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1 Timothy 1:1-3
New Catholic Bible
1 Timothy 1:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 1
Salutation[a]
Address. 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior[b] and Christ Jesus our hope, 2 to Timothy, my loyal child in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Timothy, Champion of the Truth[c]
On Holding Fast to Sound Doctrine. When I was setting out for Macedonia,[d] I urged you to stay on in Ephesus to instruct certain people that they are not to teach erroneous doctrines Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Timothy 1:1 The majority of Paul’s Letters were sent to Churches, but four were addressed to individuals: Timothy (two Letters), Titus, and Philemon. Titus and Timothy were not apostles but evangelists (see 2 Tim 4:5). Timothy (whose father was Greek and his mother a Jewish Christian) had been converted by Paul’s preaching (see Acts 16:1-3) and so was Paul’s “loyal child in the faith.”
- 1 Timothy 1:1 Savior: this title, given to both the Father and Jesus, is characteristic of the later Letters of Paul, perhaps in reaction to the pagan environment in which the gods were “saviors” and the emperor was worshiped as a god. Jesus our hope is one of Paul’s finest descriptions.
- 1 Timothy 1:3 In writing to the Colossians, Paul had already denounced the infatuation with hazardous theories that characterized some Christians of Jewish origins in the region of Ephesus. Once again, fanciful theologies, hollow ideas, and obscure mythologies are being given free rein in Ephesus. Some converts from Judaism—who are familiar with the new Greek mythological currents as well as the play of Biblical genealogies—give themselves up to speculations without end or purpose, and they abandon the essence of faith and love.
3
They claim to be teachers of the Law, but they preach nonsense. Hence, they must be reminded that the Law is primarily a discipline of life rather than an object of speculation (see Rom 7:12-16; Gal 3:19); above all, the importance of a sane doctrine that fixes one’s thoughts and guides one’s life must be inculcated in them. In the midst of an anarchic agitation, Christians must always come back to the profound meaning of the Gospel, exemplified by Paul’s life and vocation. - 1 Timothy 1:3 When I was setting out for Macedonia: an event not mentioned in Acts; hence, it probably occurred after Acts 28 between Paul’s first and second Roman imprisonment. He had founded the Church at Ephesus on the Third Missionary Journey some eight years earlier (see Acts 19:1—20:1).
