1 Timothy

1 Timothy

Dear <<First Name>>

I do hope you found the last two weeks’ worth of material musing on some insights from small islands interesting and helpful as we muse the positive aspects of small churches and ideas from the edge.  It’s been lovely to receive comments as we’ve gone along; it’s always daunting to write a series which is a little different and, often, about a place I’ve come to love deeply.  

We turn now to the First Letter to Timothy.  Along with 2 Timothy and Titus these letters are often referred to as the pastoral epistles as they give advice to a young colleague and pastor.  Most scholars think these were written, in Paul’s style, after his death but a small number of scholars still wish to assert that Paul wrote them himself.  In the early Church there was a lively debate about whether Paul was, in fact, the author; this debate raged again from the 19th Century.  Scholars note 306 words not used by Paul in his other writing but found in the letters to Timothy, a different writing style, and a church context and structure not present in Paul’s undisputed writings.  Ideas about authorship effect ideas about the date; a wide range of dates are suggested from the end of the first until the middle of the second Century.  The earliest manuscripts still held of the book, or fragments of it, date to the 5th Century.  

The Letter is a set of instructions for a church leader in Ephesus and concerns qualifications for leadership and the roles of women and men in the Church.  The writing about women make difficult reading today, as does the sin list which includes the Greek word ἀρσενοκοίτης which is often translated as “homosexual” (even though the concept of someone having an identity based on being attracted solely to the same sex did not exist in the ancient world).  The meaning of this Greek word is fiercely contested in contemporary scholarship.   The Letter is used by the Catholic and Orthodox churches to justify ordained ministry being reserved to men; conservative Christians used the sin list noted above to maintain theological objections to same sex relationships.  So, over the next few weeks, we will explore a Letter whose authorship, date, and contents are all hotly debated, yet which is in the canon of Scripture, read in church and in our Daily Devotions.  I hope you enjoy the thoughts our writers bring as we read through this Letter together.
 

With every good wish

Andy

The Rev’d Andy Braunston
Minister for Digital Worship