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| Timothy
of the New Testament
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The First Epistle to Timothy is part of Pastoral Epistles,
which include three pastoral letters: First Timothy, Second
Timothy and Titus. All three letters are traditionally considered
to be written by Saint Paul to his disciples Timothy and Titus.
Before describing the importance of First Timothy and rendering
its essence, it is necessary to describe the personality of
Timothy and his relations with the apostle Paul. Everything
that is known about Timothy is learned from the New Testament.
Paul met him either in Derbe or Lystra, where he was born,
and by that time Timothy had already been converted to the
Christian faith and had learned the Scriptures. Besides, Timothy
was well known among other Christians in the neighborhood.
Therefore, we can see that when Timothy met St Paul, he was
a promising young man, who displayed his ability to influence
other people and to advocate Christianity. There were several
reasons that persuaded the apostle to make Timothy his disciple
and to introduce him to the ministry. They were his young
age, his knowledge of the Scriptures, his reputation in the
Church together with his talent and certainly, his good nature
and benevolence. Timothy accompanied Paul in his numerous
trips to different cities, such as Mysia, Troas, Berea in
Macedonia, Athens. Thus, Timothy learned much and could follow
his mentor in the converting other people to Christianity
and in the establishment of order in the church. Therefore,
after several common journeys, Paul could easily rely upon
Timothy.
It is considered that First Timothy was written by St Paul
on his way from Ephesus to Macedonia. The town of Ephesus
meant a lot for the apostle Paul as he contributed much to
the establishment of the church there. He still had much to
improve there and there were some errors to be corrected.
However, he had to leave Ephesus because of the tumult caused
by Demetrius (Acts 19:1). Paul did not want to leave the church
in an unstable condition. Therefore, being unable to return
to Ephesus soon, he wanted Timothy to finish his work and
control the proper organization of the church there. Certainly,
there is no clear evidence that the epistle was written in
this time. There are different arguments for and against this
supposition. On the one hand, judging by the plot of the epistle,
it is quite explicable that Paul might have given such advice
in case he wanted Timothy to finish something uncompleted
by himself and the case with Ephesus is appropriate here (Barnes,
126). Besides, analyzing other possible periods of time when
the epistle might have been written, there appear certain
contradictions with the history. On the other hand, if we
consider the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, it is possible
to suppose that at the time when 1 Timothy was written, Timothy
himself was with St Paul in Macedonia and then the former
supposition of the date of the epistle seems doubtful (Towner,
212). Of course, nowadays it is impossible to restore the
course of events, we might only assume different possibilities.
Still the most widespread opinion is that the epistle was
written during the apostle’s trip from Ephesus to Macedonia.
The state of the church in Ephesus required proper control,
so the apostle gave necessary instructions to Timothy. The
epistle comprises six chapters, in which St Paul outlines
the main problems and the ways of dealing with them. When
the apostle lived in Ephesus he had much opposition with the
Jews there and with their attempts to impose the Jewish law
with the help of Christianity and to dispute too much about
the law. In the first chapter of the epistle, the apostle
Paul warns Timothy about the Jews wish to use Christianity
in order to achieve their selfish aims and instructs him to
be guided by faith and patience in all his actions (1 Tim
1:18, 1:19). In the second chapter, the apostle draws Timothy’s
attention to the status of women in the church. “Let
a woman learn in quietness with all subjection. But I don’t
permit a woman to teach, nor to exercise authority over a
man, but to be in quietness.” (1 Tim 2:11, 2:12). Much
attention is paid to the categories of people that might be
admitted to the church. Paul told his own opinion of the problem
in the third chapter. In the fourth chapter, Paul warns Timothy
against heretics and tells him to devote as much as possible
to teaching and exercising of piety. “Until I come,
pay attention to reading, to exhortation, and to teaching.
Don’t neglect the gift that is in you, which was given
to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the
elders.” (1 Tim 4:13, 4:14). The issue of proper treatment
of widows is regarded in the fifth chapter, also here the
apostle returns to the problem of clergy and Timothy’s
attitude to them. The sixth chapter is devoted to the duties
of servants and to the possible danger of their revolt. Thus,
in six chapters of the epistle the apostle describes the problems,
existing at that time in Ephesus, and instructs Timothy how
to behave and how to solve them.
It is evident that this epistle was very important for the
development of Christian religion in general and in Ephesus
in particular. Guided by it, Timothy managed to correct many
errors and to strengthen the role of religion in people’s
life. While Christianity acquired more and more power, the
influence of idolatry became less. Besides, Timothy manages
to control the proper organization of the church and soon
he became known as the Bishop of Ephesus.
The First Epistle to Timothy occupies a significant place
in the New Testament. It is devoted not only to particular
instructions to Timothy, but first of all it inspires others
to be patient and to be guided by their faith. The epistle
comprises many wise thoughts, which can be useful in any situation
in our life. In every epoch and in every land the significance
of religion and of pure and unshakeable faith as well as the
proper organization of the church is obvious.
Works Cited
Barnes, A. Barnes' Notes on the New Testament. Kregel Classics,
1962.
Towner Ph. H., Osborne G. R. 1-2 Timothy & Titus. InterVarsity
Press, 1994.
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