First and Second Timothy Commentary

Thomas Oden provides a modern commentary on the pastoral letters grounded in the classical, consensual tradition of interpretation. Oden utilizes the best and most accurate research concerning the historical, literary, and philological aspects of the pastoral letters. He addresses tough issues: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a distinctive resource for those who interpret the Bible in the church. Planned and written specifically for teaching and preaching needs, this critically acclaimed biblical commentary is a major contribution to scholarship and ministry.

Hardcover , pages. Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about First and Second Timothy and Titus , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about First and Second Timothy and Titus. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Jan 16, Shaun Brown rated it really liked it Shelves: In this commentary from the Interpretation series, Oden, as is typical of his work see his Systematic Theology, published in one volume as Classical Christianity as an example , interacts with commentaries and sermons from not only contemporary thinkers, but with people from the patristic period, medieval period, and Reformers like Calvin and Wesley.

While Oden does assume Pauline authorship, his study of the Pastorals should not be overlooked. He shows the continuity between Paul's other writi In this commentary from the Interpretation series, Oden, as is typical of his work see his Systematic Theology, published in one volume as Classical Christianity as an example , interacts with commentaries and sermons from not only contemporary thinkers, but with people from the patristic period, medieval period, and Reformers like Calvin and Wesley.

He shows the continuity between Paul's other writings and the Pastorals. One "issue" I had with Oden's organization of the commentary is that he does not go through each letter from beginning to end. Instead he orders his commentary topically. These passages, however, are listed along with the topics in the table of contents, so if you are teaching through the letters, you can easily see his section on each passage. I highly recommend this commentary, particularly for those who teach in the church, for Oden connects together with an emphasis on the centrality of the biblical text historic theological sources and the worshipping life of the church.

Oct 19, Mike rated it it was ok. Oden approaches the pastoral epistles via precritical commentators and he does so unapologetically. This approach gives Oden the freedom to assume certain claims like Pauline authorship without any justification. I don't think this weakens the commentary as a whole, so long as the reader understands the limits of the arguments and method. This approach also affords Oden the ability to focus on aiding the teacher preacher in understanding the text.

Oden needn't get bogged down in intricate anal Oden approaches the pastoral epistles via precritical commentators and he does so unapologetically.

Oden needn't get bogged down in intricate analysis of extra biblical sources or archeological evidence from Ephesus but simply needs to present Calvin's view on this topic or Luther's understanding of these versus. I did very much enjoy hearing from the church "fathers" on different passages.

The big fault with this book is that it is arrange thematically. The three pastoral epistles 1,2 Timothy and Titus are broken up and arranged in such a way as to represent themes like "Jesus Christ the Mediator" which contains comments on 1 Tim 2: I am not sure why Oden chose to do this.

It seems to represent an over identification of the three books that I doubt is the traditional view of these books. I can't imagine this being a useful arrangement unless one is preaching on the topic of one of the chapter titles.

2 Timothy 1 Bible Commentary - Matthew Henry (concise)

It is a bit cumbersome having to skip around the entire book in order to cover the material in 1 Timothy. I am still working my way through it. So far I don't regret the purchase. Ships from and sold by Amazon. Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon: Customers who bought this item also bought. Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1.

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Please try again later. This is a tremendous addition to the literature on the pastorals. Oden is a top-notch evangelical scholar who is not afraid to cut through the fog and carefully, logically analyze a text. In particular, his analysis of authorship is refreshing in its simplicity and clarity as he makes a compelling argument for Pauline authorship.

Oden is the series editor for IVP's Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, so is uniquely qualified to draw upon historical interpretation in his exegesis. If you must chose only one commentary on the pastorals, I would suggest this one. Oden begins by dismissing all modern commentaries anything post-Reformation as unworthy of his attention. Obviously slanders were already circulating regarding the Christians. No doubt the influential Jews were responsible. And the hated Christians were saddled with the blame for the disastrous fire of Rome. It was from that event that the first great persecution sprang.

Paul was a Christian. More, he was the great leader of the Christians. And it may well be that part of the charge against Paul was that he was one of those responsible for the fire of Rome and the resulting misery of the populace. So, then, Paul was in prison as a criminal, a political prisoner, member of an illegal association and leader of that hated sect of incendiaries, on whom Nero had fastened the blame for the destruction of Rome.

It can easily be seen how helpless Paul was in face of charges like that. Even though he was in prison on charges which made release impossible, Paul was not dismayed and was very far from despair. He had two great uplifting thoughts. Andrew Melville was one of the earliest heralds of the Scottish Reformation. One day the Regent Morton sent for him and denounced his writings. It is the same to me whether I rot in the air or in the ground. The earth is the Lord's; my fatherland is wherever well-doing is. I have been ready to give my life when it was not half as well worn, at the pleasure of my God.

I lived out of your country ten years as well as in it. Yet God be glorified, it will not lie in your power to hang nor exile his truth! You can exile a man, but you cannot exile the truth. You can imprison a preacher, but you cannot imprison the word he preaches. The message is always greater than the man; the truth is always mightier than the bearer. Paul was quite certain that the Roman government could never find a prison which could contain the word of God.

And it is one of the facts of history that if human effort could have obliterated Christianity, it would have perished long ago; but men cannot kill that which is immortal. His suffering was not pointless and profitless. The blood of the martyrs has ever been the seed of the Church; and the lighting of the pyre where Christians were burned has always been the lighting of a fire which could never be put out. When anyone has to suffer for his Christianity, let him remember that his suffering makes the road easier for someone else who is still to come.

In suffering we bear our own small portion of the weight of the Cross of Christ and do our own small part in the bringing of God's salvation to men. If we die with him, we shall also live with him. If we endure, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he too will deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful For he cannot deny himself. This is a peculiarly precious passage because in it is enshrined one of the first hymns of the Christian Church. In the days of persecution the Christian Church put its faith into song. It may be that this is only a fragment of a longer hymn.

There are two possible interpretations of the first two lines--"If we die with him, we shall also live with him. No doubt the language is the same; but the thought of baptism is quite irrelevant here; it is the thought of martyrdom that is in Paul's mind. Luther, in a great phrase, said: He is partner both in the shame and in the glory of his Lord. The hymn goes on: Without the Cross there cannot be the Crown. Then comes the other side of the matter: Jesus Christ cannot vouch in eternity for a man who has refused to have anything to do with him in time; but he is for ever true to the man who, however much he has failed, has tried to be true to him.

These things are so because they are part of the very nature of God. A man may deny himself, but God cannot. God will never fail the man who has tried to be true to him, but not even he can help the man who has refused to have anything to do with him. Long ago Tertullian said: Jesus died to be true to the will of God; and the Christian must follow that same will, whatever light may shine or shadow fall.

Once again Paul returns to the inadequacy of words. We must remember that the Pastoral Epistles were written against a background of those Gnostics who produced their long words and their fantastic theories, and tried to make Christianity into a recondite philosophy instead of an adventure of faith. There is both fascination and peril in words. They can become a substitute for deeds.

There are people who are more concerned to talk than to act. If the world's problems could have been solved by discussion, they would have been solved long ago. But words cannot replace deeds. As Charles Kingsley wrote in A Farewell:. Do noble things, not dream them, all day long. Who thinks most--feels the noblest--acts the best. Johnson was one of the great talkers of all time; John Wesley was one of the great men of action of all time.

They knew each other, and Johnson had only one complaint about Wesley: He is always obliged to go at a certain hour. This is very disagreeable to a man who loves to fold his legs and have his talk out, as I do. It is not even true that talk and discussion fully solve intellectual problems. One of the most suggestive things Jesus ever said was: Often understanding comes not by talking, but by doing. In the old Latin phrase, solvitur ambulando, the thing will solve itself as you go on. It often happens that the best way to understand the deep things of Christianity is to embark on the unmistakable duties of the Christian life.

There remains one further thing to be said. Too much talk and too much discussion can have two dangerous effects. First, they may give the impression that Christianity is nothing but a collection of questions for discussion and problems for solution. The discussion circle is a characteristic phenomenon of this age. It is time we stopped looking for questions, and started looking for answers. Second, discussion can be invigorating for those whose approach to the Christian faith is intellectual, for those who have a background of knowledge and of culture, for those who have a real knowledge of, or interest in, theology.

But it sometimes happens that a simple-minded person finds himself in a group which is tossing heresies about and propounding unanswerable questions, and his faith, so far from being helped, is upset. It may well be that that is what Paul means when he says that wordy battles can undo those who listen to them. The normal word used for building a person up in the Christian faith, for edification, is the same as is used for literally building a house; the word which Paul uses here for ruin katastrophe, Greek is what might well be used for the demolition of a house. And it may well happen that clever, subtle, speculative, intellectually reckless discussion may have the effect of demolishing, and not building up, the faith of some simple person who happens to become involved in it.

As in all things, there is a time to discuss and a time to be silent. Avoid these godless chatterings, for the people who engage in them only progress further and further into ungodliness, and their talk eats its way into the Church like an ulcerous gangrene. Amongst such people are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who, as far as the truth is concerned, have lost the way, when they say that the resurrection has already happened, and who by such statements are upsetting the faith of some.

Paul urges Timothy to present himself, amidst the false teachers, as a real teacher of the truth. The word he uses for "to present" is parastesai Greek , which characteristically means to present oneself for service. The following words and phrases all develop this idea of usefulness for service. The Greek for one who has stood the test is dokimos Greek , which describes anything which has been tested and is fit for service. For instance, it describes gold or silver which has been purified of all alloy in the fire. It is therefore the word for money which is genuine, or, as we would say, sterling.

It is the word used for a stone which is fit to be fitted into its place in a building.

David Guzik :: Study Guide for 2 Timothy 1

A stone with a flaw in it was marked with a capital A, standing for adokimastos compare , which means tested and found wanting. Timothy was to be tested that he might be a fit weapon for the work of Christ, and therefore a workman who had no need to be ashamed.

Further, Timothy is urged in a famous phrase rightly to divide the word of truth. The Greek word translated to divide rightly is interesting. It is orthotomein Greek , which literally means to cut rightly. It has many pictures in it. Calvin connected it with a father dividing out the food at a meal and cutting it up so that each member of the family received the right portion. Beza connected it with the cutting up of sacrificial victims so that each part was correctly apportioned to the altar or to the priest.

The Greeks themselves used the word in three different connections.

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They used it for driving a straight road across country, for ploughing a straight furrow across a field, and for the work of a mason in cutting and squaring a stone so that it fitted into its correct place in the structure of the building. So the man who rightly divides the word of truth, drives a straight road through the truth and refuses to be lured down pleasant but irrelevant by-paths; he ploughs a straight furrow across the field of truth; he takes each section of the truth, and fits it into its correct position, as a mason does a stone, allowing no part to usurp an undue place and so knock the whole structure out of balance.

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On the other hand, the false teacher engages on what Paul would call "godless chatterings. The Greeks had a favorite word for making progress prokoptein, Greek It literally means to cut down in front; to remove the obstacles from a road so that straight and uninterrupted progress is possible. Paul says of these senseless talkers that they progress further and further into ungodliness. They progress in reverse.

The more they talk, the farther they get from God. Here then is the test. If at the end of our talk, we are closer to one another and to God, then all is well; but if we have erected barriers between one another and have left God more distant, then all is not well. The aim of all Christian discussion and of all Christian action is to bring a man nearer to his fellows and to God. Amongst the false teachers Paul numbers especially Hymenaeus and Philetus. Who these men were we do not know.

But we get a brief glimpse of their teaching in at least one of its aspects. They said that the resurrection had already happened. This of course does not refer to the Resurrection of Jesus; it refers to the resurrection of the Christian after death.

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We do know two false views of the resurrection of the Christian which had some influence in the early Church. It is true that in Romans 6: There were those who taught that the resurrection happened in that moment of baptism and that it was resurrection to new life in Christ here and now, not after death. The trouble was that this kind of teaching found an echo in both the Jewish and the Greek side of the Church.

On the Jewish side, the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the body but the Sadducees did not. Any teaching which did away with the conception of life after death would appeal to the Sadducees; the trouble with the Pharisees was that they were wealthy materialists, who had so big a stake in this world that they were not interested in any world to come. On the Greek side, the trouble was much greater. In the early days of Christianity, the Greeks, generally speaking, believed in immortality but not in the resurrection of the body.

The highest belief was that of the Stoics. They believed that God was what might be called fiery spirit. The life in man was a spark of that spirit, a spark of God himself, a scintilla of deity. But they believed that when a man died that spark went back to God and was reabsorbed in him.

That is a noble belief but it clearly abolishes personal survival after death. Further, the Greeks believed that the body was entirely evil. They had their play on words as a watchword: It is obvious that the Christian does not believe in the resurrection of this body.