and laity4 ,of this fact the ,pastoral ,epistles contain abundant evidence2 and further evidence is scattered up and down the ,new ,testament1 from the earliest document in the volume to the last4 ,in the ,first ,epistle to the ,thessalonians1 which is certainly the earliest ,christian writing that has come down to us1 we find ,st4 ,paul beseeching the ,church of the ,thessalonians to know them that labour among you1 and are over you in the ,lord1 and admonish you2 and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work's sake 7v4 #ab1 #ac74 ,the three functions here enumerated are evidently functions to be exercised by a few with regard to the many3 they are not duties which every one is to discharge towards every one4 ,in the ,third ,epistle of ,st4 ,john1 which is certainly one of the latest1 and perhaps the very latest1 of the writings contained in the ,new ,testament1 the incident about ,diotrephes seems to show that not only ecclesiastical government1 but ecclesiastical government by a single official1 was already in existence in the ,church in which ,diotrephes loved to have the pre-eminence 7#i1 #aj74 ,in between these two we have the exhortation in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews3 ,obey them that have the rule over you and submit to them3 for they watch in behalf of your souls1 as they that shall give account 7xiii4 #ag74 ,and directly we go outside the ,new ,testament and look at the ,epistle of the ,church of ,rome to the ,church of ,corinth1 commonly called the ,first ,epistle of ,clement1 we find the same distinction between clergy and laity observed4 ,in this letter1 which almost certainly was written during the lifetime of ,st4 ,john1 we read that the ,apostles1 preaching everywhere in country and town1 appointed their firstfruits1 when they had proved them by the ,spirit1 to be bishops and deacons unto them that should believe4 ,and this they did in no new fashion2 for indeed it had been written concerning bishops and deacons from very ancient times2 for thus saith the scripture in a certain place1 ,i will appoint their bishops in righteousness1 and their deacons in faith--the last words being an inaccurate quotation of the ,,lxx4 of ,isa4 lx4 #ag4 ,and a little further on ,clement writes3 ,our ,apostles knew through our ,lord ,jesus ,christ that there would be strife over the name of the bishop's office4 ,for this cause1 therefore1 having received complete fore-knowledge1 they appointed the aforesaid persons1 and afterwards they provided a continuance1 that if these should fall asleep1 other approved men should succeed to their ministration4 ,those therefore who were appointed by them1 or afterward by other men of repute with the consent of the whole ,church1 and have ministered unblamably to the flock of ,christ in lowliness of mind1 peacefully and with all modesty1 and for long time have borne a good report with all--these men we consider to be unjustly thrust out from their ministration4 ,for it will be no light sin for us1 if we thrust out those who have offered the gifts of the bishop's office unblamably and holily4 ,blessed are those presbyters who have gone before1 seeing that their departure was fruitful and ripe1 for they have no fear lest any one should remove them from their appointed place4 ,for we see that ye have displaced certain persons1 though they were living honourably1 from the ministration which they had kept blamelessly 7xlii41 xliv474 ,three things come out very clearly from this passage1 confirming what has been found in the ,new ,testament4 7#a7 ,there is a clear distinction made between clergy and laity4 7#b7 ,this distinction is not a temporary arrangement1 but is the basis of a permanent organization4 7#c7 ,a person who has been duly promoted to the ranks of the clergy as a presbyter or bishop 7the two titles being here synonymous1 as in the ,epistle to ,titus7 holds that position for life4 ,unless he is guilty of some serious offence1 to depose him is no light sin4 ,none of these passages1 either in the ,new ,testament or in ,clement1 tell us very clearly the precise nature of the functions which the clergy1 as distinct from the laity1 were to discharge2 yet they indicate that these functions were of a spiritual rather than of a secular character1 that they concerned men's souls rather than their bodies1 and that they were connected with religious service 7leitourgia74 ,but the one thing which is quite clear is this1--that the ,church had1 and was always intended to have1 a body of officers distinct from the congregations to which they ministered and over which they ruled4 #d4 ,for our fourth certainty we resort to the time when the history of the ,church returns once more to the full light of day1 in the last quarter of the second century4 ,then we find two things quite clearly established1 which have continued in ,christendom from that day to this4 ,we find a regularly organized clergy1 not only distinctly marked off from the laity1 but distinctly marked off among themselves by well defined gradations of rank4 ,and1 secondly1 we find that each local ,church is constitutionally governed by one chief officer1 whose powers are large and seldom resisted1 and who universally receives the title of bishop4 ,to these two points we may add a third4 ,there is no trace of any belief1 or even suspicion1 that the constitution of these local ,churches had ever been anything else4 ,on the contrary1 the evidence 7and it is considerable7 points to the conclusion that ,christians in the latter part of the second century--say ,a4,d4 #ahj to #bjj--were fully persuaded that the episcopal form of government had prevailed in the different ,churches from the ,apostles' time to their own4 ,just as in the case of the ,gospels1 ,irenaeus and his contemporaries not only do not know of either more or less than the four which have come down to us1 but cannot conceive of there ever being either more or less than these four3 so in the case of ,church ,government1 they not only represent episcopacy as everywhere prevalent in their time1 but they have no idea that at any previous time any other form of government prevailed4 ,and although ,irenaeus1 like ,st4 ,paul and ,clement of ,rome1 sometimes speaks of bishops under the title of presbyter1 yet it is quite clear that there were at that time presbyters who were not bishops and who did not possess episcopal authority4 ,irenaeus himself was such a presbyter1 until the martyrdom of ,pothinus in the persecution of ,a4,d4 #agg created a vacancy in the see of ,lyons1 which ,irenaeus was then called upon to fill2 and he held the see for upwards of twenty years1 from about ,a4,d4 #ahj to #bjb4 ,from ,irenaeus and from his contemporary ,dionysius1 ,bishop of ,corinth1 we learn not only the fact that episcopacy prevailed everywhere1 but1 in not a few cases1 the name of the existing bishop2 and in some cases the names of their predecessors are given up to the times of the ,apostles4 ,thus1 in the case of the ,church of ,rome1 ,linus the first bishop is connected with the two most glorious ,apostles ,peter and ,paul3 and1 in the case of ,athens1 ,dionysius the ,areopagite is said to have been appointed first bishop of that ,church by the ,apostle ,paul4 ,this may or may not be correct3 but at least it shows that in the time of ,irenaeus and ,dionysius of ,corinth episcopacy was not only recognized as the universal form of ,church government1 but was also believed to have prevailed in the principal ,churches from the very earliest times4#dg #e4 ,if we narrow our field and look1 not at the whole ,church1 but at the ,churches of ,asia ,minor and ,syria1 we may obtain yet another certainty from the obscure period which lies between the age of the ,apostles and that of ,dionysius and ,irenaeus4 ,the investigations of ,lightfoot1 ,zahn1 and ,harnack have placed the genuineness of the short ,greek form of the ,epistles of ,ignatius beyond reasonable dispute4 ,their exact date cannot as yet be determined4 ,the evidence is strong that ,ignatius was martyred in the reign of ,trajan3 and1 if that is accepted1 the letters cannot be later than ,a4,d4 #aag4 ,but even if this evidence be rejected as not conclusive1 and the letters be dated ten or twelve years later1 their testimony will still be of the utmost importance4 ,they prove that long before ,a4,d4 #aej episcopacy was the recognized form of government throughout the ,churches of ,asia ,minor and ,syria2 and1 as ,ignatius speaks of the bishops that are settled in the farthest parts of the earth 7kata ta perata horisthentes7 they prove that1 according to his belief1 episcopacy was the recognized form everywhere 7,ephes4 iii474 ,this evidence is not a little strengthened by the fact that1 as all sound critics on both sides are now agreed1 the ,epistles of ,ignatius were evidently not written in order to magnify the episcopal office1 or to preach up the episcopal system4 ,the writer's main object is to deprecate schism and all that might tend to schism4 ,and in his opinion the best way to avoid schism is to keep closely united to the bishop4 ,thus1 the magnifying of the episcopal office comes about incidentally2 because ,ignatius takes for granted that everywhere there is a bishop in each ,church1 who is the duly appointed ruler of it1 loyalty to whom will be a security against all schismatical tendencies4 ,these four or five points being regarded as established to an extent which may reasonably be called certainty1 there remain certain other points about which certainty is not yet possible1 some of which admit of a probable solution1 while for others there is so little evidence that we have to fall back upon mere conjecture4 ,among these would be the distinctions of office1 or gradations of rank1 among the clergy in the first century or century and a half after the ,ascension1 the precise functions assigned to each office1 and the manner of appointment4 ,with regard to these questions three positions may be assumed with a considerable amount of probability4 #a4 ,there was a distinction made between itinerant or missionary clergy and stationary or localized clergy4 ,among the former we find apostles 7who are a much larger body than the ,twelve71 prophets1 and evangelists4 ,among the latter we have two orders1 spoken of as bishops and deacons1 as here and in the ,epistle to the ,philippians 7i4 #a7 as well as in the ,doctrine of the ,twelve ,apostles1 presbyter or elder being sometimes used as synonymous with bishop4 ,this distinction between an itinerant and a stationary ministry appears in the ,first ,epistle to the ,corinthians 7xii4 #bh71 in the ,epistle to the ,ephesians 7iv4 #aa71 and perhaps also in the ,acts of the ,apostles and in the ,epistles of ,st4 ,john4 ,in the ,doctrine of the ,twelve ,apostles it is clearly marked4 #b4 ,there seems to have been a further distinction between those who did1 and those who did not1 possess supernatural prophetical gifts4 ,the title of prophet was commonly1 but perhaps not exclusively1 given to those who possessed this gift3 and the ,doctrine of the ,twelve ,apostles shows a great respect for prophets4 ,but the distinction naturally died out when these supernatural gifts ceased to be manifested4 ,during the process of extinction serious difficulty arose as to the test of a genuine prophet4 ,some fanatical persons believed themselves to be prophets1 and some dishonest persons pretended to be prophets1 when they were not such4 ,the office appears to have been extinct when ,ignatius wrote3 by prophets he always means the prophets of the ,old ,testament4 ,montanism was probably a forlorn attempt to revive this much desired office after the ,church as a whole had decided against it4 ,further discussion of the gift of prophecy in the ,new ,testament will be found in a previous chapter 7vi474 #c4 ,the clergy were not elected by the congregation as its delegates or representatives1 deputed to perform functions which originally could be discharged by any ,christian4 ,they were appointed by the ,apostles and their successors or substitutes4 ,where the congregation selected or recommended candidates1 as in the case of the ,seven ,deacons 7,acts vi4 #d-f71 they did not themselves lay hands on them4 ,the typical act of laying on of hands was always performed by those who were already ministers1 whether apostles1 prophets1 or elders4 ,whatever else was still open to the laity1 this act of ordaining was not4 ,and there is good reason for believing that the celebration of the ,eucharist also was from the first reserved to the clergy1 and that all ministers1 excepting prophets1 were expected to use a prescribed form of words in celebrating it4 ,but1 although much still remains untouched1 this discussion must draw to a close4 ,in the ideal ,church there is no ,lord's ,day or holy seasons1 for all days are the ,lord's1 and all seasons are holy2 there are no places especially dedicated to ,god's worship1 for the whole universe is ,his temple2 there are no persons especially ordained to be ,his ministers1 for all ,his people are priests and prophets4 ,but in the ,church as it exists in a sinful world1 the attempt to make all times and all places holy ends in the desecration of all alike2 and the theory that all ,christians are priests becomes indistinguishable from the theory that none are such4 ,in this matter let us not try to be wiser than ,god1 ,whose will may be discerned in ,his providential guiding of ,his ,church throughout so many centuries4 ,the attempt to reproduce ,paradise or to anticipate heaven in a state of society which does not possess the conditions of ,paradise or heaven1 can end in nothing but disastrous confusion4 ,in conclusion the following weighty words are gratefully quoted4 ,they come with special force from one who does not himself belong to an ,episcopalian ,church4 ,by our reception or denial of priesthood in the ,church1 our entire view of what the ,church is must be affected and moulded4 ,we shall either accept the idea of a visible and organized body1 within which ,christ rules by means of a ministry1 sacraments1 and ordinances to which ,he has attached a blessing1 the fulness of which we have no right to look for except through the channels ,he has ordained 7and it ought to be needless to say that this is the ,presbyterian idea71 or we shall rest satisfied with the thought of the ,church as consisting of multitudes of individual souls known to ,god alone1 as invisible1 unorganized1 with ordinances blessed because of the memories which they awaken1 but to which no promise of present grace is tied1 with1 in short1 no thought of a ,body of ,christ in the world1 but only of a spiritual and heavenly principle ruling in the hearts and regulating the lives of men4 ,conceptions of the ,church so widely different from each other cannot fail to affect in the most vital manner the ,church's life and relation to those around her4 ,yet both conceptions are the logical and necessary result of the acceptance or denial of the idea of a divinely appointed and still living priesthood among men4#dh ,,footnotes3 #dg ,see an admirable article on the ,christian ministry by ,dr4 ,salmon in the ,expositor for ,july1 #ahhg2 also the present writer's ,church of the ,early ,fathers1 pp4 #eh ff42 #ib ff42 #bnd ed4 ,longmans1 #ahhg4 #dh ,professor ,w4 ,milligan1 ,d4,d41 on ,the ,idea of the ,priesthood1 in the ,expositor for ,july1 #ahhh1 p4 #g4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,the ,,apostle',s ,,rule ,,respecting ,,second ,,marriages2 ,,its ,,meaning ,,and ,,present ,,obligation4 ,the husband of one wife4--#a ,,tim4 iii4 #b4 ,the ,apostle here states1 as one of the first qualifications to be looked for in a person who is to be ordained a bishop1 that he must be husband of one wife4 ,the precise meaning of this phrase will probably never cease to be discussed4 ,but1 although it must be admitted that the phrase is capable of bearing several meanings1 yet it cannot be fairly contended that the meaning is seriously doubtful4 ,the balance of probability is so largely in favour of one of the meanings1 that the remainder may be reasonably set aside as having no valid ground for being supported in competition with it4 ,three passages in which the phrase occurs have to be considered together1 and these have to be compared with a fourth4 7#a7 ,there is the passage before us about a bishop1 7#b7 another in ver4 #ab about deacons1 and 7#c7 another in ,tit4 i4 #f about elders or presbyters1 whom ,st4 ,paul afterwards mentions under the title of bishop4 ,in these three passages we have it plainly set forth that ,timothy and ,titus are to regard it as a necessary qualification in a bishop or elder or presbyter1 and also in a deacon1 that he should be a man of one woman or husband of one wife 7mias gynaikos anr74 ,in the fourth passage 7#a ,tim4 v4 #i7 he gives as a necessary qualification of one who is to be placed on the roll of church widows1 that she must be a woman of one man or wife of one husband 7henos andros gyn74 ,this fourth passage is of much importance in determining the meaning of the converse expression in the other three passages4 ,there are four main interpretations of the expression in question4 #a4 ,that which the phrase at once suggests to a modern mind1--that the person to be ordained bishop or deacon must have only one wife and not more2 that he must not be a polygamist4 ,according to this interpretation1 therefore1 we are to understand the ,apostle to mean1 that a ,jew or barbarian with more wives than one might be admitted to baptism and become a member of the congregation1 but ought not to be admitted to the ministry4 ,this explanation1 which at first sight looks simple and plausible1 will not bear inspection4 ,it is quite true that polygamy in ,st4 ,paul's day still existed among the ,jews4 ,justin ,martyr1 in the ,dialogue with ,trypho1 says to the ,jews1 ,it is better for you to follow ,god than your senseless and blind teachers1 who even to this day allow you each to have four and five wives 7 #acd74 ,but polygamy in the ,roman ,empire must have been rare4 ,it was forbidden by ,roman law1 which did not allow a man to have more than one lawful wife at a time1 and treated every simultaneous second marriage1 not only as null and void1 but infamous4 ,where it was practised it must have been practised secretly4 ,it is probable that1 when ,st4 ,paul wrote to ,timothy and ,titus1 not a single polygamist had been converted to the ,christian faith4 ,polygamists were exceedingly rare inside the ,empire1 and the ,church had not yet spread beyond it4 ,indeed1 our utter ignorance as to the way in which the primitive ,church dealt with polygamists who wished to become ,christians1 amounts to something like proof that such cases were extremely uncommon4 ,how improbable1 therefore1 that ,st4 ,paul should think it worth while to charge both ,timothy and ,titus that converted polygamists must not be admitted to the office of bishop1 when there is no likelihood that any one of them knew of a single instance of a polygamist who had become a ,christian6 ,on these grounds alone this interpretation of the phrase might be safely rejected4 ,but these grounds do not stand alone4 ,there is the convincing evidence of the converse phrase1 wife of one husband4 ,if men with more than one wife were very rare in the ,roman ,empire1 what are we to think of women with more than one husband8 ,even among the barbarians outside the ,empire1 such a thing as a plurality of husbands was regarded as monstrous4 ,it is incredible that ,st4 ,paul could have had any such case in his mind1 when he mentioned the qualification wife of one husband4 ,moreover1 as the question before him was one relating to widows1 this wife of one husband must be a person who at the time had no husband4 ,the phrase1 therefore1 can only mean a woman who after the death of her husband has not married again4 ,consequently the converse expression1 husband of one wife1 cannot have any reference to polygamy4 #b4 ,far more worthy of consideration is the view that what is aimed at in both cases is not polygamy1 but divorce4 ,divorce1 as we know from abundant evidence1 was very frequent both among the ,jews and the ,romans in the first century of the ,christian era4 ,among the former it provoked the special condemnation of ,christ3 and one of the many influences which ,christianity had upon ,roman law was to diminish the facilities for divorce4 ,according to ,jewish practice the husband could obtain a divorce for very trivial reasons2 and in the time of ,st4 ,paul ,jewish women sometimes took the initiative4 ,according to ,roman practice either husband or wife could obtain a divorce very easily4 ,abundant instances are on record1 and that in the case of people of high character1 such as ,cicero4 ,after the divorce either of the parties could marry again2 and often enough both of them did so2 therefore in the ,roman ,empire in ,st4 ,paul's day there must have been plenty of persons of both sexes who had been divorced once or twice and had married again4 ,there is nothing improbable in the supposition that quite a sufficient number of such persons had been converted to ,christianity to make it worth while to legislate respecting them4 ,they might be admitted to baptism2 but they must not be admitted to an official position in the ,church4 ,a regulation of this kind might be all the more necessary1 because in a wealthy capital like ,ephesus it would probably be among the upper and more influential classes that divorces would be most frequent2 and from precisely these classes1 when any of them had become ,christians1 officials would be likely to be chosen4 ,this explanation1 therefore1 of the phrases husband of one wife and wife of one husband cannot be condemned1 like the first1 as utterly incredible4 ,it has a fair amount of probability3 but it remains to be seen whether another explanation 7which really includes this one7 has not a far greater amount4 #c4 ,we may pass over without much discussion the view that the phrases are a vague way of indicating misconduct of any kind in reference to marriage4 ,no doubt such misconduct was rife among the heathen1 and the ,christian ,church by no means escaped the taint1 as the scandals in the ,church of ,corinth and the frequent warnings of the ,apostles against sins of this kind show4 ,but when ,st4 ,paul has to speak of such things he is not afraid to do so in language that cannot be misunderstood4 ,we have seen this already in the first chapter of this ,epistle2 and the fifth chapters of #a ,corinthians1 ,galatians1 and ,ephesians supply other examples4 ,we may safely say that if ,st4 ,paul had meant to indicate persons who had entered into illicit unions before or after marriage1 he would have used much less ambiguous language than the phrases under discussion4 #d4 ,there remains the view1 which from the first has been the dominant one1 that these passages all refer to second marriage after the first marriage has been dissolved by death4 ,a widower who has married a second wife ought not to be admitted to the ministry2 a widow who has married a second husband ought not to be placed on the roll of ,church widows4 ,this interpretation is reasonable in itself1 is in harmony with the context and with what ,st4 ,paul says elsewhere about marriage1 and is confirmed by the views taken of second marriages in the case of clergy by the early ,church4 7a7 ,the belief that ,st4 ,paul was opposed to the ordination of persons who had contracted a second marriage is reasonable in itself4 ,a second marriage1 although perfectly lawful and in some cases advisable1 was so far a sign of weakness2 and a double family would in many cases be a serious hindrance to work4 ,the ,church could not afford to enlist any but its strongest men among its officers2 and its officers must not be hampered more than other men with domestic cares4 ,moreover1 the heathen certainly felt a special respect for the univira1 the woman who did not enter into a second marriage2 and there is some reason for believing that second marriages were sometimes thought unfitting in the case of men1 e4g41 in the case of certain priests4 ,be that as it may1 we may safely conclude that1 both by ,christians and heathen1 persons who had abstained from marrying again would so far be more respected than those who had not abstained4 7b7 ,this interpretation is in harmony with the context4 ,in the passage before us the qualification which immediately precedes the expression1 husband of one wife1 is without reproach2 in the ,epistle to ,titus it is blameless4 ,in each case the meaning seems to be that there must be nothing in the past or present life of the candidate1 which could afterwards with any show of reason be urged against him as inconsistent with his office4 ,he must be above and not below the average of men2 and therefore he must not have been twice married4 7c7 ,this agrees with what ,st4 ,paul says elsewhere about marriage4 ,his statements are clear and consistent1 and it is a mistake to suppose that there is any want of harmony between what is said in this ,epistle and what is said to the ,corinthian ,church on this subject4 ,the ,apostle strongly upholds the lawfulness of marriage for all 7#a ,cor4 vii4 #bh1 #cf2 #a ,tim4 iv4 #c74 ,for those who are equal to it1 whether single or widowed1 he considers that their remaining as they are is the more blessed condition 7#a ,cor4 vii4 #a1 #g1 #h1 #cb1 #cd1 #dj2 #a ,tim4 v4 #g74 ,but so few persons are equal to this1 that it is prudent for those who desire to marry to do so1 and for those who desire to marry again to do so 7#a ,cor4 vii4 #b1 #i1 #ci2 #a ,tim4 v4 #ad74 ,these being his convictions1 is it not reasonable to suppose1 that in selecting ministers for the ,church he would look for them in the class which had given proof of moral strength by remaining unmarried or by not marrying a second time4 ,in an age of such boundless licentiousness continency won admiration and respect2 and a person who had given clear evidence of such self-control would have his moral influence thereby increased4 ,few things impress barbarous and semi-barbarous people more than to see a man having full control over passions to which they themselves are slaves4 ,in the terrific odds which the infant ,church had to encounter1 this was a point well worth turning to advantage4 ,and here we may note ,st4 ,paul's wisdom in giving no preference to those who had not married at all over those who had married only once4 ,had he done so1 he would have played into the hands of those heretics who disparaged wedlock4 ,and perhaps he had seen something of the evils which abounded among the celibate priests of heathenism4 ,it is quite obvious1 that1 although he in no way discourages celibacy among the clergy1 yet he assumes that among them1 as among the laity1 marriage will be the rule and abstaining the exception2 so much so1 that he does not think of giving any special directions for the guidance of a celibate bishop or a celibate deacon4#di #e4 ,lastly1 this interpretation of the phrases in question is strongly confirmed by the views of leading ,christians on the subject in the first few centuries1 and by the decrees of councils2 these being largely influenced by ,st4 ,paul's language1 and therefore being a guide as to what his words were then supposed to mean4 ,hermas1 ,clement of ,alexandria1 of course ,tertullian1 and among later ,fathers1 ,chrysostom1 ,epiphanius1 and ,cyril1 all write in disparagement of second marriages1 not as sin1 but as weakness4 ,to marry again is to fall short of the high perfection set before us in the ,gospel constitution4 ,athenagoras goes so far as to call a second marriage respectable adultery1 and to say that one who thus severs himself from his dead wife is an adulterer in disguise4 ,respecting the clergy1 ,origen says plainly1 ,neither a bishop1 nor a presbyter1 nor a deacon1 nor a widow1 can be twice married4 ,the canons of councils are not less plain1 either as to the discouragement of second marriages among the laity1 or their incompatibility with what was then required of the clergy4 ,the synods of ,ancyra 7,can4 #ai71 of ,neocaesarea 7,can4 #c and #g71 and of ,laodicea 7,can4 #a7 subjected lay persons who married more than once to a penalty4 ,this penalty seems to have varied in different ,churches2 but in some cases it involved excommunication for a time4 ,the ,council of ,nicaea1 on the other hand1 makes it a condition that members of the ,puritan sect of ,cathari are not to be received into the ,church unless they promise in writing to communicate with those who have married a second time 7,can4 #h74 ,the ,apostolic ,constitutions 7vi4 #ag7 and the so-called ,apostolic ,canons 7#ag7 absolutely forbid the promotion of one who has married twice1 to be a bishop1 presbyter1 or deacon2 and the ,apostolic ,constitutions forbid the marriage of one who is already in ,holy ,orders4 ,he may marry once before he is ordained3 but if he is single at his ordination he must remain so all his life4 ,of course1 if his wife dies1 he is not to marry again4 ,even singers1 readers1 and door-keepers1 although they may marry after they have been admitted to office1 yet are in no case to marry a second time or to marry a widow4 ,and the widow of a cleric was not allowed to marry a second time4 ,all these rigorous views and enactments leave little doubt as to how the early ,church understood ,st4 ,paul's language3 viz41 that one who had exhibited the weakness of marrying a second time was not to be admitted to the ministry4 ,from this they drew the inference that one who was already in orders must not be allowed to marry a second time4 ,and from this they drew the further inference that entering into a marriage contract at all was inadmissible for one who was already a bishop1 presbyter1 or deacon4 ,marriage was not a bar to ordination1 but ordination was a bar to marriage4 ,married men might become clergy1 but the higher orders of clergy might not become married4 ,a little thought will show that neither of these inferences follows from ,st4 ,paul's rule2 and we have good reason for doubting whether he would have sanctioned either of them4 ,the ,apostle rules that those who have shown want of moral strength in taking a second wife are not to be ordained deacons or presbyters4 ,but he nowhere says or hints that1 if they find in themselves a want of moral strength of this kind after their ordination1 they are to be made to bear a burden to which they are unequal4 ,on the contrary1 the general principle1 which he so clearly lays down1 decides the case3 ,if they have not continency1 let them marry3 for it is better to marry than to burn4 ,and if this holds good of clergy who have lost their first wives1 it holds good at least as strongly of those who were unmarried at the time of their ordination4 ,those ,churches1 therefore1 which1 like our own1 allow the clergy to marry1 and even to marry a second time1 after ordination1 may rightly claim to have the ,apostle on their side4 ,but there are ,churches1 and among them the ,church of ,england1 which disregard the ,apostle's directions1 in admitting those who have been more than once married to the diaconate1 and even to the episcopate4 ,what defence is to be made of an apparent laxity1 which seems to amount to lawlessness8 ,the answer is that there is nothing to show that ,st4 ,paul is giving rules which are to bind the ,church for all time4 ,it is quite possible that his directions are given by reason of the present distress4 ,we do not consider ourselves bound by the regulation1 which has far higher authority than that of a single ,apostle1 respecting the eating of blood and of things strangled4 ,the first council1 at which most of the ,apostles were present1 forbad the eating of these things4 ,it also forbad the eating of things offered to idols4 ,st4 ,paul himself led the way in showing that this restriction is not always binding3 and the whole ,church has come to disregard the other4 ,why8 ,because in none of these cases is the act sinful in itself4 ,while the ,jewish converts were likely to be scandalized by seeing their fellow-,christians eating blood1 it was expedient to forbid it2 and while heathen converts were likely to think lightly of idolatry1 if they saw their fellow-,christians eating what had been offered in sacrifice to an idol1 it was expedient to forbid it4 ,when these dangers ceased the reason for the enactment ceased2 and the enactment was rightly disregarded4 ,the same principle applies to the ordination of persons who have been twice married4 ,nowadays a man is not considered less strong than his fellows1 because he has married a second time4 ,to refuse to ordain such a person would be to lose a minister at a time when the need of additional ministers is great2 and this loss would be without compensation4 ,and we have evidence that in the primitive ,church the ,apostle's rule about digamists was not considered absolute4 ,in one of his ,montanist treatises ,tertullian taunts the ,catholics in having even among their bishops men who had married twice1 and who did not blush when the ,pastoral ,epistles were read2#ej and ,hippolytus1 in his fierce attack on ,callistus1 ,bishop of ,rome1 states that under him men who had been twice and thrice married were ordained bishops1 priests1 and deacons4 ,and we know that a distinction was made in the ,greek ,church between those who had married twice as ,christians1 and those who had concluded the second marriage before baptism4 ,the latter were not excluded from ordination4 ,and some went so far as to say that if the first marriage took place before baptism1 and the second afterwards1 the man was to be considered as having been married only once4#ea ,this freedom in interpreting the ,apostle's rule not unnaturally led to its being1 in some branches of the ,church1 disregarded4 ,st4 ,paul says1 ,do not ordain a man who has married more than once4 ,if you may say1 ,this man1 who has married more than once1 shall be accounted as having married only once2 you may equally well say ,the ,apostle's rule was a temporary one1 and we have the right to judge of its suitableness to our times and to particular circumstances4 ,we may feel confidence that in such a matter it was not ,st4 ,paul's wish to deprive ,churches throughout all time of their liberty of judgment1 and the ,church of ,england is thus justified4 ,,footnotes3 #di ,as the ,dictionary of ,christian ,antiquities 7vol4 i4 p4 #cbd7 has given its sanction to the view that ,st4 ,paul required the presbyter-bishop to have had the experience of marriage and with at least a preference for those who had brought up children 7#a ,tim4 iii4 #b1 #d71 and extended the requirement even to the deacons of the ,church 7#a ,tim4 iii4 #aa1 #ab71 it seems to be worth while to repeat the declaration of ,ellicott and ,huther1 that the strange opinion of ,bretschneider1 that mias is here the indefinite article1 and that ,paul meant that a bishop should be married1 hardly needed the elaborate refutation which is accorded to it by ,winer1 ,grammar of ,new ,testament1 ,,iii4 #ah 7,eng4 ,tr41 p4 #adf74 ,would any ,englishman ever say a bishop must have one wife1 when his meaning was a bishop must have a wife8 #ej ,de ,monog41 xii4 #ea ,see ,dllinger's ,hippolytus and ,callistus 7pp4 #abi-adg ,eng4 ,trans47 for a full discussion of the question4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,human ,,conduct ,,to ,,the ,,mystery ,,of ,,godliness4 ,these things write ,i unto thee1 hoping to come unto thee shortly2 but if ,i tarry long1 that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of ,god1 which is the ,church of the living ,god1 the pillar and ground of the truth4 ,and without controversy great is the mystery of godliness2 ,he who was manifested in the flesh1 justified in the spirit1 seen of angels1 preached among the nations1 believed on in the world1 received up in glory--#a ,,tim4 iii4 #ad-af4 ,st4 ,paul here makes a pause in the ,epistle4 ,he has brought to a close some of the principal directions which he has to give respecting the preservation of pure doctrine1 the conduct of public worship1 and the qualifications for the ministry3 and before proceeding to other topics he halts in order to insist upon the importance of these things1 by pointing out what is really involved in them4 ,their importance is one main reason for his writing at all4 ,although he hopes to be with ,timothy again even sooner than might be expected1 he nevertheless will not allow matters of this gravity to wait for his return to ,ephesus4 ,for1 after all1 this hope may be frustrated1 and it may be a long time before the two friends meet again face to face4 ,the way in which ,christians ought to behave themselves in the house of ,god is not a matter which can wait indefinitely1 seeing that this house of ,god is no lifeless shrine of a lifeless image1 which knows nothing and cares nothing about what goes on in its temple2 but a congregation of immortal souls and of bodies that are temples of the living ,god1 ,who will destroy him who destroys ,his temple 7#a ,cor4 iii4 #ag74 ,god's house must have regulations to preserve it from unseeming disorder4 ,the congregation which belongs to the living ,god must have a constitution to preserve it from faction and anarchy4 ,all the more so1 seeing that to it has been assigned a post of great responsibility4 ,truth in itself is self-evident and self-sustained3 it needs no external support or foundation4 ,but truth as it is manifested to the world needs the best support and the firmest basis that can be found for it4 ,and it is the duty and privilege of the ,church to supply these4 ,god's household is not only a community which in a solemn and special way belongs to the living ,god3 it is also the pillar and ground of the truth4 ,these considerations show how vital is the question1 ,in what way ought one to behave oneself in this community8#eb ,for the truth1 to the support and establishment of which every ,christian by his behaviour in the ,church is bound to contribute1 is indisputably something great and profound4 ,by the admission of all1 the mystery of the ,christian faith is a deep and weighty one2 and the responsibility of helping or hindering its establishment is proportionately deep and weighty4 ,other things may be matter of dispute1 but this not4 ,without controversy great is the mystery of godliness4 ,why does ,st4 ,paul speak of the ,truth as the mystery of godliness8 ,in order to express both the ,divine and the human aspects of the ,christian faith4 ,on the ,divine side the ,gospel is a mystery1 a disclosed secret4 ,it is a body of truth originally hidden from man's knowledge1 to which man by his own unaided reason and abilities would never be able to find the way4 ,in one word it is a revelation3 a communication by ,god to men of ,truth which they could not have discovered for themselves4 ,mystery is one of those words which ,christianity has borrowed from paganism1 but has consecrated to new uses by gloriously transfiguring its meaning4 ,the heathen mystery was something always kept hidden from the bulk of mankind2 a secret to which only a privileged few were admitted4 ,it encouraged1 in the very centre of religion itself1 selfishness and exclusiveness4 ,the ,christian mystery1 on the other hand1 is something once hidden1 but now made known1 not to a select few1 but to all4 ,the term1 therefore1 involves a splendid paradox3 it is a secret revealed to every one4 ,in ,st4 ,paul's own words to the ,romans 7xvi4 #be71 the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal1 but now is manifested1 and by the scriptures of the prophets1 according to the commandment of the eternal ,god1 is made known unto all the nations4 ,he rarely uses the word mystery without combining with it some other word signifying to reveal1 manifest1 or make known4#ec ,but the ,christian faith is not only a mystery but a mystery of godliness4 ,it not only tells of the bounty of ,almighty ,god in revealing ,his eternal counsels to man1 but it also tells of man's obligations in consequence of being initiated4 ,it is a mystery1 not of lawlessness 7#b ,thess4 ii4 #g71 but of godliness4 ,those who accept it profess godliness2 profess reverence to the ,god who has made it known to them4 ,it teaches plainly on what principle we are to regulate how men ought to behave themselves in the household of ,god4 ,the ,gospel is a mystery of piety1 a mystery of reverence and of religious life4 ,holy itself1 and proceeding from the ,holy ,one1 it bids its recipients be holy1 even as ,he is ,holy ,who gives it4 ,who was manifested in the flesh1 justified in the spirit1 seen of angels1 preached among the nations1 believed on in the world1 received up in glory4 ,after the text about the three ,heavenly ,witnesses in the ,first ,epistle of ,st4 ,john1 no disputed reading in the ,new ,testament has given rise to more controversy than the passage before us4 ,let us hope that the day is not far distant when there will be no more disputing about either text4 ,the truth1 though still doubted1 especially in reference to the passage before us1 is not really doubtful4 ,in both cases the reading of the ,a4,v4 is indefensible4 ,it is certain that ,st4 ,john never wrote the words about the three that bear witness in heaven3 and it is certain that ,st4 ,paul did not write1 ,god was manifest in the flesh1 but ,who was manifested in the flesh4 ,the reading ,god was manifested in the flesh appears in no ,christian writer until late in the fourth century1 and in no translation of the ,scriptures1 earlier than the seventh or eighth century4 ,and it is not found in any of the five great primary ,,mss41 except as a correction made by a later scribe1 who knew of the reading ,god was manifested1 and either preferred it to the other1 or at least wished to preserve it as an alternative reading1 or as an interpretation4 ,even so cautious and conservative a commentator as the late ,bishop ,wordsworth of ,lincoln declares that the preponderance of testimony is overwhelming against the reading ,god was manifested in the flesh4 ,in an old ,greek ,,ms41 it would require only two small strokes to turn ,who into ,god2 and this alteration would be a tempting one1 seeing that the masculine ,who after the neuter mystery1 looks harsh and unnatural4#ed ,but here we come upon a highly interesting consideration4 ,the words that follow look like a quotation from some primitive ,christian hymn or confession4 ,the rhythmical movement and the parallelism of the six balanced clauses1 of which each triplet forms a climax1 points to some such fact as this4 ,it is possible that we have here a fragment of one of the very hymns which1 as ,pliny the ,younger tells the ,emperor ,trajan1 the ,christians were accustomed to sing antiphonally at daybreak to ,christ as a ,god4#ee ,such a passage as this might well be sung from side to side1 line by line or triplet by triplet1 as choirs still chant the ,psalms in our churches4 ,who was manifested in the flesh1 ,justified in the spirit1 ,seen of angels1 ,preached among the nations1 ,believed on in the world1 ,received up in glory4 ,let us assume that this very reasonable and attractive conjecture is correct1 and that ,st4 ,paul is here quoting from some well-known form of words4 ,then the ,who with which the quotation begins will refer to something in the preceding lines which are not quoted4 ,how natural1 then1 that ,st4 ,paul should leave the ,who unchanged1 although it does not fit on grammatically to his own sentence4 ,but in any case there is no doubt as to the antecedent of the ,who4 ,the mystery of godliness has for its centre and basis the life of a ,divine ,person2 and the great crisis in the long process by which the mystery was revealed was reached when this ,divine ,person was manifested in the flesh4 ,that in making this statement or quotation the ,apostle has in his mind the ,gnostics who teach a different doctrine 7i4 #c71 is quite possible1 but is by no means certain4 ,the manifestation of ,christ in the flesh is a favourite topic with him1 as with ,st4 ,john1 and is one of the points in which the two ,apostles not only teach the same doctrine1 but teach it in the same language4 ,the fact that he had used the word mystery would be quite enough to make him speak of manifestation1 even if there had been no false teachers who denied or explained away the fact of the ,incarnation of the ,divine ,son4 ,the two words fit into one another exactly4 ,mystery1 in ,christian theology1 implies something which once was concealed but has now been made known2 manifest implies making known what had once been concealed4 ,an historical appearance of ,one ,who had previously existed1 but had been kept from the knowledge of the world1 is what is meant by1 ,who was manifested in the flesh4 ,justified in the spirit4 ,spirit here cannot mean the ,holy ,spirit1 as the ,a4,v4 would lead us to suppose4 ,in spirit in this clause is in obvious contrast to in flesh in the previous clause4 ,and if flesh means the material part of ,christ's nature1 spirit means the immaterial part of ,his nature1 and the higher portion of it4 ,his flesh was the sphere of ,his manifestation3 ,his spirit was the sphere of ,his justification4 ,thus much seems to be clear4 ,but what are we to understand by ,his justification8 ,and how did it take place in ,his spirit8 ,these are questions to which a great variety of answers have been given2 and it would be rash to assert of any one of them that it is so satisfactory as to be conclusive4 ,christ's human nature consisted1 as ours does1 of three elements1 body1 soul1 and spirit4 ,the body is the flesh spoken of in the first clause4 ,the soul 7psych71 as distinct from the spirit 7pneuma71 is the seat of the natural affections and desires4 ,it was ,christ's soul that was troubled at the thought of impending suffering4 ,my soul is exceeding sorrowful1 even unto death 7,matt4 xxvi4 #ch2 ,mark xiv4 #cd74 ,now is ,my soul troubled2 and what shall ,i say8 ,father1 save ,me from this hour 7,john xii4 #bg74 ,the spirit is the seat of the religious emotions3 it is the highest1 innermost part of man's nature2 the sanctuary of the temple4 ,it was in ,his spirit that ,christ was affected when the presence of moral evil distressed ,him4 ,he was moved with indignation in ,his spirit when ,he saw the hypocritical ,jews mingling their sentimental lamentations with the heartfelt lamentations of ,martha and ,mary at the grave of ,lazarus 7,john xi4 #cc74 ,it was in ,his spirit also that ,he was troubled when1 as ,judas sat at table with ,him and possibly next to ,him1#ef ,he said1 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 that one of you shall betray ,me 7,john xiii4 #ba74 ,this spiritual part of ,his nature1 which was the sphere of ,his most intense suffering1 was also the sphere of ,his most intense joy and satisfaction4 ,as moral evil distressed ,his spirit1 so moral innocence delighted it4 ,in a way that none of us can measure1 ,jesus ,christ knew the joy of a good conscience4 ,the challenge which ,he made to the ,jews1 ,which of you convicteth ,me of sin8 was one which ,he could make to ,his own conscience4 ,it had nothing against ,him and could never accuse ,him4 ,he was justified when it spake1 and clear when it judged 7,rom4 iii4 #d2 ,ps4 li4 #d74 ,perfect ,man though ,he was1 and manifested in weak and suffering flesh1 ,he was nevertheless justified in the spirit4#eg ,seen of angels4 ,it is impossible to determine the precise occasion to which this refers4 ,ever since the ,incarnation ,christ has been visible to the angels2 but something more special than the fact of the ,incarnation seems to be alluded to here4 ,the wording in the ,greek is exactly the same as in ,he appeared to ,cephas2 then to the twelve2 then ,he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once1 of whom the greater part remain until now1 but some are fallen asleep2 then ,he appeared to ,james2 then to all the ,apostles2 last of all1 as to one born out of due time1 ,he appeared to me also 7#a ,cor4 xv4 #e-h74 ,here1 therefore1 we might translate appeared to angels4 ,what appearance1 or appearances1 of the incarnate ,word to the angelic host can be intended8 ,the question cannot be answered with any certainty2 but with some confidence we can venture to say what can not be intended4 ,appeared to angels can scarcely refer to the angelic appearances which are recorded in connexion with the ,nativity1 ,temptation1 ,agony1 ,resurrection1 and ,ascension of ,christ4 ,on those occasions angels appeared to ,christ and to others1 not ,he to angels4 ,with still greater confidence we may reject the suggestion that angels here means either the ,apostles1 as the angels or messengers of ,christ1 or evil spirits1 as the angels of ,satan4 ,it may be doubted whether anything at all parallel to either explanation can be found in ,scripture4 ,moreover1 appeared to evil spirits is an interpretation which makes the passage more difficult than it was before4 ,the manifestation of ,christ to the angelic host either at the ,incarnation or at the return to glory is a far more reasonable meaning to assign to the words4 ,the first three clauses of this primitive hymn may thus be summed up4 ,the mystery of godliness has been revealed to mankind1 and revealed in a historical ,person1 ,who1 while manifested in human flesh1 was in ,his inmost spirit declared free from all sin4 ,and this manifestation of a perfectly righteous ,man was not confined to the human race4 ,the angels also witnessed it and can bear testimony to its reality4 ,the remaining triplet is more simple3 the meaning of each one of its clauses is clear4 ,the same ,christ1 who was seen of angels1 was also preached among the nations of the earth and believed on in the world3 yet ,he ,himself was taken up from the earth and received once more in glory4 ,the propagation of the faith in an ascended ,christ is here plainly and even enthusiastically stated4 ,to all the nations1 to the whole world1 this glorified ,saviour belongs4 ,all this adds emphasis to the question how men ought to behave themselves in the house of ,god in which such truths are taught and upheld4 ,it is remarkable how many arrangements of these six clauses are possible1 all making excellent sense4 ,we may make them into two triplets of independent lines3 or we may couple the two first lines of each triplet together and then make the third lines correspond to one another4 ,in either case each group begins with earth and ends with heaven4 ,or again1 we may make the six lines into three couplets4 ,in the first couplet flesh and spirit are contrasted and combined2 in the second1 angels and men2 in the third1 earth and heaven4 ,yes1 beyond dispute the mystery of godliness is a great one4 ,the revelation of the ,eternal ,son1 which imposes upon those who accept it a holiness of which ,his sinlessness must be the model1 is something awful and profound4 ,but ,he1 ,who along with every temptation which ,he allows makes also the way of escape1 does not impose a pattern for imitation without at the same time granting the grace necessary for struggling towards it4 ,to reach it is impossible--at any rate in this life4 ,but the consciousness that we cannot reach perfection is no excuse for aiming at imperfection4 ,the sinlessness of ,christ is immeasurably beyond us here2 and it may be that even in eternity the loss caused by our sins in this life will never be entirely cancelled4 ,but to those who have taken up their cross daily and followed their ,master1 and who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the ,lamb1 will be granted hereafter to stand sinless before the throne of ,god and serve ,him day and night in ,his temple4 ,having followed ,christ on earth1 they will follow ,him still more in heaven4 ,having shared ,his sufferings here1 they will share ,his reward there4 ,they too will be seen of angels and received up in glory4 ,,footnotes3 #eb ,to take the pillar and ground of the truth as meaning ,timothy makes sense1 but not nearly such good sense3 moreover1 it is almost certain that if ,st4 ,paul had meant this1 he would have expressed himself differently4 ,there is no intolerable mixture of metaphors in speaking of ,christians first as a house and then as a pillar1 any more than in speaking of any one as both a pillar and a basis4 ,in vi4 #i we have the covetous falling into a snare and hurtful lusts such as drown men4 #ec #a ,cor4 ii #a1 #g1 xv4 #ea2 ,eph4 i4 #i1 iii4 #c1 #i1 vi4 #ai2 ,col4 i4 #bf1 #bg1 ii4 v4 #c1 comp4 ,rom4 xi4 #be1 and see ,lightfoot on ,col4 i4 #bf4 #ed ,cf4 ,col4 i4 #bg1 which throws much light on this passage2 and also ,col4 ii4 #b4 ,in some ,,mss4 and ,versions the ,who has been changed into which1 in order to make the construction less harsh4 #ee ,carmen ,christo quasi deo dicere secum invicem 7,plin41 ,ep4 x4 #ig74 #ef ,st4 ,john reclined on our ,lord's right2 ,judas seems to have been on ,his left4 ,he must have been very close to be able to hear without the others hearing4 #eg ,cf4 the partly parallel passage #a ,pet4 iii4 #ah3 ,put to death in the flesh1 but quickened in the spirit4 ,but flesh and spirit have no preposition in the original ,greek in #a ,pet4 iii4 #ah3 here each has the en4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,comparative ,,value ,,of ,,bodily ,,exercise ,,and ,,of ,,godliness4 ,exercise thyself unto godliness3 for bodily exercise is profitable for a little2 but godliness is profitable for all things1 having promise of the life which now is1 and of that which is to come--#a ,,tim4 iv4 #g1 #h4 ,it is almost impossible to decide what ,st4 ,paul here means by bodily exercise4 ,not that either the phrase or the passage in which it occurs is either difficult or obscure4 ,but the phrase may mean either of two things1 both of which make excellent sense in themselves1 and both of which fit the context4 ,at the beginning of this chapter the ,apostle warns ,timothy against apostates who shall give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils 444 forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats4 ,st4 ,paul has in his mind those moral teachers who made bodily mortifications the road1 not to self-discipline1 but to self-effacement2 and who taught that such things were necessary1 not because our bodies are prone to evil1 but because they exist at all4 ,to have a body1 they held1 was a degradation3 and such a possession was a curse1 a burden1 and a shame4 ,instead of believing1 as every ,christian must1 that a human body is a very sacred thing1 to be jealously guarded from all that may harm or pollute it1 these philosophers held that it was worse than worthless1 fit for nothing but to be trampled upon and abused4 ,that it may be sanctified here and be glorified hereafter1--that it may be the temple of ,god's ,holy ,spirit now and be admitted to share the blessedness of ,christ's ascended humanity in the world to come1--they could not and would not believe4 ,it must be made to feel its own vileness4 ,it must be checked1 and thwarted1 and tormented into subjection1 until the blessed time should come when death should release the unhappy soul that was linked to it from its loathsome and intolerable companion4 ,it cannot1 of course1 for a moment be supposed that ,st4 ,paul would admit that bodily exercise of this suicidal kind was profitable even for a little4 ,on the contrary1 as we have seen already1 he condemns the whole system in the very strongest terms4 ,it is a blasphemy against ,god's goodness and a libel on human nature4 ,but some persons have thought that the ,apostle may be alluding to practices which1 externally at any rate1 had much resemblance to the practices which he so emphatically condemns4 ,he may have in his mind those fasts1 and vigils1 and other forms of bodily mortification1 which within prudent limits and when sanctified by humility and prayer1 are a useful1 if not a necessary discipline for most of us4 ,and it has been thought that ,timothy himself may have been going to unwise lengths in such ascetic practices3 for in this very letter we find his affectionate master charging him1 ,be no longer a drinker of water1 but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities4 ,this then is one possible meaning of the ,apostle's words in the passage before us4 ,discipline of the body by means of a severe rule of life is profitable for something3 but it is not everything4 ,it is not even the chief thing1 or anything approaching to the chief thing4 ,the chief thing is godliness4 ,to the value of bodily exercise of this kind there are limits1 and rather narrow limits3 it is profitable for a little4 ,to the value of godliness there are no limits3 it is profitable for all things4 ,mortifications of the body may preserve us from sins of the flesh3 but they are no certain protection even against these4 ,they are no protection at all--sometimes they are the very reverse of protection--against sins of self-complacency and spiritual pride4 ,asceticism may exist without godliness2 and godliness may exist without asceticism4 ,bodily mortifications may be useful2 but they may also be harmful to both soul and body4 ,godliness must always be useful to both2 can never be harmful to either4 ,but it is quite possible to understand the expression bodily exercise1 in the sense in which the phrase is most commonly used in ordinary conversation among ourselves4 ,in the text which we are considering it may mean that exercise of the body which we are accustomed to take1 some of us of necessity1 because the work by which we earn our daily bread involves a great deal of physical exertion2 some of us for health's sake1 because our work involves a great deal of sitting still2 some of us for pleasure1 because bodily exercise of various kinds is delightful to us4 ,this interpretation of the ,apostle's statement1 like the other interpretation1 makes good sense of itself and fits the context4 ,and whereas that was in harmony with the opening words of the chapter1 this fits the immediate context4 ,st4 ,paul has just said ,exercise thyself unto godliness4 ,in using the expression ,exercise thyself 7gymnaze seauton7 he was of course borrowing1 as he so constantly does borrow1 from the language which was used respecting gymnastic contests in the public games4 ,the ,christian is an athlete1 who must train himself and exercise himself for a lifelong contest4 ,he has to wrestle and fight with the powers of evil1 that he may win a crown of glory that fadeth not away4 ,how natural1 then1 that the ,apostle1 having just spoken of spiritual exercise for the attainment of godliness1 should go on to glance at bodily exercise1 in order to point out the superiority of the one over the other4 ,the figurative would easily suggest the literal sense2 and it is therefore quite lawful to take the words bodily exercise in their most literal sense4 ,perhaps we may go further and say1 that this is just one of those cases in which1 because the literal meaning makes excellent sense1 the literal meaning is to be preferred4 ,let us then take ,st4 ,paul's words quite literally and see what meaning they will yield4 ,bodily exercise is profitable for a little4 ,it is by no means a useless thing4 ,in its proper place it has a real value4 ,taken in moderation it tends to preserve health and increase strength4 ,it may sometimes be the means of gaining for ourselves and for the circle to which we belong praise and distinction4 ,it makes us more capable of aiding ourselves and others in times of physical danger4 ,it may even be the means of enabling us to save life4 ,by taking us out of ourselves and turning our thoughts into new channels1 it is an instrument of mental refreshment1 and enables us to return to the main business of our lives with increased intellectual vigour4 ,and beyond all this1 if kept within bounds1 it has a real moral value4 ,it sometimes keeps us out of mischief by giving us innocent instead of harmful recreation4 ,and bodily training and practice1 if loyally carried out1 involve moral gains of another kind4 ,dangerous appetites have to be kept in check1 personal wishes have to be sacrificed1 good temper has to be cultivated1 if success is to be secured for ourselves or the side to which we belong4 ,all this is profitable in a very real degree4 ,but the limits to all these good results are evident2 and they are somewhat narrow4 ,they are confined to this life1 and for the most part to the lower side of it2 and they are by no means certain4 ,only indirectly does bodily exercise yield help to the intellectual and spiritual parts of our nature2 and as regards both of them it may easily do more harm than good4 ,like excessive meat and drink1 it may brutalize instead of invigorating4 ,have we not all of us seen men whose extravagant devotion to bodily exercise has extinguished almost all intellectual interests1 and apparently all spiritual interests also8 ,but there are no such drawbacks to the exercise of godliness4 ,godliness is profitable for all things1 having promise not only of the life which now is1 but of that which is to come4 ,its value is not confined to the things of this world1 although it enriches and glorifies them all4 ,and1 unlike bodily exercise1 its good results are certain4 ,there is no possibility of excess4 ,we may be unwise in our pursuit of godliness1 as in our pursuit of bodily strength and activity2 but we cannot have too much exercise in godliness1 as we easily can in athletics4 ,indeed1 we cannot with any safety lay aside the one1 as we not only can1 but must1 frequently lay aside the other4 ,and we need to bear this simple truth in mind4 ,most of us are willing to admit that godliness is an excellent thing for attaining to a peaceful death2 but we show little evidence that we are convinced of its being necessary for spending a happy life4 ,we look upon it as a very suitable thing for the weak1 the poor1 the sickly1 the sorrowful1 and perhaps also for sentimental persons who have plenty of leisure time at their disposal4 ,we fail to see that there is much need for it1 or indeed much room for it1 in the lives of busy1 capable1 energetic1 and practical men of the world4 ,in other words1 we are not at all convinced of the truth of the ,apostle's words1 that ,godliness is profitable for all things1 and we do not act as if they had very much interest for us4 ,they express a truth which is only too likely to be crowded out of sight and out of mind in this bustling age4 ,let us be as practical as our dispositions lead us and our surroundings require us to be2 but let us not forget that godliness is really the most practical of all things4 ,it lays hold on a man's whole nature4 ,it purifies his body1 it illumines and sanctifies his intellect2 it braces his will4 ,it penetrates into every department of life1 whether business or amusement1 social intercourse or private meditation4 ,ask the physicians1 ask employers of labour1 ask teachers in schools and universities1 ask statesmen and philosophers1 what their experience teaches them respecting the average merits of the virtuous and the vicious4 ,they will tell you that the godly person has the healthiest body1 is the most faithful servant1 the most painstaking student1 the best citizen1 the happiest man4 ,a man who is formed1 reformed1 and informed by religion will do far more effectual work in the world than the same man without religion4 ,he works with less friction1 because his care is cast upon his heavenly ,father2 and with more confidence1 because his trust is placed on ,one much more sure than himself4 ,moreover1 in the long run he is trusted and respected4 ,even those who not only abjure religion in themselves1 but ridicule it in others1 cannot get rid of their own experience4 ,they find that the godly man can be depended upon1 where the merely clever man cannot2 and they act in accordance with this experience4 ,nor does the profitableness of godliness end with the possession of blessings so inestimable as these4 ,it holds out rich promises respecting future happiness1 and it gives an earnest and guarantee for it4 ,it gives a man the blessing of a good conscience1 which is one of our chief foretastes of the blessedness which awaits us in the world to come4 ,let us once for all get rid of the common1 but false notion that there is anything unpractical1 anything weak or unmanly1 in the life of holiness to which ,christ has called us1 and of which ,he has given us an example3 and by the lives which we lead let us prove to others that this vulgar notion is a false one4 ,nothing has done more harm to the cause of ,christianity than the misconceptions which the world has formed as to what ,christianity is and what it involves4 ,and these misconceptions are largely caused by the unworthy lives which professing ,christians lead4 ,and this unworthiness is of two kinds4 ,there is first the utter worldliness1 and often the downright wickedness1 of many who are not only baptized ,christians1 but who habitually keep up some of the external marks of an ordinary ,christian life1 such as going to church1 having family prayers1 attending religious meetings1 and the like4 ,and perhaps the worst form of this is that in which religion is made a trade1 and an appearance of godliness is assumed in order to make money out of a reputation for sanctity4 ,secondly1 there is the seriously mistaken way in which many earnest persons set to work in order to attain to true godliness4 ,by their own course of life they lead people to suppose that a religious life1 the life of an earnest ,christian1 is a dismal thing and an unpractical thing4 ,they wear a depressed and joyless look2 they not only abstain from1 but leave it to be supposed that they condemn1 many things which give zest and brightness to life1 and which the ,gospel does not condemn4 ,in their eagerness to show their conviction as to the transcendent importance of spiritual matters1 they exhibit a carelessness and slovenliness in reference to the affairs of this life1 which is exceedingly trying to all those who have to work with them4 ,thus they stand forward before the world as conspicuous evidence that godliness is not profitable for all things4 ,the world is only too ready to take note of evidence which points to a conclusion so in harmony with its own predilections4 ,it is1 and has been from the beginning1 prejudiced against religion2 and its adherents are quick to seize upon1 and make the most of1 anything which appears to justify these prejudices4 ,in a world such as this1 they say1 so full of care and suffering1 we cannot afford to part with anything which gives brightness and refreshment to life4 ,a religion which tells us to abjure all these things1 and live perpetually as if we were at the point of death or face to face with the ,day of ,judgment1 may be all very well for monks and nuns1 but is no religion for the mass of mankind4 ,moreover1 this is a busy age4 ,most of us have much to do2 and1 if we are to live at all1 what we have to do must be done quickly and thoroughly4 ,that means that we must give our minds to it2 and a religion which tells us that we must not give our minds to our business1 but to other things which it says are of far greater importance1 is no religion for people who have to make their way in the world and keep themselves and their children from penury4 ,we flatly refuse to accept a gospel which is so manifestly out of harmony with the conditions of average human life4 ,this charge against ,christianity is a very old one3 we find it taken up and answered in some of the earliest defences of the gospel which have come down to us4 ,the unhappy thing is1 not that such charges should be made1 but that the lives of ,christian men and women should prove that there is at least a prim facie case for bringing such accusations4 ,the early ,christians had to confront the charge that they were joyless1 useless members of society and unpatriotic citizens4 ,they maintained that1 on the contrary1 they were the happiest and most contented of men1 devoted to the well-being of others1 and ready to die for their country4 ,they kept aloof from many things in which the heathen indulged1 not because they were pleasures1 but because they were sinful4 ,and there were certain services which they could not1 without grievous sin1 render to the ,state4 ,in all lawful matters no men were more ready than they were to be loyal and law-abiding citizens4 ,in this1 as in any other matter of moral conduct1 they were quite willing to be compared with their accusers or any other class of men4 ,on which side were to be found those who were bright and peaceful in their lives1 who cherished their kindred1 who took care of the stranger1 who succoured their enemies1 who shrank not from death8 ,a practical appeal of this kind is found to be in the long run far more telling than exposition and argument4 ,it may be impossible to get men to listen to1 or take interest in1 statements as to the principles and requirements of the ,christian religion4 ,you may fail to convince them that its precepts and demands are neither superstitious nor unreasonable4 ,but you can always show them what a life of godliness really is2--that it is full of joyousness1 and that its joys are neither fitful nor uncertain2 that it is no foe to what is bright and beautiful1 and is neither morose in itself nor apt to frown at lightheartedness in others2 that it does not interfere with the most strenuous attention to business and the most capable despatch of it4 ,men refuse to listen to or to be moved by words2 but they cannot help noticing and being influenced by facts which are all round them in their daily lives4 ,so far as man can judge1 the number of vicious1 mean1 and unworthy lives is far in excess of those which are pure and lofty4 ,each one of us can do something towards throwing the balance the other way4 ,we can prove to all the world that godliness is not an unreality1 and does not make those who strive after it unreal2 that it is hostile neither to joyousness nor to capable activity2 that1 on the contrary1 it enhances the brightness of all that is really beautiful in life1 while it raises to a higher power all natural gifts and abilities2 that the ,apostle was saying no more than the simple truth when he declared that it is profitable for all things4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,pastor',s ,,behaviour ,,towards ,,women4--,,the ,,church ,,widow4 ,honour widows that are widows indeed4 ,but if any widow hath children or grandchildren1 let them learn first to shew piety towards their own family1 and to requite their parents3 for this is acceptable in the sight of ,god4444 ,let none be enrolled as a widow under threescore years old1 having been the wife of one man1 well reported of for good works--#a ,,tim4 v4 #c1 #d1 #i4 ,the subject of this fifth chapter is ,the ,behaviour of the ,pastor towards the older and younger men and women in the congregation4 ,some have thought that it forms the main portion of the letter1 to which all the rest is more or less introductory or supplementary4 ,but the structure of the letter cannot easily be brought into harmony with this view4 ,it seems to be much nearer the truth to say that the unpremeditated way in which this subject is introduced1 cannot well be explained unless we assume that we are reading a genuine letter1 and not a forged treatise4 ,the connexion of the different subjects touched upon is loose and not always very obvious4 ,points are mentioned in the order in which they occur to the writer's mind without careful arrangement4 ,after the personal exhortations given at the close of ,chapter iv41 which have a solemnity that might lead one to suppose that the ,apostle was about to bring his words to a close1 he makes a fresh start and treats of an entirely new subject which has occurred to him4 ,it is not difficult to guess what has suggested the new subject4 ,the personal exhortations with which the previous section ends contain these words1 ,let no man despise thy youth2 but be thou an ensample to them that believe1 in word1 in manner of life1 in love1 in faith1 in purity4 ,timothy is not to allow the fact that he is younger than many of those over whom he is set to interfere with the proper discharge of his duties4 ,he is to give no one a handle for charging him with want of gravity or propriety4 ,sobriety of conduct is to counterbalance any apparent lack of experience4 ,but ,st4 ,paul remembers that there is another side to that4 ,although ,timothy is to behave in such a way as never to remind his flock of his comparative youthfulness1 yet he himself is always to bear in mind that he is still a young man4 ,this is specially to be remembered in dealing with persons of either sex who are older than himself1 and in his bearing towards young women4 ,st4 ,paul begins with the treatment of older men and returns to this point again later on4 ,between these two passages about men he gives directions for ,timothy's guidance respecting the women in his flock1 and specially respecting widows4 ,this subject occupies more than half the chapter and is of very great interest1 as being our chief source of information respecting the treatment of widows in the early ,church4 ,commentators are by no means unanimous in their interpretation of the details of the passage1 but it is believed that the explanation which is now offered is in harmony with the original ,greek1 consistent with itself1 and not contradicted by anything which is known from other sources4 ,it is quite evident that more than one kind of widow is spoken of3 and one of the questions which the passage raises is--,how many classes of widows are indicated8 ,we can distinguish four kinds2 and it seems probable that the ,apostle means to give us four kinds4 #a4 ,there is the widow indeed 7h onts chra74 ,her characteristic is that she is desolate1 i4e41 quite alone in the world4 ,she has not only lost her husband1 but she has neither children nor any other near relation to minister to her necessities4 ,her hope is set on ,god1 to ,whom her prayers ascend night and day4 ,she is contrasted with two other classes of widow1 both of whom are in worldly position better off than she is1 for they are not desolate or destitute2 yet one of these is far more miserable than the widow indeed1 because the manner of life which she adopts is so unworthy of her4 #b4 ,there is the widow who hath children or grandchildren4 ,natural affection will cause these to take care that their widowed parent does not come to want4 ,if it does not1 then they must learn that to show piety towards their own family and to requite their parents is a paramount duty1 and that the congregation must not be burdened with the maintenance of their mother until they have first done all they can for her4 ,to ignore this plain duty is to deny the first principles of ,christianity1 which is the ,gospel of love and duty1 and to fall below the level of the unbelievers1 most of whom recognized the duty of providing for helpless parents4 ,nothing is said of the character of the widow who has children or grandchildren to support her2 but1 like the widow indeed1 she is contrasted with the third class of widow1 and therefore we infer that her character is free from reproach4 #c4 ,there is the widow who giveth herself to pleasure4 ,instead of continuing in prayers and supplications night and day1 she continues in frivolity and luxury1 or worse4 ,of her1 as of the ,church of ,sardis1 it may be said1 ,thou hast a name that thou livest1 and thou art dead 7,rev4 iii4 #a74 #d4 ,there is the enrolled widow2 i4e41 one whose name has been entered on the ,church rolls as such4 ,she is a widow indeed and something more4 ,she is not only a person who needs and deserves the support of the congregation1 but has special rights and duties4 ,she holds an office1 and has a function to discharge4 ,she is a widow1 not merely as having lost her husband1 but as having been admitted to the company of those bereaved women whom the ,church has entrusted with a definite portion of ,church work4 ,this being so1 something more must be looked to than the mere fact of her being alone in the world4 ,she must be sixty years of age1 must have had only one husband1 have had experience in the bringing up of children1 and be well known as devoted to good works4 ,if she has these qualifications1 she may be enrolled as a ,church widow2 but it does not follow that because she has them she will be appointed4 ,the work to which these elderly women had to devote themselves was twofold3 7#a7 ,prayer1 especially intercession for those in trouble2 7#b7 ,works of mercy1 especially ministering to the sick1 guiding younger ,christian women in lives of holiness1 and winning over heathen women to the faith4 ,these facts we learn from the frequent regulations respecting widows during the second1 third1 and fourth1 centuries4 ,it was apparently during the second century that the order of widows flourished most4 ,this primitive order of ,church widows must be distinguished from the equally primitive order of deaconesses1 and from a later order of widows1 which grew up side by side with the earlier order1 and continued long after the earlier order had ceased to exist4 ,but it would be contrary to all probability1 and to all that we know about ,church offices in the ,apostolic and sub-,apostolic age1 to suppose that the distinctions between different orders of women were as marked in the earliest periods as they afterwards became1 or that they were precisely the same in all branches of the ,church4 ,it has been sometimes maintained that the ,church widow treated of in the passage before us is identical with the deaconess4 ,the evidence that the two orders were distinct is so strong as almost to amount to demonstration4 #a4 ,it is quite possible that this very ,epistle supplies enough evidence to make the identification very improbable4 ,if the women mentioned in the section about deacons 7iii4 #aa7 are deaconesses1 then the qualifications for this office are quite different from the qualifications for that of a widow1 and are treated of in quite different sections of the letter4 ,but even if deaconesses are not treated of at all in that passage1 the limit of age seems quite out of place1 if they are identical with the widows4#eh ,in the case of the widows it was important to enrol for this special ,church work none who were likely to wish to marry again4 ,and as their duties consisted in a large measure in prayer1 advanced age was no impediment1 but rather the contrary4 ,but the work of the deaconess was for the most part active work1 and it would be unreasonable to admit no one to the office until the best part of her working life was quite over4 #b4 ,the difference in the work assigned to them points in the same direction4 ,as already stated1 the special work of the widow was intercessory prayer and ministering to the sick4 ,the special work of the deaconess was guarding the women's door in the churches1 seating the women in the congregation1 and attending women at baptisms4#ei ,baptism being usually administered by immersion1 and adult baptism being very frequent1 there was much need of female attendants4 #c4 ,at her appointment the deaconess received the imposition of hands1 the widow did not4 ,the form of prayer for the ordination of a deaconess is given in the ,apostolical ,constitutions 7viii4 #ai1 #bj71 and is worthy of quotation4 ,concerning a deaconess1 ,i ,bartholomew make this constitution3 ,o ,bishop1 thou shalt lay thy hands upon her in the presence of the presbytery and of the deacons and deaconesses1 and shalt say2 ,o ,eternal ,god1 the ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 the ,creator of man and of woman2 ,who didst replenish with the ,spirit ,miriam1 ,deborah1 ,anna1 and ,huldah2 ,who didst not disdain that ,thy ,only begotten ,son should be born of a woman2 ,who also in the tabernacle of the testimony and in the temple didst ordain women to be keepers of ,thy holy gates2--look down now also upon this ,thy servant1 who is to be ordained to the office of a deaconess4 ,grant her ,thy ,holy ,spirit and cleanse her from all defilement of flesh and spirit1#fj that she may worthily discharge the work which is committed to her1 to ,thy glory and the praise of ,thy ,christ1 with ,whom be glory and adoration to ,thee and to the ,holy ,spirit for ever and ever4 ,amen4 ,nothing of the kind is found for the appointment of a ,church widow4 #d4 ,it is quite in harmony with the fact that the deaconesses were ordained1 while the widows were not1 that the widows are placed under the deaconesses4 ,the widows ought to be grave1 obedient to their bishops1 their presbyters1 and their deacons2 and besides these to the deaconesses1 with piety1 reverence1 and fear4#fa #e4 ,the deaconess might be either an unmarried woman or a widow1 and apparently the former was preferred4 ,let the deaconess be a pure virgin2 or at least a widow who has been but once married4#fb ,but1 although such things did occur1 ,tertullian protests that it is a monstrous irregularity to admit an unmarried woman to the order of widows4#fc ,now1 if widows and deaconesses were identical1 unmarried widows would have been quite common1 for unmarried deaconesses were quite common4 ,yet he speaks of the one case of a virgin widow which had come under his notice as a marvel1 and a monstrosity1 and a contradiction in terms4 ,it is true that ,ignatius in his letter to the ,church of ,smyrna uses language which has been thought to support the identification3 ,i salute the households of my brethren with their wives and children1 and the virgins who are called widows4#fd ,but it is incredible that at ,smyrna all the ,church widows were unmarried2 and it is equally improbable that ,ignatius should send a salutation to the unmarried widows 7if such there were71 and ignore the rest4 ,his language1 however1 may be quite easily explained without any such strange hypothesis4 ,he may mean ,i salute those who are called widows1 but whom one might really regard as virgins4 ,and in support of this interpretation ,bishop ,lightfoot quotes ,clement of ,alexandria1 who says that the continent man1 like the continent widow1 becomes again a virgin2 and ,tertullian1 who speaks of continent widows as being in ,god's sight maidens 7,deo sunt puellae71 and as for a second time virgins4#fe ,but1 whatever ,ignatius may have meant by the virgins who are called widows1 we may safely conclude that neither in his time1 any more than that of ,st4 ,paul1 were the widows identical with the deaconesses4 ,the later order of widows1 which grew up side by side with the ,apostolic order1 and in the end supplanted1 or at any rate survived1 the older order1 came into existence about the third century4 ,it consisted of persons who had lost their husbands and made a vow never to marry again4 ,from the middle of the second century or a little later we find a strong feeling against second marriages springing up1 and this feeling was very possibly intensified when the ,gospel came in contact with the ,german tribes1 among whom the feeling already existed independently of ,christianity4 ,in this new order of widows who had taken the vow of continence there was no restriction of age1 nor was it necessary that they should be persons in need of the alms of the congregation4 ,in the ,apostolic order the fundamental idea seems to have been that destitute widows ought to be supported by the ,church1 and that in return for this1 those of them who were qualified should do some special ,church work4 ,in the later order the fundamental idea was that it was a good thing for a widow to remain unmarried1 and that a vow to do so would help her to persevere4 ,in commanding ,timothy to honour widows that are widows indeed the ,apostle states a principle which has had a wide and permanent influence not only on ecclesiastical discipline but upon ,european legislation4 ,speaking of the growth of the modern idea of a will1 by which a man can regulate the descent of his property inside and outside his family1 ,sir ,henry ,maine remarks1 that the exercise of the ,testamentary power was seldom allowed to interfere with the right of the widow to a definite share1 and of the children to certain fixed proportions1 of the devolving inheritance4 ,the shares of the children1 as their amount shows1 were determined by the authority of ,roman law4 ,the provision for the widow was attributable to the exertions of the ,church1 which never relaxed its solicitude for the interest of wives surviving their husbands--winning1 perhaps1 one of the most arduous of its triumphs when1 after exacting for two or three centuries an express promise from the husband at marriage to endow his wife1 it at length succeeded in engrafting the principle of ,dower on the ,customary ,law of all ,western ,europe4#ff ,this is one of the numerous instances in which the ,gospel1 by insisting upon the importance of some humane principle1 has contributed to the progress and security of the best elements in civilization4 ,not only the humanity1 but the tact and common sense of the ,apostle is conspicuous throughout the whole passage1 whether we regard the general directions respecting the bearing of the young pastor towards the different sections of his flock1 old and young1 male and female1 or the special rules respecting widows4 ,the sum and substance of it appears to be that the pastor is to have abundance of zeal and to encourage it in others1 but he is to take great care that1 neither in himself nor in those whom he has to guide1 zeal outruns discretion4 ,well-deserved rebukes may do far more harm than good1 if they are administered without respect to the position of those who need them4 ,and in all his ministrations the spiritual overseer must beware of giving a handle to damaging criticism4 ,he must not let his good be evil spoken of4 ,so also with regard to the widows4 ,no hard and fast rule can be safely laid down4 ,almost everything depends upon circumstances4 ,on the whole1 the case of widows is analogous to that of unmarried women4 ,for those who have strength to forego the married state1 in order to devote more time and energy to the direct service of ,god1 it is better to remain unmarried1 if single1 and if widows1 not to marry again4 ,but there is no peculiar blessedness in the unmarried state1 if the motive for avoiding matrimony is a selfish one1 e4g41 to avoid domestic cares and duties and have leisure for personal enjoyment4 ,among younger women the higher motive is less likely to be present1 or at any rate to be permanent4 ,they are so likely sooner or later to desire to marry1 that it will be wisest not to discourage them to do so4 ,on the contrary1 let it be regarded as the normal thing that a young woman should marry1 and that a young widow should marry again4 ,it is not the best thing for them1 but it is the safest4 ,although the highest work for ,christ can best be done by those who by remaining single have kept their domestic ties at a minimum1 yet young women are more likely to do useful work in society1 and are less likely to come to harm1 if they marry and have children4 ,of older women this is not true4 ,age itself is a considerable guarantee3 and a woman of sixty1 who is willing to give such a pledge1 may be encouraged to enter upon a life of perpetual widowhood4 ,but there must be other qualifications as well1 if she wishes to be enrolled among those1 who not only are entitled by their destitute condition to receive maintenance from the ,church1 but by reason of their fitness are commissioned to undertake ,church work4 ,and these qualifications must be carefully investigated4 ,it would be far better to reject some1 who might after all have been useful1 than to run the risk of admitting any who would exhibit the scandal of having been supported by the ,church and specially devoted to ,christian works of mercy1 and of having after all returned to society as married women with ordinary pleasures and cares4 ,one object throughout these directions is the economy of ,christian resources4 ,the ,church accepts the duty which it inculcates of providing for its own4 ,but it ought not to be burdened with the support of any but those who are really destitute4 ,the near relations of necessitous persons must be taught to leave the ,church free to relieve those who have no near relations to support them4 ,secondly1 so far as is possible1 those who are relieved by the alms of the congregation must be encouraged to make some return in undertaking ,church work that is suitable to them4 ,st4 ,paul has no idea of pauperizing people4 ,so long as they can1 they must maintain themselves4 ,when they have ceased to be able to do this1 they must be supported by their children or grandchildren4 ,if they have no one to help them1 the ,church must undertake their support2 but both for their sake as well as for the interests of the community1 it must1 if possible1 make the support granted to be a return for work done rather than mere alms4 ,widowhood must not be made a plea for being maintained in harmful idleness4 ,but the point which the ,apostle insists on most emphatically1 stating it in different ways no less than three times in this short section 7vv4 #d1 #h1 #af7 is this1--that widows as a rule ought to be supported by their own relations2 only in exceptional cases1 where there are no relations who can help1 ought the ,church to have to undertake this duty4 ,we have here a warning against the mistake so often made at the present day of freeing people from their responsibilities by undertaking for them in mistaken charity the duties which they ought to discharge1 and are capable of discharging1 themselves4 ,we may1 therefore1 sum up the principles laid down thus3-- ,discretion and tact are needed in dealing with the different sections of the congregation1 and especially in relieving the widows4 ,care must be taken not to encourage either a rigour not likely to be maintained1 or opportunities of idleness certain to lead to mischief4 ,help is to be generously afforded to the destitute2 but the resources of the ,church must be jealously guarded4 ,they must not be wasted on the unworthy1 or on those who have other means of help4 ,and1 so far as possible1 the independence of those who are relieved must be protected by employing them in the service of the ,church4 ,in conclusion it may be worth while to point out that this mention of an order of widows is no argument against the ,pauline authorship of these ,epistles1 as if no such thing existed in his time4 ,in ,acts vi4 #a the widows appear as a distinct body in the ,church at ,jerusalem4 ,in ,acts ix4 #ci1 #da1 they appear almost as an order in the ,church at ,joppa4 ,they show the coats and garments which ,dorcas made in a way which seems to imply that it was their business to distribute such things among the needy4 ,even if it means no more than that ,dorcas made them for the relief of the widows themselves1 still the step from a body of widows set apart for the reception of alms to an order of widows set apart for the duty of intercessory prayer and ministering to the sick is not a long one1 and may easily have been made in ,st4 ,paul's lifetime4 ,,footnotes3 #eh ,the ,council in ,trullo 7,a4,d4 #fia71 the great authority for discipline in the ,greek ,church1 fixed the age of forty for admission to the office of a deaconess and sixty for that of a widow4 #ei ,in the middle recension of the ,ignatian ,epistles we read ,i salute the keepers of the holy doors1 the deaconesses in ,christ 7,ant4 xii474 ,let the deaconesses stand at the entries of the women 7,apost4 ,const4 ii4 #eg1 #eh74 ,for we stand in need of a woman1 a deaconess1 for many necessities1 and first in the baptism of women1 etc4--7,ib4 iii4 #ae47 #fj #a ,cor4 vii4 #a4 #fa ,apost4 ,const41 iii4 #g4 #fb ,apost4 ,const41 vi4 #ag4 #fc ,de ,virg4 ,vel41 ix4 #fd ,smyrn4 xiii4 #fe ,strom41 vii4 #ab2 ,ad ,uxor41 ,i4 iv42 ,de ,exh4 ,cast41 #a4 #ff ,ancient ,law1 p4 #bbd4 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,the ,,pastor',s ,,responsibilities ,,in ,,ordaining ,,and ,,judging ,,presbyters4--,,the ,,works ,,that ,,go ,,before ,,and ,,that ,,follow ,,us4 ,lay hands hastily on no man1 neither be partaker of other men's sins3 keep thyself pure4 ,be no longer a drinker of water1 but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities4 ,some men's sins are evident1 going before unto judgment2 and some men also they follow after4 ,in like manner also there are good works that are evident2 and such as are otherwise cannot be hid--#a ,,tim4 v4 #bb-be4 ,the section of which these verses form the conclusion1 like the preceding section about behaviour towards the different classes of persons in the congregation1 supplies us with evidence that we are dealing with a real letter1 written to give necessary advice to a real person1 and not a theological or controversial treatise1 dressed up in the form of a letter1 in order to obtain the authority of ,st4 ,paul's name for its contents4 ,here1 as before1 the thoughts follow one another in an order which is quite natural1 but which has little plan or arrangement4 ,an earnest and affectionate friend1 with certain points in his mind on which he was anxious to say something1 might easily treat of them in this informal way just as they occurred to him1 one thing suggesting another4 ,but a forger1 bent on getting his own views represented in the document1 would not string them together in this loosely connected way3 he would disclose more arrangement than we can find here4 ,what forger again1 would think of inserting that advice about ceasing to be a water-drinker into a most solemn charge respecting the election and ordination of presbyters8 ,and yet how thoroughly natural it is found to be in this very context when considered as coming from ,st4 ,paul to ,timothy6 ,we shall go seriously astray if we start with the conviction that the word elder has the same meaning throughout this chapter4 ,when in the first part of it ,st4 ,paul says ,rebuke not an elder1 but exhort him as a father1 it is quite clear that he is speaking simply of elderly men1 and not of persons holding the office of an elder3 for he goes on at once to speak of the treatment of younger men1 and also of older and younger women4 ,but when in the second half of the chapter he says ,let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour1 and ,against an elder receive not an accusation1 except at the mouth of two or three witnesses1 it is equally clear that he is speaking of official persons1 and not merely of persons who are advanced in years4 ,the way in which the thoughts suggested one another throughout this portion of the letter is not difficult to trace4 ,let no man despise thy youth suggested advice as to how the young overseer was to behave towards young and old of both sexes4 ,this led to the treatment of widows1 and this again to the manner of appointing official widows4 ,women holding an official position suggests the subject of men holding an official position in the ,church4 ,if the treatment of the one class needs wisdom and circumspection1 not less does the treatment of the other4 ,and therefore1 with even more solemnity than in the previous section about the widows1 the ,apostle gives his directions on this important subject also4 ,i charge thee in the sight of ,god1 and ,christ ,jesus1 and the elect angels1 that thou observe these things without prejudice1 doing nothing by partiality4 ,and then he passes on to the words which form our text4 ,it has been seriously doubted whether the words ,lay hands hastily on no man do refer to the ordination of the official elders or presbyters4 ,it is urged that the preceding warnings about the treatment of charges made against presbyters1 and of persons who are guilty of habitual sin1 point to disciplinary functions of some kind rather than to ordination4 ,accordingly some few commentators in modern times have treated the passage as referring to the laying on of hands at the readmission of penitents to communion4 ,but of any such custom in the ,apostolic age there is no trace4 ,there is nothing improbable in the hypothesis1 imposition of hands being a common symbolical act4 ,but it is a mere hypothesis unsupported by evidence4 ,eusebius1 in speaking of the controversy between ,stephen of ,rome and ,cyprian of ,carthage about the re-baptizing of heretics1 tells us that the admission of heretics to the ,church by imposition of hands with prayer1 but without second baptism1 was the old custom4 ,but the admission of heretics is not quite the same as the readmission of penitents3 and a custom might be old 7palaion thos7 in the time of ,eusebius1 or even of ,cyprian1 without being ,apostolic or coeval with the ,apostles4 ,therefore this statement of ,eusebius gives little support to the proposed interpretation of the passage2 and we may confidently prefer the explanation of it which has prevailed at any rate since ,chrysostom's time1 that it refers to ordination4#fg ,of the laying on of hands at the appointment of ministers we have sufficient evidence in the ,new ,testament1 not only in these ,epistles 7#a ,tim4 iv4 #ad2 #b ,tim4 i4 #f71 but in the ,acts 7xiii4 #c74 ,moreover this explanation fits the context at least as well as the supposed improvement4 #a4 ,the ,apostle is speaking of the treatment of presbyters1 not of the whole congregation4 ,imposition of hands at the admission of a heretic or re-admission of a penitent would apply to any person1 and not to presbyters in particular4 ,therefore it is more reasonable to assume that the laying on of hands which accompanied ordination is meant4 #b4 ,he has just been warning ,timothy against prejudice or partiality in dealing with the elders4 ,while prejudice might lead him to be hasty in condemning an accused presbyter1 before he had satisfied himself that the evidence was adequate1 partiality might lead him to be hasty in acquitting him4 ,but there is a more serious partiality than this1 and it is one of the main causes of such scandals as unworthy presbyters4 ,there is the partiality which leads to a hasty ordination1 before sufficient care has been taken to ensure that the qualifications so carefully laid down in chapter iii4 are present in the person selected4 ,prevention is better than cure4 ,proper precautions taken beforehand will reduce the risk of true charges against an elder to a minimum4 ,here again the traditional explanation fits the context admirably4 ,neither be partaker of other men's sins4 ,it is usual to understand this warning as referring to the responsibility of those who ordain4 ,if1 through haste or carelessness you ordain an unfit person1 you must share the guilt of the sins which he afterwards commits as an elder4 ,the principle is a just one1 but it may be doubted whether this is ,st4 ,paul's meaning4 ,the particular form of negative used seems to be against it4 ,he says ,nor yet 7mde7 be partaker of other men's sins1 implying that this is something different from hastiness in ordinary4 ,he seems to be returning to the warnings about partiality to elders who are living in sin4 ,the meaning1 therefore1 is--,beware of a haste in ordaining which may lead to the admission of unworthy men to the ministry4 ,and if1 in spite of all your care1 unworthy ministers come under your notice1 beware of an indifference or partiality towards them which will make you a partaker in their sins4 ,this interpretation fits on well to what follows4 ,keep thyself pure--with a strong emphasis on the pronoun4 ,strictness in enquiring into the antecedents of candidates for ordination and in dealing with ministerial depravity will have a very poor effect1 unless your own life is free from reproach4 ,and1 if we omit the parenthetical advice about taking wine1 the thought is continued thus3 ,as a rule it is not difficult to arrive at a wise decision respecting the fitness of candidates1 or the guilt of accused presbyters4 ,men's characters both for evil and good are commonly notorious4 ,the vices of the wicked and the virtues of the good outrun any formal judgment about them1 and are quite manifest before an enquiry is held4 ,no doubt there are exceptions1 and then the consequences of men's lives must be looked to before a just opinion can be formed4 ,but1 sooner or later 7and generally sooner rather than later7 men1 and especially ministers1 will be known for what they are4 ,it remains to ascertain the meaning of the curious parenthesis ,be no longer a drinker of water1 and its connexion with the rest of the passage4 ,it was probably suggested to ,st4 ,paul by the preceding words1 ,beware of making yourself responsible for the sins of others4 ,keep your own life above suspicion4 ,this charge reminds the ,apostle that his beloved disciple has been using ill-advised means to do this very thing4 ,either in order to mark his abhorrence of the drunkenness1 which was one of the most conspicuous vices of the age1 or in order to bring his own body more easily into subjection1 ,timothy had abandoned the use of wine altogether1 in spite of his weak health4 ,st4 ,paul1 therefore1 with characteristic affection1 takes care that his charge is not misunderstood4 ,in urging his representative to be strictly careful of his own conduct1 he does not wish to be understood as encouraging him to give up whatever might be abused or made the basis of a slander1 nor yet as approving his rigour in giving up the use of wine4 ,on the contrary1 he thinks it a mistake2 and he takes this opportunity of telling him so1 while it is in his mind4 ,christ's ministers have important duties to perform1 and have no right to play tricks with their health4 ,we may here repeat1 with renewed confidence1 that a touch of this kind would never have occurred to a forger4 ,hence1 in order to account for such natural touches as these1 those who maintain that these ,epistles are a fabrication now resort to the hypothesis that the forger had some genuine letters of ,st4 ,paul and worked parts of them into his own productions4 ,it seems to be far more reasonable to believe that ,st4 ,paul wrote the whole of them4 7,see above1 pp4 #h and #i1 and below1 pp4 #djg1 ff474 ,let us return to the statement with which the ,apostle closes this section of his letter4 ,some men's sins are evident1 going before unto judgment2 and some men also they follow after4 ,in like manner also there are good works that are evident2 and such as are otherwise cannot be hid4 ,we have seen already what relation these words have to the context4 ,they refer to the discernment between good and bad candidates for the ministry1 and between good and bad ministers1 pointing out that in most cases such discernment is not difficult1 because men's own conduct acts as a herald to their character1 proclaiming it to all the world4 ,the statement1 though made with special reference to ,timothy's responsibilities towards elders and those who wish to become such1 is a general one1 and is equally true of all mankind4 ,conduct in most cases is quite a clear index of character1 and there is no need to have a formal investigation in order to ascertain whether a man is leading a wicked life or not4 ,but the words have a still deeper significance--one which is quite foreign to the context1 and therefore can hardly have been in ,st4 ,paul's mind when he wrote them1 but which as being true and of importance1 ought not to be passed over4 ,for a formal investigation into men's conduct before an ecclesiastical or other official1 let us substitute the judgment-seat of ,christ4 ,let the question be1 not the worthiness of certain persons to be admitted to some office1 but their worthiness to be admitted to eternal life4 ,the general statement made by the ,apostle remains as true as ever4 ,there are some men who stand1 as before ,god1 so also before the world1 as open1 self-proclaimed sinners4 ,wherever they go1 their sins go before them1 flagrant1 crying1 notorious4 ,and when they are summoned hence1 their sins again precede them1 waiting for them as accusers and witnesses before the ,judge4 ,the whole career of an open and deliberate sinner is the procession of a criminal to his doom4#fh ,his sins go before1 and their consequences follow after1 and he moves on in the midst1 careless of the one and ignorant of the other4 ,he has laughed at his sins and chased remorse for them away4 ,he has by turns cherished and driven out the remembrance of them2 dwelt on them1 when to think of them was a pleasant repetition of them2 stifled the thought of them1 when to think of them might have brought thoughts of penitence2 and has behaved towards them as if he could not only bring them into being without guilt1 but control them or annihilate them without difficulty4 ,he has not controlled1 he has not destroyed1 he has not even evaded1 one of them4 ,each of them1 when brought into existence1 became his master1 going on before him to herald his guiltiness1 and saddling him with consequences from which he could not escape4 ,and when he went to his own place1 it was his sins that had gone before him and prepared the place for him4 ,and some men also they follow after4 ,there are cases in which men's sins1 though of course not less manifest to the ,almighty1 are much less manifest to the world1 and even to themselves1 than in the case of flagrant1 open sinners4 ,the consequences of their sins are less conspicuous1 less easily disentangled from the mass of unexplained misery of which the world is so full4 ,cause and effect cannot be put together with any precision2 for sometimes the one1 sometimes the other1 sometimes even both1 are out of sight4 ,there is no anticipation of the final award to be given at the judgment-seat of ,christ4 ,not until the guilty one is placed before the throne for trial1 is it at all known whether the sentence will be unfavourable or not4 ,even the man himself has lived and died without being at all fully aware what the state of the case is4 ,he has not habitually examined himself1 to see whether he has been living in sin or not4 ,he has taken no pains to remember1 and repent of1 and conquer1 those sins of which he has been conscious4 ,the consequences of his sins have seldom come so swiftly as to startle him and convince him of their enormity4 ,when they have at last overtaken him1 it has been possible to doubt or to forget that it was his sins which caused them4 ,and consequently he has doubted1 and he has forgotten4 ,but for all that1 they follow after4 ,they are never eluded1 never shaken off4 ,a cause must have its effect2 and a sin must have its punishment1 if not in this world1 then certainly in the next4 ,be sure your sin will find you out--probably in this life1 but at any rate at the day of judgment4 ,as surely as death follows on a pierced heart or on a severed neck1 so surely does punishment follow upon sin4 ,how is it that in the material world we never dream that cause and effect can be separated1 and yet easily believe that in the moral world sin may remain for ever unpunished8 ,our relation to the material universe has been compared to a game of chess4 ,the chess-board is the world1 the pieces are the phenomena of the universe1 the rules of the game are what we call the laws of nature4 ,the player on the other side is hidden from us4 ,we know that his play is always fair1 just1 and patient4 ,but also we know1 to our cost1 that he never overlooks a mistake1 or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance4 ,to the man who plays well1 the highest stakes are paid1 with that sort of over-flowing generosity with which the strong shows delight in strength4 ,and one who plays ill is checkmated--without haste1 but without remorse4#fi ,we believe this implicitly of the material laws of the universe2 that they cannot be evaded1 cannot be transgressed with impunity1 cannot be obeyed without profit4 ,moral laws are not one whit less sure4 ,whether we believe it or not 7and it will but be the worse for us if we refuse to believe it71 sin1 both repented and unrepented1 must have its penalty4 ,we might as well fling a stone1 or shoot a cannon-ball1 or send a balloon into the air1 and say ,you shall not come down again1 as sin1 and say ,i shall never suffer for it4 ,repentance does not deprive sin of its natural effect4 ,we greatly err in supposing that1 if we repent in time1 we escape the penalty4 ,to refuse to repent is a second and a worse sin1 which1 added to the first sin1 increases the penalty incalculably4 ,to repent is to escape this terrible augmentation of the original punishment2 but it is no escape from the punishment itself4 ,but there is a bright side to this inexorable law4 ,if sin must have its own punishment1 virtue must have its own reward4 ,the one is as sure as the other2 and in the long run the fact of virtue and the reward of virtue will be made clear to all the world1 and especially to the virtuous man himself4 ,the works that are good are evident2 and such as are not evident cannot be hid4 ,no saint knows his own holiness2 and many a humble seeker after holiness does good deeds without knowing how good they are4 ,still less are all saints known as such to the world1 or all good deeds recognized as good by those who witness them4 ,but1 nevertheless1 good works as a rule are evident1 and1 if they are not so1 they will become so hereafter4 ,if not in this world1 at any rate before ,christ's judgment-seat1 they will be appraised at their true value4 ,it is as true of the righteous as of the wicked1 that their works do follow them4 ,and1 if there is no more terrible fate than to be confronted at the last day by a multitude of unknown and forgotten sins1 so there can hardly be any lot more blessed than to be welcomed then by a multitude of unknown and forgotten deeds of love and piety4 ,inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these ,my brethren1 even these least1 ye did it unto ,me4 ,come1 ye blessed of ,my ,father1 inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world4 ,,footnotes3 #fg ,tertullian 7,de ,bapt41 xviii47 seems to understand ,st4 ,paul to be speaking of the imposition of hands after ,baptism 7,acts viii4 #ag1 xix4 #f71 which can hardly be correct4 #fh ,manning's ,sermons1 vol4 iii41 p4 #gd1 ,burns1 #ahdg4 #fi ,huxley's ,lay ,sermons1 ,essay ,i4 ,macmillan4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,nature ,,of ,,roman ,,slavery ,,and ,,the ,,apostle',s ,,attitude ,,towards ,,it4--,a ,,modern ,,parallel4 ,let as many as are bond-servants under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour1 that the name of ,god and the doctrine be not blasphemed4 ,and they that have believing masters1 let them not despise them1 because they are brethren2 but let them serve them the rather1 because they that partake of the benefit are believing and beloved4 ,these things teach and exhort4--#a ,,tim4 vi4 #a1 #b4 ,there are four passages in which ,st4 ,paul deals directly with the relations between slaves and their masters3--in the ,epistles to the ,ephesians 7vi4 #e-i71 to the ,colossians 7iii4 #bb-;iv4 #a71 to ,philemon 7#h-ba71 and the passage before us4 ,here he looks at the question from the slave's point of view2 in the letter to ,philemon from that of the master3 in the ,epistles to the ,colossians and to the ,ephesians he addresses both4 ,in all four places his attitude towards this monster abomination is one and the same2 and it is a very remarkable one4 ,he nowhere denounces slavery4 ,he does not state that such an intolerable iniquity as man possessing his fellow-man must be done away as speedily as may be4 ,he gives no encouragement to slaves to rebel or to run away4 ,he gives no hint to masters that they ought to let their slaves go free4 ,nothing of the kind4 ,he not only accepts slavery as a fact2 he seems to treat it as a necessary fact1 a fact likely to be as permanent as marriage and parentage1 poverty and wealth4 ,this attitude becomes all the more marvellous1 when we remember1 not only what slavery necessarily is wherever it exists1 but what slavery was both by custom and by law among the great slave-owners throughout the ,roman ,empire4 ,slavery is at all times degrading to both the parties in that unnatural relationship1 however excellent may be the regulations by which it is protected1 and however noble may be the characters of both master and slave4 ,it is impossible for one human being to be absolute owner of another's person without both possessor and possessed being morally the worse for it4 ,violations of nature's laws are never perpetrated with impunity2 and when the laws violated are those which are concerned1 not with unconscious forces and atoms1 but with human souls and characters1 the penalties of the violation are none the less sure or severe4 ,but these evils1 which are the inevitable consequences of the existence of slavery in any shape whatever1 may be increased a hundredfold1 if the slavery exists under no regulations1 or under bad regulations1 or again where both master and slave are1 to start with1 base and brutalized in character4 ,and all this was the case in the early days of the ,roman ,empire4 ,slavery was to a great extent under no check at all1 and the laws which did exist for regulating the relationship between owner and slave were for the most part of a character to intensify the evil2 while the conditions under which both master and slave were educated were such as to render each of them ready to increase the moral degradation of the other4 ,we are accustomed to regard with well-merited abhorrence and abomination the horrors of modern slavery as practised until recently in ,america1 and as still practised in ,egypt1 ,persia1 ,turkey1 and ,arabia4 ,but it may be doubted whether all the horrors of modern slavery are to be compared with the horrors of the slavery of ancient ,rome4 ,from a political point of view it may be admitted that the institution of slavery has in past ages played a useful part in the history of mankind4 ,it has mitigated the cruelties of barbaric warfare4 ,it was more merciful to enslave a prisoner than to sacrifice him to the gods1 or to torture him to death1 or to eat him4 ,and the enslaved prisoner and the warrior who had captured him1 at once became mutually useful to one another4 ,the warrior protected his slave from attack1 and the slave by his labour left the warrior free to protect him4 ,thus each did something for the benefit of the other and of the society in which they lived4 ,but when we look at the institution from a moral point of view1 it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that its effects have been wholly evil4 7#a7 ,it has been fatal to one of the most wholesome of human beliefs1 the belief in the dignity of labour4 ,labour was irksome1 and therefore assigned to the slave1 and consequently came to be regarded as degrading4 ,thus the freeman lost the ennobling discipline of toil2 and to the slave toil was not ennobling1 because every one treated it as a degradation4 7#b7 ,it has been disastrous to the personal character of the master4 ,the possession of absolute power is always dangerous to our nature4 ,greek writers are never tired of insisting upon this in connexion with the rule of despots over citizens4 ,strangely enough they did not see that the principle remained the same whether the autocrat was ruler of a state or of a household4 ,in either case he almost inevitably became a tyrant1 incapable of self-control1 and the constant victim of flattery4 ,and in some ways the domestic tyrant was the worse of the two4 ,there was no public opinion to keep him in check1 and his tyranny could exercise itself in every detail of daily life4 7#c7 ,it has been disastrous to the personal character of the slave4 ,accustomed to be looked upon as an inferior and scarcely human being1 always at the beck and call of another1 and that for the most menial services1 the slave lost all self-respect4 ,his natural weapon was deceit2 and his chief1 if not his only pleasure1 was the gratification of his lowest appetites4 ,the household slave not unfrequently divided his time between pandering to his master's passions and gratifying his own4 7#d7 ,it has been ruinous to family life4 ,if it did not trouble the relation between husband and wife1 it poisoned the atmosphere in which they lived and in which their children were reared4 ,the younger generation inevitably suffered4 ,even if they did not learn cruelty from their parents1 and deceit and sensuality from the slaves1 they lost delicacy of feeling by seeing human beings treated like brute beasts1 and by being constantly in the society of those whom they were taught to despise4 ,even ,plato1 in recommending that slaves should be treated justly and with a view to their moral improvement1 says that they must always be punished for their faults1 and not reproved like freemen1 which only makes them conceited2 and one should use no language to them but that of command4#gj ,these evils1 which are inherent in the very nature of slavery1 were intensified a hundredfold by ,roman legislation1 and by the condition of ,roman society in the first century of the ,christian era4 ,slavery1 which began by being a mitigation of the barbarities of warfare1 ended in becoming an augmentation of them4 ,although a single campaign would sometimes bring in many thousands of captives who were sold into slavery1 yet war did not procure slaves fast enough for the demand1 and was supplemented by systematic manhunts4 ,it has been estimated that in the ,roman world of ,st4 ,paul's day the proportion of slaves to freemen was in the ratio of two1 or even three1 to one4 ,it was the immense number of the slaves which led to some of the cruel customs and laws respecting them4 ,in the country they often worked1 and sometimes slept1 in chains4 ,even in ,rome under ,augustus the house-porter was sometimes chained4 ,and by a decree of the ,senate1 if the master was murdered by a slave1 all the slaves of the household were put to death4 ,the four hundred slaves of ,pedanius ,secundus were executed under this enactment in ,a4,d4 #fa1 in which year ,st4 ,paul was probably in ,rome4 ,public protest was made2 but the ,senate decided that the law must take its course4 ,the rabble of slaves could only be kept in check by fear4 ,again1 if the master was accused of a crime1 he could surrender his slaves to be tortured in order to prove his innocence4#ga ,but it would be a vile task to rehearse all the horrors and abominations to which the cruelty and lust of wealthy ,roman men and women subjected their slaves4 ,the bloody sports of the gladiatorial shows and the indecent products of the ,roman stage were partly the effect and partly the cause of the frightful character of ,roman slavery4 ,the gladiators and the actors were slaves especially trained for these debasing exhibitions2 and ,roman nobles and ,roman ladies1 brutalized and polluted by witnessing them1 went home to give vent among the slaves of their own households to the passions which the circus and the theatre had roused4 ,and this was the system which ,st4 ,paul left unattacked and undenounced4 ,he never in so many words expresses any authoritative condemnation or personal abhorrence of it4 ,this is all the more remarkable when we remember ,st4 ,paul's enthusiastic and sympathetic temperament2 and the fact is one more proof of the ,divine inspiration of ,scripture4 ,that slavery1 as he saw it1 must often have excited the most intense indignation and distress in his heart we cannot doubt2 and yet he was guided not to give his sanction to remedies which would certainly have been violent and possibly ineffectual4 ,to have preached that the ,christian master must let his slaves go free1 would have been to preach that slaves had a right to freedom2 and the slave would understand that to mean that1 if freedom was not granted1 he might take this right of his by force4 ,of all wars1 a servile war is perhaps the most frightful2 and we may be thankful that none of those who first preached the ,gospel1 gave their sanction to any such movement4 ,the sudden abolition of slavery in the first century would have meant the shipwreck of society4 ,neither master nor slave was fit for any such change4 ,a long course of education was needed before so radical a reform could be successfully accomplished4 ,it has been pointed out as one of the chief marks of the ,divine character of the ,gospel1 that it never appeals to the spirit of political revolution4 ,it does not denounce abuses2 but it insists upon principles which will necessarily lead to their abolition4 ,this was precisely what ,st4 ,paul did in dealing with the gigantic cancer which was draining the forces1 economical1 political1 and moral1 of ,roman society4 ,he did not tell the slave that he was oppressed and outraged4 ,he did not tell the master that to buy and sell human beings was a violation of the rights of man4 ,but he inspired both of them with sentiments which rendered the permanence of the unrighteous relation between them impossible4 ,to many a ,roman it would have seemed nothing less than robbery and revolution to tell him ,you have no right to own these persons2 you must free your slaves4 ,st4 ,paul1 without attacking the rights of property or existing laws and customs1 spoke a far higher word1 and one which sooner or later must carry the freedom with it1 when he said1 ,you must love your slaves4 ,all the moral abominations which had clustered round slavery1--idleness1 deceit1 cruelty1 and lust1--he denounced unsparingly2 but for their own sake1 not because of their connexion with this iniquitous institution4 ,the social arrangements1 which allowed and encouraged slavery1 he did not denounce4 ,he left it to the principles which he preached gradually to reform them4 ,slavery cannot continue when the brotherhood of all mankind1 and the equality of all men in ,christ1 have been realized4 ,and long before slavery is abolished1 it is made more humane1 wherever ,christian principles are brought to bear upon it4 ,even before ,christianity in the person of ,constantine ascended the imperial throne1 it had influenced public opinion in the right direction4 ,seneca and ,plutarch are much more humane in their views of slavery than earlier writers are2 and under the ,antonines the power of life and death over slaves was transferred from their masters to the magistrates4 ,constantine went much further1 and ,justinian further still1 in ameliorating the condition of slaves and encouraging emancipation4 ,thus slowly1 but surely1 this monstrous evil is being eradicated from society2 and it is one of the many beauties of the ,gospel in comparison with ,islam1 that whereas ,mahometanism has consecrated slavery and given it a permanent religious sanction1 ,christianity has steadfastly abolished it4 ,it is among the chief glories of the present century that it has seen the abolition of slavery in the ,british empire1 the emancipation of the serfs in ,russia1 and the emancipation of the negroes in the ,united ,states4 ,and we may safely assert that these tardy removals of a great social evil would never have been accomplished but for the principles which ,st4 ,paul preached1 at the very time that he was allowing ,christian masters to retain their slaves1 and bidding ,christian slaves to honour and obey their heathen masters4 ,the ,apostle's injunctions to slaves who have ,christian masters is worthy of special attention3 it indicates one of the evils which would certainly have become serious1 had the ,apostles set to work to preach emancipation4 ,the slaves being in almost all cases quite unfitted for a life of freedom1 wholesale emancipation would have flooded society with crowds of persons quite unable to make a decent use of their newly acquired liberty4 ,the sudden change in their condition would have been too great for their self-control4 ,indeed we gather from what ,st4 ,paul says here1 that the acceptance of the principles of ,christianity in some cases threw them off their balance4 ,he charges ,christian slaves who have ,christian masters not to despise them4 ,evidently this was a temptation which he foresaw1 even if it was not a fault which he had sometimes observed4 ,to be told that he and his master were brethren1 and to find that his master accepted this view of their relationship1 was more than the poor slave in some instances could bear4 ,he had been educated to believe that he was an inferior order of being1 having scarcely anything in common1 excepting a human form and passions1 with his master4 ,and1 whether he accepted this belief or not1 he had found himself systematically treated as if it were indisputable4 ,when1 therefore1 he was assured1 as one of the first principles of his new faith1 that he was not only human1 like his master1 but in ,god's family was his master's equal and brother2 above all1 when he had a ,christian master who not only shared this new faith1 but acted upon it and treated him as a brother1 then his head was in danger of being turned4 ,the rebound from grovelling fear to terms of equality and affection was too much for him2 and the old attitude of cringing terror was exchanged not for respectful loyalty1 but for contempt4 ,he began to despise the master who had ceased to make himself terrible4 ,all this shows how dangerous sudden changes of social relationships are2 and how warily we need to go to work in order to bring about a reform of those which most plainly need readjustment2 and it adds greatly to our admiration of the wisdom of the ,apostle and our gratitude to ,him ,who inspired him with such wisdom1 to see that in dealing with this difficult problem he does not allow his sympathies to outrun his judgment1 and does not attempt to cure a long-standing evil1 which had entwined its roots round the very foundations of society1 by any rapid or violent process4 ,all men are by natural right free4 ,granted4 ,all men are by creation children of ,god1 and by redemption brethren in ,christ4 ,granted4 ,but it is worse than useless to give freedom suddenly to those who from their birth have been deprived of it1 and do not yet know what use to make of it2 and to give the position of children and brethren all at once to outcasts who cannot understand what such privileges mean4 ,st4 ,paul tells the slave that freedom is a thing to be desired2 but still more that it is a thing to be deserved4 ,while you are still under the yoke prove yourselves worthy of it and capable of bearing it4 ,in becoming ,christians you have become ,christ's freeman4 ,show that you can enjoy that liberty without abusing it4 ,if it leads you to treat a heathen master with disdain1 because he has it not1 then you give him an opportunity of blaspheming ,god and your holy religion2 for he can say1 ',what a vile creed this must be1 which makes servants haughty and disrespectful6' ,if it leads you to treat a ,christian master with contemptuous familiarity1 because he recognizes you as a brother whom he must love1 then you are turning upside down the obligation which a common faith imposes on you4 ,that he is a fellow-,christian is a reason why you should treat him with more reverence1 not less4 ,this is ever the burden of his exhortation to slaves4 ,he bids ,timothy to insist upon it4 ,he tells ,titus to do the same 7ii4 #i1 #aj74 ,slaves were in special danger of misunderstanding what the liberty of the ,gospel meant4 ,it is not for a moment to be supposed that it cancels any existing obligations of a slave to his master4 ,no hint is to be given them that they have a right to demand emancipation1 or would be justified in running away4 ,let them learn to behave as the ,lord's freeman4 ,let their masters learn to behave as the ,lord's bond-servants4 ,when these principles have worked themselves out1 slavery will have ceased to be4 ,that day has not yet come1 but the progress already made1 especially during the present century1 leads us to hope that it may be near4 ,but the extinction of slavery will not deprive ,st4 ,paul's treatment of it of its practical interest and value4 ,his inspired wisdom in dealing with this problem ought to be our guide in dealing with the scarcely less momentous problems which confront us at the present day4 ,we have social difficulties to deal with1 whose magnitude and character make them not unlike that of slavery in the first ages of ,christianity4 ,there are the relations between capital and labour1 the prodigious inequalities in the distribution of wealth1 the degradation which is involved in the crowding of population in the great centres of industry4 ,in attempting to remedy such things1 let us1 while we catch enthusiasm from ,st4 ,paul's sympathetic zeal1 not forget his patience and discretion4 ,monstrous evils are not1 like giants in the old romances1 to be slain at a blow4 ,they are deeply rooted2 and if we attempt to tear them up1 we may pull up the foundations of society along with them4 ,we must be content to work slowly and without violence4 ,we have no right to preach revolution and plunder to those who are suffering from undeserved poverty1 any more than ,st4 ,paul had to preach revolt to the slaves4 ,drastic remedies of that kind will cause much enmity1 and perhaps bloodshed1 in the carrying out1 and will work no permanent cure in the end4 ,it is incredible that the well-being of mankind can be promoted by stirring up ill-will and hatred between a suffering class and those who seem to have it in their power to relieve them4 ,charity1 we know1 never faileth2 but neither ,scripture nor experience has taught us that violence is a sure road to success4 ,we need more faith in the principles of ,christianity and in their power to promote happiness as well as godliness4 ,what is required1 is not a sudden redistribution of wealth1 or laws to prevent its accumulation1 but a proper appreciation of its value4 ,rich and poor alike have yet to learn what is really worth having in this world4 ,it is not wealth1 but happiness4 ,and happiness is to be found neither in gaining1 nor in possessing1 nor in spending money1 but in being useful4 ,to serve others1 to spend and be spent for them1--that is the ideal to place before mankind2 and just in proportion as it is reached1 will the frightful inequalities between class and class1 and between man and man1 cease to be4 ,it is a lesson that takes much teaching and much learning4 ,meanwhile it seems a terrible thing to leave whole generations suffering from destitution1 just as it was a terrible thing to leave whole generations groaning in slavery4 ,but a general manumission would not have helped matters then2 and a general distribution to the indigent would not help matters now4 ,the remedy adopted then was a slow one1 but it has been efficacious4 ,the master was not told to emancipate his slave1 and the slave was not told to run away from his master2 but each was charged to behave to the other1 the master in commanding and the slave in obeying1 as ,christian to ,christian in the sight of ,god4 ,let us not doubt that the same remedy now1 if faithfully applied1 will be not less effectual4 ,do not tell the rich man that he must share his wealth with those who have nothing4 ,do not tell the poor man that he has a right to a share1 and may seize it1 if it is not given4 ,but by precept and example show to both alike that the one thing worth living for is to promote the well-being of others4 ,and let the experience of the past convince us that any remedy which involves a violent reconstruction of society is sure to be dangerous and may easily prove futile4 ,,footnotes3 #gj ,laws1 #ggg ,d4 #ga ,tacitus1 ,ann4 xiv4 #db-de2 iii4 #ad2 comp4 ii4 #cj and iii4 #fg4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,gain ,,of ,a ,,love ,,of ,,godliness1 ,,and ,,the ,,ungodliness ,,of ,a ,,love ,,of ,,gain4 ,wranglings of men corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth1 supposing that godliness is a way of gain4 ,but godliness with contentment is great gain3 for we brought nothing into the world1 for neither can we carry anything out4444 ,charge them that are rich in this present world1 that they be not high minded1 nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches1 but on ,god1 ,who gives us richly all things to enjoy2 that they do good1 that they be rich in good works1 that they be ready to distribute1 willing to communicate2 laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come1 that they may lay hold on the life which is life indeed4--#a ,,tim4 vi4 #e-g1 #ag-ai4 ,it is evident that the subject of avarice is much in the ,apostle's mind during the writing of the last portion of this ,epistle4 ,he comes upon it here in connexion with the teachers of false doctrine1 and speaks strongly on the subject4 ,then he writes what appears to be a solemn conclusion to the letter 7vv4 #aa-af74 ,and then1 as if he was oppressed by the danger of large possessions as promoting an avaricious spirit1 he charges ,timothy to warn the wealthy against the folly and wickedness of selfish hoarding4 ,he1 as it were1 re-opens his letter in order to add this charge1 and then writes a second conclusion4 ,he cannot feel happy until he has driven home this lesson about the right way of making gain1 and the right way of laying up treasure4 ,it is such a common heresy1 and such a fatal one1 to believe that gold is wealth1 and that wealth is the chief good4 ,wranglings of men corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth4 ,that is how ,st4 ,paul describes the dissidence of dissent1 as it was known to him by grievous experience4 ,there were men who had once been in possession of a sound mind1 whereby to recognize and grasp the truth2 and they had grasped the truth1 and for a time retained it4 ,but they had given heed to seducing spirits1 and had allowed themselves to be robbed of both these treasures1--not only the truth1 but the mental power of appreciating the truth4 ,and what had they in the place of what they had lost8 ,incessant contentions among themselves4 ,having lost the truth1 they had no longer any centre of agreement4 ,error is manifold and its paths are labyrinthine4 ,when two minds desert the truth1 there is no reason why they should remain in harmony any more2 and each has a right to believe that his own substitute for the truth is the only one worth considering4 ,as proof that their soundness of mind is gone1 and that they are far away from the truth1 ,st4 ,paul states the fact that they suppose that godliness is a way of gain4 ,it is well known that the scholars whose labours during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries produced at last the ,authorized ,version1 were not masters of the force of the ,greek article4 ,its uses had not yet been analysed in the thorough way in which they have been analysed in the present century4 ,perhaps the text before us is the most remarkable among the numerous errors which are the result of this imperfect knowledge4 ,it seems so strange that those who perpetrated it were not puzzled by their own mistake1 and that their perplexity did not put them right4 ,what kind of people could they have been who supposed that gain was godliness8 ,did such an idea ever before enter into the head of any person8 ,and if it did1 could he have retained it8 ,people have devoted their whole souls to gain1 and have worshipped it as if it were ,divine4 ,but no man ever yet believed1 or acted as if he believed1 that gain was godliness4 ,to make money-getting a substitute for religion1 in allowing it to become the one absorbing occupation of mind and body1 is one thing3 to believe it to be religion is quite another4 ,but what ,st4 ,paul says of the opinions of these perverted men is exactly the converse of this3 not that they supposed gain to be godliness1 but that they supposed godliness to be a means of gain4 ,they considered godliness1 or rather the form of godliness which was all that they really possessed1 to be a profitable investment4 ,christianity to them was a profession in the mercantile sense1 and a profession that paid3 and they embarked upon it1 just as they would upon any other speculation which offered equally good hopes of being remunerative4 ,the ,apostle takes up this perverted and mean view of religion1 and shows that in a higher sense it is perfectly true4 ,just as ,caiaphas1 while meaning to express a base and cold-blooded policy of expediency1 had given utterance to a profound truth about ,christ1 so these false teachers had got hold of principles which could be formulated so as to express a profound truth about ,christ's religion4 ,there is a very real sense in which godliness 7genuine godliness and not the mere externals of it7 is even in this world a fruitful source of gain4 ,honesty1 so long as it be not practised merely as a policy1 is the best policy4 ,righteousness exalteth a nation3 it invariably pays in the long run4 ,and so ,godliness with contentment is great gain4 ,they suppose that godliness is a good investment3--in quite a different sense from that which they have in their minds1 it really is so4 ,and the reason of this is manifest4 ,it has already been shown that godliness is profitable for all things4 ,it makes a man a better master1 a better servant1 a better citizen1 and both in mind and body a healthier and therefore a stronger man4 ,above all it makes him a happier man2 for it gives him that which is the foundation of all happiness in this life1 and the foretaste of happiness in the world to come1--a good conscience4 ,a possession of such value as this cannot be otherwise than great gain3 especially if it be united1 as it probably will be united1 with contentment4 ,it is in the nature of the godly man to be content with what ,god has given him4 ,but godliness and contentment are not identical2 and therefore1 in order to make his meaning quite clear1 the ,apostle says not merely godliness1 but godliness with contentment4 ,either of these qualities far exceeds in value the profitable investment which the false teachers saw in the profession of godliness4 ,they found that it paid2 that it had a tendency to advance their worldly interests4 ,but after all even mere worldly wealth does not consist in the abundance of the things which a man possesses4 ,that man is well off1 who has as much as he wants2 and that man is rich1 who has more than he wants4 ,wealth cannot be measured by any absolute standard4 ,we cannot name an income to rise above which is riches1 and to fall below which is poverty4 ,nor is it enough to take into account the unavoidable calls which are made upon the man's purse1 in order to know whether he is well off or not3 we must also know something of his desires4 ,when all legitimate claims have been discharged1 is he satisfied with what remains for his own use8 ,is he contented8 ,if he is1 then he is indeed well-to-do4 ,if he is not1 then the chief element of wealth is still lacking to him4 ,the ,apostle goes on to enforce the truth of the statement that even in this world godliness with contentment is a most valuable possession1 far superior to a large income2 and to urge that1 even from the point of view of earthly prosperity and happiness1 those people make a fatal mistake who devote themselves to the accumulation of wealth1 without placing any check upon their growing and tormenting desires1 and without knowing how to make a good use of the wealth which they are accumulating4 ,with a view to enforce all this he repeats two well-known and indisputable propositions3 ,we brought nothing into the world and ,we can carry nothing out4 ,as to the words which connect these two propositions in the original ,greek1 there seems to be some primitive error which we cannot now correct with any certainty4 ,we are not sure whether one proposition is given as a reason for accepting the other1 and1 if so1 which is premise and which is conclusion4 ,but this is of no moment4 ,each statement singly has been abundantly proved by the experience of mankind1 and no one would be likely to dispute either4 ,one of the earliest books in human literature has them as its opening moral4 ,naked came ,i out of my mother's womb1 and naked shall ,i return thither1 are ,job's words in the day of his utter ruin2 and they have been assented to by millions of hearts ever since4 ,we brought nothing into the world4 ,what right then have we to be discontented with what has since been given to us8 ,we can take nothing out4 ,what folly1 therefore1 to spend all our time in amassing wealth1 which at the time of our departure we shall be obliged to leave behind us6 ,there is the case against avarice in a nutshell4 ,never contented4 ,never knowing what it is to rest and be thankful4 ,always nervously anxious about the preservation of what has been gained1 and laboriously toiling in order to augment it4 ,what a contrast to the godly man1 who has found true independence in a trustful dependence upon the ,god ,whom he serves6 ,godliness with contentment is indeed great gain4 ,there is perhaps no more striking example of the incorrigible perversity of human nature than the fact that1 in spite of all experience to the contrary1 generation after generation continues to look upon mere wealth as the thing best worth striving after4 ,century after century we find men telling us1 often with much emphasis and bitterness1 that great possessions are an imposture1 that they promise happiness and never give it4 ,and yet those very men continue to devote their whole energies to the retention and increase of their possessions3 or1 if they do not1 they hardly ever succeed in convincing others that happiness is not to be found in such things4 ,if they could succeed1 there would be far more contented1 and therefore far more happy people in the world than can be found at present4 ,it is chiefly the desire for greater temporal advantages than we have at present that makes us discontented4 ,we should be a long way on the road to contentment1 if we could thoroughly convince ourselves that what are commonly called temporal advantages--such as large possessions1 rank1 power1 honours1 and the like--are on the whole not advantages2 that they more often detract from this world's joys than augment them1 while they are always a serious danger1 and sometimes a grievous impediment1 in reference to the joys of the world to come4 ,what man of wealth and position does not feel day by day the worries and anxieties and obligations1 which his riches and rank impose upon him4 ,does he not often wish that he could retire to some cottage and there live quietly on a few hundreds a year1 and sometimes even seriously think of doing it8 ,but at other times he fancies that his unrest and disquiet is owing to his not having enough4 ,if he could only have some thousands a year added to his present income1 then he would cease to be anxious about the future2 he could afford to lose some and still have sufficient4 ,if he could only attain to a higher position in society1 then he would feel secure from detraction or serious downfall2 he would be able to treat with unconcerned neglect the criticisms which are now such a source of annoyance to him4 ,and in most cases this latter view prevails4 ,what determines his conduct is not the well-grounded suspicion that he already has more than is good for him2 that it is his abundance which is destroying his peace of mind2 but the baseless conviction that an increase of the gifts of this world will win for him the happiness that he has failed to secure4 ,the experience of the past rarely destroys this fallacy4 ,he knows that his enjoyment of life has not increased with his fortune4 ,perhaps he can see clearly that he was a happier man when he possessed much less4 ,but1 nevertheless1 he still cherishes the belief that with a few things more he would be contented1 and for those few things more he continues to slave4 ,there is no man in this world that has not found out over and over again that success1 even the most complete success1 in the attainment of any worldly desire1 however innocent or laudable1 does not bring the permanent satisfaction which was anticipated4 ,sooner or later the feeling of satiety1 and therefore of disappointment1 must set in4 ,and of all the countless thousands who have had this experience1 how few there are that have been able to draw the right conclusion1 and to act upon it6 ,and when we take into account the difficulties and dangers which a large increase in the things of this world places in the way of our advance towards moral and spiritual perfection1 we have a still stronger case against the fallacy that increase of wealth brings an increase in well-being4 ,the care of the things which we possess takes up thought and time1 which could be far more happily employed on nobler objects2 and it leads us gradually into the practical conviction that these nobler objects1 which have so continually to be neglected in order to make room for other cares1 are really of less importance4 ,it is impossible to go on ignoring the claims which intellectual and spiritual exercises have upon our attention without becoming less alive to those claims4 ,we become1 not contented1 but self-sufficient in the worst sense4 ,we acquiesce in the low and narrow aims which a devotion to worldly advancement has imposed upon us4 ,we habitually act as if there were no other life but this one2 and consequently we cease to take much interest in the other life beyond the grave2 while even as regards the things of this world our interests become confined to those objects which can gratify our absorbing desire for financial prosperity4 ,nor does the mischief done to our best moral and spiritual interests end here2 especially if we are what the world calls successful4 ,the man who steadily devotes himself to the advancement of his worldly position1 and who succeeds in a very marked way in raising himself1 is likely to acquire in the process a kind of brutal self-confidence1 very detrimental to his character4 ,he started with nothing1 and he now has a fortune4 ,he was once a shop-boy1 and he is now a country gentleman4 ,and he has done it all by his own shrewdness1 energy1 and perseverance4 ,the result is that he makes no account of ,providence1 and very little of the far greater merits of less conspicuously successful men4 ,a contempt for men and things that would have given him a higher view of this life1 and some idea of a better life1 is the penalty which he pays for his disastrous prosperity4 ,but his case is one of the most hopeless1 whose desire for worldly advantages has settled down into a mere love of money4 ,the worldly man1 whose leading ambition is to rise to a more prominent place in society1 to outshine his neighbours in the appointments of his house and in the splendour of his entertainments1 to be of importance on all public occasions1 and the like1 is morally in a far less desperate condition than the miser4 ,there is no vice more deadening to every noble and tender feeling than avarice4 ,it is capable of extinguishing all mercy1 all pity1 all natural affection4 ,it can make the claims of the suffering and sorrowful1 even when they are combined with those of an old friend1 or a wife1 or a child1 fall on deaf ears4 ,it can banish from the heart not only all love1 but all shame and self-respect4 ,what does the miser care for the execrations of outraged society1 so long as he can keep his gold8 ,there is no heartless or mean act1 and very often no deed of fraud or violence1 from which he will shrink in order to augment or preserve his hoards4 ,assuredly the ,apostle is right when he calls the love of money a root of all kinds of evil4 ,there is no iniquity to which it does not form one of the nearest roads4 ,every criminal who wants an accomplice can have the avaricious man as his helper1 if he only bids high enough4 ,and note that1 unlike almost every other vice1 it never loses its hold3 its deadly grip is never for an instant relaxed4 ,the selfish man can at a crisis become self-sacrificing1 at any rate for a time4 ,the sensualist has his moments when his nobler nature gets the better of his passions1 and he spares those whom he thought to make his victims4 ,the drunkard can sometimes be lured by affection or innocent enjoyments to forego the gratification of his craving4 ,and there are times when even pride1 that watchful and subtle foe1 sleeps at its post and suffers humble thoughts to enter4 ,but the demon avarice never slumbers1 and is never off its guard4 ,when it has once taken full possession of a man's heart1 neither love1 nor pity1 nor shame1 can ever surprise it into an act of generosity4 ,we all of us have our impulses2 and1 however little we may act upon them1 we are conscious that some of our impulses are generous4 ,some of the worst of us could lay claim to as much as that4 ,but the miser's nature is poisoned at its very source4 ,even his impulses are tainted4 ,sights and sounds which make other hardened sinners at least wish to help1 if only to relieve their own distress at such pitiful things1 make him instinctively tighten his purse-strings4 ,gold is his god2 and there is no god who exacts from his worshippers such undivided and unceasing devotion4 ,family1 friends1 country1 comfort1 health1 and honour must all be sacrificed at its shrine4 ,certainly the lust for gold is one of those foolish and hurtful lusts1 such as drown men in destruction and perdition4 ,in wealthy ,ephesus1 with its abundant commerce1 the desire to be rich was a common passion2 and ,st4 ,paul feared--perhaps he knew--that in the ,church in ,ephesus the mischief was present and increasing4 ,hence this earnest reiteration of strong warnings against it4 ,hence the reopening of the letter in order to tell ,timothy to charge the rich not to be self-confident and arrogant1 not to trust in the wealth which may fail them1 but in the ,god ,who cannot do so2 and to remind them that the only way to make riches secure is to give them to ,god and to ,his work4 ,the wealthy heathen in ,ephesus were accustomed to deposit their treasures with the great goddess ,diana1 whose temple was both a sanctuary and a bank4 ,let ,christian merchants deposit theirs with ,god by being rich in good works2 so that1 when ,he called them to ,himself1 they might receive their own with usury1 and lay hold on the life which is life indeed4 ,,the ,,epistle ,,to ,,titus4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,the ,,epistle ,,to ,,titus4--,,his ,,life ,,and ,,character4 ,paul1 a servant of ,god1 and an apostle of ,jesus ,christ 444 to ,titus1 my true child after a common faith3 ,grace and peace from ,god the ,father1 and ,christ ,jesus our ,saviour--,,titus i4 #a1 #d4 ,the title ,pastoral ,epistle is as appropriate to the ,epistle to ,titus as to the ,first ,epistle to ,timothy4 ,although there is a good deal in the letter that is personal rather than pastoral1 yet the pastoral element is the main one4 ,the bulk of the letter is taken up with questions of ,church doctrine and government1 the treatment of the faithful members of the congregation and of the unruly and erring4 ,the letter is addressed to ,titus1 not as a private individual1 but as the delegate of the ,apostle holding office in ,crete4 ,hence1 as in the ,first ,epistle to ,timothy1 ,st4 ,paul styles himself an ,apostle3 and the official character of this letter is still further marked by the long and solemn superscription4 ,it is evidently intended to be read by other persons besides the minister to whom it is addressed4 ,the question of the authenticity of the ,epistle to ,titus1 has already been in a great measure discussed in the first of these expositions4 ,it was pointed out there that the external evidence for the genuineness in all three cases is very strong1 beginning almost certainly with ,clement of ,rome1 ,ignatius1 and ,polycarp1 becoming clear and certain in ,irenaeus1 and being abundant in ,clement of ,alexandria and ,tertullian4 ,of the very few people who rejected them1 ,tatian seems to have been almost alone in making a distinction between them4 ,he accepted the ,epistle to ,titus1 while rejecting the two to ,timothy4 ,we may rejoice that ,tatian1 ,marcion1 and others raised the question4 ,it cannot be said that the ,churches accepted this ,epistle without consideration4 ,those who possessed evidence now no longer extant were convinced1 in spite of the objections urged1 that in this letter and its two companions we have genuine writings of ,st4 ,paul4 ,with regard to modern objections1 it may be freely admitted that there is no room in ,st4 ,paul's life1 as given in the ,acts1 for the journey to ,crete1 and the winter at ,nicopolis required by the ,epistle to ,titus4 ,but there is plenty of room for both of these outside the ,acts1 viz41 between the first and second imprisonment of the ,apostle4 ,and1 as we have already seen good reason for believing in the case of #a ,timothy1 the condition of the ,church indicated in this letter is such as was already in existence in ,st4 ,paul's time2 and the language used in treating of it resembles that of the ,apostle in a way which helps us to believe that we are reading his own words and not those of a skilful imitator4 ,for this imitator must have been a strange person2 very skilful in some things1 very eccentric in others4 ,why does he give ,st4 ,paul and ,titus a work in ,crete of which there is no mention in the ,acts8 ,why does he make the ,apostle ask ,titus to meet him in ,nicopolis1 a place never named in connexion with ,st4 ,paul8 ,why bracket a well-known person1 like ,apollos1 with an utterly unknown person1 such as ,zenas8 ,it is not easy to believe in this imitator4 ,yet another point of resemblance should be noted4 ,here1 as in #a ,timothy1 there is no careful arrangement of the material4 ,the subjects are not put together in a studied order1 as in a treatise with a distinct theological or controversial purpose4 ,they follow one another in a natural manner1 just as they occur to the writer4 ,persons with their hearts and heads full of things which they wish to say to a friend1 do not sit down with an analysis before them to secure an orderly arrangement of what they wish to write4 ,they start with one of the main topics1 and then the treatment of this suggests something else3 and they are not distressed if they repeat themselves1 or if they have to return to a subject which has been touched upon before and then dropped4 ,this is just the kind of writing which meets us once more in the letter to ,titus4 ,it is thoroughly natural4 ,it is not easy to believe that a forger in the second century could have thrown himself with such simplicity into the attitude which the letter pre-supposes4 ,it is not possible to determine whether this letter was written before or after the ,first to ,timothy4 ,but it was certainly written before the ,second to ,timothy4 ,therefore1 while one has no sufficient reason for taking it before the one1 one has excellent reason for taking it before the other4 ,the precise year and the precise place in which it was written1 we must be content to leave unsettled4 ,it may be doubted whether either the one or the other would throw much light on the contents of the letter4 ,these are determined by what the ,apostle remembers and expects concerning affairs in ,crete1 and not by his own surroundings4 ,it is the official position of ,titus in ,crete which is chiefly before his mind4 ,titus1 as we learn from the opening words of the letter1 was1 like ,timothy1 converted to ,christianity by ,st4 ,paul4 ,the ,apostle calls him his true child after a common faith4 ,as regards his antecedents he was a marked contrast to ,timothy4 ,whereas ,timothy had been brought up as a ,jew under the care of his ,jewish mother ,eunice1 and had been circumcised by ,st4 ,paul's desire1 ,titus was wholly a ,gentile1 and was not compelled to be circumcised1 as ,st4 ,paul states in the passage in which he tells the ,galatians 7ii4 #a--c7 that he took ,titus with him to ,jerusalem on the occasion when he and ,barnabas went thither seventeen years after ,st4 ,paul's conversion4 ,paul and ,barnabas went up to ,jerusalem on that occasion to protect ,gentile converts from the ,judaizers1 who wanted to make all such converts submit to circumcision4 ,titus and others went with them as representatives of the ,gentile converts1 and in their persons a formal protest was made against this imposition4 ,it is quite possible that ,titus was with ,st4 ,paul when he wrote to the ,galatians2 and if so this mention of him becomes all the more natural4 ,we may fancy the ,apostle saying to ,titus1 as he wrote the letter1 ,i shall remind them of your case1 which is very much to the point4 ,whether ,titus was personally known to the ,galatian ,church is not certain2 but he is spoken of as one of whom they have at any rate heard4 ,titus was almost certainly one of those who carried the ,first ,epistle to the ,corinthian ,church1 i4e41 the first of the two that have come down to us2 and ,st4 ,paul awaited his report of the reception which the letter had met with at ,corinth with the utmost anxiety4 ,and he was quite certainly one of those who were entrusted with the ,second ,epistle to the ,corinthians4 ,st4 ,paul wrote the first letter at ,ephesus about ,easter1 probably in the year #eg4 ,he left ,ephesus about ,pentecost1 and went to ,troas1 where he hoped to meet ,titus with news from ,corinth4 ,after waiting in vain he went on to ,macedonia in grievous anxiety2 and there ,titus met him4 ,he at once began the second letter1 which apparently was written piece-meal during the journey2 and when it was completed he sent ,titus back to ,corinth with it4 ,that ,titus should twice have been sent as the messenger and representative of ,st4 ,paul to a ,church in which difficulties of the gravest kind had arisen1 gives us a clear indication of the ,apostle's estimate of his character4 ,he must have been a person of firmness1 discretion1 and tact4 ,there was the monstrous case of incest1 the disputes between the rival factions1 contentions in public worship and even at the ,eucharist1 litigation before the heathen1 and wild ideas about the resurrection1 not to mention other matters which were difficult enough1 although of a less burning character4 ,and in all these questions it was the vain1 fitful1 vivacious1 and sensitive ,corinthians who had to be managed and induced to take the ,apostle's words 7which sometimes were very sharp and severe7 patiently4 ,nor was this all4 ,besides the difficulties in the ,church of ,corinth there was the collection for the poor ,christians in ,judaea1 about which ,st4 ,paul was deeply interested1 and which had not been progressing in ,corinth as he wished4 ,st4 ,paul was doubly anxious that it should be a success2 first1 because it proved to the ,jewish converts that his interest in them was substantial1 in spite of his opposition to some of their views2 secondly1 because it served to counteract the tendency to part asunder1 which was manifesting itself between the ,jewish and ,gentile ,christians4 ,and in carrying out ,st4 ,paul's instructions about these matters ,titus evidently had to suffer a good deal of opposition2 and hence the ,apostle writes a strong commendation of him1 coupling him with himself in his mission and zeal4 ,whether any inquire about ,titus1 he is my partner and my fellow-worker to you-ward4 ,thanks be to ,god1 which putteth the same earnest care for you into the heart of ,titus4 ,for indeed he accepted our exhortation2 but being himself very earnest1 he went forth unto you of his own accord4 ,with great delicacy the ,apostle takes care that1 in making it clear to the ,corinthians that ,titus has his full authority for what he does1 no slight is cast upon ,titus's own zeal and interest in the ,corinthians4 ,he is my representative2 but he comes of his own free will out of love to you4 ,his visit to you is his own doing2 but he has my entire sanction4 ,he is neither a mechanical delegate1 nor an unauthorized volunteer4 ,a curtain falls on the career of this valued help-mate of the great ,apostle1 from the time when he carried the second letter to ,corinth to the time when the letter to himself was written4 ,the interval was probably some eight or ten years1 about which we know only one thing1 that during it1 and probably in the second half of it1 the ,apostle and ,titus had been together in ,crete1 and ,titus had been left behind to consolidate the ,church there4 ,the ,acts tell us nothing4 ,probably ,titus is not mentioned in the book at all4 ,the reading ,titus ,justus in xviii4 #g1 is possibly correct1 but it is far from certain3 and even if it were certain1 we should still remain in doubt whether ,titus and ,titus ,justus are the same person4 ,and the attempts which have been made to identify ,titus with other persons in the ,acts1 such as ,silvanus or ,timothy1 are scarcely worth considering4 ,nor has the conjecture that ,titus is the author of the ,acts 7as ,krenkel1 ,jacobsen1 and recently ,hooykaas in the ,bible for ,young ,people have suggested7 very much to recommend it4 ,the hypothesis has two facts to support it3 7#a7 the silence of the ,acts respecting ,titus1 and 7#b7 the fact that the writer must have been a companion of ,st4 ,paul4 ,but these two facts are equally favourable to the tradition that ,st4 ,luke was the author1 a tradition for which the evidence is both very early and very abundant4 ,why should such a tradition yield to a mere conjecture8 ,one thing1 however1 we may accept as certain3--that the time when ,st4 ,paul was being carried a prisoner to ,rome in an ,alexandrian corn-ship which touched at ,crete1 was not the time when the ,church in ,crete was founded4 ,what opportunity would a prisoner have of doing any such work during so short a stay8 ,cretans were among those who heard the ,apostles at ,pentecost preaching in their own tongue the wonderful works of ,god4 ,some of these may have returned home and formed the first beginnings of a ,christian congregation3 and among imperfect converts of this kind we might expect to find the errors of which ,st4 ,paul treats in this ,epistle4 ,but we can hardly suppose that there was much of ,christian organization until ,st4 ,paul and ,titus came to the island after the ,apostle's first ,roman imprisonment4 ,and the necessity of having some one with a calm head and a firm hand on the spot1 forced the ,apostle to leave his companion behind him4 ,the man who had been so successful in aiding him respecting the difficulties at ,corinth was just the man to be entrusted with a somewhat similar but rather more permanent post in ,crete4 ,the ,cretans were less civilized1 but in their own way scarcely less immoral1 than the ,corinthians2 and in both cases the national failings caused serious trouble in the ,church4 ,in both cases ecclesiastical authority has to be firmly upheld against those who question and oppose it4 ,in both cases social turbulence has to be kept in check4 ,in both cases there is a tendency to wild theological and philosophical speculations1 and 7on the part of some7 to a bigoted maintenance of ,jewish ordinances and superstitions4 ,against all these ,titus will have to contend with decision1 and if need be with severity4 ,the letter1 in which directions are given for the carrying out of all this1 is evidence of the great confidence which the ,apostle reposed in him4 ,one of those who had worked also in ,corinth1 is either already with him in ,crete1 or may soon be expected1--,apollos1 and with him ,zenas4 ,so that the ,corinthian experience is doubly represented4 ,other helpers are coming1 viz41 ,artemas and ,tychicus2 and1 when they arrive1 ,titus will be free to rejoin the ,apostle1 and is to lose no time in doing so at ,nicopolis4 ,one commission ,titus has in ,crete which very naturally was not given to him at ,corinth4 ,he is to perfect the organization of the ,christian ,church in the island by appointing elders in every city4 ,and it is this charge among others which connects this letter so closely with the first to ,timothy1 which very likely was written about the same time4 ,whether ,titus was set free from his heavy charge in ,crete in time to join ,st4 ,paul at ,nicopolis1 we have no means of knowing4 ,at the time when the second letter to ,timothy was written1 ,titus had gone to ,dalmatia2 but we are left in doubt as to whether he had gone thither by ,st4 ,paul's desire1 or 7like ,demas in going to ,thessalonica7 against it4 ,nor does it appear whether ,titus had gone to ,dalmatia from ,nicopolis1 which is not far distant1 or had followed the ,apostle from ,nicopolis to ,rome1 and thence gone to ,illyria4 ,with the journey to ,dalmatia our knowledge of him ends4 ,tradition takes him back to ,crete as permanent bishop2 and in the ,middle ,ages the ,cretans seem to have regarded him as their patron saint4 ,the impression left upon our mind by the ,acts is that ,st4 ,luke knew ,timothy and did not know ,titus3 and hence frequently mentions the one and says nothing about the other4 ,the impression left upon our mind by the mention of both in ,paul's ,epistles1 and by the letters addressed to each1 is that ,titus1 though less tenderly beloved by the ,apostle1 was the stronger man of the two4 ,st4 ,paul seems to be less anxious about the conduct of ,titus and about the way in which others will treat him4 ,the directions as to his personal behaviour are much slighter than in the case of ,timothy4 ,he seems to credit him with less sensitiveness and more decision and tact2 perhaps also with less liability to be carried away by fanatical views and practices than the other4 ,titus shares with ,timothy the glory of having given up everything in order to throw in his lot with ,st4 ,paul1 and of being one of his most trusted and efficient helpers4 ,what that meant the ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul tell us3--ceaseless toil and anxiety1 much shame and reproach1 and not a little peril to life itself4 ,he also shares with ,timothy the glory of being willing1 when the cause required such sacrifice1 to separate from the master to whom he had surrendered himself1 and to work on by himself in isolation and difficulty4 ,the latter was possibly the more trying sacrifice of the two4 ,to give up all his earthly prospects and all the sweetness of home life1 in order to work for the spread of the ,gospel side by side with ,st4 ,paul1 was no doubt a sacrifice that must have cost those who made it a great deal4 ,but it had its attractive side4 ,quite independently of the beauty and majesty of the cause itself1 there was the delight of being associated with a leader so able1 so sagacious1 so invigorating1 and so affectionate as the ,apostle who became all things to all men that he might by all means save some4 ,hard work became light1 and difficulties became smooth1 under the inspiriting sympathy of such a colleague4 ,but it was quite another thing to have given up everything for the sake of such companionship and support1 or at least in the full expectation of enjoying it1 and then to have to undergo the hard work and confront the difficulties without it4 ,the new dispensation in this respect repeats the old4 ,elisha leaves his home and his inheritance to follow ,elijah1 and then ,elijah is taken from him4 ,timothy and ,titus leave their homes and possessions to follow ,st4 ,paul1 and then ,st4 ,paul sends them away from him4 ,and to this arrangement they consented1 ,timothy 7as we know7 with tears1 ,titus 7we may be sure7 with much regret4 ,and what it cost the loving ,apostle thus to part with them and to pain them we see from the tone of affectionate longing which pervades these letters4 ,the example set by both master and disciples is one which ,christians1 and especially ,christian ministers1 must from time to time need4 ,christ sent forth both the ,twelve and the ,seventy two and two2 and what is true of mankind generally is true also of the ministry--,it is not good for man to be alone4 ,but cases often arise in which not more than one man can be spared for each post2 and then those who have been all in all to one another1 in sympathy and counsel and co-operation1 have to part4 ,and it is one of the greatest sacrifices that can be required of them4 ,paul and ,timothy and ,titus were willing to make this sacrifice2 and it is one which ,christ's servants throughout all ages are called upon at times to make4 ,many men are willing to face1 especially in a good cause1 what is repulsive to them1 if they have the company of others in the trial1 especially if they have the presence and support of those whose presence is in itself a refreshment1 and their support a redoubling of strength4 ,but to enter upon a long and trying task with the full expectation of such advantages1 and then to be called upon to surrender them1--this is1 indeed1 a trial which might well make the weak-hearted turn back4 ,but their devotion to their ,lord's work1 and their confidence in ,his sustaining power1 enabled the ,apostle and his two chief disciples to make the venture2 and the marvellous success of the ,church in the age which immediately succeeded them1 shows how their sacrifice was blessed4 ,and we may be sure that even in this world they had their reward4 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,there is no man that hath left house1 or brethren1 or sisters1 or mother1 or father1 or children1 or lands1 for ,my sake1 and for the ,gospel's sake1 but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time1 houses1 and brethren1 and sisters1 and mothers1 and children1 and lands1 with persecutions2 and in the world to come eternal life4 ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,,the ,,church ,,in ,,crete ,,and ,,its ,,organization4--,,the ,,apostle',s ,,directions ,,for ,,appointing ,,elders4 ,for this cause left ,i thee in ,crete1 that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting1 and appoint elders in every city1 as ,i gave thee charge2 if any man is blameless1 the husband of one wife1 having children that believe1 who are not accused of riot or unruly4 ,for the bishop must be blameless1 as ,god's steward4--,,titus i4 #e-g4 ,this passage tells us a great deal about the circumstances which led to the writing of the letter4 ,they have been touched upon in the previous chapter1 but may be treated more comprehensively here4 ,it is quite evident3 7#a7 that the ,gospel had been established in ,crete for a considerable time when ,st4 ,paul wrote this to his delegate1 ,titus2 7#b7 that during the ,apostle's stay in the island he had been unable to complete the work which he had in view with regard to the full establishment of the ,church there2 and 7#c7 that one of the chief things which remained undone1 and which ,st4 ,paul had been compelled to leave to ,titus to accomplish1 was a properly organized ministry4 ,there was a large and scattered flock2 but for the most part it was without shepherds4 ,it is quite possible that the ,gospel of ,christ was at least known1 if not by any one believed1 in ,crete before ,st4 ,paul visited the islands4 ,cretans were among those who heard the miraculous preaching of the ,apostles on the day of ,pentecost2 and some of these may have returned to their country1 if not converts to ,christianity1 at any rate full of what they had seen and heard of the mighty works of ,god1 as shown forth in the words spoken on that day1 and in their consequences4 ,certainly there were many ,jews in the island2 and these1 though often the bitterest opponents of the ,gospel1 were nevertheless the readiest and best converts1 when they did not oppose2 for they already knew and worshipped the true ,god1 and they were acquainted with the prophecies respecting the ,messiah4 ,we may therefore conclude that the way was already prepared for the preaching of ,christ1 even if ,he as yet had no worshippers in ,crete1 before ,st4 ,paul began to teach there4 ,there are three things which tend to show that ,christianity had been spreading in ,crete for at least some years when the ,apostle wrote this letter to ,titus4 ,first1 the latter is charged to appoint elders in every city1 or city by city1 as we might render the original expression 7kata polin74 ,this implies that among the multitude of cities1 for which ,crete even in ,homer's day had been famous1 not a few had a ,christian congregation in need of supervision2 and it is not improbable that the congregation in some cases was a large one4 ,for the interpretation is certainly an untenable one which forces into the ,apostle's words a restriction which they do not contain1 that each city is to have just one presbyter and no more4 ,st4 ,paul tells ,titus to take care that no city is left without a presbyter4 ,each ,christian community is to have its proper ministry2 it is not to be left to its own guidance4 ,but how many elders each congregation is to have1 is a point to be decided by ,titus according to the principles laid down for him by ,st4 ,paul4 ,for we must not limit the as ,i gave thee charge to the mere fact of appointing elders4 ,the ,apostle had told him1 not merely that elders must be appointed1 but that they must be appointed in a particular way1 and according to a prescribed system4 ,the passage1 therefore1 tells us that there were a good many cities in which there were ,christian congregations1 and leaves us quite free to believe that some of these congregations were large enough to require several elders to minister to them and govern them4 ,secondly1 the kind of person to be selected as overseer seems to imply that ,christianity has been established for a considerable time among the ,cretans4 ,the elder or bishop 7for in this passage1 at any rate1 the two names indicate one and the same officer7 is to be the father of a family1 with children who are believers and orderly persons4 ,the injunction implies that there are cases in which the father is a good ,christian1 but he has not succeeded in making his children good ,christians4 ,either they have not become believers at all2 or1 although nominal ,christians1 they do not conduct themselves as such4 ,they are profligate1 riotous1 and disobedient4 ,this implies that the children are old enough to think for themselves and reject the ,gospel in spite of their parent's conversion2 or that they are old enough to rebel against its authority4 ,and one does not use such strong words as profligacy or riotous living of quite young children4 ,the prodigal son1 of whom the same expression is used1 was no mere child4 ,cases of this kind1 therefore1 in which the father had been converted to ,christianity1 but had been unable to make the influences of ,christianity tell upon his own children1 were common enough to make it worth ,st4 ,paul's while to give injunctions about them4 ,and this implies a condition of things in which ,christianity was no newly planted religion4 ,the injunctions are intelligible enough4 ,such fathers are not to be selected by ,titus as elders4 ,a man who has so conspicuously failed in bringing his own household into harmony with the ,gospel1 is not the man to be promoted to rule the household of the ,church4 ,even if his failure is his misfortune rather than his fault1 the condition of his own family cannot fail to be a grave impediment to his usefulness as an overseer of the congregation4#gb ,thirdly1 there is the fact that heresies already exist among the ,cretan ,christians4 ,titus1 like ,timothy1 has to contend with teaching of a seriously erroneous kind4 ,from this also we infer that the faith has long since been introduced into the island4 ,the misbeliefs of the newly converted would be spoken of in far gentler terms4 ,they are errors of ignorance1 which will disappear as fuller instruction in the truth is received4 ,they are not erroneous doctrines held and propagated in opposition to the truth4 ,these latter require time for their development4 ,from all these considerations1 therefore1 we conclude that ,st4 ,paul is writing to ,titus as his delegate in a country in which the ,gospel is no new thing4 ,we are not to suppose that the ,apostle left ,titus in charge of ,christians who had been converted a very short time before to the faith4 ,the incompleteness of the ,apostle's own work in the island is spoken of in plain terms4 ,even in ,churches in which he was able to remain for two or three years1 he was obliged to leave very much unfinished2 and we need not be surprised that such was the case in ,crete1 where he can hardly have stayed so long4 ,it was this incompleteness in all his work1 a defect quite unavoidable in work of such magnitude1 that weighed so heavily upon the ,apostle's mind4 ,it was that which pressed upon him daily1--anxiety for all the ,churches4 ,there was so much that had never been done at all2 so much that required to be secured and established2 so much that already needed correction4 ,and while he was attending to the wants of one ,church1 another not less important1 not less dear to him1 was equally in need of his help and guidance4 ,and here was the comfort of having such disciples as1 ,timothy and ,titus1 who1 like true friends1 could be indeed a second self to him4 ,they could be carrying on his work in places where he himself could not be4 ,and thus there was no small consolation for the sorrow of parting from them and the loss of their helpful presence4 ,they could be still more helpful elsewhere4 ,for this cause left ,i thee in ,crete1 that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting4 ,there were many things that were wanting in ,crete2 but one of the chief things which pressed upon the ,apostle's mind was the lack of a properly organized ministry1 without which everything must soon fall into confusion and decay4 ,hence1 as soon as he has concluded his salutation1 the fulness and solemnity of which is one of the many evidences of the genuineness of the letter1 he at once repeats to ,titus the charge which he had previously given to him by word of mouth respecting this pressing need4 ,a due supply of elders or overseers is of the first importance for setting in order those things which at present are in so unsatisfactory a state4 ,there are several points of interest in connexion with ,st4 ,paul's directions to ,titus respecting this need and the best way of meeting it4 ,first4 ,it is ,titus himself who is to appoint these elders throughout the cities in which congregations exist4 ,it is not the congregations that are to elect the overseers1 subject to the approval of the ,apostle's delegate2 still less that he is to ordain any one whom they may elect4 ,the full responsibility of each appointment rests with him4 ,anything like popular election of the ministers is not only not suggested1 it is by implication entirely excluded4 ,but1 secondly1 in making each appointment ,titus is to consider the congregation4 ,he is to look carefully to the reputation which the man of his choice bears among his fellow-,christians3--if any man is blameless 444 having children who are not accused of riot4444 ,for the bishop must be blameless4 ,a man in whom the congregation have no confidence1 because of the bad repute which attaches to himself or his family1 is not to be appointed4 ,in this way the congregation have an indirect veto2 for the man to whom they cannot give a good character may not be taken to be set over them4 ,thirdly1 the appointment of ,church officers is regarded as imperative3 it is on no account to be omitted4 ,and it is not merely an arrangement that is as a rule desirable3 it is to be universal4 ,titus is to appoint elders in every city4 ,he is to go through the congregations city by city1 and take care that each has its elder or body of elders4 ,fourthly1 as the name itself indicates1 these elders are to be taken from the older men among the believers4 ,as a rule they are to be heads of families1 who have had experience of life in its manifold relations1 and especially who have had experience of ruling a ,christian household4 ,that will be some guarantee for their capacity for ruling a ,christian congregation4 ,lastly1 it must be remembered that they are not merely delegates1 either of ,titus1 or of the congregation4 ,the essence of their authority is not that they are the representatives of the body of ,christian men and women over whom they are placed4 ,it has a far higher origin4 ,they are ,god's stewards4 ,it is ,his household that they direct and administer1 and it is from ,him that their powers are derived4 ,they are ,his ministers1 solemnly appointed to act in ,his ,name4 ,it is on ,his behalf that they have to speak1 as ,his agents and ambassadors1 labouring to advance the interests of ,his kingdom4 ,they are stewards of ,his mysteries1 bringing out of what is committed to them things new and old4 ,as ,god's agents they have a work to do among their fellow-men1 through themselves1 for ,him4 ,as ,god's ambassadors they have a message to deliver1 good tidings to proclaim1 ever the same1 and yet ever new4 ,as ,god's stewards they have treasures to guard with reverent care1 treasures to augment by diligent cultivation1 treasures to distribute with prudent liberality4 ,there is the flock1 sorely needing1 but it may be not greatly craving1 ,god's spiritual gifts4 ,the longing has to be awakened3 the longing1 when awakened1 has to be cherished and directed3 the gifts which will satisfy it have to be dispensed4 ,there is a demand2 and there is a supply2 a human demand and a ,divine supply4 ,it is the business of ,god's stewards to see that the one meets the other4 ,god's steward is the key to all that follows respecting the qualities to be looked for in an elder or overseer of the ,church3 and1 as the order of the words in the ,greek shows1 the emphasis is on ,god's rather than on steward4 ,the point accentuated is1 not that in the ,church as in his own home he has a household to administer1 but that the household to which he has to minister is ,god's4 ,that being so1 he as ,god's steward must prove himself worthy of the ,commission which he holds3 not self-willed1 not soon angry1 no brawler1 no striker1 not greedy of filthy lucre2 but given to hospitality1 a lover of good1 sober-minded1 just1 holy1 temperate2 holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching1 that he may be able both to exhort in the sound doctrine1 and to convict the gainsayers4 ,such men1 wherever he can find them1--and if any man is blameless is not meant to hint that among ,cretans it may be impossible to find such1--,titus is to appoint as elders in every city4 ,in the ,a4,v4 the phrase runs ordain elders in every city4 ,as we have seen already 7,chap4 ,v471 there are several passages in which the ,revisers have changed ordain into appoint4 ,thus in ,mark iii4 #ad1 ,he ordained twelve becomes ,he appointed twelve4 ,in ,john xv4 #af1 ,i have chosen you and ordained you becomes1 ,i chose you and appointed you4 ,in #a ,tim4 ii4 #g1 ,whereunto ,i am ordained a preacher1 and an apostle becomes whereunto ,i was appointed a preacher and an apostle4 ,in ,heb4 v4 #a1 and viii4 #c1 ,every high priest is ordained becomes every high priest is appointed4 ,in these passages three different ,greek words 7poie1 tithmi1 kathistmi7 are used in the original2 but not one of them has the special ecclesiastical meaning which we so frequently associate with the word ordain2 not one of them implies1 as ordain in such context almost of necessity implies1 a rite of ordination1 a special ceremonial1 such as the laying on of hands4 ,when in ,english we say1 ,he ordained twelve1 ,i am ordained an apostle1 ,every high priest is ordained1 the mind almost inevitably thinks of ordination in the common sense of the word2 and this is foisting upon the language of the ,new ,testament a meaning which the words there used do not rightly bear4 ,they all three of them refer to the appointment to the office1 and not to rite or ceremony by which the person appointed is admitted to the office4 ,the ,revisers1 therefore1 have done wisely in banishing from all such texts a word which to ,english readers cannot fail to suggest ideas which are not contained at all in the original ,greek4 ,if we ask in what way ,titus admitted the men whom he selected to serve as presbyters to their office1 the answer is scarcely a doubtful one4 ,almost certainly he would admit them1 as ,timothy himself was admitted1 and as he is instructed to admit others1 by the laying on of hands4 ,but this is neither expressed nor implied in the injunction to appoint elders in every city4 ,the appointment is one thing1 the ordination another2 and even in cases in which we are sure that the appointment involved ordination1 we are not justified in saying ordain where the ,greek says appoint4 ,the ,greek words used in the passages quoted might equally well be used of the appointment of a magistrate or a steward4 ,and as we should avoid speaking of ordaining a magistrate or a steward1 we ought to avoid using ordain to translate words which would be thoroughly in place in such a connexion4 ,the ,greek words for ordain and ordination1 in the sense of imposition of hands in order to admit to an ecclesiastical office 7cheirothetei1 cheirothesia71 do not occur in the ,new ,testament at all4 ,it is worthy of note that there is not a trace here1 any more than there is in the similar passage in #a ,timothy1 of the parallel between the threefold ministry in the ,old ,testament and a threefold ministry in the ,christian ,church1 high-priest1 priests1 and ,levites being compared with bishop1 presbyters1 and deacons4 ,this parallel was a favourite one and it was made early4 ,the fact therefore that we do not find it in any of these ,epistles1 nor even any material out of which it could be constructed1 confirms us in the belief that these letters belong to the first century and not to the second4 ,in giving this injunction to ,titus1 ,st4 ,paul assumes that his disciple and delegate is as free as he himself is from all feelings of jealousy1 or envy4 ,art thou jealous for my sake8 would ,god that all the ,lord's people were prophets1 is the spirit in which these instructions are given1 and no doubt were accepted4 ,there is no grasping after power in the great ,apostle of the ,gentiles2 no desire to keep everything in his own hands1 that he might have the credit of all that was done4 ,so long as ,christ is rightly preached1 so long as the ,lord's work is faithfully done1 he cares not who wins the glory4 ,he is more than willing that ,timothy and ,titus should share in his work and its reward2 and he without hesitation applies to them to admit others in like manner to share with them in their work and its reward4 ,this generous willingness to admit others to co-operate is not always found1 especially in men of strong character and great energy and decision4 ,they will admit subordinates as a necessary evil to work out details1 because they cannot themselves afford time for all these4 ,but they object to anything like colleagues4 ,whatever of any serious importance is done must be in their own hands and must be recognized as their work4 ,there is nothing of this spirit in ,st4 ,paul4 ,he could rejoice when some preached ,christ even of envy and strife1 not sincerely1 thinking to raise up affliction for him in his bonds4 ,he rejoiced1 not because of their evil temper1 but because that at any rate ,christ was preached4 ,how much more1 therefore1 did he rejoice when ,christ was preached of good will by disciples devoted to himself and his ,master4 ,they all had the same end in view2 not their own glory1 but the glory of ,god4 ,and this is the end which all ,christian ministers have to keep in view1 and which they too often exchange for ends that are far lower1 and far removed 7it may be7 from the cause with which we choose to identify them4 ,and as time goes on1 and we look less and less with a single eye at the will of ,god1 and have less and less of the single purpose of seeking ,his glory1 our aims become narrower and our ends more selfish4 ,at first it is the triumph of a system1 then it is the advancement of a party4 ,then it becomes the propagation of our own views1 and the extension of our own influence4 ,until at last we find ourselves working1 no longer for ,god's glory1 but simply for our own4 ,while professing to work in ,his ,name and for ,his honour1 we have steadily substituted our own wills for ,his4 ,but it is only by forgetting ourselves that we find ourselves2 only by losing our life that we find it4 ,god's steward must be ready to sink every personal interest in the interests of the great ,employer4 ,he has nothing of his own4 ,he deals with his ,master's goods1 and must deal with them in his ,master's way4 ,he who labours in this spirit will one day be rewarded by the ,divine voice of welcome3 ,well done1 good and faithful servant3 thou hast been faithful over a few things2 ,i will set thee over many things2 enter thou into the joy of thy ,lord4 ,,footnotes3 #gb ,it is worth while here to repeat the caution that the ,apostle's language by no means implies that the elder or bishop must be a married man with children4 ,but it implies that he will generally be such2 and in appointing him1 the character of his family must be carefully considered4 ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,,christianity ,,and ,,unchristian ,,literature4 ,one of themselves1 a prophet of their own1 said1 ,cretans are always liars1 evil beasts1 idle gluttons4 ,this testimony is true4 ,for which cause reprove them sharply1 that they may be sound in the faith4--,,titus i4 #ab1 #ac4 ,the hexameter verse which ,st4 ,paul here cites from the ,cretan poet ,epimenides is one of three quotations from profane literature which are made by ,st4 ,paul4 ,of the other two1 one occurs in #a ,cor4 xv4 #cc1 ,evil communications corrupt good manners2 and the other in the ,apostle's speech on the ,areopagus at ,athens1 as recorded in the ,acts 7xvii4 #bh73 ,for we are also his offspring4 ,they cannot be relied upon as sufficient to prove that ,st4 ,paul was well read in classical literature1 any more than the quoting of a hackneyed line from ,shakespeare1 from ,byron1 and from ,tennyson1 would prove that an ,english writer was well acquainted with ,english literature4 ,it may have been the case that ,st4 ,paul knew a great deal of ,greek classical literature1 but these three quotations1 from ,epimenides1 from some ,greek tragedian1 and from ,cleanthes or ,aratus1 do not at all prove the point4 ,in all three cases the source of the quotation is not certain4 ,in the one before us the ,apostle no doubt tells us that he is quoting a ,cretan prophet1 and therefore quotes the line as coming from ,epimenides4 ,but a man may know that ,friends1 ,romans1 countrymen1 lend me your ears is ,shakespeare1 without having read a single play4 ,and we are quite uncertain whether ,st4 ,paul had even seen the poem of ,epimenides on ,oracles in which the line which he here quotes occurs4 ,the iambic which he quotes in the letter to the ,corinthians1 although originally in some ,greek play 7perhaps of ,euripides or ,menander71 had passed into a proverb1 and proves even less than the line from ,epimenides that ,st4 ,paul knew the work in which it occurred4 ,the half-line which is given in his speech at ,athens1 stating the ,divine parentage of mankind1 may have come from a variety of sources3 but it is not improbable that the ,apostle had read it in the ,phaenomena of ,aratus1 in which it occurs in the form in which it is reproduced in the ,acts4 ,this astronomical poem was popular in ,st4 ,paul's day1 and he was the more likely to have come across it1 as ,aratus is said to have been a native of ,tarsus1 or at any rate of ,cilicia4 ,but even when we have admitted that the ,apostle had read the ,phaenomena of ,aratus or ,cleanthes' ,hymn to ,zeus1 we have not made much way towards proving that he was well read in ,greek literature4 ,indeed the contrary has been argued from the fact that1 according to the reading of the best authorities1 the iambic line in the ,corinthians is quoted in such a way as to spoil the scanning2 which would seem to show that ,st4 ,paul was not familiar with the iambic metre4#gc ,if that was the case1 he can scarcely have read even a single ,greek play4 ,but the question is not one of great importance1 although doubtless of some interest4 ,we do not need this evidence to prove that the ,apostle was a person1 not only of great energy and ability1 but of culture4 ,there are passages in his writings1 such as chapters xiii4 and xv4 in #a ,corinthians1 which are equal for beauty and eloquence to anything in literature4 ,even among inspired writers few have known better than ,st4 ,paul how to clothe lofty thoughts in noble language4 ,and of his general acquaintance with the moral philosophy of his age1 especially of the ,stoic school1 which was very influential in the neighbourhood of ,tarsus1 there can be no doubt4 ,just as ,st4 ,john laid the thoughts and language of ,alexandrian philosophy under contribution1 and gave them fuller force and meaning to express the dogmatic truths of the ,gospel1 so ,st4 ,paul laid the thoughts and language of ,stoicism under contribution1 and transfigured them to express the moral teaching of the ,gospel4 ,cleanthes or ,aratus1 from one or both of whom one of the three quotations comes 7and ,st4 ,paul seems to know both sources1 for he says as certain even of your own poets have said71 were both of them ,stoics3 and the speech in which the quotation occurs1 short as it is in the ,acts1 abounds in parallels to the teaching of ,st4 ,paul's ,stoic contemporary ,seneca4 ,if ,st4 ,paul tells us that the ,god that made the world and all things therein 444 dwelleth not in temples made with hands1 ,seneca teaches that temples must not be built to ,god of stones piled on high3 ,he must be consecrated in the heart of man4 ,while ,st4 ,paul reminds us that ,god is not far from each one of us1 ,seneca says ,god is near thee3 ,he is with thee2 ,he is within4 ,again1 ,st4 ,paul warns his hearers that we ought not to think that the ,god-head is like unto gold1 or silver1 or stone1 graven by art and device of man2 and ,seneca declares ,thou shalt not form ,him of silver and gold3 a true likeness of ,god cannot be moulded of this material4#gd ,but the quotations are of other interest than their bearing upon the question as to the ,greek elements in the education and teaching of ,st4 ,paul4 ,they have a bearing also on the question of ,christian use of profane authors1 and on the duty of self-culture in general4 ,the leading teachers of the early ,church differed widely in their estimate of the value of heathen literature1 and especially of heathen philosophy4 ,on the whole1 with some considerable exceptions1 the ,greek ,fathers valued it highly1 as containing precious elements of truth1 which were partly the result of direct inspiration1 partly echoes of the ,old ,testament4 ,the ,latin ,fathers1 on the other hand1 for the most part treated all pagan teaching with suspicion and contempt4 ,it was in no sense useful4 ,it was utterly false1 and simply stood in the way of the truth4 ,it was rubbish1 which must be swept on one side in order to make room for the ,gospel4 ,tertullian thinks that heathen philosophers are blockheads when they knock at the doors of truth1 and that they have contributed nothing whatever that a ,christian can accept4 ,arnobius and ,lactantius write in a similar strain of contemptuous disapproval4 ,tertullian thinks it out of the question that a right-minded ,christian should teach in pagan schools4 ,but even he shrinks from telling ,christian parents that they must allow their children to remain uneducated rather than send them to such schools4 ,the policy of permitting ,christian children to attend heathen schools1 while forbidding ,christian adults from teaching in them1 appears singularly unreasonable4 ,every ,christian teacher in a school rendered that school less objectionable for ,christian children4 ,but ,tertullian urges that one who teaches pagan literature seems to give his sanction to it3 one who merely learns it does nothing of the kind4 ,the young must be educated3 adults need not become school-masters4 ,one can plead necessity in the one case2 not in the other 7,de ,idol41 x74 ,but the necessity of sending a child to a pagan school1 because otherwise it could not be properly educated1 did not settle the question whether it was prudent1 or even right1 for a ,christian in afterlife to study pagan literature2 and it required the thought and experience of several centuries to arrive at anything like a consensus of opinion and practice on the subject4 ,but during the first four or five centuries the more liberal view1 even in the ,west1 on the whole prevailed4 ,from ,irenaeus1 ,tatian1 and ,hermias1 among ,greek writers1 and from various ,latin ,fathers1 disapproving opinions proceeded4 ,but the influence of ,clement of ,alexandria and ,origen in the ,east1 and of ,augustine and ,jerome in the ,west1 was too strong for such opinions4 ,clement puts it on the broad ground that all wisdom is a ,divine gift2 and maintains that the philosophy of the ,greeks1 limited and particular as it is1 contains the rudiments of that really perfect knowledge1 which is beyond this world4 ,origen1 in rebutting the reproach of ,celsus1 that the ,gospel repelled the educated and gave a welcome only to the ignorant1 quotes the ,epistle to ,titus1 pointing out that ,paul1 in describing what kind of man the bishop ought to be1 lays down as a qualification that he must be a teacher1 saying that he ought to be able to convince the gainsayers1 that by the wisdom which is in him he may stop the mouths of foolish talkers and deceivers4 ,the ,gospel gives a welcome to the learned and unlearned alike3 to the learned1 that they may become teachers2 to the unlearned1 not because it prefers such1 but because it wishes to instruct them4 ,and he points out that in enumerating the gifts of the ,spirit ,st4 ,paul places wisdom and knowledge before faith1 gifts of healing1 and miracles 7#a ,cor4 xii4 #h-aj74 ,but ,origen does not point out that ,st4 ,paul himself makes use of heathen literature2 although immediately before dealing with the accusation of ,celsus1 that ,christians hate culture and promote ignorance1 he quotes from ,callimachus half of the saying of ,epimenides1 ,cretans are alway liars 7,con4 ,cels41 ,,iii4 xliii74 ,what ,origen's own practice was we learn from the ,panegyric of his enthusiastic pupil1 ,gregory ,thaumaturgus 7xiii474 ,with the exception of atheistic philosophy1 which was not worth the risk1 ,origen encouraged his scholars to study everything2 and he gave them a regular course of dialectics1 physics1 and moral philosophy1 as a preparation for theology4 ,augustine1 who ascribes his first conversion from a vicious life to the ,hortensius of ,cicero 7,conf41 ,,iii4 iv4 ,i71 was not likely to take an extreme line in condemning classical literature1 from which he himself frequently quotes4 ,of ,cicero's ,hortensius he says1 ,this book in truth changed my affections1 and turned my prayers to ,thyself1 ,o ,lord1 and made me have other hopes and desires4 ,he quotes1 among other classical authors1 not only ,virgil1 ,livy1 ,lucan1 ,sallust1 ,horace1 ,pliny and ,quintillian1 but ,terence1 ,persius1 and ,juvenal1 and of the last from those ,satires which are sometimes omitted by editors on account of their grossness4 ,in his treatise ,on ,christian ,doctrine 7,,ii4 xl471 he contends that we must not shrink from making use of all that is good and true in heathen writings and institutions4 ,we must spoil the ,egyptians4 ,the writings of his instructor ,ambrose show that he also was well acquainted with the best ,latin classics4 ,in ,jerome we have what may be called an essay on the subject4 ,ruffinus had suggested to ,magnus1 a ,roman rhetorician1 that he should ask ,jerome why he filled his writings with so many allusions and quotations taken from pagan literature1 and ,jerome in reply1 after quoting the opening verses of the ,book of ,proverbs1 refers him to the example of ,st4 ,paul in the ,epistles to ,titus and the ,corinthians1 and in the speech in the ,acts4 ,then he points to ,cyprian1 ,origen1 ,eusebius1 and ,apollinaris3 read them1 and you will find that in comparison with them we have little skill 7in quotation74 ,besides these he appeals to the examples1 among ,greek writers1 of ,quadratus1 ,justin ,martyr1 ,dionysius1 ,clement of ,alexandria1 ,basil1 ,gregory ,nazianzen1 etc42 and among ,latins1 ,tertullian1 ,minucius ,felix1 ,arnobius1 ,hilary1 and ,juvencus4 ,and he points out that quotations from profane authors occur in nearly all the works of these writers1 and not merely in those which are addressed to heathen4 ,but while ,jerome defends the study of classical authors as a necessary part of education1 he severely condemns those clergy who amused themselves with such writers as ,plautus 7of whom he himself had been very fond71 ,terence1 and ,catullus1 when they ought to have been studying the ,scriptures4 ,later in life his views appear to have become more rigid2 and we find him rejoicing that the works of ,plato and ,aristotle are becoming neglected4 ,it was the short reign of ,julian1 commonly called the ,apostate 7,a4,d4 #cfa-cfc71 which had brought the question very much to the front4 ,his policy and legislation probably influenced ,augustine and ,jerome in taking a more liberal line in the matter1 in spite of ,latin dislike of ,greek philosophy and their own ascetic tendencies4 ,julian1 jealous of the growing influence of ,christian teachers1 tried to prevent them from lecturing on classical authors4 ,from this he hoped to gain two advantages4 7#a7 ,secular education would to a large extent be taken out of ,christian hands4 7#b7 ,the ,christian teachers themselves would become less well educated1 and less able to contend with heathen controversialists4 ,he sarcastically pointed out the inconvenience of a teacher expounding ,homer and denouncing ,homer's gods3 ,christians had better confine themselves to expounding ,matthew and ,luke in the ,churches of the ,galileans1 and leave the interpretation of the masterpieces of antiquity to others4 ,and he seems not to have contented himself with cynical advice1 but to have passed a law that no ,christian was to teach in the public schools4 ,this law was at once cancelled by his successor ,valentinian2 but it provoked a strong feeling of resentment1 and stirred up ,christians to recognize and hold fast the advantages of a classical education4 ,but while the influence of the first three of the four great ,latin ,fathers was in favour of a wise use of the products of pagan genius1 the influence of the last of the four was disastrously in the opposite direction4 ,in the period between ,jerome and ,gregory the ,great two facts had had a calamitous effect upon the cause of liberal education4 7#a7 ,the inroads of the barbarians almost destroyed the imperial schools in ,gaul and ,italy4 7#b7 ,the miserable controversies about ,origen produced an uneasy suspicion that secular study was prejudical to orthodoxy4 ,it is perhaps to this latter influence that we may attribute two ecclesiastical canons of unknown date and origin4 ,in the ,apostolical ,constitutions 7,i4 vi47 we read1 ,abstain from all heathen books4 ,for what hast thou to do with such foreign discourses1 or laws1 or false prophets1 which subvert the faith of the unstable8 ,for what defect dost thou find in the law of ,god1 that thou shouldest have recourse to those heathenish fables8 etc41 etc4 ,again in a collection of canons1 which is sometimes assigned to a synod at ,carthage ,a4,d4 #cih1 the #afth canon in the collection runs thus3 ,a bishop shall read no heathen books1 and heretical books only when necessary4 ,the ,carthaginian synod of #cih is a fiction1 and some of the canons in the collection deal with controversies of a much later date3 but we need not doubt that all the canons were enacted in some ,church or other in the course of the first six centuries4 ,the spirit of this one is very much in harmony with the known tendencies of the sixth century2 and we find ,gregory the ,great 7,a4,d4 #edd-fjd7 making precisely the same regulation4 ,he forbad bishops to study heathen literature1 and in one of his letters 7,epp41 ix4 #dh7 he rebukes ,desiderius1 ,bishop of ,vienne1 for giving his clergy instruction in grammar1 which involved the reading of the heathen poets4 ,the praises of ,christ do not admit of being joined in the same mouth with the praises of ,jupiter2 and it is a grave and execrable thing for bishops to sing what even for a religious layman is unbecoming4 ,the story that he purposely burnt the ,palatine library is not traced earlier than the twelfth century1 and is probably untrue2 but it indicates the traditional belief respecting his attitude towards classical literature4 ,and it is certainly true that he was twice in ,constantinople1 and on the second occasion remained there three years 7,a4,d4 #egi-ehb71 and yet never learnt ,greek4 ,in his time1 as we learn both from himself and his contemporary1 ,gregory of ,tours1 the belief was very prevalent that the end of the world was at hand2 and it was argued that mankind had more serious things to attend to than the study of pagan literature--or indeed any literature that was not connected with the ,scriptures or the ,church4 ,henceforward1 in the words of ,gregory of ,tours1 the study of literature perished3 and1 although there were some bright spots at ,jarrow and elsewhere1 yet on the whole the chief services which ,christianity rendered to classical learning during the next few centuries1 were the preservation of classical authors in the libraries of monasteries and the preservation of the classical languages in the liturgies of the ,church4 ,the question will perhaps never cease to be argued1 although it is hardly probable that so extreme a view as that of ,gregory the ,great will ever again become prevalent4 ,let us take a statement of the question from the utterances of one who will not be suspected of want of capacity or of experience in the matter1 or of want of sympathy with stern and serious views respecting education and life4 ,some one will say to me perhaps1 wrote ,john ,henry ,newman in #ahei1 our youth shall not be corrupted4 ,we will dispense with all general or national literature whatever1 if it be so exceptional2 we will have a ,christian ,literature of our own1 as pure1 as true as the ,jewish4 ,you cannot have it4444 ,from the nature of the case1 if ,literature is to be made a study of human nature1 you cannot have a ,christian ,literature4 ,it is a contradiction in terms to attempt a sinless ,literature of sinful man4 ,you may gather together something very great and high1 something higher than any literature ever was2 and when you have done so1 you will find that it is not ,literature at all4 ,you will simply have left the delineation of man1 as such1 and have substituted for it1 as far as you have had anything to substitute1 that of man1 as he is or might be1 under certain special advantages4 ,give up the study of man1 as such1 if so it must be2 but say you do so4 ,do not say you are studying him1 his history1 his mind and his heart1 when you are studying something else4 ,man is a being of genius1 passion1 intellect1 conscience1 power4 ,he exercises his great gifts in various ways1 in great deeds1 in great thoughts1 in heroic acts1 in hateful crimes4444 ,literature records them all to the life4444 ,we should be shrinking from a plain duty1 did we leave out ,literature from ,education4 ,for why do we educate except to prepare for the world8 ,why do we cultivate the intellect of the many beyond the first elements of knowledge1 except 444 to fit men of the world for the world8 ,we cannot possibly keep them from plunging into the world1 with all its ways and principles and maxims1 when their time comes2 but we can prepare them against what is inevitable2 and it is not the way to learn to swim in troubled waters1 never to have gone into them4 ,proscribe 7,i do not say particular authors1 particular works1 particular passages7 but ,secular ,literature as such3 cut out from your class books all broad manifestations of the natural man2 and those manifestations are waiting1 for your pupil's benefit1 at the very doors of your lecture room in living and breathing substance4 ,they will meet him there in all the charm of novelty1 and all the fascination of genius or of amiableness4 ,to-day a pupil1 to-morrow a member of the great world3 to-day confined to the ,lives of the ,saints1 to-morrow thrown upon ,babel2--thrown on ,babel1 without the honest indulgence of wit and humour and imagination ever permitted to him1 without any fastidiousness of taste wrought into him1 without any rule given him for discriminating 'the precious from the vile1' beauty from sin1 the truth from the sophistry of nature1 what is innocent from what is poison4#ge ,many ,christians are apt to forget that all truth is of ,god2 and that every one who in an earnest spirit endeavours to ascertain and to teach what is true in any department of human knowledge1 is doing ,god's work4 ,the ,spirit1 we are promised by ,christ ,himself1 shall lead you into all the ,truth1 and the ,truth shall make you free4 ,our business is to see that nothing claims the name of truth unlawfully4 ,it is not our business to prohibit anything that can make good its claim to be accounted true4 ,those who enjoy large opportunities of study1 and especially those who have the responsibility not only of learning but of teaching1 must beware of setting their own narrow limits to the domain of what is useful and true4 ,it has a far wider range than the wants which we feel in ourselves or which we can trace in others4 ,even the whole experience of mankind would not suffice to give the measure of it4 ,we dishonour rather than reverence the ,bible1 when we attempt to confine ourselves and others to the study of it4 ,much of its secret and inexhaustible store of treasure will remain undiscovered by us1 until our hearts are warmed1 our intellects quickened1 and our experience enlarged1 by the masterpieces of human genius4 ,to the pure all things are pure4 ,in the first century1 in which the perils of heathenism to ,christianity were tenfold what they are at present1 ,st4 ,paul in plain terms told his converts that if they liked to accept the invitations of their heathen friends and acquaintances1 they need not scruple to do so 7#a ,cor4 x4 #bg72 and by his own example1 he shows them that they may enjoy and use what is beautiful and true in heathen literature4 ,let us beware of narrowing the liberty wisely allowed by him4 ,each one of us can readily find out what is dangerous for himself4 ,there is plenty that is not dangerous3 let him freely enjoy that4 ,but the limits that are wise for ourselves are not to bind others4 ,their liberty is not to be circumscribed by our conscience4 ,the earth is the ,lord's and the fulness thereof4 ,,footnotes3 #gc chrsta homiliai instead of chrsth' homiliai4 #gd ,lightfoot on ,seneca and ,st4 ,paul1 in ,philippians1 pp4 #bhh1 #cjj4 #ge ,j4 ,h4 ,newman1 ,the ,scope and ,nature of ,university ,education1 pp4 #ccf-cdb4 ,the whole discourse1 ,the ,church and ,liberal ,education1 is an eloquent and noble vindication of the claims of literature4 ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,meaning ,,and ,,value ,,of ,,sobermindedness4--,,the ,,use ,,and ,,abuse ,,of ,,religious ,,emotion4 ,but speak thou the things which befit the sound doctrine3 that aged men be temperate1 grave1 soberminded1 sound in faith1 in love1 in patience1 that aged women likewise be reverent in demeanour1 not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine1 teachers of that which is good2 that they may train the young women to love their husbands1 to love their children1 to be soberminded1 chaste1 workers at home1 kind1 being in subjection to their own husbands1 that the word of ,god be not blasphemed3 the younger men likewise exhort to be soberminded4--,,titus ii4 #a-f4 ,in marked contrast to the seducing teachers who are described in the concluding verses of the first chapter1 ,titus is charged to teach that which is right4 ,but speak thou the things which befit the sound doctrine4 ,what they taught was to the last degree unwholesome1 full of senseless frivolities and baseless distinctions respecting meats and drinks1 times and seasons4 ,such things were fatal alike to sound and robust faith and to all moral earnestness4 ,belief was frittered away in a credulous attention to ,jewish fables1 and character was depraved by a weak punctiliousness about fanciful details4 ,as in the ,pharisees1 whom ,jesus ,christ denounced1 scrupulosity about trifles led to neglect of the weightier matters of the law4 ,but in these vain talkers and deceivers1 whom ,titus had to oppose1 the trifles by which they distracted their hearers from matters of the highest importance were not even the minor duties enjoined by the ,law or the ,gospel3 they were mere commandments of men4 ,in opposition to calamitous teaching of this kind1 ,titus is to insist upon what is healthy and sound4 ,all classes are to be attended to1 and the exhortations specially needed are to be given to each3 to the older men and older women1 the younger women and the younger men1 to whom ,titus is to show himself an example3 and finally to slaves1 for salvation is offered to all men1 and is for no privileged class4 ,it will be observed that the sound teaching which ,titus is charged to give to the different sections of his flock relates almost exclusively to conduct4 ,there is scarcely a hint in the whole of this chapter that can be supposed to have reference to errors of doctrine4 ,in quite a general way the old men are to be exhorted to be sound in faith as well as in love and patience3 but otherwise all the instruction to be given to old and young1 male and female1 bond and free1 relates to conduct in thought1 word1 and deed4#gf ,nor is there any hint that the vain talkers and deceivers contradicted 7otherwise than by an unholy life7 the moral precepts which the ,apostle here tells his delegate to communicate abundantly to his flock4 ,we are not to suppose that these mischievous teachers taught people that there was no harm in intemperance1 or slander1 or unchastity1 or theft4 ,the mischief which they did consisted in their telling people to devote their attention to things that were morally unprofitable1 while no care was taken to secure attention to those things1 the observance of which was vital4 ,on the contrary1 the emphasis laid upon silly superstitions led people to suppose that1 when these had been attended to1 all duties had been fulfilled2 and a careless1 godless life was the result4 ,thus whole households were subverted by men who made religion a trade4 ,this disastrous state of things is to be remedied by pointing out and insisting upon the observances which are of real importance for the spiritual life4 ,the fatal lowering of moral tone1 which the morbid and fanciful teaching of these seducers produced1 is to be counteracted by the bracing effects of wholesome moral teaching4 ,no one can read through the indications which the ,apostle gives of what he means by wholesome teaching1 without perceiving the key-note which rings through it all2--sobriety or sobermindedness4 ,the aged men are to be taught to be temperate1 grave1 soberminded4 ,the aged women to be reverent in demeanour1 that they may school the young women 444 to be soberminded4 ,the younger men are to be exhorted to be soberminded4 ,and in giving the reason for all this he points out ,god's purpose in ,his revelation to mankind2 to the intent that1 denying ungodliness and worldly lusts1 we should live soberly4 ,now1 what is the precise meaning of this sobriety or sobermindedness1 on which ,st4 ,paul insists so strongly as a duty to be impressed upon men and women both old and young8 ,the words used in the original ,greek 7sphrn1 sphronizein1 sphronein7 signify1 according to their derivation1#gg of sound mind1 to make of sound mind1 and to be of sound mind2 and the quality which they indicate is that mens sana or healthiness of mental constitution which shows itself in discreet and prudent conduct1 and especially in self-control4 ,this latter meaning is specially predominant in ,attic writers4 ,thus ,plato defines it as a kind of order and a controlling of certain pleasures and desires1 as is shown by the saying that a man is 'master of himself' 444 an expression which seems to mean that in the man's soul there are two elements1 a better and a worse1 and when the better controls the worse1 then he is said to be master of himself 7,rep41 ,,iv4 p4 #dca74 ,similarly1 ,aristotle tells us that the lowest bodily pleasures are the sphere in which this virtue of self-control is specially displayed2 that is1 those bodily pleasures which the other animals share with man1 and which are consequently shown to be slavish and bestial1 viz41 the pleasures of touch and taste 7,eth4 ,n41 ,,iii4 x4 #d1 #i2 ,rhet41 ,i4 ix4 #i74 ,and throughout the best ,attic writers the vices to which self-control is opposed are those which imply immoderate indulgence in sensual pleasures4 ,it is a virtue which has a very prominent place in heathen moral philosophy4 ,it is one of the most obvious of virtues4 ,it is manifest that in order to be a virtuous man at all one must at least have control over one's lowest appetites4 ,and to a heathen it is one of the most impressive of virtues4 ,all of us have experience of the difficulty of regulating our passions2 and to those who know nothing of ,christian teaching or of the grace of ,god the difficulty is increased tenfold4 ,hence to the savage the ascetic seems to be almost superhuman2 and even in the cultivated pagan abstinence from bodily pleasure and steadfast resistance of sensual temptation excite wonder and admiration4 ,the beautiful panegyric of ,socrates put into the mouth of ,alcibiades in the ,symposium of ,plato illustrates this feeling3 and ,euripides styles such virtue as the noblest gift of the gods4 ,but when this virtue becomes illuminated by the ,gospel its meaning is intensified4 ,the sobermindedness or sobriety of the ,new ,testament is something more than the self-control or temperance of ,plato and ,aristotle4 ,its sphere is not confined to the lowest sensual enjoyments4 ,self-mastery with regard to such things is still included2 but other things are included also4 ,it is that power over ourselves which keeps under control1 not only bodily impulses1 but spiritual impulses also4 ,there is a spiritual frenzy analogous to physical madness1 and there are spiritual self-indulgences analogous to bodily intemperance4 ,for these things also self-mastery is needed4 ,st4 ,paul in writing to the ,corinthians sums up his own life under the two conditions of being out of his mind and in his right mind4 ,his opponents at ,corinth1 like ,festus 7,acts xxvi4 #bd71 accused him of being mad4 ,he is quite ready to admit that at times he has been in a condition which1 if they like1 they may call madness4 ,but that is no affair of theirs4 ,of his sanity and sobriety at other times there can be no question2 and his conduct during these times of sobriety is of importance to them4 ,for whether we went out of our mind 7exestmen71 it was for ,god1 or are in our right mind 7sphronoumen1 are of sober mind1 ,r4,v471 it is for you 7#b ,cor4 v4 #ac74 ,the ,apostle went out of his mind1 as his enemies chose to say1 at his conversion on the road to ,damascus1 when a special revelation of ,jesus ,christ was granted to him3 and to this phase of his existence belonged his visions 7,acts xvi4 #i2 xxvii4 #bc71 ecstasies and revelations 7#b ,cor4 xii4 #a-g71 and his speaking with tongues 7#a ,cor4 xiv4 #ah74 ,and he was in his right mind in all the great tact1 and sagacity1 and self-denial1 which he exhibited for the well-being of his converts4 ,it was absolutely necessary that the latter condition of mind should be the predominant one1 and should control the other2 that the ecstasy should be exceptional and the sobermindedness habitual1 and that the sobermindedness should not be turned into self-exaltation by the remembrance of the ecstasy4 ,there was so much danger of this evil in ,st4 ,paul's case1 owing to the exceeding greatness of the revelations granted to him1 that the special discipline of the stake for the flesh was given to him to counteract the temptation2 for it was in the flesh1 that is the sinful principle of his nature1 that the tendency to pride himself on his extraordinary spiritual experiences was found4 ,st4 ,paul's case was1 no doubt1 highly exceptional2 but in degree1 rather than in kind4 ,very many of his converts had similar1 although less sublime1 and perhaps less frequent1 experiences4 ,spiritual gifts of a supernatural kind had been bestowed in great abundance upon many of the members of the ,church of ,corinth 7#a ,cor4 xii4 #g-aj71 and were the occasion of some of the grievous disorders which were found there1 because they were not always accompanied by sobriety1 but were allowed to become incitements to licence and spiritual pride4 ,few things show more plainly the necessity for self-control and sobermindedness1 when men are under the influence of strong religious emotion1 than the state of things existing among the ,corinthian converts1 as indicated in ,st4 ,paul's two letters to them4 ,they had been guilty of two errors4 ,first1 they had formed an exaggerated estimate of some of the gifts bestowed upon them1 especially of the mysterious power of speaking with tongues4 ,and1 secondly1 they had supposed that persons so highly gifted as themselves were above1 not only ordinary precautions1 but ordinary principles4 ,instead of seeing that such special privileges required them to be specially on their guard1 they considered that they stood in no need of vigilance1 and might safely disregard custom1 and common decency1 and even principles of morality4 ,previous to their conversion they had been idolaters1 and therefore had had no experience of spiritual gifts and manifestations4 ,consequently1 when the experience came1 they were thrown off their balance1 and knew neither how to estimate these gifts1 nor how to prevent what should have been to their wealth1 becoming to them an occasion of falling4 ,it might be thought that the conditions of the ,christian life of ,st4 ,paul and of his converts were too unlike our own to yield any clear lesson in this respect4 ,we have not been converted to ,christianity from either ,judaism or paganism2 and we have received no special revelations or extraordinary spiritual gifts4 ,but this is not so4 ,our religious life1 like theirs1 has its two different phases2 its times of excitement1 and its times of freedom from excitement4 ,we no longer work miracles1 or speak with tongues2 but we have our exceptional moments of impassioned feelings1 and high-strung aspirations1 and sublime thoughts2 and we are just as liable as the ,corinthians were to plume ourselves upon them1 to rest in them1 and to think that1 because we have them1 all must necessarily be well with us4 ,we cannot too often remind ourselves that such things are not religion1 and are not even the material out of which religion is made4 ,they are the scaffolding and appliances1 rather than the formed edifice or the unformed stones and timber4 ,they supply helps and motive power4 ,they are intended to carry us over difficulties and drudgery2 and hence are more common in the earlier stages of a ,christian's career than in the time of maturity1 and at crises when the career has been interrupted1 than when it is progressing with steadfast regularity4 ,conversion to ,christianity in the case of a pagan1 and the realization of what ,christianity really means in the case of a nominal ,christian1 involve pain and depression3 and the attempt to turn again and repent after grievous sin involves pain and depression4 ,strong religious emotion helps us to get the better of these1 and may1 if we use it aright1 give us an impetus in the right direction4 ,but1 from the very nature of things1 it cannot continue1 and it is not desirable that it should4 ,it will soon run its course1 and we shall be left to go on our way with our ordinary resources4 ,and our duty then is twofold2--first1 not to repine at its withdrawal2 the ,lord gave1 and the ,lord hath taken away1 blessed be the ,name of the ,lord3 and1 secondly1 to take care that it does not evaporate in empty self-complacency1 but is translated into action4 ,impassioned feeling1 that leads on to conduct1 strengthens character2 impassioned feeling1 that ends with itself1 weakens it4 ,if religious excitement is not to do us more harm than good1 by leaving us more insensible to spiritual influences than we were before1 it must be accompanied by the sobriety which refuses to be exalted by such an experience1 and which1 in making use of it1 controls it4 ,and1 moreover1 these warm feelings and enthusiastic aspirations after what is good must lead on to calm and steadfast performance of what is good4 ,one act of real self-denial1 one genuine sacrifice of pleasure to duty1 is worth hours of religious emotion and thousands of pious thoughts4 ,but sobermindedness will not only keep us from being pleased with ourselves for our impassioned feelings about spiritual things1 and help us to turn them to good account2 it will also preserve us from what is even worse than allowing them to pass away without result1 viz41 talking about them4 ,to feel warmly and to do nothing is to waste motive power3 it leads to hardening of the heart against good influences in the future4 ,to feel warmly and talk about it is to abuse motive power3 it leads to puffing up of the heart in spiritual pride and to blinding the inward eye with self-complacency4 ,and this is the fatal mistake which is made by some religious teachers at the present day4 ,strong feelings are excited in those whom they wish to lead from a life of sin to a life of holiness4 ,sorrow for the past and a desire for better things are aroused1 and the sinner is thrown into a condition of violent distress and expectation4 ,and then1 instead of being gently led on to work out his salvation in fear and trembling1 the penitent is encouraged to seek excitement again and again1 and to attempt to produce it in others1 by constant rehearsing of his own religious experiences4 ,what should have been a secret between himself and his ,saviour1 or at most shared only with some wise adviser1 is thrown out publicly to the whole world1 to the degradation both of what is told and of the character of him who tells it4 ,the error of mistaking religious feeling for holiness1 and good thoughts for good conduct1 is a very common one2 and it is confined to neither sex1 and to no period of life4 ,men as well as women1 and the old as well as the young1 need to be on their guard against it4 ,and therefore the ,apostle urges ,titus to exhort all alike to be soberminded4 ,there are times when to be agitated about religion1 and have warm feelings either of sorrow or joy1 is natural and right4 ,when one is first roused to desire a life of holiness2 when one is conscience-stricken at having fallen into some grievous sin2 when one is bowed down under the weight of some great private or public calamity1 or elated by the vivid appreciation of some great private or public blessing4 ,at all such seasons it is reasonable and proper that we should experience strong religious emotion4 ,not to do so would be a sign of insensibility and deadness of heart4 ,but do not let us suppose that the presence of such feelings mark us out as specially religious or spiritually gifted people4 ,they do nothing of the kind4 ,they merely prove that we are not utterly dead to spiritual influences4 ,whether we are the better or the worse for such feelings1 depends upon the use that we make of them4 ,and do not let us expect that these emotions will be permanent1 which will certainly not be the case1 or that they will frequently return1 which will probably not be the case4 ,above all1 let us not be discouraged if they become more and more rare1 as time goes on4 ,they ought to become more rare2 for they are sure to become less frequent as we advance in holiness4 ,in the steady growth and natural development of the spiritual life there is not much need of them or room for them4 ,they have done their work when they have carried us over the breakers1 which troubled our early efforts1 into the less excited waters of consistent obedience4 ,and to be able to progress without them is a surer token of ,god's grace than to have them4 ,to continue steadfast in our obedience1 without the luxury of warm feelings and impassioned devotion1 is more pleasing in ,his sight than all the intense longings to be freed from sin1 and all the passionate supplications for increased holiness that we have ever felt and offered4 ,the test of fellowship with ,god is not warmth of devotion but holiness of life4 ,hereby know we that we know ,him1 if we keep ,his commandments4 ,,footnotes3 #gf ,this makes one again inclined to regret that the ,revisers here and elsewhere have left doctrine as the translation of didaskalia1 while they have in most cases substituted teaching for doctrine as the translation of didach4 ,it would hardly be possible to confine either ,english word to either ,greek word as its invariable rendering3 but where both ,english words are admissible1 it seems better to keep teaching 7which is close to teacher7 for didaskalia 7which is close to didaskalos7 and reserve doctrine for didach 7see p4 #dg74 #gg ,from ss1 safe and sound1 and phrn1 mind4 ,the associations of the word are seen in ,aristotle's erroneous derivation 7,eth4 ,n41 ,,vi4 v4 #e72 ,enthen kai tn sphrosynn tout prosagoreuomen t onomati1 hs szousan tn phronsin4 ,,chapter ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,moral ,,condition ,,of ,,slaves4--,,their ,,adornment ,,of ,,the ,,doctrine ,,of ,,god4 ,exhort servants to be in subjection to their own masters1 and to be well-pleasing to them in all things2 not gainsaying2 not purloining1 but showing all good fidelity2 that they may adorn the doctrine of ,god our ,saviour in all things4--,,titus ii4 #i1 #aj4 ,something has already been said in a previous discourse 7on #a ,tim4 vi4 #a1 #b7 respecting the institution of slavery in the ,roman ,empire in the first age of ,christianity4 ,it was not only unchristian but inhuman2 and it was so widespread that the slaves outnumbered the freemen4 ,nevertheless the ,apostles and their successors taught neither to the slaves that they ought to resist a dominion which was immoral both in effect and in origin1 nor to the masters that as ,christians they were bound to set their servants free4#gh ,christianity did indeed labour for the abolition of slavery1 but by quite other methods4 ,it taught masters and slaves alike that all men have a common ,divine parentage and a common ,divine redemption1 and consequently are equally bound to show brotherly love and equally endowed with spiritual freedom4 ,it showed that the slave and his master are alike children of ,god1 and as such free2 and alike servants of ,jesus ,christ1 and as such bondmen1--bondmen in that service which is the only true freedom4 ,and thus very slowly1 but surely1 ,christianity disintegrated and dispersed those unwholesome conditions and false ideas1 which made slavery to be everywhere possible1 and to seem to most men to be necessary4 ,and wherever these conditions and ideas were swept away1 slavery gradually died out or was formally abolished4#gi ,as the number of slaves in the first century was so enormous1 it was only in accordance with human probability that many of the first converts to ,christianity belonged to this class2 all the more so1 as ,christianity1 like most great movements1 began with the lower orders and thence spread upwards4 ,among the better class of slaves1 that is those who were not so degraded as to be insensible of their own degradation1 the ,gospel spread freely4 ,it offered them just what they needed1 and the lack of which had turned their life into one great despair4 ,it gave them something to hope for and something to live for4 ,their condition in the world was both socially and morally deplorable4 ,socially they had no rights beyond what their lord chose to allow them4 ,they were ranked with the brutes1 and were in a worse condition than any brutes1 for they were capable of wrongs and sufferings of which the brutes are incapable or insensible4 ,and ,st4 ,chrysostom in commenting on this passage points out how inevitable it was that the moral character of slaves should as a rule be bad4 ,they have no motive for trying to be good1 and very little opportunity of learning what is right4 ,every one1 slaves included1 admits that as a race they are passionate1 intractable1 and indisposed to virtue1 not because ,god has made them so1 but from bad education and the neglect of their masters4 ,the masters care nothing about their slaves' morals1 except so far as their vices are likely to interfere with their masters' pleasures or interests4 ,hence the slaves1 having no one to care for them1 naturally sink into an abyss of wickedness4 ,their chief aim is to avoid1 not crime1 but being found out4 ,for if free men1 able to select their own society1 and with many other advantages of education and home life1 find it difficult to avoid the contact and contaminating influence of the vicious1 what can one expect from those who have none of these advantages1 and have no possibility of escape from degrading surroundings8 ,they are never taught to respect themselves2 they have no experience of persons who do respect themselves2 and they never receive any respect from either their superiors or their fellows4 ,how can virtue or self-respect be learnt in such a school8 ,for all these reasons it is a difficult and surprising thing that there should ever be a good slave4 ,and yet this is the class which ,st4 ,paul singles out as being able in a peculiar way to adorn the doctrine of ,god our ,saviour in all things4 ,to adorn the doctrine of ,god4 ,how is the doctrine of ,god to be adorned8 ,and how are slaves capable of adorning it8 ,the doctrine of ,god is that which ,he teaches1 which ,he has revealed for our instruction4 ,it is ,his revelation of ,himself4 ,he is the author of it1 the giver of it1 and the subject of it4 ,he is also its end or purpose4 ,it is granted in order that men may know ,him1 and love ,him1 and be brought home to ,him4 ,all these facts are a guarantee to us of its importance and its security4 ,it comes from ,one ,who is infinitely great and infinitely true4 ,and yet it is capable of being adorned by those to whom it is given4 ,there is nothing paradoxical in this4 ,it is precisely those things which in themselves are good and beautiful that we consider capable of adornment and worthy of it4 ,to add ornament to an object that is intrinsically vile or hideous1 does but augment the existing bad qualities by adding to them a glaring incongruity4 ,baseness1 which might otherwise have escaped notice1 becomes conspicuous and grotesque4 ,no person of good taste and good sense would waste and degrade ornament by bestowing it upon an unworthy object4 ,the very fact1 therefore1 that adornment is attempted proves that those who make the attempt consider the object to be adorned an object worthy of honour and capable of receiving it4 ,thus adornment is a form of homage3 it is the tribute which the discerning pay to beauty4 ,but adornment has its relations not only to those who bestow1 but to those also who receive it4 ,it is a reflexion of the mind of the giver2 but it has also an influence on the recipient4 ,and1 first1 it makes that which is adorned more conspicuous and better known4 ,a picture in a frame is more likely to be looked at than one that is unframed4 ,an ornamented building attracts more attention than a plain one4 ,a king in his royal robes is more easily recognized as such than one in ordinary clothing4 ,adornment1 therefore1 is an advertisement of merit3 it makes the adorned object more readily perceived and more widely appreciated4 ,and1 secondly1 if it is well chosen and well bestowed1 it augments the merit of that which it adorns4 ,that which was fair before is made still fairer by suitable ornament4 ,the beautiful painting is still more beautiful in a worthy frame4 ,noble ornament increases the dignity of a noble structure4 ,and a person of royal presence becomes still more regal when royally arrayed4 ,adornment1 therefore1 is not only an advertisement of beauty1 it is also a real enhancement of it4 ,all these particulars hold good with regard to the adornment of the doctrine of ,god4 ,by trying to adorn it and make it more beautiful and more attractive1 we show our respect for it2 we pay our tribute of homage and admiration4 ,we show to all the world that we think it estimable1 and worthy of attention and honour4 ,and by so doing we make the doctrine of ,god better known3 we bring it under the notice of others who might otherwise have overlooked it3 we force it upon their attention4 ,thus1 without consciously intending to be anything of the kind1 we become evangelists3 we proclaim to those among whom we live that we have received a ,gospel that satisfies us4 ,moreover1 the doctrine which we thus adorn becomes really more beautiful in consequence4 ,teaching which nobody admires1 which nobody accepts--teaching which teaches nobody1 is a poor thing4 ,it may be true1 it may have great capabilities2 but for the present it is as useless as a book in the hands of an illiterate savage1 and as valueless as treasures lying at the bottom of the sea4 ,our acceptance of the doctrine of ,god1 and our efforts to adorn it1 bring out its inherent life and develop its natural value1 and every additional person who joins us in doing this is an augmentation of its powers4 ,it is within our power not only to honour and make better known1 but also to enhance1 the beauty of the doctrine of ,god4 ,but slaves1--and such slaves as were found throughout the ,roman ,empire in ,st4 ,paul's day1--what have they to do with the adornment of the doctrine of ,god8 ,why is this duty of making the ,gospel more beautiful specially mentioned in connexion with them8 ,that the aristocracy of the ,empire1 its magistrates1 its senators1 its commanders1--supposing that any of them could be induced to embrace the faith of ,jesus ,christ1--should be charged to adorn the doctrines which they had accepted1 would be intelligible4 ,their acceptance of it would be a tribute to its dignity4 ,their loyalty to it would be a proclamation of its merits4 ,their accession to its ranks would be a real augmentation of its powers of attraction4 ,but almost the reverse of all this would seem to be the truth in the case of slaves4 ,their tastes were so low1 their moral judgment so debased1 that for a religion to have found a welcome among slaves would hardly be a recommendation of it to respectable people4 ,and what opportunities had slaves1 regarded as they were as the very outcasts of society1 of making the ,gospel better known or more attractive8 ,so many a person1 and especially many a slave1 might have argued in ,st4 ,paul's hearing2 and not altogether without reason and support from experience4 ,the fact that ,christianity was a religion acceptable to slaves and the associates of slaves was from very early times one of the objections made against it by the heathen1 and one of the circumstances which prejudiced men of culture and refinement against it4 ,it was one of the many bitter reproaches that ,celsus brought against ,christianity1 that it laid itself out to catch slaves1 women1 and children1 in short the immoral1 the unintellectual1 and the ignorant classes4 ,and we need not suppose that this was merely a spiteful taunt3 it represented a deep-seated and not altogether unreasonable prejudice4 ,seeing how many religions there were at that time which owed much of their success to the fact that they pandered to the vices1 while they presumed upon the folly and ignorance of mankind1 it was not an unjustifiable presumption that a new faith which won many adherents in the most degraded and vicious class of society1 was itself a degrading and corrupting superstition4 ,yet ,st4 ,paul knew what he was about when he urged ,titus to commit the adorning of the doctrine of ,god in a special manner to slaves3 and experience has proved the soundness of his judgment4 ,if the mere fact that many slaves accepted the faith could not do a great deal to recommend the power and beauty of the ,gospel1 the ,christian lives1 which they thence-forward led1 could4 ,it was a strong argument fortiori4 ,the worse the unconverted sinner1 the more marvellous his thorough conversion4 ,there must be something in a religion which out of such unpromising material as slaves could make obedient1 gentle1 honest1 sober1 and chaste men and women4 ,as ,chrysostom puts it1 when it was seen that ,christianity1 by giving a settled principle of sufficient power to counterbalance the pleasures of sin1 was able to impose a restraint upon a class so self-willed1 and render them singularly well-behaved1 then their masters1 however unreasonable they might be1 were likely to form a high opinion of the doctrines which accomplished this4 ,so that it is neither by chance1 nor without reason1 that the ,apostle singles out this class of men3 since1 the more wicked they are1 the more admirable is the power of that preaching which reforms them4 ,and ,st4 ,chrysostom goes on to point out that the way in which slaves are to endeavour to adorn the doctrine of ,god is by cultivating precisely those virtues which contribute most to their masters' comfort and interest1--submissiveness1 gentleness1 meekness1 honesty1 truthfulness1 and a faithful discharge of all duties4 ,what a testimony conduct of this kind would be to the power and beauty of the ,gospel2 and a testimony all the more powerful in the eyes of those masters who became conscious that these despised ,christian slaves were living better lives than their owners6 ,the passionate man1 who found his slave always gentle and submissive2 the inhuman and ferocious man1 who found his slave always meek and respectful2 the fraudulent man of business1 who noticed that his slave never pilfered or told lies2 the sensualist1 who observed that his slave was never intemperate and always shocked at immodesty2--all these1 even if they were not induced to become converts to the new faith1 or even to take much trouble to understand it1 would at least at times feel something of respect1 if not of awe and reverence1 for a creed which produced such results4 ,where did their slaves learn these lofty principles8 ,whence did they derive the power to live up to them8 ,the cases in which masters and mistresses were converted through the conduct of their own slaves were probably by no means rare4 ,it was by the gradual influence of numerous ,christian lives1 rather than by organized missionary effort1 that the ,gospel spread during the first ages of the ,church2 and nowhere would this gradual influence make itself more strongly and permanently felt than in the family and household4 ,some slaves then1 like some domestic servants now1 stood in very close relations with their masters and mistresses2 and the opportunities of adorning the doctrine of ,god would in such cases be frequent and great4 ,origen implies that it was no uncommon thing for families to be converted through the instrumentality of the slaves 7,migne1 ,series ,graeca1 xi4 #dgf1 #dhc74 ,one of the grievous moral defects of that most immoral age was the low view taken of the position of women in society4 ,even married women were treated with but scant respect4 ,and as the marriage-tie was very commonly regarded as an irksome restraint1 the condition of most women1 even among the free-born1 was degraded in the extreme4 ,they were scarcely ever looked upon as the social equals and the necessary complement of the other sex2 and1 when not required to minister to the comforts and pleasures of the men1 were often left to the society of slaves4 ,untold evil was the natural result2 but1 as ,christianity spread1 much good came out of the evil4 ,christian slaves sometimes made use of this state of things to interest their mistresses in the teaching of the ,gospel2 and when the mistress was converted1 other conversions in the household became much more probable4 ,another grievous blot on the domestic life of the time was the want of parental affection4 ,fathers had scarcely any sense of responsibility towards their children1 especially as regards their moral training4 ,their education generally was left almost entirely to slaves1 from whom they learnt some accomplishments and many vices4 ,they too often became adepts in wickedness before they had ceased to be children4 ,but here again through the instrumentality of the ,gospel good was brought out of this evil also4 ,when the slaves1 who had the care and the training of the children1 were ,christians1 the morals of the children were carefully guarded2 and in many cases the children1 when they came to years of discretion1 embraced ,christianity4 ,nor were these the only ways in which the most degraded and despised class in the society of that age were able to adorn the doctrine of ,god4 ,slaves were not only an ornament to the faith by their lives2 they adorned it also by their deaths4 ,not a few slaves won the martyr's crown4 ,those who have read that most precious relic of early ,christian literature1 the letter of the ,churches of ,lyons and ,vienne to the ,churches of ,asia ,minor and ,phrygia1 will not need to be reminded of the martyrdom of the slave ,blandina with her mistress in the terrible persecution in ,gaul under ,marcus ,aurelius in the year #agg4 ,eusebius has preserved the greater portion of the letter at the beginning of the fifth book of his ,ecclesiastical ,history4 ,let all who can do so read it1 if not in the original ,greek1 at least in a translation4 ,it is an authentic and priceless account of ,christian fortitude4 ,what slaves could do then we all of us can do now4 ,we can prove to all for whom and with whom we work that we really do believe and endeavour to live up to the faith that we profess4 ,by the lives we lead we can show to all who know anything of us that we are loyal to ,christ4 ,by avoiding offence in word or in deed1 and by welcoming opportunities of doing good to others1 we can make ,his principles better known4 ,and by doing all this brightly and cheerfully1 without ostentation or affectation or moroseness1 we can make ,his principles attractive4 ,thus we also can adorn the doctrine of ,god in all things4 ,in all things4 ,that all-embracing addition to the ,apostolic injunction must not be lost sight of4 ,there is no duty so humble1 no occupation so trifling1 that it cannot be made into an opportunity for adorning our religion4 ,whether ye eat1 or drink1 or whatsoever ye do1 do all to the glory of ,god 7#a ,cor4 x4 #ca74 ,,footnotes3 #gh ,the stories told in ,bollandus of ,roman converts under ,trajan and ,diocletian1 who at their baptism manumitted their slaves1 are not very credible4 ,such things1 if they happened at all1 were very exceptional4 #gi ,pagan inscriptions carefully distinguish between freemen and slaves2 ,christian inscriptions seldom or never4 ,there seems to be no well-ascertained instance in the ,roman catacombs4 ,dict4 of ,christ ,ant41 ,vol4 ii4 p4 #aijd4 ,,chapter ,,xxiii4 ,,hope ,,as ,a ,,motive ,,power4--,,the ,,present ,,hopes ,,of ,,christians4 ,for the grace of ,god hath appeared1 bringing salvation to all men1 instructing us1 to the intent that1 denying ungodliness and worldly lusts1 we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world2 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great ,god and ,saviour ,jesus ,christ2 who gave ,himself for us1 that ,he might redeem us from all iniquity1 and purify unto ,himself a people for ,his own possession1 zealous of good works4 ,these things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority4 ,let no man despise thee4--,,titus ii4 #aa-ae4 ,there are not many passages in the ,pastoral ,epistles which treat so plainly as this does of doctrine4 ,as a rule ,st4 ,paul assumes that his delegates1 ,timothy and ,titus1 are well instructed 7as he knew they were7 in the details of the ,christian faith1 and he does not stay even to remind them of what he had frequently taught to them and to others in their presence4 ,the purpose of the ,epistles is to give practical rather than doctrinal instruction2 to teach ,timothy and ,titus how to shape their own conduct1 and what kind of conduct they are chiefly to insist upon in the different classes of ,christians committed to their charge4 ,here1 however1 and in the next chapter1 we have marked exceptions to this method4 ,yet even here the exception is more apparent than real2 for the doctrinal statements are introduced1 not as truths to be recognized and believed 7it is taken for granted that they are recognized and believed71 but as the basis of the practical exhortations which have just been given4 ,it is because these great truths have been revealed1 because life is so real and so important1 and because eternity is so certain1 that ,titus is to exert all his influence to produce the best kind of conduct in his flock1 whether men or women1 old or young1 bond or free4 ,the passage before us might almost serve as a summary of ,st4 ,paul's teaching4 ,in it he once more insists upon the inseparable connexion between creed and character1 doctrine and life1 and intimates the close relations between the past1 the present1 and the future1 in the ,christian scheme of salvation4 ,there are certain facts in the past1 which must be believed2 and there is a kind of life in the present1 which must be lived2 and there are things in store for us in the future1 which must be looked for4 ,thus the three great virtues of faith1 charity1 and hope are inculcated4 ,two ,epiphanies or appearances of ,jesus ,christ in this world are stated as the two great limits of the ,christian dispensation4 ,there is the ,epiphany of grace1 when the ,christ appeared in humility1 bringing salvation and instruction to all men2 and there is the ,epiphany of glory1 when ,he will appear again in power1 that ,he may claim as ,his own possession the people whom ,he has redeemed4 ,and between these two there is the ,christian life with its blessed hope1 the hope of the ,lord's return in glory to complete the kingdom which ,his first ,advent began4 ,most of us make far too little of this blessed hope4 ,it is of incalculable value2 first1 as a test of our own sincerity and reality2 and secondly1 as a source of strength to carry us over the difficulties and disappointments which beset our daily course4 ,there is perhaps no more certain test of a ,christian's earnestness than the question whether he does1 or does not1 look forward with hope and longing for ,christ's return4 ,some men have seriously persuaded themselves that there is no such thing either to hope for or to dread4 ,others prefer not to think about it2 they know that doubts have been entertained on the subject1 and as the topic is not a pleasant one to them1 they dismiss it as much as possible from their minds1 with the wish that the doubts about there being any return of ,christ to judgment may be well-founded2 for their own lives are such that they have every reason to desire that there may be no judgment4 ,others again1 who on the whole are trying to lead ,christian lives1 nevertheless so far share the feelings of the godless1 in that the thought of ,christ's return 7of the certainty of which they are fully persuaded7 inspires them with fear rather than with joy4 ,this is especially the case with those who are kept in the right way much more by the fear of hell than by the love of ,god1 or even the hope of heaven4 ,they believe and tremble4 ,they believe in ,god's truth and justice much more than in ,his love and mercy4 ,he is to them a ,master and ,lord to be obeyed and feared1 much more than a ,god and ,father to be adored and loved4 ,consequently their work is half-hearted1 and their life servile1 as must always be the case with those whose chief motive is fear of punishment4 ,hence they share the terrors of the wicked1 while they lose their share of the joys of the righteous4 ,they are too much afraid to find any real pleasure either in sin or in good works4 ,to have sinned fills them with terror at the thought of inevitable punishment2 and to have done what is right fills them with no joy1 because they have so little love and so little hope4 ,those who find from experience that the thought of ,christ's return in glory is one on which they seldom dwell1 even if it be not positively unwelcome1 may be sure that there is something defective in their life4 ,either they are conscious of shortcomings which they make little or no attempt to correct1 the recollection of which becomes intolerable when confronted with the thought of the day of judgment 7and this shows that there is a great lack of earnestness in their religious life72 or they are being content with low motives for avoiding iniquity and striving after righteousness1 and thus are losing a real source of strength to help them in their efforts4 ,no doubt there are persons over whom high motives have little influence1 and can have but little influence1 because they are as yet unable to appreciate them4 ,but no one in watching over either his own soul or the souls of others can afford to be content with such a state of things4 ,childish things must be put away1 when they cease to be appropriate4 ,as the character develops under the influence of lower motives1 higher motives begin at times to make themselves felt2 and these must gradually be substituted for the others4 ,and when they do make themselves felt1 high motives are much more powerful than low ones2 which is a further reason for appealing to them rather than to the others4 ,not only is a man1 who is capable of being moved both by the fear of hell and by the love of ,god1 more influenced by the love than by the fear2 but love has more power over his will than fear has over the will of one who cannot be influenced by love4 ,all this tends to show how much is lost by those who make no effort to cultivate in their minds a feeling of joy at the thought of the appearing of the glory of our great ,god and ,saviour ,jesus ,christ4 ,they lose a great source of strength by neglecting to cultivate what would be a powerful motive to help them on the right way4 ,nor does the loss end here4 ,with it they lose much of the interest which they would otherwise take in all that helps to accomplish the number of ,god's elect and to hasten ,his kingdom4 ,christians pray daily1 and perhaps many times daily1 ,thy kingdom come4 ,but how few realize what they are praying for6 ,how few really long that their prayer may be speedily granted6 ,how few take a keen and untiring interest in all that promotes the coming of the kingdom6 ,and thus again motive power is lost2 for if we had but the eyes to see1 and the heart to appreciate1 all that is going on round about us1 we should feel that we live1 as compared with our forefathers1 in very encouraging times4 ,we are often enough told that ,christianity in general1 and the ,church of ,england in particular1 is at the present time passing through a great crisis2 that this is an age of peculiar dangers and difficulties2 that we live in times of unblushing vice and uncompromising scepticism2 and that the immensity of our social1 commercial1 and political corruption is only the natural outcome of the immensity of our irreligion and unbelief4 ,these things may be true2 and there is no earnest ,christian who has not at times been perplexed and saddened by them4 ,but1 thank ,god1 there are other things which are equally true1 and which ought to be equally recognized and remembered4 ,if the present is an age of peculiar dangers and boundless irreligion1 it is also an age of peculiar encouragements and boundless hope4 ,there are ,christians who love to look back to some period in the history of the ,church1 which they have come to regard as a sort of golden age2 an age in which communities of saintly men and women were ministered to by a still more saintly clergy1 and in which the ,church went beautifully on its way1 not altogether free from persecutions1 which were perhaps necessary for its perfection1 but untroubled by doubts1 or dissensions1 or heresies1 and unstained by worldliness1 apostasy1 or sloth4 ,so far as the experience of the present writer has carried him1 no such golden age can be found in the actual history of the ,church4 ,it is not to be found in the ,new ,testament1 either before or after ,pentecost4 ,we do not find it1 where we might have expected to find it1 in the period when ,christ was still present in the flesh as the ,ruler and ,instructor of ,his ,church4 ,that period is marked by the ignorance and unbelief of the ,apostles1 by their quarrels1 their ambition for the first places in an earthly kingdom1 their intolerant spirit1 by the flight of all of them in the hour of ,christ's danger1 by the denials of ,st4 ,peter1 by the treachery and suicide of ,judas4 ,nor do we find it1 where again we might have expected to find it1 in the age immediately succeeding the completion of ,christ's work1 when the ,apostles1 newly anointed with the ,spirit1 were still alive to direct and foster the ,church which ,he had founded4 ,that period also is marred by many disfiguring marks4 ,apostles can still be timeserving1 can still quarrel among themselves2 and they also experience what it is to be forsaken and opposed by their own disciples4 ,their converts1 as soon as the ,apostle who established them in the faith is withdrawn1 and sometimes even while he is still with them1 become guilty of the gravest errors in conduct and belief4 ,witness the monstrous disorders in the ,church of ,corinth1 the fickleness of the ,galatian converts1 the unchristian asceticism of the ,colossian heretics1 the studied immorality of those of ,ephesus4 ,the ,church which was presided over by ,st4 ,timothy was the ,church of ,alexander1 ,hymenaeus1 and ,philetus1 who removed the very corner-stone of the faith by denying the ,resurrection2 and the ,churches which were presided over by ,st4 ,john contained the ,nicolaitans1 condemned as hateful by ,jesus ,christ1 and ,diotrephes1 who repudiated the ,apostle and excommunicated those who received the ,apostle's messengers4 ,and there is much more of the same sort1 as the ,pastoral ,epistles show us1 proving that what comes to us at first as a sad surprise is of still sadder frequency1 and that the ,apostolic age had defects and stains at at least as serious as those which deface our own4 ,the failure to find any golden age in either of these two divisions of the period covered by the ,new ,testament ought to put us on our guard against expecting to find it in any subsequent period4 ,and it would not be difficult to take each of the epochs in the history of the ,church which have been selected as specially bright and perfect1 and show that in every case1 directly we pass through the hazy glow1 which the imagination of later writers has thrown around such periods1 and get down to solid facts1 then1 either the brightness and perfection are found to be illusory1 or they are counter-balanced by many dark spots and disorders4 ,the age of the martyrs is the age of the lapsed2 the ages of faith are the ages of fraud2 and the ages of great success are the ages of great corruption4 ,in the first centuries increase of numbers was marked by increase of heresies and schisms2 in the middle ages1 increase of power by increase of pride4 ,a fair comparison of the period in which our own lot has been cast with any previous period in the history of the ,church will never lead to any just feeling of discouragement4 ,indeed it may reasonably be contended that at no era since ,christianity was first founded have its prospects been so bright as at the present time4 ,let us look at the contest between the ,gospel and heathenism1--that great contest which has been going on since the grace of ,god appeared bringing salvation to all men1 and which is to continue until the appearing of the glory of our great ,god and ,saviour4 ,was there ever a time when missions were more numerous or better organized1 and when missionaries were as a rule better instructed1 better equipped1 or more devoted8 ,and although it is impossible to form a correct estimate on such a subject1 because some of the most important data are beyond our reach1 yet it may be doubted whether there ever was a time when missions achieved more solid success4 ,the enormous growth of the colonial and missionary episcopate during the last hundred years is at any rate one great fact which represents and guarantees a great deal4 ,until #aghg there was not a single episcopal see of the ,anglican communion in any of the colonies or settlements of the ,british ,empire2 still less was there a single missionary bishop4 ,and now1 as the ,lambeth ,conferences remind us1 these colonial and missionary bishops are not far short of a hundred1 and are always increasing4#hj ,or let us look at the relations between the great ,churches into which ,christendom is unhappily divided4 ,was there ever a period at which there was less bitterness1 or more earnest and wide-spread desire for the restoration of unity8 ,and the increased desire for reunion comes hand in hand with an increase of the conditions which would render reunion possible4 ,two things are absolutely indispensable for a successful attempt in this direction4 ,first1 a large measure of culture and learning1 especially among the clergy of the divided ,churches2 and secondly1 intelligent religious zeal4 ,ignorant controversialists cannot distinguish between important and unimportant differences1 and thus aggravate rather than smooth difficulties4 ,and without religious earnestness the attempt to heal differences ends in indifferentism4 ,both these indispensable elements are increasing1 at any rate in the ,anglican and in the ,eastern ,churches3 and thus reunion1 which must be possible1 because it is a duty1 is becoming not only a desire but a hope4 ,let us look again at our own ,church2 at its abundant machinery for every kind of beneficent object2 at the beautiful work which is being done in a quiet and simple way by numbers of ,christian men and women in thousands of parishes2 at the increase in services1 in confirmations1 in communions2 at the princely offerings of many of the wealthy laity2 at the humble offerings--equally princely in ,god's sight--of many of the poor4 ,can we point to a time when party feeling 7bad as it still is7 was less rancorous1 when parishes were better worked1 when the clergy were better educated or more self-sacrificing1 when the people were more responsive to what is being done for them8 ,the very possibility of seriously raising such questions as these is in itself a reason for taking courage1 even if we cannot answer all of them in the way that would please us most4 ,there are at any rate good grounds for hoping that much is being done for the advancement of ,christ's dominion1 and that the prayer ,thy kingdom come is being answered day by day4 ,if we could but convince ourselves more thoroughly of the truth of all this1 we should work more hopefully and more earnestly4 ,more hopefully1 because we should be working with a consciousness of being successful and making progress1 with a conviction that we are on the winning side4 ,and more earnestly1 not merely because hope makes work more earnest and thorough1 but also because we should have an increased sense of responsibility3 we should fear lest through any sloth or negligence on our part such bright prospects should be marred4 ,the expectation of defeat makes some men strive all the more heroically2 but most men it paralyses4 ,in our ,christian warfare we certainly need hope to carry us onward to victory4 ,the appearing of the glory of our great ,god and ,saviour ,jesus ,christ4 ,among the foolish charges which have been brought against the ,revisers is that of favouring ,arian tendencies by blurring those texts which teach the ,divinity of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the present passage would be a sufficient answer to such a charge4 ,in the ,a4,v4 we have the glorious appearing of the great ,god1 and our ,saviour ,jesus ,christ1 where both the wording and the comma make it clear that the great ,god means the ,father and not our ,saviour4 ,the ,revisers1 by omitting the comma1 for which there is no authority in the original1 and by placing the our before both substantives1 have given their authority to the view that ,st4 ,paul means both great ,god and ,saviour to apply to ,jesus ,christ4 ,it is not any ,epiphany of the ,father which is in his mind1 but the ,epiphany of the glory of our great ,god and ,saviour ,jesus ,christ4 ,the wording of the ,greek is such that absolute certainty is not attainable2 but the context1 the collocation of the words1 the use of the word ,epiphany1 and the omission of the article before ,saviour 7epiphaneian ts doxs tou megalou ,theou kai stros hmn ,i4 ,ch471 all seem to favour the ,revisers' rendering4 ,and1 if it be adopted1 we have here one of the plainest and most direct statements of the ,divinity of ,christ to be found in ,scripture4 ,as such it was employed in the ,arian controversy1 although ,ambrose seems to have understood the passage as referring to the ,father and ,christ1 and not to ,christ alone4 ,the force of what follows is enhanced1 if the ,revisers' rendering1 which is the strictly grammatical rendering1 is maintained4 ,it is as being our great ,god that ,he gave ,himself for us1 that ,he might redeem us from all iniquity2 and it was because ,he was ,god as well as man1 that what was uttered as a bitter taunt was really a glorious truth2--,he saved others2 ,himself ,he cannot save4 ,it was morally impossible that the ,divine ,son should turn back from making us a people for ,his own possession4 ,let us strengthen ourselves in the hope that our efforts to fulfil this gracious purpose are never thrown away4 ,,footnotes3 #hj ,including the ,english and ,american bishops1 invitations to two hundred and nine prelates were issued for the ,lambeth ,conference in #ahhh4 ,,chapter ,,xxiv4 ,,the ,,duty ,,of ,,obedience ,,to ,,authority1 ,,with ,,its ,,limits2 ,,the ,,duty ,,of ,,courtesy ,,without ,,limits4 ,put them in mind to be in subjection to rulers1 to authorities1 to be obedient1 to be ready unto every good work1 to speak evil of no man1 not to be contentious1 to be gentle1 showing all meekness toward all men4 ,for we also were aforetime foolish1 disobedient1 deceived1 serving divers lusts and pleasures1 living in malice and envy1 hateful1 hating one another--,,titus iii4 #a-c4 ,st4 ,paul1 having in the previous chapter sketched the special duties which ,titus is to inculcate upon different classes of ,christians1--aged men and aged women1 young women1 young men1 and slaves1--now passes on to point out what must be impressed upon all ,christians alike1 especially as regards their conduct towards those who are in authority and who are not ,christians4 ,here he is on delicate ground4 ,the ,cretans are said to have been a turbulent race1 or rather a group of turbulent races2 neither peaceable among themselves1 nor very patient of foreign dominion3 and the ,roman rule had been established there for less than a century and a half4 ,previous to their conquest by ,metellus in ,b4,c4 #fg1 they had been accustomed to democratic forms of government1 and therefore would be likely to feel the change to the ,roman yoke all the more acutely4 ,as our own experiences in a neighbouring island have taught us1 people who have been allowed to misgovern themselves1 and to fight among themselves1 for many generations1 do not readily give a welcome to a power which deprives them of these liberties1 even when it offers in exchange for them the solid but prosaic advantages of peace and security4 ,besides this1 there was in ,crete a strong mixture of ,jews1 whose rebellious propensities seemed to be unquenchable4 ,nor was this all4 ,within the ,church itself the spirit of anarchy had displayed itself3 partly because1 as in the ,churches of ,corinth and ,galatia1 the characteristic faults of the people still continued to show themselves after the acceptance of ,christianity2 partly because1 as everywhere in the ,churches of that age1 the contests between ,jewish and ,gentile converts were always producing disorder4 ,this appears in the first chapter of our ,epistle1 in which the ,apostle states that there are many unruly men1 444 specially they of the circumcision1 and in which he finds it necessary to make it a qualification for the office of bishop or overseer1 that the persons appointed should be such as are not accused of riot or are unruly4 ,besides which1 as we learn from numerous sources in the ,new ,testament1 there was in various quarters a tendency to gross misconceptions respecting ,christian liberty4 ,through ,gnostic and other antinomian influences there was a disposition in many minds to translate liberty into license1 and to suppose that the ,christian was above the distinctions of the moral law1 which for him had no meaning4 ,lastly1 there were probably some earnest ,christians1 who1 without going to any of these disastrous extremes1 or sympathizing with the factious and seditious spirit of their fellow-countrymen1 nevertheless had serious doubts as to whether ,christians were under any obligation to obey a pagan magistrate1 and perhaps were inclined to believe that it was their duty to disobey him4 ,for all these reasons ,st4 ,paul must have known that he was charging ,titus to give instructions1 which would be very unwelcome to a large number of ,cretan converts1 when he told him to put them in mind to be in subjection to rulers and authorities1 and to be obedient4 ,but it was the very fact that the instructions would be unwelcome to many1 that made it so necessary that they should be given4 ,both for the internal well-being of the ,church1 and for the maintenance of right relations with the ,state1 it was imperative that the principle of obedience to authority1 whether ecclesiastical or civil1 should be upheld4 ,there must be peace1 and there must be liberty3 but there could be neither the one nor the other without a respect for law and for those who have to administer it4 ,the ,apostle does not here argue the case4 ,he lays down certain positions as indisputable4 ,the loyal ,christian must submit himself to those who are placed over him2 he must render obedience to existing authorities4 ,there is one obvious limit to this which he indicates by a single word to be noticed hereafter1 but with that one qualification the duty of obedience is imperative and absolute4 ,jew and ,gentile ,christian alike must obey the laws1 not only of the ,church1 as administered by its overseers1 but also of the ,state1 as administered by the magistrates1 even though the ,state be a heathen power and the magistrate an idolater4 ,the reason why ,st4 ,paul does not argue the matter is obvious4 ,he is not writing to those who are likely to dispute or disobey these injunctions1 but to one who has to see that they are obeyed4 ,his object is not to prove the excellence of the rules which he lays down1 but to advise ,titus as to what rules are to be most insisted upon4 ,titus was well aware of the principles upon which these rules were based and of the arguments by which the ,apostle was accustomed to defend them4 ,he does not need information on that point4 ,what the ,apostle thinks may be necessary for his guidance is a clear intimation of those practical lessons of which the ,cretans needed most to be reminded4 ,it was quite possible that ,titus might have taken the view that the question about obedience to existing authorities was a burning one1 and that it would be better for the present to say as little about it as possible4 ,to object1 therefore1 that these directions in the second and third chapters of this ,epistle are unworthy of ,st4 ,paul1 and consequently not written by him1 because they contain nothing which might serve as a sufficient refutation of the adversaries1 is to beat the air without effect4 ,they contain nothing calculated to serve as a refutation of the adversaries1 because the ,apostle writes with no intention of refuting opponents1 but in order to give practical instructions to his delegate4 ,but although the ,apostle does not here argue the case1 we are not left in ignorance as to the principles upon which he based the rules here laid down so emphatically4 ,the thirteenth chapter of the ,epistle to the ,romans is quite clear on that point4 ,there is no power but of ,god2 and the powers that be are ordained of ,god4 ,therefore he that resisteth the power1 withstandeth the ordinance of ,god4 ,that is the kernel of the whole matter4 ,the fact that a few rule over the many is not to be traced to a world-wide usurpation of the rights of the simple and the weak by the selfishness of the crafty and the strong4 ,that theory may explain the terrorism of a bully1 or of a band of brigands1 or of a secret society2 it is no explanation of the universal relations between governors and the governed4 ,nor is it the result of a primeval social compact1 in which the weak voluntarily surrendered some of their rights in order to have the advantage of the protection of the strong3 that theory is pure fiction1 and finds no support either in the facts of man's nature1 or in the relics of primitive society1 or in the records of the past4 ,the one explanation which is at once both adequate and true1 is1 that all authority is of ,divine origin4 ,this was the declaration of the ,forerunner1 when his disciples complained to him of the influence which ,jesus exercised over those who came in contact with ,his teaching3 ,a man can receive nothing1 except it have been given him from heaven 7,john iii4 #bg74 ,this was the declaration of the ,christ1 when the ,roman ,procurator pointed out to ,him that he had power of life and death over ,him3 ,thou wouldest have no power against ,me1 except it were given thee from above 7,john xix4 #aa74 ,the power of the ,redeemer over the minds of men and the power of a heathen governor over the bodies of men have one and the same source1--,almighty ,god4 ,christ declared ,his innocence and asserted ,his claims2 but ,he made no protest against being tried by a pagan official1 who represented the power that had deprived the ,jewish nation of its liberties1 because he also represented the principle of law and order1 and as such was the representative of ,god ,himself4 ,st ,paul1 therefore1 is doing no more than restating what the ,lord had already taught both by word and example4 ,christians must show submission to rulers and constituted authorities1 and must yield ready obedience to magistrates1 even when they are heathen4 ,as heathen they were no doubt rebels against ,god1 however little they might be aware of the fact4 ,but as magistrates they were ,his delegates1 however little they were aware of the fact4 ,the ,christian is aware of both facts2 and he must not suppose that the one cancels the other4 ,the magistrate still remains ,god's delegate1 however inconsistent his own life may be with such a position4 ,therefore it is not only allowable for ,christians to obey him2 they must make it a matter of conscience to do so3 and the history of the ,church throughout the eras of persecution shows how greatly such teaching was needed4 ,whatever may have been the case when ,st4 ,paul wrote the ,epistle to the ,romans1 we may safely maintain that persecution had already taken place when he wrote these instructions to ,titus4 ,not that he seems to have a persecuting power in his mind1 when he enjoins simple obedience to existing authority2 but he writes with full knowledge of the extreme cases that might occur4 ,a moralist who could insist upon the duty of submission to rulers1 when a ,nero had been on the throne for twelve or fourteen years1 was certainly not one who could be ignorant of what his principles involved4 ,nor could it be said that the evils of ,nero's insolent despotism were counteracted by the excellence of his subordinates4 ,the infamous ,tigellinus was ,praetorian ,prefect and the ,emperor's chief adviser4 ,helius1 who acted as governor of ,italy during the ,emperor's absence in ,greece1 was in character a second ,nero4 ,and ,gessius ,florus1 one of ,pilate's successors as ,procurator of ,judaea1 was so shameless in his enormities1 that the ,jews regretted the departure of his predecessor ,albinus1 although he also had mercilessly oppressed them4 ,but all these facts1 together with many more of the same kind1 and some also of an opposite character1 were beside the question4 ,christians were not to concern themselves with discussing whether rulers governed well or ill1 or whether their private lives were good or bad4 ,the one fact which concerned them was that the rulers were there to administer the law1 and as such must be respected and obeyed4 ,the conscience of ,christians and the experiences of politicians1 whether rulers or ruled1 throughout all the subsequent ages have ratified the wisdom of ,st4 ,paul's injunctions2 and not only their wisdom but their profound morality4 ,renan says with truth1 but with a great deal less than the whole truth1 that ,paul had too much tact to be a preacher of sedition3 he wished that the name of ,christian should stand well1 and that a ,christian should be a man of order1 on good terms with the police1 and of good repute in the eyes of the pagans 7,st4 ,paul1 p4 #dgg74 ,the criticism which resolves a profound moral principle into a mere question of tact is worthy of the critic who makes it4 ,certainly ,st4 ,paul was far-sighted enough to see that frequent collisions between ,christians and the recognized administrators of the law would be no good thing for ,christianity3 but it was not because he believed obedience to be the best policy that he charged ,titus to insist upon it4 ,it is of the very essence of a ruler that he is not a terror to the good work1 but to the evil3 444 for he is a minister of ,god to thee for good1 444 an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil4 ,it is quite possible that the law which he administers is unjust1 or that he administers it in such a way as to make it work injustice1 so that good deeds are punished and evil deeds are rewarded4 ,but nowhere is good punished as good1 or evil rewarded as evil4 ,when ,naboth was judicially murdered to gratify ,jezebel1 it was on the assumption that he was a blasphemer and a rebel2 and when ,jesus of ,nazareth was condemned to death by the ,sanhedrin and by the ,procurator1 it was on the assumption that he was guilty of similar crimes4 ,so also with all the monstrous and iniquitous laws which have been made against ,christianity and ,christians4 ,the persecuting edict cast out their name as evil4 ,it was because men believed1 or professed to believe1 that ,christians were grievous offenders or dangerous citizens1 that they brought them before the magistrates4 ,and the same holds good of the religious persecutions of which ,christians have been guilty against other ,christians4 ,nowhere can we point to a case in which a person has been condemned for having been virtuous1 or for having failed to commit a crime4 ,many have been condemned for what was really meritorious1 or for refusing to do what was really wicked2 but in all such cases the meritorious conduct and the wicked conduct were held to be of exactly the opposite character by the representatives of the law4 ,legally constituted authority1 therefore1 is always by profession1 and generally in fact also1 a terror to the evil and a supporter of the good4 ,it is charged with the all-important duty of upholding right and punishing wrong in human conduct1 a duty which it never disowns4 ,for even when through blindness or perversity it upholds what is wrong or punishes what is right1 it professes to be doing the opposite4 ,therefore to rebel against it is to rebel against the principle of moral government2 it is a revolt against that principle which reflects and represents1 and that by ,his ordinance1 the moral government of ,almighty ,god4 ,st4 ,paul assumes that rulers aim at what is just and right4 ,the ,christian is to be ready unto every good work3 and1 although the words are no doubt intended to have a general meaning as well1 yet the context suggests that their primary meaning in this place is that ,christians are always1 not only to be obedient to rulers and magistrates1 but to be ready to support and assist them in any good work3 the presumption being that what the authorities direct is good4 ,but1 without perhaps having this object in view1 the ,apostle here indirectly intimates the limits to a ,christian's obedience and support4 ,they are to be given to further every good work3 they cannot of course be given to further what is evil4 ,what then must a ,christian do when lawful authority requires him to do what he knows to be wrong8 ,is he to rebel8 to stir up a revolt against those who make this demand8 ,no1 he is still to be in subjection to rulers3 that is1 he must disobey and quietly take the consequences4 ,he owes it to his conscience to refuse to do what it condemns3 but he also owes it to the representative of ,divine law and order to abstain from shaking its authority4 ,it has the power to give commands and the right to punish disobedience1 and he has no right to refuse both obedience and punishment4 ,to disobey and submissively take the consequences of disobedience is his plain duty in so painful a case4 ,in this way1 and in this way only1 will loyalty to conscience and loyalty to authority both alike be preserved4 ,in this way1 and in this way best 7as history has again and again shown71 is the reformation of unjust laws effected4 ,the moral sense of society is far more impressed by the man who disobeys for conscience' sake and unresistingly goes to prison or mounts the scaffold for his disobedience1 than by him who violently resists all attempts to punish him and stirs up rebellion against the authority which he cannot conscientiously obey4 ,rebellion may succeed in redressing injustice1 but at a cost which is likely to be more grievous than the injustice which it redresses4 ,conscientious disobedience1 accompanied by loyal submission to the penalty of disobedience1 is sure to succeed in reforming unjust laws1 and that without any cost to counterbalance the good thus gained4 ,having thus trenchantly determined the duty of believers towards rulers and magistrates1 ,st4 ,paul passes on to sketch their proper attitude towards other members of society4 ,and just as in speaking of conduct towards authorities he evidently has in his mind the fact that most authorities are unbelievers1 so in speaking of conduct in society he evidently is thinking of a state of society in which many of its members are unbelievers4 ,what kind of conduct will ,titus have to insist upon as befitting a ,christian8 ,to speak evil of no man1 not to be contentious1 to be gentle1 showing all meekness towards all men4 ,it would be difficult to point to a precept which is more habitually violated by ,christians at the present day1 and therefore more worthy of being constantly brought to the front and urged upon their consideration4 ,there are plenty of precepts both of the ,old and of the ,new ,testament1 which are habitually violated by the godless and irreligious1 by those who1 while bearing the name of ,christian1 scarcely make even a pretence of endeavouring to live ,christian lives4 ,but here we have a group of precepts1 which a large number1 not only of those who profess to live soberly and righteously1 but of those who do indeed in other respects live as ,christians should1 consent to forget or ignore4 ,to speak evil of no man2 not to be contentious2 to be gentle1 showing all meekness towards all men4 ,let us consider calmly what such words as these really mean2 and then let us consider what we constantly meet with in the controversial writing1 and still more in the controversial speaking1 of the present day4 ,consider the tone of our party newspapers1 and especially of our religious newspapers1 on the burning questions of the hour and on the men who take a leading part in them4 ,read what a ,high ,church paper says of a ,low ,church ,bishop1 or what a ,low ,church paper says of a ,high ,church ,bishop1 and measure it by the injunction to speak evil of no man4 ,or again1 read what some of the organs of ,dissent allow themselves to say respecting the clergy of the ,established ,church1 or what some ,church ,defence orators have allowed themselves to say respecting ,liberationists1 and measure it by the injunctions not to be contentious1 to be gentle1 showing all meekness towards all men4 ,it is sometimes necessary to speak out and call attention to real or suspected evils2 although not nearly so frequently as we like to think4 ,but it is never necessary to throw mud and deal in personal abuse4 ,moreover1 it is very unbecoming to do so4 ,it is doubly unbecoming1 as ,st4 ,paul reminds us4 ,first1 such conduct is utterly un-,christian4 ,secondly1 it is very much out of place in those who before now have been guilty of quite as grave faults as those for which we now abuse others4 ,we are just the persons who ought to remember1 because we know from personal experience1 how much the grace of ,god can effect4 ,if we have by ,his mercy been brought out of the sins which we now condemn in other people1 what may we not hope for in their case1 provided we do not disgust them with virtue by our acrimonious and uncharitable fault-finding8 ,abuse is the wrong weapon to use against unrighteous conduct1 just as rebellion is the wrong weapon to use against unrighteous laws4 ,,chapter ,,xxv4 ,,the ,,co-,,operation ,,of ,,the ,,divine ,,persons ,,in ,,effecting ,,the ,,new ,,birth4--,,the ,,laver ,,of ,,regeneration4 ,but when the kindness of ,god our ,saviour1 and ,his love toward man1 appeared1 not by works done in righteousness1 which we did ourselves1 but according to ,his mercy ,he saved us1 through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the ,holy ,ghost1 which ,he poured out upon us richly1 through ,jesus ,christ our ,saviour2 that1 being justified by ,his grace1 we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life4--,,titus iii4 #d-g4 ,for the second time in this short letter we have one of those statements of doctrine which are not common among the practical instructions which form the main portion of the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,the other doctrinal statement was noticed in a previous discourse on chap4 ii4 #aa-ad4 ,it is worth while to compare the two4 ,though similar1 they are not identical in import1 and they are introduced for quite different purposes4 ,in the earlier passage1 in order to show why different classes of ,christians should be taught to exhibit the virtues which specially befit them1 the ,apostle states the purpose of ,christ's work of redemption1 a purpose which all ,christians are bound to help in realizing1 stimulated by what has been done for them in the past and by the hope which lies before them in the future4 ,in the passage which we have now to consider1 ,st4 ,paul contrasts with the manifold wickedness of unbelievers the undeserved mercies of ,god towards them1 in order to show what gratitude those who have been brought out of their unbelief ought to feel for this unearned blessing1 a gratitude which they ought to exhibit in gentle forbearance and goodwill towards those who are still in the darkness of unbelief as well as to others4 ,the passage before us forms the main part of the ,second ,lesson for the evening of ,christmas ,day in both the old and the new lectionaries4 ,its appropriateness in setting forth so explicitly the ,divine bounty in the work of regeneration is manifest4 ,but it would have been equally appropriate as a lesson for ,trinity ,sunday1 for the part which each ,person of the ,blessed ,trinity takes in the work of regeneration is plainly indicated4 ,the passage is in this respect strikingly parallel to what ,st4 ,peter had written in the opening of his ,epistle3 ,according to the foreknowledge of ,god the ,father1 in sanctification of the ,spirit1 unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of ,jesus ,christ 7#a ,pet4 i4 #b74 ,the goodness and love of ,god the ,father towards mankind is the source of man's redemption4 ,from all eternity ,he saw man's fall2 and from all eternity ,he devised the means of man's recovery4 ,he appointed ,his ,son to be our representative2 and ,he accepted ,him on our behalf4 ,in this way the ,father is our ,saviour1 by giving and accepting ,one ,who could save us4 ,the ,father saved us 444 through ,jesus ,christ our ,saviour4 ,thus the ,father and the ,son co-operate to effect man's salvation1 and each in a very real and proper sense is called our ,saviour4 ,but it is not in man's own power to accept the salvation thus wrought for him and offered to him4 ,for power to do this he needs ,divine assistance2 which1 however1 is abundantly granted to him4 ,by means of the outward laver of baptism the inward regeneration and renewal by the ,spirit is granted to him through the merits of ,christ2 and then the work of his salvation on the ,divine side is complete4 ,through the infinite mercy of the ,blessed ,trinity1 and not through his own merits1 the baptized ,christian is in a state of salvation1 and is become an heir of eternal life4 ,it remains to be seen whether the ,christian1 thus richly endowed1 will continue in this blessed state1 and go on1 by the daily renewal of the ,holy ,spirit1 from grace to grace2 or will through his own weakness and wilfulness1 fall away4 ,but1 so far as ,god's share in the transaction is concerned1 his salvation is secured2 so that1 as the ,church of ,england affirms in the note added to the service for the ,public ,baptism of ,infants3 ,it is certain by ,god's ,word1 that children which are baptized1 dying before they commit actual sin1 are undoubtedly saved4 ,and the several parts which the ,persons of the ,blessed ,trinity take in the work of salvation are clearly indicated in one of the prayers before the baptismal act1 as in the present passage by ,st4 ,paul4 ,prayer is offered to the heavenly ,father1 that ,he will give ,his ,holy ,spirit to this ,infant1 that he may be born again1 and be made an heir of everlasting salvation2 through our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,thus1 as at the baptism of the ,christ1 so also at that of every ,christian1 the presence and co-operation of ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,spirit is indicated4 ,it is the ,apostle's object in this condensed doctrinal statement to emphasize the fact that it was not by works in righteousness which we ourselves did1 but by the work of the ,blessed ,trinity1 that we were placed in a state of salvation4 ,he does not stop to make the qualifications1 which1 however true and necessary1 do not alter this fact4 ,in the case of adults1 who are converted to ,christianity1--and it is of such that he is thinking1--it is necessary that they should be duly prepared for baptism by repentance and faith4 ,and in the case of all 7whether adults1 or infants1 who live to become responsible for their actions71 it is necessary that they should appropriate and use the graces bestowed upon them2 in other words1 that they should grow in holiness4 ,all this is true2 but it does not affect the position4 ,for although man's co-operation is indispensable--for ,god saves no man against his will--yet without ,god's assistance man cannot either repent or believe before baptism1 nor can he continue in holiness after baptism4 ,this passage expressly denies that we effect our own salvation1 or that ,god effected it in return for our merits4 ,but it gives no encouragement to the belief that we have nothing to do with working out our own salvation1 but have merely to sit still and accept what has been done for us4 ,that the washing of regeneration1 or 7as the margin of the ,r4,v4 more exactly has it7 the laver of regeneration1#ha signifies the ,christian rite of baptism1 ought to be regarded as beyond dispute4 ,this is certainly one of those cases to which ,hooker's famous canon of interpretation most thoroughly applies1 that where a literal construction will stand1 the farthest from the letter is commonly the worst 7,eccl4 ,pol41 v4 lix4 #b74 ,this ,hooker holds to be a most infallible rule in expositions of sacred ,scripture2 and although some persons may think that assertion somewhat too strong1 of the soundness of the rule no reasonable student of ,scripture can doubt4 ,and it is worth our while to notice that it is in connexion with this very subject of baptismal regeneration that ,hooker lays down this rule4 ,he is answering those who perversely interpreted our ,lord's words to ,nicodemus1 ,except a man be born of water and the ,spirit 7,john iii4 #e71 as meaning no more than ,except a man be born of the ,spirit1 water being 7as they imagined7 only a metaphor1 of which the ,spirit is the interpretation4 ,on which ,hooker remarks3 ,when the letter of the law hath two things plainly and expressly specified1 ,water1 and the ,spirit2 ,water as a duty required on our parts1 the ,spirit as a gift which ,god bestoweth2 there is danger in presuming so to interpret it1 as if the clause which concerneth ourselves were more than needeth4 ,we may by such rare expositions attain perhaps in the end to be thought witty1 but with ill advice4 ,all which may be fitly applied to the passage before us1 in which it is quite arbitrary and against all probability to contend that the bath of regeneration is a mere metaphor for regeneration without any bath1 or for the ,holy ,spirit1 or for the unmeasured bounty with which the ,holy ,spirit is poured upon the believer4 ,this might be tenable1 if there had been no such rite as baptism by water enjoined by ,christ and practised by the ,apostles as the necessary and universal method of admission to the ,christian ,church4 ,in ,eph4 v4 #bf 7the only other passage in the ,new ,testament in which the word for laver or bath or washing occurs7 the reference to baptism by water is indisputable1 for the water is expressly mentioned4 ,christ also loved the ,church1 and gave ,himself up for it2 that ,he might sanctify it1 having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word4 ,and in the passage in the ,first ,epistle to the ,corinthians which1 like the one before us1 contrasts the appalling wickedness of unbelievers with the spiritual condition of ,christians1 the reference to baptism is scarcely less clear4 ,and such were some of you3 but ye were washed 7lit4 'ye washed away'#hb your sins71 but ye were sanctified1 but ye were justified in the ,name of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and in the ,spirit of our ,god 7#a ,cor4 vi4 #aa74 ,in which passage1 as here1 the three ,persons of the ,trinity are named in connexion with the baptismal act4 ,and in speaking to the ,jews at ,jerusalem of his own admission to the ,church1 ,st4 ,paul uses the same forms of the same word as he uses to the ,corinthians of their admission4 ,the exhortation of ,ananias to him1 as he lay at ,damascus1 was ,and now why tarriest thou8 ,arise1 and be baptized1 and wash away thy sins 7apolousai tas hamartias sou71 calling on ,his ,name 7,acts xxii4 #af73 words which are very parallel to the exhortation of ,st4 ,peter on the day of ,pentecost3 ,repent ye1 and be baptized1 every one of you in the ,name of ,jesus ,christ unto the remission of your sins2 and ye shall receive the gift of the ,holy ,ghost 7,acts ii4 #ch2 comp4 ,heb4 x4 #bc74 ,in these passages we have a sacred rite described in which the human and the ,divine elements are clearly marked4 ,on man's side there is the washing with water2 and on ,god's side there is the washing away of sin and pouring out of the ,spirit4 ,the body is purified1 the soul is purified1 and the soul is hallowed4 ,the man is washed1 is justified1 is sanctified4 ,he is regenerated3 he is a new creature4 ,the old things1 his old principles1 motives1 and aims1 then and there passed away 7aorist tense1 parlthen73 behold1 they are become new 7#b ,cor4 v4 #ag74 ,can any one1 with these passages before him1 reasonably doubt1 that1 when the ,apostle speaks of the washing of regeneration he means the ,christian rite of baptism1 in which1 and by means of which1 the regeneration takes place8 ,we are fully justified by his language here in asserting that it is by means of the baptismal washing that the regeneration takes place2 for he asserts that ,god saved us through the washing of regeneration4 ,the laver or bath of regeneration is the instrument or means by which ,god saved us4 ,such is the natural1 and almost the necessary meaning of the ,greek construction 7dia with the genitive74 ,nor is this an audacious erection of a comprehensive and momentous doctrine upon the narrow basis of a single preposition4 ,even if this passage stood alone1 it would still be our duty to find a reasonable meaning for the ,apostle's ,greek3 and it may be seriously doubted whether any more reasonable meaning than that which is here put forward can be found4 ,but the passage does not stand alone1 as has just been shown4 ,and there are numerous analogies which throw light upon the question1 proving to us that there is nothing exceptional in ,god 7,who of course does not need any means or instruments7 being willing to use them1 doubtless because it is better for us that ,he should use them4 ,in illustration of the ,greek construction we may compare that used by ,st4 ,peter of the event which he takes 7and the ,church of ,england in her baptismal service has followed him7 as a type of ,christian baptism4 ,when the long-suffering of ,god waited in the days of ,noah1 while the ark was a preparing1 wherein few1 that is1 eight souls1 were saved through water3 which also after a true likeness doth now save you1 even baptism4 ,st4 ,peter says that ,noah and his family were saved by means of water 7di' hydatos71 just as ,st4 ,paul says that ,god saved us by means of the laver of regeneration 7dia loutrou palingenesias74 ,in each case the water is the instrument of salvation4 ,and the analogy does not end with the identity of the instrument2 that is the mere external resemblance between the flood and baptism4 ,the main part of the likeness lies in this1 that in both cases one of the same instrument both destroys and saves4 ,the ,flood destroyed the disobedient by drowning them1 and saved ,noah and his family by floating them into a new home4 ,baptism destroys the old corrupt element in man's nature by washing it away1 and saves the regenerated soul by bringing it into a new life4 ,and the other event which from the earliest days has been taken as a figure of baptism is of the same kind4 ,at the crossing of the ,red ,sea1 the water which destroyed the ,egyptians saved the ,israelites4 ,in all these cases ,god was not tied to use water1 or any other instrument4 ,he could have saved ,noah and the ,israelites1 and destroyed the disobedient and the ,egyptians1 just as ,he could have healed ,naaman and the man born blind1 without employing any means whatever4 ,but for our edification ,he condescends to employ means1 such as we can perceive and understand4 ,in what way is the employment of perceptible means a help to us8 ,in two at least4 ,it serves the double purpose of being both a test of faith and an aid to faith4 #a4 ,the acceptance of ,divinely appointed means is necessarily a test of faith4 ,human intellect is apt to assume that ,omnipotence is above using instruments4 ,is it likely1 we ask1 that the ,almighty would employ these means8 ,are they not altogether beneath the dignity of the ,divine ,nature8 ,man needs tools and materials3 but ,god needs neither4 ,it is not credible that ,he has ordained these things as conditions of ,his own operation4 ,all which is the old cry of the captain of the host of ,syria4 ,behold1 ,i thought1 he will surely come out to me1 and stand and call on the name of the ,lord his ,god1 and wave his hand over the place1 and recover the leper4 ,that is1 why need he enjoin any instrument at all8 ,but if he must1 he might have enjoined something more suitable4 ,are not ,abanah and ,pharpar1 the rivers of ,damascus1 better than all the waters of ,israel8 may ,i not wash in them1 and be clean8 ,in precisely the same spirit we ask still1 ,how can water wash away sin8 ,how can bread and wine be ,christ's body and blood8 ,how can the laying on of a man's hand confer the gift of the ,holy ,spirit8 ,do not all such assumptions savour of magic rather than of ,divine ,providence8 ,therefore humbly to accept the means which ,god has revealed as the appointed channels of ,his spiritual blessings is a real test of the recipient's faith4 ,he is thus enabled to perceive for himself whether he does sincerely believe or not2 whether he has the indispensable qualification for receiving the promised blessing4 #b4 ,the employment of visible means is a real aid to faith4 ,it is easier to believe that an effect will be produced1 when one can perceive something which might contribute to produce the effect4 ,it is easier to believe when one sees means than when none are visible2 and it is still easier to believe when the means seem to be appropriate4 ,the man who was born blind would more readily believe that ,christ would give him sight1 when he perceived that ,christ was using spittle and clay for the purpose2 for at that time these things were supposed to be good for the eyes4 ,and what element in nature is more frequently the instrument both of life and of death than water8 ,what could more aptly signify purification from defilement8 ,what act could more simply express a death to sin and a rising again to righteousness than a plunge beneath the surface of the water and a re-issuing from it8 ,as ,st4 ,paul says in the ,epistle to the ,romans3 ,we were buried therefore with ,him through baptism 7dia tou baptismatos7 into death2 that like as ,christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the ,father1 so we also might walk in newness of life 7vi4 #d74 ,and again to the ,colossians3 ,having been buried with ,him in baptism1 wherein ye were also raised with ,him through faith in the working of ,god1 ,who raised ,him from the dead 7ii4 #ab74 ,faith in the inward gift1 promised by ,god to those who believe and are baptized1 becomes more easy1 when the outward means of conferring the gift1 not only are readily perceived1 but are recognized as suitable4 ,in this way our faith is aided by ,god's employment of means4 ,is the renewing of the ,holy ,ghost the same thing as the washing of regeneration8 ,in this passage the two expressions refer to the same fact1 but in their respective meanings they are not co-extensive4 ,the ,greek construction is ambiguous like the ,english2 and we cannot be sure whether ,st4 ,paul means that ,god saved us by means of the washing and by means of the renewing1 or that ,god saved us by means of a laver1 which is both a laver of regeneration and a laver of renewal4 ,the latter is more probable3 but in either case the reference is to one and the same event in the ,christian's life4 ,the laver and the renewing refer to baptism2 and the regeneration and the renewing refer to baptism2 viz41 to the new birth which is then effected4 ,but1 nevertheless1 the two expressions are not co-extensive in meaning4 ,the laver and the regeneration refer to one fact1 and to one fact only2 a fact which takes place once for all and can never be repeated4 ,a man cannot have the new birth a second time1 any more than he can be born a second time3 and hence no one may be baptized twice4 ,but the renewing of the ,holy ,spirit may take place daily4 ,it precedes baptism in the case of adults2 for it is only through a renewal which is the work of the ,spirit that they can prepare themselves by repentance and faith for baptism4 ,it takes place at baptism1 as the ,apostle clearly indicates here4 ,and it continues after baptism2 for it is by repeated quickening of the inward life through the action of the ,spirit that the ,christian grows in grace day by day4 ,in the case of the adult1 who unworthily receives baptism without repentance and faith1 there is no spiritual renewal4 ,not that the sacred rite remains without effect3 but the renewing of the ,spirit is suspended until the baptized person repents and believes4 ,meanwhile the mysterious gift bestowed in baptism becomes a curse rather than a blessing2 or at least a curse as well as a blessing4 ,it may perhaps increase the possibilities of repentance3 it certainly intensifies the guilt of all his sins4 ,such a person has thrust himself into a society without being qualified for membership4 ,he has incurred the responsibilities of membership3 if he desires the privileges1 he must obtain the qualifications4#hc ,it is ,god's gracious purpose that all should have the privileges in full4 ,in baptism ,he washed us from our sins1 ,he gave us a new birth1 ,he poured out ,his ,holy ,spirit upon us richly1 through ,jesus ,christ2 in order that1 being justified by ,his grace1 we might be made heirs according to hope of eternal life4 ,,footnotes3 #ha loutron palingenesias4 ,comp4 ,eph4 v4 #bf4 #hb ,middle ,voice1 apelousasthe1 on which see ,professor ,evans in the ,speaker's ,commentary iii41 p4 #bhb4 ,and it is worth noticing that in both passages the principal verbs are in the tense which in ,greek commonly indicates some one particular occasion1 ,ye were washed1 were sanctified1 were justified1 are all in the aorist4 ,so also here3 ,he saved us1 and ,he poured out upon us are both in the aorist4 ,and in both cases the natural reference is to the particular occasion of baptism in which we were washed1 sanctified1 and justified1 because ,god saved us by the laver of regeneration and renewing of the ,holy ,spirit which ,he poured out upon us richly4 #hc ,see ,waterland1 ,regeneration ,stated and ,explained3 ,works1 ,vol4 vi4 pp4 #cei--cfb4 ,the whole tract may be commended for clearness and moderation4 ,,chapter ,,xxvi4 ,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,heresy ,,in ,,the ,,new ,,testament1 ,,and ,,the ,,apostle',s ,,directions ,,respecting ,,the ,,treatment ,,of ,,heretical ,,persons4 ,a man that is heretical after a first and second admonition refuse2 knowing that such a one is perverted1 and sinneth1 being self-condemned--,,titus iii4 #aj1 #aa4 ,it is in connexion with this instruction respecting the treatment of heretical persons that we have some of the earliest testimonies to the genuineness of the ,epistle to ,titus4 ,thus ,irenaeus about ,a4,d4 #ahj writes3 ,but as many as fall away from 7aphistantai1 #a ,tim4 iv4 #a7 the ,church and give heed to these old wives' fables 7gradesi mythois1 #a ,tim4 iv4 #g71 are truly self-condemned 7autokatakritoi1 ,tit4 iii4 #a73 whom ,paul charges us after a first and second admonition to refuse 7,adv4 ,haer41 ,i4 xvi4 #c74 ,it will be observed that in this passage ,irenaeus makes an obvious allusion to the ,first ,epistle to ,timothy1 and then quotes the very words of our text1 attributing them expressly to ,st4 ,paul4 ,and about ten or twelve years later1 ,tertullian1 after commenting on ,st4 ,paul's words to the ,corinthians1 ,for there must be also heresies among you1 that they which are approved may be made manifest among you 7#a ,cor4 xi4 #ai71 continues as follows3 ,but no more about that1 seeing that it is the same ,paul who elsewhere also in writing to the ,galatians reckons heresies among sins of the flesh 7,gal4 v4 #bj71 and who intimates to ,titus that a man who is heretical must after a first#hd admonition be refused1 because he that is such is perverted and sinneth as being self-condemned4 ,but in almost every ,epistle1 when insisting on the duty of avoiding false doctrines1 he censures heresies of which the practical results are false doctrines1 called in ,greek heresies1 with reference to the choice which a man exercises1 whether in instituting or in adopting them4 ,for this reason he says that the heretical person is also self-condemned1 because he has chosen for himself that in which he is condemned4 ,we1 however1 may not allow ourselves anything after our own will2 nor yet choose what any one has introduced of his own will4 ,the ,apostles of the ,lord are our authorities3 and even they did not choose to introduce anything of their own will1 but faithfully consigned to the nations the instruction which they received from ,christ4 ,and so1 even if an angel from heaven were to preach any other gospel1 he would be called accursed by us 7,de ,praes4 ,haer41 vi74 ,in this passage1 which contains a valuable comment on the meaning of the word heresy1 it will be noticed that ,tertullian not only quotes the text before us as coming from the ,epistle to ,titus1 but1 like ,irenaeus1 his earlier contemporary1 says expressly that the words are those of ,st4 ,paul4 ,thus1 from both sides of the ,mediterranean1 men who had very large opportunities of knowing what books were accepted as ,apostolic and what not1 attribute our ,epistle without hesitation to ,st4 ,paul4 ,and in both cases this is done in treatises directed against heretics1 who might be expected to reply with very telling effect1 if it could be shown that what was quoted against them as the writing of an ,apostle was of quite doubtful origin and authority4 ,but the testimony which these passages bear to the authenticity of this ,epistle is not the main reason for their being quoted here4 ,their interest for us now consists in the light which they throw upon the history of the word heresy1 and upon the attitude of the primitive ,church towards heretics4 ,heresy1 as ,tertullian points out1 is a word of ,greek origin1 and the idea which lies at the root of it is choice4#he ,choosing for oneself what pleases oneself1 independently of other considerations2--that is the fundamental notion on which later meanings of the term are based4 ,thus in the ,septuagint it is used of a free-will offering1 as distinct from what a man is bound to offer 7,lev4 xxii4 #ah2 comp4 #a ,macc4 viii4 #cj74 ,then comes the notion of choice in reference to matters of opinion1 without1 however1 necessarily implying that the chosen opinion is a bad one4 ,and in this sense it is used quite as often for the party or school of thought which holds the particular opinion as for the body of opinion which is held4 ,in this sense it is several times used in the ,acts of the ,apostles2 as the sect of the ,sadducees 7v4 #ag71 the sect of the ,pharisees 7xv4 #e2 xxvi4 #e73 and in this way ,christianity itself was spoken of as a heresy or sect2 that is1 a party with chosen opinions 7xxiv4 #e1 #ad2 xxviii4 #bb74 ,and in profane literature we find ,diogenes ,laertius in the second or third century speaking of ten heresies or schools in moral philosophy 7i4 #ai74 ,but it will be seen from the passages in the ,acts that the word is already acquiring somewhat of a bad meaning2 and indeed this was almost inevitable1 unless the original signification was entirely abandoned4 ,in all spheres of thought and action1 and especially in matters of belief1 a tendency to choose for oneself1 and to pursue one's own way independently1 almost of necessity leads to separation from others1 to divisions and factions4 ,and factions in the ,church readily widen into schisms and harden into heresies4 ,outside the ,acts of the ,apostles the word heresy is found in the ,new ,testament only in three passages3 #a ,cor4 xi4 #ai2 ,gal4 v4 #bj2 and #b ,pet4 ii4 #a4 ,in the last of these it is used of the erroneous opinions themselves2 in the other two the parties who hold them may be indicated4 ,but in all cases the word is used of divisions inside the ,church1 not of separations from it or of positions antagonistic to it4 ,thus in #b ,pet4 ii4 #a we have the prophecy that there shall be false teachers1 who shall privily bring in destructive heresies1 denying even the ,master that bought them4 ,here the false teachers are evidently inside the ,church1 corrupting its members2 not outside1 inducing its members to leave it4 ,for the prophecy continues3 ,and many shall follow their lascivious doings2 by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of4 ,they could not cause the way of the truth to be evil spoken of1 if they were complete outsiders1 professing to have no connexion with it4 ,in ,gal4 v4 #bj heresies are among the works of the flesh against which ,st4 ,paul warns his fickle converts1 and heresies are there coupled with factions and divisions4 ,in #a ,cor4 xi4 #ai the ,apostle gives as a reason for believing the report that there are divisions in the ,church of ,corinth the fact that 7man's tendency to differ being what it is7 divisions are inevitable1 and have their use1 for in this way those which are approved among ,christians are made manifest4 ,it is possible in both these passages to understand ,st4 ,paul as meaning the self-chosen views1 as in the passage in #b ,pet41 rather than the schools or parties which have adopted the views4 ,but this is not of much moment4 ,the important thing to notice is1 that in all three cases the heresies have caused or are tending to cause splits inside the ,church3 they do not indicate hostile positions outside it4 ,this use of the word is analogous to that in the ,acts of the ,apostles1 where it represents the ,pharisees and ,sadducees1 and even the ,christian ,church itself1 as parties or schools inside ,judaism1 not as revolts against it4 ,we shall be seriously misled1 if we allow the later meaning of heresy1 with all its medieval associations1 to colour our interpretation of the term as we find it in the ,new ,testament4 ,another important thing to remember in reference to the strong language which ,st4 ,paul and other writers in the ,new ,testament use with regard to heresies and erroneous doctrine1 and the still stronger language used by early ,christian writers in commenting on these texts1 is the downright wickedness of a good many of the self-chosen views which had begun to appear in the ,church in the first century1 and which became rampant during the second4 ,the peril1 not only to faith1 but to morals1 was immense1 and it extended to the very foundations of both4 ,when ,christians were told that there were two ,creators1 of whom one was good and one was evil2 that the ,incarnation was an impossibility2 that man's body was so vile that it was a duty to abuse it2 that his spirit was so pure that it was impossible to defile it2 that to acquire knowledge through crime was estimable1 for knowledge was good1 and crime was of no moral significance to the enlightened2--then it was necessary to speak out1 and tell men in plain terms what the persons who were inculcating such views were really doing1 and what strong measures would be necessary1 if they persisted in such teaching4 ,unless we keep a firm grasp upon these two facts2--7#a7 the difference between the meaning of the word heresy as we find it in the ,new ,testament and its usual meaning at the present time2 and 7#b7 the monstrous character of some of the views which many persons in the first century1 and many more in the second1 claimed to hold as part and parcel of the ,christian religion2--we shall be liable to go grievously astray in drawing conclusions as to our own practice from what is said on the subject in ,scripture4 ,woe unto the world1 said our blessed ,lord1 because of occasions of stumbling6 ,for it must needs be that the occasions come2 but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh 7,matt4 xviii4 #g74 ,human nature being what it is1 it is morally impossible that no one should ever lead another into sin4 ,but that fact does not destroy the responsibility of the individual who leads his fellows into sin4 ,st4 ,paul takes up the principle thus laid down by ,christ and applies it in a particular sphere4 ,he tells his ,corinthian converts that there must be heresies among them1 and that they serve the good purpose of sifting the chaff from the wheat4 ,wherever the light comes1 it provokes opposition2 there is at once antagonism between light and darkness4 ,this is as true in the sphere of faith and morals as in that of the material world4 ,sooner or later1 and generally sooner rather than later1 truth and innocence are met and opposed by falsehood and sin2 and it is falsehood1 wilfully maintained in opposition to revealed and generally held truth1 that constitutes the essence of heresy4 ,there are many false opinions outside what ,god has revealed to mankind1 outside the scope of the ,gospel4 ,however serious these may be1 they are not heresies4 ,a man may be fatally at fault in matters of belief2 but1 unless in some sense he accepts ,christianity as true1 he is no heretic4 ,as ,tertullian says1 ,in all cases truth precedes its copy2 after the reality the likeness follows 7,de ,praes4 ,haer41 xxix74 ,that is1 heresy1 which is the caricature of ,christian truth1 must be subsequent to it4 ,it is a distortion of the original truth1 which some one has arrogantly chosen as preferable to that of which it is the distortion4 ,error which has not yet come in contact with revelation1 and which has had no opportunity of either submitting to it or rebelling against it1 is not heretical4 ,the heretical spirit is seen in that cold critical temper1 that self-confident and self-willed attitude1 which accepts and rejects opinions on principles of its own1 quite independently of the principles which are the guaranteed and historical guides of the ,church4 ,but it cannot accept or reject what has never been presented to it2 nor1 until the ,christian faith has to some extent been accepted1 can the rejection of the remainder of it be accounted heresy4 ,heresy is a disease of ,christian knowledge4 ,the disease may have come from without1 or may have developed entirely from within2 and in the former case the source of the malady may be far older than ,christianity itself4 ,but until the noxious elements have entered the ,christian organism and claimed a home within the system1 it is a misuse of language to term them heretical4 ,we have not exhausted the teaching of the ,apostles respecting this plague of self-assertion and independent teaching1 which even in their time began to afflict the infant ,church1 when we have considered all the passages in which the words heresy and heretical occur4 ,there are other passages1 in which the thing is plainly mentioned1 although this name for it is not used4 ,it has been said that the ,apostles1 though they claimed disciplinary authority1 had evidently no thought of claiming infallibility for any utterances of theirs4#hf ,but they certainly treated opposition to their teaching1 or deviations from it1 as a very serious matter4 ,st4 ,paul speaks of those who opposed him in the ,church of ,corinth as false apostles1 deceitful workers and ministers of ,satan 7#b ,cor4 xi4 #ac-ae74 ,he speaks of the ,galatians as bewitched by those who would pervert the ,gospel of ,christ1 and pronounces an anathema on those who should preach any gospel other than that which he preached 7,gal4 i4 #g1 #h2 iii4 #a74 ,of the same class of teachers at ,philippi he writes3 ,beware of the dogs1 beware of the evil workers1 beware of the concision 7iii4 #b74 ,he warns the ,colossians against any one who may make spoil of them through his philosophy and vain deceit1 after the tradition of men1 after the rudiments of the world1 and not after ,christ 7ii4 #h72 just as he warned the elders of the ,church at ,ephesus that after his departure grievous wolves would enter in among them1 not sparing the flock2 and that from among themselves men would arise1 speaking perverse things1 to draw away the disciples after them 7,acts xx4 #bi1 #cj74 ,and in the ,pastoral ,epistles we have several utterances of the same kind1 including the one before us 7#a ,tim4 i4 #c-g1 #ai1 #bj2 iv4 #a-c2 vi4 #c1 #d1 #bj1 #ba2 ,tit4 i4 #aj-af2 iii4 #h-aa2 #b ,tim4 ii4 #af-ah2 iii4 #h1 #ac74 ,nor is ,st4 ,paul the only writer in the ,new ,testament who feels bound to write in this strain4 ,the same kind of language fills no inconsiderable portion of the ,second ,epistle of ,peter and the ,epistle of ,jude 7#b ,pet4 ii42 ,jude #h-af74 ,more remarkable still1 we find even the ,apostle of ,love speaking in tones not less severe4 ,the ,epistles to the ,seven ,churches of ,asia abound in such things 7,rev4 ii42 iii74 ,in his ,general ,epistle he asks1 ,who is the liar but he that denieth that ,jesus is the ,christ8 ,this is the antichrist1 even he that denieth the ,father and the ,son 7#a ,john ii4 #bb3 comp4 ii4 #bf2 iv4 #a1 #c74 ,in his letter to the elect lady and her children he speaks of the many deceivers who confess not that ,jesus ,christ cometh in the flesh4 ,and1 in a passage not unlike the direction to ,titus which we are now considering1 he says3 ,if any one cometh unto you1 and bringeth not this teaching1 receive him not into your house1 and give him no greeting3 for he that giveth him greeting partaketh in his evil works4 ,the impression which these passages produce on our minds is at least this2--that1 whether or no the ,apostles were conscious of being protected by the ,holy ,spirit from teaching anything that was doctrinally false1 they were at any rate very stern in their condemnation of those ,christians who deliberately contravened what an ,apostle had taught4 ,and this sternness is not confined to those who resisted the instructions of ,apostles in matters of discipline4 ,it is quite as clearly manifested against those who contradicted ,apostolic teaching in matters of faith4 ,the context of the passage before us shows that by a man that is heretical is meant one who wilfully takes his own line and thereby causes divisions in doctrine quite as much as one who does so as regards the order and discipline of the ,church4 ,what1 then1 does ,st4 ,paul mean when he directs ,titus to refuse such a person after once or twice admonishing him8 ,certainly not that he is to excommunicate him2 the passage has nothing to do with formal excommunication4 ,it is possible to maintain that the direction here given may imply excommunication2 but it is also possible to maintain that it need not imply anything of the kind2 and therefore that such an interpretation substitutes an uncertain inference for what is certainly expressed4 ,the word translated in the ,r4,v4 refuse1 and in the ,a4,v4 reject1 is the same as that which is used in #a ,tim4 v4 #aa in the text1 ,younger widows refuse 7paraitou74 ,it means1 avoid1 shun1 excuse yourself from having anything to do with 7comp4 ,heb4 xii4 #be74 ,it is also used of things as well as of persons1 and in much the same sense3 ,refuse profane and old wives' fables 7#a ,tim4 iv4 #g71 and ,foolish and ignorant questions refuse 7#b ,tim4 ii4 #bc74 ,the meaning1 then1 here seems to be that1 after a few attempts to induce the heretical person to desist from his perverse and self-willed conduct1 ,titus is to waste no more time on him1 because now he knows that his efforts will be useless4 ,at first he did not know this2 but after having failed once or twice1 he will see that it is vain to repeat what produces no effect4 ,the man's self-will is incorrigible2 and not only that1 but inexcusable2 for he stands self-condemned4 ,he deliberately chose what was opposed to the received teaching2 and he deliberately persists in it after its erroneous character has been pointed out to him4 ,he is perverted1 and sinneth3 that is1 he not only has sinned1 but goes on sinning3 he continues in his sin1 in spite of entreaty1 exhortation1 and reproof4 ,in what way are the directions here given to ,titus to be used for our own guidance at the present time8 ,certain limitations as to their application have been already pointed out4 ,they do not apply to persons who have always been1 or who have ended in placing themselves1 outside the ,christian ,church4 ,they refer to persons who contend that their self-chosen views are part and parcel of the ,gospel1 and who claim to hold and teach such views as members or even ministers of the ,church4 ,secondly1 they refer to grave and fundamental errors with regard to first principles2 not to eccentric views respecting matters of detail4 ,and in determining this second point much caution will be needed2 especially when inferences are drawn from a man's teaching4 ,we should be on our guard with regard to assertions that a particular teacher virtually denies the ,divinity of ,christ1 or the ,trinity1 or the personality of ,god4 ,but when both these points are quite clear1 that the person contradicts some of the primary truths of the ,gospel1 and that he claims to do so as a ,christian1 what is a minister to do to such a member of his flock8 ,he is to make one or two efforts to reclaim him1 and then to have as little to do with him as possible4 ,in all such cases there are three sets of persons to be considered3--the heretic himself1 those who have to deal with him1 and the ,church at large4 ,what conduct on the part of those who have to deal with him will be least prejudicial to themselves and to the ,church1 and most beneficial to the man himself8 ,the supreme law of charity must be the guiding principle4 ,but that is no true charity which shows tenderness to one person in such a way as to do grievous harm to others1 or to do more harm than good to the person who receives it4 ,love of what is good is not only consistent with hatred of what is evil2 it cannot exist without such hatred4 ,what we have to consider1 therefore1 is this4 ,will friendliness confirm him in his error8 ,would he be more impressed by severity8 ,is intercourse with him likely to lead to our being led astray8 ,will it increase his influence and his opportunities of doing harm8 ,is severity likely to excite sympathy in other people1 first for him1 and then for his teaching8 ,it is impossible to lay down a hard and fast rule that would cover all cases2 and while we remember the stern instructions which ,st4 ,paul gives to ,titus1 and ,st4 ,john to the elect lady1 let us not forget the way in which ,jesus ,christ treated publicans and sinners4 ,in our own day there is danger of mistaking lazy or weak indifferentism for ,christian charity4 ,it is a convenient doctrine that the beliefs of our fellow-,christians are no concern of ours1 even when they try to propagate what contradicts the creed4 ,and1 while emphasis is laid upon the responsibility of accepting articles of faith1 it is assumed that there is little or no responsibility in refusing to accept1 or in teaching others to refuse also4 ,to plead for tenderness1 where severity is needed1 is not charity1 but ,laodicean lukewarmness2 and mistaken tenderness may easily end in making us partakers in evil works4 ,to be severe1 when severity is imperatively called for1 is not only charity to the offenders1 it is also charity towards all men besides4 ,it is charity towards the ignorant as carrying instruction along with it2 charity towards the unwary1 as giving them warning to stand off from infection2 charity towards the confirmed ,christians1 as encouraging them still more1 and preserving them from insults2 charity towards the whole ,church1 as supporting both their unity and purity2 charity towards all mankind1 towards them that are without1 as it is recommending pure religion to them in the most advantageous light1 obviating their most plausible calumnies1 and giving them less occasion to blaspheme4#hg ,,footnotes3 #hd ,it is worth noting that ,tertullian1 with several other ,latin writers1 omits the second admonition3 hominem haereticum post primam correptionem recusandum4 ,similarly ,cyprian3 haereticum hominem post unam correptionem devita 7,test41 ,,iii4 #gh74 #he hairesis1 from hairein1 haireisthai1 to choose3 not from haerere1 to stick fast1 as has been ignorantly asserted4 #hf ,t4 ,ll4 ,davies in a remarkable paper on ,the ,higher ,life1 in the ,fortnightly ,review1 ,january1 #ahhh4 #hg ,waterland1 ,the ,importance of the ,doctrine of the ,holy ,trinity ,,iv4 ii4 #b2 ,works1 vol4 v4 p4 #if4 ,oxford1 #ahbc4 ,,the ,,second ,,epistle ,,to ,,timothy4 ,,chapter ,,xxvii4 ,,the ,,character ,,and ,,contents ,,of ,,the ,,last ,,epistle ,,of ,,st4 ,,paul4--,,the ,,nemesis ,,of ,,neglected ,,gifts4 ,for the which cause ,i put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of ,god1 which is in thee through the laying on of my hands4 ,for ,god gave us not a spirit of fearfulness2 but of power and love and discipline4--#b ,,tim4 i4 #f1 #g4 ,in the ,second ,epistle to ,timothy we have the last known words of ,st4 ,paul4 ,it is his last will and testament2 his last instructions to his favourite disciple and through him to the ,church4 ,it is written with full consciousness that the end is at hand4 ,his course in this world is all but over2 and it will be closed by a violent1 it may be by a cruel death4 ,the letter is1 therefore1 a striking but thoroughly natural mixture of gloom and brightness4 ,on the one hand1 death throws its dark shadow across the page4 ,on the other1 there is the joyous thought that the realization of his brightest hopes is close at hand4 ,death will come with its pain and ignominy1 to cut short the ,apostle's still unfinished work1 to take him away from the ,churches which he has founded and which still sorely need his guidance1 and from the friends whom he loves1 and who still need his counsel and support4 ,but death1 while it takes him away from much to which he clings and which clings to him1 will free him from toil1 and anxiety1 and neglect1 and will take him to be with ,christ until that day when he shall receive the crown of righteousness which is laid up for him4 ,if the shadow of impending death were the only source of gloom1 the letter would be far more joyous than it is4 ,it would be far more continuously a strain of thanksgiving and triumph4 ,but the prospect of ending his life under the hand of the public executioner is not the thought which dominates the more sorrowful portion of the ,epistle4 ,there is the fact that he is almost alone2 not because his friends are prevented from coming to him1 but because they have forsaken him2 some1 it may be1 for pressing work elsewhere2 others because the attractions of the world were too strong for them2 but the majority of them1 because they were afraid to stand by him when he was placed at the bar before ,nero4 ,the ,apostle is heavy-hearted about this desertion of him1 not merely because of the wound which it inflicts on his own affectionate spirit1 but because of the responsibility which those who are guilty of it have thereby incurred4 ,he prays that it may not be laid to their account4 ,yet the thought which specially oppresses him is anxiety about all the ,churches--and about ,timothy himself4 ,dark days are coming4 ,false doctrine will be openly preached and will not lack hearers2 and utterly un-,christian conduct and conversation will become grievously prevalent4 ,and1 while the godly are persecuted1 evil men will wax worse and worse4 ,this sad state of things has already begun2 and the ,apostle seems to fear that his beloved disciple is not altogether unaffected by it4 ,separation from ,st4 ,paul and the difficulties of his position may have told on his over-sensitive temperament1 and have caused him to be remiss in his work1 through indulgence in futile despondency4 ,the words of the text strike the dominant chord of the ,epistle and reveal to us the motive that prompts it4 ,the ,apostle puts ,timothy in remembrance that he stir up the gift of ,god which is in him4 ,again and again he insists on this and similar counsels4 ,be not ashamed of the testimony of our ,lord1 nor of me ,his prisoner2 but suffer hardships4 ,that good thing which was committed to thee guard through the ,holy ,ghost 7vv4 #h1 #ac74 ,suffer hardship with me1 as a good soldier of ,jesus ,christ4 ,give diligence to present thyself approved unto ,god1 a workman that needeth not to be ashamed 7ii4 #c1 #ae74 ,but abide thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of1 knowing of whom thou hast learned them 7iii4 #ad74 ,and then1 as the letter draws to a close1 he speaks in still more solemn tones of warning3 ,i charge thee in the sight of ,god1 and of ,christ ,jesus1 ,who shall judge the quick and the dead1 and by ,his appearing and ,his kingdom3 be instant in season1 out of season2 reprove1 rebuke1 exhort1 with all longsuffering and teaching4 ,be thou sober in all things1 suffer hardships1 do the work of an evangelist1 fulfil thy ministry 7iv4 #a1 #b1 #e74 ,evidently the ,apostle is anxious lest even the rich gifts with which ,timothy is endowed should be allowed to rust through want of use4 ,timidity and weakness may prove fatal to him and his work1 in spite of the spiritual advantages which he has enjoyed4 ,the ,apostle's anxiety about the future of the ,churches is interwoven with anxiety about the present and future conduct of his beloved delegate and successor4 ,the ,second ,epistle to ,timothy is more personal than either of the other ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,it is less official in tone and contents1 and is addressed more directly to the recipient himself1 than through him to others4 ,three main subjects are treated in the letter2 and first and foremost of these is the conduct of ,timothy himself4 ,this subject occupies about a third of the ,epistle4 ,the next and longest section treats of the present and future prospects of the ,church 7ii4 #ad-;iv4 #e74 ,and lastly the ,apostle speaks of himself4 ,it is not difficult to understand how even those who condemn the ,pastoral ,epistles as the product of a later writer1 feel almost obliged to admit that at least some of this touching letter must be genuine4 ,whoever wrote it must have had some genuine letters of ,st4 ,paul to use as material4 ,it may be doubted whether any of the writings of that age which have come down to us are more thoroughly characteristic of the person whose name they bear1 or are more full of touches which a fabricator would never have thought of introducing4 ,the person who forged the ,second ,epistle to ,timothy in the name of ,st4 ,paul must indeed have been a genius4 ,nothing that has come down to us of the literature of the second century leads us to suppose that any such literary power existed4 ,whether we regard the writer1 or the circumstances in which he is placed1 or the person to whom he writes1 all is thoroughly characteristic1 harmonious1 and in keeping4 ,we have ,st4 ,paul with his exquisite sympathy1 sensitiveness1 and affection1 his intense anxiety1 his unflinching courage4 ,we have the solemnity and importunity of one who knows that his days are numbered4 ,and we have the urgency and tenderness of one who writes to a friend who has his faults and weaknesses1 but who is trusted and loved in spite of them4 ,in encouraging ,timothy to stir up the gift that is in him1 and not suffer himself to be ashamed of the ignominy1 or afraid of the hardships1 which the service of ,christ entails1 the ,apostle puts before him five considerations4 ,there are the beautiful traditions of his family1 which are now in his keeping4 ,there is the sublime character of the ,gospel which has been entrusted to him4 ,there is the teaching of ,st4 ,paul himself1 who has so often given him a pattern of sound words and a pattern of steadfast endurance4 ,there is the example of ,onesiphorus with his courageous devotion4 ,and there is the sure hope of the salvation which is in ,christ ,jesus with eternal glory4 ,any one of these things might suffice to influence him3 ,timothy cannot be proof against them all4 ,st4 ,paul is persuaded that he is preserving the heritage of undissembled faith which his mother and his grandmother possessed before him4 ,when he considers the character of the ,gospel1 of which he has become a minister1 and the gifts of which he has thereby become a recipient1 he cannot now become ashamed of bearing testimony for it4 ,and has the teaching of his old master1 separation from whom used once to make him weep1 lost its hold upon him8 ,of the other disciples and friends of the master1 some have turned away from him1 showing coldness or dislike instead of sympathy and self-sacrifice2 while others1 at great personal inconvenience1 and 7it may be also7 great personal danger1 sought him out all the more diligently on account of his imprisonment1 and ministered to him4 ,will ,timothy take his stand with ,phygelus and ,hermogenes1 or with ,onesiphorus8 ,and over and above all these considerations1 which are connected with this world1 there are the thoughts of the world to come4 ,this is no mere question of expediency and opportuneness1 or of personal loyalty and affection to a human teacher and friend4 ,there is the whole of eternity at stake4 ,to have shared ,christ's martyr-death is to share ,his endless life4 ,to share ,his endurance and service is to share ,his royalty4 ,but to reject ,him1 is to ensure being rejected by ,him4 ,were ,he to receive faithless followers among the faithful1 ,he would be faithless to ,his promises and to ,himself4 ,for all these reasons1 therefore1 the ,apostle charges his disciple to stir up the gift of ,god which is in him through the laying on of the ,apostle's hands4 ,and the fact that he uses so much argument and entreaty is evidence that he had grave anxiety about ,timothy4 ,timothy's natural sensitiveness and tenderness of heart made him specially liable to despondency and timidity1 especially when separated from friends and confronted by sturdy opposition4 ,that thou stir up the gift of ,god which is in thee4 ,literally that thou kindle up and fan into a flame4 ,it does not necessarily imply that there has once been a bright flame1 which has been allowed to die down1 leaving only smouldering embers4 ,but this is the natural meaning of the figure1 and is possibly what ,st4 ,paul implies here4 ,he does not explain what precise gift of ,god it is that ,timothy is to kindle into a warmer glow2 but1 as it is one of those which were conferred upon him by the laying on of hands at the time of his ordination1 we may reasonably suppose that it is the authority and power to be a minister of ,christ4 ,in the ,first ,epistle ,st4 ,paul had given ,timothy a similar charge 7iv4 #ad72 and by combining that passage with this we learn that both the ,apostle and the elders laid their hands on the young evangelist3 ,neglect not the gift that is in thee1 which was given thee by prophecy1 with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery4#hh ,this talent committed to his charge for use in ,god's service must not be allowed to lie idle2 it must be used with vigour1 and trust1 and courage4 ,the very character of the gift bestowed proves that it is to be used1 and used freely4 ,for ,god gave us not a spirit of fearfulness2 but of power and love and discipline4 ,st4 ,paul includes himself in the statement4 ,he1 like his disciple1 has received this gift from ,god1 and he knows from long experience what its nature is4 ,it is no spirit of fearfulness2 no spirit of bondage leading to fear 7,rom4 viii4 #ae74 ,it was never meant to produce in us a slavish fear of ,god1 or a cowardly fear of men4 ,to feel awe and reverence when dealing with ,god1--to feel responsibility when dealing with men1--is one thing4 ,to abstain from action for fear of offending either1 is quite another4 ,it is sometimes possible to avoid criticism by refusing to commit oneself to anything2 but such refusal may be a sinful neglect of opportunities3 and no error of judgment in using the gifts committed to us can be worse than that of not using them at all4 ,those are not necessarily the most useful servants who make the fewest conspicuous mistakes4 ,the spirit with which we are endowed is a spirit of power1 whereas a spirit of fearfulness is weak4 ,faintheartedness cannot be strong4 ,the fainthearted mistrust themselves and others2 and they discourage themselves and others4 ,they anticipate dangers and difficulties1 and thereby sometimes create them2 and they anticipate failure1 and thereby often bring it about4 ,it is only by acting1 and by acting vigorously and courageously1 that we find out the full power of the spirit with which we have been blessed4 ,again1 the gift which ,god has bestowed upon us is a spirit of love3 and more than anything else perfect love casts out the spirit of fear4 ,fear is the child of bondage2 love is the child of freedom4 ,if we love ,god1 we shall not live in terror of ,his judgments3 and if we love men1 we shall not live in terror of their criticisms4 ,moreover1 the spirit of love teaches us the nature of the gift of power4 ,it is not force or violence2 not an imposing of our own will on others4 ,it is an affectionate striving to win others over to obedience to the will of ,god4 ,it is the spirit of self-sacrifice2 not of self-assertion4 ,lastly1 the spirit with which we are endowed by ,god is a spirit of discipline4 ,by discipline that cowardly indolence1 which the spirit of fearfulness engenders1 can be kept down and expelled4 ,if it be asked1 whether the discipline be that which ,timothy is to enforce in ruling others1 or that which he is to practise in schooling himself1 we may answer1 ,both4 ,the termination of the word which is here used 7sphronismos7 seems to require the transitive meaning2 and slackness in correcting others may easily have been one of the ways in which the despondency of ,timothy showed itself4 ,on the other hand the whole context here speaks of ,timothy's treatment of himself4 ,to take a more lively interest in the conduct of others would be discipline for himself and for them also4 ,there may be as much pride as humility in indulging the thought that the lives of other people are so utterly bad1 that it is quite out of the power of such persons as ourselves to effect a reformation4 ,this is a subtle way of shirking responsibility4 ,strong in the spirit of power1 glowing with the spirit of love1 we can turn the faults of others1 together with all the troubles which may befall us in this life1 into instruments of discipline4 ,the words of the ,apostle1 though primarily addressed to ministers1 in reference to the spiritual gifts bestowed on them at their ordination1 must not be confined to them4 ,they apply to the gifts bestowed by ,god upon every ,christian1 and indeed upon every human being4 ,there is a terrible penalty attached to the neglect of the higher faculties1 whether intellectual or moral2 a penalty which works surely and unerringly by a natural law4 ,we all of us have imagination1 intellect1 will4 ,these wonderful powers must have an object1 must have employment4 ,if we do not give them their true object1 viz41 the glory of ,god1 they will find an object for themselves4 ,instead of soaring upwards on the wings supplied by the glories of creation and the mercies of redemption1 they will sink downwards into the mire4 ,they will fasten upon the flesh2 and in an atmosphere poisoned by debasing associations they will become debased also4 ,instead of raising the man who possesses them into that higher life1 which is a foretaste of heaven1 they will hurry him downwards with the accumulated pressure of an undisciplined intellect1 a polluted imagination1 and a lawless will4 ,that which should have been for wealth1 becomes an occasion of falling4 ,angels of light become angels of darkness4 ,and powers which ought to be as priests1 consecrating the whole of our nature to ,god1 become as demons1 shameless and ruthless in devoting us to the evil one4 ,not only every minister of ,christ1 but every thinking man1 has need from time to time to stir up the gift of ,god that is in him1 to kindle it into a flame1 and see that it is directed to holy ends and exercised in noble service4 ,god's royal gifts of intellect and will cannot be flung away1 cannot be left unused1 cannot be extinguished4 ,for good or for evil they are ours2 and they are deathless4 ,but1 though they cannot be destroyed they can be neglected4 ,they can be buried in the earth1 till they breed worms and stink4 ,they can be allowed to run riot1 until they become as wild beasts1 and turn again and rend us4 ,or in the spirit of power1 or love1 and of discipline1 they may be chastened by lofty exercise and sanctified to heavenly uses1 till they become more and more fit to be the equipment of one1 who is for ever to stand before the throne of ,god1 and praise ,him day and night in ,his temple4 ,,footnotes3 #hh ,the assertion that this laying on of hands is a mark of an age subsequent to the ,apostles1 ignores the plain statements in ,acts vi4 #f xiii4 #c2 comp4 viii4 #ag2 ix4 #ag2 xix4 #f2 and ,heb4 vi4 #b4 ,,chapter ,,xxviii4 ,,the ,,heartlessness ,,of ,,phygelus ,,and ,,hermogenes4--,,the ,,devotion ,,of ,,onesiphorus4--,,prayers ,,for ,,the ,,dead4 ,this thou knowest1 that all that are in ,asia turned away from me2 of whom are ,phygelus and ,hermogenes4 ,the ,lord grant mercy unto the house of ,onesiphorus3 for he oft refreshed me1 and was not ashamed of my chain2 but1 when he was in ,rome1 he sought me diligently and found me 7the ,lord grant unto him to find mercy of the ,lord in that day72 and in how many things he ministered at ,ephesus1 thou knowest very well4--#b ,,tim4 i4 #ae-ah4 ,we have here one of the arguments which ,st4 ,paul makes use of in urging his beloved disciple to stir up the gift of ,god that is in him through the laying on of hands1 and not allow himself to be afraid of the ignominy and the sufferings1 which the service of ,jesus ,christ involves4 ,after reminding him of the holy traditions of his family1 of the glorious character of the ,gospel which has been committed to him1 and of the character of the ,apostle's own teaching1 ,st4 ,paul now goes on to point out1 as a warning1 the conduct of those in ,asia who had deserted him in his hour of need2 and1 as an example1 in marked contrast to them1 the affectionate courage and persistent devotion of ,onesiphorus4 ,timothy is not likely to follow those in ,asia in their cowardly desertion of the ,apostle4 ,he will surely bestir himself to follow an example1 the details of which are so well known to him and so very much to the point4 ,timothy's special knowledge of both cases1 so far as the conduct referred to lay not in ,rome but in ,asia1 is emphatically insisted upon by ,st4 ,paul4 ,he begins by saying1 ,this thou knowest1 that all that are in ,asia turned away from me3 and he concludes with the remark1 ,in how many things he ministered at ,ephesus1 thou knowest very well2 or1 as the ,greek comparative probably means1 thou knowest better than ,i do4 ,and it is worth noticing that ,st4 ,paul uses a different word for know in the two cases4 ,of his desertion by those in ,asia he uses a word of general meaning 7oidas71 which implies knowledge about the things or persons in question1 but need not imply more than hearsay knowledge of what is notorious4 ,of the devoted service of ,onesiphorus at ,ephesus he uses a word 7ginskeis71 which implies progressive personal experience4 ,timothy had of course heard all about the refusal of ,phygelus and ,hermogenes and others to recognize the claim which ,st4 ,paul had upon their services2 what he saw and experienced continually gave him intimate acquaintance with the conduct of ,onesiphorus in the ,church of which ,timothy had the chief care4 ,there has been a great deal of discussion about the meaning of ,st4 ,paul's statements respecting these two contrasted cases1 ,phygelus and those like him on the one side1 and ,onesiphorus on the other3 and with regard to both of them a variety of suggestions have been made1 which are scarcely compatible with the language used1 and which do not after all make the situation more intelligible4 ,it must be admitted that the brevity of the statements does leave room for a certain amount of conjecture2 but1 nevertheless1 they are clear enough to enable us to conjecture with a fair amount of certainty4 ,and first with regard to the case of those in ,asia4 ,they are in ,asia at the time when this letter is being written4 ,it is quite inadmissible to twist this plain language and force it to mean those from ,asia who are now in ,rome4 ,hoi en t ,asia cannot be equivalent to hoi ek ts ,asias4 ,if ,st4 ,paul meant the latter1 why did he not write it8 ,secondly1 it is the proconsular province of ,asia that is meant1 that is the western portion of ,asia ,minor1 and not the continent of ,asia4 ,thirdly1 the turning away of these ,christians in ,asia ,minor does not mean their apostasy from the faith1 of which there is no hint either in the word or in the context4 ,st4 ,paul would hardly have spoken of their abandonment of ,christianity as turning away from him4 ,it means that they turned their faces away from him1 and refused to have anything to say to him4 ,when he sought their sympathy and assistance1 they renounced his acquaintance1 or at any rate refused to admit his claim upon them4 ,it is the very expression used by ,christ in the ,sermon on the ,mount2 ,from him that would borrow of thee1 turn not thou away 7,matt4 v4 #db74 ,this was exactly what these ,asiatic disciples had done3 the ,apostle had asked them to lend him their help and support2 and they had turned away from him4 ,but what is the meaning of the all8 ,he says that all that are in ,asia turned away from him4 ,obviously there is some qualification to be understood4 ,he cannot mean that ,timothy is well aware that every believer in ,asia ,minor had repudiated ,st4 ,paul4 ,some have supposed that the necessary qualification is to be found in what follows2 viz41 of whom are ,phygelus and ,hermogenes4 ,the meaning would then be that the whole of the party to which ,phygelus and ,hermogenes belong rejected the ,apostle4 ,but the arrangement of the sentence is quite against this supposition2 and there is nothing either said or implied about these two men being the leaders or representatives of a party4 ,the expression respecting them is exactly parallel to that in the ,first ,epistle respecting those who made shipwreck concerning the faith3 of whom is ,hymenaeus and ,alexander 7i4 #ai1 #bj74 ,in each case1 out of a class of persons who are spoken of in general terms1 two are mentioned by name4 ,what then is the qualification of the all1 which common sense requires8 ,it means simply1 all whom ,i asked1 all to whom ,i made an appeal for assistance4#hi ,at the time when this letter was written1 there were several ,christians in ,asia ,minor1--some of them known to ,timothy1--to whom ,st4 ,paul had applied for help in his imprisonment2 and1 as ,timothy was very well aware1 they every one of them refused to give it4 ,and this refusal took place in ,asia ,minor1 not in ,rome4 ,some have supposed that1 although these unfriendly ,christians were in ,asia when ,st4 ,paul wrote about them1 yet it was in ,rome that they turned away from him4 ,they had been in ,rome1 and instead of remaining there to comfort the prisoner1 they had gone away to ,asia ,minor4 ,on this supposition a difficulty has been raised1 and it has been pressed as if it told against the genuineness of the ,epistle4 ,how1 it is asked1 could ,timothy1 who was in ,ephesus1 be supposed to be well aware of what took place in ,rome8 ,and to meet this objection it has been conjectured1 that shortly before this letter was written some one had gone with news from ,rome to ,ephesus4 ,but this is to meet an imaginary difficulty with an imaginary fact4 ,let us imagine nothing1 and then all runs smoothly4 ,every one in ,asia ,minor1 to whom application was made on behalf of ,st4 ,paul1 turned away from him and refused to do what was asked4 ,of such a fact as this the overseer of the ,church of ,ephesus could not fail to have knowledge2 and1 distressing as it was1 it ought not to make him sink down into indolent despondency1 but stir him up to redoubled exertion4 ,what the precise request was that ,phygelus and ,hermogenes and the rest had refused1 we do not know2 but very possibly it was to go to ,rome and exert themselves on the ,apostle's behalf4 ,of the two persons named nothing further is known4 ,they are mentioned as being known to ,timothy1 and very possibly as being residents in ,ephesus4 ,now let us turn to the case of ,onesiphorus1 whose conduct is such a marked contrast to these others4 ,in the most natural way ,st4 ,paul first of all tells ,timothy what he experienced from ,onesiphorus in ,rome2 and then appeals to ,timothy's own experience of him in ,ephesus4 ,in between these two passages there is a sentence1 inserted parenthetically1 which has been the subject of a good deal of controversy4 ,the ,lord grant unto him to find mercy of the ,lord in that day4 ,on the one side it is argued that the context shows that ,onesiphorus is dead1 and that therefore we have ,scriptural authority for prayers for the dead3 on the other that it is by no means certain that ,onesiphorus was dead at the time when ,st4 ,paul wrote2 and that1 even if he was1 this parenthesis is more of the nature of a pious wish1 or expression of hope1 than a prayer4 ,it need scarcely be said that on the whole the latter is the view taken by ,protestant commentators1 although by no means universally2 while the former is the interpretation which finds favour with ,roman ,catholics4 ,scripture elsewhere is almost entirely silent on the subject2 and hence this passage is regarded as of special importance4 ,but it ought to be possible to approach the discussion of it without heat or prejudice4 ,certainly the balance of probability is decidedly in favour of the view that ,onesiphorus was already dead when ,st4 ,paul wrote these words4 ,there is not only the fact that he here speaks of the house of ,onesiphorus in connexion with the present1 and of ,onesiphorus himself only in connexion with the past3 there is also the still more marked fact that in the final salutations1 while greetings are sent to ,prisca and ,aquila1 and from ,eubulus1 ,pudens1 ,linus1 and ,claudia1 yet it is once more the house of ,onesiphorus and not ,onesiphorus himself who is saluted4 ,this language is thoroughly intelligible1 if ,onesiphorus was no longer alive1 but had a wife and children who were still living at ,ephesus2 but it is not easy to explain this reference in two places to the household of ,onesiphorus1 if he himself was still alive4 ,in all the other cases the individual and not the household is mentioned4 ,nor is this twofold reference to his family rather than to himself the only fact which points in this direction4 ,there is also the character of the ,apostle's prayer4 ,why does he confine his desires respecting the requital of ,onesiphorus' kindness to the day of judgment8 ,why does he not also pray that he may be requited in this life8 that he may prosper and be in health1 even as his soul prospereth1 as ,st4 ,john prays for ,gaius 7#c ,john #b78 ,this again is thoroughly intelligible1 if ,onesiphorus is already dead4 ,it is much less intelligible if he is still alive4 ,it seems1 therefore1 to be scarcely too much to say that there is no serious reason for questioning the now widely accepted view that at the time when ,st4 ,paul wrote these words ,onesiphorus was among the departed4 ,with regard to the second point there seems to be equal absence of serious reason for doubting that the words in question constitute a prayer4 ,it is difficult to find a term which better describes them than the word prayer3 and in discussing them one would have to be specially careful in order to avoid the words pray and prayer in connexion with them4 ,it does not much matter what meaning we give to the ,lord in each case2 whether both refer to ,christ1 or both to the ,father1 or one to ,christ and the other to the ,father4 ,in any case we have a prayer that the ,judge at the last day will remember those good deeds of ,onesiphorus1 which the ,apostle has been unable to repay1 and will place them to his account4 ,paul cannot requite them1 but he prays that ,god will do so by showing mercy upon him at the last day4#ij ,having thus concluded that1 according to the more probable and reasonable view1 the passage before us contains a prayer offered up by the ,apostle on behalf of one who is dead1 we seem to have obtained his sanction1 and therefore the sanction of ,scripture1 for using similar prayers ourselves4 ,but what is a similar prayer8 ,there are many kinds of intercessions which may be made on behalf of those who have gone before us into the other world3 and it does not follow that1 because one kind of intercession has ,scriptural authority1 therefore any kind of intercession is allowable4 ,this passage may be quoted as reasonable evidence that the death of a person does not extinguish our right or our duty to pray for him3 but it ought not to be quoted as authority for such prayers on behalf of the dead as are very different in kind from the one of which we have an example here4 ,many other kinds of intercession for the dead may be reasonable and allowable2 but this passage proves no more than that some kinds of intercession for the dead are allowable1 viz41 those in which we pray that ,god will have mercy at the day of judgment on those who have done good to us and others during their life upon earth4 ,but is the right1 which is also the duty1 of praying for the departed limited by the amount of sanction which it is possible to obtain from this solitary passage of ,scripture8 ,assuredly not4 ,two other authorities have to be consulted1--reason and tradition4 ,i4 ,this pious practice1 so full of comfort to affectionate souls1 is reasonable in itself4 ,scripture1 which is mercifully reticent respecting a subject so liable to provoke unhealthy curiosity and excitement1 nevertheless does tell us plainly some facts respecting the unseen world4 7#b7 ,those whom we call the dead are still alive4 ,god is still the ,god of ,abraham1 of ,isaac1 and of ,jacob3 and ,he is not the ,god of the dead1 but of the living 7,matt4 xxii4 #cb74 ,those who believe that death is annihilation1 and that there can be no resurrection1 do greatly err 7,mark xii4 #bg74 ,and 7#b7 the living souls of the departed are still conscious3 their bodies are asleep in this world1 but their spirits are awake in the other4 ,for this truth we are not dependent upon the disputable meaning of the parable of ,dives and ,lazarus2 although we can hardly suppose that that parable would ever have been spoken1 unless the continued consciousness of the dead and their interest in the living were a fact4 ,christ's parables are never mere fables1 in which nature is distorted in order to point a moral3 ,his lessons are ever drawn from ,god's universe as it is4 ,but besides the parable 7,luke xvi4 #ai-ca71 there is ,his declaration that ,abraham not only exulted in anticipation of the coming of the ,messiah1 but he saw that coming and was glad thereat 7,john viii4 #ef74 ,and there is ,his promise to the penitent thief3 ,verily ,i say unto thee1 ,to-day shalt thou be with me in ,paradise 7,luke xxiii4 #dc74 ,can we believe that this promise1 given at so awful a moment with such solemn assurance 7,verily ,i say unto thee71 would have been made1 if the robber's soul1 when in ,paradise1 would be unconscious of ,christ's companionship8 ,could ,christ then have preached unto the spirits in prison 7#a ,pet iii4 #ai71 if the spirits of those who had died in the ,flood were deprived of consciousness8 ,and what can be the meaning of the souls of them that had been slain for the word of ,god crying ,how long1 ,o ,master the holy and true1 dost ,thou not judge and avenge our blood8 7,rev4 vi4 #aj71 if the souls of the slain slumber in the unseen world8 ,it is not necessary to quote ,scripture to prove that the departed are not yet perfect4 ,their final consummation will not be reached until the coming of ,christ at the last great day 7,heb4 xi4 #dj74 ,if1 then1 the dead are conscious1 and are not yet perfected1 they are capable of progress4 ,they may increase in happiness1 and possibly in holiness4 ,may we not go farther and say1 that they must be growing1 must be progressing towards a better state2 for1 so far as we have experience1 there is no such thing as conscious life in a state of stagnation8 ,conscious life is always either growing or decaying3 and decay is incipient death4 ,for conscious creatures1 who are incapable of decay and death1 growth seems to be a necessary attribute4 ,we conclude1 therefore1 on grounds partly of ,scripture and partly of reason1 that the faithful departed are consciously progressing towards a condition of higher perfection4 ,but this conclusion must necessarily carry us still farther4 ,these consciously developing souls are ,god's children and our brethren2 they are1 like ourselves1 members of ,christ and joint-heirs with us of ,his kingdom2 they are inseparably united with us in the ,communion of ,saints4 ,may we not pray for them to aid them in their progress8 ,and if1 with ,st4 ,paul's prayer for ,onesiphorus before us1 we are convinced that we may pray for them1 does it not become our bounden duty to do so8 ,on what grounds can we accept the obligation of praying for the spiritual advancement of those who are with us in the flesh1 and yet refuse to help by our prayers the spiritual advancement of those who have joined that great cloud of witnesses in the unseen world1 by which we are perpetually encompassed 7,heb4 xii4 #a78 ,the very fact that they witness our prayers for them may be to them an increase of strength and joy4 ,,ii4 ,tradition amply confirms us in the belief that this pious practice is lawful1 and binding upon all who recognize its lawfulness4 ,the remarkable narrative in #b ,maccabees xii4 shows that this belief in a very extreme form was common among the ,jews1 and publicly acted upon1 before the coming of ,christ4 ,it is highly improbable that prayers for the dead were omitted from the public worship of the synagogue1 in which ,jesus ,christ so frequently took part4 ,it is quite certain that such prayers are found in every early ,christian liturgy1 and to this day form part of the liturgies in use throughout the greater portion of ,christendom4 ,and1 although the medieval abuses connected with such prayers induced the reformers of our own liturgy almost1 if not quite1 entirely to omit them1 yet the ,church of ,england has never set any bounds to the liberty of its members in this respect4 ,each one of us is free in this matter1 and therefore has the responsibility of using or neglecting what the whole of the primitive ,church1 and the large majority of ,christians throughout all these centuries1 have believed to be a means of advancing the peace and glory of ,christ's kingdom4 ,about the practice of the primitive ,church there can be no question4 ,doubt has been thrown upon the liturgies1 because it has been said that some portions are certainly of much later origin than the rest1 and therefore these prayers may be later insertions and corruptions4 ,but that cannot be so2 for liturgies do not stand alone4 ,in this matter they have the support of a chain of ,christian writers beginning with ,tertullian in the second century1 and also of early inscriptions in the catacombs4 ,about the meagre allusions to the departed in our own liturgy there is more room for doubt3 but perhaps the most that can safely be asserted is this2--that here and there sentences have been worded in such a way that it is possible for those1 who wish to do so1 to include the faithful departed in the prayer as well as the living4 ,bishop ,cosin has given his authority to this interpretation of the prayer that we and all ,thy whole ,church may obtain remission of our sins and all other benefits of ,his passion4 ,by this1 he says1 is to be understood1 as well those that have been here before1 and those that shall be hereafter1 as those that are now members of it3 and as one of the revisers his authority is great4 ,and the prayer in the ,burial ,service1 that we1 with all those that are departed in the true faith of ,thy holy name1 may have our perfect consummation and bliss1 both in body and soul1 is equally patient of this meaning1 even if it does not fairly demand it4 ,for we do not pray that we may have our consummation and bliss with the departed2 which might imply that they are enjoying these things now1 and that we desire to join them2 but we pray that we with the departed may have our consummation and bliss2 which includes them in the prayer4 ,and the petition in the ,litany1 remember not1 ,lord1 our offences1 nor the offences of our forefathers1 may1 or may not1 be a prayer for our forefathers1 according to the way in which we understand it4 ,all this seems to show that neither ,scripture nor the ,english ,church forbids prayer for the departed2 that1 on the contrary1 both of them appear to give a certain amount of sanction to it3 and that what they allow1 reason commends1 and tradition recommends most strongly4 ,it is for each one of us to decide for himself whether or no he will take part in the charitable work thus placed before him4#ia ,,footnotes3 #hi ,see below on ,all forsook me1 in ,no4 ,,xxxvii1 p4 #dbj4 #ij ,with the double use of ,lord here1 compare ,exod4 xxxiv4 #i1 where ,moses prays1 ,o ,lord1 let the ,lord1 ,i pray ,thee1 go in the midst of us4 ,comp4 also ,gen4 xix4 #bd4 #ia ,sec ,j4 ,m4 ,neale1 ,liturgies of ,st4 ,mark1 ,st4 ,james1 ,st4 ,clement1 ,st4 ,chrysostom1 etc41 #ahei1 pp4 #baf-bbd2 ,c4 ,e4 ,hammond1 ,liturgies ,eastern and ,western1 #ahgh1 pp4 #de1 #ge1 #aac1 #aef1 #ahc1 #bag1 etc42 ,e4 ,burbridge1 ,liturgies and ,offices of the ,church1 #ahhe1 pp4 #cd1 #bbb1 #bdi2 ,m4 ,plummer1 ,observations on the ,book of ,common ,prayer1 #ahdg1 pp4 #abe-abg2 ,church ,quarterly ,review1 ,april #ahhj1 pp4 #a-be2 ,h4 ,m4 ,luckock1 ,after ,death1 #ahgi3 also various articles in the ,dict4 of ,christ4 ,antiquities1 #ahge1 #ahhj4 ,,chapter ,,xxix4 ,,the ,,need ,,of ,,machinery ,,for ,,the ,,preservation ,,and ,,transmission ,,of ,,the ,,faith4--,,the ,,machinery ,,of ,,the ,,primitive ,,church4 ,thou therefore1 my child1 be strengthened in the grace that is in ,christ ,jesus4 ,and the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses1 the same commit thou to faithful men1 who shall be able to teach others also--#b ,,tim4 ii4 #a1 #b4 ,in this tenderly affectionate address we have a very early indication of the beginnings of ,christian tradition and ,christian schools1 two subjects intimately connected with one another4 ,st4 ,paul having pointed out as a warning to his child ,timothy the cold or cowardly behaviour of those in ,asia who had turned away from him1 and as an example the affectionate courage of ,onesiphorus1 returns to the charge of which this letter is so full1 that ,timothy is not to be ashamed of the testimony of our ,lord1 but be willing to suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of ,god 7i4 #h74 ,thou therefore1 my child1 with these instances in mind on the one hand and on the other1 be inwardly strengthened in the grace that is in ,christ ,jesus4 ,in his own strength he will be able to do nothing2 but in the grace which ,christ freely bestows on all believers who ask it of ,him1 ,timothy will be able to find all that he needs for the strengthening of his own character and for the instruction of others4 ,and here ,st4 ,paul1 in a way thoroughly natural in one who is writing a letter which is personal rather than official1 diverges for a moment to give utterance to the idea which passes through his mind of securing permanence in the instruction of the faithful4 ,possibly it was in reference to this duty that he feared the natural despondency and sensitiveness of ,timothy4 ,timothy would be likely to shrink from such work1 or to do it in a half-hearted way4 ,or again the thought that this letter is to summon ,timothy to come to him is in his mind 7iv4 #i1 #ba71 and he forthwith exhorts him to make proper provision for continuity of sound teaching in the ,church committed to his care4 ,the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses1 the same commit thou to faithful men1 who shall be able to teach others also4 ,in other words1 before leaving his flock in order to visit his spiritual father and friend1 he is to secure the establishment of apostolic tradition4 ,and in order to do this he is to establish a school1--a school of picked scholars1 intelligent enough to appreciate1 and trustworthy enough to preserve1 all that has been handed down from ,christ and ,his ,apostles respecting the essentials of the ,christian faith4 ,there is only one ,gospel1--that which the ,apostles have preached ever since the ,ascension4 ,it is so well known1 so well authenticated both by intrinsic sublimity and external testimony1 that no one would be justified in accepting a different ,gospel1 even upon the authority of an angel from heaven4 ,a second ,gospel is an impossibility4 ,that which is not identical with the ,gospel which ,st4 ,paul and the other ,apostles have preached would be no ,gospel at all 7,gal4 i4 #f-i74 ,and this ,divine and ,apostolic ,gospel is the ,gospel which has been committed to ,timothy's charge4 ,let him take all reasonable care for its preservation4 ,for in the first place1 such care was commanded from the outset4 ,christ has promised that ,his truth shall continue and shall prevail4 ,but ,he has not exempted ,christians from the duty of preserving and propagating it4 ,he1 ,who is the ,truth1 has declared that ,he is ever with ,his ,church1 even unto the end of the world 7,matt4 xxviii4 #bj72 and in fulfilment of this promise ,he has bestowed the ,spirit of truth upon it4 ,but ,he has nowhere hinted that ,his ,church is to leave the cause of ,his ,gospel to take care of itself4 ,on the contrary1 at the very time that ,he promised to be alway with ,his disciples1 ,he prefaced this promise with the command1 ,go ye therefore1 and make disciples of all the nations1 444 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever ,i commanded you2 as if ,his promise were contingent upon their fulfilment of this charge4 ,at the very moment when the ,church received the truth1 it was told that it had the responsibility of safeguarding it and making it known4 ,and1 secondly1 experience has proved how entirely necessary such care is4 ,the ,gospel cannot be superseded by any announcement possessing a larger measure of truth and authority4 ,so far as the present dispensation goes1 its claims are absolute and final4 ,but it may be seriously misunderstood2 it may be corrupted by large admixture of error2 it may be partially or even totally forgotten2 it may be supplanted by some meretricious counterfeit4 ,there were ,thessalonians who had supposed that the ,gospel exempted them from the obligation of working to earn their bread4 ,there were ,christians at ,corinth and ,ephesus who had confounded the liberty of the ,gospel with antinomian license4 ,there was the ,church of ,sardis which had so completely forgotten what it had received1 that no works of its doing were found fulfilled before ,god1 and the remnant of truth and life which survived was ready to perish4 ,and the ,churches of ,galatia had been in danger of casting on one side the glories of the ,gospel and returning to the bondage of the ,law4 ,through ignorance1 through neglect1 through wilful misrepresentation or interested opposition1 the truth might be obscured1 or depraved1 or defeated2 and there were few places where such disastrous results were more possible than at ,ephesus4 ,its restless activity in commerce and speculation2 its worldliness2 the seductiveness of its forms of paganism2--all these constituted an atmosphere in which ,christian truth1 unless carefully protected1 would be likely to become tainted or be ignored4 ,even without taking into account the proposal that ,timothy should leave ,ephesus for awhile and visit the ,apostle in his imprisonment at ,rome1 it was no more than necessary precaution that he should endeavour to secure the establishment of a permanent centre for preserving and handing on in its integrity the faith once for all committed to the saints4 ,the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses4 ,the last three words are remarkable2 and they are still more remarkable in the original ,greek4 ,st4 ,paul does not say simply in the presence of many witnesses 7enpion or parontn polln martyrn7 but by means of many witnesses 7dia polln martyrn74 ,in the ,first ,epistle 7vi4 #ab7 he had appealed to the good confession which ,timothy had made in the sight of many witnesses4 ,as regards ,timothy's confession these were witnesses and no more4 ,they were able for ever afterwards to testify that he had made it2 but they did not help him to make it4 ,the confession was his1 not theirs1 although no doubt they assented to it and approved it2 and their presence in no way affected its goodness4 ,but here those who were present were something more than mere witnesses of what the ,apostle said to ,timothy2 they were an integral part of the proceeding4 ,their presence was an element without which the ,apostle's teaching would have assumed a different character4 ,they were not a mere audience1 able to testify as to what was said2 they were guarantees of the instruction which was given4 ,the sentiments and opinions which ,st ,paul might express in private to his disciple1 and the authoritative teaching which he delivered to him in public under the sanction of many witnesses1 were two different things and stood on different grounds4 ,timothy had often heard from his friend his personal views on a variety of subjects2 and he had often heard from the ,apostle his official testimony1 delivered solemnly in the congregation1 as to the truths of the ,gospel4 ,it is this latter body of instruction1 thus amply guaranteed1 of which ,timothy is to take such care4 ,he is to treat it as a treasure committed to his charge1 a precious legacy which he holds in trust4 ,and in his turn he is to commit it to the keeping of trustworthy persons1 who will know its value1 and be capable of preserving it intact and of handing it on to others as trustworthy as themselves4 ,some expositors interpret the passage as referring1 not to the ,apostle's public teaching as a whole1 but to the instructions which he gave to ,timothy at his ordination respecting the proper discharge of his office2 and the aorist tense kousas favours the view that some definite occasion is intended 7comp4 #a ,tim4 iv4 #ad2 #b ,tim4 i4 #f74 ,in that case the ,apostle is here showing anxiety for the establishment of a sound tradition respecting the duties of ministers1--a very important portion1 but by no means the main portion of the teaching which he had imparted4 ,but the aorist does not compel us to confine the allusion to some one event1 such as ,timothy's ordination or baptism2 and it seems more reasonable to understand the charge here given as a continuation of that which occurs towards the close of the first chapter4 ,there he says1 ,hold the pattern of sound words which thou hast heard 7kousas7 from me2 and here he charges ,timothy not merely to hold this pattern of sound words fast himself1 but to take care that it does not perish with him4 ,this1 then1 may be considered as the earliest trace of the formation of a theological school1--a school which has for its object not merely the instruction of the ignorant1 but the protection and maintenance of a definite body of doctrine3 ,that which the ,apostle1 when he was in ,ephesus1 publicly taught1 under the sanction of a multitude of witnesses1 is to be preserved and handed on without compromise or corruption as a pattern of wholesome doctrine4 ,there are unhealthy and even deadly distortions of the truth in the air1 and unless care is taken to preserve the truth1 it may easily become possible to confuse weak and ignorant minds as to what are the essentials of the ,christian faith4 ,the question as to the earliest methods of ,christian instruction and the precautions taken for the preservation of ,apostolic tradition is one of the many particulars in which our knowledge of the primitive ,church is so tantalizingly meagre4 ,a small amount of information is given us in the ,new ,testament1 for the most part quite incidentally1 as here2 and then the history runs underground1 and does not reappear for a century or more4 ,the first few generations of ,christians did not contain a large number of persons who were capable of producing anything very considerable in the way of literature4 ,of those who had the ability1 not many had the leisure or the inclination to write4 ,it was more important to teach by word of mouth than with the pen2 and where was the use of leaving records of what was being done1 when 7as was generally believed7 ,christ would almost immediately appear to put an end to the existing dispensation8 ,out of what was written much1 as we know1 has perished1 including even documents of ,apostolic origin 7,luke i4 #a1 #b2 #a ,cor4 v4 #i2 #c ,john #i74 ,therefore1 much as we lament the scantiness of the evidence that has come down to us1 there is nothing surprising about it4 ,the marvel is1 not that so little contemporary history has reached us1 but that so much has done so4 ,and what it behoves us to do is to make a sober use of such testimony as we possess4 ,we shall be doing no more than drawing a reasonable conclusion from the passage before us if we infer1 that what ,st4 ,paul enjoins ,timothy to do at ,ephesus was done in many other ,churches also1 partly in consequence of this ,apostolic injunction1 and partly because what he enjoins would be suggested in many cases by necessity and common sense4 ,this inference is confirmed by the fact that it is precisely to the continuity of doctrine secured by a regular succession of authorized and official teachers in the different ,churches that appeal is continually made by some of the earliest ,christian writers whose works have come down to us4 ,thus ,hegesippus 7c4 ,a4,d4 #agj7 gives as the result of careful personal investigations at ,corinth1 ,rome1 and elsewhere1 ,but in every succession 7of bishops7 and in every city there prevails just what the ,law and the ,prophets and the ,lord proclaim 7,eus41 ,h4,e41 ,,iv4 xxii4 #c74 ,irenaeus1 in his great work against heresies1 which was completed about ,a4,d4 #ahe1 says1 ,we can enumerate those who were appointed bishops by the ,apostles themselves in the different ,churches1 and their successors down to our own day2 and they neither taught nor acknowledged any such stuff as is raved by these men4444 ,but since it would be a long business in a work of this kind to enumerate the successions in all the ,churches1 he selects as a primary example that of the very great and ancient ,church1 well known to all men1 founded and established by the two most glorious ,apostles ,peter and ,paul4 ,after giving the succession of ,roman bishops from ,linus to ,eleutherus1 he glances at ,smyrna1 presided over by ,st4 ,john's disciple1 ,polycarp1 whose letter to the ,philippian ,church shows what he believed1 and at ,ephesus1 founded as a ,church by ,st4 ,paul and presided over by ,st4 ,john1 until the times of ,trajan 7,,iii4 iii4 #a-c74 ,again he says1 that1 although there may be different opinions respecting single passages of ,scripture1 yet there can be none as to the sum total of its contents1 viz4 that which the ,apostles have deposited in the ,church as the fulness of truth1 and which has been preserved in the ,church by the succession of bishops4 ,and again1 still more definitely1 ,the ,church1 though dispersed throughout the whole world even to the ends of the earth1 has received from the ,apostles and their disciples the belief in one ,god1 ,father ,almighty1 etc4444 ,having received this preaching and this belief1 the ,church1 as we said before1 although dispersed about the whole world1 carefully guards it1 as if dwelling in one house2 and she believes these things1 as if she had but one soul and one and the same heart1 and with perfect concord she preaches them and teaches them and hands them down1 as if she possessed but one mouth4 ,for although the languages up and down the world are different1 yet the import of the tradition is one and the same4 ,for neither the ,churches which are established in ,germany believe anything different or hand down anything different1 nor in ,spain1 nor in ,gaul1 nor throughout the ,east1 nor in ,egypt1 nor in ,libya1 nor those established about the central regions of the earth4444 ,and neither will he who is very mighty in word among those who preside in the ,churches utter different doctrines from these 7for no one is above the ,master71 nor will he who is weak in speaking lessen the tradition 7,i4 x4 #a1 #b74 ,clement of ,alexandria 7c4 ,a4,d4 #bjj7 tells us that he had studied in ,greece1 ,italy1 and the ,east1 under teachers from ,ionia1 ,coelesyria1 ,assyria1 and ,palestine2 and he writes of his teachers thus3 ,these men1 preserving the true tradition of the blessed teaching directly from ,peter and ,james1 from ,john and ,paul1 the holy ,apostles1 son receiving it from father 7but few are they who are like their fathers71 came by ,god's providence even to us1 to deposit among us those seeds which are ancestral and apostolic 7,strom41 ,i4 p4 #cbb1 ed4 ,potter74 ,tertullian in like manner appeals to the unbroken tradition1 reaching back to the ,apostles1 in a variety of ,churches3 ,run over the ,apostolic ,churches1 in which the very chairs of the ,apostles still preside in their places1 in which their own authentic writings are read1 uttering the voice and representing the face of each of them2 and he mentions in particular ,corinth1 ,philippi1 ,thessalonica1 ,ephesus1 and ,rome4 ,is it likely that ,churches of such number and weight should have strayed into one and the same faith8 7,de ,praes4 ,haer41 xxviii41 xxxvi474 ,this evidence is quite sufficient to prove that what ,st4 ,paul charged ,timothy to do at ,ephesus was done not only there but at all the chief centres of the ,christian ,church3 viz41 that everywhere great care was taken to provide continuity of authoritative teaching respecting the articles of the faith4 ,it indicates also that as a rule the bishop in each place was regarded as the custodian of the deposit1 who was to be chiefly responsible for its preservation4 ,but the precise method or methods 7for there was probably different machinery in different places7 by which this was accomplished1 cannot now be ascertained4 ,it is not until near the end of the second century that we begin to get anything like precise information as to the way in which ,christian instruction was given1 whether to believers or heathen1 in one or two of the principal centres of ,christendom2 e4g41 ,alexandria1 ,caesarea1 and ,jerusalem4 ,st ,paul himself had ruled that a bishop must be apt to teach 7#a ,tim4 iii4 #b2 comp4 ,tit4 i4 #i72 and although we have no reason to suppose that as a rule the bishop was the only or even the chief instructor1 yet he probably selected the teachers1 as ,timothy is directed to do here4 ,in the great ,catechetical ,school of ,alexandria the appointment of what we should now call the ,rector or senior professor was in the hands of the bishop4 ,and1 as we might expect1 bishops selected clergy for this most important office4 ,it forms one of the many contrasts between primitive ,christianity and heathenism1 that ,christians did1 and pagans did not1 regard it as one of the functions of the priesthood to give instruction in the traditional faith4 ,the heathen clergy1 if consulted1 would give information respecting the due performance of rites and ceremonies1 and the import of omens and dreams2 but of their giving systematic teaching as to what was to be believed respecting the gods1 there is no trace4 ,it is more than probable that a great deal of the instruction both to candidates for baptism and candidates for the ministry was from very early times reduced to something like a formula2 even before the dangers of corruption arising from ,gnosticism rendered this necessary1 we may believe that it took place4 ,we know that the ,gospel history was in the first instance taught orally2 and the oral instruction very soon fell into something that approached to a stereotyped form4 ,this would probably be the case with regard to statements of the essentials of the ,christian faith4 ,in ,ignatius 7,philad41 viii471 ,justin ,martyr 7,apol41 ,i4 #fa1 #ff71 and in ,irenaeus 7,haer41 ,i4 x4 #a7 we can trace what may well have been formulas in common use4 ,but it is not until the middle of the fourth century that we get a complete example of the systematic instruction given by a ,christian teacher1 in the ,catechetical ,lectures of ,st4 ,cyril1 ,bishop of ,jerusalem1 delivered1 however1 before his episcopate4 ,but what is certain respecting the earliest ages of the ,church is this2 that in every ,church regular instruction in the faith was given by persons in authority specially selected for this work1 and that frequent intercourse between the ,churches showed that the substance of the instruction given was in all cases the same1 whether the form of words was identical or not4 ,these facts1 which do not by any means stand alone1 are conclusive against the hypothesis1 that between the ,crucifixion and the middle of the second century1 a complete revolution in the creed was effected2 and that the traditional belief of ,christians is not that which ,jesus of ,nazareth taught1 but a perversion of it which owes its origin mainly to the overwhelming influence of ,his professed follower1 but virtual supplanter1 ,saul of ,tarsus4 ,,chapter ,,xxx4 ,,the ,,christian',s ,,life ,,as ,,military ,,service2 ,,as ,,an ,,athletic ,,contest2 ,,as ,,husbandry4 ,suffer hardships with me1 as a good soldier of ,christ ,jesus4 ,no soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life2 that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier4 ,and if also a man contend in the games1 he is not crowned1 except he have contended lawfully4 ,the husbandman that laboureth must be the first to partake of the fruits4 ,consider what ,i say2 for the ,lord shall give thee understanding in all things4--#b ,,tim4 ii4 #c-g4 ,st4 ,paul represents the ,christian life and the ,christian ministry under a variety of figures4 ,sometimes as husbandry2 as when he tells the ,galatians that whatsoever a man soweth1 that shall he also reap2 and that in due season we shall reap1 if we faint not 7,gal4 vi4 #g1 #i72 or when he reminds the ,corinthians that he that ploweth ought to plow in hope1 and he that thresheth1 to thresh in hope of partaking 7#a ,cor4 ix4 #aj74 ,sometimes as an athletic contest2 as when he tells the ,corinthians that every man who striveth in the games is temperate in all things 7#a ,cor ix4 #be72 or the ,ephesians that our wrestling is not against flesh and blood1 but against the principalities1 against the powers1 against the world-rulers of this darkness1 against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places 7,eph4 vi4 #ab74 ,sometimes1 and most frequently1 as military service2 as when he charges the ,thessalonians to put on the breastplate of faith and love1 and for a helmet the hope of salvation 7#a ,thess4 v4 #h72 or when he writes to the ,philippians of ,epaphroditus as his fellow-soldier 7,phil4 ii4 #be74 ,in the passage before us he makes use of all three figures3 but the one of which he seems to have been most fond is the one which he places first1--that of military service4 ,suffer hardships with me1 or take thy share in suffering1 as a good soldier of ,christ ,jesus4 ,no soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life2 that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier4 ,he had used the same kind of language in the ,first ,epistle1 urging ,timothy to war the good warfare and to fight the good fight of faith 7i4 #ah2 vi4 #ab74 ,every ,christian1 and especially every ,christian minister1 may be regarded as a soldier1 as an athlete1 as a husbandman2 but of the three similitudes the one which fits him best is that of a soldier4 ,even if this were not so1 ,st4 ,paul's fondness for the metaphor would be very intelligible4 #a4 ,military service was very familiar to him1 especially in his imprisonments4 ,he had been arrested by soldiers at ,jerusalem1 escorted by troops to ,caesarea1 sent under the charge of a centurion and a band of soldiers to ,rome1 and had been kept there under military surveillance for many months in the first ,roman imprisonment1 and for we know not how long in the second4 ,and we may assume it as almost certain that the place of his imprisonment was near the praetorian camp4 ,this would probably be so ordered for the convenience of the soldiers who had charge of him4 ,he therefore had very large opportunities of observing very closely all the details of ordinary military life4 ,he must frequently have seen soldiers under drill1 on parade1 on guard1 on the march2 must have watched them cleaning1 mending1 and sharpening their weapons2 putting their armour on1 putting it off4 ,often during hours of enforced inactivity he must have compared these details with the details of the ,christian life1 and noticed how admirably they corresponded with one another4 #b4 ,military service was not only very familiar to himself2 it was also quite sufficiently familiar to those whom he addressed4 ,roman troops were everywhere to be seen throughout the length and breadth of the ,empire1 and nearly every member of society knew something of the kind of life which a soldier of the ,empire had to lead4 #c4 ,the ,roman army was the one great organization of which it was still possible1 in that age of boundless social corruption1 to think and speak with right-minded admiration and respect4 ,no doubt it was often the instrument of wholesale cruelties as it pushed forward its conquests1 or strengthened its hold1 over resisting or rebelling nations4 ,but it promoted discipline and esprit de corps4 ,even during active warfare it checked individual license2 and when the conquest was over it was the representative and mainstay of order and justice against high-handed anarchy and wrong4 ,its officers several times appear in the narrative portions of the ,new ,testament1 and they make a favourable impression upon us4 ,if they are fair specimens of the military men in the ,roman ,empire at that period1 then the ,roman army must have been indeed a fine service4 ,there is the centurion whose faith excited even ,christ's admiration2 the centurion who confessed ,christ's righteousness and ,divine origin at the crucifixion2 ,cornelius1 of the ,italian cohort1 to whom ,st4 ,peter was sent2 ,c4 ,lysias1 the chief captain or tribune who rescued ,st4 ,paul1 first from the mob1 and then from the conspiracy to assassinate him2 and ,julius1 who out of consideration for ,st4 ,paul prevented the soldiers from killing the prisoners in the shipwreck4 ,but the reasons for the ,apostle's preference for this similitude go deeper than all this4 #d4 ,military service involves self-sacrifice1 endurance1 discipline1 vigilance1 obedience1 ready co-operation with others1 sympathy1 enthusiasm1 loyalty4 ,tertullian in his ,address to ,martyrs draws with characteristic incisiveness the stern parallel between the severity of the soldier's life and that of the ,christian4 ,be it so1 that even to ,christians a prison is distasteful4 ,we were called to active service under the ,living ,god from the very moment of our response to the baptismal formula4 ,no soldier comes to the war surrounded by luxuries1 nor goes into action from a comfortable bed-room1 but from the make-shift and narrow tent1 where every kind of hardness and severity and unpleasantness is to be found4 ,even in peace soldiers learn betimes to suffer warfare by toil and discomforts1 by marching in arms1 running over the drill-ground1 working at trench-making1 constructing the tortoise1 till the sweat runs again4 ,in the sweat of the brow all things are done1 lest body and mind should shrink at changes from shade to sunshine1 and from sunshine to frost1 from the dress of ease to the coat of mail1 from stillness to shouting1 from quiet to the din of war4 ,in like manner do ye1 ,o blessed ones1 account whatever is hard in this your lot as discipline of the powers of your mind and body4 ,ye are about to enter for the good fight1 in which the ,living ,god gives the prizes1 and the ,holy ,spirit prepares the combatants1 and the crown is the eternal prize of an angel's nature1 citizenship in heaven1 glory for ever and ever4 ,therefore your trainer1 ,jesus ,christ1 ,who has anointed you with the ,spirit and led you forth to this arena1 has seen good to separate you from a state of freedom for rougher treatment1 that power may be made strong in you4 ,for the athletes also are set apart for stricter discipline1 that they may have time to build up their strength4 ,they are kept from luxury1 from daintier meats1 from too pleasant drink2 they are driven1 tormented1 distressed4 ,the harder their labours in training1 the greater their hopes of victory4 ,and they do it1 says the ,apostle1 that they may obtain a corruptible crown4 ,we1 with an eternal crown to obtain1 look upon the prison as our training-ground1 that we may be led to the arena of the judgment-seat well disciplined by every kind of discomfort3 because virtue is built up by hardness1 but by softness is overthrown 7,ad ,mart41 iii74 ,it will be observed that ,tertullian passes by an easy transition from training for military service to training for athletic contests4 ,the whole passage is little more than a graphic amplification of what ,st4 ,paul writes to ,timothy4 #e4 ,but military service implies1 what athletic contests do not1 vigilant1 unwearying1 and organized opposition to a vigilant1 unwearying1 and organized foe4 ,in many athletic contests one's opponent is a rival rather than an enemy4 ,he may defeat us2 but he inflicts no injury4 ,he may win the prizes2 but he takes nothing of ours4 ,and even in the more deadly conflicts of the amphitheatre the enemy is very different from an enemy in war4 ,the combat is between individuals1 not armies2 it is the exception and not the rule2 it is strictly limited in time and place1 not for all times and all places2 it is a duel and not a campaign1--still less a prolonged war4 ,military service is either perpetual warfare or perpetual preparation for it4 ,and just such is the ,christian life3 it is either a conflict1 or a preparation for one4 ,the soldier1 so long as he remains in the service1 can never say1 ,i may lay aside my arms and my drill3 all enemies are conquered3 there will never be another war4 ,and the ,christian1 so long as he remains in this world1 can never think that he may cease to watch and to pray1 because the victory is won1 and he will never be tempted any more4 ,it is for this reason that he cannot allow himself to be entangled in the affairs of this life4 ,the soldier on service avoids this error3 he knows that it would interfere with his promotion4 ,the ,christian must avoid it at least as carefully2 for he is always on service1 and the loss of promotion is the loss of eternal life4 ,observe that ,st4 ,paul does not suggest that ,christians should keep aloof from the affairs of this life1 which would be a flat contradiction of what he teaches elsewhere4 ,the ,christian is to do his own business1 and to work with his hands1 that he may walk honestly toward them that are without1 and may have need of nothing 7#a ,thess4 iv4 #aa1 #ab74 ,he has a duty to perform in the affairs of this life1 but in doing it he is not to be entangled in them4 ,they are means1 not ends2 and must be made to help him on1 not suffered to keep him back4 ,if they become entanglements instead of opportunities1 he will soon lose that state of constant preparation and alertness1 which is the indispensable condition of success4 ,the same thought is brought out in the second metaphor by the word lawfully4 ,the athlete who competes in the games does not receive a crown1 unless he has contended lawfully1 i4e41 according to rule 7nomims1 nomos74 ,even if he seems to be victorious1 he nevertheless is not crowned1 because he has violated the well-known conditions4 ,and what is the rule1 what are the conditions of the ,christian's contest8 ,if any man would come after ,me1 let him deny himself1 and take up his cross1 and follow ,me4 ,if we wish to share ,christ's victory1 we must be ready to share ,his suffering4 ,no cross1 no crown4 ,to try to withdraw oneself from all hardship and annoyance1 to attempt to avoid all that is painful or disagreeable1 is a violation of the rules of the arena4 ,this1 it would appear1 ,timothy was in some respects tempted to do3 and timidity and despondency must not be allowed to get the upper hand4 ,not that what is painful1 or distasteful1 or unpopular1 is necessarily right2 but it is certainly not necessarily wrong3 and to try to avoid everything that one dislikes is to ensure being fatally wrong4 ,so that1 as ,chrysostom says1 it behoves thee not to complain1 if thou endurest hardness2 but to complain1 if thou dost not endure hardness4 ,chrysostom and some modern commentators make the striving lawfully include not only the observance of the rules of the contest1 but the previous training and preparation4 ,what is meant by lawfully8 ,it is not enough that he is anointed1 and even engages1 unless he complies with all the regulations of training with respect to diet1 temperance1 and sobriety1 and all the rules of the wrestling-school4 ,unless1 in short1 he go through all that is befitting a wrestler1 he is not crowned4 ,this makes good sense1 if is not crowned be interpreted to mean is not likely to be first1 rather than does not receive the crown1 even if he is first4 ,a victorious athlete is rightly deprived of the reward1 if he has violated the conditions of the contest3 but no one ever yet heard of a victor being refused the prize because he had not trained properly4 ,moreover1 there are enough examples to show that lawfully 7nomims7 does sometimes include the training as well as the contest4 ,but this does not seem to be ,st ,paul's meaning4 ,in the first similitude he takes no account of the time which precedes the soldier's service1 during which he may be supposed to be preparing himself for it4 ,the ,christian's life and the soldier's service are regarded as co-extensive1 and there is no thought of any previous period4 ,so also in the second similitude4 ,the ,christian's life and the athlete's contest are regarded as co-extensive1 and no account is taken of anything that may have preceded4 ,baptism is entering the lists1 not entering the training-school2 and the only rules under consideration are the rules of the arena4 ,no doubt there are analogies between the training-school and ,christian discipline1 and ,st4 ,paul sometimes makes use of them 7#a ,cor4 ix4 #be1 #bg72 but they do not seem to be included in the present metaphor4 ,but it is about the third similitude that there has been most discussion4 ,the husbandman that laboureth must be the first to partake of the fruits3 not1 as the ,a4 ,v41 must be first partaker of the fruits2 which seems to imply that he must partake of the fruits before he labours4 ,what is the meaning of first8 ,some commentators resort to the rather desperate hypothesis that this word is misplaced1 as it sometimes is in careless writing and conversation3 and they suppose that what ,st4 ,paul means is1 that the husbandman1 who labours first1 must then partake of the fruits1 or1 more clearly1 the husbandman1 who wishes to partake of the fruits1 must first of all labour4 ,the margin of the ,a4 ,v4 suggests a similar translation4 ,but this is to credit the ,apostle with great clumsiness of expression4 ,and even if this transposition of the first could be accepted as probable1 there still remains the fact that we have the present and not the aorist participle 7kopinta and not kopiasanta74 ,had ,st4 ,paul meant what is supposed1 he would have said ,the husbandman who has first laboured1 not who labours first4 ,but there is no transposition of the first4 ,the order of the ,greek shows that the emphatic word is labours4 ,it is the labouring husbandman who must be the first to partake of the fruits4 ,it is the man who works hard and with a will1 and not the one who works listlessly or looks despondently on1 who1 according to all moral fitness and the nature of things1 ought to have the first share in the fruits4 ,this interpretation does justice to the ,greek as it stands1 without resorting to any manipulation of the ,apostle's language4 ,moreover1 it brings the saying into perfect harmony with the context4 ,it is quite evident that the three metaphors are parallel to one another and are intended to teach the same lesson4 ,in each of them we have two things placed side by side1--a prize and the method to be observed in obtaining it4 ,do you1 as a ,christian soldier on service1 wish for the approbation of ,him who has enrolled you8 ,then you must avoid the entanglements which would interfere with your service4 ,do you1 as a ,christian athlete1 wish for the crown of victory8 ,then you must not evade the rules of the contest4 ,do you1 as a ,christian husbandman1 wish to be among the first to enjoy the harvest8 ,then you must be foremost in toil4 ,and the ,apostle draws attention to the importance of the lesson of self-devotion and endurance1 inculcated under these three impressive figures1 by adding1 ,consider what ,i say2 for the ,lord shall give thee understanding in all things4 ,that is1 ,he has confidence that ,his disciple will be enabled to draw the right conclusion from these metaphors2 and having done so1 will have grace to apply it to his own case4 ,timothy is not the only ,christian1 or the only minister1 who is in danger of being disgusted1 and disheartened1 and dismayed1 by the coldness and apathy of professing friends1 and by the hostility and contempt of secret or open enemies4 ,we all of us need at times to be reminded that here we have no abiding city1 but that our citizenship is in heaven4 ,and we all of us are at times inclined to murmur1 because the rest for which we so often yearn1 is not given us here2--a rest from toil1 a rest from temptation1 and a rest from sin4 ,such a sabbath-rest is the prize in store for us2 but we cannot have it here4 ,and if we desire to have it hereafter1 we must keep the rules of the arena2 and the rules are self-control1 self-sacrifice1 and work4 ,,chapter ,,xxxi4 ,,the ,,power ,,of ,a ,,belief ,,in ,,the ,,resurrection ,,and ,,the ,,incarnation4--,,the ,,gospel ,,of ,,st4 ,,paul4 ,remember ,jesus ,christ1 risen from the dead1 of the seed of ,david1 according to my gospel3 wherein ,i suffer hardship unto bonds1 as a malefactor2 but the word of ,god is not bound4 ,therefore ,i endure all things for the elects' sake1 that they also may obtain the salvation which is in ,christ ,jesus with eternal glory4--#b ,,tim4 ii4 #h-aj4 ,these words are a continuation of the same subject4 ,they are additional thoughts supplied to the ,apostle's beloved disciple to induce him to take courage and to bear willingly and thankfully whatever difficulties and sufferings the preaching of the gospel in all its fulness may involve4 ,in the three metaphors just preceding1 ,st4 ,paul has indicated that there is nothing amazing1 nothing that ought to cause perplexity or despondency1 in the fact that ministers of the word have to encounter much opposition and danger4 ,on the contrary1 such things are the very conditions of the situation2 they are the very rules of the course4 ,one would have to suspect that there was something seriously amiss1 if they did not occur2 and without them there would be no chance of reward4 ,here he goes on to point out that this hardship and suffering is very far from being mere hardship and suffering2 it has its bright side and its compensations1 even in this life4 ,throughout this section it is well worth while to notice the very considerable improvements which the ,revisers have made in it4 ,one or two of these have been already noticed2 but for convenience some of the principal instances are here collected together4 ,suffer hardship with me1 or ,take thy part in suffering hardship1 is better than ,thou therefore endure hardship1 which while inserting a spurious therefore1 omits the important intimation that the hardship to which ,timothy is invited is one which others are enduring1 and which he is called upon1 not to bear alone1 but to share4 ,no soldier on service is better than ,no man that warreth1 and if also a man contend in the games is more definite than the vague if a man also strive for masteries4 ,the ambiguity of must be first partaker of the fruits is avoided in must be the first to partake of the fruits4 ,but perhaps none of these corrections are so important as those in the passage now before us4 ,remember that ,jesus ,christ of the seed of ,david1 was raised from the dead1 according to my gospel1 gives quite a wrong turn to ,st4 ,paul's language4 ,it puts the clauses in the wrong order1 and gives an erroneous impression as to what is to be remembered4 ,timothy is charged to remember ,jesus ,christ2 and in remembering ,him he is to think of ,him as one ,who is risen from the dead1 and ,who is also of the seed of ,david4 ,these are central facts of the ,gospel which ,st4 ,paul has always preached2 they have been his support in all his sufferings2 and they will be the same support to the disciple as they have been to the master4 ,remember ,jesus ,christ4 ,every ,christian1 who has to endure what seem to him to be hardships1 will sooner or later fall back upon this remembrance4 ,he is not the first1 and not the chief sufferer in the world4 ,there is ,one ,who has undergone hardships1 compared with which those of other men sink into nothingness2 and ,who has expressly told those ,who wish to be ,his disciples1 that they must follow ,him along the path of suffering4 ,it is specially in this respect that the servant is not above his ,lord4 ,and just in proportion as we are true servants will the remembrance of ,jesus ,christ help us to welcome what ,he lays upon us as proof that ,he recognizes and accepts our service4 ,but merely to remember ,jesus ,christ as a ,master ,who has suffered1 and ,who has made suffering a condition of service1 will not be a permanently sustaining or comforting thought1 if it ends there4 ,therefore ,st4 ,paul says to his perplexed and desponding delegate1 ,remember ,jesus ,christ as one risen from the dead4 ,jesus ,christ has not only endured every kind of suffering1 including its extreme form1 death1 but ,he has conquered it all by rising again4 ,he is not only the sinless ,sufferer1 but also the triumphant ,victor over death and hell4 ,he has set us an example of heroic endurance in obedience to the will of ,god2 but ,he has also secured for us that our endurance in imitation of ,him shall be crowned with victory4 ,had ,christ's mission ended on ,calvary1 ,he would but have given to the world a purified form of ,stoicism1 a refined philosophy of suffering2 and ,his teaching would have failed1 as ,stoicism failed1 because a mere philosophy of suffering is quickly proved by experience to be a philosophy of despair4 ,renan remarks with truth1 that the gospel of ,marcus ,aurelius fortifies1 but does not console3 and all teaching is doomed from the outset1 which comes to a groaning and travailing humanity without any consolations to bestow4 ,what is the thought which through long centuries has wrung1 and is still wringing millions of human hearts with anguish8 ,it is the thought of the existence and not only the existence but the apparent predominance1 of evil4 ,everywhere experience seems to teach us that evil of every kind1 physical1 intellectual1 and moral1 holds the field and appears likely to hold it4 ,to allow oneself to be mastered by this thought is to be on the road to doubting ,god's moral government of the world4 ,what is the antidote to it8 ,remember ,jesus ,christ as one risen from the dead4 ,when has evil ever been so completely triumphant over good as when it succeeded in getting the ,prophet of ,nazareth nailed to the tree1 like some vile and noxious animal8 ,that was the hour of success for the malignant ,jewish hierarchy and for the spiritual powers of darkness4 ,but it was an hour to which very strict limits were placed4 ,very soon ,he ,who had been dismissed to the grave by a cruel and shameful death1 defeated and disgraced1 rose again from it triumphant1 not only over ,jewish priests and ,roman soldiers1 but over death and the cause of death2 that is1 over every kind of evil--pain1 and ignorance1 and sin4 ,it was for that very purpose that ,he laid down ,his life1 that ,he might take it again3 and it was for that reason that ,his ,father loved ,him1 because ,he had received the commandment to lay it down and take it again from ,his ,father 7,john x4 #ag1 #ah74 ,but to remember ,jesus ,christ as one risen from the dead does more than this4 ,it not only shows us that the evil against which we have such a weary struggle in this life1 both in others and in ourselves1 is not 7in spite of depressing appearances7 permanently triumphant2 it also assures us that there is another and a better life in which the good cause will be supreme1 and supreme without the possibility of disaster1 of even of contest4 ,we talk in a conventional way of death as the country from whose bourne no traveller returns3 but we are wrong4 ,we do not mean it so2 yet this saying1 if pressed1 would carry with it a denial of a fact1 which is better attested than any fact in ancient history4 ,one ,traveller has returned2 and ,his return is no extraordinary accident or exceptional and solitary success4 ,it is a representative return and a typical success4 ,what the ,son of ,man has done1 other sons of men can do1 and will do4 ,the solidarity between the human race and the ,second ,adam1 between the ,church and its ,head1 is such1 that the victory of the ,leader carries with it the victory of the whole band4 ,the breach made in the gates of death is one through which the whole army of ,christ's followers may pass out into eternal life1 free from death's power for evermore4 ,this thought is full of comfort and encouragement to those who feel themselves almost overwhelmed by the perplexities1 and contradictions1 and sorrows of this life4 ,however grievous this life may be1 it has this merciful condition attached to it1 that it lasts only for a short time2 and then the risen ,christ leads us into a life which is free from all trouble1 and which knows no end4 ,the miseries of this life are lessened by the knowledge that they cannot last long4 ,the blessedness of the life to come is perfected by the fact that it is eternal4 ,once more1 to remember ,jesus ,christ as one risen from the dead1 is to remember ,one ,who claimed to be the promised ,saviour of the world1 and ,who proved ,his claim4 ,by its countless needs1 by many centuries of yearning1 by its consciousness of failure and of guilt1 the whole human race had been led to look forward to the coming of some great ,deliverer1 ,who would rescue mankind from its hopeless descent down the path of sin and retribution1 as a possibility4 ,by the express promise of ,almighty ,god1 made to the first generation of mankind1 and renewed again and again to patriarchs and prophets1 the chosen people had been taught to look forward to the coming of a ,saviour as a certainty4 ,and ,jesus of ,nazareth had claimed to be this longed for and expected ,deliverer1 the ,desire of all nations and the ,saviour of the world4 ,i that speak unto thee am ,he 7,john iv4 #bf74 ,by ,his mighty works1 and still more by ,his life-giving words1 ,he had shown that ,he had ,divine credentials in support of ,his claim3 but not until ,he rose again from the dead was ,his claim absolutely proved4 ,it was the proof which ,he ,himself volunteered4 ,destroy this temple and in three days ,i will raise it up 7,john ii4 #ai74 ,there shall no sign be given but the sign of ,jonah the prophet3 for as ,jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale1 so shall the ,son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth 7,matt4 xii4 #ci1 #dj71 and then return again to the light of day as ,jonah did4 ,he had raised others from the dead2 but so had ,elijah and ,elisha done4 ,that proved no more than that ,he was a prophet as mighty as they4 ,but no one before ,jesus had ever raised ,himself4 ,if ,his ,messiahship was doubtful before1 all doubt vanished on ,easter morning4 ,and this leads ,st4 ,paul on to the second point which his downcast disciple is to remember in connexion with ,jesus ,christ4 ,he is to remember ,him as of the seed of ,david4 ,he is not only truly ,god1 but truly man4 ,he was risen from the dead1 and yet ,he was born of flesh and blood1 and born of that royal line of which ,timothy1 who from a babe had known the sacred writings1 had many times heard and read4 ,the ,resurrection and the ,incarnation2--those are the two facts on which a faltering minister of the ,gospel is to hold fast1 in order to comfort his heart and strengthen his steps4 ,it is worth noting that ,st4 ,paul places the ,resurrection before the ,incarnation1 a fact which is quite lost in the transposed order of the ,a4 ,v4 ,st4 ,paul's order1 which at first sight seems to be illogical1 was the usual order of the ,apostles' preaching4 ,they began1 not with the miraculous birth of ,christ1 but with ,his resurrection4 ,they proved by abundant testimony that ,jesus had risen from the dead1 and thence argued that ,he must have been more than man4 ,they did not preach ,his birth of a virgin1 and thence argue that ,he was ,divine4 ,how was ,his miraculous birth to be proved1 to those who were unwilling to accept ,his mother's word for it8 ,but thousands of people had seen ,him dead upon the ,cross1 and hundreds had seen ,him alive again afterwards4 ,no matter of fact was more securely established for all those who cared to investigate the evidence4 ,with the ,resurrection proved1 the foundations of the faith were laid4 ,the ,incarnation followed easily after this1 especially when combined with the descent from ,david1 a fact which helped to prove ,his ,messiahship4 ,let ,timothy boldly and patiently preach these great truths in all their grand simplicity1 and they will bring comfort and strength to him in his distress and difficulty1 as they have done to the ,apostle4 ,this is the meaning of according to my gospel4 ,these are the truths which ,st4 ,paul has habitually preached1 and of the value of which he can speak from full experience4 ,he knows what he is talking about1 when he affirms1 that these things are worth remembering when one is in trouble4 ,the ,resurrection and the ,incarnation are facts on which he has ceaselessly insisted1 because in the wear and tear of life he has found out their worth4 ,there is no emphasis on the my1 as the ,greek shows4 ,an enclitic cannot be emphatic4 ,the ,apostle is not contrasting his ,gospel with that of other preachers1 as if he would say1 ,others may teach what they please1 but this is the substance of my ,gospel4 ,and ,jerome is certainly mistaken1 if what is quoted as a remark of his is rightly assigned to him by ,fabricius1 to the effect that whenever ,st4 ,paul says according to my ,gospel he means the written ,gospel of his companion ,st4 ,luke1 who had caught much of his spirit and something of his language4 ,it would be much nearer the truth to say that ,st4 ,paul never refers to a written ,gospel4 ,in every one of the passages in which the phrase occurs the context is quite against any such interpretation 7,rom4 ii4 #af2 xvi4 #be2 cf ,tim4 #a4 i4 #aa74 ,in this place the words which follow are conclusive3 ,wherein ,i suffer hardship unto bonds1 as a malefactor4 ,how could he be said to suffer hardship unto bonds in the ,gospel of ,st4 ,luke8 ,a word of protest may be added against the strange and impossible theory that the third ,gospel and the ,acts of the ,apostles were written by ,st4 ,paul himself4 ,if there is one thing which is certain with regard to the authorship of the ,books of the ,new ,testament1 it is that the ,acts was written by a companion of ,st4 ,paul4 ,even destructive critics who spare little else1 admit this of portions of the ,acts2 and the ,book must be accepted or rejected as a whole4 ,moreover1 it is admitted by both defenders and assailants that the writer of the ,acts did not know the ,epistle to the ,galatians2 and it is highly probable that when he wrote he had not seen the ,epistles to the ,romans and to the ,corinthians4#ib ,how then can he have been ,st4 ,paul8 ,and why should the ,apostle write sometimes in the third person of what ,paul said and did1 and sometimes in the first person of what we did8 ,all this is quite natural1 if the writer is a companion of the ,apostle1 who was sometimes with him and sometimes not2 it is most extraordinary if the ,apostle himself is the writer4 ,and of course if the ,acts is not by ,st4 ,paul1 the third ,gospel cannot be2 for it is impossible to assign them to different writers4 ,moreover1 not to mention other difficulties1 it may be doubted whether1 more than two years 7,acts xxviii4 #cj7 before the death of ,st4 ,paul1 there would have been time for many to have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us 7,luke i4 #a71 and then for him to have collected material for the third ,gospel and to have written it1 and then1 after an interval1 for him to have written the ,acts4 ,all the arguments in favour of the ,pauline authorship of the third ,gospel and of the ,acts are satisfied by the almost universally accepted view1 that these two works were written by a companion of the ,apostle1 who was thoroughly familiar with his modes of thought and expression4 ,the preaching of this ,gospel of the ,resurrection and the ,incarnation had caused the ,apostle 7as he here tells us7 to suffer much evil1 as if he had done much evil1 even to the extent of a grievous imprisonment4 ,he is bound as a malefactor2 but his ,gospel is not bound1 because it is the word of ,god4 ,he perhaps changes the expression from my ,gospel to the word of ,god in order to indicate why it is that1 although the preacher is in prison1 yet his ,gospel is free2--because the word which he preaches is not his own1 but ,god's4 ,the word of ,god is not bound4 ,the ,apostle is imprisoned2 but his tongue and his companion's pen are free4 ,he can still teach those who come to him2 can still dictate letters for others to ,luke and the faithful few who visit him4 ,he can still1 as in his first ,roman imprisonment1 see that what has befallen him may have fallen out rather unto the progress of the gospel2 so that his bonds became manifest in ,christ throughout the whole praetorian guard1 and to all the rest 7,phil4 i4 #ab1 #ac74 ,he has been able to influence those whom1 but for his imprisonment1 he would never have had an opportunity of reaching1--,roman soldiers1 and warders1 and officials1 and all who have to take cognisance of his trial before the imperial tribunal4 ,the word of ,god is not bound4 ,while he is in prison1 ,timothy1 and ,titus1 and scores of other evangelists and preachers1 are free4 ,their action is not hampered because a colleague is shut up4 ,the loss of him might have a depressing and discouraging effect on some2 but this ought not to be so1 and he hopes will not be so4 ,those who are left at large ought to labour all the more energetically and enthusiastically1 in order to supply whatever is lost by the ,apostle's want of freedom1 and in order to convince the world that this is no contest with a human organization or with human opinion1 but with a ,divine word and a ,divine ,person4 ,the word of ,god is not bound1 because ,his word is the truth1 and it is the truth that makes men free4 ,how can that of which the very essence is freedom1 and of which the attribute is that it confers freedom1 be itself kept in bondage8 ,truth is freer than air and more incompressible than water4 ,and just as men must have air and must have water1 and you cannot keep them long from either2 so you cannot long keep them from the truth or the truth from them4 ,you may dilute it1 or obscure it1 or retard it1 but you cannot bury it or shut it up4 ,laws which are of ,divine origin will surely and irresistibly assert themselves1 and truth and the mind of man will meet4 ,,footnotes3 #ib ,it is not credible that a writer who was very familiar with the incidents and persons mentioned and alluded to in ,gal4 i4 #ag2 ii4 #a-e1 #aa-ad2 ,rom4 xv4 #ai1 #bh2 xvi4 #a-c1 #bc2 #a ,cor4 i4 #aa-af2 v4 #a2 xi4 #cj2 xvi4 #ae2 #b ,cor4 ii4 #ab2 vii4 #e2 xi4 #bd2 xii4 #c1 #g1 #ah1 should make no mention of them or reference to them4 ,the silence respecting ,titus would be most extraordinary if the ,apostle himself were the author of the ,acts4 ,see ,bishop ,lightfoot's article on the ,acts in the new edition of the ,dict4 of the ,bible4 ,,chapter ,,xxxii4 ,,the ,,need ,,of ,a ,,solemn ,,charge ,,against ,a ,,controversial ,,spirit1 ,,of ,,diligence ,,free ,,from ,,shame1 ,,and ,,of ,a ,,hatred ,,of ,,the ,,profanity ,,which ,,wraps ,,up ,,error ,,in ,,the ,,language ,,of ,,truth4 ,of these things put them in remembrance1 charging them in the sight of the ,lord1 that they strive not about words1 to no profit1 to the subverting of them that hear4 ,give diligence to present thyself approved unto ,god1 a workman that needeth not to be ashamed1 handling aright the word of truth4 ,but shun profane babblings3 for they will proceed further in ungodliness1 and their word will eat as doth a gangrene2 of whom is ,hymenaeus and ,philetus2 men who concerning the truth have erred1 saying that the resurrection is passed already1 and overthrow the faith of some4--#b ,,tim4 ii4 #ad-ah4 ,we here enter upon a new section of the ,epistle1 which continues down to the end of the chapter4 ,it consists in the main of directions as to ,timothy's own behaviour in the responsible post in which he has been placed4 ,and these are both positive and negative2 he is told what to aim at1 and what to avoid4 ,as to the meaning of these things1 of which he is to put his flock in remembrance1 it seems most natural to refer the expression to the faithful saying with which the previous section closes4 ,he is to remind others 7and thereby strengthen his own courage and faith71 that to die for ,christ is to live with ,him1 and to suffer for ,christ is to reign with ,him1 while to deny ,him is to involve ,his denying us2 for1 however faithless we may be1 ,he must abide by what ,he has promised both of rewards and punishments4 ,the fact that the ,apostle uses the expression put them in remembrance1 implying that they already know it1 is some confirmation of the view that the faithful saying is a formula that was often recited in the congregation2 a view which the rhythmical character of the passage renders somewhat probable4 ,having reminded them of what they already know well1 ,timothy is to charge them in the sight of the ,lord1 that they strive not about words4 ,this phrase charge them in the sight of the ,lord is worthy of notice4 ,the ,apostle twice uses it in addressing ,timothy himself4 ,i charge thee in the sight of ,god1 and ,christ ,jesus1 and the elect angels1 that thou observe these things without prejudice 7#a ,tim4 v4 #ba72 and ,i charge thee in the sight of ,god1 and of ,christ ,jesus1 ,who shall judge the quick and dead1 and by ,his appearing and ,his kingdom2 preach the word 7#b ,tim4 iv4 #a74 ,the word for charge 7diamartythesthai7 indicates the interposition 7dia7 of two parties1 and hence comes to mean to call heaven and earth to witness2 in other words1 to testify solemnly or adjure2 and from this latter meaning it easily becomes employed for a solemn charge or exhortation4 ,in translating1 it would be quite legitimate to insert an adverb to express this3 solemnly charging them in the sight of ,god4 ,in dealing with these pestilent disputes and perilous opinions ,timothy1 both for his own sake and for that of his hearers1 is to remember1 and to remind them1 in ,whose presence he is speaking4 ,god's eye is upon both preacher and congregation2 and in pleading the cause of truth and sobriety the preacher is in fact pleading before the ,divine tribunal4 ,this will make the teacher wary in his words1 and will lead his hearers to listen to them in a spirit of sobriety4 ,it has been debated whether ,st4 ,paul has in his mind those faithful men to whom ,timothy is to commit the substance of the ,apostle's teaching 7ver4 #b71 or whether he is not now taking a wider view and including the whole of the disciple's flock4 ,it is impossible to determine this with certainty2 and it is not a question of much moment4 ,one thing is clear2 viz41 that the whole section is applicable to ministers throughout the ,church in all ages2 and the words under consideration seem to be well worthy of attention at the present time1 when so many unworthy topics and so much unworthy language may be heard from the pulpit4 ,one is inclined to think that if ministers always remembered that they were speaking in the sight of ,god1 they would sometimes find other things to say1 and other ways of saying them4 ,we talk glibly enough of another man's words and opinions1 when he is not present4 ,we may be entirely free from the smallest wish to misrepresent or exaggerate2 but at the same time we speak with great freedom and almost without restraint4 ,what a change comes over us1 if1 in the midst of our glib recital of his views and sayings1 the man himself enters the room6 ,at once we begin to measure our words and to speak with more caution4 ,our tone becomes less positive1 and we have less confidence that we are justified in making sweeping statements on the subject4 ,ought not something of this circumspection and diffidence to be felt by those who take the responsibility of telling others about the mind of ,god8 ,and if they remembered constantly that they speak in the sight of the ,lord1 this attitude of solemn circumspection would become habitual4 ,that they strive not about words4 ,the spirit of controversy is a bad thing in itself2 but the evil is intensified when the subject of controversy is a question of words4 ,controversy is necessary2 but it is a necessary evil3 and that man has need of searchings of heart who finds that he enjoys it1 and sometimes even provokes it1 when it might easily have been avoided4 ,but a fondness for strife about words is one of the lowest forms which the malady can take4 ,principles are things worth striving about1 when opposition to what we know to be right and true is unavoidable4 ,but disputatiousness about words is something like proof that love of self has taken the place of love of truth4 ,the word-splitter wrangles1 not for the sake of arriving at the truth1 but for the sake of a dialectical victory4 ,he cares little as to what is right or wrong1 so long as he comes off triumphant in the argument4 ,hence the ,apostle said in the first ,epistle1 that the natural fruit of these disputes about words is envy1 strife1 and railings 7vi4 #d74 ,they are an exhibition of dexterity in which the object of the disputants is not to investigate1 but to baffle2 not to enlighten1 but to perplex4 ,and here he says that they are worse than worthless4 ,they tend to no profit3 on the contrary they tend to the subverting of those who listen to them4 ,this subversion or overthrow 7katastroph7 is the exact opposite of what ought to be the result of ,christian discussion1 viz41 edification or building up 7oikodom74 ,the audience1 instead of being built up in faith and principle1 find themselves bewildered and lowered4 ,they have a less firm grasp of truth and a less loyal affection for it4 ,it is as if some beautiful object1 which they were learning to understand and admire1 had been scored all over with marks by those who had been disputing as to the meaning and relation of the details4 ,it has been a favourite device of the heretics and sceptics of all ages to endeavour to provoke a discussion on points about which they hope to place an opponent in a difficulty4 ,their object is not to settle1 but to unsettle2 not to clear up doubts but to create them3 and hence we find ,bishop ,butler in his ,durham ,charge recommending his clergy to avoid religious discussions in general conversation1 because the clever propounder of difficulties will find ready hearers1 while the patient answerer of them will not do so4 ,to dispute is to place truth at an unnecessary disadvantage4 ,give diligence to present thyself approved unto ,god1 a workman that needeth not to be ashamed4 ,in the previous section ,st4 ,paul exhorted ,timothy to be ready to suffer for ,christ3 here he charges him to work for ,him2 and in the language which he uses he indicates that such work is a serious matter2--,give diligence4 ,the word which he uses 7spoudazein7 is one which scarcely occurs in the ,new ,testament except in the writings of ,st4 ,paul4 ,and the corresponding substantive 7spoud7 is also much more common in his ,epistles than it is elsewhere4 ,it indicates that ceaseless1 serious1 earnest zeal1 which was one of his chief characteristics4 ,and certainly if the proposed standard is to be reached1 or even seriously aimed at abundance of this zeal will be required4 ,for the end proposed is not the admiration or affection of the congregation1 or of one's superiors1 nor yet success in influencing and winning souls2 but that of presenting oneself to ,god in such a way as to secure ,his approval1 without fear of incurring the reproach of being a workman who has shirked or scamped his work4 ,the ,apostle's charge is a most wholesome one3 and if it is acted upon1 it secures diligence without fussiness1 and enthusiasm without fanaticism4 ,the being approved 7dokimos7 implies being tried and proved as precious metals are proved before they are accepted 7dechomai7 as genuine4 ,it is the word used of the pure gold with which ,solomon overlaid his ivory throne 7#b ,chron4 ix4 #ag74 ,in the ,new ,testament it is always used of persons1 and with one exception 7,james i4 #ab7 it is used by no one but ,st4 ,paul4 ,he uses it of being approved both of men 7,rom4 xiv4 #ah7 and of ,god 7#b ,cor4 x4 #ah74 ,the single word which represents that needeth not to be ashamed 7anepaischyntos7 is a rare formation1 which occurs nowhere else in the ,new ,testament4 ,its precise meaning is not quite certain4 ,the more simple and frequent form 7anaischyntos7 means shameless1 i4e41 one who does not feel shame when he ought to do so4 ,such a meaning1 if taken literally1 would be utterly unsuitable here4 ,and we then have choice of two interpretations1 either 7#a7 that which is adopted in both ,a4 ,v4 and ,r4 ,v41 who need not feel shame1 because his work will bear examination1 or 7#b7 who does not feel shame1 although his work is of a kind which the world holds in contempt4 ,the latter is the interpretation which ,chrysostom adopts1 and there is much to be said in its favour4 ,three times already in this letter has the ,apostle spoken of not being ashamed of the ,gospel4 ,he says ,be not ashamed of the testimony of our ,lord1 nor of me ,his prisoner4 ,again1 ,i suffer these things2 yet ,i am not ashamed4 ,and again of ,onesiphorus1 ,he oft refreshed me1 and was not ashamed of my chain 7i4 #h1 #ab1 #af74 ,does he not1 therefore1 mean here also1 ,present thyself to ,god as a workman who is not ashamed of being in ,his service and of doing whatever work may be assigned to him8 ,this brings us very close to what would be the natural meaning of the word1 according to the analogy of the simpler form4 ,if you are to work for ,god1 says ,paul1 you must be in a certain sense shameless4 ,there are some men who set public opinion at defiance1 in order that they may follow their own depraved desires4 ,the ,christian minister must be prepared sometimes to set public opinion at defiance1 in order that he may follow the commands of ,god4 ,the vox populi1 even when taken in its most comprehensive sense1 is anything but an infallible guide4 ,public opinion is nearly always against the worst forms of selfishness1 dishonesty1 and sensuality2 and to set it at defiance in such matters is to be shameless in the worst sense4 ,but sometimes public opinion is very decidedly against some of the noblest types of holiness2 and to be shameless under such circumstances is a necessary qualification for doing one's duty4 ,it is by no means certain that this is not ,st4 ,paul's meaning4 ,if we translate1 ,a workman that feeleth no shame1 we shall have a phrase that would cover either interpretation4 ,handling aright the word of truth1 or ,rightly dividing the word of truth4 ,there is some doubt here also as to the explanation of the word rendered handling aright or rightly dividing 7orthotomein74 ,once more we have a word which occurs nowhere else in ,new ,testament4 ,its radical meaning is to cut aright or cut straight1 especially of driving a straight road through a district1 or a straight furrow across a field4 ,in the ,,lxx4 it is twice used of making straight or directing a person's path4 ,in all thy ways acknowledge ,him1 and ,he shall direct thy paths2 and ,the righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way 7,prov4 iii4 #f2 xi4 #e74 ,the idea of rightness seems to be the dominant one2 that of cutting quite secondary2 so that the ,revisers are quite justified in following the example of the ,vulgate 7recte tractantem71 and translating simply rightly handling4 ,but this right handling may be understood as consisting in seeing that the word of truth moves in the right direction and progresses in the congregation by a legitimate development4 ,the word1 therefore1 excludes all fanciful and perilous deviations and evasions1 such as those in which the false teachers indulged1 and all those strivings about words1 which distract men's minds and divert them from the substance of the ,gospel4 ,it may be doubted whether the word contains any idea of distribution1 as that the word of truth is to be preached according to the capacity of the hearers1--strong meat to the strong1 and milk to those who are still but babes in the faith4 ,we may feel sure that the expression has nothing to do with the cutting up of victims in sacrifices1 or with cutting straight to the heart of a thing1 as if the word of truth had a kernel which must be reached by cleaving it down the middle4 ,yet both these explanations have been suggested4 ,clement of ,alexandria and ,eusebius use the substantive derived from ,st4 ,paul's verb 7orthotomia7 in the sense of orthodoxy2 which seems to imply that they understood the verb in the sense of handling aright 7,strom41 ,,vii4 xvi42 ,h4 ,e41 ,,iv4 iii474 ,once more 7#a ,tim4 vi4 #bj7 the ,apostle warns his disciple against profane babblings4 ,he is 7according to ,st4 ,paul's graphic word7 to make a circuit in order to avoid such things1 to give them a wide berth 7periistaso2 comp4 ,tit4 iii4 #i74 ,these empty profanities1 with their philosophic pretentiousness1 had done much harm already1 and would do still more2 for the men who propagate them would certainly go still greater lengths in impiety2 and they must receive no encouragement4 ,their teaching is of a kind that will spread rapidly1 and it is deadly in its effects4 ,it will eat as doth a gangrene4 ,the substitution of gangrene for cancer is an improvement1 as giving the exact word used in the original1 which expresses the meaning more forcibly than cancer4 ,cancer is sometimes very slow in its ravages1 and may go on for years without causing serious harm4 ,gangrene poisons the whole frame and quickly becomes fatal4 ,the ,apostle foresees that doctrines1 which really ate out the very heart of ,christianity1 were likely to become very popular in ,ephesus and would do incalculable mischief4 ,the nature of these doctrines we gather from what follows4 ,they are preached by the kind of people 7hoitines7 who miss their aim as regards the truth4 ,they profess to be aiming at the truth1 but they go very wide of the mark4 ,for instance1 some of them say that it is quite a mistake to look forward to a resurrection of the body1 or indeed to any resurrection at all4 ,the only real resurrection has taken place already and cannot be repeated4 ,it is that intellectual and spiritual process which is involved in rising from degrading ignorance to a recognition and acceptance of the truth4 ,what is commonly called death1 viz41 the separation of soul and body1 is not really death at all4 ,death in the true sense of the word means ignorance of ,god and of ,divine things2 to be buried is to be buried in error4 ,consequently the true resurrection is to be reanimated by the truth and to escape from the sepulchre of spiritual darkness2 and this process is accomplished once for all in every enlightened soul4 ,we learn from the writings of ,irenaeus 7,haer41 ,,ii4 xxxi4 #b7 and of ,tertullian 7,de ,res4 ,carn41 xix47 that this form of error was in existence in their day3 and ,augustine in a letter to ,januarius 7lv4 iii4 #d7 shows how such false notions might have grown out of ,st4 ,paul's own teaching4 ,the ,apostle insisted so frequently upon the fact of our being dead with ,christ and raised together with ,him1 that some persons jumped to the conclusion that this was the whole of the ,christian doctrine of the resurrection4 ,the resurrection of the body was a great stumbling-block to ,greeks and ,orientals1 with their low notions of the dignity of the human body2 and therefore any interpretation of the resurrection which got rid of the difficulty of supposing that in the world to come also men would have bodies1 was welcome4 ,it was calamity enough to be burdened with a body in this life3 it was appalling to think of such a condition being continued in eternity4 ,hence the obnoxious doctrine was explained away and resolved into allegory and metaphor4 ,of ,hymenaeus and ,philetus nothing further is known4 ,hymenaeus is probably the same person as is mentioned in the first ,epistle with ,alexander1 as having made shipwreck of the faith1 and been delivered unto ,satan by the ,apostle1 to cure him of his blasphemies4 ,we are told here that much mischief had been done by such teaching3 for a number of persons had been seduced from the faith4 ,some1 in the ,english phrase overthrow the faith of some1 conveys an impression1 which is not contained in the ,greek 7tinn71 that the number of those who were led astray was small4 ,the ,greek indicates neither a large nor a small number2 but what is told us leads to the conclusion that the number was not small4 ,it is probably to this kind of teaching that ,st4 ,john alludes1 when he writes some twenty or more years later than this1 and says1 ,even now there have arisen many antichrists 7#a ,john ii4 #ah74 ,teaching of this kind was only too likely to be popular in ,ephesus4 ,it is by no means unknown among ourselves4 ,at the present time also there is a tendency to retain the old ,christian terms and to deprive them of all ,christian meaning4 ,not only such words as miracle1 ,church1 catholic1 and sacrament are evaporated and etherealized1 until they lose all definite meaning2 but even such fundamental terms as atonement1 redemption1 and immortality4 ,nay it is quite possible to find even the word ,god used to express a ,being which is neither personal nor conscious4 ,and thus language1 which has been consecrated to the service of religion for a long series of centuries1 is degraded to the unworthy purpose of insinuating pantheism and agnosticism4 ,this perversion of well established phraseology is to be condemned on purely literary grounds3 and on moral grounds it may be stigmatized as dishonest4 ,if ,hymenaeus and ,philetus wish to deny the resurrection1 let them also surrender the word which expresses it4 ,they have abundance of words wherewith to express mental and moral enlightenment4 ,let them not so handle a word of truth as to make it suggest a lie4 ,,chapter ,,xxxiii4 ,,the ,,last ,,days4--,,the ,,bearing ,,of ,,the ,,mention ,,of ,,jannes ,,and ,,jambres ,,on ,,the ,,question ,,of ,,inspiration ,,and ,,the ,,errors ,,current ,,in ,,ephesus4 ,but know this1 that in the last days grievous times shall come4 ,for men shall be lovers of self1 lovers of money1 boastful1 haughty1 railers1 disobedient to parents1 unthankful1 unholy4444 ,and like as ,jannes and ,jambres withstood ,moses1 so do these also withstand the truth2 men corrupted in mind1 reprobate concerning the faith4--#b ,,tim4 iii4 #a1 #b1 #h4 ,in the first chapter the ,apostle looks back over the past2 in the second he gives directions about the present2 in the third he looks forward into the future4 ,these divisions are not observed with rigidity throughout1 but they hold good to a very considerable extent4 ,thus in the first division he remembers ,timothy's affectionate grief at parting1 his faith and that of his family1 and the spiritual gift conferred on him at his ordination4 ,and respecting himself he remembers his teaching ,timothy1 his being deserted by those in ,asia1 his being ministered to by ,onesiphorus4 ,in the second chapter he charges ,timothy to be willing to suffer hardships with him1 and instructs him how to conduct himself in the manifold difficulties of his present position4 ,and now he goes on to forewarn and forearm him against dangers and troubles which he foresees in the future4 ,there are several prophecies in the ,new ,testament similar to the one before us4 ,there is that of ,st4 ,paul to the ,ephesian ,church some ten years before1 just before his final departure for the bonds and afflictions which awaited him at ,jerusalem4 ,i know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you1 not sparing the flock2 and from your own selves shall men arise1 speaking perverse things1 to draw away disciples after them 7,acts xx4 #bi1 #cj74 ,the ,epistles to ,timothy show that this prediction was already being fulfilled during the ,apostle's lifetime4 ,there is1 secondly1 the prophecy respecting the great falling away and the revealing of the man of sin1 which is somewhat parallel to the one before us 7#b ,thess4 ii4 #c-g74 ,thirdly1 there is the similar prediction in the ,first ,epistle to ,timothy 7iv4 #a-c74 ,and besides these three by ,st4 ,paul1 there are those contained in #b ,peter ii4 #a1 #b about the rise of false teachers1 and in the ,first ,epistle of ,st4 ,john 7ii4 #ah and iv4 #c7 about the coming of antichrist4 ,those in #b ,thessalonians and #b ,peter should be compared with the one before us1 as containing a mixture of present and future4 ,this mixture has been made the basis of a somewhat frivolous objection4 ,it has been urged that the shifting from future to present and back again indicates the hand of a writer who is contemporary with the events which he pretends to foretell4 ,sometimes he adopts the form of prophecy and uses the future tense4 ,but at other times the influence of facts is too strong for him4 ,he forgets his assumed part as a prophet1 and writes in the present tense of his own experiences4 ,such an objection credits the feigned prophet with a very small amount of intelligence4 ,are we seriously to suppose that any one would be so stupid as to be unable to sustain his part for half a dozen verses1 or less1 without betraying himself8 ,but1 in fact1 the change of tense indicates nothing of the kind4 ,it is to be explained in some cases by the fact that the germs of the evils predicted were already in existence1 in others by the practice 7especially common in prophecy7 of speaking of what is certain to happen as if it were already a fact4 ,the prophet is often a seer1 who sees as present what is distant or future2 and hence he naturally uses the present tense1 even when he predicts4 ,the meaning of the last days is uncertain4 ,the two most important interpretations are3 7#a7 the whole time between ,christ's first and second coming1 and 7#b7 the portion immediately before ,christ's second coming4 ,probability is greatly in favour of the latter2 for the other makes the expression rather meaningless4 ,if these evils were to come at all1 they must come between the two ,advents2 for there is no other time3 and in that case why speak of this period as the last days8 ,it might be reasonable to call them these last days1 but not last days without such specification4 ,at the present time it would not be natural to speak of an event as likely to happen in the last days1 when we meant that it would happen between our own time and the end of the world4 ,the expression used in #a ,tim4 iv4 #a very probably does mean no more than in future times2 hereafter 7en hysterois kairois74 ,but here and in #b ,pet4 iii4 #c the meaning rather is in the last days2 when the ,lord is at hand4 ,it is then that the enemy will be allowed to put forth all his power1 in order to be more completely overthrown4 ,then indeed there will be perilous1 critical1 grievous times 7kairoi chalepoi74 ,the ,apostle treats it as possible1 or even probable1 that ,timothy will live to see the troubles which will mark the eve of ,christ's return4 ,the ,apostles shared1 and contributed to produce1 the belief that the ,lord would come again soon1 within the lifetime of some who were then alive4 ,even at the close of a long life we find the last surviving ,apostle pointing out to the ,church that it is the last hour 7#a ,john ii4 #ah71 obviously meaning by that expression1 that it is the time immediately preceding the return of ,christ to judge the world4 ,and some twenty years later we find ,ignatius writing to the ,ephesians ,these are the last times 7eschatoi kairoi74 ,henceforth let us be reverent2 let us fear the longsuffering of ,god1 lest it turn into a judgment against us4 ,for either let us fear the wrath which is to come1 or let us love the grace which now is 7,eph4 xi474 ,only by the force of experience was the mind of the ,church cleared so as to see the ,kingdom of ,christ in its true perspective4 ,the warning which ,jesus had given1 that of that day or that hour knoweth no one1 not even the angels in heaven1 neither the ,son1 but the ,father1 seems to have been understood as meaning no more than the declaration in an hour that ye think not the ,son of man cometh4 ,that is1 it was understood as a warning against being found unprepared1 and not as a warning against forming conjectures as to how near ,christ's return was4 ,therefore we need not be at all surprised at ,st4 ,paul writing to ,timothy in a way which implies that ,timothy will probably live to see the evils which will immediately precede ,christ's return1 and must be on his guard against being amazed or overwhelmed by them4 ,he is to turn away from the intense wickedness which will then be manifested1 and go on undismayed with his own work4 ,like as ,jannes and ,jambres withstood ,moses1 so do these also withstand the truth4 ,the ,apostle is obviously referring to the ,egyptian magicians mentioned in ,exodus4 ,but in the ,pentateuch neither their number nor their names are given2 so that we must suppose that ,st4 ,paul is referring to some ,jewish tradition on the subject4 ,the number two was very possibly suggested by the number of their opponents3--,moses and ,aaron on one side1 and two magicians on the other4 ,and on each side it is a pair of brothers2 for the ,targum of ,jonathan represents the magicians as sons of ,balaam1 formerly instructors of ,moses1 but afterwards his enemies4 ,the names vary in ,jewish tradition4 ,jannes is sometimes ,johannes1 and ,jambres is sometimes either ,mambres or ,ambrosius4 ,the tradition respecting them was apparently widely spread4 ,it was known to ,numenius1 a ,platonic philosopher of ,apameia in ,syria1 who is mentioned by ,clement of ,alexandria 7,strom41 ,i4 xxii471 and quoted by ,origen and ,eusebius as giving an account of ,jannes and ,jambres 7,con4 ,cels41 ,,iv4 li42 ,praep4 ,evang41 ,,ix4 viii474 ,in ,africa we find some knowledge of the tradition exhibited by ,appuleius1 the famous author of the ,golden ,ass1 who like ,numenius flourished in the second century4 ,and in the previous century another ,latin writer1 ,pliny the ,elder1 shows a similar knowledge4 ,both of them mention ,jannes as a magician in connexion with ,moses1 who is also in their eyes a magician2 but ,pliny appears to think that both ,moses and ,jannes were ,jews4#ic ,it is highly improbable that any of these writers derived their knowledge of these names from the passage before us2 in the case of ,pliny this would scarcely have been possible4 ,his ,natural ,history was published about ,a4,d4 #gg1 and at that time the ,second ,epistle to ,timothy must have been known to but few1 even among ,christians4 ,the author of the apocryphal ,gospel of ,nicodemus very possibly did derive his knowledge of the names from ,st4 ,paul2 yet he may have had independent sources of information4 ,he represents ,nicodemus as pleading before ,pilate that ,jannes and ,jambres worked miracles before ,pharaoh2 but because they were not from ,god1 what they did was destroyed4 ,whereas ,jesus raised up ,lazarus1 and he is alive 7chap4 v474 ,one of the ablest of ,english commentators on these ,epistles remarks upon this passage1 ,it is probable that the ,apostle derived these names from a current and 7being quoted by him7 true tradition of the ,jewish ,church4 ,and in a similar spirit a writer in the ,dictionary of the ,bible thinks that it would be inconsistent with the character of an inspired record for a baseless or incorrect current tradition to be cited4 ,let us look at the phenomena of the case and see whether the number and the names appear to be trustworthy or otherwise1 and then consider the question of inspiration4 ,to drag in the latter question in order to determine the former1 is to begin at the wrong end4 ,that there should be a pair of brothers to oppose a pair of brothers1 has been pointed out already as a suspicious circumstance4 ,the jingling pairing of the names is also more like fiction than fact4 ,thirdly1 the names appear to be in formation1 not ,egyptian1 but ,hebrew2 which would naturally be the case if ,jews invented them1 but would be extraordinary if they were genuine names of ,egyptians4 ,lastly1 ,jannes might come from a ,hebrew root which means to seduce1 and ,jambres from one which means to rebel4 ,if ,jews were to invent names for the ,egyptian magicians1 what names would they be more likely to fasten on them than such as would suggest seductive error and rebellious opposition8 ,and is it probable that a really trustworthy tradition1 on such an unimportant fact as the names of the enchanters who opposed ,moses1 would have survived through so many centuries8 ,sober and unbiassed critics will for the most part admit that the probabilities are very decidedly against the supposition that these names are true names1 preserved from oblivion by some written or unwritten tradition outside ,scripture4 ,but is it consistent with the character of an inspired writer to quote an incorrect tradition8 ,only those who hold somewhat narrow and rigid theories of inspiration will hesitate to answer this question in the affirmative4 ,no one believes that inspired persons are in possession of all knowledge on all subjects4 ,and if these names were commonly accepted as authentic by the ,jews of ,st4 ,paul's day1 would his inspiration necessarily keep him from sharing that belief8 ,even if he were well aware that the tradition respecting the names was untrustworthy1 there would be nothing surprising in his speaking of the magicians under their commonly accepted names1 when addressing one to whom the tradition would be well known4 ,and if 7as is more probable7 he believed the names to be genuine1 there is still less to surprise us in his making use of them to add vivacity to the comparison4 ,nothing in ,god's dealings with mankind warrants us in believing that ,he would grant a special revelation to an ,apostle1 in order to preserve him from so harmless a proceeding as illustrating an argument by citing the incorrect details which tradition had added to historical facts4 ,and it is worth noting that nothing is based upon the names2 they occur in what is mere illustration4 ,and even in the illustration it is not the names that have point1 but the persons1 who are supposed to have borne them2 and the persons are real1 although the names are probably fictitious4 ,still less are we warranted in believing1 as ,chrysostom suggests1 that ,st4 ,paul by inspiration had supernatural knowledge of the names4 ,as we have seen1 the names were known even to ,gentiles who cannot well have derived their knowledge from him2 and why should he have received a revelation about a trifle which in no way helps his argument8 ,such views of inspiration1 although the product of a reverential spirit1 degrade rather than exalt our conceptions of it4 ,the main point of the comparison between the two cases appears to be opposition to the truth4 ,but there is perhaps more in it than that4 ,the magicians withstood ,moses by professing to do the same wonders that he did2 and the heretics withstood ,timothy by professing to preach the same gospel as he did4 ,this was frequently the line taken by heretical teachers2 to disclaim all intention of teaching anything new1 and to profess substantial1 if not complete1 agreement with those whom they opposed4 ,they affirmed that their teaching was only the old truth looked at from another point of view4 ,they used the same phraseology as ,apostles had used3 they merely gave it a more comprehensive 7or1 as would now be said1 a more catholic7 meaning4 ,in this way the unwary were more easily seduced1 and the suspicions of the simple were less easily aroused4 ,but such persons betray themselves before long4 ,their mind is found to be tainted2 and when they are put to the proof respecting the faith1 they cannot stand the test 7adokimoi74 ,there is nothing improbable in the supposition that ,st4 ,paul mentions the magicians who withstood ,moses as typical opponents of the truth1 because the false teachers at ,ephesus used magic arts2 and the word which he uses for impostors 7gotes7 in ver4 #ac fits in very well with such a supposition1 although it by no means makes it certain4 ,ephesus was famous for its charms and incantations 7,ephesia grammata71 and around the statue of its goddess ,artemis were unintelligible inscriptions1 to which a strange efficacy was ascribed4 ,the first body of ,christians in ,ephesus had been tainted by senseless wickedness of this kind4 ,after accepting ,christianity they had secretly retained their magic4 ,the sons of the ,jew ,sceva had tried to use the sacred name of ,jesus as a magical form of exorcism2 and this brought about the crisis in which numbers of costly books of incantations were publicly burned 7,acts xix4 #ac-bj74 ,the evil would be pretty sure to break out again1 especially among new converts2 just as it does among negro converts at the present day4 ,moreover we know that in some cases there was a very close connexion between some forms of heresy and magic3 so that the suggestion that ,st4 ,paul has pretensions to miraculous power in his mind1 when he compares the false teachers to the ,egyptian magicians1 is by no means improbable4 ,the connexion between heresy and superstition is a very real and a very close one4 ,the rejection or surrender of religious truth is frequently accompanied by the acceptance of irrational beliefs4 ,people deny miracles and believe in spiritualism2 they cavil at the efficacy of sacraments and accept as credible the amazing properties of an 'astral body4' ,there is such a thing as the nemesis of unbelief4 ,the arrogance which rejects as repugnant to reason and morality truths which have throughout long centuries satisfied the highest intellects and the noblest hearts1 is sometimes punished by being seduced into delusions which satisfy nothing higher than a grovelling curiosity4 ,,footnotes3 #ic ,est et alia ,magices factio a ,moyse1 et ,janne1 et ,jotape ,judaeis pendens 7,plin4 ,hist4 ,nat41 ,,xxx4 ii474 ,si quamlibet emolumentum probaveritis1 ego ille sim ,carinondas1 vel ,damigeron1 vel is ,moses1 vel ,jannes al4 l4 ,johannes1 vel ,apollonius1 vel ipse ,dardanus1 vel quieunque post ,zoroastren et ,hostanen inter ,magos celebratus est 7,appul41 ,apologia1 #edd1 p4 #ehj ed4 ,oudendorp74 ,,chapter ,,xxxiv4 ,,the ,,perils ,,of ,,rationalism ,,and ,,the ,,responsibilities ,,of ,a ,,lifelong ,,contact ,,with ,,truth4--,,the ,,properties ,,of ,,inspired ,,writings4 ,but abide thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of1 knowing of whom thou hast learned them2 and that from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings1 which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in ,christ ,jesus4 ,every scripture inspired of ,god is also profitable for teaching1 for reproof1 for correction1 for instruction which is in righteousness3 that the man of ,god may be complete1 furnished completely unto every good work4--#b ,,tim4 iii4 #ad-ag4 ,for the second time in this paragraph the ,apostle puts his faithful disciple in marked contrast to the heretical teachers4 ,a few lines before1 after comparing the latter to the ,egyptian magicians1 he continues1 ,but thou 7sy de7 didst follow my teaching4 ,and in the passage before us1 after saying that evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse1 he continues1 ,but abide thou 7sy de mene7 in the things which thou hast learned4 ,here there is a double contrast2 first between ,timothy and the impostors1 and secondly between his abiding in the truth and their going away from it1 and so from bad to worse1 first as deceivers and then as being deceived4 ,they begin by being seducers and end in being dupes1 and the dupes 7very often7 of their own deceptions2 for deceit commonly leads to self-deceit4 ,such a result may well act as a warning to ,timothy and those committed to his charge of the peril of trifling with the fundamentals of religious truth4 ,the articles of the ,christian faith are not like the commodities in a bazaar from which one can pick and choose at pleasure1 and of which one can take three or four without in any way affecting one's relation to the remainder1 or reject three or four1 without in any way affecting the security of one's hold upon those which one decides to take4 ,with regard to the truths of religion1 our right to pick and choose has very strict limits4 ,when the system as a whole has presented its credentials to the reason and the conscience1 and these have decided that the bearer of such credentials must be the representative of a ,divine ,being1 then the attempt to pick and choose among the details of the system becomes perilous work4 ,to reject this or that item1 as being mere fringe and setting rather than a constituent element1 or as being at any rate unessential1 may be to endanger the whole structure4 ,we may be leaving an impregnable position for an exposed and untenable one1 or be exchanging a secure platform for an inclined plane1 on which we shall find no lasting resting place until the bottom is reached4 ,and this was what the men1 against whom ,timothy is warned1 had done4 ,they had left the sure position1 and were sometimes sliding1 sometimes running1 further and further away from the truth4 ,in other words1 there is a right and a wrong use of reason in matters of faith4 ,the wrong use is sometimes spoken of as ,rationalism1 and 7adopting that term as convenient7 the following clear statement1 borrowed from another writer1 will show in a striking way where it was that ,st4 ,paul wished ,timothy to part company with the principles of his opponents4 ,as regards ,revealed ,truth1 wrote ,j4 ,h4 ,newman in #ahce1 it is not ,rationalism to set about to ascertain1 by the exercise of reason1 what things are attainable by reason1 and what are not2 nor1 in the absence of an express ,revelation1 to inquire into the truths of ,religion1 as they come to us by nature2 nor to determine what proofs are necessary for the acceptance of a ,revelation1 if it be given2 nor to reject a ,revelation on the plea of insufficient proof2 nor1 after recognising it as ,divine1 to investigate the meaning of its declarations1 and to interpret its language2 nor to use its doctrines1 as far as they can be fairly used1 in inquiring into its divinity2 nor to compare and connect them with our previous knowledge1 with a view of making them parts of a whole2 nor to bring them into dependence on each other1 to trace their mutual relations1 and to pursue them to their legitimate issues4 ,this is not ,rationalism4 ,but it is ,rationalism to accept the ,revelation1 and then to explain it away2 to speak of it as the ,word of ,god1 and to treat it as the word of man2 to refuse to let it speak for itself2 to claim to be told the why and the how of ,god's dealings with us1 as therein described1 and to assign to ,him a motive and a scope of our own2 to stumble at the partial knowledge which ,he may give us of them2 to put aside what is obscure1 as if it had not been said at all2 to accept one half of what has been told us1 and not the other half2 to assume that the contents of ,revelation are also its proof2 to frame some gratuitous hypothesis about them1 and then to garble1 gloss1 and colour them1 to trim1 clip1 pare away and twist them1 in order to bring them into conformity with the idea to which we have subjected them4#id ,timothy is to abide in those things which he has learned and been assured of4 ,he has experienced the result which ,st4 ,luke wished to produce in ,theophilus when he wrote his ,gospel3 he has attained to full knowledge of the certainty concerning the things wherein he had been instructed 7,luke i4 #d74 ,and he is not to allow the wild teaching of his opponents1 thoroughly discredited as it is and will be by equally wild conduct1 to shake his security4 ,not everything that is disputed is disputable1 nor everything that is doubted doubtful4 ,and if the fruits of the two kinds of teaching do not fully convince him of the necessity of abiding by the old truths rather than by the suggestions of these innovators1 let him remember those from whom he first learnt the truths of the ,gospel1--his grandmother ,lois1 his mother ,eunice1 and the ,apostle himself4 ,when it comes to a question of the authority of the teachers1 which group will he choose8 ,those who established him in the faith1 or those who are trying to seduce men away from it8 ,there is a little doubt about the word of whom thou hast learned them4 ,the whom is probably plural 7para tinn72 but a reading which makes it singular 7para tinos7 is strongly supported4 ,the plural must include all ,timothy's chief instructors in the faith1 especially the earliest1 as is clear from the nature of the case and from what follows4 ,if the singular is adopted1 we must refer it to ,st4 ,paul1 in accordance with the things which thou hast heard from me 444 the same commit thou to faithful men 7ii4 #b74 ,it is possible that the words just quoted have influenced the reading in the passage under consideration1 and have caused the substitution of the singular for the plural4 ,but there is a further consideration4 ,there is not only the character of the doctrine on each side1 and the fruits of the doctrine on each side1 and the teachers of whom ,timothy has had personal experience1 and about whose knowledge and trustworthiness he can judge2 there is also the fact that from his tenderest infancy he has had the blessing of being in contact with the truth1 first as it is revealed in the ,old ,testament1 and then as it is still further revealed in the ,gospel4 ,the responsibilities of those who from their earliest days have been allowed to grow in the knowledge of ,god and of ,his government of the world1 are far greater than the responsibilities of those who have had no opportunity of acquiring this knowledge until late in life4 ,old habits of thought and conduct are not extinguished by baptism2 and the false opinion and vicious behaviour of many of those who are vexing1 or will hereafter vex1 the ,church in ,ephesus1 may be traced to influences which had become dominant in them long before they came into contact with ,god's revealed law4 ,no such allowance can be made for ,timothy4 ,he has had the inestimable privilege of knowing the sacred writings from his earliest childhood4 ,it will be his own fault if they do not make him wise unto salvation through faith which is in ,christ ,jesus4 ,the expression sacred writings 7hiera grammata7 occurs nowhere else in the ,new ,testament4 ,the usual expression is the scriptures 7hai graphai72 and once 7,rom4 i4 #b7 we have holy scriptures 7graphai hagiai74 ,here both substantive and adjective are unusual4 ,the adjective occurs in only one other passage in the ,new ,testament1 a passage which throws light upon this one4 ,know ye not that they who perform the sacred rites1 from the sacred place get their food8 7,speaker's ,commentary1 on #a ,cor4 ix4 #ac47 ,and just as in that passage the sacred rites are the ,jewish sacrifices1 and the sacred place the ,jewish ,temple1 so here the sacred writings are the ,jewish ,scriptures4 ,it is utterly improbable that any ,christian writings are included4 ,how could ,timothy have known any of these from infancy8 ,even at the time when ,st4 ,paul wrote this farewell letter1 there was little ,christian literature1 excepting his own ,epistles2 and he was not likely to speak of them as sacred writings1 or to include them under one expression with the ,old ,testament ,scriptures4 ,the suggestion that ,christian writings are included1 or are mainly intended1 seems to be made with the intention of insinuating that this letter cannot have been written by the ,apostle1 but by some one of a later age4 ,but would even a writer of the second century have made such a blunder as to represent ,timothy as knowing ,christian literature from his childhood8 ,with the use of the substantive writings 7grammata7 in this passage1 should be compared the use of the same word in ,christ's discourse at ,jerusalem after the miracle at the pool of ,bethesda1 where he shows the ,jews how hopeless their unbelief is1 and how vain their appeal to ,moses1 who is really their accuser4 ,but if ye believe not his writings 7grammata71 how shall ye believe ,my words8 ,the ,jews had had two opportunities of knowing and accepting the truth2 the writings of ,moses1 and the words of ,jesus4 ,so also ,timothy had had two sets of instructors2 the holy women who had brought him up1 whose work had been completed by the ,apostle1 and the sacred writings4 ,if the authority of the former should seem to be open to question1 there could be no doubt of the sufficiency of the latter4 ,they are able to make him wise unto salvation through faith which is in ,christ ,jesus4 ,it must be observed that the ,apostle uses the present tense and not the past 7dynamena7 in expressing the power of the sacred writings in communicating a saving wisdom to him who uses them aright4 ,this power was not exhausted when the young ,timothy was brought to the ampler truths of the ,gospel4 ,however far advanced he may be in sacred knowledge1 he will still find that they are able to make him increase in the wisdom which enlightens and saves souls4 ,but ,scripture confers this life-giving wisdom in no mechanical manner4 ,it is not a charm1 which has a magical effect upon every one who reads it4 ,the most diligent study of the sacred writings will do nothing for the salvation of a man who does not prosecute his researches in something more than the mere spirit of curious enquiry4 ,therefore ,st4 ,paul adds1 through faith which is in ,christ ,jesus4 ,it is when this is added to the soul of the enquirer that the sacred writings of the ,old ,covenant have their illuminating power2 without it1 so far from leading to the salvation won for us by ,christ1 they may keep those who study them away from the truth1 as in the case of the ,jews to this day4 ,the pillar of fire becomes a pillar of cloud1 and what should have been for wealth becomes an occasion of falling4 ,every scripture inspired of ,god is also profitable for teaching1 for reproof1 for correction1 for instruction which is in righteousness4 ,this is the ,revisers' rendering4 ,besides one or two smaller changes1 they have made two important alterations of the ,a4 ,v4 7#a7 ,they have substituted every scripture for all scripture1 without allowing the old rendering even a place in the margin4 7#b7 ,they have inserted the is 7which must be supplied somewhere in the sentence7 after instead of before inspired by ,god2 thus making inspired by ,god an epithet of ,scripture and not something stated respecting it4 ,every scripture inspired by ,god is also profitable1 instead of is inspired of ,god and profitable3 but they allow the latter rendering a place in the margin4 ,this treatment of the passage appears to be very satisfactory1 so far as the second of these two points are concerned4 ,certainty is not attainable in either4 ,yet1 as regards the second1 the probabilities are greatly in favour of the ,apostle's meaning that inspired scripture is also profitable1 rather than scripture is inspired and profitable4 ,but1 with regard to the first point1 it may be doubted whether the balance is so decidedly against the translation all scripture as to warrant its exclusion4 ,no doubt the absence of the article in the ,greek 7pasa graph1 and not pasa h graph7 is against the old rendering2 but it is by no means conclusive1 as other instances both in the ,new ,testament and in classical ,greek prove4#ie ,nevertheless1 there is the further fact that in the ,new ,testament the scripture generally means a particular passage of ,scripture 7,mark xii4 #aj2 ,luke iv4 #ba2 ,john xix4 #bd1 #bh1 #cf1 #cg2 ,acts viii4 #cb1 #ce74 ,when ,scripture as a whole is meant1 the word1 is commonly used in the plural1 the scriptures 7,matt4 xxi4 #db2 ,mark xii4 #bd2 ,john v4 #ci74 ,in the passage before us the meaning is not seriously affected by the change4 ,it matters little whether we say the whole of scripture1 or every passage of scripture4 ,every scripture inspired by ,god is also profitable for teaching1 for reproof1 for correction1 for discipline 7paideia7 which is in righteousness3 i4e41 is of use both for doctrinal and for practical purposes1 for informing both faith and conduct4 ,it is because it is inspired by ,god1 because ,god's ,spirit breathes through the whole of it1 making every passage of it to be a portion of a living whole1 that ,scripture possesses this unique utility4 ,and if the ,apostle can say this of the ,old ,testament1 much more may we affirm it of the ,new ,testament4 ,from the two together1 everything that a ,christian ought to believe1 everything that a ,christian ought to do1 may be learned4 ,but while this declaration of the ,apostle assures us that there is no passage in ,holy ,writ1 which1 when properly handled1 does not yield ,divine instruction for the guidance of our minds1 and hearts1 and wills1 yet it gives no encouragement to hard and fast theories as to the manner in which the ,spirit of ,god operated upon the authors of the sacred writings4 ,inspiration is no mechanical process4 ,it is altogether misleading to speak of it as ,divine dictation1 which would reduce inspired writers to mere machines4 ,there are certain things which it clearly does not do4 #a4 ,while it governs the substance of what is written1 it does not govern the language word by word4 ,we have no reasons for believing in verbal inspiration1 and have many reasons for not believing in it4 ,for no one believes that copyists and printers are miraculously preserved from making verbal mistakes4 ,is it1 then1 reasonable to suppose that ,god would work a miracle to produce what ,he takes no care to preserve4 ,of the countless various readings1 which are the words which are inspired8 #b4 ,inspiration does not preserve the inspired writers from every kind of mistake4 ,that it guards them from error in respect to matters of faith and morality1 we may well believe2 but whether it does more than this remains to be proved4 ,on the other hand it can be proved that it does not preserve them from mistakes in grammar2 for there is plenty of unquestionably bad grammar in the ,bible4 ,look for instance at the ,greek of ,mark vi4 #h1 #i2 ,acts xv4 #bb2 xix4 #cd2 ,eph4 iv4 #b2 ,col4 iii4 #af2 ,rev4 vii4 #i2 etc41 etc4 ,and it may be doubted whether inspiration preserves the inspired writer from all possibility of error as regards matters of fact1 as to whether there were two men healed or only one2 as to whether the healing took place as ,christ entered the city or as ,he left it2 as to whether the prophecy quoted comes from ,jeremiah or ,zechariah1 and the like4 ,can there be any reasonable doubt that ,st4 ,matthew has made a slip in writing ,zechariah the son of ,barachiah instead of ,zechariah the son of ,jehoiada8 ,and is there any honest method of bringing ,st4 ,stephen's speech into complete harmony with statements in the ,old ,testament respecting all the facts mentioned8 ,must we not suppose that there is error on one side or the other8 ,if1 as is quite certain1 inspiration does not make a man a grammatical scholar1 or give him a perfect literary style1 ought we to conclude that it will make him a faultless historian or chronologer8 ,a ,divine ,revelation through a series of inspired writers has been granted in order to save our souls4 ,we have no right to assume that it has been granted in order to save us trouble4 ,those saving truths about ,god and our relations to ,him1 which we could never have discovered without a revelation1 we may expect to find set forth without taint of error in the sacred writings4 ,but facts of geology1 or history1 or physiology1 which our own intelligence and industry can discover1 we ought not to expect to find accurately set forth for us in the ,bible3 and we ought to require very full evidence before deciding that in such matters inspired writers may be regarded as infallible4 ,st4 ,luke tells us in the ,preface to his ,gospel that he took great pains to obtain the best information4 ,need he have done so1 if inspiration protected him from all possibility of mistake8 #c4 ,inspiration does not override and overwhelm the inspired writer's personal characteristics4 ,there appears to be no such thing as an inspired style4 ,the style of ,st4 ,john is as different from that of ,st4 ,paul as the style of ,bishop ,butler is from that of ,jeremy ,taylor4 ,each inspired writer uses the language1 and the illustrations1 and the arguments that are natural and familiar to him4 ,if he has an argumentative mind1 he argues his points2 if he has not1 he states them without argument4 ,if he has literary skill1 he exhibits it2 if he has none1 inspiration does not give it to him4 ,no inspiration theory can stand for a moment which does not leave room for the personal agency and individual peculiarities of the sacred authors and the exercise of their natural faculties in writing 7,schaff1 ,apostolic ,christianity1 p4 #fjh74 ,what inspiration has not done in these various particulars is manifest to every one who studies the sacred writings4 ,what it has done is scarcely less manifest1 and is certainly much more generally recognized4 ,it has produced writings which are absolutely without a parallel in the literature of the world4 ,even as regards literary merits they have few rivals4 ,but it is not in their literary beauty that their unique character consists4 ,it lies rather in their lofty spirituality2 their inexhaustible capacities for instruction and consolation2 their boundless adaptability to all ages and circumstances2 above all1 in their ceaseless power of satisfying the noblest cravings and aspirations of the human heart4 ,other writings are profitable for knowledge1 for advancement1 for amusement1 for delight1 for wealth4 ,but these make wise unto salvation4 ,they produce that discipline which has its sphere in righteousness4 ,they have power to instruct the ignorant1 to convict the guilty1 to reclaim the fallen1 to school all in holiness2 that all may be complete as men of ,god1 furnished completely unto every good work4 ,,footnotes3 #id ,rationalism in ,religion1 in ,tracts for the ,times1 republished in ,essays ,critical and ,historical1 vol4 i4 p4 #cb4 #ie ,see the quotations given in ,alford's note on pasa oikodom in ,eph4 ii4 #ba1 which might be increased1 if necessary3 e4g4 pan sma1 in ,arist41 ,nic4 ,eth41 ,i4 xiii4 #g1 which must the whole body4 ,,chapter ,,xxxv4 ,,the ,,paradoxical ,,exultation ,,of ,,the ,,apostle4--,,his ,,apparent ,,failure ,,and ,,the ,,apparent ,,failure ,,of ,,the ,,church4--,,the ,,great ,,test ,,of ,,sincerity4 ,but be thou sober in all things1 suffer hardship1 do the work of an evangelist1 fulfil thy ministry4 ,for ,i am already being offered1 and the time of my departure is come4 ,i have fought the good fight1 ,i have finished the course1 ,i have kept the faith3 henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness1 which the ,lord1 the righteous judge1 shall give to me at that day3 and not only to me1 but also to all them that have loved ,his appearing4--#b ,,tim4 iv4 #e-h4 ,st4 ,chrysostom tells us that this passage was for a long time a source of perplexity to him4 ,often1 he says1 when ,i have taken the ,apostle into my hands and have considered this passage1 ,i have been at a loss to understand why ,paul here speaks so loftily3 ,i have fought the good fight4 ,but now by the grace of ,god ,i seem to have found it out4 ,for what purpose then does he speak thus8 ,he writes to console the despondency of his disciple2 and he therefore bids him be of good cheer1 since he was going to his crown1 having finished all his work and obtained a glorious end4 ,thou oughtest to rejoice1 he says2 not to grieve4 ,and why8 ,because ,i have fought the good fight4 ,just as a son1 who was sitting bewailing his orphan state1 might be consoled by his father saying to him1 ,weep not1 my son4 ,we have lived a good life2 we have reached old age2 and now we are leaving thee4 ,our life has been free from reproach2 we are departing with glory2 and thou mayest be held in honour for what we have done4444 ,and this he says not boastfully2--,god forbid2--but in order to raise up his dejected son1 and to encourage him by his praises to bear firmly what had come to pass1 to entertain good hopes1 and not to think it a matter grievous to be borne4 ,chrysostom's explanation is no doubt part of the reason why the ,apostle here speaks in so exalted a key4 ,this unusual strain is partly the result of a wish to cheer his beloved disciple and assure him that there is no need to grieve for the death which now cannot be very far off4 ,when it comes1 it will be a glorious death and a happy one4 ,a glorious death1 for it will crown with the crown of victory struggles in a weary contest which is now ending triumphantly4 ,and a happy death2 for ,paul has for years had the longing to depart and be with ,christ1 which is far better4 ,the crown is one which will not wither2 for it is not made of olive1 bay1 or laurel4 ,and it is not one of which the glory is doubtful1 or dependent upon the fickle opinions of a prejudiced crowd2 for it is not awarded by a human umpire1 nor amid the applauses of human spectators4 ,the ,giver is ,christ1 and the theatre is filled with angels4 ,in the contests of this world men labour many days and suffer hardships2 and for one hour they receive the crown4 ,and forthwith all the pleasure of it passes away4 ,in the good fight which ,st4 ,paul fought a crown of righteousness is won1 which continues for ever in brightness and glory4 ,but besides wishing to console ,timothy for the bereavement which was impending1 ,st4 ,paul also wished to encourage him1 to stimulate him to greater exertion and to a larger measure of courage4 ,be thou sober in all things1 suffer hardship1 do the work of an ,evangelist1 fulfil thy ministry4 ,for ,i am already being poured out as a drink-offering1 and the time of my departure is at hand4 ,that is3 ,you must be more vigorous1 more enduring1 more devoted2 for ,i am going away1 and must leave you to carry on to perfection that which ,i have begun4 ,my fighting is over2 therefore do you fight more bravely4 ,my course is finished2 therefore do you run more perseveringly4 ,the faith entrusted to me has been preserved thus far inviolate3 see to it1 that what has been entrusted to you be kept safe4 ,the crown which righteousness wins is waiting now for me3 so strive that such a crown may await you also4 ,for this is a contest in which all may have crowns1 if only they will live so as to feel a longing for the appearing of the righteous ,judge who gives them4 ,but there is more in this passage than the desire to comfort ,timothy for the approaching loss of his friend and instructor1 and the desire to spur him on to greater usefulness1 not merely in spite of1 but because of1 that loss4 ,there is also the ecstatic joy of the great ,apostle1 as with the eye of faith he looks back over the work which he has been enabled to perform1 and balances the cost of it against the great reward4 ,as has been already pointed out in an earlier passage1 there is nothing in this touching letter which is more convincingly like ,st4 ,paul than the way in which conflicting emotions succeed one another and come to the surface in perfectly natural expression4 ,sometimes it is anxiety that is uppermost2 sometimes it is confidence4 ,here he is overflowing with affection2 there he is stern and indignant4 ,one while he is deeply depressed2 and then again becomes triumphant and exulting4 ,like the second ,epistle to the ,corinthians this last letter to the beloved disciple is full of intense personal feelings1 of a different and apparently discordant character4 ,the passage before us is charged with such emotions1 beginning with solemn warning and ending in lofty exultation4 ,but it is the warning1 not of fear1 but of affection2 and it is the exultation1 not of sight1 but of faith4 ,looked at with human eyes the ,apostle's life at that moment was a failure1--a tragic and dismal failure4 ,in his own simple but most pregnant language1 he had been the slave of ,jesus ,christ4 ,no ,roman slave1 driven by whip and goad1 could have been made to work as ,paul had worked4 ,he had taxed his fragile body and sensitive spirit to the utmost1 and had encountered lifelong opposition1 derision1 and persecution1 at the hands of those who ought to have been his friends1 and had been his friends until he entered the service of ,jesus ,christ4 ,he had preached and argued1 had entreated and rebuked1 and in doing so had rung the changes on all the chief forms of human suffering4 ,and what had been the outcome of it all8 ,the few ,churches which he had founded were but as handfuls in the cities in which he had established them2 and there were countless cities in which he had established nothing4 ,even the few ,churches which he had succeeded in founding had in most cases soon fallen away from their first faith and enthusiasm4 ,the ,thessalonians had become tainted with idleness and disorder1 the ,corinthians with contentiousness and sensuality1 the ,galatians1 ,colossians1 and ,ephesians with various forms of heresy2 while the ,roman ,church1 in the midst of which he was suffering an imprisonment which would almost certainly end in death1 was treating him with coldness and neglect4 ,at his first defence no one took his part1 but all forsook him2 and in his extremity he was almost deserted4 ,as the results of a life of intense energy and self-devotion1 all these things had the appearance of total failure4 ,and certainly if the work of his life seemed to have been a failure with regard to others1 it did not bear any resemblance to success as regards himself4 ,from the world's point of view he had given up much1 and gained little1 beyond trouble and disgrace4 ,he had given up a distinguished position in the ,jewish ,church1 in order to become the best hated man among that people of passionate hatreds4 ,while his efforts on behalf of the ,gentiles had ended for a third time in confinement in a ,gentile prison1 from which1 as he saw clearly1 nothing but death was likely to release him4 ,and yet1 in spite of all this1 ,st4 ,paul is exultingly triumphant4 ,not at all because he does not perceive1 or cannot feel1 the difficulties and sorrows of his position4 ,still less because he wishes to dissemble either to himself or others the sufferings which he has to endure4 ,he is no ,stoic1 and makes no profession of being above human infirmities and human emotions4 ,he is keenly sensitive to all that affects his own aspirations and affections and the well-being of those whom he loves4 ,he is well aware of the dangers both of body and soul which beset those who are far dearer to him than life4 ,and he gives strong expression to his trouble and anxiety4 ,but he measures the troubles of time by the glories of eternity4 ,with the eye of faith he looks across all this apparent failure and neglect to the crown of righteousness which the righteous ,judge has in store for him1 and for thousands upon thousands of others also1--even for all those who have learned to look forward with longing to the time when their ,lord shall appear again4 ,in all this we see in miniature the history of ,christendom since the ,apostle's death4 ,his career was a fore-shadowing of the career of the ,christian ,church4 ,in both cases there appears to be only a handful of real disciples with a company of shallow and fickle followers1 to set against the stolid1 unmoved mass of the unconverted world4 ,in both cases1 even among the disciples themselves1 there is the cowardice of many1 and the desertions of some4 ,in both cases those who remain true to the faith dispute among themselves which of them shall be accounted the greatest4 ,st4 ,paul was among the first to labour that ,christ's ideal of one holy catholic ,church might be realized4 ,eighteen centuries have passed away1 and the life of the ,church1 like that of ,st4 ,paul1 looks like a failure4 ,with more than half the human race still not even nominally ,christian2 with long series of crimes committed not only in defiance1 but in the name1 of religion2 with each decade of years producing its unwholesome crop of heresies and schisms2--what has become of the ,church's profession of being catholic1 holy1 and united8 ,the failure1 as in ,st4 ,paul's case1 is more apparent than real4 ,and it must be noted at the outset that our means of gauging success in spiritual things are altogether uncertain and inadequate4 ,anything at all like scientific accuracy is quite out of our reach1 because the data for a trustworthy conclusion cannot be obtained4 ,but the case is far stronger than this4 ,it is impossible to determine even roughly where the benefits conferred by the ,gospel end2 what the average holiness among professing ,christians really is2 and to what extent ,christendom1 in spite of its manifold divisions1 is really one4 ,it is more than possible that the savage in central ,africa is spiritually the better for the ,incarnation of which he knows nothing1 and which his whole life seems to contradict2 for at least he is one of those for whom ,christ was born and died4 ,it is probable that among quite ordinary ,christians there are many whom the world knows as sinners1 but whom ,god knows as saints4 ,and it is certain that a belief in a ,triune ,god and in a common ,redeemer unites millions far more closely than their differences about ministers and sacraments keeps them apart4 ,the ,church's robe is tattered and travel-stained2 but she is still the ,bride of ,christ1 and her children1 however much they may quarrel among themselves1 are still one in ,him4 ,and where the failure of ,st4 ,paul and of those who have followed him can be shown to be unquestionably real1 it can generally be shown to be thoroughly intelligible4 ,although ,divine in its origin1 the ,gospel has from the first used human instruments with all the weaknesses1--physical1 intellectual1 and moral1--which characterize humanity4 ,when we remember what this implies1 and also remember the forces against which ,christianity has had to contend1 the marvel rather is that the ,gospel has had so large a measure of success1 than that its success is not yet complete4 ,it has had to fight against the passions and prejudices of individuals and nations1 debased by long centuries of immorality and ignorance1 and strengthened in their opposition to the truth by all the powers of darkness4 ,it has had to fight1 moreover1 with other religions1 many of which are attractive by their concessions to human frailty1 and others by the comparative purity of their rites and doctrines4 ,and against them all it has won1 and continues to win1 man's approbation and affection1 by its power of satisfying his highest aspirations and his deepest needs4 ,no other religion or philosophy has had success so various or so far reaching4 ,the ,jew and the ,mahometan1 after centuries of intercourse1 remain almost without influence upon ,european minds2 while to ,western civilization the creed of the ,buddhist remains not only without influence1 but without meaning4 ,but the nation has not yet been found to which ,christianity has been proved to be unintelligible or unsuitable4 ,to whatever quarter of the globe we look1 or to whatever period of history during the ,christian era1 the answer is still the same4 ,multitudes of men1 throughout eighteen centuries1 under the utmost variety of conditions1 whether of personal equipment or of external circumstance1 have made trial of ,christianity1 and have found it satisfying4 ,they have testified as the result of their countless experiences that it can stand the wear and tear of life2 that it can not only fortify but console2 and that it can rob even death of its sting and the grave of its victory by a sure and certain hope of the crown of righteousness1 which the righteous ,judge prepares for all those who love1 and have long loved1 ,his appearing4 ,who have loved and do love ,his appearing4#if ,that is the full force of the ,greek perfect 7tois gapkosin71 which expresses the present and permanent result of past action2 and therein lies the test whereby to try the temper of our ,christianity4 ,st4 ,paul1 who had long yearned to depart and be with ,christ1 could not easily have given a more simple or sure method of finding out who those are who have a right to believe that the ,lord has a crown of righteousness in store for them4 ,are we among the number8 ,in order to answer this question we must ask ourselves another4 ,are our lives such that we are longing for ,christ's return8 ,or are we dreading it1 because we know that we are not fit to meet ,him1 and are making no attempt to become so4 ,supposing that physicians were to tell us1 that we are smitten with a deadly disease1 which must end fatally1 and that very soon1--what would be our feeling8 ,when the first shock was over1 and we were able to take a calm view of the whole case1 could we welcome the news as the unexpected fulfilment of a long cherished wish that ,christ would deliver us out of the miseries of this sinful world and take us to ,himself8 ,the ,bible sets before us the crown of righteousness which fadeth not away1 and the worm which never dieth4 ,leaning upon ,god's unfailing love let us learn to long for the coming of the one2 and then we shall have no need to dread1 or even to ask the meaning of1 the other4 ,,footnotes3 #if ,the somewhat unusual word here used for ,christ's second coming 7epiphaneia7 has been condemned as un-,pauline2 but it occurs #b ,thess4 ii4 #h1 and the cognate verb phaneroun is found ,col4 iii4 #d4 ,cf4 #b ,tim4 i4 #aj2 iv4 #a2 ,tit4 ii4 #ac2 #a ,tim4 vi4 #ad4 ,,chapter ,,xxxvi4 ,,the ,,personal ,,details ,a ,,guarantee ,,of ,,genuineness4 ,do thy diligence to come shortly unto me3 ,for ,demas forsook me1 having loved this present world1 and went to ,thessalonica2 ,crescens to ,galatia1 ,titus unto ,dalmatia4 ,only ,luke is with me4 ,take ,mark1 and bring him with thee3 for he is useful to me for ministering4 ,but ,tychicus ,i sent to ,ephesus4 ,the cloke that ,i left at ,troas with ,carpus1 bring when thou comest1 and the books1 especially the parchments4 ,alexander the coppersmith did me much evil3 the ,lord will render to him according to his works3 of whom be thou ware also2 for he greatly withstood our words4--#b ,,tim4 iv4 #i-ae4 ,salute ,prisca and ,aquila1 and the house of ,onesiphorus4 ,erastus abode at ,corinth3 but ,trophimus ,i left at ,miletus sick4 ,do thy diligence to come before winter4 ,eubulus saluteth thee1 and ,pudens1 and ,linus1 and ,claudia1 and all the brethren4 vv4 #ai-ba4 ,it would scarcely be exceeding the limits of legitimate hyperbole to say that these two passages prove the authenticity and genuineness of the ,pastoral ,epistles2 that they are sufficient to show that these letters are an authentic account of the matters of which they treat1 and that they are genuine letters of the ,apostle ,paul4 ,in the first of these expositions it was pointed out how improbable it is that a portion of one of these letters should be genuine1 and not the remainder of it2 or that one of the three should be genuine1 and not the other two2 and a fortiori1 that two of the three should be genuine1 and not the remaining one4 ,the passages before us are among those of which it has been truly said that they cling so closely to ,paul that it is only by tearing the letter to pieces that any part can be dissociated from that ,apostle4#ig ,the internal evidence is here too strong even for those critics who deny the ,pauline authorship of the ,pastoral ,epistles as a whole4 ,thus ,renan and ,weisse are disposed to admit that we have here embedded in the work of a later writer portions of a genuine letter of the ,apostle2 while ,ewald1 ,hausrath1 and ,pfleiderer accept not only these verses1 but the earlier passage about ,phygelus1 ,hermogenes1 and ,onesiphorus as genuine also4 ,similar views are advocated by ,hitzig1 ,krenkel1 and ,immer1 of whom the two first admit that the ,epistle to ,titus also contains genuine fragments4 ,and quite recently 7#ahhb7 we have ,lemme contending that only the central portion of #b ,timothy 7ii4 #aa to iv4 #e7 is an interpolation4 ,these concessions amount to a concession of the whole case4 ,it is impossible to stop there4 ,either much more must be conceded or much less4 ,for1 7#a7 we cannot without very strong evidence indeed accept so improbable a supposition as that a ,christian long after the ,apostle's death was in possession of letters written by him1 of which no one else knew anything1 that he worked bits of these into writings of his own1 which he wished to pass off as ,apostolic1 and that he then destroyed the genuine letters1 or disposed of them in such a way that no one knew that they had ever existed4 ,such a story is not absolutely impossible1 but it is so unlikely to be true1 that to accept it without clear evidence would be most uncritical4 ,and there is not only no clear evidence2 there is no evidence at all4 ,the hypothesis is pure imagination4 7#b7 ,the portions of this letter which are allowed by adverse critics to be genuine are precisely those in which a forger would be pretty sure to be caught tripping4 ,they are full of personal details1 some of which admit of being tested1 and all of which can be criticized1 as to whether they are natural and consistent or not4 ,would a forger be likely to risk detection by venturing on such dangerous ground8 ,he would put into the letter those doctrines for which he wished to appear to have ,st4 ,paul's authority2 and1 if he added anything else1 he would take care not to go beyond vague generalities1 too indefinite to be caught in the meshes of criticism4 ,but the writer of this letter has done the reverse of all this4 ,he has given an abundance of personal detail1 such as can be found in only one other place in the ,new ,testament1 and that in the concluding portion of the ,epistle to the ,romans1 one of the indisputable writings of ,st4 ,paul4 ,and he has not been caught tripping4 ,hostile writers have subjected these details to the most searching criticism2 and the result1 as we have seen1 is that many of them are constrained to admit that these portions of the letter are genuine productions of the ,apostle4 ,that is1 those portions of the ,epistle which can be subjected to a severe test1 are allowed to be by ,st4 ,paul1 because they stand the test2 while those which do not admit of being thus tested are rejected1 not because there is any proof of their being spurious1 but because critics think that the style is not like the ,apostle's4 ,would they not be the first to deride others for such an opinion8 ,supposing that these details had contained absurdities or contradictions1 which could not have been written by ,st4 ,paul1 would they not have maintained1 and reasonably maintained1 that it was monstrous to surrender as spurious those sections of the letter which had been tested and found wanting1 and to defend as genuine the other sections1 which did not admit of being tested8 ,let us look at the details a little more closely4 ,besides ,st4 ,paul and ,timothy1 twenty-three ,christians of the ,apostolic age are mentioned in this short letter4 ,a considerable number of these are persons of whom we read in the ,acts or in ,st4 ,paul's other letters2 but the majority are new names1 and in most of these cases we know nothing about the bearers of the names beyond what is told us here4 ,would a forger have given us this mixture of known and unknown8 ,if he ventured upon names at all1 would he not either have given us imaginary persons1 whose names and actions could not be checked by existing records1 or else have kept closely to the records1 so that the checking might tell in his favour8 ,he has done neither4 ,the new names do not look like those of imaginary persons1 and the mention of known persons is by no means a mere reproduction of what is said of them elsewhere4 ,demas forsook me1 having loved this present world4444 ,take ,mark and bring him with thee3 for he is useful to me for ministering4 ,a forger with the ,acts and the ,epistles to the ,colossians and ,philemon before him would have made ,mark forsake ,paul1 and ,demas be commended as useful to him2 for in the ,acts 7xv4 #ch7 ,paul had to condemn ,mark for slackness1 and in the ,epistles to the ,colossians 7iv4 #ad7 and to ,philemon 7#bd7 ,demas with ,luke is waiting on the ,apostle in his imprisonment4 ,and yet how natural that the ,apostle's condemnation should rouse ,mark to greater earnestness1 and that the ,apostle should recognize that earnestness in this farewell letter8 ,and how consistent with human frailty also that ,demas should have courage enough to stand by ,st4 ,paul during his first ,roman imprisonment1 and yet should quail before the greater risks of the second6 ,that the ,apostle's complaint respecting him means more than this1 is unlikely4 ,yet some have exaggerated it into a charge of heresy1 or even utter apostasy4 ,we are simply to understand that ,demas preferred comfort and security away from ,rome to the hardship and danger of a ,roman prison2 and therefore went to ,thessalonica4 ,why he selected that town we are not told1 but there being a ,christian community there would be one reason4 ,titus to ,dalmatia4 ,why should a forger send ,titus to ,dalmatia8 ,the ,pastoral ,epistles1 whether a forgery or not1 are all by one hand1 and seem to have been written within a short time of one another4 ,would not a forger have sent ,titus either to ,crete 7,tit4 i4 #e71 or to ,nicopolis 7,tit4 iii4 #ab78 ,but if ,titus went to ,nicopolis1 and failed to find ,paul there1 owing to his having been meanwhile arrested1 what more probable than that he should go on into ,dalmatia8 ,the forger1 if he had thought of this1 would have called attention to it1 to ensure that his ingenuity was not overlooked4 ,but ,tychicus ,i sent to ,ephesus4 ,the meaning of the but is not quite clear4 ,perhaps the most probable supposition is that it indicates the reason why the ,apostle needs a useful person like ,mark4 ,i had such a person in ,tychicus2 but he is gone on a mission for me to ,ephesus4 ,how natural all this is6 ,and what could induce a forger to put it in8 ,we are told in the ,acts that ,tychicus belonged to the ,roman province of ,asia 7xx4 #d71 and that he was with ,st4 ,paul at the close of his third missionary journey about nine years before the writing of this letter to ,timothy4 ,three or four years later we find ,tychicus once more with ,st4 ,paul during the first ,roman imprisonment2 and he is sent with ,onesimus as the bearer of the ,epistle to the ,colossians 7iv4 #g7 and to the ,ephesians 7vi4 #ba74 ,and we learn from the sentence before us1 as well as from ,titus iii4 #ab1 that he still enjoys the confidence of the ,apostle1 for he is sent on missions for him to ,crete and to ,ephesus4 ,all these separate notices of him hang together consistently representing him as the beloved brother1 and also as a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the ,lord1 whom ,st4 ,paul was accustomed to entrust with special commissions4 ,if the mission to ,ephesus mentioned here is a mere copy of the other missions1 would not a forger have taken some pains to ensure that the similarity between his fiction and previous facts should be observed8 ,the cloke that ,i left at ,troas with ,carpus1 bring when thou comest1 and the books1 especially the parchments4 ,here the arguments against the probability of forgery reach a climax2 and this verse should be remembered side by side with ,be no longer a drinker of water1 but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake in the ,first ,epistle 7v4 #bc74 ,what writer of a fictitious letter would ever have dreamed of inserting either passage8 ,to an unbiassed mind they go a long way towards producing the impression that we are dealing with real letters and not with inventions4 ,and this argument holds good equally well1 whatever meaning we give to the word 7phelon7 which is rendered cloke4 ,it probably means a cloke1 and is a ,greek form of the ,latin penula4 ,it appears to have been a circular garment without sleeves1 but with a hole in the middle for the head4 ,hence some persons have made the astounding suggestion that it was a eucharistic vestment analogous to a chasuble1 and have supposed that the ,apostle is here asking1 not for warm clothing before winter1 but for a sacerdotal dress for ritualistic purposes4 ,but since ,chrysostom's day there has been a more credible suggestion that the word means a bag or case for books4 ,if so1 would the ,apostle have mentioned both the book-bag and the books1 and would he have put the bag before the books8 ,he might naturally have written1 ,bring the book-bag1--of course with the books in it2 or1 ,bring the books and the bag also4 ,but it seems a strange way of putting the request to say1 ,the book-bag that ,i left at ,troas with ,carpus1 bring when thou comest2 the books also1 especially the parchments1 as if the bag were the chief thing that he thought about4 ,it seems better to abide by the old rendering cloke2 and1 if this is correct1 then it fits in well with ,do thy diligence to come before winter4 ,yet the writer in no way draws our attention to the connexion between the need of the thick cloke and the approach of winter3 and the writer of a real letter would have no need to do so4 ,but would a forger have left the connexion to chance8#ih ,whether ,alexander the coppersmith is the person of that name who was put forward by the ,jews in the riot raised by ,demetrius 7,acts xix4 #cc71 is not more than a possibility4 ,the name ,alexander was exceedingly common2 and we are not told that the ,jew in the riot at ,ephesus was a smith1 or that ,alexander the smith was a ,jew4 ,in what way the coppersmith showed much ill-treatment to the ,apostle1 we are not told4 ,as ,st4 ,paul goes on immediately afterwards to speak of his first defence1 it seems reasonable to conjecture that ,alexander had seriously injured the ,apostle's cause in some way4 ,but this is pure conjecture2 and the ill-treatment may refer to general persecution of ,st4 ,paul and opposition to his teaching4 ,on the whole the latter hypothesis appears to be safer4 ,the reading1 ,the ,lord will render to him 7apodsei71 is shown by an overwhelming balance of evidence to be preferable to ,the ,lord reward him 7apod7 according to his works4 ,there is no malediction4 ,just as in ver4 #h the ,apostle expresses his conviction that the ,lord will render 7apodsei7 a crown of righteousness to all those who love ,his appearing1 so here he expresses a conviction that ,he will render a just recompense to all those who oppose the work of ,his kingdom4 ,what follows in the next verse1 may it not be laid to their account1 seems to show that the ,apostle is in no cursing mood4 ,he writes in sorrow rather than in anger4 ,it is necessary to put ,timothy on his guard against a dangerous person2 but he leaves the requital of the evil deeds to ,god4 ,salute ,prisca and ,aquila4 ,a forger with the ,apostle's indisputable writings before him1 would hardly have inserted this2 for he would have concluded from ,rom4 xvi4 #c1 #d1 that these two well-known helpers of ,st4 ,paul were in ,rome at this very time4 ,aquila was a ,jew of ,pontus who had migrated from ,pontus to ,rome1 but had had to leave the capital again when ,claudius expelled the ,jews from the city 7,acts xviii4 #b74 ,he and his wife ,prisca or ,priscilla then settled in ,corinth1 where ,st4 ,paul took up his abode with them1 because they were ,jews and tent-makers1 like himself4 ,and in their workshop the foundations of the ,corinthian ,church were laid4 ,thenceforward they became his helpers in preaching the ,gospel1 and went with him to ,ephesus1 where they helped forward the conversion of the eloquent ,alexandrian ,jew ,apollos4 ,after much service to the ,church they returned once more to ,rome1 and were there when ,st4 ,paul wrote the ,epistle to the ,romans4 ,either the persecution under ,nero1 or possibly missionary enterprise1 induced them once more to leave ,rome and return to ,asia4 ,the ,apostle naturally puts such faithful friends1 who for his life laid down their necks 7,rom4 xvi4 #c71 in the very first place in sending his personal greetings2 and they are equally naturally coupled with the household of ,onesiphorus1 who had done similar service in courageously visiting ,st4 ,paul in his imprisonment 7ver4 #af74 ,the double mention of the household of ,onesiphorus 7not of ,onesiphorus himself7 has been commented upon in a former exposition 7see ,no4 ,,xxviii474 ,of the statements1 ,erastus abode at ,corinth3 but ,trophimus ,i left at ,miletus sick1 no more need be said than to point out how lifelike and natural they are in a real letter from one friend to another who knows the persons mentioned2 how unlikely they are to have occurred to a writer who was inventing a letter in order to advocate his own doctrinal views4 ,that ,trophimus is the same person as the ,ephesian1 who with ,tychicus accompanied ,st4 ,paul on his third missionary journey 7,acts xx4 #d2 xxi4 #bi71 may be safely assumed4 ,whether ,erastus is identical with the treasurer of ,corinth 7,rom4 xvi4 #bc71 or with the ,erastus who was sent by ,paul with ,timothy to ,macedonia 7,acts xix4 #bb71 must remain uncertain4 ,eubulus saluteth thee1 and ,pudens1 and ,linus1 and ,claudia4 ,with this group of names our accumulation of arguments for the genuineness of this portion of the letter1 and therefore of the whole letter1 and therefore of all three ,pastoral ,epistles1 comes to an end4 ,the argument is a cumulative one1 and this last item of the internal evidence is by no means the least important or least convincing4 ,about ,eubulus1 ,pudens1 and ,claudia we know nothing beyond what this passage implies1 viz41 that they were members of the ,christian ,church in ,rome2 for the very bare possibility that ,pudens and ,claudia may be the persons of that name who are mentioned by ,martial1 is not worth more than a passing reference4 ,but ,linus is a person about whom something is known4 ,it is unlikely that in the ,apostolic age there were two ,christians of this name in the ,roman ,church2 and therefore we may safely conclude that the ,linus who here sends greeting is identical with the ,linus1 who1 according to very early testimony preserved by ,irenaeus 7,haer41 ,,iii4 iii4 #c71 was first among the earliest bishops of the ,church of ,rome4 ,irenaeus himself expressly identifies the first ,bishop of ,rome with the ,linus mentioned in the ,epistles to ,timothy1 and that in a passage in which 7thanks to ,eusebius7 we have the original ,greek of ,irenaeus as well as the ,latin translation4 ,from his time 7c4 ,a4,d4 #ahj7 to the present day1 ,linus1 ,anencletus or ,anacletus or ,cletus 7all three forms of the name are used71 and ,clement have been commemorated as the three first ,bishops of ,rome4 ,they must all of them have been contemporaries of the ,apostle4 ,of these three far the most famous was ,clement2 and a writer at the end of the first century1 or beginning of the second1 inventing a letter for ,st4 ,paul1 would be much more likely to put ,clement into it than ,linus4 ,again1 such a writer would know that ,linus1 after the ,apostle's death1 became the presiding presbyter of the ,church of ,rome1 and would place him before ,eubulus and ,pudens4 ,but here ,linus is placed after the other two4 ,the obvious inference is1 that1 at the time when this letter was written1 ,linus was not yet in any position of authority4 ,like the other persons here named1 he was a leading member of the ,church in ,rome1 otherwise he would hardly have been mentioned at all2 but he has not yet been promoted to the chief place1 otherwise he would at least have been mentioned first1 and probably with some epithet or title4 ,once more one asks1 what writer of fiction would have thought of these niceties8 ,and what writer who thought of them1 and elaborated them thus skilfully1 would have abstained from all attempt to prevent their being overlooked and unappreciated8 ,the result of this investigation is greatly to increase our confidence in the genuineness of this letter and of all three ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,we began by treating them as veritable writings of the great ,apostle1 and a closer acquaintance with them has justified this treatment4 ,doubts may be raised about everything2 but reasonable doubts have their limits4 ,to dispute the authenticity of the ,epistles to the ,corinthians1 ,romans1 and ,galatians is now considered to be a sure proof that the doubter cannot estimate evidence2 and we may look forward to the time when the ,second ,epistle to ,timothy will be ranked with those four great ,epistles as indisputable4 ,meanwhile let no student of this letter doubt that in it he is reading the touching words in which the ,apostle of the ,gentiles gave his last charge to his beloved disciple1 and through him to the ,christian ,church4 ,,footnotes3 #ig ,salmon's ,historical ,introduction to the ,new ,testament1 p4 #dbf1 #crd ed41 to which the writer of this exposition is under great obligations4 ,the book should be in the hands of every student of the ,n4 ,t4 #ih ,the striking parallel to this request afforded by that of ,william ,tyndale is pointed out in ,farrar's ,st4 ,paul1 ii4 p4 #ega4 ,tyndale writes from his prison in the ,castle of ,vilvorden to ask1 idque per ,dominum ,jesum1 for warmer clothing1 and above all for his ,hebrew ,bible1 grammar1 and dictionary4 ,,chapter ,,xxxvii4 ,,the ,,apostle ,,forsaken ,,by ,,men ,,but ,,strengthened ,,by ,,the ,,lord4--,,the ,,mission ,,to ,,the ,,gentiles ,,completed4--,,the ,,sure ,,hope1 ,,and ,,the ,,final ,,hymn ,,of ,,praise4 ,at my first defence no man took my part1 but all forsook me3 may it not be laid to their account4 ,but the ,lord stood by me and strengthened me2 that through me the message might be fully proclaimed1 and that all the ,gentiles might hear3 and ,i was delivered out of the mouth of the lion4 ,the ,lord will deliver me from evil work1 and will save me unto ,his heavenly kingdom3 to whom be the glory for ever and ever4 ,amen4--#b ,,tim4 iv4 #af-ah4 ,there is a general agreement at the present time that ,eusebius is in error1 when1 in a well-known passage in his ,ecclesiastical ,history 7,,ii4 xxii4 #b-g71 he refers this first defence and the deliverance out of the lion's mouth to the first ,roman imprisonment and the release which put an end to it1 probably ,a4,d4 #fc4 ,the deliverance does not mean release from prison following upon acquittal1 but temporary rescue from imminent danger4 ,eusebius makes a second mistake in this chapter which is the result of the first error2 but an avoidance of the second would have preserved him from the first4 ,he says that the ,apostle shows in the ,second ,epistle to ,timothy that only ,luke was with him when he wrote1 but at his former defence not even he4 ,now during the first ,roman imprisonment ,st4 ,paul was not alone1 and one of the persons who was with him was ,timothy himself1 as we see from the opening of the letter to the ,philippians4 ,it is1 therefore1 highly improbable that the ,apostle would think it worth while to tell ,timothy what took place at the trial which ended the first imprisonment1 seeing that ,timothy was then in ,rome4 ,and even if ,timothy had left ,rome before the trial came on1 which is not very likely1 he would long since have heard what took place1 both from others and from the ,apostle himself4 ,it is obvious that in the present passage ,st4 ,paul is giving his disciple information respecting something which has recently taken place1 of which ,timothy is not likely to have heard4 ,the value of the witness of ,eusebius is not1 however1 seriously diminished by this twofold mistake4 ,it is clear that he was fully convinced that there were two ,roman imprisonments2 one early in ,nero's reign1 when the ,emperor was more disposed to be merciful1 and one later2 and that he was convinced of this on independent grounds1 and not because he considered that the genuineness of the ,pastoral ,epistles would be untenable without the hypothesis of a second imprisonment4 ,another confirmation of the view of ,eusebius is found in the statement respecting ,trophimus1 that ,paul had left him sick at ,miletus4 ,it is impossible to place the ,apostle at ,miletus with ,trophimus prior to the first imprisonment4 ,consequently some who deny the second imprisonment1 and yet maintain the genuineness of this letter1 resort to the desperate method of making the verb to be third person plural instead of first person singular 7apeleipon or apelipon71 and translating ,trophimus they left at ,miletus sick4 ,at my first defence no man took my part1 but all forsook me4 ,he had no patronus1 no advocatus1 no clientela4 ,among all the ,christians in ,rome there was not one who would stand at his side in court either to speak on his behalf1 or to advise him in the conduct of his case1 or to support him by a demonstration of sympathy4 ,the expression for no one took my part 7oudeis moi paregeneto7 literally means no one came to my side1 or became present on my behalf4 ,the verb is specially frequent in the writings of ,st4 ,luke4 ,and the word which is rendered forsook 7enkatelipon7 is still more graphic4 ,it signifies leaving a person in a position1 and especially in a bad position2 leaving him in straits4 ,it is almost the exact counterpart of our colloquial phrase to leave in the lurch4 ,st4 ,paul uses it elsewhere of those who with him are pursued1 but not forsaken 7#b ,cor4 iv4 #i74 ,and both ,st4 ,mark and ,st4 ,luke1 following the ,,lxx41 use it in translating ,christ's cry upon the cross3 ,why hast thou forsaken ,me8 ,hence it signifies not merely desertion 7kataleipein71 but desertion at a time when help and support are needed4 ,what is the meaning of the all8 ,all forsook me4 ,does it include ,luke1 whom he has just mentioned as being the only person with him8 ,and1 if so1 is it meant as an indirect reproach8 ,some would have it that we have here an indication of the spurious character of the letter4 ,the forger is unable consistently to maintain the part which he has assumed4 ,in writing all forsook me he has already forgotten what he has just written about ,luke3 and he forgets both statements when a few lines further on he represents ,eubulus1 ,pudens1 ,linus1 ,claudia1 and others as sending greetings4 ,but1 like so many of these objections1 this criticism turns out1 when reasonably examined1 to be an argument for the genuineness of the letter4 ,these apparent inconsistencies are just the things which a forger could and would have avoided4 ,even a very blundering forger would have avoided three glaring contradictions in about thirty lines3 and they are glaring contradictions1 if they are interpreted as they must be interpreted for the purposes of this criticism4 ,only ,luke is with me4 ,every one has forsaken me4 ,all the brethren salute thee4 ,any one of these statements1 if forced to apply to the same set of circumstances1 contradicts the other two4 ,but then this meaning is forced upon them1 and is not their natural meaning3 and these are just the apparent inconsistencies which the writer of a real letter takes no pains to avoid1 because there is not the smallest danger of his being misunderstood4 ,all forsook me is exactly a parallel to all that are in ,asia turned away from me 7see pp4 #cba1 #cbb47 ,the all in both cases means all who might have been expected to help4 ,it refers to those who could have been of service1 who in many cases had been asked to render service1 by being witnesses in ,paul's favour and the like1 and who abstained from doing anything for him4 ,the ,apostle's first defence probably took place some weeks1 or even months1 before the writing of this letter4 ,from our knowledge of the delays which often took place in ,roman legal proceedings1 there would be nothing surprising if a whole year had elapsed since the first opening of the case4 ,it is quite possible1 therefore1 that at the time when it began ,st4 ,luke was not yet in ,rome1 and consequently had no opportunity of aiding his friend4 ,and it is also possible that he was not in a position to render any assistance1 however anxious he may have been to do so4 ,there is no reason whatever for supposing that the ,apostle includes him among those for whom he prays that ,god will forgive them their desertion of him1 even as he himself forgives it4 ,nor is there any contradiction between ,only ,luke is with me1 and the salutations sent by ,eubulus and others4 ,there were various members of the ,church in ,rome who occasionally visited ,st4 ,paul in his imprisonment1 or at least kept up a certain amount of communication with him4 ,but ,luke was the only outsider who was with him1 the only one who had come to him from a distance and been both able and willing to remain with him4 ,others both in ,rome and from other ,churches had paid visits to the prisoner2 but they had been unable or unwilling to stay with him4 ,luke was the only person who had done that4 ,therefore the fact that various ,roman ,christians were ready to send greetings to ,timothy is in no way inconsistent with the special commendation bestowed upon ,st4 ,luke for being his friend's sole companion in prison4 ,for the cowardly or unkind abstention of the rest the ,apostle has no stronger word of condemnation than may it not be laid to their account4 ,no one knew better than himself how weak-hearted many of these disciples were1 and how great were the dangers of his own position and of all those who ventured to associate themselves with him4 ,it was otherwise in his first imprisonment4 ,then ,nero was not quite the monster that he had since become4 ,at that time the burning of ,rome had not yet taken place1 nor had the cruel outcry against the ,christians1 of which the conflagration was made the occasion1 as yet been raised4 ,it was quite otherwise now4 ,to be known as a ,christian might be dangerous2 and to avow oneself as the associate of so notorious a leader as ,paul could not fail to be so4 ,therefore1 ,may it not be laid to their account 7m autois logisthei74 ,this is the very spirit which the ,apostle himself years before had declared to be a characteristic of ,christian charity2 it taketh not account of evil 7ou logizetai to kakon73 and of ,god ,himself1 ,who in dealing with mankind1 lays not to their account their trespasses 7m logizomenos autois ta paraptmata autn74#ii ,but1 in contrast to these timid friends1 the ,lord stood by me and strengthened me4 ,christ did not desert ,his faithful servant in the hour of need1 but gave him courage and strength to speak out bravely before the court all that it was right that he should say4 ,the contrast which the ,apostle here makes between the many who forsook him and the ,one who stood by him reminds us of a similar contrast made by the ,lord ,himself4 ,behold1 the hour cometh1 yea is come1 that ye shall be scattered1 every man to his own1 and shall leave ,me alone3 and yet ,i am not alone1 because the ,father is with ,me 7,john xvi4 #cb74 ,in this respect also the saying remains true ,a servant is not greater than his lord 7,john xv4 #bj72 and ,apostles must expect no better treatment than their ,master received4 ,if they are deserted by their disciples and friends in the hour of danger1 so also was ,he4 ,but in each case those who are deserted are not alone1 because1 although human help fails1 ,divine support is always present4 ,the ,lord in this passage1 both here and a few lines further on1 means ,christ rather than the ,father4 ,this is in accordance with ,st4 ,paul's usage4 ,lord here has the article 7ho kyrios73 and when that is the case it commonly means ,jesus ,christ 7comp4 ii4 #g1 #ad1 #bb2 iii4 #aa2 iv4 #ad1 #bb2 #a ,tim4 i4 #b1 #ab1 #ad2 vi4 #c1 #ad2 #a ,cor4 iv4 #e2 vi4 #ac2 vii4 #aj1 #ab1 #cd2 etc41 etc4 ,in ,titus the word does not occur74 ,where ,lord has no article in the ,greek 7kyrios7 ,st4 ,paul usually means ,god and not ,christ4 ,some would assert that1 excepting where he quotes from the ,old ,testament 7e4g41 #a ,cor4 x4 #bf71 this usage is invariable2 but that is probably too sweeping an assertion4 ,nevertheless1 there is no reason for doubting that in this passage the ,lord means ,jesus ,christ4 ,we may compare our own usage1 according to which our ,lord almost invariably means ,christ1 whereas the ,lord more commonly means ,god the ,father4 ,the word for strengthen 7endynamoun7 means literally to infuse power into a person4 ,it is one of which the ,apostle is rather fond2 and outside his writings it occurs in the ,new ,testament only in the ,acts and in ,hebrews1 once in each 7,rom4 iv4 #bj2 ,eph4 vi4 #aj2 ,phil4 iv4 #ac2 #a ,tim4 i4 #ab2 #b ,tim4 ii4 #a74 ,it is worth while to compare the passage in which he speaks to ,timothy of ,christ having given him power to turn to ,him and become ,his servant2 and still more the passage in which1 during his first ,roman imprisonment1 he tells the ,philippians ,i can do all things in ,him that strengthened me4 ,the same thing was true in the second imprisonment4 ,the special purpose for which ,christ stood by ,his ,apostle and put strength and power into him is stated4 ,that through me the message might be fully proclaimed1 and that all the ,gentiles might hear4 ,those who follow ,eusebius in the mistake of supposing that the first defence refers to the trial which ended in ,st4 ,paul's release after the first imprisonment1 understand this proclamation of the message to the ,gentiles as referring to the missionary work which ,st4 ,paul was enabled to do during the few years of interval 7c4 ,a4,d4 #fc-ff7 before he was again arrested4 ,but if the proclamation of the message took place in consequence of the ,apostle's release1 then it would have been placed after1 and not before1 the mention of deliverance out of the mouth of the lion4 ,it is not said that he was delivered in order that through him the message might be proclaimed1 but that he was strengthened in order that it might be proclaimed4 ,and the special strengthening by ,christ took place in reference to the first hearing of the case in court1 when all human friends forsook him1 while ,christ stood by him4 ,it was in court1 therefore1 that the proclamation of the message was made1 and that through the instrumentality of the ,apostle the preaching of the ,gospel reached its culmination 7to krygma plrophorth74 ,this was the climax2--that in the metropolis of the world1 in open court1 before the imperial tribunal1 the ,gospel proclamation should be made with all solemnity and power4 ,it is quite possible that this event1 which the ,apostle of the ,gentiles regards as the completing act of his own mission and ministry1 took place in the forum itself4 ,here ,tiberius had caused a tribunal to be erected for causes which he had to hear as ,emperor4 ,but ,claudius sometimes heard such cases elsewhere2 and his successors probably followed his example4 ,so that in the reign of ,nero we cannot be certain that such a case as ,st4 ,paul's would be heard in the forum4 ,but at any rate it would be held in a court to which the public had access2 and the ,roman public at this time was the most representative in the world4 ,the ,apostle is fully justified1 therefore1 in the language which he uses4 ,this opportunity and power were granted in order that through me the message might be fully proclaimed1 and that all the ,gentiles might hear4 ,in that representative city and before that representative audience he preached ,christ2 and through those who were present and heard him the fact would be made known throughout the civilized world that in the imperial city and before the imperial bench the ,apostle of ,christ had proclaimed the coming of ,his ,kingdom4 ,and the result of it was that he was delivered out of the mouth of the lion4 ,this was a second consequence of the ,lord's standing by him and strengthening him4 ,he was enabled to speak with such effect1 that the sentence of condemnation1 which had been feared1 was for the present averted4 ,he was neither acquitted nor convicted2 but the court1 being unable to arrive at a satisfactory decision1 granted an extension of time 7ampliatio72 that is an adjournment4 ,in technical phraseology the actio prima ended in a verdict of non liquet1 and an actio secunda became necessary2 and as this second trial might have a similar result1 the amount of delay that was possible was almost boundless4 ,to ask who is meant by the lion is a futile question4 ,whom did the ,psalmist mean by the lion1 when he prayed ,save me from the lion's mouth8 7,ps4 xxii4 #ba47 ,he meant no one by the lion2 but by the lion's mouth he meant some great and imminent danger4 ,and that is what we must understand here4 ,all kinds of gratuitous conjectures have been made by those who have insisted on identifying the lion2--the lion of the amphitheatre1 to whom the ,apostle might have been thrown1 had he been condemned2 the ,emperor ,nero1 or1 as he was possibly in ,greece at this time1 his prefect and representative ,helius2 or1 the chief accuser2 or again1 ,satan1 whom ,st4 ,peter describes as a roaring lion4 ,all these are answers to a question which does not arise out of the text4 ,the question is not1 ,who is the lion8 but1 ,what is the meaning of the lion's mouth8 ,and the answer to that is1 a terrible danger1 and especially peril of death4 ,the goodness of the ,lord does not end with this welcome1 but temporary deliverance4 ,the ,lord will deliver me from every evil work1 and will save me unto ,his heavenly kingdom4 ,paul's enemies are not likely to be idle during the extension of time granted by the court4 ,they will do their utmost to secure a sentence of condemnation at the second hearing of the case1 and thus get the man whom they detest removed from the earth4 ,whether they will succeed in this or not1 the ,apostle does not know4 ,but one thing he knows2--that whatever is really evil in their works against him will be powerless to harm him4 ,the ,lord will turn their evil into good4 ,they may succeed in compassing his death4 ,but1 even if they do so1 the ,lord will make their work of death a work of salvation2 and by the severing of the thread which still binds ,paul to this life will save him unto1 that is1 will translate him safe into1 ,his heavenly kingdom4 ,it is utterly improbable that by every evil work1 ,st4 ,paul means any weakness or sin into which he himself might be betrayed through want of courage and steadfastness4 ,even if the lion's mouth could mean ,satan1 this would not be probable2 for it would be ,satan's attacks from without1 by means of opposition and persecution1 and not his attempts from within by means of grievous temptations1 that would be meant4 ,what is said above about ,alexander the coppersmith shows what kind of evil and what kind of works is intended in every evil work4 ,the expression evidently refers to the machinations of ,paul's enemies4 ,it is also highly improbable that will save me unto ,his heavenly kingdom means will keep me alive until ,he returns in glory4 ,there was a time when the ,apostle expected1 like most other ,christians of that day1 to live to behold the second coming of ,christ4 ,but what we have already seen in this ,epistle shows that in ,st4 ,paul's mind that expectation is extinct4 ,he no longer thinks that he will be one of those that are alive1 that are left unto the coming of the ,lord 7#a ,thess4 iv4 #ae1 #ag72 that he will be among the living1 who shall be changed1 rather than among the dead1 who shall be raised at the sounding of the last trump 7#a ,cor4 xv4 #ec74 ,he does not repeat1 what seems almost to have been a familiar watchword among the ,christians of that day1--,maran atha2 the ,lord is at hand 7#a ,cor4 xvi4 #bb2 ,phil4 iv4 #e74 ,on the contrary1 it is his own hour that is at hand3 ,i am already being offered1 and the time of my departure is come4 ,he is fully persuaded now that he will not live to see ,christ's return in glory2 and he does not expect that return to come speedily2 for1 as we have seen1 one of his chief anxieties is that there should be a permanently organized ministry in the ,churches1 and that provision should be made for handing on the faith intact from generation to generation 7,tit4 i1 #e2 #b ,tim4 ii4 #b74 ,there can be little doubt1 therefore1 that when the ,apostle expresses a conviction that the ,lord will save him unto ,his heavenly kingdom1 he is not expecting to reach that kingdom without first passing through the gate of death4 ,what he is sure of is this1--that the evil works of his adversaries will never be allowed to prevent him from reaching that blessed resting place4 ,christ's kingdom is twofold2 ,he has a kingdom on earth and a kingdom in heaven4 ,the saints who are in the kingdom on earth are still exposed to many kinds of evil works2 and the ,apostle is persuaded that in his case such works will be overruled by the ,lord to further his progress from the earthly to the heavenly kingdom4 ,to whom be the glory for ever and ever4 ,amen4 ,if what was said above about the ,lord is correct1 then here we have a doxology which manifestly is addressed to ,christ4 ,it is possible that in ,rom4 ix4 #e and xvi4 #bg we have other examples1 as also in ,heb4 xiii4 #ba2 but in all these three cases the construction is open to question4 ,here1 however1 there can be no doubt that the glory for ever and ever is ascribed to the ,lord ,who stood by ,paul at his trial and will deliver him from all evil works hereafter2 and the ,lord is ,jesus ,christ4 ,as ,chrysostom pointedly remarks without further comment3 ,lo1 here is a doxology to the ,son4 ,and it is word for word the same as that which in ,gal4 i4 #e is addressed to the ,father4 ,with these words of praise on his lips we take our leave of the ,apostle4 ,he is a wearied worker1 a forlorn and all but deserted teacher1 a despised and all but condemned prisoner2 but he knows that he has made no mistake4 ,the ,master1 ,who seems to have requited ,his servant so ill1 is a royal ,master1 ,who has royal gifts in store4 ,he has never failed ,his servant in this life1 in which ,his presence1 though but dimly reflected1 has always brightened suffering2 and ,he will not fail in ,his promises respecting the life which is to come4 ,the ,apostle has had to sustain him1 not merely ,divine truth wherewith to enlighten his soul1 and ,divine rules1 wherewith to direct his conduct2 he has had also a ,divine ,person1 wherewith to share his life4 ,he has kept the faith in the ,divine truth2 he has finished his course according to the ,divine rules2 yet these things he has done1 not in his own strength1 but in ,christ ,who lives in him4 ,it is this gracious indwelling which made the victory that has been won possible2 and it is this which gives it its value4 ,the faith which has been kept is faith in ,him ,who is the ,truth4 ,the course which has been finished is according to ,him ,who is the ,way4 ,and the life which has been shared has been united with ,him ,who is the ,life4 ,that union will never end4 ,it began here2 and it will be continued throughout eternity in the life which is life indeed4 ,and therefore1 with a heart full of thankfulness to the ,master ,who has shared his sufferings and will share his bliss1 he leaves us as his last address to ,christ1 ,to ,him be the glory for ever and ever4 ,amen4 ,,footnotes3 #ii #a ,cor4 xiii4 #e2 #b ,cor4 v4 #ai4 ,,index4 ,abecedarians1 #gj4 ,acts of the ,apostles not written by ,titus1 #bjg1 nor by ,st4 ,paul1 #cfj-cfb4 ,adornment1 ,the nature of1 #bea1 #beb4 ,alexander1 #ge1 #gf1 #cgc1 #dac4 ,ambrose1 #bcj4 ,anacletus1 #daf4 ,ananias and ,sapphira1 #gc1 #ge4 ,anarchy in the ,church1 #gc1 #bga4 ,angels1 #ach4 ,antinomian doctrine1 #dd1 #di1 #bih1 #bii4 ,apocalypse1 #dh1 #fh4 ,apollos1 #bjc1 #bjh1 #dad4 ,apostles1 #fi1 #gj4 ,apostolic ,constitutions1 #abf1 #aef1 #bcb4 ,appuleius1 #cgi4 ,aquila1 #dac1 #dad4 ,aratus1 #bbe4 ,aristotle1 #bdj4 ,army1 ,roman1 #cde1 #cdf4 ,artemis1 ,temple of1 #hd1 #aih4 ,article1 ,the ,greek1 #hi1 #ahi1 #cib4 ,asceticism1 #dd1 #adb1 #adc4 ,athenagoras1 #abe4 ,athleticism1 #add4 ,aurelius1 ,m41 #hi1 #beg4 ,augustine1 #bbi1 #cgc4 ,authenticity of the ,pastoral ,epistles1 #d-af1 #cc1 #eb1 #ee1 #afc1 #afi1 #bid1 #bie1 #cab1 #cbb1 #djd1 #djf-dag1 #dba4 ,authority1 ,divine origin of1 #bgc-bge4 ,avarice1 ,dangers of1 #aif-aih4 ,baptism1 #bhd-bic4 ,basilides1 #h1 #db4 ,bauer1 #h1 #aj1 #ab1 #cc4 ,blandina1 #beg4 ,bodily exercise profitable1 #adc-ade4 ,bretschneider1 #abe4 ,butler's ,durham ,charge1 #cfh4 ,carpus1 #aa1 #daa4 ,cathari1 #abf4 ,celsus1 #bbi1 #bec4 ,cellini1 #ej4 ,certainty1 ,nature of historical1 #aje4 ,children1 ,care of1 #bef4 ,chrysostom1 #cd1 #ef1 #ie1 #aja1 #bdi1 #cdi1 #cfi1 #chb1 #cig1 #dbi4 ,circumcision of ,timothy1 #bb4 ,claudia1 #dae4 ,claudius1 #dad1 #dbe4 ,cleanthes1 #bbe4 ,clement of ,alexandria1 #f1 #ig1 #ajj1 #bbh1 #cci1 #cgc4 ,clement of ,rome1 #e1 #ad1 #ig1 #aaj1 #daf4 ,clergy and laity from the first distinct1 #aji4 ,cloke1 #dab4 ,collection for ,jewish ,christians1 #bje4 ,conscientious disobedience1 #bgh4 ,contentment1 #aib-aif4 ,continuity of doctrine1 #ccf-cdj4 ,controversial spirit1 #cfg4 ,controversial violence1 #bhj4 ,corinth1 ,case of incest at1 #gc1 #bfe4 ,corinth1 ,timothy at1 #bc1 #bd1 #bi4 ,corinth1 ,titus at1 #bjd-bjf4 ,cosin1 ,bishop1 #cbh4 ,credner1 #h4 ,crete1 ,the ,church in1 #bab-bae1 #bga4 ,cynicism1 ,evils of1 #bi-ca4 ,cyril of ,jerusalem1 #cda4 ,davies1 ,t4 ,ll41 #cja4 ,deaconesses1 #aee1 #aeh4 ,dead1 ,prayers for the1 #cbe-ccj4 ,delivering to ,satan1 #gd4 ,demas1 #dji1 #daj4 ,devil1 ,personality of the1 #gg-hj4 ,diogenes ,laertius1 #bif4 ,discipline necessary to the ,church1 #gb1 #gc4 ,divinity of ,christ1 #bfh1 #bfi1 #bhc1 #dbi4 ,divorce1 #abj4 ,doctrinal statements in the ,pastoral ,epistles1 #bei1 #bhb4 ,doctrine1 ,continuity of1 #ccf-cdj4 ,doctrine of the ,twelve ,apostles1 #fi1 #if1 #ajh1 #aae4 ,dllinger1 #h1 #abi4 ,doxology addressed to ,christ1 #bdi4 ,dress of women1 #aja4 ,ecstasy1 #bda4 ,elders or presbyters1 #fg1 #aab1 #aae1 #aah1 #afe1 #bac1 #bag4 ,elymas1 #ge4 ,emotion in religion1 #bdd-bdg4 ,ephesus1 ,timothy at1 #be1 #hd1 #aih1 #bfe1 #cbj1 #cbc4 ,epimenides1 #bbd1 #bbe4 ,epiphanies of ,christ1 #bfj1 #bfi4 ,episcopacy1 #ajg1 #aab1 #aad1 #bba4 ,erastus1 #dad1 #dae4 ,evans1 ,t4 ,s41 #bhg4 ,eunice1 #ba1 #chh4 ,eubulus1 #dae4 ,eusebius1 #f1 #ad1 #bf1 #cg1 #beg1 #cga1 #cgi1 #dae1 #dah1 #dai4 ,ewald1 #i1 #djg4 ,excommunication1 #gd1 #cjc4 ,extempore prayer1 #if4 ,failure1 ,apparent1 of the ,gospel1 #djb4 ,faith1 ,test of1 #bij4 ,farrar1 ,f4 ,w41 #dab4 ,flood1 ,the1 a type of baptism1 #bhi4 ,free will1 #dj1 #da1 #eg4 ,freedom of the ,gospel1 #cfb1 #cfc4 ,friendship of ,paul and ,timothy1 #bf-cj4 ,genealogies1 #cd1 #ce4 ,genuineness of the ,pastoral ,epistles1 #d-af1 #cc1 #eb1 #ee1 #afc1 #afi1 #bid1 #bie1 #cab1 #cbb1 #djd1 #djf-dag1 #dba4 ,gessius ,florus1 #bgf4 ,gladiatorial shows1 #agi1 #cdg4 ,gnosticism1 its rapid progress1 #cg2 its problem1 #ch2 its moral teaching1 #dd1 #ec1 #aea4 ,godet1 #cd4 ,goethe1 #gi4 ,golden ages of the ,church1 #bfd4 ,grammatical errors in ,scripture1 #cid4 ,gregory the ,great1 #bca1 #bcb4 ,gregory of ,tours1 #bcc4 ,hadrian1 #hi4 ,handling aright1 #cgj4 ,hands1 ,imposition of1 #fc1 #fd1 #fg1 #aff1 #afg1 #cae4 ,hands lifted in prayer1 #ig1 #ih4 ,hausrath1 #i1 #djg4 ,hegesippus1 #f1 #ccg4 ,helius1 #bge1 #dbg4 ,heresy1 ,meaning of in ,new ,testament1 #bif-bii4 ,heresy and magic1 #chc4 ,heretical teachers1 #ec1 #chb4 ,hermas1 #ajh1 #abe4 ,hermogenes1 #cai-cbc4 ,hippolytus1 #abh4 ,hitzig1 #i1 #djg4 ,hooker1 #bhe1 #bhf4 ,husband of one wife1 #aah4 ,huxley1 #agc4 ,hymenaeus1 ,the punishment of1 #gd-gf1 #cgc4 ,hymns1 ,ancient ,christian1 #acd4 ,ideal ,church1 #aaf4 ,ignatius1 #e1 #aj1 #cc1 #fi1 #aac1 #aad1 #cgh4 ,immer1 #i1 #djg4 ,imposition of hands1 #fc1 #fd1 #fg1 #aff1 #afg1 #cae4 ,imprisonments of ,st4 ,paul1 #ac1 #bd1 #bh1 #cfb1 #dja4 ,imprisonment of ,timothy1 #bd4 ,incarnation1 ,the1 #dd1 #ceh1 #cei4 ,inspiration of ,scripture1 #cha1 #cic-cif4 ,intercession1 #hc1 #hf1 #cbf4 ,irenaeus1 #f1 #aab1 #aac1 #bid1 #cch1 #cgc1 #dae4 ,jannes and ,jambres1 #cgi-chc4 ,jerome1 #bcj1 #cfj4 ,jewish ,gnosticism1 #cc1 #cd4 ,job1 #gf1 #gg1 #aib4 ,julian the ,apostate1 #bcj1 #bca4 ,justin ,martyr1 #f1 #if1 #aai4 ,klling1 #h4 ,krenkel1 #i1 #bjg1 #djg4 ,lambeth ,conferences1 #bff4 ,last days1 #cgg4 ,latin ,fathers and ,pagan culture1 #bbg1 #bcj1 #bcb4 ,laver of regeneration1 #bhe-bib4 ,lemme1 #i1 #djg4 ,lightfoot1 ,bishop1 #aac1 #bbg1 #cfa4 ,linus1 #aac1 #cch1 #dae1 #daf4 ,lion's mouth1 #dbf4 ,liturgical forms in ,new ,testament1 #hc1 #acd4 ,lois1 #ba1 #chh4 ,lord1 when used of ,christ1 #dbd4 ,luke1 #bc1 #bg1 #bjg1 #bji1 #dba-dbc4 ,lystra1 #ba1 #bb1 #bd4 ,magic1 #chc4 ,mahometanism and slavery1 #ahb4 ,maine1 #aei4 ,manumission of slaves1 #aha1 #ahd1 #bdh4 ,marcion's rejection of the ,pastoral ,epistles1 #d1 #e1 #h1 #aj4 ,mark1 #dji1 #daj4 ,marriages1 ,second1 #abb1 #abe4 ,mill1 ,j4 ,s41 #ci4 ,milligan1 #aag4 ,missions1 #bff4 ,money1 ,love of1 #aic-aih4 ,montanus1 #gj1 #aae4 ,mouth of the lion1 #dbf4 ,muratorian ,canon1 #f1 #ad4 ,mystery1 ,meaning of in ,new ,testament1 #acb1 #ace4 ,nero1 #ad1 #hi1 #bge1 #dad1 #dai1 #dbb1 #dbf4 ,newman1 ,j4 ,h41 #ci1 #dj1 #bcc-bce1 #chg4 ,nicodemus1 ,gospel of1 #chj4 ,numenius1 #cgi4 ,obedience1 ,duty of1 #bgb1 #bge4 ,onesimus1 #daa4 ,onesiphorus1 #cac1 #cai1 #cbj1 #cbc1 #dad4 ,ordination1 #fj1 #fc1 #bbj1 #cad4 ,origen1 #abe1 #bbh1 #bbi1 #cgi4 ,origin of the ,christian ministry1 #ajd-aag4 ,pastoral ,epistles1 ,character of1 #c1 #d1 #ae1 #af1 #bja1 #cji1 #cab4 ,paul ,,iii41 ,pope1 #ej4 ,pedanius ,secundus1 #agi4 ,persecution1 #ed1 #bge4 ,peshitto1 #f4 ,pfleiderer1 #h1 #aj1 #aa1 #djg4 ,philetus1 #cgc4 ,phraseology of the ,pastoral ,epistles1 #g1 #bf1 #dg1 #eb1 #djd1 #dbd4 ,phygelus1 #cai1 #cbc4 ,plato1 #agh1 #bdj1 #bda4 ,pliny the ,elder1 #cgi1 #chj4 ,pliny the ,younger1 #hc1 #acd4 ,polycarp1 #e1 #cch4 ,polygamy1 #aai4 ,prayer1 ,forms of1 #if4 ,prayers for the dead1 #cbe-ccj4 ,presbyters or elders1 #fg1 #aab1 #aae1 #aah1 #aff1 #bad1 #bag1 #bba4 ,priesthood1 ,the idea of1 #aag4 ,prisca1 #dac1 #dad4 ,prophecies on ,timothy1 #fb-fd4 ,prophet1 ,meanings of the term1 #fe4 ,prophets in ,new ,testament1 #ff1 #fi2 in the ,primitive ,church1 #gj1 #if1 #aae4 ,public worship1 #ie-ajb4 ,pudens1 #dae4 ,punishment of ,hymenaeus and ,alexander1 #gd-gf4 ,rationalism1 #chg4 ,red ,sea1 ,passage of the1 a type of baptism1 #bhi4 ,regeneration1 ,laver of1 #bhe-bib4 ,religious emotion1 the use of1 #bdd-bdg4 ,renan1 #h1 #aa1 #gi1 #bgf1 #cee1 #djg4 ,resurrection1 ,belief in the1 #cee-cei1 #cgb4 ,reunion of ,christendom1 #bfg4 ,reuss1 #aa4 ,revisers1 ,changes made by the1 #cb1 #dg1 #ei1 #bai1 #bfh1 #bfi1 #bhe1 #ced1 #cga1 #cia4 ,roman ,church1 ,its neglect of ,st4 ,paul1 #bh1 #djj1 #dbj1 #dba4 ,salmon1 #h1 #aac1 #djg4 ,satan1 ,delivering unto1 #gd4 ,satan1 ,personality of1 #gg-hj4 ,schaff1 #cie4 ,schleiermacher1 #gh4 ,second ,advent1 ,nearness of the1 #cgh1 #dbh4 ,second ,roman imprisonment of ,st4 ,paul1 #ac1 #bh1 #cfb1 #dja4 ,second marriages1 #abb1 #abe4 ,shamelessness in serving ,god1 #cgj4 ,slavery1 #age-ahd1 #bdh-bej1 #bec-beg4 ,sobriety in religion1 #bda1 #bde4 ,socialism1 #ahe-ahg4 ,solidarity of ,christendom1 #hf4 ,strauss1 #gi4 ,superstition and heresy1 #chd4 ,tatian's rejection of #a and #b ,tim41 #h1 #bjb4 ,tertullian1 #f1 #aj1 #hi1 #ij1 #ih1 #aja1 #abh1 #aff1 #bbg1 #bid1 #bie1 #cjj1 #cci1 #cdf4 ,thanksgivings for all men1 #ib4 ,theophilus of ,antioch1 #f4 ,threefold ministry1 #bba4 ,tiberius1 #dbe4 ,tigellinus1 #bge4 ,timothy compared with ,st4 ,john1 #ai-ba4 ,timothy at ,corinth1 #bc1 #bd1 #bi4 ,titus compared with ,timothy1 #bji4 ,titus at ,corinth1 #bjd-bjf4 ,titus in ,dalmatia1 #daj4 ,trinitarian doctrine1 #bhc1 #bhd4 ,trophimus1 #dad1 #dae1 #dai4 ,trullo1 ,council in1 #aee4 ,tychicus1 #daj1 #daa4 ,tyndale1 #dab1 #dac4 ,verbal inspiration1 #cic4 ,visible means an aid to faith1 #bia4 ,washing of regeneration1 #bhe-bib4 ,waterland1 #bic1 #cjf4 ,weiss1 #g1 #ae4 ,weisse1 #i1 #djg4 ,widows1 #aec-aee1 #aeh1 #afc4 ,will1 ,freedom of the1 #dj1 #da1 #eg4 ,women1 ,social position of1 #bef4 ,women's dress1 #aja1 #ajb4 ,worship1 ,public1 #ie1 #ajj4 ,wordsworth1 ,bishop ,c41 #acd4 ,zenas1 #bjc1 #bjh4 ,zwickau prophets1 #gj4